Chapter 55: Chapter 55

The one who contacted Kang Jin-hyuk was Seo Sang-ho’s secretary.

Thanks to the contact information exchanged during a previous large-scale raid, her number was still saved in his phone.

“What is it?”

The secretary’s voice transmitted over the receiver was trembling violently.

It sounded like she was on the edge of collapsing at any moment.

Was it all an act?

Or were her suppressed emotions breaking through?

“Do you have the antidote?”

If Seo Sang-ho’s secretary was in league with the guild members chasing him, Kang Jin-hyuk’s life would be forfeit.

However, he figured if she was someone who would die anyway, he should at least take the gamble.

“I have it at my place, so please hurry over. We’re running out of time.”

After hearing his response, the secretary abruptly hung up.

Within five minutes, as if she had been waiting nearby all along, she knocked loudly on the front door.

When he opened the door, the disheveled secretary burst into the house, her hair undone and stockings torn.

“Where’s the Guild Master? Is he in that room?”

“Calm down and wait here for a moment.”

Kang Jin-hyuk seated the secretary on the living room chair and went alone into the attic, locking the door behind him.

“There’s no good to be had from revealing the dungeon.”

Seo Sang-ho was in dire condition, rendering him incapable of anything, but Kang Jin-hyuk had no intention of disclosing the dungeon’s secrets to anyone.

Especially since he couldn’t even be sure if that woman was entirely on his side; revealing such crucial information would be foolish.

Once inside the dungeon, Kang Jin-hyuk hurriedly returned to the workshop.

Upon seeing him return just five minutes after he had left, the dwarf was puzzled.

“What’s going on? Did you already find the antidote?”

“Yes. It seems to have come on its own.”

“That sounds like some nonsense.”

“There’s no time to explain, so I’ll tell you later.”

Kang Jin-hyuk rushed to carry Seo Sang-ho out of the dungeon.

With only about ten minutes left, he needed to move as quickly as possible.

Breathless from running, Kang Jin-hyuk bolted out of the attic.

The secretary stood up at once upon seeing Seo Sang-ho’s face.

“Seo Sang-ho!”

Seeing the secretary call out his name and rush towards him filled Kang Jin-hyuk with relief.

‘So they really are close.’

If it weren’t for that connection beyond just a superior-subordinate relationship, he wouldn’t have to worry about potential betrayal.

Carefully, Kang Jin-hyuk laid Seo Sang-ho on the living room floor.

Standing before the dying Seo Sang-ho, the secretary wept silently.

Kang Jin-hyuk understood her feelings but couldn’t afford to waste time on such things now.

“We don’t have much time left. We need to administer the antidote quickly.”

Unable to reply through her choked sobs, the secretary nodded.

She retrieved the antidote and a disposable syringe from her bag.

“Do you know how to inject this?”

The secretary shot him a glare, as if to say he was insulting her intelligence.

As she injected the syringe filled with the antidote into Seo Sang-ho’s arm, the color returned to his face, which had seemed close to death.

Realizing they had passed a dangerous moment, the secretary sighed in relief, her chest settling.

“Thank you… so much.”

As time passed and her heart calmed, the secretary bowed her head respectfully to Kang Jin-hyuk.

“I will not forget this favor and will surely repay it.”

“It’s a bit early to say it’s all over.”

It was indeed premature to feel relieved, as Kang Jin-hyuk said.

Even though they had administrated the antidote, proper treatment required transferring him to suitable facilities.

However, the pursuers were still lurking nearby.

If they recklessly revealed themselves, a counterattack could come raining down.

“I’m sorry, but could you assist a bit longer? I promise I will repay you.”

“…….”

Kang Jin-hyuk didn’t want to get too involved in someone else’s guild affairs.

But when confronted with those pleading eyes, swallowing her tears, he couldn’t bring himself to refuse.

“Alright, since you’ve come this far, I’ll help you until the end.”

“Thank you.”

“But I have a condition.”

“What’s the condition? I will do anything possible.”

Kang Jin-hyuk’s request was simple.

“Tell me everything that happened without holding back. I don’t want to be caught up unknowingly.”

“Understood…”

Taking a deep breath, the secretary prepared to begin her long story.

* * *

Inside the hotel where Seo Sang-ho’s welcoming ceremony was supposed to take place, chaos reigned.

Even if the poison was deadly, they were still dealing with S-rank hunter Seo Sang-ho.

This was no opponent they could casually engage.

“Haha! I didn’t expect you’d land a blow given your condition.”

Beside the evidently serious Han Young-seok, another S-rank hunter, Kang Jun-tae, burst into laughter.

“You think it’s funny in a situation like this?!”

“Does crying and shouting resolve anything? Just enjoy and have some fun.”

Kang Jun-tae began to pat the abdomen Seo Sang-ho had punched, showing signs of distress.

Despite his body going limp, he flailed his strong fists with an intensity capable of sending someone flying.

Even in such a weakened state, that passion was truly admirable to witness.

“You and I both underestimated Seo Sang-ho.”

“That’s true. There’s a saying about never underestimating someone even if they’re on the verge of defeat.”

“But thanks to that, we learned a valuable lesson.”

Han Young-seok agreed with Kang Jun-tae’s remarks.

While there was no choice but to escape now, the next encounter would surely differ.

Determined, Han Young-seok resolved to mobilize all his strength to finish Seo Sang-ho for good.

“By the way, has there been any word yet?”

“I’ve contacted the police and hospitals, but there’s still no news.”

“Then he must be hiding somewhere…”

“I sent pursuers after him, so we will be getting word soon.”

Despite the nonchalance, the one truly anxious was Han Young-seok.

The poison used on Seo Sang-ho was an astronomical sum spent on smuggled Basilisk poison.

He should typically have been found dead by now.

Yet none of the pursuers sent out found any trace of Seo Sang-ho nearby.

“This spells trouble!”

Han Young-seok instinctively anticipated the upcoming grim news as he heard the urgent warning from one of the guild members.

When it came to such alarms, it always indicated bad news.

Even if he didn’t want to hear it, as the head responsible, he needed to listen to what the incoming report was.

“What happened?”

“One of the antidotes we had stored went missing!”

Han Young-seok’s jaw dropped upon hearing the announcement.

They had smuggled two antidotes along with the Basilisk poison as contingency.

If even one ended up in Seo Sang-ho’s hands, it meant someone must have gotten it to him.

“Things just went south.”

Kang Jun-tae couldn’t help but chuckle at the situation.

Han Young-seok’s anger peaked, and the calmness began slipping away.

After briefly massaging his eyes, he took a deep breath and finally spoke.

“Did you find out who took it?”

“It was Lee Hyena, the secretary.”

“So it was her…”

They had safeguarded the antidote with strict surveillance.

Aside from Han Young-seok and a few other executives, only Seo Sang-ho’s personal secretary, Lee Hyena, had the authority to bypass that surveillance.

“Track down that woman. Seo Sang-ho must be somewhere nearby.”

“Understood.”

The guild member hurriedly dashed off to relay the command.

Han Young-seok sank into a relatively intact chair, exhausted.

His expectations of a smooth operation were perhaps naive from the start.

However, he hadn’t anticipated things spiraling out of control this much.

A dying Seo Sang-ho desperately fighting back, along with Lee Hyena’s uncanny ability to uncover the whereabouts of the antidote.

Han Young-seok became sure there was someone orchestrating Seo Sang-ho’s escape.

Even if Lee Hyena was shrewd, she couldn’t have found the antidote without some assistance.

Were there any figures who had sympathized with Seo Sang-ho after the incident?

“Are there any leads?”

“From what I imagined, this appears to be an external action.”

“Why do you believe that?”

“I’ve meticulously prepared this plan to be foolproof. Do you believe someone could have been neglected so easily?”

In truth, any guild member with a shred of normalcy would have been ruled out for this plan.

“Could be a traitor in our ranks.”

“…Yes, that may be plausible.”

At this stage, it was conceivable that some frightened guild member clung to Seo Sang-ho.

Han Young-seok contacted his subordinates to begin extracting any undesirables.

In less than thirty minutes, three guild members were captured and brought before Han Young-seok, two of them with mutilated faces and one with a broken arm.

None could escape the reality that they had been engaged in a brutal brawl.

“The oral reports from these men don’t match.”

“How long has it been?”

“Approximately one hour.”

“That’s sufficient time to pull some stunts.”

As Han Young-seok’s words sunk in, the three guild members turned pale.

“W-wait a moment!”

“This is a misunderstanding!”

Understanding their situation, the hunters quickly panicked.

If they continued down this path, they might find themselves subjected to torture without being able to explain.

“It’s just a lack of reporting. We didn’t have any ulterior motives!”

“Had there been no ulterior motives, your reports would have been more timely.”

“Th-that’s, um…”

As the hunters hesitated to voice their justifications, Kang Jun-tae grew increasingly irritated.

“Let’s just kill one and get it over with. We don’t need to spare all three.”

He brandished a flail as if to reaffirm that he wasn’t joking.

“Just wait a moment longer!”

“I will confess everything!”

“P-please spare me!”

Fearing death loomed closer, the hunters had no choice but to spill out the facts they had kept hidden.

They uncovered suspicious remnants around Kang Jin-hyuk’s home, tried to attack him, and barely managed to secure permission to search the house.

All three hunters confessed without any distortion.

“What the hell…”

Han Young-seok flushed with anger after hearing their report.

Such foolishness had threatened to nullify the invaluable planning accomplished.

How long had he poured sweat and blood into this plot?

To think the efforts amassed over time could be jeopardized by these fools!

“Kill them.”

“Who?”

“All of them!”

Han Young-seok apathetically observed the hunters begging for their lives as they were brutally struck by Kang Jun-tae’s flail.

Such incompetence had no place within Titan.