GM Ch85

Minjun, following the advice he received, decided not to unfold the old, mud-stained cloth bundle. Instead, he summoned the fire spirit.

The fire spirit, which appeared in the form of a red lizard, also stiffened its body, showing its reluctance.

『Burn it.』

【Burn it?】

『Yeah.』

Understanding Minjun’s intention perfectly, the fire spirit focused its flame on a single point. The small flame, with an immense temperature, instantly charred whatever the old cloth had been covering.

Not being a curse practitioner, Minjun couldn’t tell what had happened to the bundle of burnt cloth. He felt as if some unpleasant energy was dissipating into the sky with the smoke, but he wasn’t sure.

After briefly glancing up at the dark sky, Minjun called up his status window. It was better to see with his own eyes than to rely on a feeling.

“Ha.”

Minjun let out a small sigh. Finally, the curse “Existence Dilution” had disappeared from his status window. He felt more moved now than when he had regained his rank.

Returning from the other world had all been for this moment. Now, he no longer had to worry about dying because of that wretched curse.

However, something strange appeared in the place where “Existence Dilution” had vanished.

In place of “Existence Dilution,” something called “Curse Embodiment” had appeared. Curious about what it was, Minjun read the detailed description and swallowed a sigh.

He had removed a large leech, only to have a smaller one latch on.

Having suffered from curses for a long time, Minjun had studied them diligently. He knew that prolonged exposure to curses could lower various resistances. The drop in curse resistance after the curse was lifted was a kind of side effect. It was a relief that it would be lifted in 99 days without any special conditions.

Still, the fact that he couldn’t be entirely happy was bothersome.

【Burned, burned, Apple burned it.】

The fire spirit, which had charred the target to a crisp, spun in place before leaping onto Minjun. As soon as it landed on his shoulder, it quickly clung to his cheek. The earth spirit, watching blankly, also jumped up to settle on Minjun’s shoulder, wrapping its tail around his neck and rubbing its face against his cheek.

【The filth is gone.】

【Minjun has gotten stronger.】

Spirits were generally quiet, expressing their intentions through actions instead. Being so familiar with their contractor indicated a good relationship. Minjun let the spirits do as they pleased for the moment without sending them back.

Meanwhile, he pondered how to deal with the charred curse tool. He didn’t know who the curse practitioner was, but it was likely they had noticed something was amiss here.

Minjun decided to hide any evidence of human interference as much as possible. He instructed the earth spirit to return the charred curse tool to its original place. Then, he filled the crevice with mud, leaves, and pebbles.

As the earth spirit moved, the crevice returned to its original state as if nothing had happened. The spirit even erased Minjun’s footprints.

Finally, Minjun set the earth spirit to stand guard. Although it was uncertain if the curse practitioner would come here, there was a slim chance.

He was almost certain that the curse practitioner was Joo Myunghwan. Honestly, now that the curse was lifted, he didn’t want to bother with the curse practitioner anymore. But his resentment over the years was greater.

Even if he didn’t kill him, he was more than ready to give him a good beating.

“I’ll make sure to break one of his legs.”

With a menacing voice, Minjun promised himself as he leaped away from the spot.

***

After dinner, Soohyuk, who had taken Minjun back to the dormitory, headed to the guild leader’s office. Although it was well past quitting time, the building was brightly lit due to the guild’s 24-hour standby nature.

Sitting at the office desk, Soohyuk opened his laptop and logged onto a site. It was a fan site for hunter Kim Minjun called “Our Hero.” Soohyuk had invested a significant amount of money to create this fan site, which gathered various materials related to hunter Kim Minjun.

From Kim Minjun’s basic profile to photos and videos released by the media on specific dates, everything was organized. Among them was a video of hunter Kim Minjun in action during a dungeon break.

“This is it.”

Recalling his memory, Soohyuk clicked on a video. It played a scene of hunter Kim Minjun struggling to contain an A-class dungeon break.

At that time, if a building collapsed due to skill use, the hunters had to take responsibility. Perhaps because of this, hunter Kim Minjun refrained from using skills as much as possible, instead overwhelming the monsters with his sheer stats.

Occasionally, he used skills in dangerous situations. Unlike other hunters, his skills weren’t flashy. A sudden flash of light would appear where he pointed, and the monster’s head would fly off. Simultaneously, a crater would form on the ground as if a meteor had struck.

Soohyuk watched the scene of hunter Kim Minjun using his skills over and over. The footage, taken by a broadcast station camera, was clear, but the distance made both Kim Minjun and the effects of his skills appear very small.

Tilting his head, Soohyuk clicked on another video. It was from the same day as the previous one. Although not as clear as the broadcast camera, the video shot by a passerby’s phone was still of decent quality. However, the heavy zoom caused the screen to shake violently.

After watching it repeatedly, Soohyuk frowned.

“…It seems similar.”

Soohyuk had accompanied Minjun when he entered the dungeon to practice his skills after reawakening as an S-class. Minjun intended to keep his skills a secret, but Soohyuk refused to listen to him. Many hunters got injured using skills alone, and some even lost their lives, so Minjun eventually agreed.

Minjun’s combat sense was exceptional from the start. After awakening as a hunter, he practiced daily and had no trouble wielding a spear. He faced monsters without fear and used his sole attack skill effectively.

Even after becoming S-class, Minjun’s attack style hadn’t changed much. Instead of overusing his skills, he focused on confirming their power.

It was only natural that F-rank monsters in an F-rank dungeon melted like ice cream under Minjun’s skills. But what truly caught Soohyuk’s attention was Minjun’s attack skill itself.

When Minjun used his skill, shooting stars rained down from the sky, smashing the monsters and creating craters in the ground. Although the scale was different, it was very similar to the skill hunter Kim Minjun had used in the video he just watched. Additionally, the blue light-emitting explosion skill also closely resembled Kim Minjun’s.

Soohyuk had awakened on the day of the second catastrophe. Therefore, he had never seen hunter Kim Minjun use his skills firsthand. He had only witnessed Kim Minjun, who awakened on Gangbyeonbuk-ro during the first catastrophe, beating monsters with his bare hands.

So, Soohyuk couldn’t be sure.

“It seems like the same skill…”

One of the reasons he first took an interest in Minjun was because of the ‘Handful of Sunshine’ skill, which was the same as hunter Kim Minjun’s. It wasn’t uncommon for hunters to have skills with the same name, so he dismissed it as a peculiar coincidence. But now, with other skills being similar too, it seemed odd.

Soohyuk stopped pondering after a moment of hesitation. He could compare the skills when he met hunter Kim Minjun later.

More pressing was the issue of the magic tool created by Choi Euiseong failing to locate hunter Kim Minjun. It had been activated over a hundred times, yet it kept failing. This was despite confirming that the magic tool was functioning well under the supervision of S-class hunters.

“Nothing’s ever easy.”

Clicking his tongue, Soohyuk took the opportunity to handle a few tasks while seated at his desk. After reading through emails and reports, he closed his laptop.

“Hmm?”

Just as he was about to stand up, Soohyuk paused. Something moving strangely outside the window caught his eye.

From Soohyuk’s office on the 15th floor, the cityscape was visible at a glance. Through the east-facing window, part of the dormitory building could be seen.

The moment he sensed an indescribable ripple crossing the eight-lane road toward the dormitory, Soohyuk moved reflexively. He opened the office window, leaped over the railing, and gave chase.

However, in that brief moment, he completely lost the presence. Instead, he saw a half-open living room window in the middle of the dormitory silently slide open without any warning.

He quickly realized where it was. It was Minjun’s dorm room. Sure enough, a person appeared, and Soohyuk recognized the silhouette as Minjun by the light in the living room.

Without hesitation, Soohyuk jumped onto the balcony of Minjun’s dorm room.

“Minjun?”

“Huh… guild leader?”

Minjun, who was standing on the balcony without even taking off his shoes, froze like ice upon seeing Soohyuk. He had the expression of a child who had just broken a window while playing ball.

“Where have you been?”

“Just… outside for a bit.”

“Outside?”