By Zephyria 
“I know this person. He’s an S-class hunter who recently returned to the country after being abroad.”
“What? An S-class hunter?”
The hunter, who had assumed he was at most A-class, looked genuinely surprised by Gwak Yun-sang’s words. He must have wondered how he could have been unaware of an S-class hunter until now.
Instead of giving a detailed explanation, Gwak Yun-sang simply placed his index finger over his lips and winked. Sensing the nuance that it was likely related to national secrets, the hunter didn’t press further.
“I understand, senior. Well then, good luck to both of you. I’ll see you later.”
The hunter bid them farewell, firmly believing that Tae-un and Kim Si-baek would join the full-scale assault on the giant vine.
“We see each other often, Manager.”
“Actually, the Commissioner dispatched me here after hearing reports that Guild Master Tae and a mysterious rookie hunter were on site. After all, I’m in charge of the two of you.”
“But what did you mean by ‘abroad’ earlier?”
“Since he’s about to be officially announced as an S-class hunter, why don’t we coordinate our stories and say his previous activities were spent abroad? Something like… a secret agent for the National Intelligence Service?”
Tae-un wasn’t entirely familiar with the current state of affairs in Korea, but it sounded plausible. After a moment of consideration, Tae-un agreed.
“Well, it feels a bit like an exaggerated setting, but it’s not bad. There are actually nameless Awakened belonging to the NIS.”
“The Director of the NIS has also agreed to the identity laundering. Though he believes that the Guild Master persuaded Hunter Kim Si-baek, who was living in seclusion abroad, to come back.”
The finer details could be patched together later. Once the conversation wound down, Gwak Yun-sang cleared his throat and looked at Kim Si-baek politely.
“Then, although you aren’t officially a Korean hunter yet, may I request your help in tackling the magical beast?”
Kim Si-baek gave a thin smile.
“On the contrary, that is something I would like to ask of you.”
“Thank you!”
Gwak Yun-sang greeted him with a beaming face that didn’t suggest only a single hunter had joined. Kim Si-baek didn’t realize that beyond the skill, Gwak Yun-sang was genuinely happy that someone who could perfectly control Tae-un had arrived.
“So, there’s something I’d like to ask. As you might have guessed, the giant vine has absorbed magic stones. Normally it’s a B-class magical beast, but having absorbed magic stones, it’s currently estimated to be high A-class.”
“It absorbed quite a bit more than expected.”
“Um, in the place where Hunter… Mak Sle… Hunter Kim was, were there no rational ways to tackle a giant vine?”
“Hmm…”
Kim Si-baek quietly searched through his old memories.
“I have tackled a Geth—or what you call a giant vine in Korea—that had become overwhelmingly strong by absorbing magic stones.”
〈Apostle, we’re screwed.〉
It happened in the past, while crossing the Great Desert.
At the time, Kim Si-baek served simultaneously as the Apostle and Grand Warrior of the Sect of Death and Beauty. His companions were Gloiuken, a Holy Knight who had been designated as the next Grand Warrior and was seeking enlightenment under him, and Nasluik, Gloiuken’s half-brother.
The three of them walked through the desert to meet Suapshekh, the mother of Gloiuken and Nasluik. The reason they crossed the desert on foot, despite the many available means of transport, was simple. The sect had no money.
Even now, they weren’t exactly affluent, but back then, the budget of the Sect of Death and Beauty was beyond tight—it was practically nonexistent. Since their legs wouldn’t break just from walking a bit in the desert, Kim Si-baek and Gloiuken decided to travel on foot to save money and practice asceticism. The problem was Nasluik, who had forced his way into the trip by throwing a tantrum.
Nasluik was a mage who suffered from chronic lack of exercise, and as a mixed blood of mermaid and human, he struggled even more in the inland areas where there was no water. In the end, the two of them took turns carrying him on their backs. Walking through the sandy desert with a decent weight on their backs served as excellent lower-body training.
On that day, too, Kim Si-baek walked the desert with Nasluik on his back. In contrast to the younger brother who was panting and limp even while being carried, Gloiuken, who was bursting with energy, scouted the area ahead. As soon as she returned, these were the words she spoke.
〈Apostle, we’re screwed.〉
As soon as she finished, Nasluik slapped his sister’s lips with a loud smack. Since she was a giant to the point that Kim Si-baek had to look far up at her, Nasluik had to stretch his arm as high as possible.
〈Sister! How can you utter such profane slang in the presence of the Apostle’s safety! Nasluik is disappointed in you!〉
〈Oops! My apologies, Your Eminence!〉
〈Uh, no. It’s fine. Gloiuken is an adult; she can swear a bit…〉
〈I cannot allow Your Eminence’s precious ears to be defiled by vulgar curses!〉
Nasluik, who had been flailing while acting as if it were his own problem, only quieted down after being threatened with being dropped in the desert.
〈Wasn’t there an oasis village ahead?〉
〈A Geth has taken over the entire village. And it’s still growing.〉
With a serious expression, Gloiuken printed a 3D map from her terminal and floated it in the air. She was the guide who determined the journey by reading the maps on this trip.
〈Our map was an old version, so we didn’t know, but it turns out it was an abandoned village where the oasis had dried up.〉
〈I should have just paid for the updated version…〉
〈Since it was an abandoned village where people had left, it seems a Geth sprouted because the purification of magical energy wasn’t done in time.〉
〈It’s outside the city, so it can’t be helped. Let’s go check it out first.〉
Feeling that they needed to see it with their own eyes, they followed Gloiuken toward the dried-up oasis village. Before long, they felt a dense magical energy that made their skin prickle slightly. When the Geth finally appeared, even Kim Si-baek, who had seen it all, was impressed.
〈The roots have overturned the entire village and are continuing to stretch into the desert. I’ve never seen a Geth grow to this extent. It’s almost at the level of a named magical beast.〉
Unlike Earth, Mak Slecht allowed for the manufacture of artificial magic stones. It seemed the residents of the oasis had simply left behind artificial magic stones—which were cheaper and less powerful than regular ones—when they abandoned the village. The Geth must have absorbed all the magical energy contained in those artificial stones.
Unfortunately, there were no magical beasts stronger than the Geth nearby. Every other magical beast must have been caught by the Geth and turned into nutrients. It had grown so greedily that the fruits were swollen and bloated, long past the point where they should have ripened and burst.
Gloiuken asked while kicking away a root that tried to snatch them up.
〈Your Eminence, how shall we handle this?〉
Her voice was resolute, not even considering the option of avoiding the Geth and running away. After thinking for a moment, Kim Si-baek smiled and spoke.
‘I struggled a bit to catch the Geth back then, but thinking about it now, it’s a fond memory…’
Recalling the past made him miss Gloiuken and Nasluik even more. Consoling himself with the thought that he would surely meet them once he completed the quest, Kim Si-baek stepped out of the fragment of memory.
Gwak Yun-sang seemed to be expecting something special, like when he had instantly obliterated the Portal Keeper of the Id Portal, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
“When the fruits of the giant vine ripen and burst, magical beasts emerge, right?”
“Yes, yes! They spread spores and vomit out the magical beasts they’ve eaten, so they’re very troublesome fruits. In China, they left them alone out of ignorance and almost lost the entire storage city.”
“Instead, since the fruits grow rapidly, if you leave them, they suck up all the surrounding magical energy. Almost as if they’re purifying the magical energy.”
“That’s true, but…?”
[Death and Beauty watch from the divine realm and puff out their chest hair, proud that my Apostle and my Grand Warrior were magnificent back then.]
To Gwak Yun-sang, who couldn’t understand what was happening, Kim Si-baek added an explanation with a somewhat awkward feeling.
“We waited until the fruits ripened and all burst, then swept away all the generated magical beasts at once.”
“…Huh?”
“Since it was an area where people no longer visited, I figured I’d purify the magical energy while I was at it.”
“….”
Gwak Yun-sang’s mouth hung open. In other words, wasn’t this like saying, ‘Since my house happened to catch fire, I’ll just let it burn completely and then build a new house on the clean plot of land’? How on earth does one come up with such an idea?
Of course, such a plan was only possible because the party consisted of Kim Si-baek, who didn’t need to worry about the limits of divine power like he did now; Gloiuken, who was a renowned and powerful warrior even before becoming a Holy Knight; and Nasluik, who was standing out as a genius mage.
Unlike the horrified Gwak Yun-sang, a delighted reaction was heard.
It was Tae-un.