NOVEL NEXT chapter 244
「Attack on the Association in Broad Daylight? Who’s Behind It? Association Says ‘Still Investigating’」
「Was the Attacker an S-Rank Hunter? Testimonies from Association Employees Follow」
「Mysterious Attack at the Association… Where Is the SS-Rank Supporter?」
「‘Planned Attack Targeting the Supporter’… Association Remains Silent」
“Goddamn it!”
Bang!
The Association President slammed a stack of papers onto the desk, his hand crashing down in fury after reading the headlines.
Things had gone wrong—disastrously wrong.
He had tried to bind Cha Seohu’s feet by leaking a breaking report before the man could walk out of the Association, and right then, they’d been attacked!
Veins bulged on his forehead as the Association President’s fists trembled.
‘Was this deliberate?’
If it wasn’t, then there’s no way the timing would’ve been this precise.
They had snatched Cha Seohu the moment his skills were revealed, as if they’d been waiting.
To make things worse, the whole damn thing had gone down right in the Association's main lobby, with him using his skills openly. Of course rumors were exploding everywhere.
‘Of all times, right when reporters were swarming the place!’
The Association President swallowed back his rage, his face turning red and pale in waves.
He’d already ordered the staff to keep their mouths shut the moment news of the attack broke—but someone out there had still flapped their lips.
Knock knock.
A crisp knock came just before Park Minhyuk opened the door and stepped in.
“You called for me.”
“Team Leader Park Minhyuk. What’s the situation? Have you learned anything new?”
Suppressing a sigh, Park Minhyuk responded calmly.
“We’re investigating as thoroughly as we can, but nothing’s come in yet. Sir, you know better than anyone—it’s difficult to track down an unregistered Hunter in just three days.”
“And is this the time to be saying how difficult it is?”
Clicking his tongue, the Association President swept a hand over his forehead.
“The media’s already tearing us apart. If it comes out that Hunter Cha Seohu was kidnapped… ha, just imagining it makes me sick.”
“……”
“He was taken right here—smack in the middle of our headquarters. How the hell are we supposed to clean that up? Not just me—even you, Team Leader ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) Park Minhyuk, will be in a bind. After all, you’re the one who brought Hunter Cha Seohu here personally.”
The more the Association President spoke, the more rigid Park Minhyuk’s gaze became.
Mistaking that reaction for guilt, the president pressed on with a self-satisfied look.
“Right. You don’t want to get caught up in something like this either. Better to feign ignorance and focus on finding Hunter Cha Seohu as fast as possible than have that stigma of ‘you lost him’ stuck to you.”
“……”
“That’s all. You’re dismissed. Report back the moment you find anything—even the smallest scrap of information.”
“…Understood.”
Without another word, Park Minhyuk gave a slight bow and stepped out into the hallway.
“Phew…”
After a few paces, he stopped dead center in the corridor and let out a weary sigh.
Just then, a familiar voice called from behind.
“Team Leader Park Minhyuk. You just met with the Association President, didn’t you?”
“Oh—Vice President.”
A sharply dressed woman approached. It was Choi Gyeonghui, Vice President of the Hunter Association. She gave Park Minhyuk a soft smile and a light tap on the back.
“You’ve got that properly exasperated look. I take it he really chewed you out, huh?”
“…It’s fine.”
“Sorry to bother someone who just got grilled, but… I couldn’t help worrying. That’s why I came.”
“So? Still no good news, I take it?”
“No, ma’am. But everyone’s working hard to find him.”
“I believe that. I heard the attacker was an unregistered Hunter—not surprising it’s gotten complicated.”
She sighed briefly, then lowered her voice to a whisper.
“Team Leader Park. What would you think about working with the guilds?”
“The guilds, ma’am?”
“Yes. I heard Hunter Cha Seohu’s very close with the S-rank Hunters from Yesung and Circle, right? I’m sure they’re searching too. Might be better to collaborate.”
“But… the Association President would never approve of that. He hates the guilds.”
The president had entered the political arena in earnest about twenty years ago.
That had been the height of the power struggle between the Association and the guilds.
The Association, built in the aftermath of national chaos, and the guilds, born of corporate ambition—back then, the boundaries between the two were still murky. Clashes were inevitable.
The resentment from that era had carried on to the present, even two decades later.
“I’ll try to convince him,” Choi Gyeonghui said firmly.
“We don’t know what kind of torment that young man is enduring. We can’t cling to outdated grudges. No matter how powerful an SS-rank may be, he’s still a Supporter.”
Choi Gyeonghui herself was a B-rank Dealer.
Having spent her youth braving dungeons, she knew full well just how fragile a Supporter could be.
“We’re talking about saving someone’s life. What wouldn’t we do? Just waiting around for days because of the president’s pride has been bad enough.”
She glanced toward the Association President’s office before continuing.
“So Team Leader Park. If it’s alright with you, would you meet with Yesung Guildmaster Kwon Taehyuk? You two went to the Great Dungeon together, so he should be willing to make time.”
A spark flickered in Park Minhyuk’s eyes.
The Association President—uncaring about Cha Seohu’s safety.
The Vice President—willing to collaborate with guilds, however awkward, to rescue him.
“……”
His hesitation didn’t last long.
Feeling better than he had moments before, Park Minhyuk nodded.
“I’ll do that.”
* * *
I remember the moment I first met that man.
To be exact, I’ve never once forgotten it.
A city reduced to ruins by a monster attack.
As a child, I had taken shelter inside a collapsed building to escape the pouring rain—and there, I met him.
In a moment of despair, I reached for his large hand.
At the time, I’d gone hungry for days. I was soaked, body temperature plummeting, and there were dangerous people nearby.
If I was going to die anyway, maybe I could place my last hope on this. Maybe this hand was just a rotten rope—but even so.
Wearing a luxury suit, the man didn’t hesitate to lift my filthy body into his arms.
He carried me to the sturdiest-looking building left standing in that wasteland.
He bathed me in warm, clean water, dressed me in soft, high-quality clothes, and set out a table filled with delicious, varied food.
I was the only child he brought in. The only one he gave his full attention to.
Though surrounded by people and clearly busy, his eyes never left me.
The fear that I’d be thrown out into that cold world again the next day… began to fade.
Even excessive requests I made, half as a test, were granted without hesitation.
He gave me the affection I’d most desperately needed.
That’s why—why I truly started to follow him.
I believed I’d been chosen by that man. That no matter what I did, he would give me love.
I never showed it outwardly, but deep down, I thought of him as a father and leaned on him.
Because unconditional love… only a parent can give that.
I had no idea just how empty that belief really was.
[Mmm…]
It was a night thick with storm clouds.
A chilling sensation slid down my spine, and I jolted awake.
My heart pounded. My fingertips trembled faintly. Had I had a nightmare? But I couldn’t remember anything.
Unable to lie still, I got out of bed.
I figured I’d get a glass of water—but then, noticed a faint light glowing from the far end of the hallway.
The study door was slightly ajar.
The man often worked late into the night, so normally I would’ve ignored it and gone back to bed.
But that night, for some reason, I couldn’t.
Something inexplicable pulled me toward the study.
I walked carefully so I wouldn’t make a sound. As I got closer to the light, the sound of conversation grew clearer.
[When will we meet again…?]
[Who knows. I wish I knew too.]
Through the gap in the door, I could see inside the study.
The man, seated, had pulled someone standing in front of him into an embrace.
[For you, it’s just a moment… but for me, it might be years.]
His voice was unrecognizable.
It was full of longing—like a confession of love. Desperate. Tender.
The kind of voice that would kneel and beg, if that’s what the other person wanted.
I quietly inhaled.
The other person raised a pale, white hand.
That long, graceful hand gently cupped the man’s cheek.
[You have that child now.]
‘……’
Instinctively, I knew that “child” was me.
Thump. Thump.
My heart pounded violently with dread.
A brief silence.
Then the man spoke.
[Thanks to what you told me, I was able to bring him in before it was too late.]
[……]
[But still… I… I prefer who you are now.]
His words—spoken like a confession he could no longer suppress—slashed through my heart like a blade.
It hurt so much I couldn’t breathe. It didn’t even make sense how much it hurt.
I wanted to get out of there. Anywhere.
Without thinking, I took a step back. And in that moment—
The person he was holding looked right at me.
‘……!’
I couldn’t see their face. No—my eyes were on them, but I couldn’t register what I was seeing.
What did they look like? I couldn’t recall a single feature. It was as if someone had deliberately hidden it.
But their eyes—those black eyes staring straight at me—burned into my brain.
Pitch-black eyes, piercing into the mind of a child—
“Haah!”
My eyes flew open.
The familiar ceiling and surroundings welcomed me back. Realizing I was in the bedroom on the 64th floor, the tension in my body slowly eased.
‘…Fucking hell.’
Of all things, why that memory, in a dream?
My mood plummeted into the abyss. Muttering curses under my breath, I sat up.