Chapter 85

SMH 85

Swordmaster Healer – Episode 85

TL: Boko

Editor: Ren

Chapter 28: S-rank Healer Hunter (3)

After the magic sword conferment ceremony was over, Sung Joon was issued his Hunter’s License that certified that he was an S-rank Hunter. Hyun Sung had come to his studio apartment and issued it personally. Simultaneously, he applied tax exemption and the other preferential treatment that other S-rank Hunters enjoyed.

The only thing that really changed was Soo Hyuk’s guard. The National Police Agency began to provide first class protection to his father, Soo Hyuk.

A few days later, Eun Joo and Ha Yeon came to Sung Joon’s studio apartment.

“Mr. Sung Joon!” Eun Joo, discovering Sung Joon, yelled cheerfully and waved her hand.

Due to the magic sword conferment ceremony, there were occasionally people who recognized him. Therefore, he wore a hat and pushed his hat down in order to avoid troublesome matters; despite that, Eun Joo had immediately recognized Sung Joon.

“Mr. Sung Joon! It’s a bit late, but congratulations!” said Eun Joo.

She was carrying a luxurious-looking hardwood case. Ha Yeon, who was walking calmly behind her, approached him.

“Congratulations,” she said.

“Thank you.”

When Sung Joon saw Eun Joo and Ha Yeon, he smiled.

“We were just passing by and I had something to give to you, so we dropped by, Mr. Sung Joon.”

Eun Joo lightly shook the wooden case. It was about the size that would fit a bottle of alcohol.

“That’s alcohol, right?” Sung Joon asked.

She wasn’t good with alcohol, but she was the type that liked it.

“I’ve already been caught. Hehe,” Eun Joo laughed mischievously, and passed Sung Joon the wooden case.

“Then, we’ll get going now,” Ha Yeon said after checking her wristwatch.

Sung Joon wanted to ask them to join him for some tea, but he discarded the idea since they both seemed busy.

Sung Joon returned to his studio apartment and opened the wooden case. There was luxurious liquor within; though he didn’t know much regarding alcohol, he knew enough to know that it was a famous and expensive brand of alcohol.

‘This must’ve been expensive.’

He wasn’t the type to enjoy expensive alcohol, but since it was a present, he planned to open it soon.

Sung Joon placed the bottle of alcohol and the wooden case into his display case and checked the time.

‘It’s three in the afternoon.’

He planned to lay off dungeon assaults and rest for around a day or two, and there was still a lot of time remaining before the day was over. Sung Joon briefly pondered, and towards the end of it, decided to visit the auction house.

Sung Joon needed to increase his auction house rank to VIP status. He could buy high quality other world items at a cheap price even now, but he was giddy just imagining the great items that could only be obtained as a VIP.

“I’m going to the auction house.”

Sung Joon went with Rishubalt towards the auction house. Eventually, they arrived at the auction house and he started walking towards the schedule to check for the earliest auction.

“Mr. Kang Sung Joon?”

As Sung Joon arrived in front of the auction status board, someone called his name. He turned his head in the direction of the voice.

Jung Chul was there. He was an A-rank Hunter that Sung Joon had saved just a little while ago. There was a suited man and woman beside him, who appeared to be attendants.

Jung Chul made a sweeping motion with his hand, and the two attendants bowed and retreated.

“Mr. Park Jung Chul…?”

“I had said that I would contact you first, but I’m sorry that I didn’t. Though it’s late, I’d truly like to congratulate on you becoming an S-rank Hunter,” Jung Chul bowed his head and apologized.

Honestly, he had been so busy lately that Sung Joon hadn’t even thought of contacting him.

“I didn’t think that we’d meet here,” Sung Joon said, and Jung Chul nodded his head.

“Me too. I didn’t think that the famous Mr. Kang Sung Joon would use my auction house.”

“You own this auction house, Mr. Park Jung Chul?”

“That’s correct. My father is an administrator of this part of the world, but he entrusted the administration of this area to me.”

Jung Chul didn’t explain in detail, but it seemed that his father was part of the National Assembly.

‘An administrator, huh…?’

It didn’t seem like he was lying.

Sung Joon smiled inwardly. He had saved Jung Chul’s life and he had promised that he would repay Sung Joon.

If that’s the case, then wouldn’t it be alright to ask him to raise his membership to VIP status?

He didn’t know the value of a VIP membership rank, so he was cautious. However, the problem wouldn’t be solved by hesitating, so he thought it’d be alright to go ahead and ask.

“Mr. Park Jung Chul, just… could you spare me some of your time?” Sung Joon asked.

“Of course. Let’s go to my office,” Jung Chul replied, smiling faintly.

He could tell from Sung Joon’s voice that he wanted to talk to him somewhere quiet, so he recommended his office.

“Please report this to my father.”

“I understand.”

Jung Chul passed a document envelope to one of his workers and went with Sung Joon to his office.

“This is about the VIP membership card, right?” Jung Chul asked.

It seemed he had enough sense to run a secretive and large auction house of this size, as his question was quite sharp.

Sung Joon smiled and opened his mouth.

“You’re quick-witted.”

“I might’ve been given this job from a higher-up at the beginning*, but after running the business for this long, I had no choice but to become quick-witted.” (*The original text used the term “parachute appointment”. A parachute appointment is basically a term in South Korea describing a person gaining a position due to their connections.)

Jung Chul took a sip from the coffee that lay in front of him. He was outwardly speaking cheerfully, but there was a deep exhaustion buried within his voice.

It seemed like running an auction house wasn’t easy.

“And to be honest, elevating someone to VIP status is one of the few powers I have. Contrary to what I thought, I can’t do very much for you.”

“I don’t want anything else.”

“If you become a VIP member, you’re aware that you can access the exclusive auction houses, right? There aren’t that many items that are circulating, but those top-notch items will appear in the auctions. Now that I think about it, there aren’t many VIP members, since the criteria is so strict,” Jung Chul explained.

“To become a VIP, you need either money or influence; one of the two is essential, and it has be at a sufficient level. Of course, there are definitely cases where they have both.”

“Even so, they’re items that can’t be appraised… are you saying that they’re are that many collectors?”

“It seems like you didn’t know. There aren’t only un-appraisable items registered in the VIP auction house.”

This was something he hadn’t heard from Hyun Sung, so Sung Joon couldn’t help but be a little surprised. Seeing his expression, Jung Chul smiled, peeped through his office window, and returned.

“What I say henceforth is top secret.”

Sung Joon nodded his head and Jung Chul began speaking with a calm expression.

“The items that come from illegal channels also come up in the auctions. For example… I’m talking about the type of item like the ‘Scripture of Disaster.’”

“The Scripture of Disaster? To my understanding, that type of item is typically regulated by the government…”

The ‘Scripture of Disaster’ is able to cast all types of curses, and is classified as an item of mass destruction, so the government takes ownership of such an item.

There were more items that were possessed by the government for similar reasons.

“They come up occasionally. The Scripture of Disaster also came up just a little while ago and was sold.”

“The Scripture of Disaster? The government should possess that item, though…”

“It hasn’t been announced yet, but it was leaked to the outside. You’re probably well aware of this, Mr. Kang Sung Joon, but the reason that the government organizations are squirming around, and attempting to acquire as many high-rank Hunters as they can is because they’re incompetent.”

It was something Sung Joon hadn’t been aware of. Sung Joon’s eyes spun from the shock.

The ‘Scripture of Disaster’ had been leaked to the outside. If someone had evil intentions, and had successfully bid for it, a cataclysmic storm would blow in South Korea.

“Are you saying you just watched and let it happen?”

“I don’t have the authority. I had no choice but to watch as it happened.”

Sung Joon felt the deep sorrow within Jung Chul’s voice.

Jung Chul stood up from his chair and approached his desk. A black card came out from a small machine.

He took out the card and passed it to Sung Joon.

“This is the VIP membership card. If you lose it, it’ll become troublesome, so please keep it safe.”

Sung Joon nodded his head and took the card. There was a serial number on the pitch black card that he assumed was his membership number.

“I’m glad that it ended so quickly.”

“It’s my repayment for you saving my life, but it’s also my congratulatory present for you on becoming an S-rank Hunter,” Jung Chul said, and Sung Joon carefully placed the card into his wallet.

“You enter the VIP auction house by wearing a mask. It may not be easy, but…”

Jung Chul briefly paused and raised his coffee cup. His coffee cup had quickly become empty. He sighed briefly, and put down his cup; then he looked at Sung Joon and requested, “I would appreciate it if you would keep a close eye out for the items of mass destruction from time to time. I’ll reward you for it, of course.”

Sung Joon replied,”If that’s the case, it won’t be hard. I’ll tell you about them from time to time.”

If Jung Chul hadn’t told him about the reward, he would’ve thought about it. However, since he had told Sung Joon about a reward, he thought it wouldn’t be bad to check for the movements of those items on his way.

He also thought it wouldn’t be bad to form a close relationship with Jung Chul. He was a good person to keep close. Sung Joon didn’t know much about him yet, but he at least knew that Jung Chul wasn’t a person that would harm him.

“I took way too much of your time. You probably need to get going now, right?” Jung Chul asked.

“No. It was time well spent,” Sung Joon smiled faintly and replied.

It had already been a huge success receiving the VIP membership card.

“I have something I need to attend to on the first floor, so why don’t we go together?”

“Alright.”

Sung Joon nodded his head, and the two men went down to the first floor.

Sung Joon began walking to the parking lot, and Jung Chul, watching Sung Joon’s back, cried out, “Mr. Kang Sung Joon!”

Sung Joon halted his steps and turned his body towards Jung Chul.

“Yes?” he answered.

“I’ll be in your care from now on.”

“Likewise.”

The two parted ways with connoted words.

“That was satisfying…” Sung Joon said to himself, sitting in the driver’s seat and starting up his car.

Rishubalt, who had been sitting in the passenger seat with his spirit body and looking forward, looked at Sung Joon and opened his mouth.

“Even in your past life, you had a good eye for people, my lord. If we exclude one case…” he said sorrowfully.

Sung Joon was able to ascertain what exactly that one case was without much difficulty.

His past life, Roukel’s greatest and sole mistake.

“My greatest mistake was trusting the Emperor too much…”

Sung Joon couldn’t help but nod his head.

The Emperor was the Empire, and the Empire was the Emperor.

In Sung Joon’s past life, Roukel was a subject who pledged loyalty to the Emperor, but before that, he had trusted the Emperor as his comrade in arms on the battlefield.

And he was stabbed in the back by his cruel treachery.

When he thought back to that day’s nightmare, he was filled with hatred. If that hatred became mana, he would have enough mana to open a warp gate to the Empire and still have some remaining.

“Rishubalt.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Remember this hatred. So long as my grudge reaches there, someday, the Awakening Dungeon will open up to the Imperial Palace.”

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“It certainly will. That’s because several events happened in the Imperial Palace.”

“Remember, and watch. The moment the Awakening Dungeon opens to the Imperial Palace…”

Sung Joon’s eyes were filled with killing intent.

“The Emperor dies.”