Chapter 11

Chapter 11

[Pendulum of Judgment]

A massive mana pendulum formed on the ceiling, then drove straight down toward Kang Hoon with a terrible sound of tearing air. There was nowhere to dodge.

“Damn it!”

Instead of kicking off the ground, Kang Hoon threw himself behind the largest gear structure beside him.

CRAAAASH—!

A roar like the world collapsing. The metal platform where he had been standing a moment ago had vanished without a trace.

And Kang Hoon saw it. The golem’s movement had stopped for an instant after using its finishing move, and the core in its chest was shining defenselessly.

“Now…!”

Go Gyeol’s shout was not needed. Kang Hoon’s body was already reacting.

He kicked off the gear and shot forward. He jumped over broken platforms, trampled over crawling soldiers, and charged toward one goal alone.

“Let’s end this, you tin-can bastard!”

He adjusted his grip on the iron pipe like a spear, put the weight of his entire body behind it, and drove it down toward the core glowing blue.

CRUNCH—!

A spine-chilling rupturing sound rang out as the iron pipe pierced the mana core.

CRACKLE—!

Unable to maintain its form, the golem collapsed into a massive pile of gears and parts.

“……Hah, haah, huuh…….”

Kang Hoon sank down where he stood. His entire body was drenched in sweat, and his legs trembled on their own.

Then, behind him, he felt the Sanctuary release with a faint tap.

“Look at the state of you.”

It was an indifferent voice, but Kang Hoon could hear it. The voice of his enemy-like teacher, trembling ever so faintly.

“I thought I was going to die, you crazy bastard of a teacher.”

“Shut up, brat. You look pathetic.”

Lee Seong-ha spoke curtly as he approached and roughly ruffled Kang Hoon’s hair. The touch was awkward, but it was unmistakably warm.

Go Gyeol smiled faintly and lightly hit Lee Seong-ha.

“Quit acting dramatic. Anyone watching would think you were the most anxious bastard in the world.”

He soon turned his head toward Kang Hoon.

“Congratulations on clearing D-Grade. This is just the beginning.”

At those words, “the beginning,” Kang Hoon could only look back and forth between the two men looking down at him, with an expression that did not know whether to laugh or cry.

---

“Wow, I’m telling you, its fist was as big as a building! When it slammed down on the floor, it was like an earthquake had—”

After clearing the D-Grade Dungeon [Clocktower of Stopped Time], Kang Hoon’s repertoire became fixed to exactly one thing. Whenever he had the chance, he gave impassioned speeches about his “heroic” combat experience, inflating it by at least one hundred times.

Lee Seong-ha listened to that heroic tale while wiping a training dagger, looking annoyed. Playing along once or twice was one thing, but his patience was slowly showing its bottom.

“Hey.”

Lee Seong-ha tossed the word out without taking his eyes off the dagger.

“If you talk about that damn building-sized fist one more time, it’ll be exactly the hundredth.”

“Come on, when did I say it a hundred times?”

“Ninety-nine.”

At the knife-sharp answer, Kang Hoon flinched. When Lee Seong-ha looked at him in disbelief, Kang Hoon rolled his eyes around and stared at the innocent ceiling. A sense of crisis swept over him, warning that if this went on, his weekend training time might double. He hated his study time increasing, but he hated his training time increasing even more. He quickly changed the subject.

“But… why is Go Gyeol-hyung’s barometric pressure so low today?”

Lee Seong-ha only shrugged.

“No idea, bastard.”

He was definitely different from the usual Go Gyeol.

He always looked busy, but after weekend training ended, he would come over briefly and talk with Kang Hoon. He would check the training contents and casually throw out information about monsters from common Dungeons. His advice was always sharp and accurate.

But today, he had not said a single word.

The entire time the two of them talked, he stared at one point in empty air, giving off air as cold as a sheet of ice around him. His stiff expression was like a well-honed blade, making it impossible to even dare speak to him.

Kang Hoon swallowed dryly without realizing it.

This was not simply a bad mood.

It was a clear signal that something very bad had happened.

That was when Lee Seong-ha and Kang Hoon were both watching Go Gyeol’s mood.

Bzzzz—

Breaking the silence, Go Gyeol’s phone lying on the desk vibrated low.

Go Gyeol instantly erased the playful expression from his face, raised his eyebrows as if puzzled, and picked up the phone.

“Yes. This is Go Gyeol.”

The moment he answered, his expression sank into seriousness. Sensing that change, Kang Hoon unconsciously slid over to sit beside Lee Seong-ha on the sofa.

“Hyung. What kind of call is it?”

Lee Seong-ha shrugged. They could not tell what the person on the other end was saying, but because of the ominous air pouring from Go Gyeol, the two had no choice but to hold their breath and watch him.

The air in the office slowly froze in rhythm with the responses coming from beyond the phone.

“Yes. Understood. Please send the details by text.”

After speaking his final words in a dry voice, Go Gyeol threw the phone onto the desk with an irritated crack. The sharp tap cut through the silence unusually clearly. He sank into his chair as he was. The faint crease between his brows, his firmly closed lips, and the ominous gaze aimed at the phone on the desk. His eyes burned as if it were an enemy he might smash to pieces at any moment.

In the suffocating silence, Kang Hoon glanced at Lee Seong-ha with eyes full of question marks. “What happened? Why is he like that again?” But Lee Seong-ha merely shrugged brazenly as if he did not know, then jerked his chin toward Go Gyeol. “How would I know? Ask him yourself.” Even while that silent conversation passed between them, Go Gyeol remained motionless, glaring only at the phone.

Who knew how much time passed? As if breaking the flow of stopped time, Go Gyeol suddenly sprang to his feet like a released spring. At that abrupt movement, both of their gazes fixed on him at once.

“Where are you going?”

The first to speak was Lee Seong-ha.

“To pick up a Hunter.”

A short, concise answer. At that one sentence, Lee Seong-ha also rose without hesitation.

“I’m going too.”

In that moment, Kang Hoon’s eyes faintly lit up. It felt as if a rope of salvation had descended. If Lee Seong-ha followed Go Gyeol out? Until he returned, Kang Hoon would be a perfectly free body. He had not come to find Go Gyeol because he held some absurd expectation that his hellish training timetable would be changed in the first place. He had merely wanted to escape the prison called home for even a few hours before he was shackled again. But now an unexpected stroke of luck had arrived.

“Fine. Come with me.”

The moment Go Gyeol gave permission, Kang Hoon cheered inwardly. However, that sweet sense of liberation did not last even three seconds. It was because Lee Seong-ha, who was about to step out of the office door, suddenly turned back as smoothly as a ghost. His gaze was aimed precisely at Kang Hoon, who flinched in surprise.

The light and gentle tone he had used toward Go Gyeol moments ago was nowhere to be found. A voice low and cold like a snake lodged itself in Kang Hoon’s ear.

“When we get home, you’re taking a test. For every question you get wrong, know that your Sunday rest time will be reduced by one hour.”

“No!”

A scream close to a shriek burst out, but Lee Seong-ha only twisted the corner of his mouth into a demonic smile.

“There’s nothing impossible in this world, Kang Hoon-ah.”

Using the desperate cries of despair ringing behind him as background music, Lee Seong-ha even hummed as he lightly descended the stairs. In the office, along with the cold air, only Kang Hoon remained frozen like a stone statue, wearing an expression as if the world had collapsed.

The familiar city scenery flashed past outside the car window. Lee Seong-ha’s gaze was directed forward as he held the steering wheel smoothly, but all his attention was fixed on Go Gyeol sitting in the passenger seat. Since earlier, Go Gyeol had given not even the slightest hint about their destination, only staring out the window and mechanically giving directions. Just as that silence was beginning to make him restless, Go Gyeol quietly spoke the name of the destination.

In that instant, Lee Seong-ha’s head, which had been watching the road ahead, snapped around. He barely restrained himself from hitting the brakes.

“Kwon Do-geun? Wait, don’t tell me you mean that Kwon Do-geun? Actor Kwon Do-geun, the one who was even nominated for an Oscar?”

“Yeah.”

An affirmation that was far too calm. Whether Lee Seong-ha’s eyes widened in shock or not, Go Gyeol merely jerked his chin with an indifferent expression.

“Right.”

“Seriously? We’re really going to meet actor Kwon Do-geun right now? How do you know him? No, more importantly, Kwon Do-geun was a Hunter?!”

Lee Seong-ha’s voice gradually rose with unbelievable excitement. The combination of the name of a genius actor who had once shaken not only the Republic of Korea but the entire world, and the word “Hunter,” someone who fought monsters behind the scenes of the world, was something he had never even imagined. Even under the barrage of questions, Go Gyeol did not blink.

He had thought Lee Seong-ha would get excited like this if he knew. It was only natural, since Kwon Do-geun was a famous actor known even to kindergartners.

“Left. Yeah. He was fairly famous. You didn’t know?”

“After I entered the monastery, I cut ties with television!”

When he shouted in frustration, Go Gyeol clicked his tongue.

“Tsk. Even if you’re a priest, you should at least know how the world is turning. Left again.”

As he turned the wheel according to the words Go Gyeol tossed out, as though he had become a human navigation system, Lee Seong-ha suddenly asked in a voice full of curiosity. His boiling excitement had calmed a little, and pure curiosity lifted its head.

“But why are you suddenly recruiting a celebrity? Don’t tell me it’s a Mission?”

“Yeah.”

“Is he good at Hunter work?”

“No.”

“Then why is it a Mission?”

“Who knows.”

In truth, Go Gyeol did not understand either. The Mission had simply thrown him the task of recruiting Kwon Do-geun. All the cleanup that resulted from it would have to be handled by Go Gyeol himself.

“Would such a popular celebrity even do Hunter work?”

“No. He’s not a celebrity anymore.”

That firm answer chilled the air inside the car for an instant. Lee Seong-ha swallowed dryly without realizing it.

“Why?”

Go Gyeol was still staring somewhere outside the window. As if he were reciting someone else’s dinner menu, he threw out the truth in an utterly emotionless voice.

“He was expelled from the entertainment industry because of double contracts and a sex scandal.”