Monday morning after the weekend.
Kim Seo-jun said goodbye to Madam Baek Yeon-ji, telling her he was off to school, and hurried into the elevator.
‘Back then, I’d just jump out of a tall building to go down…’
In his previous world, most people knew how to use Lightness Technique, so flying around was an everyday occurrence.
But if he did that here, he’d end up on the news right away.
There were Hunters who could fly, but there weren’t many foolish enough to use their Mystique just to get down a building faster.
Before he knew it, Kim Seo-jun arrived on the first floor and started trudging toward the subway station.
It wasn’t even eight o’clock yet, but the streets were already packed with people and cars.
As he walked, staring at the scene with no particular thought, Kim Seo-jun briefly recalled training the Cheonbeon Orb in the nearby hill yesterday.
The orb that summons thunder and lightning, Cheonbeon Orb.
This was a special technique that could be used through Solar Divine Art, something akin to a “skill.”
But the problem was, it was no ordinary skill.
He’d gone deep into the hills, used roughly one-tenth of his inner energy to absorb the Opposing Emanation, and then unleashed a Reverse Counter—the result was explosive.
The red marble shot out toward a boulder larger than a person, exploding before he could even control it.
The thunderous boom was so loud it was as if a shell had detonated, sending the police rushing into the hills.
Kim Seo-jun managed to sneak away and avoid getting dragged off by the police, but the area was in an uproar.
Civilians were trembling with anxiety, thinking it was an accidental shell from a military unit, and it even made the news ticker.
‘Do I need a different method to properly control Cheonbeon Orb?’
The reality that he couldn’t even train Cheonbeon Orb in the hills made Kim Seo-jun feel frustrated.
If only he could control it, it would be incredibly useful for fighting the Demon Soldiers that would appear in the future.
If he launched Cheonbeon Orb as a counter-to-the-counter using Yang’s Dual Spirit Art, he could take out a Demon Soldier in a single blow.
‘Should I go deep into the mountains in Gangwon-do to train Cheonbeon Orb?’
He was tempted to use a trip as an excuse and head to the deep mountains to train.
Thinking such thoughts, Kim Seo-jun boarded the subway and soon arrived at the academy.
When he got to the classroom and sat down, students suffering from Monday blues began to trickle in, all with gloomy expressions.
Only Joo Gwang-sik looked cheerful.
Grinning to himself, he approached Kim Seo-jun and even waved his hand in a relaxed greeting.
“Did you get some good rest over the weekend?”
“Just so-so.”
“Want to hear some good news?”
“The odds of good news for me coming out of your mouth aren’t high, you know?”
“Geez, why are you so negative?”
Joo Gwang-sik snorted and sat down next to him.
“Listen up, man. I overheard Ho-seong hyung on the phone yesterday.”
“Why are you eavesdropping on someone else’s call?”
“That’s not the point right now. Ahem. You know Rosefinch Sei, right? Seems like she’s been saying she wants to keep attending hyung’s lectures. Judging by how they mentioned the dawn class, looks like she’s trying to move the lecture time.”
The “good news” Joo Gwang-sik mentioned was about Han Se-ah.
Kim Seo-jun was also hoping to see her again, so he couldn’t help but perk up.
“Does the academy have a dawn class?”
“Nope. Hyung doesn’t do dawn classes.”
“Then that’s a bust.”
“But this time, he said he’d do a dawn class. Just for Sei.”
“…What?”
That was a surprise.
Yu Ho-seong was actually going to set up a dawn class just for Han Se-ah?
“You’re surprised too, right? Our Ho-seong hyung isn’t the type to give special service to just anyone. No matter how nice he seems, he never gets involved in things that aren’t to his benefit. Sei’s side probably offered a huge sum for the lessons, I bet.”
“That’s probably true, but even if it’s at dawn, if the class is at the academy, it’s not going to be quiet.”
“Hyung said he’d go to Sei’s house for private lessons. His schedule’s packed during the day, so that’s why it’s at dawn.”
That wasn’t actually good news, then.
If Sei had to come out, there’d at least be a chance to talk to her somehow.
Noticing Kim Seo-jun’s displeased expression, Joo Gwang-sik snickered.
“You look totally disappointed, huh? But listen to the end and you might change your mind.”
“…?”
Kim Seo-jun shot him a questioning look.
“Maybe hyung sensed how we felt—he said he might need to take a teaching assistant with him for the private lesson.”
“A teaching assistant?”
“What do you think that means? If you or I want, we can tag along as his assistant and go to Sei’s house together, right?”
Now that he mentioned it, that was true.
Who knows if Yu Ho-seong really intended to give Joo Gwang-sik or Kim Seo-jun a chance to meet Sei, but the opportunity was there.
“So you’d better stay on my good side. I’ll try to go first and tag along with hyung, and I’ll make a spot for you to butt in, too.”
“Well, thanks for that.”
Kim Seo-jun replied nonchalantly as if he didn’t care, but inside he hoped that spot would open up soon.
Soon after, class began.
Professor Shim Jae-deok took the podium and started filling the pristine whiteboard with writing.
Today’s theory class was about the types and numbers of rifts currently existing in Korea, as well as rifts one could enter.
Kim Seo-jun memorized the vast amount of knowledge from the three-hour class without missing almost anything.
Maybe because he’d started cultivating Yang’s Dual Spirit Art, it was easier and quicker than before to memorize things.
He even used Yang’s Dual Spirit Art during class.
One mind focused on the lecture, the other researched martial arts or continued mental cultivation.
When the morning class ended—
“Student Kim Seo-jun. Would you come with me for a moment?”
Professor Shim Jae-deok called on Kim Seo-jun for the first time in a while.
Following him to the faculty office, Kim Seo-jun found a familiar man waiting.
“This is Detective Choi Kyung-moon of the Central Police Agency’s Major Hunter Crimes Division. He says he needs to confirm something, so please cooperate as best as you can. I have something else to attend to, so I’ll leave you to it.”
After introducing Choi Kyung-moon, Professor Shim immediately left.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Choi Kyung-moon.”
Detective Choi held out his hand for a handshake.
Kim Seo-jun took his hand.
“I’m… Kim Seo-jun.”
Kim Seo-jun was a little puzzled.
Detective Choi Kyung-moon had been the lead investigator who arrested Reporter Yoon Ji-hee, but there didn’t seem to be any reason for him to seek out Kim Seo-jun at this point.
“Have a seat first. I’m not here for anything bad, so you don’t have to be nervous. Hahaha.”
Anyone would feel tense meeting a police officer.
Especially if that officer wasn’t just a regular cop, but a Hunter detective who caught villains.
But Kim Seo-jun felt no tension at all.
He was just curious about why Choi Kyung-moon had come to see him.
“Would you like some tea?”
When Choi nodded, Kim Seo-jun moved freely around the faculty office like it was his own home, boiling water and preparing tea.
“You must come here often? Well, if I had a student like you in my class, I’d cherish you too.”
“It’s probably more like I’d be a handful, not a treasure.”
Kim Seo-jun joked, making Choi Kyung-moon laugh.
“First, let me thank you. Thanks to you, we were able to see that nasty reporter punished severely.”
Choi knew well that all the evidence and video materials had come from Kim Seo-jun.
He’d never spoken to him directly, but he’d heard a bit about Kim Seo-jun from a Hunter acquaintance.
“I only did what I should. Is Hunter Jang Mi-jin doing well?”
Hunter Jang Mi-jin was the Hunter he’d met during the Jeungsan Station rift incident, and had helped him most in the Yoon Ji-hee case.
She was also the one who reported Yoon Ji-hee, manipulated the CCTV, and created evidence with her Mystique.
“Mi-jin is the same as always. Anyway… actually, the reason I came to see you is to make a proposal.”
“A proposal?”
What on earth was he talking about now?
‘Is he trying to scout me to be a Hunter detective?’
That was the only thing that came to mind.
Judging by Choi Kyung-moon’s serious expression, it seemed like he really had something important to say.
“Have you heard of the name Jaeger?”
An out-of-the-blue name—Jaeger.
Anyone in Korea who’d spent any time as a Hunter would know that name.
A special task force that operates even more covertly than Hunter detectives, hunting only the most notorious and brutal villains.
Known as the Villain Task Force, Jaeger was a secretive group of agents.
Not much was known about them.
At most, people knew that, despite being under the Central Police Agency, the Jaegers wielded authority on par with the Commissioner General and were elite Hunters licensed by the state to kill.
No one knew how many Jaegers there were or who they were.
“From your expression, you know about them. So you know what Jaeger does, right?”
Of course.
Among all Hunters in existence, those who fall into evil and threaten public safety and lives, refusing to obey laws designated by the state, are called villains.
Villains are classified from Grade 1 to 9 by threat level, and Jaegers specialize in hunting only Grade 5 and above.
Grade 5 villains possess power surpassing BB-rank Hunters, so ordinary Hunter detectives could barely take them down without casualties.
Moreover, while detectives aimed for arrest, Jaegers could kill villains without hesitation if arrest proved too difficult.
Since Choi Kyung-moon brought up Jaeger, Kim Seo-jun could easily guess his proposal.
“Are you a Jaeger too, detective?”
“I can’t say.”
If he couldn’t say, that meant he was.
‘Why even bother hiding it when it’s obvious?’
Choi Kyung-moon seemed to know what Kim Seo-jun was thinking and gave an awkward smile.
“There’s a rule that Jaegers can’t acknowledge their status themselves.”
“So you want to bring me in?”
“Jaeger needs new members. Thanks to Mi-jin, I learned about you, and you meet all the requirements in various ways.”
“Requirements? I’m just an ordinary academy student.”
Kim Seo-jun wondered what made Choi think he was qualified to be a Jaeger.
“The Jaeger information network in Korea is so vast, precise, and sophisticated that the world fears it. If they dug into you, how much could they find?”
Choi’s gaze was sharp.
It felt like he was openly saying, ‘I know what you did at Rift 57.’
Kim Seo-jun was a bit startled inside, but didn’t show it.
“Well, I suppose you found out quite a bit. That Goh Han-soo guy I beat up turned out to be a druggie, and Joo Gwang-sik, who transferred in and tried to become the top dog, got knocked down by me too.”
“That’s just the basics.”
“As for the minor legal infractions I committed with Hunter Jang Mi-jin to get back at Yoon Ji-hee, I trust you’ll overlook them.”
He never said a word about what happened at Rift 57.
Choi Kyung-moon didn’t press further either.
“That’s why Jaeger needs you.”
“…”
Kim Seo-jun was momentarily speechless.
Choi Kyung-moon obviously knew what had happened at Rift 57.
He was a villain-hunting detective from the Central Police Agency—and a Jaeger.
For someone like that not to pursue the matter any further, it was a half-threatening way of saying, “I’ll keep your secret if you accept my offer.”
“I’m still just a first-year student.”
“Age doesn’t matter for Jaeger. You can’t officially be a Jaeger until you get your Hunter license, but that’s not an obstacle to becoming a candidate. And every Jaeger keeps their original status, with their real identity protected at the highest security level, so there’s no need to worry.”
“So you’re asking me to live a double life.”
“All Jaegers do.”
Choi Kyung-moon seemed sincerely intent on recruiting Kim Seo-jun.
“Is there any special process to become a Jaeger? What are the benefits?”
Before making any decision, Kim Seo-jun wanted to know more about Jaeger.
He figured there’d be some consequences if he refused later, but his curiosity was stronger for now.
“If you decide to become a Jaeger, you’ll receive special training for a month with other candidates. There’ll be an aptitude test to determine whether you become a regular member or a support member. After that, you just focus on developing your skills until you graduate from the academy. The Jaeger headquarters will give you all the support you need, so you won’t lose out.”
In other words, even if he accepted now, he wouldn’t become a full member right away.
When Kim Seo-jun nodded, Choi continued.
“The perks will definitely appeal to you. From the moment you finish training, your starting salary is 800 million won, and you’ll get a two-story townhouse in Ilsan worth over three billion won. You’ll also get a bulletproof SUV for convenient travel, and you can choose one weapon from the ‘Artifact Vault’ at headquarters. And finally… you get a license to kill.”
Choi Kyung-moon, facing the nineteen-year-old Kim Seo-jun, didn’t hesitate to mention the license to kill.
By emphasizing it last, he was signaling that he knew Kim Seo-jun had killed the Lee Hyung-mo and Lee Han-soo brothers.
If Kim Seo-jun became a Jaeger and obtained a license to kill, the crime of killing those brothers would be covered up.
Kim Seo-jun’s expression didn’t change.
Inside, he was startled, but he had no reason to show that to Choi Kyung-moon.
‘Forget the license to kill—the terms are just too good.’
An 800 million won starting salary, which could go up; a house worth over three billion; a car; and support—practically a dream job.
The only condition was that he had to hide his identity and risk his life hunting high-level villains.
But the real danger would only come after three more years, so it wasn’t a huge burden.
Truthfully, how Choi had found out about what happened at Rift 57 didn’t matter much.
What mattered was that he was willing to keep it secret.
Still, Kim Seo-jun didn’t want to decide on the spot.
“Could you give me some time?”
“I didn’t expect you to answer right away. But I can’t give you too long. The special training for Jaeger candidates starts at the end of July, so you need to give me an answer at least two weeks before that.”
Since it was early July now, that gave him about ten days to think it over.
“I’ll answer within two weeks. But… what happens if I refuse? I already know a lot about Jaeger. Are you going to wipe my memory with a glowing pen, like those agents in the movies with black suits?”
Kim Seo-jun made a joke about an old movie, and Choi laughed.
“Of course not. But you’ll have to sign a confidentiality agreement. If you leak any information about Jaeger, you’ll have to accept whatever consequences the state imposes. It’s basically a promise.”
“Ha… That’s scarier than being threatened with death.”
The “consequences imposed by the state” could mean a lot of things.
Anyone who signed that kind of agreement would never dare say a word.
“I’ll see you again soon, then.”
Choi Kyung-moon stood up.
“You should already have my number, so I won’t give you a card.”
“And I’m sure you already know my number, so I won’t mention it either.”
Exchanging a few final words, the two of them left the faculty office together.