He knew there were two disposition holders, but given how long it took to find Han Geon-joo, he hadn’t considered looking for ‘One Who Breaks the Flow’. The time and effort required to find just one disposition holder were too great. Besides, after Han Geon-joo’s escape, his desire to resist the system had significantly decreased, along with any thoughts of trying anything.

What was the point of struggling?

It was just running in place, accompanied by hope.

So he had let it go.

He had no plans other than finding Han Geon-joo and teaching him a lesson, and nothing else he cared about.

But to encounter such a coincidence like this…

No, was this really a coincidence?

Or was it just another false hope?

Sa-yoon tapped Jaehee’s disposition with his fingertip. A system notification appeared, stating that viewing was not possible. It was exactly the same as with Han Geon-joo.

If he had known this would happen, he should have used the Genius’s Eye when he first met Jaehee. If he had, something might have changed.

It was pointless to speculate now. Despite meeting a disposition holder, Sa-yoon surreptitiously opened the quest window, which remained unfrozen.

The quest to activate the resistor was still frozen.

Once frozen, does it never unfreeze?

Or are other conditions necessary?

Or perhaps because he had already chosen Han Geon-joo, it wouldn’t respond to anyone else?

His eyes narrowed. As various thoughts invaded his mind and his thinking became chaotic, Jaehee spoke in a calm voice.

“It seems you have a skill like viewing status windows.”

The calm voice diverted Sa-yoon’s attention from the status window. As their eyes met, Jaehee tilted his head slightly. It seemed both respectful and mocking at the same time. His gaze seemed to ask if Sa-yoon had enjoyed viewing his status window. Sa-yoon pulled at the corner of his mouth.

Asking while knowing everything.

He wasn’t exactly dark-hearted, but he had a subtly fox-like side.

“Looks like you have something similar.”

“Probably not as good as your skill. I can only see names and ranks.”

“How can you be so sure about what my skill is?”

“Isn’t it a skill to view status windows?”

“It’s not.”

“If you want to hide it, that’s fine.”

His scholarly way of speaking was utterly uninteresting, but the look in his eyes, so blatantly trying to probe Sa-yoon, was intriguing.

What was his intention in speaking like this?

He responded to the probing with probing of his own. As he scrutinized Jaehee without answering, Jaehee spoke first.

“I’m skilled at seeing through what others try to hide. So there’s no need to go to the trouble of hiding anything.”

“Is it okay to reveal such information so easily?”

“You already know to some extent, don’t you?”

The man said this while quietly staring at Sa-yoon. Sa-yoon answered by lightly shrugging his shoulders.

He had no intention of explaining everything in detail like someone else might.

“So what are you going to do about it? Want to fight since my rank has dropped?”

If they fought now, he would definitely lose.

Look at that status window. This guy was a monster no less formidable than Han Geon-joo at his peak.

But if he picked a fight, there was no way to avoid it. With his current stats, even running away would be difficult. The only clever move would be to call Jongsik and use the guild’s power.

As he was thinking, unexpected words flowed from his opponent’s mouth.

“I have no intention of fighting right now.”

“That means you intend to fight later.”

“I won’t deny that.”

“Then why not fight now?”

If his goal was to kill Sa-yoon, or to get revenge for the humiliation he suffered that day, there would never be a better opportunity than now. He must know this was a chance that wouldn’t come again, so Sa-yoon couldn’t understand why he was putting it off.

“Because there’s no meaning in fighting now.”

“What, you don’t bother with weaklings, something like that?”

A hollow laugh escaped him.

Having never been treated as a weakling by anyone before, his pride was hurt and his insides twisted. To act so arrogantly just because Sa-yoon’s rank had dropped, when he had been helpless against Sa-yoon when he was S-rank.

As he was thinking about adding another name to the list of people whose attitudes needed adjusting, Jaehee set down his cup with a thud.

“You misunderstand. I have no regrets about that day. After all, you spared my life that day, and the damage I suffered wasn’t significant. Just as you could have killed me but chose to spare me, I also intend to spare your life once. However, that’s not what I’m talking about now.”

“What are you saying? Can you explain so I can understand?”

He didn’t know how to simply summarize his point in this busy modern society.

Frowning as he rebuked him, Jaehee raised his eyebrows slightly, seeming offended, and sighed. After taking a moment to regulate his breathing, he paused briefly before continuing.

“In short, I’m saying I have no intention of killing you over what happened that day. Even if a situation arises where I should kill you, I’ll spare you once, just as you did.”

“Then what do you mean by saying you don’t intend to fight now?”

“I said that because I think a situation might arise where we have to fight.”

“I told you to explain so I can understand. Why can’t you comprehend what I’m saying?”

This is what happens when you talk while only picturing the situation in your own head. Completely unable to understand what he was saying, Sa-yoon warned him once more. Jaehee furrowed his brow and looked around. As if checking for people who shouldn’t be there. Or as if trying to see if there were other hunters in this café.

Sa-yoon observed Jaehee’s behavior closely.

It was suspicious, but he didn’t feel it was ominous. Judging by how unusually quiet his typically sharp instincts were, it seemed that Jaehee wasn’t an immediate threat to him, at least.

Tap tap.

Sa-yoon’s hand habitually drummed on the table.

As he was thinking about what this meeting was for, Jaehee leaned his upper body slightly towards Sa-yoon.

“Let me ask you one thing.”

He lowered his voice. Sa-yoon, in turn, leaned very slightly towards Jaehee. Nodding as if to say ‘go ahead’, Jaehee opened his mouth.

“Mr. Sa-yoon, are you a monster?”

“…What?”

Sa-yoon, who had been a bit tense not knowing what he would ask, wore a dumbfounded expression.

He had thought this guy was suspicious, but it turned out he was just crazy. Lowering his voice to ask if he was a monster? Moooonster? It wasn’t even funny. For all the build-up, it was an absurdly ridiculous question.

“Do I look like a monster to you?”

“You look like a human.”

“Then why are you asking such nonsense?”

“I’m asking just in case. Please answer clearly.”

See?

His persistence was quite suspicious. And his attitude, implying that he could judge for himself if Sa-yoon just answered, was oddly dubious.

Does he perhaps have a skill that can determine truth from lies?

When he looked at the status window earlier, he didn’t see any skill names that gave a similar impression. Wondering if this might be the ability of ‘The One Who Sees Through’, Sa-yoon mulled over what Jaehee had said earlier.

He said he was skilled at seeing through what others hide.

If so, ‘The One Who Sees Through’ might be telling him the truth or falsehood.

“No.”

“Pardon?”

“I’m not a monster.”

“…Really?”

Jaehee’s expression as he asked again became suspicious. Judging by how his eyes rolled to the side for a moment, it was certain that a system window telling him truth from lies had appeared, and based on the expression he showed, it seemed the result the system gave him was not convincing.

Surely the system window wouldn’t have said my words were a lie.

If that’s the case, it would mean Jaehee himself was firmly convinced that Sa-yoon was a monster.

But why?

He couldn’t guess at all. He wondered if perhaps Jaehee had felt that way because Sa-yoon was too strong when they met that day, but he didn’t remember using any skills extraordinary enough to be considered monstrous.

The only thing left was that Jaehee simply regarded him as a monster.

This guy’s completely nuts.

After sorting out the situation, Sa-yoon looked at Jaehee with disgusted eyes. There were many weirdos in Night Rat too, but at least none of them thought of him as a monster.

Momentarily wondering if he had gotten involved with a madman by mistake, Sa-yoon stood up from his chair, intending to leave. It seemed that even if they talked more, he wouldn’t hear any worthwhile information.

It’s fortunate he’s foolishly kind.

Other hunters wouldn’t have even considered leaving him alone after what happened that day. But Jaehee seemed to have slightly different beliefs. From the start, even his status window had shown that.

‘Supremely Pure Good’.

In other words, it meant he was a person so kind it bordered on naivety.

He said he had no intention of fighting right now, so that was enough for now.

Seeing that the system wasn’t reacting, there was no reason to take Jaehee with him, and he didn’t have confidence in subduing him with his current rank anyway.

If by any chance the system reacted, or if… he felt like grasping at straws again, then he’d deal with it then, Sa-yoon thought as he picked up his more than half-full coffee. Just then, he saw the guild’s car pulling up outside.

“If that’s all you wanted to ask, I’m leaving. If we’re lucky, we’ll see each other again.”

It seemed less troublesome to not see him again if possible. As Sa-yoon thought this and turned to leave:

“W-Wait a moment!”

Grab! Jaehee seized Sa-yoon’s wrist. At the same time, because he pulled with force, Sa-yoon’s body was helplessly dragged along.

Damn this C-rank!

Cursing his lowered rank, Sa-yoon stretched out his foot to regain his tilted balance. The man who had come close whispered.

“I saw a being that resembles you in a gate.”

“What are you talking about?”

Thinking he might be saying anything to keep him from leaving, Sa-yoon looked him over. At that moment, an unexpected name came from Jaehee’s mouth.

“After asking around, I found that other hunters call ‘it’ the Unknown.”