Chapter 294 – Part 2 – Visitation

Choi Seong-min opened the door without hesitation.

His prey had walked right into his trap.

“It’s humble, but please come in.”

He couldn’t leave a D-rank hunter standing outside, so he invited him in.

Kim Gi-hong briefly looked around the house and frowned when he saw the mold growing on the wallpaper.

“Would it be alright if we just talked outside?”

“Ah, that’s fine too.”

Since he didn’t want to come in, they went outside.

After moving to a quiet nearby location, Kim Gi-hong spoke up.

“You are Choi Seong-min, correct? I have something I’d like to ask you about.”

“What about…”

“You know Hunter Nam Dong-il and Hunter Oh Nam-gi, right?”

“Yes, they were people at the Central Hunter Management Center where I used to work. I heard they went missing.”

“They didn’t go missing – they died.”

“What? D-died?”

Choi Seong-min acted surprised as if hearing this for the first time and searched the rankings.

“Oh, their names really don’t come up in the search?”

“You didn’t know? I heard Hunter Oh Nam-gi bullied you quite severely…”

“Yes, I’m just finding out now.”

Kim Gi-hong looked at him with suspicious eyes.

“Usually when someone who bullied you disappears, you’d show some interest. That’s strange.”

“I’ve been so busy since becoming E-rank that I haven’t been paying attention to that side at all.”

He answered smoothly, but the suspicious look didn’t fade.

“Well, let’s say that’s true. How do you feel about the hunter who bullied you being dead?”

“I don’t feel any particular emotion. Honestly, I’ve left the center now, so it’s not really my concern anymore, is it?”

“Not your concern…”

Kim Gi-hong felt a surge of anger for a moment, but he still couldn’t definitively conclude that Choi Seong-min was the culprit.

“Then I suppose you have no particular feelings about Hunter Nam Dong-il’s death either?”

“That person barely interacted with me…”

Kim Gi-hong carefully observed Choi Seong-min’s expression.

He couldn’t find even the slightest unnatural aspect.

But his intuition was telling him.

That Choi Seong-min was the culprit.

“Three weeks ago, when Hunter Nam Dong-il and Hunter Oh Nam-gi were caught on CCTV, where were you and what were you doing?”

“I was just at home that day…”

“Can you prove it?”

“Wait, why are you asking me this? Is it just my imagination that this feels like an interrogation?”

“I’m looking for the culprit who murdered those two people.”

“Are you investigating this in the name of the Association?”

“Not exactly – I had a personal relationship with the victims.”

“In any case, I was at home that day. Since I can’t prove it, that’s all I can tell you.”

“Then just a few more questions…”

Kim Gi-hong asked several more things, but there was nothing that could serve as evidence.

“Is that enough now?”

“…Yes.”

“Then please take care.”

Thud-

Kim Gi-hong couldn’t detain Choi Seong-min as he entered his house.

Because there was no evidence.

‘I have circumstantial evidence but no physical proof…’

Though disappointed, Kim Gi-hong didn’t give up as he turned to leave.

‘Wasn’t there a commoner named Park Gwang-jin among his fellow new hires who was close to him?’

The moment Kim Gi-hong learned of Nam Dong-il’s death, he had made a vow.

That he wouldn’t stop until he uncovered the culprit.

‘I’ll find out everything I can about Choi Seong-min.’

With that thought, Kim Gi-hong made a phone call to someone.

* * *

‘I didn’t expect Kim Gi-hong to come looking this early.’

One corner of Choi Seong-min’s mouth lifted in satisfaction.

Being suspected as the culprit wasn’t good, but having things flow as expected was pleasant.

‘Since his lover died, it’s only natural that Kim Gi-hong would desperately try to find the culprit.’

Nam Dong-il and Kim Gi-hong were lovers, despite both being men.

Choi Seong-min, who had known this fact since before his possession, had anticipated when he killed Nam Dong-il.

That Kim Gi-hong would track him down.

‘Seeing that he came all the way to my house, he must consider me a prime suspect.’

But since there was no evidence and only circumstantial suspicion, he wouldn’t try to take revenge immediately.

‘But if evidence emerges? Then he’ll definitely try to kill me by any means necessary.’

When that time comes, Kim Gi-hong definitely won’t move alone.

‘His trait is one that becomes more advantageous the more hunters there are.’

And Choi Seong-min knew well who Kim Gi-hong would ask for help.

‘Obviously it’ll be the E-rank hunters he’s been lending equipment to.’

Kim Gi-hong had been receiving under-the-table money from E-rank hunters who worked as gangsters, lending them equipment.

The gangster hunters used that equipment to commit all sorts of evil deeds.

‘He lent it to them knowing full well what they were doing.’

In the end, Kim Gi-hong was the same kind of trash as those gangster hunters.

‘Of course, the Association doesn’t know about this.’

If the Association found out about equipment being diverted from the armory, Kim Gi-hong would face death that very day.

‘Birds of a feather flock together. He and Nam Dong-il were a perfect match.’

It would be interesting to eliminate Kim Gi-hong by reporting him to the Association.

‘But I can’t give prey I’ve been targeting since before possession to someone else.’

Actually, Choi Seong-min wasn’t planning to kill only Kim Gi-hong.

‘If I was going to kill him, I would have done it just now.’

He planned to use Kim Gi-hong to gather all the prey together and then kill them all.

‘For that to happen, Kim Gi-hong needs to come charging at me for revenge…’

Choi Seong-min looked through his inventory.

He smiled as he looked at the items he had saved for this moment.

‘First, let me think. Where will Kim Gi-hong go now?’

He probably wouldn’t give up and would continue investigating him.

‘Right, he’ll go there.’

Choi Seong-min immediately made a phone call.

To Instructor Park Chang-seok, who was said to be Yang Jo-young’s close associate.

* * *

‘How the hell did that bastard become E-rank in just one week? With an F-rank trait?’

Ever since Choi Seong-min graduated from the training camp in one week, Gwang-jin had been busy cursing him.

His pride was hurt.

‘Damn it, I need to get out of this shitty place quickly too…’

But unlike Choi Seong-min, Gwang-jin’s combat power was far from sufficient for discharge.

‘I just passed 400, so I have about 2,600 left to go?’

He sighed but didn’t give up.

‘If that bastard with an F-rank trait could do it, why can’t I?’

His pride wouldn’t allow him to give up like this.

“Trainee Gwang-jin!”

“Yes sir!”

Gwang-jin was startled by the call from the tiger instructor Park Chang-seok.

“You have a visitor. Come out.”

“What?”

Though confused, Gwang-jin followed the instructor to the visitation room.

‘Who could it be? I thought commoners couldn’t visit?’

Visitation requests to the training camp were only possible from merchant class and above.

So it couldn’t be his family, who were commoners.

The moment Gwang-jin entered the visitation room with a curious expression.

“Hello?”

“Huh?”

He came face to face with the person he least wanted to see.

It was Choi Seong-min.

“Have you been well?”

“You were the one who came to visit?”

“Yeah, I’m not a commoner anymore, you know.”

Seeing him grinning made jealousy and anger boil up inside him.

‘That bastard looks like he’s living the good life.’

Normally he would have said such things out loud, but Gwang-jin kept it to himself.

Not only was the other person higher in rank than him, but he had experienced Choi Seong-min’s temperament several times.

After Gwang-jin calmed his boiling insides, he spoke curtly.

“What are you doing here?”

“‘You’? Don’t you use honorifics? How dare a commoner…”

When he suddenly became serious and angry, Gwang-jin was flustered.

“Hey, why, why are you like that? We’re friends…”

“Just because we’re friends means you can ignore social status and speak casually? Use honorifics right now!”

“…”

Just as Gwang-jin was genuinely panicking, Choi Seong-min grinned.

“Hehe, it’s a joke. Why are you so tense?”

“Ah, you son of a…”

“Son of a?”

At Choi Seong-min’s steady stare, Gwang-jin quickly shut his mouth.

“What were you about to say?”

“Do you have a ten-won coin I could borrow?”

“Why do you suddenly need ten won?”

“It’s… nothing. Anyway, I never thought you’d come visit me.”

“We’re friends, so visiting is natural, isn’t it?”

‘Friends, my ass, you bastard.’

Gwang-jin had never once thought of Choi Seong-min as a friend.

He might have thought of him as a good stress reliever, but not a friend.

Of course, now he couldn’t treat him lightly.

“I wanted to graduate together with you if possible, but I’m sorry I came out alone.”

“Are you mocking me now? Did you come to brag?”

“No, I’m serious. I was thinking of finding a team together and going hunting. Though I’ve already found a team now.”

“You found one? Is it a famous team?”

“It’s called Team Crush, a team organized by Hunter Yang Jo-young.”

“Hey, Hunter Yang Jo-young?”

Gwang-jin, who knew that Yang Jo-young was the overall supervisor of the training camp, couldn’t close his mouth in surprise.

‘Was that why Hunter Yang Jo-young called him before? To recruit him as a team member?’

With eyes mixed with envy and jealousy, Gwang-jin pouted.

“You really did come to brag.”

“No. Actually, I came to thank you.”

“Thank me?”

Gwang-jin asked back at the unexpected words.

“What do you have to thank me for? What help was I to you?”

“You were helpful. Seeing you work hard during training motivated me to try harder too. As a result, I was able to reach E-rank in just one week.”

“…”

Gwang-jin reflected on himself.

‘Did I really work that hard?’

He definitely seemed to have trained hard to beat Choi Seong-min.

“Ahem, I guess I helped more than I thought. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have been able to reach E-rank in one week, right?”

“That’s right. So I brought a gift as a token of gratitude.”

“Even a gift?”

Choi Seong-min took something out of his inventory.

It was a longsword with a sharp blade that looked good at first glance.

Gwang-jin, who received the longsword, was surprised when he saw the information window.

“Th-this is an E-rank weapon!”

“Yeah. As you know, I use daggers, so I don’t need it. Use it when you become E-rank and graduate later. It’s quite a good sword.”

‘If you don’t need it, you could sell it. Why give it to me?’

Though prices had fallen since the dungeons opened, selling it would bring at least several million won.

Whether Gwang-jin looked at him with suspicious eyes or not, Choi Seong-min took out more equipment.

“Use this too. It’s E-rank armor, but I don’t need it.”

‘Did you eat something wrong?’

Gwang-jin wanted to ask that, but decided to keep it to himself.

There was no reason to refuse when he was giving it for free.

‘Does this guy not know market prices? Items worth hundreds of thousands when sold…’

Looking at Choi Seong-min like he was a sucker was only momentary.

Greed flickered in Gwang-jin’s eyes.

“Since you’re giving them, I’ll gratefully accept.”

“Hehe, good.”

Though it seemed suspicious that he was giving them so readily, Gwang-jin didn’t care about such things.

“Well, I’ll be going now.”

After that, Choi Seong-min disappeared like the wind.

“What’s with that guy?”

The complaint was brief, as Gwang-jin, who had stored the items in his inventory, grinned.

“Stupid bastard, giving away these expensive items for free.”

But Gwang-jin didn’t know.

That he was being used by Choi Seong-min.