GM Ch78

Park Gyuyoung cursed as he saw the photos and videos of Soohyuk and Minjun plastered all over the HunterNet and major community boards. Seeing those two annoying people together made his stomach churn. The comments praising them only added to his irritation.

He almost typed a comment saying, “I know what those bastards are really like, they’re just bullies,” but then remembered the chief’s warning to be careful with his words. Frustrated, Park Gyuyoung closed the browser and picked up his phone. He ordered a few more bottles of the medicine via message and smirked slyly.

The medicine recommended by a close friend was incredibly effective. If he kept drinking it, becoming an A-class would just be a matter of time. Once that happened, beating up a C-class in secret would be easy.

“Fuckin’ expensive.”

Lost in his sinister thoughts, Park Gyuyoung snapped back to reality when he saw the price in the message. The cost of the medicine was draining his bank account. He could ask his family for money, but he didn’t want to deal with his strict mother.

Park Gyuyoung pondered how to easily get some money.

The third person was Joo Myunghwan, the guild leader of the Ace Guild.

During the opening ceremony, Joo Myunghwan wore a friendly smile, but inside, he was cursing. After the event, as he returned to the guild, his face hardened like ice.

“Damn it.”

It was a situation that made him curse involuntarily. The driver holding the steering wheel flinched in surprise, but Joo Myunghwan didn’t have the luxury to care about that.

Ten days had passed since the Poison Jar Dungeon closed, and the related issues were no longer mentioned. However, Joo Myunghwan’s situation was deteriorating by the minute.

He barely managed to keep the official announcement from mentioning the assassin’s intrusion into the dungeon. But those in the know were fully aware of the incident’s truth. People openly questioned what kind of grudge he had to attract a foreign assassin. The reputation he had painstakingly built plummeted.

That wasn’t all. With the closure of the Poison Jar Dungeon, which had connections with the military, rumors spread that there would be no new contracts. The defense shield business related to military facilities was a major part of the Ace Guild, so it was a significant issue.

Bad rumors quickly turned into distrust. When two major investors, feeling uneasy, pulled out, the stock prices fluctuated. Compared to before the Poison Jar Dungeon’s closure, the stock chart had dropped nearly 30%.

All of this happened within ten days. Joo Myunghwan had no idea where to start fixing things.

Attending the opening ceremony of the Kim Minjun Memorial Hall was for various reasons. Partly because he had exploited his connection with Kim Minjun, and partly to show he was still going strong.

But then Yoon Soohyuk said to his face that he couldn’t work with him anymore. He said it lightly, as if joking, claiming it was too dangerous. But it was obvious how people would take it.

Joo Myunghwan didn’t storm out of the event immediately. He endured with a smiling face until the end. But watching the smug Yoon Soohyuk made his insides boil. If the other person hadn’t been an S-class hunter, he would have punched him in the face.

As he ground his teeth in frustration, the car arrived in front of a luxury villa. With no evening plans, Joo Myunghwan went straight inside and reached for a drink. Holding a glass of whiskey, he turned on the TV, only to see Yoon Soohyuk and Kim Minjun side by side on the screen.

“Damn it.”

Unable to contain his rising anger, Joo Myunghwan hurled the glass with all his might. It crashed into the TV, leaving a large hole, but his fury remained unabated.

Everything that happened inside the Poison Jar Dungeon was a series of unfortunate events. Beating up illegal dungeon intruders to find out who was behind them was common. But no one could have predicted that the intruder would explode, a mysterious monster would appear, and then the dungeon would close due to the monster’s explosion.

Joo Myunghwan felt wronged and resentful that he was the only one being blamed. Seeing Yoon Soohyuk basking in the spotlight only twisted his insides further.

Facing an S-class hunter head-on was foolish. Curses weren’t all-powerful. Especially against high-ranking hunters, the success rate was so low that it could backfire on him.

He learned that the hard way when he once cursed Kim Minjun, an S-class hunter, and nearly died. Kim Minjun had resisted the curse. Back then, he had used a straw doll as a sacrifice, but it wasn’t enough to block the curse of death. Joo Myunghwan collapsed from a heart attack and barely survived.

After that harsh lesson, he became more cautious. He prepared living sacrifices and avoided targeting high-ranking hunters.

So, instead of venting his anger on Yoon Soohyuk, he cast the One-Eyed Curse on Kim Minjun, who was rumored to be precious to Yoon Soohyuk. He wanted to laugh at the sight of one of Kim Minjun’s eyes bursting and ruining his handsome face.

But contrary to his expectations, the curse didn’t work. It even backfired. If he hadn’t prepared a sacrifice in advance, he would have been the one affected.

He couldn’t figure out what kind of trick was used. Maybe there was a rare item involved, or perhaps he had received a blessing since he was known to handle spirits.

“A mere C-class bastard.”

Letting it go like this was a matter of pride. He just needed to cast a stronger curse instead of something trivial like the One-Eyed Curse.

He had to properly ruin something Yoon Soohyuk cherished.

Joo Myunghwan picked up his phone. First, he needed to secure a suitable sacrifice just in case.

***

《The Secret Garden of Six Months》

[Chat] Did anyone just watch the 6 o’clock news?

Who’s that cute person next to 6S?

Anyone know?

└Our guild’s new hunter

└The youngest hunter in Team 1

└A hunter who handles spirits

└ hunter KMJ

└A relative from 6S’s aunt’s in-law’s side

[Chat] It’s the first time I’ve seen someone standing next to 6S and not looking like a squid

I remember taking a group photo with 6S in the past and ending up looking like a loser

└I turned into a squid too

└It’s better to admire handsome people from afar

└6S is a squid maker

[Chat] The broadcasting station folks must be crazy

(picture)

(link)

(link)

(link)

There are tons of videos with close-up shots of 6S (+the youngest)

└He really is handsome.

└Both of them look amazing in their guild uniforms.

└Isn’t 6S telling the rookie to look at the camera?

└The rookie looks confused.

└Seems like he didn’t notice the camera.

[Chat]

[Chat] Why was the post above deleted?

Why?

└Spreading rumors.

└Violation of guidelines.

└No unconfirmed dating rumors.

└They quickly block personal rumors.

└Is there a monitoring team?

└There’s a board administrator.

[Chat] The head of the PR team left work on time with a smile today.

The entire PR team left on time today.

└Don’t let your guard down.

└Stay alert.

└Why are you lying, guys?ㅠㅠ

└It’s 6S, after all.

[Chat] Let’s just post pictures of handsome guys.

(picture)(picture)(picture)(picture)(picture)(picture)(picture)

Handsome men save the world.

└(picture)

└(picture)

└(picture)

└Did you take these yourself?

└Yeah.

└Post some pictures of the rookie too.

└(picture)

└(picture)

***

The day after the event.

The dungeon raids with Soohyuk were still ongoing. Today, Minjun had cleared all the dungeons that were auctioned off under Soohyuk’s other identity, Yoon Junmin, by the morning and had come for lunch.

The menu was tofu stew and tofu bossam.

The food hadn’t arrived yet. Soohyuk, sitting across from him, was looking at his phone, saying he had received an urgent email. Minjun watched him, lost in thought.

They say you see as much as you know.

Having been with the June Guild for about a month, Minjun was still a newcomer. He knew less about the guild than he didn’t know.

Most hunters worked in teams and were often out on fieldwork, so even if he ran into them in the elevator, he often didn’t know who they were. He had gotten to know the faces of the staff working in the guild’s cafeteria more quickly.

So when Park Hanyoung told him about a secret board within the guild and gave him the address, he was secretly surprised. He suspected it might be a place for dangerous transactions since it was said to be anonymous.

Contrary to his concerns, the secret board was mostly filled with casual chatter. More precisely, there were overwhelmingly more posts related to the guild leader, Yoon Soohyuk. The people using the secret board seemed to be somewhere between fans and stalkers of Yoon Soohyuk.

After checking a post filled with captured photos of Soohyuk, Minjun candidly told Park Hanyoung that all the users seemed to be fans of Soohyuk.

Park Hanyoung laughed and agreed.

“They’re probably fans. You know, our guild leader has that kind of charisma. The office staff I know say it’s fun to be a fan because he’s the strongest hunter in South Korea.”

Eating sushi, Minjun nodded in agreement with Park Hanyoung’s words. No wonder they only used polite language; it was because it was a place where fans gathered. If the strongest hunter was on your side, you’d want to boast about it somewhere. Plus, with a handsome face, it was the perfect combination.

At the time, he just thought, “Oh, I see,” and moved on. But now, facing the person in question directly, he felt a bit strange.

He wondered if Soohyuk was aware of the secret board’s existence. Even though he seemed indifferent, he was meticulous, so he probably knew about it.

Soohyuk looked up from his phone and asked with a smile. He was curious about the makgeolli, even though he usually didn’t drink.

“Makgeolli?”

“You were curious about the homemade makgeolli they sell, weren’t you?”

“That was just because it caught my eye on the menu.”

“Then what else is there to say? That’s why you kept looking, right?”

Minjun realized his mistake. He had been staring while lost in thought. He considered making up an excuse but decided to be honest, just in case.

“I was lost in thought, guild leader. Do you happen to know about the secret board in our guild? The anonymous one.”

“Yeah, I know. I was the one who suggested creating it.”

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