Chapter : 83
A Long Road Toward Solitary Mastery (5)
Seo Gang-seok felt slightly confused. It didn’t seem like Su-hyun was lying. Moreover, there was no reason for Su-hyun to lie to him.
Then, did Su-hyun really see his potential and make this kind of investment?
“Does that even make sense?”
If it weren’t someone with money to burn… Joo Won-jun needed someone he could openly treat like a servant, and they did know each other from before. But until recently, Su-hyun hadn’t known him personally. Even if he had investigated, Seo Gang-seok found it hard to believe Su-hyun could have discovered any particular value in him.
“There’s no answer. Are you going to fix it, or not?”
“I-I will fix it.”
“Good. As you can see from our team members, confidence is essential. Some have it without reason. Don’t go that far, though…”
Su-hyun handed him an electronic card along with the documents.
“Throw this in Joo Won-jun’s face and go.”
“Th-That’s…”
“I’m joking. He might be baffled when paying, but he won’t hold you back. I personally like throwing it at his face, but if you don’t want to, I won’t force you.”
“…Thank you.”
It wasn’t until he actually received the money that Seo Gang-seok felt the situation was real. He bowed deeply and said,
“I don’t know how much help I’ll be, but I’ll serve faithfully.”
“You speak grandly. You don’t need to serve faithfully. Just be loyal to the degree you were paid for.”
“If that’s the case, serving faithfully would still fall short.”
Seo Gang-seok gave a bitter smile. He had no idea what he would have to do to match the value of the money he had received from Su-hyun.
“Well… congratulations on joining. Let’s get along.”
“I will serve loyally.”
Shaking Seo Gang-seok’s hand, Su-hyun nodded. Having pondered over this matter, he would be unshakable.
“You probably have a lot to handle, so get to it. If you need people, I could assign some. Is the hospital where your daughter is being cared for okay?”
“It’s fine. I can handle it myself. The hospital is good. The healer there is skilled.”
On the planet Cameron, psychics usually operated in the field. Of course, not everyone did, but powers like igniting fires or producing ice were largely meaningless in daily life. In comparison, fieldwork paid unimaginably well, so most took the risk to train.
However, healers were in high demand even outside the field.
“Life’s so easy. Almost enviable.”
Thinking about it, Su-hyun was deliberately taking on hardships. He even envied the healer he didn’t know.
“Alright. Then handle that as you see fit.”
“But… if it’s not rude, may I ask what that is?”
“No need for overly polite questioning. Now that we’re working together, just ask if you’re curious.”
Other team members might have immediately asked what Su-hyun was holding. Su-hyun placed a transparent orb on the desk.
“I’m troubled because I don’t know either. By the way, you used to be a hunter, right? What did you usually do when you found an unknown item?”
“I would ask merchants or other hunters I usually traded with.”
“Trustworthy?”
“They’re trustworthy, but often even they don’t know, so you can’t expect too much skill. A large mercenary company’s database or a government database would be more accurate.”
“I’ve already checked that.”
If such a unique object had been registered in a database, Su-hyun would have known. He had asked in case it had been released to civilians, but unsurprisingly, the answer was unsatisfactory.
“Is it an artifact?”
“Could be, could not be. It’s peculiar in many ways; seems ordinary, but there’s no reaction.”
“Hmm…”
“Why? Do you think of something?”
Seo Gang-seok reached for the orb.
“No, I just thought my daughter would like it.”
“….”
Such a doting father. Su-hyun cursed him inwardly.
“Huh?”
“If you say it’s for your daughter again, think twice before saying it.”
“No, it’s not that… it’s an artifact. This.”
“?!”
Su-hyun was surprised but didn’t deny Seo Gang-seok’s words. He immediately ran a test, and Seo Gang-seok demonstrated psychokinesis using the orb.
‘This is my ability!’
Su-hyun’s psychokinesis, with no fixed form, was top-tier in terms of pure ability. There was no way he didn’t recognize the psychic ability.
“This is a bit tricky.”
“It’s not good for non-psychics to use psychic powers for too long. Once confirmed, put it down.”
“Yes.”
Seo Gang-seok carefully lifted a cup in the room with psychokinesis before setting the orb down. Su-hyun checked the orb but still felt nothing.
“Did you feel it was an artifact when you touched it?”
“Yes.”
Seo Gang-seok had handled artifacts before. Being on Gaon-gil, it would be strange if he hadn’t seen any artifacts. The feeling of knowing intuitively how to use it the moment you hold it—he felt that with the orb.
“Is the team leader not coming?”
“Well, it seems…”
Several possibilities crossed his mind, but only one was likely. Su-hyun called the other team members to test it.
“Confirmed. Only non-psychics can handle it.”
If it were unmanageable due to Su-hyun’s powers, other psychics should have been able to handle it. But none of the other psychics could.
“This is really an amazing object…”
Su-hyun pondered. The fact that only non-psychics could handle it wasn’t surprising compared to its other properties.
The psychokinesis coming from the orb was clearly influenced by Su-hyun. He realized how the orb stored powers.
‘A variable artifact. Didn’t see that coming.’
When it absorbs a psychic’s ability, it transforms into an artifact that stores it. Before Su-hyun brought it out, it had clearly stored the lightning axe’s power.
It was fascinating, but how to use it was unclear.
‘Excluding Kim Chang-sik’s and Shayna’s powers… I should store either my healing or psychokinesis.’
Thinking further, psychokinesis was excluded. Su-hyun’s mastery made it usable like a limb, but others couldn’t handle it so well.
‘Better store the healing ability.’
Su-hyun decided and instructed the team to keep quiet about the artifact. At least this artifact should not be revealed externally. Its unusual nature might attract trouble.
After finishing his tasks, Su-hyun leaned back, putting his feet on the desk.
‘Team’s quiet, Seo Gang-seok recruited… nothing left out, right? The rest can wait, but I need to plan now.’
Su-hyun was pondering one thing: an excuse to avoid the Dragon Slayer Project.
‘The safest is simply to disappear.’
A flimsy excuse could still sour relations afterward. If the Dragon Slayer Project proceeded, the value of those who didn’t participate would rise. Especially for Su-hyun and Uncle Joe Company.
But the world doesn’t run on numbers alone. If anyone suspected Uncle Joe Company deliberately avoided the project to preserve forces, they could be targeted afterward.
The best choice was having a legitimate reason for absence.
But that was surprisingly hard. Su-hyun’s team was managed by the government, so a plan to disappear into the unknown would likely be stopped.
‘If the government approves, and a plausible reason exists for disappearance with benefits… perfect.’
“Are you there?”
“Come in.”
It was Seo Gang-seok.
“Thanks to your consideration, I finished my work and returned.”
“Good timing. I wanted to talk to you.”
“Yes?”
As Seo Gang-seok sat, Su-hyun shared his current concern. Initially indifferent, Seo Gang-seok now realized the gravity. This wasn’t something you discussed with someone who’d been there less than a day.
“What’s wrong?”
“Is this something you can tell me?”
“If it can be told, I will. Eventually everyone will know. I just tell trustworthy people early. Do you have any ideas?”
Su-hyun wasn’t asking simply because he trusted Seo Gang-seok. Hunters had a unique ecosystem. Mercenaries and hunters operated in different money-making areas, so hunters might know what mercenaries didn’t.
Seo Gang-seok surprisingly offered an immediate suggestion.
“Hmm… if it’s disappearance, how about Poshukan?”
“Poshukan? The one east of the Ames Plains?”
Going east from the Ames Plains led to the Poshukan region. Su-hyun knew there wasn’t much there. Like Calcutta, it was jungle, but with fewer resources. Many profitable spots existed without needing to go there.
“Explain why.”
“Poshukan isn’t extremely dangerous, but if you’re disappearing, search parties shouldn’t enter, right?”
If Uncle Joe Company disappeared, a search party would likely be organized.
“Right.”
“I suggested Poshukan because of poison. There’s one of Cameron’s most notorious poison zones there.”
“What?”
Su-hyun straightened in surprise. A poison zone—home to countless poisonous creatures. On Cameron, such places occasionally existed. Most avoided them, but some sought them for specific purposes. And now, Su-hyun was naturally interested.
“Poshukan is vast, largely unexplored, so exploration itself is easy. If a search party comes, hide near the poison zone—they won’t enter it. Seems like a good excuse, right?”
“….”
Su-hyun pondered. Seo Gang-seok’s idea was convincing. A government-backed exploration of Poshukan wouldn’t likely be refused. Reports existed from other expeditions, so Uncle Joe Company could return safely.
Moreover, a poison zone… Su-hyun, always eager to collect poisons, found it tempting.
But…
‘Even if I ignore it, some of the others would die if brought along.’
Apparently, Seo Gang-seok hadn’t considered entering the poison zone. It was only a pretext for disappearance; actually entering was dangerous.
But Su-hyun had to go into the poison zone. He couldn’t stand idle with poisons right before him.
Then going alone was the easiest option.
‘Would my disappearance alone be enough to skip the Dragon Slayer Project?’
Since Uncle Joe Company was basically his one-man team, it was plausible. Still, he wanted it foolproof. If the team disbanded upon his return, it would be absurd.
‘I’ll have to discuss this with the boss.’
He planned to inform other members in advance anyway. Explaining the danger of the Dragon Slayer Project to Jo Seung-hyun would be enough to keep the team out just because of Su-hyun’s absence.
“By the way, how did you know about such a place?”
Su-hyun had never heard of a poison zone in Poshukan; it was relatively neglected.
“My father told me. Occasionally, he went there for rare poisons… Once I started working, he had me go.”
“I see. Not an easy place, but you handled it well.”
Reaching the poison zone was already risky, and within it was even more dangerous. A single mistake could be fatal. Cameron was full of poisons without antidotes.
