Chapter 21: Release the Hunting Dog (2)

Kwon Oh-Jin had arrived at the Awakeners Association headquarters in Yeouido.

As usual, he passed by the group of Awakeners gathered for the registration exam and got on the staff-only elevator.

Knock knock.

“Come in,” a deep voice instructed from inside the team leader’s office.

Click.

When Kwon Oh-Jin opened the door, he found a large, muscular man seated at the desk.

That chair could break at any moment.

When Han Jun-Man got off the chair, a strained creak filled the room. It was as if the chair had been holding back a cry of pain.

“How have you been?”

“Good, thanks to you.”

After a brief exchange of greetings, they sat down on the couch. While Kwon Oh-Jin was eager to dig into the details of the absurd two-billion-won request, there was something else he had to address first.

“Have you ever heard of the Black Star Society by any chance?” he asked.

“The Black Star Society?” Han Jun-Man shook his head. “I’ve never heard of it.”

“Then, have you seen this Stigma before?”

Kwon Oh-Jin handed over a piece of paper with a drawing of the Owl Nebula.

“This is... Hold on a second.”

Han Jun-Man pulled out a thick ledger from a drawer and began flipping through the pages. He then squinted as he carefully examined the Stigma drawing.

“This is the Stigma of Owl Nebula,” Han Jun-Man said.

“Do you know anything about it?”

“I’m not entirely sure, but I believe it’s one of the forgotten Stigmas.”

Forgotten Stigmas?

“When Celestials first appeared on Earth eight years ago, certain Stigmas were recorded that seem to have vanished since. We call them forgotten Stigmas.”

Forgotten Stigmas, huh?

“Is there any record of why they disappeared?”

Han Jun-Man smiled bitterly and scratched his head. “The situation back then didn’t really allow for detailed records to be kept.”

“I see.”

Kwon Oh-Jin let out a short sigh.

Eight years ago, when the gates to outer worlds first opened, dozens of countries vanished, and monsters overrun two-thirds of the Earth. Given the chaos at that time, it made sense that proper records weren’t kept.

Nobody could’ve had the time to write things down when they could literally die any second.

Back then, just surviving another day was already considered a miracle.

Anyway, if the Stigma of Owl Nebula has existed since eight years ago, then that means the Stigma of the Black Stars has also been around for eight years.

The Black Star Society could’ve been active since then, too. If so, then the Black Star Society wasn’t a hastily formed organization, but one that had been quietly growing in the shadows for eight long years to achieve its goals.

This is turning out to be a bigger problem than I thought.

Kwon Oh-Jin’s brows furrowed. He felt as if he had just stirred up a hornet’s nest, not a beehive.

I’m going to have to prepare thoroughly.

Though he had a few ideas in mind, none seemed to be the perfect one yet.

“Hmm.”

While analyzing the drawing of the Stigma, Han Jun-Man turned to Kwon Oh-Jin. “By the way, where did you see this?”

“I happened to run into some trouble at a gate a few days ago.”

“Trouble?”

“Yes. I found an Astral Relic inside, but an Awakener named Yoo-Jin suddenly attacked me, claiming it was his.”

Kwon Oh-Jin slightly exaggerated the details of what had happened a week ago.

“D-Did you get hurt anywhere?”

“I’m fine, as you can see.”

“That’s a relief.” Han Jun-Man sighed. He then asked, “The Awakener who attacked you had the Stigma of Owl Nebula, then?”

“That’s right.”

“

Ah

, so the Black Star Society is...?”

“

Haha

. You’re quick to catch on. That’s right. That Awakener claimed to be one of its members.”

“Hmm.”

Kwon Oh-Jin shrugged. “Anyway, because of the attack, I thought I’d look into who they were, which was why I asked if you knew about them.”

Han Jun-Man nodded with a stiff expression. “I see. We’ll launch an investigation on the Stigma of Owl Nebula and the Black Star Society.”

“Thank you.”

If the association was in charge of the investigation, it would likely get promising results. Even though it was often looked down upon, it was still the largest government-affiliated organization. No average guild could compete with the amount of information it had.

“Can I ask you one more question?” Kwon Oh-Jin queried.

“Of course.”

Kwon Oh-Jin pulled out the fist-sized Starstone that he had received from Yoo-Jin and placed it on the table.

“How much do you think this will go for?”

“

Woah

,” Han Jun-Man exclaimed as he examined the Starstone. “Now that’s a top-grade Starstone. You’ll still have to get this appraised properly, but it will probably make you at least five hundred million won.”

Kwon Oh-Jin suppressed the urge to smile.

The Black Star Society is fucking amazing!

A thrilling chill ran down his spine. He couldn’t believe just a few minutes of negotiation had earned him this much money.

“Can the association handle selling this for me?”

“Of course. We’ll make sure you get a better price than the market rate.”

Han Jun-Man smiled confidently and raised his broad shoulders.

Seeing the massive, dark-skinned man puff out his chest reminded Kwon Oh-Jin of a male gorilla showing off its strength to impress a female.

“As for the taxes...?”

“There won’t be any, of course.”

What's this? I’m starting to feel charmed by this gorilla.

“By the way, could you also appraise this?”

Kwon Oh-Jin handed over the Astral Relic that the Black Star Society had swapped with the black chalice.

“Is this the Astral Relic you fought over?”

“Yes.

Haha.

”

“I can’t believe you’ve already found an Astral Relic.”

Han Jun-Man was genuinely amazed. Although finding Astral Relics in gates wasn’t entirely uncommon, it was exceptionally rare for someone who had just completed their registration exam to get their hands on one.

Well, it’s possible if it’s Oh-Jin.

Even though Kwon Oh-Jin had just recently registered, his natural confidence made him far different from a newbie.

This man has the skill set of someone who’s been through countless gates for years.

That couldn’t be the case, though. After all, he was just an ordinary person before awakening.

Han Jun-Man took the blue chalice from him. “I’ll put in a request through one of our appraisers.”

Kwon Oh-Jin bowed. “Thank you.”

He briefly considered having the mutated Starstone appraised as well but decided to hold onto it for now.

Who knows, it might be related to the Black Star Society.

He figured it would come in handy later.

“So, is there anything else you’d like to ask?” asked Han Jun-Man.

Kwon Oh-Jin nodded, his eyes gleaming with excitement. “Yes.”

It’s finally time for the main dish.

As soon as he had gotten the call, he rushed to the Association without hesitation for one specific reason: money.

“What exactly is the request?”

“I was about to get to that.” Han Jun-Man chuckled, then took a sip of his coffee from the mug. “We got an urgent request from the Valhalla Guild.”

“Valhalla Guild?”

Kwon Oh-Jin had never heard of that guild before.

If it can offer two billion as a reward, then it has to be a fairly big guild.

His brows furrowed as he tried to recall the name.

“This is probably your first time hearing about it. It started growing rapidly just recently, after all.

“I see.”

“It only has a few members right now, but they are all known as elites with exceptional skills.”

A small group of elites...

He had assumed it was a larger guild, but they seemed to have prioritized quality over quantity.

“Their guild master, in particular, is quite impressive. They’re even being considered as a potential candidate for becoming a part of the Seven Stars.”

The Seven Stars was a title given to the seven most powerful and influential Awakeners across the world. Only extraordinary individuals could be a candidate for such a position.

Smiling, Han Jun-Man shrugged. “Though, personally, I think you’re more impressive, Oh-Jin. I’m confident you’ll be one of the Seven Stars yourself one day.”

Kwon Oh-Jin smiled back and shook his head. “Don’t expect too much from me.”

Contrary to his humble response, he actually believed it was possible.

If I continue to grow stronger, there’s no reason I can’t reach that level.

The Seven Stars were said to have far surpassed the limits of humanity, but Kwon Oh-Jin had never seen one in person, so he had no means of fully grasping the extent of their power.

Plus, there’s only one in Korea.

The other six resided abroad, making it hard to hear any news about them. Moreover, the one in Korea wasn’t that active.

“Let’s get back to the main point. This request can both be difficult and easy, depending on how you look at it.”

What does that mean?

“What is the request?”

“They want you to find somebody.”

Find somebody?

“Like a detective case where I investigate and track down someone?”

𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

I get that they have money to throw around, but the reward for this is 2 billion won?

He looked at Han Jun-Man with a puzzled expression.

Han Jun-Man slightly shook his head. “No, not investigate someone. They want you to look for a missing person.”

“Oh.”

So that’s what it was.

Only a skilled Awakener could find a missing person, especially someone who had disappeared inside a gate.

“Who’s the missing person?”

“Let’s see... Give me a moment.”

Han Jun-Man rummaged through the pile of requests.

“Here it is.”

He pulled out a piece of paper from the stack of papers and laid it out on the table.

“The person went missing on November sixth.”

“It’s been about two weeks.”

It was the 22nd now, so it had been exactly two weeks and two days.

“As for the location of the disappearance... they lost track of him around noon, so they’re not sure, but it’s likely one of the low-level one-star or two-star gates in Incheon.”

“That means I’ll have to search through about eight different places.”

Fortunately, since Kwon Oh-Jin had been scamming around low-level gates for the past few years, he was very familiar with them.

Eight places, huh? That won’t take long.

Now that he had reached a three-star, he figured he could complete the search in two days, maybe three at most.

“The missing person is a male in his mid-to-late twenties, about a hundred eighty-two centimeters tall. He has black hair and a lean physique.

Oh

, and his name is... Let me check.”

Han Jun-Man ran his finger down the document and stopped at one section.

“Lee Shin-Hyuk.”

“What?”

Who?

“Do you think you can find him?”

No, I can’t find him. He’s already dead. Fuck.