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"Choi Sang-Min?" Hao-Yun didn't like it. His secret was no longer a secret.
Choi replied, "I'm sorry, Hao-Yun, but this was important. But, don't worry, I'll make sure they don't tell anyone else."
Choi Sang-Min's cold sentence stirred their minds; they couldn't grasp what he wanted to tell them.
Suddenly, Jang Hyuk-Soo stood, "Ch-Chairman, don't tell me this is the person from that day."
Choi Sang-Min frowned, "That day? Were you eavesdropping on us?"
Hyuk-Soo jumped in fear, "So, it was true, after all."
Immediately after knowing the truth, Hyuk-Soo leaped to Hao-Yun's feet and said, "I'm really sorry, Mr. Hao-Yun. I didn't know who you were at that time; please don't get offended."
Hao-Yun felt like a bad guy, "Hey, you! Don't do this! I don't like it! It didn't offend me, so you can get up."
"Really? That's okay then." Hyuk-Soo felt overjoyed and returned to his seat.
The other Hunters were eager to know who Hao-Yun was, so they demanded an explanation from Hyuk-Soo.
At the same time, Choi was a bit surprised. Even with that personality, Hyuk-Soo was still an S-Rank Hunter; he never treated him with the same fear and respect he had just treated Hao-Yun.
After knowing a thing or two about each other, the Hunters calm down.
Just when Choi dropped another bomb for them, "I assume you have realized by now why Eun-Chae and Park Evelyn didn't come."
"They are both Hao-Yun's Guild members."
The meeting room fell silent. The Hunters were forced to think about who holds the actual power in Korea. It's Hao-Yun, right?
The Chairman claims he is far stronger than he. The strongest S-Rank Hunter, Park Evelyn, is a member of his Guild, not to mention Eun-Chae, the person who was listed as the 6th strongest person in the world. She is an SS-Rank Hunter! Why would she join such a strange person's Guild?
There was only one explanation: Hao-Yun was stronger than her.
The Hunter's Imagination scared them so much that they decided it was best not to probe too much into Hao-Yun's life.
"Now, let's come to the last discussion." Choi Sang-Min once again brought their attention to himself.
"We've got reports of some Hunters going missing."
"All of them don't know each other, but there's one thing common among them."
"They had reported joining a Guild hours ago before going missing. We couldn't confirm their Guild's name."
"Have all of you present here named your Guilds?"
Hao-Yun hesitantly raises his hand, "I didn't..."
Choi Sang-Min was calm, as if he had already anticipated this.
He just casually told him, "Then decide one by tomorrow."
"If others also didn't name their Guild, then they also must name it by tomorrow."
Seo Joon-Tae shared his opinion, "Chairman, don't you think those people died because of the System..."
Choi Sang-Min narrowed his eyes, "No, I don't think so. The people who died were all B or C Rank Hunters who had already completed many Tasks. So, it doesn't make sense that they all died because of the System."
"There's also another thing I want to bring to your attention. This morning, we found the rotten body of a person in an abandoned factory."
"Our doctors have deemed that the person was given some kind of temporary drug to boost his powers, but he couldn't handle it."
"At present, we are unable to find his identity, but we suspect these two cases might be linked to each other."
Hao-Yun stood up, "In that case, I think I have a way to confirm."
Choi Sang-Min was left surprised, "Really?"
"Yeah, if you need, we could go right now!" Hao-yun was confident.
"In that case, I'll send some of my subordinates with you to investigate. If you succeed, that would be really great."
"Well then, I'll head over there right now."
Hao-Yun was just about to leave the meeting room, but then he remembered the most important thing.
"Oh, shit! How could I forget that? That was the main reason I came here!" He thought.
He walked some steps back and told Choi Sang-Min, "You know what, I'll help you, but in exchange for that, and wasting my time, you have to solve a riddle for me. I'll message it to you."
The meeting continued. The S-Rank Hunters were once again surprised by Hao-Yun's guts to have the Chairman of the Association solve a riddle for him. They still didn't believe the fact that he could be powerful enough to defeat Choi Sang-Min.
Meanwhile, A group of four people took Hao-Yun over to the abandoned factory.
After reaching there, Hao-Yun called Eun-Chae and told her to come over.
He began waiting for her. The four people whispered among themselves. They wondered why Hao-Yun wasn't making any move. However, they chose not to question him and continued waiting there.
After an Hour, Eun-Chae came, her face was disheveled, panicked.
Hao-Yun asked, "Why did it take you more than an hour to come? With your speed, you could have easily come in 10 minutes."
Eun-Chae refuted him, "I can't... I don't like running at all. And, finding a taxi that could take me so far was hard enough on its own."
"Hmm... If that's the case, then okay, after this case, I'll buy you a car as a bonus to join my Guild." Hao-Yun decided it was an important investment to make sure she doesn't get late in the future.
Eun-Chae asked, "So, Hao-Yun, why did you call me here?"
"I want you to use your appraisal skill on something. For now, let's go, I'll explain to you while walking."
The six of them walked inside the abandoned factory, where the rotten corpse was still lying. They didn't move it since the researchers and doctors had warned it might contain some kind of biologically threatening organism.
Eun-Chae was scared at first, but, seeing how serious Hao-Yun was, she pushed herself and used her appraising skill.
█▓▒░ Appraisal Skill Activated ░▒▓█
Analyzing target...
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Name: Nam Ji-Won
Evaluation: B-Rank
Mental State: Overloaded
Physical Integrity: 14%
Current State: Dead
[Error: Unstable substance detected]
Internal cellular rupture due to abnormal energy overload.
System's Advanced Alechemy Recipe Detected:
Name: Experimental Mutagenic Enhancer
Developer: Unknown
Effect: Temporarily amplifies physical stats beyond natural limit by 400%
Duration: 2 hours
Drawback: Rapid decay of muscle tissue, Neural overcharge, guaranteed fatality upon energy collapse.
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Conclusion: The Target was forcibly converted into a disposable test subject. The drug used was meant to push the physical limits, but his body couldn't handle it.
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"Wow! This skill is amazing. It tells so much information with just one glance." Eun-Chae thought.
"Hao-Yun, this person was a B-Rank Hunter called Nam Ji-Won, and he was likely forced by someone to take a drug that boosts physical powers, but because its compatibility rate was too low, the person couldn't handle it and died."
One of the four subordinates of Choi Sang-Min suddenly took a step back. " What? Nam Ji-Won, this is a B-Rank Hunter's name who had gone missing after joining a Guild."
Hao-Yun realized something with this. The mastermind behind these missing persons and this rotten body is the same. They had smartly used the emergence of Hunter's Guild to recruit some people so that they could experiment with their drugs on them.
However, since Hao-Yun was related to this case in any way, he didn't want to get involved.
He told the four people to report it to Choi Sang-Min and left with Eun-Chae.
While walking on the streets, Eun-Chae asked him if that was okay. But he just said one sentence, "It's not my business."
"By the way, where are we going?"
"You don't know? Didn't I promise to buy you a car?" Hao-Yun casually said.
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