return of the legendary hunter
Bihyung’s eyebrows squirmed and his lips were raised. Woojin knew this was a sign that Bihyung was irritated but he kept going.
“Korea is a bad place for hunters to work. Besides, isn’t it your job to keep otherworldly beings away from reality?”
Bihyung held back his anger at the harsh criticism and answered, “I can’t react to everything that happens without warning. It’s not like I fully control them.”
Woojin glared at Bihyung wordlessly and turned back to the window.
“I’m not here to blame you for what happened in the past. I’ve already killed them all.”
Bihyung then realized what Woojin was trying to say.
“So, you are saying that since you took care of my job, you want me to keep the vampires from getting their revenge on you?”
Woojin glanced at Bihyung’s reflection on the window and replied, “No. They crossed the line so I will take the price from their blood. I don’t need your help with that.”
Bihyung felt like this hunter really had gone crazy, and it made him even more curious.
“Dukgoo told me before he died. He was ordered by their leader to kidnap ones with high spiritual power in Korea to be used as offerings.”
Bihyung frowned. The reason why he left the 8th and 9th generation vampires alone was because he didn’t want to make enemies with their families. But creating such a huge problem when they should not interfere with reality was unacceptable. They needed offerings? Then they should’ve just kidnapped them. Why was murder necessary?
And it was more problematic because the murders were done in such a fashion that was not possible with normal human crimes. Bihyung was wondering as to why that happened and heard of an unexpected name.
“Dmitri ordered it directly?”
“Yeah.”
Dmitri directly ordered them to kill the humans. This was against their rules. This gave Bihyung the right to raise complaints to the vampires. As he weighed the significance of the information, Woojin asked, “Shouldn’t you at least stop it from happening in Korea ever again?”
Bihyung looked closely at Woojin. There were various emotions swirling within Woojin’s eyes. Anger, fear, and determination. Bihyung said, “Good. Tell me who’s been targeted for kidnapping and I will send people to protect them.”
“No, that will not work. What I want is something different.”
Bihyung laughed. Protection against an Avatar was close to impossible in Korea. Even if they received assistance from the Korean Hunters Guild, they didn’t have highly experienced hunters to do the job. And with the ban of carrying firearms, it was even harder to fight the vampires.
“Then what do you want me to do?”
“New Avatars, especially vampires. Tell me when they come into Korea. Trace’em down and let me know, I’ll take care of the rest.”
“You really want to wage war against the vampires?”
“I know who were targeted as offerings in Seoul, but I couldn’t track down who they were targeting in Busan. However, I cannot let them take those people either.”
“Right.”
“So, while we protect those in Seoul, I want to track down the people in Busan and get all of them a Stone of Spiritual Power Concealment.”
“Oh?”
Bihyung stared at Woojin in surprise. Was there a hunter with such experience in Korea? It seemed that he wasn’t just a mad hunter after all. The Stones of Spiritual Power Concealment were only used by Avatars, and it was hard to get one in Korea.
“I guess it’s a sound plan. But it will be hard to pinpoint who the people are in Busan. That’s a large place.”
“Track them down at Myungryun, Yongdang, and Gwangbok.”
“Are those locations you found?”
“Yeah.”
Bihyung walked over to his cabinet and took out a thirty-year-old Ballantine whiskey. He poured some into a glass and handed it to Woojin. Just like how Hwang offered dinner only to a select few, Bihyung offered his whiskey in the same way. Offering a glass of whiskey meant that one had earned Bihyung’s acknowledgment.
Woojin downed the entire glass at once.
“So, can I ask questions now?”
“If it is a question I can answer, yes.”
“How did you get my number?”
“Old Hwang gave it to me.”
“Huh? He gave you my number?”
“Yeah.”
“That old man, has he gone mad?”
Bihyung frowned and Woojin explained.
“This issue wasn’t just any normal one. He figured it was important enough after I killed the vampires.”
“Hmph. There’s no need to make excuses.”
Bihyung poured some more whiskey into Woojin’s glass and then sat down on the sofa.
“I know you killed those two already, but the ones above them are much stronger. Are you really sure you can take them on?”
“I can.”
Bihyung looked into Woojin’s eyes.
“So, you used Cocktails.”
“Yeah.”
“You know that those are addictive?”
“Don’t worry about me. I just want to ask you a favor.”
Bihyung raised his glass, signaling him to ask away. Woojin spoke.
“If I fail, I want to give the stone to my sister so she can get out of harm’s way.”
“Right, they went after your sister too. But isn’t she one we should be using the stone on anyway?”
“I know. Just promise me you’ll make sure to do that.”
“I will promise,” Bihyung answered. “So, there hasn’t been a good hunter in Korea until now. Did you register already?”
“No.”
“Yeah, I figured. They would’ve contacted me if they found a hunter like you.”
Woojin looked silently at Bihyung. In the past, he had known Bihyung when he was working as a hunter. The world between the otherworld and reality became much closer after the Avatar of Amon took those people away. The ones that followed Amon turned the world into a mess, causing the Hunters Guild and the Avatars to work together to fight against them. That’s how Woojin met Bihyung Kim Beom, and also Yuhong who wasn’t here right now.
Woojin got up from his seat as Bihyung handed over his business card.
“You know my number already, but this card will help you in many ways.”
That card would allow Woojin to go into the many facilities that Bihyung owned. He understood how helpful that card could be.
“Thank you.”
Woojin then walked out of the room, and Bihyung turned to Beom.
“Find the ones he mentioned with high spiritual power in the Busan region right away.”
“Do you want me to go all the way down to Busan?”
“Then, you want ME to go?”
Beom frowned and answered, “Ugh. Do you really think he killed Dukgoo and Viktor? They are young, but they are still vampires.”
“He’s a true hunter. I can see it.”
Bihyung poured himself another glass and walked up to the window; Woojin was walking out of the building.
“And find out as much as you can about him while you’re at it.”
“I’ll get on it.”