Chapter 4

Now that I’m back alive, I should go say hello

“Transporter. You’re lively this early in the morning.”

A voice tinged with amusement came through the receiver.

I didn’t even have time to wonder how she had gotten my number.

The other person was S-rank Hunter Baek Seorin.

There was nothing for me to gain by getting on her bad side.

‘Just play along for now.’

There would be plenty of time to think about it later.

“S-Sorry, Hunter Baek Seorin. But, um... how did you get my number...?”

“Ahh~ I just asked the Association for it, and they gave it to me. What, is there a problem?”

“No... There’s no problem at all. I-It’s an honor, actually.”

“Haha—. No need to call it an honor. Anyway, the number I’m calling from now is mine, so save it.”

“Ah. Yes. I’ll save it right away.”

I was pretty sure phone numbers registered with the Association were supposed to be protected information.

Apparently, even privacy protection didn’t hold much weight in front of an S-rank Hunter.

“So what did you call about?”

“Hmm. Nothing much... You haven’t eaten yet, right?”

My eyes fell on the medicine packet beside the bed.

The instructions said to take three pills after meals.

I would have to eat something before taking the medicine.

Just in case, I checked my bank account first.

‘My pay still hasn’t come in...’

I could have sworn they said it would be processed sometime today.

“...Guess I don’t have a choice.”

Not that it seemed like I had much of a choice to begin with.

Still, given the situation, I felt a little more at ease.

“I haven’t eaten yet. I have medicine I need to take after eating, so I was about to get something.”

“Oh? Really? Perfect. I haven’t eaten either. Then let’s eat together. I’ll buy.”

“Yes. Understood. Then I’ll head over right— Ugh?!”

The moment I tried to sit up, pain throbbed through my side.

I immediately bent forward and pressed a hand over the bandaged area.

Maybe because the wound hadn’t healed yet, it pulled whenever I moved.

“What? Are you hurt?”

Baek Seorin’s voice immediately came through the phone.

“N-No. It’s nothing.”

“I heard that.”

“The place I injured yesterday is just pulling a little. It only hurts slightly.”

“... Really? Then that’s even better.”

“Pardon?”

Was she saying it was good that I was in pain?

“I’m not feeling that great myself, so let’s eat something hearty together today. Something good for recovery.”

... That wasn’t what she meant.

Anyway, it seemed she was asking me to eat with her.

‘My stomach already feels unsettled...’

Just thinking about it made my stomach churn.

“You really don’t have to go that far...”

“Come on. I said I’m buying. An S-rank Hunter is treating you, so why are you being so shy about it? How about meat? Something hearty. Sounds good, right?”

“O-Of course. Thank you.”

From the way she was talking, avoiding this didn’t seem possible.

Meat first thing in the morning was a little heavy...

But I just said yes.

Once I had actually agreed to eat, though, I started getting hungry.

‘It’ll be beef, right?’

And Korean beef, at that.

Something packed with marbling.

Ah...

My mouth was already watering.

“I’ll send you the address, so take your time getting here. Don’t run.”

“Yes. I’ll wash up and head out right away.”

Not long after the call ended, a message arrived from Baek Seorin.

The meeting place was the entrance to the Association-affiliated recovery center.

It said the restaurant was just across one street from there.

I got out of bed and opened the closet, where I saw the work clothes I had worn yesterday.

The side was torn, and blood and disinfectant had soaked into it, so wearing it again would be difficult.

“I should throw this away...”

I had spent quite a bit on those clothes, and now I couldn’t wear them after just one day.

It hurt a little, but I was an Awakened now.

Maybe buying new clothes with a fresh start in mind wouldn’t be so bad.

I consoled myself with that thought and looked through the closet.

Inside were a slightly stretched hoodie and a sweatshirt with a somewhat frayed collar.

There was at least one relatively recent suit hanging in the corner.

“Even so, this probably isn’t right.”

For some reason, I felt like if I showed up fully dressed in a suit, Hunter Baek Seorin would burst out laughing the moment she saw me.

In the end, I chose the most ordinary hoodie.

Because of the bandage, one side of my waist bulged out a little, but it wasn’t particularly noticeable.

“Guess I should go.”

I stood in front of the mirror for a moment to fix my hair, put the medicine packet in my pocket, and left the room.

______________

When I asked for Baek Seorin at the entrance to the recovery center, the employee first asked for identification.

“Only Hunters are allowed inside. Do you have a Hunter ID?”

“No. I don’t have one yet. Hunter Baek Seorin, who’s inside, called me here.”

The employee looked over my face once.

Then the corner of his mouth lifted ever so slightly.

“...Hunter Baek Seorin?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“Even so, entry is difficult without a Hunter ID.”

“She should be inside. Could you just check once?”

“We don’t individually verify whether Hunters have called outside visitors.”

His tone was polite, but his expression wasn’t.

He clearly didn’t believe me.

‘Should I just call her directly?’

With no other choice, I pulled out my phone and was about to look for Baek Seorin’s number.

“I called him.”

A familiar voice came from inside.

The amusement vanished from the employee’s face in an instant.

“A-Ah! Hu-Hunter Baek Seorin! I-I see! My apologies!”

Watching the employee bow deeply in apology, Baek Seorin slightly furrowed her brows.

“Hey.”

“Y-Yes?”

“Why are you apologizing to me?”

“Pardon?”

“The one you looked down on is over there.”

Baek Seorin pointed at me with her chin.

The employee looked over at me and hesitated in bewilderment for a moment.

Shing.

A sword slowly rose behind Baek Seorin’s back.

The sword floating in midair spun lazily as though it meant nothing, then changed direction.

The blade pointed toward the employee’s throat.

“Eek—?!”

The employee’s face immediately turned white.

“I-I’m truly sorry for failing to recognize you! It will never happen again! P-Please, just spare my l-life—”

“...It’s fine.”

Looking at the employee, who had nearly folded himself in half bowing, I quickly answered.

His attitude had annoyed me, but that didn’t mean I wanted an apology to this extent.

After watching that, Baek Seorin seemed satisfied and withdrew the sword.

“Let’s go. I’m hungry.”

“Yes. Hunter.”

It was probably best to disappear from here quickly.

I hurried past the employee, who still hadn’t raised his head, and left through the entrance.

Only after coming outside did Baek Seorin’s outfit catch my eye.

She was wearing form-fitting athletic clothes, the pendant around her neck, and holding the phone she had called me with that morning in one hand.

The sword that had briefly appeared earlier was back inside its sheath, following beside her.

“It’s over there. That okay?”

“... Over there?”

Baek Seorin was pointing at a twenty-four-hour pork barbecue restaurant.

It was quite a bit different from what I had imagined.

“...”

“What? You don’t like it?”

“... No. Of course I like it.”

“Right? Then let’s go in. I’ll just order roughly. That okay?”

“Yes. That’s fine.”

As soon as Baek Seorin entered the restaurant, she ordered six servings of fresh pork belly and two bowls of rice.

After finishing the order, she suddenly looked at me.

“Transporter. Are you disappointed it’s pork belly instead of Korean beef?”

“No. I like pork belly. I’d eat it all the time if I could.”

“Really?”

Baek Seorin narrowed her eyes.

“If you say you want Korean beef right now, I can change it.”

“No. Personally, I prefer pork to beef. I like this much better.”

I maintained as neutral an expression as possible.

“Really?”

Baek Seorin rested her chin on her hand and stared intently at my face.

“Hmmm...”

Her voice was full of suspicion.

I stiffened my expression even more.

I was getting a free meal anyway.

I had never intended to complain just because it wasn’t Korean beef.

... Well.

Maybe I had a tiny bit, but one glance at the sword beside her made it disappear completely.

Bzzzt—.

At that moment, my phone vibrated in my pocket.

[Daily Wage Payment Has Been Completed.]

It was the pay I had been waiting for.

As soon as I checked the amount, the last traces of disappointment I had been feeling vanished.

‘Yeah. I can just buy Korean beef myself later.’

A little while later, the meat we had ordered arrived.

After the employee placed the meat on the grill and left, I picked up the tongs.

“I’ll grill it.”

“No need. I’ll do it.”

“You’re treating me, so at least let me...”

“It’s fine. I only eat meat I grill myself anyway.”

Baek Seorin naturally levitated the tongs into the air.

The tongs flipped the meat with incredible skill and moved the pieces that were properly cooked toward the edge.

‘She’s using Sword Control for that...’

“What? Is it fascinating?”

“Yes... A little.”

“It might look impressive, but it’s nothing special. Just eat. At this rate, it’ll burn.”

Baek Seorin picked up a golden-brown piece first and put it straight into her mouth.

The tongs continued grilling the meat while Baek Seorin herself picked up one piece at a time with chopsticks and ate.

It was the sort of rare sight you wouldn’t easily see anywhere else.

I was staring blankly at it for a while.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you eating? At this rate, you won’t even get one serving.”

As though her words weren’t a joke, the meat on the grill had already disappeared at a rapid pace.

‘Wait. When did she eat this much...’

She was eating faster than four average adult men.

Was she S-rank even when it came to eating?

Before all the meat disappeared, I started eating too, and only after about half of that huge pile was gone did Baek Seorin finally set the tongs down for a moment.

“Haaaah...”

Baek Seorin leaned against the backrest and let out a long breath.

“Now it finally feels real that I’m back.”

Baek Seorin picked up the glass of water beside her and took a sip.

“It didn’t feel real until now?”

“No. Especially at the end, I seriously thought I was going insane. The iron door kept getting pushed, and those damn things kept crawling in through the gaps. I couldn’t even turn on a light, so eventually I couldn’t tell how much time had passed.”

She stopped speaking for a moment and looked at me.

“And then the transporter... No, Mr. Jaemin showed up.”

“...”

“Saying there was a way back.”

That made me feel awkward for no reason.

“All I did was pick up the pendant and follow it to you.”

“That’s probably how it felt to you.”

Baek Seorin gave a faint laugh.

“But to me, that was everything.”

“...”

“Far more than you think, Mr. Jaemin.”

After looking at me for a moment, Baek Seorin quietly muttered.

“If it were up to me...”

“Pardon?”

“Nothing.”

She levitated the tongs again and placed a few well-cooked pieces of meat on the small plate in front of me.

“Eat. You have to take your medicine.”

“... Yes.”

I could have sworn she had said something.

A strange feeling ran down my spine for a moment, but I ignored it and quietly ate a few bites of meat and rice before opening the medicine packet.

As I shook the pills into my palm, Baek Seorin asked.

“What did the hospital say?”

“There’s nothing wrong with my bones. They just said to be careful with the abrasions and bruising.”

“What about the company? What happened with them trying to make you pay for the equipment?”

“As far as I know, the treatment costs and compensation were ruled to be the company’s fault. The Association said they’ll review the equipment separately, but everything I brought back has already been recorded, so it’ll be hard for them to pin anything on me.”

Baek Seorin gave a short nod.

I swallowed the pills with water, then picked up a piece of meat from the small plate.

At that moment, the end of my sleeve caught on a metal cup.

The cup slid toward the edge of the table, just slightly too far away for me to reach.

Just before it fell to the floor, I instinctively reached out, recalling the sensation I had felt when pulling the ballpoint pen the night before.

The cup stopped in midair for a moment, then suddenly flew toward me.

I hurriedly grabbed it, but half the water spilled over the back of my hand, and just like yesterday, my hand began trembling uncontrollably.

‘At least it didn’t— ah!’

When I raised my head, my eyes met Baek Seorin’s.

“That just now. Is that your ability? Wasn’t it something else?”

“Ah... well. Yesterday, when I handed you over to the Association and was registered as the rescuer, another window appeared. It said I had acquired a fragment of the rescue target’s ability...”

“And this is it?”

“Yes... It said it’s called Remote Pull, but I’m not used to it yet, so as you can see, this is what happens.”

I showed her my still-trembling hand.

Baek Seorin stared at it for a moment before raising her head again.

“You haven’t told anyone yet, right?”

“No. You’re the first, Hunter Baek Seorin.”

“What about the ability from yesterday?”

“No. They probably don’t even know I Awakened yet.”

“That was smart.”

Baek Seorin fell into thought for a moment.

After tapping the table twice with her finger, she spoke.

“If anyone asks about your ability later, just say it’s a telekinesis-type ability.”

“A telekinesis-type?”

“Yeah. Say you can pull objects toward you a little. Nothing more.”

Baek Seorin looked directly at me.

“Especially that ability that lets you find people and bring them out.”

“...”

“Hide that no matter what.”

Her voice lowered slightly.

“Got it?”

“Yes.”

I didn’t particularly want that one known either.

Just the fact that I could rescue people would obviously become a nuisance.

And if people found out I could also gain the abilities of the people I rescued, there was no telling how much worse it would get.

Around the time we finished eating. Baek Seorin’s phone rang.

“Yeah. I’m inside the barbecue restaurant. Come in.”

A little while later, a man opened the door and entered.

He had an Association emblem on his chest.

“Hunter Baek Seorin. The materials you requested...”

“It’s fine. Just say it here.”

“Yes. The asset investigation materials you requested are ready.”

“That was fast.”

“The foundation had been receiving subsidies from the Association’s memorial program, so we already had submitted accounting records, which made things easier. However, assets transferred into individual names will require additional investigation.”

“This much is enough for now. Let me see.”

The Association employee placed the tablet he had brought beside the extinguished grill.

On the first screen was a memorial foundation prominently bearing Baek Seorin’s name.

“After you were declared dead due to your disappearance, your surviving family placed most of your inherited assets into the foundation as contributions. They then drew salaries and operating expenses through the foundation. Afterward, they also received Association subsidies and private donations and took those as well.”

The next page was packed with a list of foundation executives and affiliated companies.

Baek Seorin’s finger stopped on the first line as she scrolled through it.

“My mother is the chairwoman, my older brother is the secretary-general. My uncles are auditors, my cousins are employees...”

Baek Seorin scrolled farther down.

“There are even friends here.”

“Yes. As far as I know, they’ve been cooperating with your family. Especially through these expenses here.”

The Association employee opened the expenditure section.

Several imported cars were registered as foundation business vehicles, and the corporate card had been used regularly at overseas resorts.

On top of that, deposits for executive housing and their children’s overseas tuition had been labeled as overseas memorial project expenses.

‘They really helped themselves.’

After seven years of diligent spending, there seemed to be no end to the scrolling.

“So how much is left?”

The Association employee pulled up the number on the final page.

More than sixty billion won had flowed into the foundation’s accounts since its establishment.

But the current balance shown there was less than twenty million won.

‘Wow...’

The scale was far beyond what I had imagined.

It didn’t seem like a single person listed here had forgotten Baek Seorin.

They must have remembered her very faithfully every time they paid for something.

“Most of the foundation’s assets, including its real estate, have been disposed of. This is all the liquid capital we can currently confirm.”

Baek Seorin was silent for a long while.

Her gaze slowly darkened as she looked down at the number on the screen.

“...Things really changed a lot.”

The composure from earlier had disappeared from her low voice.

“While I was gone...”

She closed her mouth for a moment.

“Where is everyone now?”

“The foundation has a regular board meeting scheduled for today. Most of the major people on this list are expected to attend as well.”

“Ah. Perfect. Then I won’t have to go looking for them one by one.”

She turned toward me with a bright smile already on her face.

“Mr. Jaemin. Are you busy today?”

“Other than stopping by the hospital, no.”

“Really? Then come with me. I’ll take you afterward.”

“...Is it really okay for me to go that far with you?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

Baek Seorin tilted her head casually.

“Even while I was gone, everyone kept taking such good care of me without forgetting me.”

The sword beside her chair rose into the air and turned toward the exit.

“Now that I’m back alive, I should go say hello. And introduce the person who saved me while I’m at it.”