GM Ch80

“Alright. I’ll do it.”

“You won’t regret it. I’ll talk to the head of PR.”

Soohyuk beamed with such delight that Minjun couldn’t help but smile along with him. He felt like he’d been swayed by a smooth talker, but seeing Soohyuk happy made it worthwhile.

***

“Head of PR. Ha Jongwook. Nice to meet you, hunter Kim Minjun.”

Ha Jongwook, who greeted Minjun with a bright smile and extended his hand for a handshake, was a man with a strong face. He was tall and well-built.

Soohyuk’s ability to take action was astonishingly fast. Right after lunch, he contacted the head of PR and set up a meeting.

Minjun, with a piece of night bread in his mouth, was led by Soohyuk to the guild. His confusion was brief. Before he knew it, he was in the guild’s meeting room, meeting the head of PR.

Ha Jongwook was a competent person. As soon as he shook hands and took a seat, he smoothly got to the point. The guild magazine was published quarterly, and the cover for the March issue was already shot. He suggested that Minjun be the cover model for the June issue.

“What concept should we go with?”

“Concept?”

“How about a pure-hearted guy who seems like he could be anywhere but isn’t right next to you?”

Minjun had no idea what Ha Jongwook was talking about. As he widened his eyes in confusion, Soohyuk, sitting next to him, laughed and interjected.

“That won’t work. Our hunter Kim Minjun can’t pull that off.”

“Really?”

“Hunter Kim Minjun is like Team Leader Choi Yohan. He’s a tough guy.”

“Oh… That’s a really trendy rom-com male lead role.”

Minjun was bewildered by the cryptic conversation between Yoon Soohyuk and Ha Jongwook. It seemed like “tough guy” referred to a personality, but he couldn’t make sense of the rest.

Eventually, Minjun quietly asked Soohyuk, who was sitting next to him.

“Guild leader? What are they talking about?”

“Oh, this? They’re figuring out how to present you. If we show the real Kim Minjun hunter as is, it might be tough later. You need to be wrapped up nicely for public display, for safety’s sake.”

Only then did Minjun start to understand what Soohyuk meant. It was about not showing everything as it is and acting a bit.

“Wasn’t it just about taking photos and doing an interview?”

Minjun asked, just in case. He couldn’t understand why he needed to be packaged when it was supposed to be just a cover photo and a simple interview.

“We have to choose the interview questions. The PR team will refine your answers too.”

“Oh, this will proceed as hunter Kim Minjun wishes. Depending on the hunters’ requests, we might just correct typos and awkward sentences, or the PR team might write the answers entirely.”

At Soohyuk’s signal, Ha Jongwook quickly added an explanation. Minjun nodded. It seemed right to package things appropriately, even if it wasn’t strictly an interview.

“I was initially a ‘chadonam’.'”

“…You mean a cold city man?”

Minjun was familiar with the term “chadonam” because it was so famous. It suited a man who looked stern when he kept his mouth shut. However, Soohyuk’s nickname was “the handsome lunatic.” There were plenty of comments about his good looks, but Minjun had never seen the term “chadonam” associated with him.

“I was supposed to be a ‘chadonam’ who was warm only to my people, but that didn’t work out, did it?”

“Yes, it failed.”

Ha Jongwook replied dejectedly. After joining the June Guild, Ha Jongwook had put a lot of effort into crafting Yoon Soohyuk’s image. S-class hunters were practically celebrities. They were high-profile brands in themselves, so a lot of effort was put into it.

Yoon Soohyuk, who became an S-class hunter at the age of twenty, was a rare, dazzling, and cold-looking handsome man. Ha Jongwook had tried to highlight Soohyuk’s beauty but ended up frustrated. The “chadonam” image was a stretch for Yoon Soohyuk, who smiled brightly and casually made bold remarks.

“I did my best to speak bluntly. I gave our PR team leader a lot of headaches. I should do better this time, right?”

“Do you have any suggestions, hunter Kim Minjun?”

At Ha Jongwook’s question, Minjun pondered for a moment. Neither the “pure-hearted guy” nor the “cold city guy” suited him.

“Uh… how about a mysterious persona? I don’t have any memories, so there’s nothing personal to reveal. I’m not confident in acting either. So, I think it would be better to keep things hidden.”

Minjun mentioned something he had thought about before. If he couldn’t live a quiet retired life, it seemed best to hide what he could and reveal as little as possible.

When he asked for their opinion, both Ha Jongwook and Soohyuk looked at him with sympathetic eyes. Ha Jongwook, being professional, quickly managed his expression. However, Soohyuk couldn’t hide his pity.

“Oh, not having memories is fine. I just want to avoid the hassle.”

Minjun added, reassuring them. Since he was pretending not to have memories to hide his identity, it wasn’t difficult.

But Ha Jongwook’s eyebrows drooped again. Soohyuk, sitting beside him, reached out and patted his head.

“Alright. Let’s go with the mysterious persona.”

“Let’s do the mysterious persona.”

Minjun, hearing the tone used for a child with a story, seriously considered revealing his identity for the first time since returning to Earth.

No, that’s not it. I’m really okay.

***

After coordinating his schedule with the PR team leader, Minjun went into the dungeon that the guild had arranged with Soohyuk. After finishing the D-class dungeon raid, he had dinner at the guild’s cafeteria, and returned to the dormitory when it was past 8 o’clock.

“Just a little more…”

Minjun took off his shoes, opened the entrance door, and entered the room, calculating that the 99th dungeon boss raid was not far away. Just then, he hesitated.

The hallway light turned on automatically, but the inside of the dormitory was pitch black without a single light. With the light coming in from outside and the hunter’s vision added together, it wasn’t hard to see the silhouettes of objects. The inside looked no different than when he left in the morning.

However, Minjun instinctively felt something. There was something here.

“You’re sensitive.”

Minjun froze at the low muttering. He realised there really was someone here, and at the same time, he was surprised that it was a familiar voice.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to do anything.”

“Uh… Guild leader Seo Wooju?”

Minjun called out the name of the owner of the voice he knew.

“Yeah. Turn on the light.”

“Okay.”

At Seo Wooju’s words, Minjun didn’t think of running away and instead pressed the switch to turn on the living room’s fluorescent light. In one corner of the living room stood a large shadowy mass.

Having been through a lot in another world, Minjun quickly realized it wasn’t a ghost but an item skill. It could either transmit a voice or allow a person or object to pass through.

Since he wasn’t a mage, he couldn’t distinguish between the two. However, he was certain that the voice’s owner was Seo Wooju.

“Hold on. I’m coming over. Don’t be too surprised.”

From beyond the black mass, fingers, a hand, and then an arm emerged one after the other. Soon, Seo Wooju revealed himself.

Once his body was completely out, the black mass vanished as if it had never been there.

“This is a one-way trip.”

Minjun quietly observed Seo Wooju, who explained with a calm expression. He couldn’t understand why Wooju had appeared like this.

The Seo Wooju he knew was a stickler for principles, to the point of being frustrating. He insisted that the greater the power, the greater the responsibility, and he kept S-class hunters in check. Yet, he wasn’t inflexible. If he deemed there was no other way, he would act decisively, even if it meant facing criticism. That’s why S-class hunters trusted and followed him.

For such a person to suddenly intrude into another guild’s dormitory, and into a hunter’s private quarters at that, using an item, was no ordinary matter.

Isn’t the curse master Joo Myunghwan? What’s going on? Could Wooju be backing the curse master? No way.

His mind raced in that brief moment. As a tense Minjun cautiously took a step back, Seo Wooju smiled.

“Hunter Kim Minjun. No, Minjun. I know who you are.”

“…What?”

Minjun responded in a deflated voice, almost involuntarily.

“Your appearance has changed. You look so young.”

“Excuse me?”

“One of my passive skills lets me recognize souls. There’s no way the skill is wrong.”

“Oh…”

The types of system skills were countless, almost impossible to tally. While Earth wasn’t aware of them yet, there were several soul-related skills in the other world.

Minjun’s mind, shocked and malfunctioning, slowly reached a conclusion.

Seo Wooju had recognized his true identity.

Minjun’s eyes widened at the unexpected revelation.

“Surprised?”

“Yes…”

“I’m surprised too. To see you like this. What on earth happened?”

The bewilderment hadn’t faded. Since returning to Earth, he had never considered that someone might discover his true identity.

For starters, his appearance had changed. While it resembled his past self, his height and build were entirely different. Even his DNA didn’t match.

He thought no one would believe him if he claimed to be “that Kim Minjun.” Yet, Seo Wooju had recognized him.

It felt strange. A part of his heart fluttered and then grew heavy.

“It’s a long story…”

“Take your time. We have plenty of it.”

At Seo Wooju’s kind words, Minjun took a deep breath. As Wooju said, they had plenty of time. So, it was only right to start with a proper greeting.

“Long time no see, Wooju hyung.”

“Yeah, it’s been a while.”

Seo Wooju, momentarily surprised, returned the greeting with a smile. Only now did Minjun truly feel like he had returned to Korea.

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