Chapter 248 – Kidnapped Girlfriend

‘Why the hell is this b*st*rd calling me?’

Min Do-jun tilted his head in confusion at Adam’s call.

“What’s the matter? Calling to beg for your life one last time before you die?”

-Heh heh, listen to you running your mouth.

“Judging by the way you’re talking, it seems like you’re asking me to kill you quickly. Just wait a bit. I’ll come for you when the time is right.”

-Seeing how confidently you say you’ll come for me, I guess you really can track my location?

“If you know that, you should be running until your feet sweat.”

-Hmm, you’re quite full of confidence, aren’t you?

“And you? You should be begging for your life, yet what are you trying to do right now?”

Min Do-jun didn’t like Adam’s confident tone.

“Are you calling to confess before you die anyway?”

-Heh heh, of course not. I called to give you news that you’ll be very happy to hear.

“News that will make me happy?”

-My subordinate just kidnapped your girlfriend.

“What?”

-How about that? Aren’t you happy? I’ve taken care of that useless, bothersome girlfriend of yours for you.

“……”

Min Do-jun was dumbfounded by the absurd claim that his girlfriend had been kidnapped.

“What are you talking about? I don’t even have a girlfriend…”

-Heh heh, there’s no use pretending. Did you think I wouldn’t know? That your girlfriend visited your guild?

‘What…?’

Min Do-jun was so shocked he couldn’t say anything.

-Heh heh, judging by your silence, you must be quite surprised.

“……”

-So even the great Min Do-jun has a weakness. The plan to kidnap your girlfriend was truly a stroke of genius.

“…Stop talking nonsense. You seem to be mistaken about something. The person you kidnapped is not my girlfriend.”

-Oh, is that so? Then it wouldn’t matter if I killed her, right?

“……”

-If you thought pretending she’s not your girlfriend would make me release her, that kind of bluffing won’t work on me.

‘F*ck.’ Min Do-jun clenched his fist.

“…So? What do you want?”

-First, get to Jeju Island within three hours. I’ll tell you the exact location after that.

“What proof do you have that you kidnapped my girlfriend?”

-I’ll show you that too via video call when you arrive at Jeju Island.

“How can I trust your word?”

-Don’t believe me if you don’t want to. I have nothing to lose.

“……”

-Just know that if you don’t arrive within the time limit, you’ll never see your girlfriend again. Kuk kuk.

The call ended there.

“Damn it all!”

Min Do-jun lost his temper in a way that was unlike him.

It wasn’t because he was angry about being threatened.

It was anger at himself for failing to protect Cha Ye-rin.

‘This is exactly why I’ve been avoiding Ye-rin all this time…!’

Just once.

He never imagined something like this would happen because Cha Ye-rin visited the guild that one time.

‘How did that b*st*rd find out about my relationship with Ye-rin? Did he just assume she was my girlfriend?’

That didn’t matter now.

What mattered was the fact that Cha Ye-rin had been kidnapped.

‘No, wait. Maybe it’s not her. Maybe he’s mistaken about who my girlfriend is.’

Hoping desperately that was the case, Min Do-jun drove somewhere.

He needed to confirm whether Cha Ye-rin had really been kidnapped.

‘Here it is.’

Min Do-jun arrived at a residential area in Seoul.

It was Cha Ye-rin’s house.

‘If my memory is correct, she should still be living here with her family.’

Judging by the high school nearby that she attended, the location was definitely right.

Ding dong-

Min Do-jun immediately rang the doorbell.

He hoped someone would answer, but there was no response.

‘There’s no one showing up on my Presence Detection either.’

The house seemed to be empty.

‘Come to think of it, everyone would be at work or school at this hour, right?’

It was 3 PM on a weekday, so of course no one would be home.

‘Should I go to her school? No, we might miss each other that way.’

In the end, Min Do-jun decided to wait for Cha Ye-rin in front of her house.

‘She should be coming home from school soon.’

But even after one hour, then two hours, she didn’t appear.

‘School should have ended a while ago. What’s going on? Was she really kidnapped…?’

Anxiety began to creep into a corner of his mind.

He had kept his distance all this time to protect her.

But now, when he needed to know where she was, it was agonizing not to know.

‘I should have memorized her scent when she came to the guild…’

If he had done that, he wouldn’t be feeling this anxious about not knowing her location.

‘The promised three hours are almost up.’

It was too late now to make it to Jeju Island within the time limit.

Of course, if he rode the Ghost Wolf instead of taking a plane, that would be a different story.

‘What’s going on? Why isn’t she coming?’

Just as he was worrying, a car parked in front of the house.

“Huh? Hunter Min Do-jun?”

The person who got out of the car was his brother-in-law, Cha Seung-hoon.

“What are you doing here?”

“Bro… I mean, Mr. Cha Seung-hoon. Where is your sister?”

“My sister?”

“Yes. Where is Cha Ye-rin?”

“She’s not home yet? It’s past her usual time…”

Min Do-jun frowned at Cha Seung-hoon’s questioning response.

His ominous premonition had become reality.

‘Ah… So Ye-rin really was kidnapped…’

Unaware of Min Do-jun’s inner turmoil, Cha Seung-hoon asked casually.

“By the way, what business do you have with my sister? Coming all the way to our house…”

“That’s not important right now.”

“Huh? Then what is?”

“If you call your sister, you’ll know…”

“Oppa!”

Min Do-jun turned his head at the familiar voice.

‘Ye-rin?’

Cha Ye-rin, whom he thought had been kidnapped, was walking toward them in her school uniform.

“You’re home now?”

“Oppa, what’s going on? Is this that person from before…?”

She bowed to Min Do-jun when she saw him.

“Hello.”

Meanwhile, Min Do-jun just stared at her, dumbfounded.

Until just a moment ago, he had been certain she was kidnapped.

After coming to his senses, Min Do-jun looked at Cha Seung-hoon.

“What’s going on? You just said she was late.”

“Huh? Ah… She was late, but only by about 10 minutes.”

“……”

Ignoring Min Do-jun’s exasperation, Cha Seung-hoon asked his sister.

“You’re a bit late today?”

“I was talking with a friend from academy.”

“Academy?”

Cha Seung-hoon answered Min Do-jun’s question.

“Ye-rin has been attending an academy to get her guild manager certification.”

“Ah…”

Min Do-jun belatedly remembered.

‘That’s right, Ye-rin had that certification.’

Having a guild manager certification makes it easier to get hired at the Hunter Management Center.

‘She said she wanted to work at the same branch as her brother to take care of him.’

Because of his anxiety about her possibly being kidnapped, he hadn’t thought about her attending an academy at this time.

“But oppa, what’s going on? Why are you talking with the Guild Master? Are you joining Guardian Guild?”

“No, it’s not that. I just happened to run into Hunter Min Do-jun.”

“You just happened to run into him? In front of our house?”

“Yeah. He was looking for you.”

“For me?”

Cha Ye-rin looked at Min Do-jun with surprise.

“What do you need from me?”

“It’s nothing important. By the way, Mr. Cha Seung-hoon.”

“Yes?”

Min Do-jun deliberately changed the subject.

“You haven’t found a guild yet, I see?”

“Ah, no.”

“I see. Alright then, I’ll be going now.”

With just those words, Min Do-jun returned to his car.

Now that he had confirmed Cha Ye-rin’s safety, he had no more business here.

Vroom-

Watching the car drive away, Cha Ye-rin muttered with a bewildered expression.

“Did he really come all the way to our house just to ask that?”

“I don’t know…”

Cha Seung-hoon was equally confused about the situation.

“By the way, Ye-rin.”

“Yes?”

“Have you ever told Hunter Min Do-jun your name?”

“No.”

“Then how did he know your name? And our house address…”

“……”

It was puzzling in many ways.

* * *

‘The kidnapped person wasn’t Ye-rin.’

Min Do-jun’s expression brightened considerably.

If Cha Ye-rin had really been kidnapped, he might never have forgiven himself.

‘In case something like this happens again, I should at least memorize their scents.’

Min Do-jun instructed the Ghost Wolf to remember both of their scents.

It was something he should have done when he first met them.

‘Keeping my distance isn’t always the best approach.’

The anxiety subsided as he realized he could now track his brother-in-law and Cha Ye-rin whenever needed.

‘Ye-rin is safe. Then who is this girlfriend they supposedly kidnapped?’

Just then, Min Do-jun’s phone rang.

It was Adam.

-The promised three hours are up. Min Do-jun. Have you arrived at Jeju Island?

Although he hadn’t even departed yet, Min Do-jun calmly lied.

“Yes. I just arrived.”

-Good. Then I’ll tell you where your girlfriend is.

The call ended, and shortly after, a video call came in from a different number.

As soon as he answered, he saw a man shouting in Chinese.

“Stop crying and look here, you b*tch!”

“Sob, sob, please let me go. Please…”

A woman with her hands tied raised her face while kneeling.

‘Guild Master Hong Se-yeon?’

The captive was none other than Hong Se-yeon, the Guild Master of White Lotus Guild.

‘The kidnapped girlfriend was Se-yeon?’

Come to think of it, the sales manager from Overlord Guild had visited him early one morning before.

‘He must have misunderstood when he saw Se-yeon with me and reported it to Adam.’

He had told them to keep quiet to avoid rumors, but it seems they reported it directly to their guild master.

‘Damn it. Se-yeon got caught because of me…’

The Chinese man adjusted the angle of the phone with a sinister smile.

Hong Se-yeon’s eyelids were swollen red from crying.

After showing Hong Se-yeon, the Chinese man turned the phone around to show the surroundings without saying anything.

‘Is he showing me the location?’

It looked like they were on a mountaintop, with trees and bushes visible, and the sea in the distance.

After showing the background, the video call ended.

A moment later, Adam called again.

-Have you confirmed your girlfriend’s condition?

Although Adam was mistaking Hong Se-yeon for his girlfriend, Min Do-jun didn’t correct him.

‘If he finds out she’s not my girlfriend, he’ll realize she’s useless and kill her immediately.’

Min Do-jun asked in a voice that was barely containing his anger.

“You b*st*rd… You haven’t done anything strange to Se-yeon, have you?”

-Strange? Like rape? Is that what you want me to do? Just say the word. I can order it right now.

“……”

-Kuk kuk, don’t be so scared. I haven’t touched your woman. I only ordered her kidnapping. Well, what happens next depends on how you behave.

“What do you want?”

-My subordinate should have shown you the location. It’s a place called Sanbangsan in Jeju Island. When you meet my subordinate at the summit, call me again. Then I’ll tell you what to do.

“Is that all?”

-Yes. And I wouldn’t think about ambushing my subordinate if I were you. If you do, he’ll immediately disappear with your girlfriend via teleport. Besides, he’s wearing legendary items, so you can’t kill him in one hit anyway.

“…Alright. I won’t do anything unnecessary.”

-Kuk kuk, good, good. That’s how a good adult should behave.

The call ended with Adam’s satisfied laughter.

But the one who really wanted to laugh was Min Do-jun.

‘I think I understand why he called me here.’

Not only had he figured out Adam’s plan, but he was also about to meet the Chinese twin hunters he had been looking for.

‘If I can just memorize the Chinese twins’ scent, I’ll have cut off his remaining escape route.’

If he killed one twin from each team-the Chinese team and the American team-Adam would have no way to escape.

‘He probably plans to push me off a cliff to kill me, but it won’t be that easy.’

Min Do-jun mounted the Ghost Wolf, whose cooldown had reset.

‘Se-yeon, please wait. I’ll rescue you soon.’

Jeju Island was quite far, but with the Ghost Wolf, he could arrive in 10 minutes.

‘Let’s go, Awoo. To Jeju Island.’

[Growl!]

Min Do-jun disappeared in the blink of an eye.