NOVEL NEXT Chapter 47
Chapter 47: Interview (2)
“Kim Hyun-tae’s Party is……. a very excellent party.”
“……”
“I have nothing more to add, but we will strive to achieve such an excellent party as well.”
Yoo Ji-han’s choice of words was quite formal.
He didn’t reveal any personal connections and merely provided a response that acknowledged a famous party, on the level of an ordinary Rank 4 Party.
‘Let’s pretend we don’t know.’
At this point, the only people who knew that Yoo Ji-han was an unofficial party member were the members of Kim Hyun-tae’s party and the senior executives of Keroes, along with Kim Si-hu from Sweet Fun.
Considering the personality of the Guild Master Park Joong-seob, the other guild members would have been ordered to keep quiet about both Kim Hyun-tae’s party and Yoo Ji-han.
So, revealing that information in a public setting was out of the question.
‘At least not now.’
Though it is said there are no eternal secrets in the world, if that fact were to be revealed someday, it would have to be at a time when they reached a party level similar to Kim Hyun-tae’s.
Only then could they hint at the story as they would be able to manage the aftermath.
“Hmm. I see.”
Lee Wan seemed satisfied with the formal answer and did not pry further.
‘Is it going to just pass like this…?’
Then Yoo Ji-han felt a bit uneasy.
The atmosphere was too easygoing for such a sudden question.
But thinking that it’s better not to overthink it, he decided to let it go.
“I’m also curious about how you plan to position your party in the future.”
“This relates to the answer I gave earlier, but with an excellent mage on board, I think we’ll soon have a tanker and dealer joining. As the party leader, I’ll lead the party.”
Though he called himself the main dealer in the party, with only two members, Yoo Ji-han was currently taking on all the other necessary roles.
Once more party members joined and lightened his load, he would finally be able to focus on his original role.
“Lastly, is there anything special you’d like to leave for the interview?”
“Oh! We have something we’d like to say.”
The parting words they had been most looking forward to in the interview.
“We may be a lacking party, but there are still those who support us wholeheartedly. We would like to express our gratitude and take a moment to promote them… Is that okay?”
“Of course. Go ahead.”
Yoo Ji-han licked his dry lips and spoke.
“First, there’s Nam Ho-yeol, who operates a workshop called ‘Knife Workshop’ in the Open Market. He creates wonderful items that can easily compete with those made by famous brand workshops, but not many people know about him yet. I recommend stopping by if you see this interview.”
The reason Nam Ho-yeol gave Yoo Ji-han a sword during their first meeting was for promotional purposes.
Although this interview wouldn’t draw a massive amount of public attention since it was an interview with a Rank 4 Party, Yoo Ji-han hoped it would be of some help to him.
Next, Kim Si-hu spoke up.
“Mongdang, a monster disposal company, has also been a great help to us. Likewise, the number of guilds utilizing their services is pretty low right now. Since the skills of their representative, Jang Sa-im, are assured, it might be a good idea for guilds still considering disposal companies to try them out.”
“Well, you saying that would sure make the two business owners happy.”
Lee Wan, who had been taking notes while recording their voices, smiled pleasantly.
‘A growing guild is always a good story.’
Stories of small guilds growing big are beloved tales, regardless of the era.
If they ever become widely renowned, this interview could become quite an important record.
The companies mentioned now might also become large-scale enterprises by then.
“Alright! We’ll conclude this interview here.”
“Thank you for your hard work!”
Click!
Lee Wan turned off the recorder.
He left the cafe with the two individuals after finishing the interview.
“The article will be up in a few days. I’ll send you a text when it’s out.”
“Please make it a good article.”
“Haha, the contents you shared today will go up just as is.”
As they chatted while walking, they reached the crosswalk.
Lee Wan headed towards the parking lot where his vehicle was, while Yoo Ji-han and Kim Si-hu were trying to catch a taxi across the street.
But then—
“AAAH!!”
Crash!
Suddenly, a woman’s scream and the sound of breaking glass echoed from somewhere.
“……?”
“What’s that?”
The three people, waiting at the traffic light, turned their heads simultaneously toward the source of the noise.
“Tu, tulip…!”
In front of a small flower shop.
A woman, sitting on the ground in shock, was staring wide-eyed at the flowers displayed in front of the shop.
‘Tulip?’
What she was looking at were white and red tulips.
However, the appearance of those tulips was very strange.
Tsutsu—
The leaves, roughly the size of two finger joints, were growing larger and larger.
Lee Wan shouted with his mouth agape.
“It’s transforming into a monster!”
“……!”
That was nothing less than a scene where an ordinary plant was turning into a monster.
Instinctively, Lee Wan took out his mobile phone and clicked on the camera app.
Even when escaping, he needed to record this scene to preserve this valuable material.
“Hyung!”
“Cut them all down!”
Meanwhile, Yoo Ji-han and Kim Si-hu were running towards the flower shop.
[Wind Cutter]
While running, Kim Si-hu stopped at a suitable distance and used Wind Cutter.
Swoosh!
The blade of wind sliced through the stems and flowers of the tulips that were transforming into monsters.
Since those that hadn’t yet transformed were as ordinary as any flower, they could be dealt with in a single attack spell.
However, those that had already completed their transformation were a different story.
‘It’s been a while since I’ve seen an Evilip.’
The tulip that had turned into a monster, Evilip.
Being one of the five-level monsters, it was a tulip, which had high production and low price, and was known to arise consistently worldwide.
It was unfortunate that he hadn’t brought his weapon to the interview today…
‘But it’s not that hard.’
Yoo Ji-han could easily subdue them even barehanded.
Boom! Bang!
The newly awakened Evilip smashed through the flower shop’s display stand and came crashing down.
“Ugh!”
Pwah!
Yoo Ji-han struck the middle part of the Evilip’s stem with a powerful punch.
As a result, the stem bent in a C-shape, as if a person’s waist had broken.
He briefly grabbed the stunned monster’s petals with his hands.
Sizzle!
Then he pulled down the large, tough petal and ripped it off.
The Evilip, unable to make a sound, struggled desperately.
However, Yoo Ji-han danced around and dodged the green leaves it swung around, grabbing and tearing off the remaining petals one by one.
As the leaves fell off, the monster became weaker and eventually collapsed, revealing the hidden ovary and stamen within the petals.
Its source of strength was concentrated in the exquisite petals.
“Are there no more left?”
“Let me check.”
With the joint effort from Sweet Fun, they dealt with the remaining four Evilips in less than a minute.
The two sought the shop owner’s consent and thoroughly examined the remaining flowers in the store, removing one by one those showing signs of turning into monsters.
Ziiing—
Meanwhile, Lee Wan was capturing the scene from a distance with his mobile phone camera.
*
The Hero Department arrived at the flower shop following a separate report.
After the situation was somewhat resolved, Lee Wan arrived at the parking lot where his vehicle was.
He got in the driver’s seat and checked the footage he recorded on his phone.
The video contained the emergence of the Evilips and the scenes of Yoo Ji-han and Kim Si-hu dealing with them.
“I think it’ll turn out to be a better article than I expected.”
An unexpected incident occurred.
But thanks to that, Lee Wan could write an even more interesting article.
‘I wonder if this will get a good number of views…’
What ordinary people are most interested in when looking at heroes is indeed their performances on the field.
Usually, one wouldn’t think a mere Rank 4 party interview could gather many views.
However, unlike the other Rank 4 parties he recently covered, Sweet Fun had been able to include snippets of their brief achievements in the article.
There’s a pretty big difference between having something engaging and not.
“Let me tidy things up a bit.”
Turning off the phone screen, he organized the notebook containing the interview content.
He muttered quietly.
“It seems Yoo Ji-han doesn’t know much about Kim Hyun-tae’s party.”
Kim Hyun-tae’s Party centered around the hero Kim Hyun-tae.
If you were to count the parties that are recently rising, it would undoubtedly be one that many people recognize.
However, they had a somewhat suspicious aspect.
‘The mysterious figure concealed in the shadows of Kim Hyun-tae’s party…’
A figure clad in a mask or full face covering, always carrying a bag on his back.
Having never shown his appearance at an official gathering, he had frequently been seen acting alongside Kim Hyun-tae’s party in the field, and recently he seemed to have gone missing.
Since his disappearance, a new hero named Kim Kang-woo had joined the party.
‘Inquiries have yielded no replies.’
Lee Wan had reached out to Keroes about the mysterious hero, but there was no response.
Moreover, the heroes belonging to Keroes, who might know something, mostly avoided personal contact outside the guild.
So, he could only speculate.
The most plausible theory was that the hero was newly joined Kim Kang-woo.
Or perhaps he had entered another party within the guild or might have left the guild entirely.
‘Yoo Ji-han’s timing is off.’
Through this interview, Lee Wan discovered the date Yoo Ji-han left the guild.
However, the dates when Yoo Ji-han and the mysterious figure ceased their activities were different.
According to the investigation, after Yoo Ji-han left the guild, someone with a full mask had continued to act alongside Kim Hyun-tae’s party for several more days.
Thus, it was difficult to immediately suspect him.
“Even if I find this out, it’s not going to make me any money…”
He tapped the notepad with the end of his pen.
Honestly, no matter who the figure was, it didn’t greatly affect Lee Wan.
He was merely curious as a reporter.
Why this figure, who was essentially a Rank 2 Hero, was so thoroughly concealing his existence.
What was the reason for his sudden disappearance lately?
“I’ll have to look into this when I have some time.”
Throwing the notebook roughly into his bag, he started the engine of the vehicle.
*
In a university hospital in Seoul.
In a single patient room, a man wrapped in white bandages was lying down.
He was a hero belonging to the Knife Guild and the leader of a party active as a tanker.
And he was the man who had picked a fight with Yoo Ji-han’s party in the apartment where the Giant Cat Monster had appeared.
“Gah!”
After being in a deep sleep for over a week, he finally opened his eyes, letting out a short breath.
Seeing an unfamiliar ceiling, he rolled his barely moving eyes around to inspect his surroundings.
It didn’t take long for him to realize this was a hospital.
And…
“My, my legs…?”
He also came to know that his left leg had disappeared without him feeling any sensations below the knees.
Even the sensations in his left fingers—index, thumb, and middle finger—could not be felt.
“A, aah…!”
He was found with his legs and fingers eaten away by the Giant Cat Monster when rescued from the apartment.
Though the doctors had done their best to reattach what they could with healing magic and surgery, they ultimately had to give up on the teeth of the Giant Cat and those things severely damaged in its stomach.
“AAAHHH——!”
He opened his mouth wide enough for a fist to fit, and as he screamed, he thrashed about on the hospital bed.
“Patient! Please calm down!!”
“Someone grab him!”
“It’s dangerous!”
“AAAHHH!!”
The nurses and doctors who rushed in upon realizing the patient had awakened quickly tried to restrain him.
But, they were unable to withstand the strength of the hero and were all flung out.
“I’m going to kill them! I’ll make sure to kill them all—!!”
What raced through his mind with bloodshot eyes was…
Not the Giant Cat Monster that had torn his body apart, but the faces of Yoo Ji-han and Kim Si-hu.