Chapter 61

Chapter 61.

After crossing the Portal, Happy set foot on Korean soil for the first time in a long while.

“It’s been a while. Hyo-jun… hm?”

“…”

Happy flinched in surprise when she saw Kang Hyo-jun standing in the darkness, only his eyes gleaming with a fierce light.

It was a murderous, terrifying gaze, like a starved beast stalking its prey.

“W-what is wrong?”

The moment she approached Kang Hyo-jun with an awkward smile, Happy was startled.

“Gasp.”

Kang Hyo-jun looked as though “fatigue” had been shaped into human form.

A physical enhancement-type Hunter, whose body should not have budged under most forms of physical exhaustion, looked as though it would not have been strange if he collapsed from overwork and ended up in a coffin tomorrow.

‘What on earth happened?’

“…I’m busy. We’ll skip the greetings.”

Kang Hyo-jun hurriedly led Happy away.

Happy followed behind Kang Hyo-jun as he staggered up the stairs.

Gulp.

Something serious was happening.

The moment they climbed the stairs.

“…!”

Happy was horrified.

The floor, the walls, the desk… every place was crammed full of papers.

The only empty spaces were the chair Kang Hyo-jun had been sitting in, and another chair that had clearly been brought in recently. Those were the only two. Everywhere else had become a graveyard of paper with no room even to set foot.

“W-what is all this?”

“…I’m planning a foundation.”

“Huh? Are you insane? You are a Market administrator. Why are you planning a foundation? This violates the ban on holding concurrent positions…”

Kang Hyo-jun raised his hand sharply.

Happy shut her mouth at the silent pressure coming from him.

“There are circumstances I cannot speak of, so do not ask. Just remember two things. This is something that ‘absolutely cannot be refused.’ And it is something the ‘Market’ has also approved.”

“…”

“Who ordered it, why it was ordered… do not get curious about those things, and do not ask. Do you understand?”

“…Confirmed.”

Kang Hyo-jun made his way toward the chair through the sea of documents covering the floor, stepping only on palm-sized gaps with the tips of his feet.

“Check this first.”

“Golden Foundation? What does this place do?”

“Check the stack of papers next to it.”

Happy took out the thick stack of papers and read it.

[Current State of the Republic of Korea]

Rustle.

Happy began reading it, and before long, she put the stack down with a heavy sigh.

She could tell without reading many pages.

‘What is this? Is this even a country?’

The situation was horrific…

Food. Clothing. Shelter.

Everything was a mess.

‘So this is what happens in the end to a land that cannot clear the Tower…’

The despair she had only guessed at through rumors had been quantified and written down in the documents.

Millions of people were crammed into the narrow patch of land called Incheon.

The government had long since been disbanded after colluding with Pandemonium’s lackeys, feeding on vested interests, and finally having Min Ji-hee bring the hammer down on it.

The food self-sufficiency rate did not even reach double digits, so most citizens who were not Hunters depended on Calorie Sticks.

Tankers were using ragged equipment because there was no way for them to earn Points.

On top of that, the useful Hunters had either defected overseas long ago or been ground down stopping Breaks.

‘…This is a country that should have collapsed long ago, is it not?’

After that, there were still pages upon pages of materials proving just how ruined this country was.

‘I did not know the situation was this serious.’

As far as Happy knew, the Republic of Korea was a country like a weed.

It was a place that miraculously survived every time she thought it might truly collapse this time.

But once she opened it up, that was not the case.

A weed? Hardly. It was more like a withered blade of grass.

Something that would soon crumble away…

‘Then why has it not collapsed already?’

After she turned a few more pages, the reason was there.

‘Han Seol-ah, Min Ji-hee, and Jin Cheon-jin…’

Three outstanding heroes had been holding the Republic of Korea together under the name of the Republic of Korea Hunter Association, even though it was like a sheet of paper on the verge of tearing apart.

“Mm. I understand well enough that it is in the state of a tomato trampled by a giant.”

“The Golden Foundation is an organization meant to revive that ‘trampled tomato’ into an ‘intact tomato.’”

“Okay. Analysis complete.”

Happy, who now understood everything, smiled brightly.

Then she sprang to her feet.

“I cannot do it.”

“Sit down.”

Kang Hyo-jun spoke calmly.

“Are you insane? How is a mere foundation supposed to do this? It is absolutely impossible.”

“Turning that impossibility into possibility is what I—and you—must do.”

Without taking his eyes off the documents, Kang Hyo-jun flicked a card at Happy.

Tap.

Happy reflexively caught it and examined the card.

It was a Numbers card. The number was…

“The Golden Mine’s card?”

“We will draw the funds from there.”

“Hmm. You can use all of this?”

Happy placed one weight on the scale inside her mind.

On one side was “cannot win,” and on the other was “win.”

If it was the entirety of Golden Mine’s fortune, then the possibility did rise.

The scale tilted ever so slightly toward “win.”

“Even so, it is still far from enough.”

“Min Ji-hee will help.”

“Ah, that incredible bi…”

“…She might be listening. Watch your mouth.”

“That brilliant person, I mean?”

With Kang Hyo-jun’s ability and Min Ji-hee’s support, the possibility rose by quite a lot.

The scale tilted a little further toward “win.”

Even so, it was still lacking.

Very, very lacking.

“Money and ability alone make this impossible.”

“That is why we need you.”

Kang Hyo-jun lifted his eyes from the documents and looked at Happy.

“The Golden Mine’s money. Min Ji-hee’s and my abilities. And your connections.”

Kang Hyo-jun’s eyes were blazing.

“In other words, you are the final piece.”

“What? Ahahahaha!”

Happy burst into laughter and shook her head.

“I thought you were asking me to help with some work, but you meant I should step into this all the way?”

Happy stopped laughing and added in a serious voice.

“Why should I mobilize my connections for this? You are not someone who does not know what that means, or what kind of weight it carries.”

Those connections were everything Happy had.

Her weapon, built in the Black Market by grinding down her entire life!

They were absolutely not something she could invest in this kind of business with a pitiful chance of success.

However, Kang Hyo-jun answered at once without a single change in expression.

“Because That Being instructed you to do so.”

As if he considered it only natural that she would help.

“Special One? He is just someone who can sell a few unusual potions. What is so impressive about…”

“Happy, That Being is not an existence who can be confined to something as trivial as Numbers 1.”

“…?”

Kang Hyo-jun’s gaze changed.

“You do not know…”

“K-know what?”

They were eyes looking at something pitiful.

Eyes filled with sympathy.

“I see. It might be fine for you to learn now…”

Kang Hyo-jun turned his gaze back to the documents.

“What is this? What do you know?”

“If you have no intention of helping, leave.”

Kang Hyo-jun answered impassively.

“…I am really leaving, you know? You will not regret it?”

“Regret? Haha.”

Kang Hyo-jun laughed as though the very idea was absurd.

“You are the one who will regret it.”

***

After finishing her meeting with Kang Hyo-jun, Happy sat in the reception room, waiting for “Special One.”

Once the Saintess risk was resolved and the Holy Water supply resumed, there would be more than one or two issues they had to align their stories on in advance.

‘What kind of person is he?’

As she sat in the reception room and waited for Special One, Happy found herself filling with curiosity.

A person’s face revealed many things.

But Special One’s face was unlikely to be his real one.

It would probably be impossible to read much from his expression.

Even so, Happy was confident.

There was one part that did not change even when a face was altered.

Happy could read many things just by looking at the eyes.

Reading eyes.

It was both the experience and the ability Happy had built up by brokering the supply of Holy Water for high-ranking figures seated at the heart of power and true powerhouses.

‘What kind of eyes does he have?’

“I am a little late.”

And when she first met the eyes of Special One, who opened the door and entered just then.

Happy did not dare open her mouth.

‘W-what kind of person’s eyes are…’

Dry and parched.

Deep and dark.

Lonely and aloof.

But those few words could not fully explain the sensation.

If she had to find the closest feeling, it was like peering at the bottom of a lightless deep sea, or into the emptiness of a universe where every star had died.

Darkness rippled in those depths.

‘I feel like I am going to throw up…’

The moment she stared directly into that darkness, Happy’s head spun.

As though he stood wholly alone between heaven and earth…

The eyes of an absolute being.

She was overwhelmed.

“…Not at all. I just arrived myself.”

Happy barely managed to smile as she stood.

She bowed her head deeply and avoided his gaze.

‘Phew.’

She let out a mental deep breath and sat down.

“The Saintess will arrive in about an hour.”

“Hmm.”

Special One looked at Happy slowly.

‘…Huu.’

Feeling her hands and feet turn cold, Happy continued speaking.

“The reason I asked you here like this was to discuss the Holy Water supply going forward…”

“About that.”

Special One cut her off in a weighty voice.

Happy naturally found herself overwhelmed and closed her mouth.

“Happy. Why are you the exclusive supplier of Holy Water?”

“…Pardon?”

As if telling her to shut up and answer, Special One did not react to Happy’s question.

“…I-I have been by the Saintess’s side and worked with her on developing Holy Water since she was not yet accustomed to Divine Power. With my help, the Saintess was able to make highest-grade Holy Water, and in recognition of that contribution, I obtained the exclusive Holy Water supply rights.”

“Yes.”

“Using those rights, I formed ties with high-level power brokers, high-rank Hunters, tycoons, and…”

“Hmm. About that…”

Whether intentionally or not, Special One drew his words out slowly, and his eyes turned toward her.

‘I will endure it this time…! Who does he think I am? I am Happy!’

Happy tightened her stomach and straightened her spine.

She struggled not to avert her gaze.

What kind of place was Italy?

It was the birthplace of the mafia.

Happy was someone who had not even flinched before kings of the underworld who killed one or two people as though it were nothing.

Rather, she was the one who had used Holy Water as a weapon to manipulate them at will. She was the one called the “Snake Holding Holy Water,” “Happy.”

…That was what she thought.

But the moment Special One glanced down at her with indifferent eyes.

‘Eek…’

Okay. She absolutely could not win.

She honestly admitted it.

She had gotten scared just from looking into his eyes.

And she had been crushed by his leisurely gestures and weighty aura.

It was a complete defeat.

Happy quickly changed her stance.

Into active cooperation mode.

“Yes.”

“I heard from Kang Hyo-jun that you have firm connections with high-ranking figures, and that you are skilled in meetings with such people.”

“I suppose that is true. My connections stretch here and there, and my bonds with them are solid.”

“I see… Someone like that is necessary.”

Special One muttered quietly to himself and nodded slowly.

A brief silence fell.

It was a suffocating silence, like an invisible, enormous hand gripping her throat with crushing force.

It was like being bound in the middle of the deep sea, her lungs being crushed.

‘What does he want from me, exactly?’

“If I supply the Holy Water, what happens to you, Happy?”

“…I would lose my job.”

“Good.”

As though it were truly a wonderful thing, Special One grinned.

“…Pardon?”

Sinking deeply into the soft sofa, Special One added.

“From now on, I will monopolize the Holy Water supply.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Happy, finally unable to hold back, asked as if shouting.

“Do you want a commission? I can gladly give you a cut. But this is a system the Saintess and I built from the ground up! You cannot make me hand over this position overnight simply by threatening me with force…”

“Happy.”

Special One cut her off firmly.

“Do you think I want something as trivial as a commission?”

“…”

‘Trivial? The Holy Water commission is trivial?’

The sale of Holy Water was practically supporting an entire country called Italy.

While Happy was flustered, Special One continued speaking.

“I, Happy…”

“…”

The smile vanished from Special One’s face.

At that moment, the air in the room grew heavy as lead.

Happy froze, feeling even the pride she had struggled to uphold crumble away.

“need you.”

The words wore the mask of a courteous request. But Happy sensed it instinctively.

This was not a proposal that had ever accounted for refusal.

‘…Y-you insane bastard!’

Was he saying he would seize the Holy Water monopoly in order to obtain Happy?

Leaving aside whether that was possible or impossible…

Holy Water was a massive commodity intricately entangled with the interests of the upper echelons.

It made no sense to swallow it down as easily as scooping up cake.

“…The Holy Water monopoly is not something you can take so easil…”

“Haha.”

Special One laughed as though he had heard something truly amusing.

“Is something that trivial supposed to be difficult? Happy, you really are entertaining.”

“I am not joking. Holy Water is a core commodity wanted not only by those at the heart of power, but also by high-rank Hunters and tycoons all over the world! Do you know how complicated the interests between them are…”

“That is none of my concern.”

At the voice that cut her off flatly and emotionlessly, as though it was nothing at all, Happy asked back in a dazed voice.

“…Pardon?”

“If they do not like it, they can simply not buy it.”

“H-Holy Water is not an absolute leash that lets you control important figures however you please! It merely lets you maintain close connections with them. It does not give you the authority to order them around…”

“That might be true of the Holy Water you and the Saintess made. Because that is all it is worth.”

‘…What?’

“The Holy Water I will make is somewhat different.”

Special One took a glass bottle from his pocket and set it down.

A milk-white liquid was inside it. It shimmered beautifully, as if ground pearls had been mixed into it.

‘What… is that?’

Special One had risen to the position of Numbers 1 in an instant by putting forward the “logic-defying” elixir, “Red Elixir.”

In other words, Special One’s power came from that elixir.

What if even that was a logic-defying elixir?

Gulp.

Happy swallowed dryly without realizing it.

The moment the liquid in that bottle was released onto the market, she had a gut feeling that the power she held in the Market would become a scrap of paper.

Special One looked straight at Happy with a serious face.

“The foundation needs you. Therefore…”

Then he smiled kindly and said, “First, with this, I will erase your place in the Market for you.”

‘…What kind of insane thing is this man saying as if he is bestowing a favor?’

Sweat trickled down.

Happy froze without even thinking to wipe it away.

‘…He said “first.”’

Happy had already rejected Hyo-jun’s proposal to “join the foundation” once.

Happy’s position in the Black Market was solid, power was sweet, and the pay was more than satisfactory.

Was there any reason for her to abandon all of that and join a foundation that had not even found its footing yet?

None whatsoever.

And yet this man…

He had declared that he would eliminate Happy’s value in the workplace she considered comfortable.

By common sense, it was impossible.

Happy’s position, and the value of Holy Water, were not things that could be easily replaced.

But this man said it was “nothing special.”

And he considered that only the “first” thing.

In other words, only the first step.

Then… what were the second and third?

“I will give you the opportunity to join my foundation.”

“…”

“If you understand, you may go now.”

She understood nothing.

But she did understand that this was clearly an order to leave.

Happy fled—no, practically crawled—out of the reception room.

Then she rushed away frantically, as if escaping the reception room.

‘Fck, fck… Where did a monster like that come from?’

Around the time she thought she had gotten far enough…

She made a call.

[Is it over?]

“Kang Hyo-jun!!!”

[…I am not deaf. If you are going to shout, I will hang up.]

“Hey, you crazy bastard!!! What the hell is that!!! What is he!!!”

[What are you talking about?]

“What the hell is that monster’s identity… Is h-he even human?”

The fear she had barely been suppressing burst out without any filter.

[…Do you understand now? That there is no point in struggling.]

Kang Hyo-jun’s cold and blindly devoted voice poured icy water over Happy’s mind.

“This makes no sense.”

[What does not?]

“…He said he would erase my place in the Black Market? That is impossible. Do you know what kind of place the Black Market is? No matter how extraordinary he is, a single individual cannot take out the manager of an entire branch.”

[Heh. You still do not understand…]

She heard Kang Hyo-jun chuckle.

[It will happen exactly as That Being said.]