Chapter 40: Chapter 39

There was an uproar for a while.

Doctor Min Byeonggu suddenly fainted, woke up, then awakened.

Because of that, he had to measure his mana power by himself in front of everyone watching.

And the long-awaited result...

[Class C]

"Oh oh! Class C!"

"Awesome!"

"Congratulations on your awakening! Dr. Min!"

Min Byeonggu was showered with congratulations from the association's staff.

"On top of that, you're a healer!"

Healer was a very good job that could make a lot of money safely without going into battle.

Min Byeonggu was okay with that.

He was already over 60 years old.

An age to pursue stability rather than heart-racing challenges.

He had no intention of going into a dungeon and fighting with demons just because he had awakened.

He thought of leaving the dungeon to other young people and be more faithful to his job.

'Good. Now that I can handle magic, I can accelerate my research on stardust.'

Min Byeonggu smiled contentedly as he moved his magical energy around with his hands.

* * *

"... Well, something like that could happen."

Suho came out after hearing the inside story from Beru then nodded.

He got a question though.

"How the hell did you awaken that doctor? Did you return the power you swallowed?"

[No. It is impossible to return power. That power is already completely digested in my body.]

"Then?"

[I gave him 'protection'.]

Protection.

The way Beru awakened Min Byeonggu was a complete imitation of the way the Fang Monarch bestowed his blessings on Suho.

[Usually, the conditions are very difficult for this to be possible. As in the case of the Fang Monarch, he needed 'qualifications' for the power.]

Min Byeonggu was not qualified enough.

However, divine protection that Beru had bestowed on him was his from the beginning.

After hearing the explanation, Suho licked his lips.

"Hmm. Too bad."

[Too bad?]

"I was wondering if I could get a healer skill from you, but if it was that way, I wouldn't be qualified."

[Ehh?!]

Beru jumped up and fell flat on his face, claiming that he had heard something very absurd.

[How could someone like me dare to bestow blessings on Young Master? Even imagining it was disrespectful.]

Protection was usually something like a grace bestowed by a far higher being on a lower one.

However, Suho and Beru's ranks were reversed, so it was not a situation to talk about qualifications in the first place.

Suho was just curious...

"Should we go back now?"

Suho looked back at the re-measurement room where Min Byeonggu was.

Due to the sudden awakening of Min Byeonggu, there was a commotion, so Suho went out for a while while he was being re-measured.

Also, his most important skill information was registered in the association data.

'I haven't even talked about things like Blade Storm and Endurance skills yet...'

At this rate, only the summoning skill would be listed as information about Suho in the Hunters Data.

He would only be known as a summoning hunter.

Even if he was C-Class, being a summoning hunter was still an unpopular job in dungeons, so he wanted to register more skill information.

There were some hunters who hid their skill information from the association, but most of them were criminals doing dishonorable things.

While Suho was out for a while, there was an uninvited guest who came to Min Byeonggu.

"I refuse."

'Hmm?'

Could it be because of his increased senses stat?

Suho overheard the conversation in the re-measurement room with his superhuman hearing.

"To be clear, I will not be reconsidering Secretary Kim's proposal."

Min Byeonggu was rejecting the offer of the uninvited guest with a firm voice.

"Oh, Dr. Min. Can't you think it over? Please reconsider and..."

"My stardust research is entirely for the public's benefit and society's wellness. There is absolutely no reason to collaborate with large guilds pursuing private interests."

[Young Master, the atmosphere is a bit strange...]

"Shh."

Suho covered Beru's mouth.

"It's of no use to carelessly intervene in the conversations of adults like that."

[Okay. I was wrong...]

"You have to listen quietly."

[Ahh.]

Beru covered his mouth with both hands and only his antennae pricked.

Listening to the conversation further, it seemed that the person Min Byeonggu called "Secretary Kim" was a hunter from the Reaper Guild.

"Dr. Min, I know very well that stardust has become illegal. How could I not? But if you research further with us, wouldn't it be possible to develop legal stardust someday?"

"I don't know why you're trying to develop stardust to such an extent."

"Of course, to protect the world's peace. The stronger the hunters become, the more citizens will be able to feel less anxious and be able to sleep."

'Reaper Guild wants stardust?'

Suho's eyes narrowed.

"Beru."

[According to Broki's memory, the Reaper Guild was the main customer of the Hyena Guild.]

Beru immediately noticed what Suho was going to ask and quickly answered.

However, fearing that the person named Secretary Kim would overhear their conversation, he resonated his voice directly into Suho's head.

[And it seems that the person named Secretary Kim was mainly in charge of contact with the Hyena Guild.]

"It's a very convenient explanation."

[Of course, it's me.]

Suho nodded and used his senses to gauge Secretary Kim's level.

'Is he enough to be B-Class?'

Compared to himself, who is in Class C, his mana was at least twice as large.

The measure of strength could not be judged simply by the amount of mana. In particular, Suho's stat higher than mana was actually his muscle strength.

As Suho was estimating his opponent's class like that, Beru noticed that and stopped him.

[Young Master, don't. Your opponent is from a large guild. With your current power, if you lose against a him, you will be in great trouble.]

Beru's words were right.

Suho wanted to level up a lot but if he had to confront a large guild, his future hunter activities could be quite troubled.

Right then, Min Byeonggu implied farewell to Secretary Kim.

"I have nothing more to share with you, Secretary Kim. It's still business hours, so could you please leave now?"

Secretary Kim didn't want to go back empty-handed, so he ended up using a different approach.

"Beast King Crow."

'Hmm?'

[Oh?]

Suho and Beru looked at each other.

Suddenly, something unexpected came out of Secretary Kim.

"Dr. Min, you must have seen the news about the Beast King Crow, right?"

"What are you talking about?"

Min Byeonggu frowned.

"Yes, of course I saw the news, but..."

"Crow is the demon."

"What?"

'What?'

[Huh?]

They were all confused with the secretary's words.

"According to the information obtained from Reaper Guild members, the Crow's symbol, the Crow Mask, is an item of demons. They said that all the demons in the factory wear that mask."

𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

It was all true.

Except that Crow isn't a demon.

"What do you think that means? The power of the Beast King has been passed over to that demon in Magok Field. With that power, the demon must have become stronger, and in order to fight against him, we humans also need to strengthen our power by all means."

'Wait... Why did the story turn out that way?'

Suho looked perplexed.

It seemed like something oddly right, but it didn't fit at all.

"So, Dr. Min! Join us! You are a must-have to our guild. For the payment..."

"I refuse."

The reason Min Byeonggu has continued to study stardust was not to make money, but for the public's advantage.

Even if his current income wasn't high, it was enough to live with his wife, and he's satisfied with that.

He wasn't going to be shaken no matter how much money he was offered.

As Min Byeonggu repeated his resolute refusal, Secretary Kim let out a sigh.

Secretary Kim spoke in a cold voice which was contrasting to his earlier tone.

"Your wife is a middle school teacher."

"...!"

Min Byeonggu doubted his ears.

Looking at Secretary Kim's face again, he was smiling.

Min Byeonggu's expression hardened.

"What are you talking about..."

"I heard that your wife was absent from work today, did you know?"

"...!"

Min Byeonggu's complexion turned white.

"Y-You guys did not..."

"Should I say it again?"

Secretary Kim smirked and showed a photo on his phone.

In that picture... A middle-aged woman was tied up.

"We get to choose any means for our purpose."

The woman was none other than Min Byeonggu's wife.

'Eh, what is this...'

Min Byeonggu felt like his nightmare had begun again.

His head was buzzing and he was losing his sense of reality.

'What the hell is that guy talking about?'

Kidnapping?

No matter how high the authority of the Reaper Guild was, he couldn't believe they could go that far.

"Do you understand everything now? So, listen while I'm being nice."

It was then.

Chills!

Secretary Kim hurriedly turned around at the sudden feeling from behind.

But it was too late.

Blag!

"...?!"

Through the door of the re-measurement room behind Secretary Kim, a large fist came out like a cannonball.

'Strike' Skill.

Suho's fist, filled with black energy, crashed into Secretary Kim's body.

Thud!

"Ack!!!"

As if he had been hit by a truck, Secretary Kim fell on the ground.

"W-Who are you?!"

Stumble.

However, the shock was so great that his legs staggered.

"You could stand my attack? B-Class is really different."

Then a low voice came from behind the door along with a black fist.

Swoosh!

Suho slowly walked into the re-measurement room.

But his look...

"W-What?!"

Secretary Kim's eyes widened.

"How is there a demon here?!"

Crow mask.

There stood a man whose face was covered with a crow mask.