Episode 18. Just an F-Rank.

“Hey, little brother, make some ramen, will you?”

Tae ihyun was greeted by Tae Yiseo in a rather questionable manner when he returned home from school.

“Why don’t you make it yourself, sis?”

“I’m just too tired for that.”

“After staying up all night watching every drama you could find and then sleeping in until now, ho are you tired? Are you more exhausted than I am after a full day of school?”

“Ugh, it hurts. I asked you to make ramen, not to hit me with the facts.”

Tae Yiseo, lying on the sofa and starting another drama on her tablet, replied playfully. Tae ihyun shook his head and asked, “Aren’t you going to work? You’ve been home all the time lately.”

“Vacation. I’m on vacation.”

“How many days did you get off?”

“About two weeks? Wow, it’s already halfway over. Ouch!”

“Is it okay to take such a long vacation?”

“What’s the problem? It’s my vacation, and I’m using it. I’m just using up all the days I haven’t taken yet. So, are you going to make the ramen or not?”

“What about Man Saseong?”

“Not here. He’s been super busy lately. Who knows what nonsense he’s up to. He should just stay home.”

“…”

The beast, angry that the ramen-cooking minion was absent, lay sprawled on the sofa.

Come to think of it, there was no one at home except for the hopeless case.

“Where’s Mom?”

“She went to see a movie with her friends for the first time in ages and told us to fend for ourselves. Dad ate earlier, and I waited to eat with you. I was worried you’d eat alone after school.”

“You didn’t just need someone to make ramen because Man Saseong isn’t here?”

“Same difference.”

“Sigh, I’ll make three.”

“Just make two.”

“Someone who eats two by themselves should stay quiet.”

“Heh, yes sir. You’re the best, little brother.”

“…”

Tae Yiseo put on an obviously cute face, trying to act adorable, but it was unlikely Tae ihyun would see it that way.

In fact, such expressions between siblings were more like provocations.

But Tae ihyun wasn’t the type to get riled up by such provocations from the hopeless one.

He simply cursed her in his heart.

‘What are the ghosts doing, not taking that beast away?’

Well, even ghosts wouldn’t bother with her.

With a deep sigh, Tae ihyun headed to the kitchen and grabbed a pot.

Suddenly, he missed his mom.

“Another ordinary day. So very ordinary.”

Inside a black sedan, a man looked at a building with a sign that read “Taejongdae Convenience Store” and spoke in a weary voice.

Who knows how many days it’s been. He wasn’t the only one grumbling.

“I’d rather be fighting monsters in a gate. What the heck are we doing here?”

The man sitting next to him shook his head.

“Exactly. What are we supposed to find out? What could possibly come from these ordinary people?”

“Well, we did learn one thing.”

“And what’s that?”

“The delivery times for the convenience store.”

“Heh. Crazy.”

“This isn’t why I joined the Scorpion Guild. Damn it, what are we even doing?”

Just then, someone in the back seat groaned and slowly sat up.

“Still nothing?”

“Yes, sir. Nothing. You can keep sleeping.”

“I can’t sleep anymore. Sleeping in the car gets old real fast. Damn it.”

“Seriously, do you even know why we’re watching these people?”

The most frustrating part of this mission was not knowing why they were supposed to be watching these ordinary people.

The man referred to as “boss” sighed in frustration.

“Seems like someone got on the boss’s bad side. Honestly, I don’t know the details either. We’re just watching because we were told to. You know how the boss is. Ask too many questions, and you’ll get an earful. Just do what you’re told.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Anyone in the Scorpion Guild knew the temper of their leader, Cho Jinnam.

If he didn’t like something or thought someone was defying him, he’d destroy everything in his path.

Not long ago, he even kicked out the deputy leader who had played a major role in the guild’s rise because he didn’t like him.

Questioning his orders was foolish.

“Anyway, just hang in there a bit longer. We’ll report everything we’ve found today, and hopefully, they’ll call it off. The boss will see there’s nothing more to uncover.”

The man in the back seat tried to calm the grumbling ones.

He wasn’t fond of this mission either.

They were watching a typical Korean family running a convenience store and living on the second and third floors of the building.

The main target of this mission was the son, who was an Awakened, but the rest of the family was very ordinary.

A slightly limping middle-aged man, a housewife, a high schooler, and an unemployed daughter in her twenties.

The daughter might be a college student, but since she only wandered around the neighborhood in tracksuits and never seemed to go out, they assumed she was unemployed.

The funny thing was her name,

‘Tae Yiseo?’

He couldn’t help but chuckle.

It was the same name as Crimson Flame, one of Korea’s top hunters.

Of all things, her name was Tae Yiseo.

‘But there’s no way she’s the real Crimson Flame.’

Of course, information about hunters above S-rank was classified.

Even high-ranking officials in the Hunter Association couldn’t access it.

Only two or three of the highest-ranking officials could.

But beyond all that, there were many reasons why this unemployed daughter couldn’t be Crimson Flame.

Firstly, it made no sense for Crimson Flame, who earns billions a year, to live in such a shabby building.

Secondly, Crimson Flame was the leader of the 7th squad of the Guardian Gate.

In other words, she was one of the busiest people in Korea.

There was no way she could be a homebody like that.

Moreover, Crimson Flame was famous for her beauty, and there was no way she was the same person as the woman who occasionally went out to buy snacks and giggled her way back home.

A woman who wore large horn-rimmed glasses, the same tracksuit for days, and yawned all the time.

It was pitiful.

To have the same name yet be so different.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

With nothing else to do during this boring surveillance mission, he found himself worrying about others.

He glanced at the report that had probably been submitted to the boss by now.

‘Why did this guy get on our boss’s bad side? There’s nothing special about him. He’s just…’

“Ugh…”

Cho Jinnam stood in the middle of a familiar training ground.

“This place.”

It was a place he knew well.

And then,

Whoosh.

Someone stood facing him from a short distance away.

Red eyes stared at him.

“You, you…”

Cho Jinnam looked at the figure in shock.

The figure smiled slightly and waved a hand.

Whoosh!

At that moment, his body was engulfed in excruciating pain.

“No, no! Aaargh!”

Cho Jinnam jolted awake in bed.

He was breathing heavily.

“Huff, huff…”

It was a dream.

But it was also something that had happened before.

“Damn it… Why am I dreaming about this again?”

His whole body tingled.

He thought he had forgotten and overcome it.

It was the only black mark in his otherwise successful career as a hunter.

Since that day, he developed a significant trauma regarding defeat.

At the same time, his obsession with power grew stronger.

Swoosh.

His body drenched in cold sweat, he slowly got up and took a shower.

His body felt refreshed, but he couldn’t shake off the dirty feeling.

It felt like the day was ruined before it even started.

He had woken up after a night of heavy drinking, and the sun had already set.

Knock, knock.

Someone knocked on his door as he dressed in his usual flashy attire.

“Come in.”

A subordinate entered, holding a report.

It was about the task Cho Jinnam had assigned earlier.

And a little while later,

“…An F-rank? And just a gate helper?”

Cho Jinnam looked at the report with disbelief.

The subordinate bowed his head and replied, “Yes, boss.”

“Hah, ridiculous! The association president ran out to greet a mere F-rank gate helper? Does that even make sense?”

“But that’s what’s recorded in the association’s database.”

The information was obtained by bribing someone from the Hunter Association, so it was undoubtedly accurate.

“Hmm.”

Cho Jinnam looked at the report again.

Next to the name Tae I-hyeon, it clearly stated F-rank Awakened and occupation as a gate helper.

But this didn’t make sense.

Then what did he see that day?

There had to be more to it.

Cho Jinnam’s instincts told him so, and they were never wrong.

In that case,

“I guess we’ll have to shake things up a bit.”

If they stirred things up, something small might come out.

And then,

“Yeah, this should work.”

Cho Jinnam found something in Tae I-hyeon’s record and smiled.

He placed the report on the table and tapped it with his finger.

“Let’s start here.”

The place he pointed to was named “Harmony.”