After the party was over.
Kang Yoo-sik who testified several times for the investigation was soon excluded from it without getting entangled with it deeply.
It was thanks to the fact that he was still a cadet, but it was also because Ahn Seol-ha who coordinated with the Hunter’s Association got him out of this constructively.
“I will take care of it from here.”
As Ahn Seol-ha got involved earnestly, the small-scale guilds that worked under Kim Won-hyung as cleaners stepped up and raised charges for murder and bribery.
The stepping stone that The Noblesse Guild had been strengthening to widen their local influence was uprooted by this incident.
“I announce that this incident has no connection with The Noblesse Guild, and will do our best to find out the tru-…….”
Park Yoo-chan’s father and the leader of The Noblesse Guild, Park Jung-hoon tried to settle the situation by holding a press conference, but nothing spread widely as they had already taken care of it.
But as a result of their Chief Secretary being involved in the situation, The Noblesse Guild’s stock prices plummeted down and the ranking that was tied with the 1000-day Guild domestically now fell to No.3.
And unexpectedly, The Chang Guild that was below, rebounded as No.2. Adding to guild leader Lee Jung-ryung’s success in targeting the S-class dungeon, the stock prices went up even higher.
Wen the local hunter industry was in full swing like that. Kang Yoo-sik put all his energy into the preparation of the presentation that was approaching.
“……. And like that, it could be proven that a magic nucleus exists. Thank You.”
Kang Yoo-sik wrapped up the presentation following the script that he’d memorized, and Ban Hye-young who was seated alone in the lecture room watched with her arms crossed.
She smiles and gave a thumbs up.
“It’s perfect.”
“Phew……”
At Ban Hye-young’s okay sign, Kang Yoo-sik let out a breath of relief, got down from the podium, and sat beside Ban Hye-young.
“It’s just a practice. Couldn’t you have gone a bit easy on me?”
“There’s no such thing in a practice that’s like real. And why are you being a crybaby when you answered well?”
“I thought my head was cramping up. I swear.”
And all this was possible only with Percival’s computational power. If not for that, he’d have been stammering even more.
Kang Yoo-sik dropped with a tired look on his face and Ban Hye-young chuckled at that.
“See you later during the presentation. When you meet those nitpicking, slouching old people, I’ll look like an angel to you.”
“Umm…….. an angel?”
“It-, It’s just a figure of speech!”
Ban Hye-young tapped on Kang Yoo-sik and stared down at him with an unsatisfied look on her face.
“Nowadays, you’re taking liberty like that, aren’t you?”
“I’m not taking liberty but just have gotten closer. I’d be hurt if you say like that.”
“I mean…….”
She glanced at him but chuckled as if she didn’t hate what she heard and questioned Kang Yoo-sik like she remembered something.
“By the way, when do you want to fly over to the US? The presentation is on the 10th of August.”
Kang Yoo-sik was lost in thoughts for a moment and replied.
“How about the 3rd of August?”
“That’s two days later….. I don’t mind, but why?”
“I heard that there’d be a VIP auction at High Coast happening on the 5th of August. I wanted to go there, that’s why.”
“……….. You want to go… there?”
Ban Hye-young looked surprised at Kang Yoo-sik’s reply.
High Coast.
It’s famous for being the auction venue of the grandest scale in the US in the entire hunter industry. Among them, the VIP auctions held at regular intervals were quite special.
That’s because it showcases a grand scale where all the items auctioned were beyond A-class at least. You could casually find an AA-class item and though not common, you could find S-class items too.
“As for the money…….. I mean, if it’s you then there’s no problem. Do you have an invitation?”
“Of course, I found it.”
Though it could’ve been hard work if it was before, now that he’s become a major shareholder, he could find one even without putting the least of an effort. Ban Hye-young gave a curious look at Kang Yoo-sik who had already prepared it all.
“What on earth are you going to buy?”
“I just wanted to look around. Since I feel like I’d hear about them later.”
Though his words indicated that, he had already decided on what item to buy at the auction this time.
‘Loss of Resentment.’
A malicious item that resonated with other items on the auction to break down the High Coast auction venue and turn New York upside-down by releasing thousands of Banshees.
Though there isn’t much he knew since the item disappeared after the incident, it was simple enough to know that Kang Yoo-sik wanted to buy that item.
‘Even the name sounds perfect to be of Percival’s exclusive use.
The seal was only half lifted by Andvaranaut’s thoughts. To fill the remaining half, he thought of buying The Loss of Resentment that seemed to be overflowing with thoughts just by the look of it.
‘If it doesn’t work…….. I’d go with the Banshee Explosive.’
Since he knows which item caused the resonance at that time, he could still fight and win if he just throws away those guys he doesn’t like to a beggar.
“Fine. I’ll grab a flight for the 3rd of August. So, you too go pack your luggage.”
“Sure. Do you have any appointments there?”
“No. I don’t have any….. Why?”
“Kang Yoo-sik smiled at Ban Hye-young who was wondering.
“I thought of going on sightseeing together if we have time.”
“…………”
Ban Hye-young widened her eyes at Kang Yoo-sik’s words. Her eyes shook at that and she slightly avoided making eye contact.
She cleared her throat and calmed her flushed face down and spoke.
“Ahem. I mean…… since it’s certainly your first time visiting New York, it’d be good to go sightseeing, isn’t it? Sort out the places you want to go. I’ll set up a guide.”
“Sure. Let’s hang out together just like how we did in Europe.”
“R-, Right…….. together……”
Kang Yoo-sik got up from his seat while giving confused look at Ban Hye-young who muttered in a slightly strange voice.
“Then, I’ll get going.”
“Right. Go safe.”
Kang Yoo-sik left the lecture room dropped at the dorm to get changed to normal clothes and headed towards the main street near the academy.
He discovered Cha Si-hyun who stood still at the place they promised to meet while getting glances from people around. Kang Yoo-sik’s pupils widened at that.
Blue striped blouse on white shorts. It was an outfit with a fresh feel and suits her more than what he had imagined.
‘Is this my first time seeing this while living this lo-….. No, ever since my regression?’
He couldn’t believe he could see Cha Si-hyun in that outfit not just at her place, but outside too. Kang Yoo-sik was amazed by it and approached her.
“I’m sorry. I’m a bit late, aren’t I?”
“No. I just arrived.”
Kang Yoo-sik chuckled at the lie that could be evidently seen through her eyes.
“Is that so? I thought of going to a good place as much as the time you’ve been wai-……”
“I’ve been waiting for around 1 hour and 32 minutes.”
“…………”
Kang Yoo-sik looked vacantly at Cha Si-hyun’s hurried reply and chuckled.
“Let’s go to a very good place.”
Kang Yoo-sik headed towards a Japanese restaurant that he had made a reservation at and headed inside with the guide of a staff.
It was a Japanese restaurant that gave an elegant and classy vibe. It was a place recommended by Lee Chang-min as a restaurant that’s often used to entertain high-profile visitors.
“Uh……. I think the prices are too high……..”
“Please don’t worry about the prices. Because I’m buying you the repayment for last time.”
“But still………”
“And I like people who eat well.”
“I’ll get the 2-person menu.”
Kang Yoo-sik placed the order at Cha Si-hyun’s hurried reply and shared conversations about regular things like hobbies while having their meal.
“When are you going to show me the pictures?”
“I’ll show you when I’m able to take better pictures.”
“What about the doll?”
“T-, That too, if I’m able to make it well.”
After the meal ended on such a good note. Both of them came outside and headed to the academy again.
“I’ve had a great meal.”
“I’m glad you did. I was worried if it would be to your appetite or not.”
“Not at all like that.”
When Cha Si-hyun replied to him by shaking her head, Kang Yoo-sik suddenly stared at her face.
Though she did look satisfied with a gentle smile on her face, he couldn’t find out what really was in her mind.
‘I’ve been bossing around with her very much lately too…… should I find out what’s in her mind, just once?’
No matter how Cha Si-hyun’s debt was a hell of a lot compared to others, if he keeps treating her like he doesn’t care, it won’t be surprising if the debt was paid off just like that one day.
Kang Yoo-sik who made his mind questioned Cha Si-hyun when they reached around the entrance of the dorm.
“Ms. Cha Si-hyun.”
“Yes?”
“By any chance, do you have anything you want?”
Cha Si-hyun gave a confused look at Kang Yoo-sik’s question.
“……….. what I want?”
“Yes. Since I feel like the help you did last time is too big to end it with today’s meal.”
In reality, it’s like that because the Fantasy Creature Pledge was still not developed. In the standards before his regression, it was an item that could go up to a few billion in price according to its specifications.
If Cha Si-hyun could pick that up, she’d already been knowing the value of it. It was better to do as much as he could now so that he doesn’t have to hear anything from her afterward.
“……….”
Cha Si-hyun stood still lost in thoughts at the sudden offer. She took a slight glance at Kang Yoo-sik and lifted her face up to look at him straight.
She was fidgeting and then muttered something quietly.
“………………. with you.”
“Sorry?”
It was a voice so low that he couldn’t even hear it using his cognitive maximization.
Cha Si-hyun widened her eyes when Kang Yoo-sik approached her and she bit her lips looking like she concluded something.
And she yelled out by grabbing Kang Yoo-sik’s hand at once.
“I want to spend time with you….!”
Kang Yoo-sik looked slightly surprised at the aggressive request while Cha Si-hyun closed her eyes shut as if she made a mistake.
Her eyes were shaky and both hands were held up strongly. Kang Yoo-sik stared at her eyes that clearly expressed her emotions and smiled.
“I’ve certainly…….. not had any instances where I’ve spent a relaxing time with you throughout this vacation.”
“………..”
“Should we go on a trip?”
“………..!”
Cha Si-hyun’s eyes were sparkling at Kang Yoo-sik’s reply and she stared with a surprised look.
“F-, For real?”
“Of course, I mean, since I have a lot of money that I’ve gotten from here and there enough for a trip. You don’t have to feel burdened.”
“If-, If that’s so……. I’m okay with it too.”
“Kang Yoo-sik smiled gently at Cha Si-hyun who gave a shy smile.
“Hmm. Then let’s go together. To the US.”
***
“…………..”
“…………..”
“………….?”
Kang Yoo-sik who arrived through the arrival gate of the JFK airport looked around with a bewildered expression at the strangely sunken vibe.
Ban Hye-young gave an empty look as if she was chewing something. And Cha Si-hyun who looked frozen cold like her.
Kang Yoo-sik looked at the two seemed like they didn’t come on a trip but were dragged to hell and questioned them.
“Are you feeling sick?”
“…………”
“…………”
They replied with their cold expressions instead of words and Kang Yoo-sik turned to look ahead at that strange vibe.
“Ahem. Too many people out there……”
Usually, it’s best to stay still when you don’t know the reason. At the sight of Kang Yoo-sik, they looked at each other and let out a breath.
“……….. Let’s go to the accommodation.”
“………… I think that’d be good too.”
Ban Hye-young and Cha Si-hyun who looked strange lead the way by dragging their luggage away and Kang Yoo-sik followed quietly.
The hotel reserved this time was the suite of one of the most luxurious hotels in New York, which costs tens of millions of won per day but was allocated free of charge with the support of the association.
‘It does look like the anticipation for this presentation is huge.’
Though it’s not in the level of Idmagic, it’d be a mess if this is let out, so it was obvious.
When Kang Yoo-sik was picking out rooms while looking around the suite room. Ban Hye-young who unpacked her luggage already approached him with a sulky look.
“……….. I’ll be going out to see the President of the Association now, do you want to come?”
“President of the Association…… You mean Julius Lemay?”
“Right. He’s waiting at the 1st-floor coffee shop right now.”
Kang Yoo-sik gave an odd look at Ban Hye-young’s words.
Julius Lemay. He is an A-class hunter known as the active Bomber, who has S-class powers and is a figure who is well-known and has enough knowledge in magic to serve as the President of the Association.
He was a man who can be considered as someone connected to Kang Yoo-sik because Julius was the second most influenced by the magic used before his regression, after Lee Chang-wan.
‘It’s just that……. I’ve not met him in person before.’
Julius wasn’t a bad person as the President of the Association, he was a person who was full of desires as a magician.
It was not a materialistic desire like wealth, but a desire for power. He eventually turned into a mine (demon) when he couldn’t achieve it in the latter years.
‘He turned one-third of Manhattan into a sea of fire in just minutes, didn’t he?’
Fortunately, he was punished before he could turn into a catastrophic mine, so the damage was not big. But in the end, he was not quite a good person anyway.
‘Hmm. There’s nothing bad in meeting him.’
Since he’s a man who turned into a mine after a desire for power, he could be useful if he made a relationship with him in time. More than anything, it’s even more interesting if it’s his magic.
At that time, he couldn’t apply it properly due to the state of his body, but it’s a different case now. Kang Yoo-sik concluded and nodded his head.
“Sure. Let’s go.”
“Okay. Then what about you?”
Cha Si-hyun shook her head at Ban Hye-young’s question.
“I’ll stay put.”
“Right. We’ll be back soon, so just rest here.”
The two of them left the room right away and entered the coffee shop on the 1st floor and headed towards a seat located in the corner.
“Ugh………”
Maybe it was that he had been smoking for a few hours, that the ashtray was piled up with ash and the place had a terrible smell of cigarettes. Ban Hye-young who looked distorted at that made swift movements of her hand.
Whooong!
At that, the cigarette smoke was sucked into the ventilation fan and the good middle-aged man who crushed the cigarette into the ashtray gave a smile.
“It’s been a long time. Arc Mage.”
“Even a hunter can be ruined if you smoke like that.”
“It’s okay. Since I’ve been getting the purification done as time goes. Anyways…….”
The middle-aged man, Julius, who turned his head towards Kang Yoo-sik, flashed his eyes at him.
“You’re Kang Yoo-sik?”
“Yes. Nice to meet you.”
Julius stared quietly and pulled out a new cigarette at Kang Yoo-sik who politely bowed his head.
A cigarette that looked similar to the one that he smoked a while ago, but also gave a strangely piquant scent. At the smell that was not just familiar but longing too, Kang Yoo-sik widened his eyes at once.
‘Hydron?’
Though it was the item that he had used only a few times before the regression, Kang Yoo-sik knew the effects it and pains of the users.
‘Has this human’s body been wrecked?’
The ones who are all serious as much as he did, or even worse, disfigured. Hydron was the flame that could make a corpse stay alive and move.
‘This is……. Hold on.’
Kang Yoo-sik thought of something suddenly at the truth he didn’t even know before the regression.
By any chance, if by any chance…… the reason Julius turned into a mine in the latter years was not for his desire for power, but for his desire to live?
When Kang Yoo-sik was making a quick calculation at the sudden hypothesis that popped in his head.
“You.”
Julius who had the Hydron in his mouth gave a smile.
“Do you want to make magic with me?”
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