## Chapter 83 – 83. Branch Manager (2)
#83. Branch Manager (2)
Following the slicked-back hair guy, I ended up facing someone I hadn’t expected at all.
“Nice to meet you.”
The 13th Branch Manager of the World Hunter Association’s Korean Branch, and the undisputed S-class hunter of Korea who crushes everything with his fists.
I can confidently say that among the citizens of Korea, there isn’t a single person who doesn’t know this man, even if they don’t know the President’s name.
“I’m Kang Chul-ho.”
Iron Man, Kang Chul-ho.
“…Pleased to meet you. I’m Kang Hyun-woo.”
I shook his hand, which was easily twice the size of mine, and sat down.
It wasn’t just his hands that were big. Even I, who often get told I’m tall, had to look up to see his face.
He had a massive build that reminded me of a bovine beastman.
‘…But seriously, he’s supposed to be in his late 50s?’
He was about to turn sixty, but aside from a few faint wrinkles, he looked young enough to pass for someone in their late 30s. Just like Grandma Choi Young-ok, once magic power exceeds a certain threshold, the aging of the body slows down.
It was the same reason why the appearance of archmages who reached the 8th Circle looked like they were in their 20s.
However, what surprised me wasn’t just his appearance.
An extremely refined aura, to the point where you could mistake him for a regular person, not even a shred of magic power could be felt from him.
It was so faint and weak that you could only barely feel it when you intentionally focused, but the magic power contained within was something I couldn’t dare to aspire to.
Even though I had reached the 4th Circle, an unbridgeable gap existed between him and me.
Even if I went all out, could I last even 10 seconds?
Impossible.
Only that one word filled my head. I swallowed dryly without realizing it.
The feeling I had when I witnessed the magic of the Magic Tower Master beyond the gate swept over me once again.
“So.”
Thump- The surrounding air suddenly became heavy.
It was as if a virtual mass was pressing down on me.
This was neither magic nor superpower.
“Is the probing over?”
Originally, magic power doesn’t have mass, but he was giving magic power substance based on an overwhelming amount of magic power and a density commensurate with it.
“…You’re much more energetic than I saw on TV.”
As soon as I managed to utter a word, the aura of magic power that had been pressing down on me disappeared as if all the pressure I had felt until now was a lie.
To be able to do this as easily as breathing.
Thanks to that, I could gauge a little bit of how much weight the name of an S-class hunter carried.
“Great achievements at a young age.”
“It’s insignificant compared to the Branch Manager.”
“I wonder.”
As his cold gaze swept over me, goosebumps rose all over my body.
I wasn’t even sure if what I was feeling right now was a simple survival instinct or an arrogant competitive spirit.
“Sorry for calling you so suddenly. Did you have any urgent business?”
I shook my head lightly.
It was true that I had other schedules, but there was no way I could say that as it was.
There’s an old saying that you can badmouth the king when he’s not around, but just because of that, there’s no one who can curse at the actual president in front of him.
I wasn’t so clueless as to express dissatisfaction in front of the living power itself, whose unofficial order of precedence was rumored to be higher than the president’s.
Besides, I don’t even know why that kind of person called me. I would understand if I had exchanged the Minotaur’s magic stone.
As if he had noticed my question, Kang Chul-ho carefully put down his teacup, which was smaller than his palm, and opened his heavy mouth.
“Do you remember the D+ grade magic stone exchange from last time?”
Instantly, my head turned cold.
‘…Could it be that he called me to question the source of the magic stone?’
That thought was fleeting, and I shook my head. It was an overestimation to think that a branch manager would call me for such a thing.
Just as the head of the police agency doesn’t investigate criminals directly because he has nothing to do, it was hard to think that he, as the branch manager, would call me to question the source of the magic stone.
In the first place, even if I was questioned about the source of the magic stone, they wouldn’t know that all I had to do was make excuses about the Magic Tower.
“You don’t have to be so nervous. I was just curious to know who the unprecedented genius magician was who created a circle in just a week.”
Kang Chul-ho’s gaze seemed to pierce through me.
Just as I had been gauging him, he was also gauging me.
Before long, a strange light appeared in his eyes.
He seemed to be contemplating for a moment, then he finished the remaining black tea in his teacup and opened his mouth.
“Two days ago, an unidentified gate was discovered in Dangjin City, Chungcheongnam-do. The measurement result was C-grade.”
He handed me a document that was suddenly on the desk, watching my reaction.
The title of the document was ‘Unidentified Gate Report’.
“Let’s cut to the chase, I want you to participate in this gate investigation team.”
It was an inappropriate remark to make to a magician belonging to the Magic Tower, not a hunter.
Moreover, it was even more something that the branch manager of the association shouldn’t say.
“…Could you give me some time to think about it?”
Unable to answer rashly, I wanted a moment’s grace.
“I’ll wait for an answer within three days.”
***
It was already well past lunchtime when I came out of the Hunter Association building.
But I wasn’t hungry. I tended to be like that when my head was complicated.
Ting-
[S Bank]
[Deposit ₩207,600,000]
Besides, after seeing the deposit details, I felt like I didn’t need to have lunch separately.
When I exchanged all the magic stones I had brought in my bag, it came out to a little over 200 million won. 200 million won from pure magic stone income without any other by-products or collectibles.
It was like a meat restaurant not selling alcohol and increasing sales.
I was happy with the suddenly fattened bank balance for a moment, but as soon as I thought of the branch manager’s request, my head became complicated again.
He promised that as compensation for this request, he would give me 100 million won in cash and grant me any reasonable request.
More than the cash, the fact that I could ask something of him, who was the branch manager of the Hunter Association and an S-class hunter, was more attractive than anything else, but there were many things that made me uncomfortable to accept it right away.
The Hunter Association wouldn’t be short of manpower… Kang Chul-ho, why on earth would he propose such a request to me, whom he met for the first time today?
No matter how much I thought about it, the answer didn’t come easily.
I habitually scratched the back of my head. I had no choice but to put the problem aside and think about it later.
I turned my steps towards the church right next to the association building.
The fancy exterior, which still looked like it had been plastered with money, stood out. The inside of the church I arrived at was deserted, and it seemed that there were no people in the church on weekdays during the day.
“Welcome, brother.”
A man who looked like a priest approached.
“What brings you to our church today?”
“I’m here to buy holy water, where should I go?”
While exploring this dungeon, I thought that I should always carry extra holy water as a necessity.
Potions can cause addiction if taken in large quantities, but holy water doesn’t have such side effects, and it’s even more effective than potions overall.
“Ah, then would you please follow me?”
The priest was happy to see the appearance of a customer who would sell holy water, and guided me with a brighter smile.
I followed him inside the church, and soon I was able to arrive at a seemingly very large chapel. The huge cross and the sunlight coming in through the colorful stained glass created a sacred atmosphere, and it was obvious that money had been spent here too.
While I was looking around for a while, the priest brought me a small pamphlet.
“If you tell me the grade and number of holy water you want to buy, I’ll bring it from the storage.”
The grade of holy water was divided from the highest to the lowest.
“By any chance, what is the usual grade of holy water made by the bishop?”
“The holy water made by the bishop is usually around middle to upper-middle grade.”
I looked at the booklet for a while. I expected it, but the price was quite high. It seemed that it wasn’t for nothing that the Magic Tower Master brought it as a get-well gift.
“…Give me 3 bottles of middle grade and 2 bottles of low grade.”
“Yes, thank you. Please wait a moment.”
Unlike the priest who headed to the storage with light steps, my heart was heavy.
Even if it was a necessary expense, if I told my parents the amount of money I spent on 5 bottles just now, they would even say that I was a crazy bastard.
Of course, my parents aren’t here, but that doesn’t mean I can save money on the price of my life.
My heart is heavy now, but I have no doubt that there will come a day when I will praise my choice now.
A little later, the priest who returned with a silver tray was more careful than ever.
“Here are 3 bottles of middle-grade holy water and 2 bottles of low-grade holy water as you requested.”
“…I’ll pay with a card.”
I handed over the card with trembling hands.
Of course, I can earn as much money as I want since I reached the 4th Circle, but that doesn’t mean that the memories of the past 21 years of living as a commoner will disappear.
The priest who received the card smiled brightly and left the seat for a while. It seemed too snobbish to put a card reader in the chapel.
I let out a heavy sigh and slumped down in a chair.
“I have a lot of work to do in the future.”
Of course, going to meet Chun Yeo-hwa was a happy thing that didn’t need any other words, but after that, I had to answer the branch manager’s request, and my promise with the Magic Tower Master was waiting for me.
Even now that I don’t have much time left before entering the Magic Tower, I couldn’t help but have a lot of worries about my busy schedule.
Ting-
Of course, there’s probably no more serious worry than this right now.
This time, the notification that rang wasn’t from an app. When I turned on my cell phone after a long time, a message had arrived from a familiar person.
[How about this?]
The owner of the message was Choi Hye-na.
What she sent was a short word and a picture that looked like baby shoes.
[…What is this?]
[What else could it be.]
I was too afraid to see the message that would follow.
[The shoes my baby will wear.]
Thud- The cell phone fell and rolled on the floor. It was a message I couldn’t bear to look at.
How did things turn out like this?
Was it wrong to go beyond the scope of rescue activities and fuck Choi Hye-na like crazy?
“Haa…”
Of course, I couldn’t know the answer even if I thought about it. I couldn’t tell Choi Hye-na to get rid of it either.
I’ve already enjoyed it as much as I wanted, and now I’m going to avoid responsibility.
That was less than a man, less than a human being.
“I have to… get married.”
If I think about it carefully, it’s not such a bad choice. Choi Hye-na is unbelievably pretty, comparable to Iris and Chun Yeo-hwa, and she’s the only daughter of a family that’s richer than most chaebols.
Well… her personality is a bit of a flaw, but that’s what marriage is all about.
The process of two imperfect people meeting and gradually compromising and correcting each other for each other.
But I didn’t know I would do it at this age.
I was worried and had a lot of concerns.
“Brother?”
“Ah.”
The priest who had returned sometime was looking at me with worried eyes.
“Do you have any worries?”
“Yes? Ah…”
I would have just said that nothing was wrong as usual, but today I couldn’t bring myself to say it.
“Brother, sometimes if you just keep your worries in your heart, you’ll get sick in your heart. Would you like to make a confession if you’re okay with it?”
“Confession…?”
