I lifted my head and gazed at a building. It was the headquarters of a major conglomerate located in Cheongdam-dong. From daily necessities to home appliances, there wasn’t a single sector they hadn’t penetrated—an enterprise so vast that no one in South Korea didn’t know the name. Moreover, Chairman Woo Chan-seong’s son was actively working as an A-rank Hunter.
Perhaps to support his son, they had also ventured into the Hunter industry three years ago. Despite many concerns, it had become a brilliant move that even improved their image as a young, dynamic company.
“Why are you wearing a mask?”
The voice of Deputy Lee stopped my train of thought. He approached with a flustered expression but then suddenly stopped beside me. It was as if he was silently insisting to the passersby, “I don’t know this strange masked guy.”
I felt a bit annoyed and draped my arm around Deputy Lee’s shoulder.
“To hide my identity.”
“My identity? Why would you need to hide that? And don’t you think a mask could really hide it?”
“Of course not.”
“…..?”
Deputy Lee tilted his head, clearly not understanding. He had the wrong idea about what identity I was trying to conceal. I was indeed trying to hide my identity, but not from the people in this conglomerate.
This was a major corporation. No mask alone could hide one’s identity here. Even a brief check of my movements would reveal who I was within ten minutes. The mask was meant to deceive third-party eyes.
“What do you think would happen if I entered the conglomerate’s building with my face exposed?”
“Nothing bad, right? Because you’re the team leader.”
“… Right. I’m nobody. Just Baek Do-hee’s brother and Lee Tae-cheon’s friend.”
“Oh.”
A sound of realization escaped his mouth. He understood. Baek Do-hee’s brother, Lee Tae-cheon’s friend—that was a significant position. Just by being Baek Do-un, people might mistakenly think Baekuncheon Guild was trying to make contact with the conglomerate.
Even though I had no such intention. Even if I had quit the guild.
“Now you understand why I’m wearing the mask.”
“Got it. So introduce me not as Baek Do-un but as a plant gathering expert.”
“Huh? What kind of expert?”
“I’ll take it from there, so don’t worry. And I’ll make sure you get your introduction fee.”
“The team leader, calling himself a plant gathering expert—”
“Enough, let’s go inside.”
Wrapping my arm around Deputy Lee’s neck, we entered the building. As we passed through the large revolving door, people stared at me—or rather, at the masked face.
They shifted their gaze between me and Deputy Lee. Two young security guards approached slowly with serious expressions, as if ready to subdue whoever stood before them.
Ah.
“… It’s okay. We’re just joking around.”
I loosened the headlock and patted Deputy Lee’s shoulder. He let out a sharp breath, “Hmm!” but the two guards didn’t stop advancing.
Wearing a mask naturally aroused suspicion. I would’ve done the same. Who would let a masked person roam free?
“It’s fine.”
Deputy Lee stepped forward with a friendly smile, lightly rubbing his neck. Had I been too rough?
“He’s a perfectly safe person.”
He then showed his ID and guild badge. The guards’ eyes widened slightly as they examined the cards.
“Baekuncheon!”
Their surprise upon confirming the affiliation reminded me just how respected Baekuncheon was. Tae-cheon and Do-hee had pushed themselves for two years to achieve this. My little sister and my friend were truly impressive.
“Yes, confirmed. No problem then.”
“Thank you. Take care.”
The guards returned the ID and guild badge to Deputy Lee. Simply belonging to Baekuncheon was enough for them not to turn away the masked me. That much trust was earned.
Watching the guards leave, Deputy Lee spoke.
“From here on, if anything goes wrong, I’m not responsible. You said the team leader would handle everything. No backing out.”
“Got it.”
With that settled, we walked toward the front desk. As we stood there, one of the receptionists recognized Deputy Lee. She greeted him with a bright smile.
“Oh my, Deputy Lee Seong-hoon.”
What’s this? My instincts are sharp. I looked at Deputy Lee, who sighed and whispered softly,
“We’ve only met a few times at work. Don’t look at me like that.”
As if that were a good excuse. Baekuncheon had never done anything worthy of entering a conglomerate headquarters before.
Deputy Lee responded to her radiant smile with a broad grin of his own. Bright smiles and cheerful laughter—this felt like spring itself.
“Hello, Kim Min-ju.”
“What brings you here today?”
“Are the two of you in a regular meeting?”
“Yes, they are.”
“You should stop that.”
“Excuse me?”
“We’ve come with a request from the chairman.”
“…..!”
The warm smiles on the receptionists’ faces vanished. Their expressions shifted into sharp, piercing gazes—not those of ordinary front desk staff.
I had seen those eyes before—the gaze of a predator with prey in sight. The eyes of hunters focused on a target. These women were no ordinary receptionists.
The one called Min-ju shifted her gaze from Deputy Lee to me.
“Could it be…”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Deputy Lee answered her question directed at me. Her lips trembled slightly. She leaned closer to Deputy Lee, demanding,
“Really! Is it true? You’re not lying?”
“… If I lied, what do you think you’d do to me, Min-ju?”
Deputy Lee hesitated for a moment, then took a step back. Was his face just slightly flushed, or was it my imagination?
“Wait, wait a moment!”
Min-ju hurriedly grabbed her smartphone and left the front desk. Though her behavior was inappropriate for a receptionist, none of the remaining staff reprimanded her.
It was as if they all silently thought, ‘Thank goodness.’ Watching her retreating back, I smirked.
“It’s about the money, right?”
“… Shut up.”
Deputy Lee’s face turned bright red. When will I tell the dismantling team uncles that Deputy Lee has fallen in love?
Chairman Woo Chan-seong was a man who knew how to separate business from personal matters. Even though he had been waiting so long for this moment, he chose to meet us after finishing all the regular meetings.
Because of that, Deputy Lee and I sat side by side on the sofa in the chairman’s office, sipping fragrant tea as we waited for him.
“Sorry, the chairman had an important matter…”
We weren’t alone in the office. Sitting opposite us was the front desk receptionist named Kim Min-ju, whom we had seen in the lobby.
It was strange that she wasn’t the chairman’s secretary, but Deputy Lee seemed content, so I let it slide.
“But he’ll be done soon. The person he’s been waiting for has arrived.”
“… Is that so?”
“Yes! Oh, by the way, may I ask your name?”
“My name…?”
“Oh, Min-ju, that…”
Damn.
I had only thought about hiding my identity but hadn’t prepared a name to give instead. They’d figure it out soon enough, but with a mask on, it felt embarrassing to answer immediately.
Deputy Lee also opened and closed his mouth awkwardly beside me. Fortunately, Kim Min-ju seemed to realize something, lightly tapping her forehead.
“Ah! How silly of me. Asking a dumb question to someone wearing a mask. Sorry.”
Thankfully, she nodded in understanding. Phew. Unable to scratch my cheek, I scratched my mask instead, pondering.
What ridiculous, absurd name would be good?
Bang!
The chairman’s office door swung open. Chairman Woo Chan-seong entered. Deputy Lee and Kim Min-ju stood up immediately, but I remained seated.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
Behind him followed two others: a man and a woman. The man was Woo Yeon-hu, Chairman Woo Chan-seong’s son. The woman was unfamiliar.
They closed the door behind them, indicating she was likely a secretary. The white-haired chairman took the seat of honor. Despite his age, his body was thick with muscle.
By torso size alone, he was bigger than his son Woo Yeon-hu, an A-rank Hunter. If we had met without knowing who he was, we might have mistaken him for a veteran hunter rather than the CEO of a conglomerate.
“Good day, Chairman.”
“Save the formalities and sit down. Min-ju, you too.”
“Me? Shouldn’t I bring tea?”
Kim Min-ju asked, flustered. But the chairman’s attention was already on me. Woo Yeon-hu gently guided her back to her seat and sat next to her.
The secretary, who had entered last, sat beside Woo Yeon-hu.
“So, you’re the plant gathering expert Deputy Lee found.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“I’m Woo Chan-seong. This is my son Woo Yeon-hu. And this is my secretary, Um Ju-a.”
“… The ‘Warm Fingers.’”
Everyone looked at me with incredulous expressions. Well, what can I say?
“Is that so, Warm Fingers? Not a bad name.”
Even in that situation, Chairman Woo’s voice was weighty and composed. His neatly groomed white beard traced along his chin. Stroking his beard, he carefully asked,
“Sorry to test you right away, but may I?”
“A test?”
“To see if you can really gather Udamhwa.”
“Very well.”
“Good, straight to the point. Yeon-hu.”
“Yes, Father.”
Woo Yeon-hu pulled a folded piece of paper from his suit pocket and spread it on the table. The paper was inscribed with a summoning magic circle linked to a designated location. Deputy Lee let out a soft gasp.
All the papers in the pocket were covered with magic circles. This was the level of Korea’s top corporations. Woo Yeon-hu reached out and infused mana into the summoning circle.
The paper vanished, replaced by something else—a mushroom. Naturally, it was no ordinary mushroom.
Deputy Lee half rose, shocked.
I nearly was as well.
“Chairman, this isn’t…”
“Yes, you saw correctly.”
“Seoljicho…! That’s an A-rank elixir ingredient!”
Deputy Lee muttered in admiration.
Seoljicho.
A mushroom that grows only on frozen, fallen ancient trees. Though not quite as rare as Udamhwa, it was a top-tier elixir ingredient, an A-rank, as Deputy Lee said.
“When we found this, we were overjoyed…”
The Woo family sighed in unison.
That made sense.
Seoljicho was useless to patients with Jeolmaekjeung. No, not just useless—it was poisonous to them.
Jeolmaekjeung was a disease caused by excessively strong yin energy. What would happen if such a patient consumed Seoljicho, which is rich in yin energy? Chairman Woo’s daughter would likely freeze to death on the spot.
“Think of this as the cost of the test. If you can harvest it, it’s yours.”
“Understood.”
At the mention of an A-rank elixir, Deputy Lee’s eyes lit up. Why was he getting excited when it was mine? He should watch his image since Min-ju was watching.
I clenched and unclenched my right hand, stretched my shoulders a couple of times. I wasn’t going to waste time. Honestly, it was nerve-wracking to harvest an A-rank elixir ingredient under everyone’s watch.
Clenching my fist, I looked at Chairman Woo. He nodded to signal the start.
“Hmm, begin.”
With his cue, I extended my right index finger—the only finger standing straight from my clenched fist—and placed it on the Seoljicho.
Then, from the frozen tree, the mushroom suddenly popped out.
“….?”
“…..??”
Everyone stared at me in disbelief. Ignoring their gazes, I wondered—how could I write this so that people say it was well done?
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