Chapter 47 

 The Uninvited Guest in the Wardrobe

Outside Oh Hyeonseong’s house.

A large number of suspicious black vehicles were parked there.

It was a scene completely out of place in what was normally a quiet neighborhood.

Beside the vehicles stood people dressed in suits, their hands clasped together as they exchanged wary glances and engaged in a silent battle of nerves.

At first glance, it looked like a meeting between massive criminal organizations.

But the people gathered there were none other than Hunters from the Disaster Management Bureau and agents from the National Security Bureau.

Clunk.

Han Suyeon and Baek Jisu got out of their respective vehicles.

Both had finished identical schedules in the provinces and were on their way to Seoul, but they had stopped by Changyeong-ri first.

That was why they had arrived at almost exactly the same time.

Of course, Baek Jisu looked at her with an expression of disbelief.

“Why did you follow me here?”

“I heard you were going to Senior’s place again, so I came in case you were planning to pull some weird stunt again.”

“I didn’t come here just to bicker with you. Don’t cause a commotion like last time. I’d appreciate it if you stayed quiet and left.”

Baek Jisu brushed past her.

When she arrived at Oh Hyeonseong’s house, she was about to knock on the door, but the front gate was slightly open, so she simply walked inside.

Apparently, only the gate had been left open.

The inside of the house was completely empty.

There was no sign of Oh Hyeonseong anywhere.

“Looks like he’s out.”

“Han Suyeon, Senior isn’t even here. Why don’t you leave first? I came here for a separate reason.”

“I have a reason for being here, too. Ryu Jihwa contacted me and asked me to come.”

“He asked you to come with him?”

“Yeah. He said we should all get together and see each other after such a long time. You didn’t come here for the same reason?”

“Ha… That guy.”

Baek Jisu shook her head.

It seemed he had gathered everyone after all.

Of all the times for their schedules to overlap, it had to happen now.

She had wanted to have a private conversation with Oh Hyeonseong, so she couldn’t help feeling unlucky.

“Wait…”

At that moment, Baek Jisu’s gaze suddenly shifted.

She stood in the living room, staring intently at the wardrobe inside the room beyond the open door.

Han Suyeon looked at her curiously.

“What is it?”

“No… It’s nothing.”

Baek Jisu eventually withdrew her gaze and turned away.

“I just thought Senior might have gotten a pet.”

“Hehe, the weather’s nice.”

Yoo Eunha hummed to herself as she walked down the road.

She had gone down to the village, stopped by Auntie Hwang’s house to run an errand for her, and was now on her way back.

As a result, she was carrying a rather generous reward in her left hand.

As expected, Auntie’s kimchi really is the best.

The villagers had rewarded her generously for such a simple errand.

Auntie Hwang was already famous for being generous, but perhaps this was what people meant when they talked about the warmth of the countryside.

Looking up at the clear sky, Yoo Eunha turned around a corner.

Thud!

But she suddenly collided with a man.

At first, it felt as though she had crashed into a huge boulder rather than a person, and her body briefly lifted off the ground.

Fortunately, the man caught her before she could fall and slam her backside against the ground.

“Are you all right?”

“Ah, yes… Thank you for catching me.”

“No, I’m sorry. I should have noticed you. I was so focused that I wasn’t paying attention.”

The man spoke while holding a phone with a map application open on its screen.

Thinking he must be from out of town, she looked up.

And at that moment, she was utterly shocked.

“R-Ryu Jihwa!”

At first, she doubted her own eyes.

But only for a moment.

Did I see that wrong? Or is he just someone who looks incredibly similar?

No.

There was no way she could mistake him.

Yoo Eunha was naturally interested in the Hunter world both domestically and internationally.

But even before that interest, she had been a huge fan of Ryu Jihwa.

She was such a devoted fan that she had even bought a ticket to the United States just to attend one of his fan meetings.

Her plans had ultimately fallen through because of an unexpected situation, but she had faithfully followed every one of his activities ever since.

And now, she had suddenly encountered him in person.

Her heart was pounding like crazy.

“Oh, you recognized me right away?”

“O-of course…”

“I saw an elderly woman at that supermarket earlier, but she was really stern. She did kindly tell me how to get around, though… I wondered if people had forgotten me since I haven’t worked in Korea for so long.”

“F-forgotten you? That’s impossible!”

Yoo Eunha suddenly shouted.

Realizing what she had just done, her face turned bright red and she lowered her head.

Wow… No way… I’m meeting him in a place like this all of a sudden…? Wait, I didn’t even put on proper makeup!

She had been a fan of Ryu Jihwa ever since he first emerged into the public eye and began his career.

She had even bought a plane ticket to the United States to attend his fan meeting.

Although the trip had been canceled midway because of unforeseen circumstances, she had continued keeping up with all of his activities.

And now she was seeing him in person like this.

Her heart was beating wildly.

“I need to get to the village community center. Could you perhaps show me the way? I’ve been wandering around for a while.”

“Oh, it’s actually right around here… I’ll take you there myself.”

“I’d really appreciate that.”

Ryu Jihwa smiled brightly.

The two unexpectedly ended up walking together toward the village community center, chatting along the way.

What had started as a chance encounter had somehow turned into something resembling a fan meeting.

Yoo Eunha was still dumbfounded by the situation, but an opportunity like this might only come once in a lifetime.

So she decided to indulge herself as much as possible.

“You said you know someone in this village?”

“To be precise, you could say he’s my mentor.”

“I can’t really imagine Ryu Jihwa having a mentor.”

“Well… he practically raised me himself. It almost feels shameful that I’m only visiting him now.”

Ryu Jihwa let out a short sigh.

Yoo Eunha was surprised by his words.

The fact that he had a teacher he respected this much was completely unknown even to his fans.

More importantly, she wondered whether there was actually anyone in this village who could have been such a person.

“Still, today…”

Ryu Jihwa suddenly stopped speaking.

He stopped walking.

Yoo Eunha turned her gaze to see what was happening.

And there stood Oh Hyeonseong.

He had apparently come out wearing casual clothes and slippers, dragging his feet along as he walked.

“I was wondering where you’d gone. So you were here.”

“Oh, Oppa, you were looking for me…?”

“Senior!”

Ryu Jihwa’s face lit up as he ran toward him.

Even the tone of his voice had completely changed from the conversation he’d just been having.

“Eh…”

Yoo Eunha stood there dumbfounded, unable to continue speaking.

Oh Hyeonseong had spent many years serving in the military and had led many people.

However, with Han Suyeon and Baek Jisu, he had merely guided them as their senior and occasionally given them necessary advice whenever they encountered difficulties.

Rather than having actually taught them, they were comrades who had fought through the battlefield together and shared life-and-death situations.

But Ryu Jihwa was a disciple whom he had personally trained at the training center.

Back when Ryu Jihwa had been dragged into the training center at barely his mid-teens and put through hellish training…

To him, Oh Hyeonseong had been a teacher who taught him almost everything and someone he had relied upon completely.

“How long has it been?”

“I’m really glad you were discharged safely… Truly.”

“Don’t overdo it.”

Oh Hyeonseong replied indifferently.

Of course, Ryu Jihwa genuinely meant what he said.

Just five years ago, the condition of his legs had been extremely serious.

The fact that he could now walk normally on both legs was practically a miracle.

“By the way, you said you arrived earlier. Have you really been wandering around this whole time because you couldn’t find the community center?”

“The village is a little complicated. Especially the community center. Why did they have to hide it so well…?”

“You really haven’t changed when it comes to getting lost.”

Oh Hyeonseong shook his head.

He couldn’t believe Ryu Jihwa had caused all this trouble simply because he couldn’t find the community center sitting right in the middle of the village.

He had even given up trying to explain the directions and come all the way here to pick him up.

“More importantly, I’ve visited you several times whenever I came to Korea. How could you reject every single visit?”

“Back then… I didn’t want to be disturbed. I’m sorry.”

At the time, Oh Hyeonseong had been obsessively focused on rehabilitation.

Until he finally accepted that it wasn’t possible and gave up, that was all he had lived for.

He hadn’t had the time or inclination to see anyone.

He later learned that Ryu Jihwa had the second-highest number of recorded visits to him.

“Come to think of it, I interrupted the two of you while you were talking. Before you leave, give Eunha a little fan service. She seems to be your fan.”

“Ah, of course. If she’s Senior’s acquaintance, I should do anything for her.”

“By the way, where’s your manager? I thought he was coming, but he’s not with you and I don’t see him anywhere.”

“Oh, I heard he arrived before me. He wasn’t here yet?”

“Not at all.”

Choi Jeongil had yet to appear.

It wasn’t as though the man didn’t know Ryu Jihwa was terrible with directions, so where had he gone and what was he doing while leaving him alone?

When the two of them returned to the house, Han Suyeon and Baek Jisu had already arrived.

Oh Hyeonseong was slightly surprised by the noisy vehicles and the group of Hunters outside, but since they had come directly from the provinces, it made sense.

He could send them away later.

In any case, four Hunters gathered together in one of the rooms.

Ryu Jihwa, who had organized the gathering, nodded in satisfaction.

“It’s a small gathering for an alumni reunion, but at least we’ve managed to get everyone together.”

“Considering how few of us have survived until now, this is actually a pretty good turnout.”

“…”

The atmosphere suddenly turned cold.

Realizing his mistake, Baek Jisu quickly acknowledged it.

“…Sorry.”

“Wait a moment. I’ll bring some fruit.”

“Ah, I’ll cut it!”

Ryu Jihwa jumped to his feet and followed Oh Hyeonseong.

It was a pleasant reunion with faces they hadn’t seen in a long time.

But at the same time, from the narrow gap of the slightly open wardrobe, a silent scream continued.

What the hell is this? What the fuck is going on?!

Lee Gilsang cursed inwardly, his face deathly pale.

Hunters powerful enough to single-handedly topple a small country were swarming right in front of him.

On top of that, he could sense an insane number of presences outside the house.

They were nothing compared to the monsters inside, but there was no doubt that every single one of them was stronger than Lee Gilsang.

Han Suyeon and Baek Jisu, and Ryu Jihwa, whom I saw earlier, are here too. They even mentioned Choi Jeongil. Yeah. It’s a coup. This is a coup d’état.

There were countless Hunters waiting outside.

And if this many influential figures had secretly gathered in some remote countryside village like this, then they were obviously holding a secret meeting of Hunters to overthrow the government.

The Disaster Management Bureau and the National Security Bureau were both mobilizing personnel.

If even Aegis Entertainment, the largest private-sector force in the country, was involved, they had more than enough power to overthrow the nation.

Lee Gilsang was witnessing a scene that would go down in history.

Th-then… who the hell is that man sitting among them?

There was only one man he couldn’t identify.

Yet those influential figures who could practically control South Korean society were treating him with the utmost respect and calling him Senior.

Could he be… the true power behind this country, someone who even has the President under his thumb despite remaining hidden from the public eye?

Whatever was happening, if he got caught, he was dead.

Under the suffocating tension, he consciously controlled even his breathing.

The narrow gap in the wardrobe door that he had left open to prepare for an ambush now felt like a blade pointed directly at his throat.

He couldn’t close it now.

He was practically going insane.

The moment he moved even slightly, his Complete Absolute Stealth would be broken.

An ordinary Hunter wouldn’t notice him even if he moved.

But against people like these, it was dangerous.

That was why he couldn’t even twitch a finger.

“Hmm.”

W-what? Why does she keep looking over here?

Lee Gilsang flinched when his eyes met Baek Jisu’s.

There was no way she could have noticed him while he was maintaining Complete Absolute Stealth.

And yet, because of the way she had been looking in his direction for some time, he felt as though his breath had been completely knocked out of him.

Under the extreme tension, his legs were gradually losing their strength.

Thump!

“…?”

In the end, everyone inside the house simultaneously turned their gazes toward the sound.