Here's an Opportunity
Chapter 57: The Offer (1)

Chapter 57: The Offer (1)

Kim Ki-Rok glanced around at the guild members as they ate their breakfast, then quickly grabbed some food for himself. He sat down at a table near the entrance because he had an appointment waiting for him at 9 o'clock.

The three beauties of the DG Guild sat next to him as they helped Kim Ji-Hee with her breakfast. They had already been informed in advance that there would be guests arriving this morning.

A few moments later, a woman with short, boyish hair entered the restaurant accompanied by an interpreter.

"Is that person a Hunter from overseas?" Lee Ji-Yeon asked.

"She is Liu Xian, a B-Class Hunter from China. She possesses the ability to enhance her physical capabilities by consuming mana, and as an Awakened, she has learned how to wield her mana independent of her ability and knows how to use it to create an Aura," Kim Ki-Rok explained.

"Oh! So she's a martial artist," Lee Ji-Yeon realized.

Ignoring the attention she drew, Liu Xian picked up her breakfast and began making her way toward Kim Ki-Rok. Shortly afterward, another foreigner entered the restaurant. This time, it was a tall, blond man.

Kim Ki-Rok quickly introduced the man, "He is Ivan Lenev, a B-Class Hunter from Russia. He has awakened an ability that specializes in defense, and he skillfully wields both a sword and a shield."

Last to enter the restaurant was a handsome, young black man.

"He's an A-Class American Hunter, Daniel Jackson. Some of you might have already heard his name, but for those who haven't, you should know that he's one of the five most famous Hunters in all of America. He awakened with an ability called Mana Breathing," Kim Ki-Rok revealed.

"Huh? Mana Breathing can also be awakened as a skill?" Lee Ji-Yeon asked, bewildered.

"It's a skill that allows him to summon a book on the subject, just like our Alchemist, Lim Yun-Ju."

"Oh!"

Some guild members had been confused, as they had heard of Mana Breathing being a technique rather than a skill, but now they understood.

Alchemist Lim Yun-Ju had evolved her initial ability into a skill called Pharmaceutical Encyclopedia, thus allowing her to become an alchemist who could brew any potion so long as she had the ingredients for it.

Liu Xian and Ivan Lenev sat down across from Kim Ki-Rok. Daniel Jackson, however, sat across from Kim Ji-Hee.

The DG Guild's female members, who had been taking care of Kim Ji-Hee, exchanged puzzled glances at Daniel's choice of seating, wondering what his intentions were.

Kim Ji-Hee blinked her eyes in surprise. This was her first time seeing a black man.

Among them, Cha Min-Ji, being the boldest, took the initiative to greet him in English, "Um. Uh. Hi... Nice to meet you?"

"I-I am Daniel Jackson," Daniel replied in faltering Korean.

"Wow! You speak Korean?!" Cha Min-Ji exclaimed in surprise.

Daniel responded, still stumbling, "Yes, I study Korean. I study hard."

"U-uwah." Kim Ji-Hee's curiosity grew as the foreigner spoke in Korean.

With a broad smile, Daniel admitted, "I am your fan."

"Wha—?"

Daniel Jackson was beaming at the sight of Kim Ji-Hee tilting her head. He handed over a laminated photo that he had prepared in advance and introduced himself. "Fan club... Love Ji-Hee, Love the Nation. Member number nine."

Cha Min-Ji peeked at the photo. "Oh, it's Ji-Hee."

It was a picture of Kim Ji-Hee with a bright smile on her face.

"Autograph. Please."

***

After finishing his meal and clearing the table, Kim Ki-Rok allowed his visitors to conduct several experiments to prove the credibility of the information that the DG Guild had provided.

The tests were not particularly complicated.

The first experiment was designed to test whether Mandong truly was sentient and whether Kim Ji-Hee was really able to communicate with Mandong.

The verification process was quite straightforward. The foreign Hunters left the restaurant with Mandong and performed certain actions outside. When they returned, Kim Ji-Hee simply had to describe what they had done.

Next, they tested whether Mandong's information aligned with historical events from the same dimension. This, too, was easily verified by comparing his knowledge of the continent's history against existing records.

"Could it be that you met someone from the other dimension while clearing the Gates?" Kim Ki-Rok asked the Russian Hunter, who had been the one to suggest the second test.

As Ivan compared Mandong's historical accounts with the knowledge gained from their own explorations, he nodded in response to the question. "That is correct. Luckily, we were able to meet someone from the other dimension while we were clearing a Gate. That's why, even after completing the raid, we stayed behind to gather more information."

"I see. Then, does the information match events from the same dimension?"

"It does. The historical details described by Pegasus Mandong align perfectly with the records provided by the individuals we met inside the Gate. It confirms that these events are occurring in the same dimension."

Letting out a thoughtful hum, Kim Ki-Rok turned to the foreign Hunters and asked, "When do all of you plan to return to your respective countries?"

The Russian Hunter, Ivan, replied, "I plan to stop by a guild that I am familiar with before returning to my country. I expect to return on the eighteenth."

Next to reply was the Chinese Hunter, Liu Xian. "I have some matters to attend to with the Korean Hunters Association, so I will be staying a bit longer. My return is scheduled for the twenty-second."

"Unless I'm forcibly called back, I'd like to stay with DG Guild," The American Hunter, Daniel Jackson, insisted.

While Ivan and Liu Xian were bewildered by Daniel's statement, Kim Ki-Rok slowly stroked his chin as he collected his thoughts. He suggested with a subtle smile, "I imagine you're all here to gather some intel on DG Guild. You've already learned quite a bit, haven't you?"

The foreign Hunters grew slightly nervous at this accusation.

Kim Ki-Rok slowly continued, "South Korea may be small, but in terms of population, we rank among the top 30 nations. We also have one of the highest concentrations of elite Hunters in the world. Additionally, any S-Class criminal designated by Korea is treated as an S-Class Awakened criminal on the international stage."

Everything Kim Ki-Rok was saying was based on solid facts, but it was difficult to see where the conversation was headed.

"And I was the one who took down Ma Ak-Soo, an S-Class Awakened criminal. Of course, I had help from Shine Guild, Golden Lion Guild, and Hunters from the Association branches that hadn't been bribed. But without my tracking efforts, the subjugation operation wouldn't have been possible."

Not only were the foreign Hunters intently focused on what he was saying, the interpreters and even some guild members dining nearby tuned in to listen.

"I gathered intelligence through the dark market, a network frequently used by Awakened criminals. Not by personally infiltrating it, of course. I have informants. Many of them are individuals who have lost family or friends to Awakened criminals and have embedded themselves in the market."

Now, it made sense how Kim Ki-Rok had been able to track Ma Ak-Soo.

He went on, "I can't tell you when exactly it occurred, but a power struggle recently broke out between the groups of Awakened criminals. And this power struggle is something that the Hunters Association already—"

One of the interpreters hurriedly extended his hand. "H-hold on a moment!"

"W-wait! Please hold on!" A person who had been eating at a table diagonally across also reacted in similar fashion.

"Well, I'm sure it's a bit inconvenient trying to listen in from a distance, so why don't you please come closer. Our guests from the Hunters Association." Kim Ki-Rok casually identified the eavesdroppers with a smirk.

"So you already knew...?" asked the man disguised as a typical office worker on a business trip.

"This whole hotel has been booked by the DG Guild. We've paid a deposit on every room, so there shouldn't be any other guests. Of course, you might just have been some local residents here for the restaurant, or you might have even been members of the hotel staff. However, it would be impossible for ordinary people to try and infiltrate a place filled with strangers, especially when those strangers all belong to the same group," Kim Ki-Rok surmised. "Besides, everyone in our guild is like family, so there's no need for you to worry about this information leaking out. PR Team Leader, could you please halt the filming of the mukbang."

The "office worker" and undercover interpreter, both Association employees, sighed after having been so easily discovered.

Kim Ki-Rok considered it as compliance and moved on. "Now, where was I?"

"You were talking about a power struggle. Ah, and you also mentioned the Hunters Association," Cha Min-Ji chimed in, eagerly waiting for the rest of the story.

"Ah, yes. I can't pinpoint the exact timing, but a power struggle has broken out among the criminal factions. The Association is aware of this and has dispatched personnel to monitor the situation. However, there's something the Association doesn't know..."

"Something that we don't know?" the interpreter from the Association asked, looking puzzled.

"Yes, let's see... In mid-June, Ma Ak-Soo's group was taken down. Naturally, we captured the subordinates and interrogated them, which led to the arrest of other related criminals. Because of this, many of the other Awakened criminals kept a low profile for a while. But just as they were about to resurface, the Black Mountain Range Gate went out of control."

While DG Guild and the other Hunters who were in Mapogu at the time had responded quickly to the emergency and minimized any casualties, the unexpected Break had forced the Association and guilds to prioritize Gate management.

"Due to this, those who were preparing to resume their usual criminal activities suddenly found themselves cornered. Since entering and exiting Gates became difficult, their movements were severely restricted."

For Awakened criminals, this was a disaster.

Not only had Gate access become significantly stricter, but their usual means of illicit operations within the Gates had also been disrupted.

"'As they were being gradually backed into a corner, the criminals devised a plan. They decided to stage a fake power struggle to divert attention, allowing them to pull off a major job. Since the Association would focus on the internal conflict, they expected other areas to be left vulnerable. They planned to exploit this," Kim Ki-Rok finished explaining.

At some point, the Association employee had taken out his tablet to carefully note down all the details for a future report. However, his expression grew more suspicious as he wondered.

How did Kim Ki-Rok know what the Awakened criminals were planning in such detail?

As if he were a psychic, Kim Ki-Rok added, "By the way, if you want to ask me how I know all of this, I'm afraid that's something I can't reveal lest I endanger my informants."

Did he really have informants? Of course not.

During a previous Attempt, Kim Ki-Rok had decided to focus on hunting down Awakened criminals, so he had gotten a job at a restaurant in the black market, working as a cook. The information that he had managed to gather proved invaluable during all of his later Attempts.

Kim Ki-Rok cleared his throat. "Getting back to the main topic. Since the tenth of December, Gates have been appearing nonstop. We don't know how long this will continue, but to the criminals, this situation is an opportunity. They've concluded that, amidst the chaos, they can safely raid the Hunter department stores and steal high-end equipment."

Kim Ki-Rok clapped his hands together, signaling the end of his explanation. While looking at the three foreign Hunters, he made an offer, "I have a proposal. The rewards are quite lucrative. Before returning home, would you be interested in hunting some Awakened criminals?"