You Will Be Blessed If You Do Good Deeds¿ - Chapter 105

Han Jae-young looked extremely upset.

He didnât seem to have a favorable impression when discussing Yoo Han-ul and Estella, either.
Maybe thatâs why, when he opened the car door to get out, Han Jae-youngâs demeanor was already intense.
Even when revealing his fairy form to take down the S-rank Incompetent Fool, I donât think his aura was this strong.

Lee Pyeong-hwa and I ended up following him out of the car in a daze.
âJae-young, itâs you. Hello? Perfect timing.â
In contrast, Estella didnât seem to care about Han Jae-young at all.

A mechanical voice came out of her mouth through the translator.
By the way, I think the last time, the translator automatically used polite language.
Noticing my confusion, Estella winked at me.

I didnât feel great about it.
âI think the previous translator was too low-quality, so I replaced it with an upgraded version,â she said.
For his part, Han Jae-young also smiled on the surface.

âPerfect timing? Werenât you already waiting for us with Yoo Han-ul Hunter?â
âExcuse me, but may I ask, what do you think about the etiquette of meeting and greeting, Gen-Z style?â
âI didnât think someone who openly makes scouting offers to another guild member would bring up etiquette,â Han Jae-young shot back.

âHa, was that it? Scouting isnât a bad thing. Why donât we just relax? The payment will be in full.â
âWhy donât you replace that translator? Our guild could sell you a better one.â
âAh, insightful criticism, indeed. Thatâs the last barrier our translator needs to overcome. You see, humor depends on the society you grew up in. I donât think it works as well with people from other cultures.â

Neither of them seemed to want to back down.
Lee Pyeong-hwa quietly whispered to me.
âIt seems like they donât get along very wellâ¦â
âYeahâ¦â

But now that I thought about it, there was no real reason they should be getting along.
On the internet, Yoo Han-ul is so famous that debates about who would win between him and Estella sometimes pop up for no reason.
But in reality, it makes more sense that Han Jae-young, another magician, would feel competitive about it.

Even the HP Guild uses self-made items instead of buying those made and distributed by the Hunter Association.
Naturally, there would be a sense of rivalry in the realm of item crafting as well.
âThis is more interesting than I thought.â

To me, it seemed like two foxes hiding their claws were fighting.
And as if accustomed to such scenes, Yoo Han-ul didnât interrupt their conversation.
âSo, why did you personally visit the Korean embassy? I hope youâre not trying to steal our potential guild member in front of me again?â Han Jae-young asked.

âOh, really? I might have, but⦠donât give me that look. Iâm just passing by. I was already in the area, so I decided to stop by.â
Saying this, Estella raised her arms to show off her appearance.
Now that I thought about it, she did look like she had been running.

Han Jae-young snorted.
âYouâre running in the middle of the city? Your concept needs work.â
It was indeed odd.

After all, even if sheâs as strong as she says, a person of Estellaâs stature should be accompanied by bodyguards, not running casually through the streets without any.
Estella laughed loudly.
âHaha, itâs a little staged, but this simple appearance works well. The paparazzi team is waiting, and Iâm supposed to have an interview in the newspaper tomorrow.â

âWhat interview?â
âI canât let the newspaper sales drop. Check the stands tomorrow. Well, Iâm off now.â
â...Youâre leaving? Like this?â

âI told you I was just passing by. Iâve said all I needed to say. See you.â
With that, Estella actually ran off down the road with light footsteps.
Unconsciously, I glanced to my side and saw Lee Pyeong-hwaâs eyes bulging, as though they might pop out of his head.

âThat person is Estella, the Association President... Wow, thatâs surprising.â
I couldnât help but agree with Lee Pyeong-hwaâs sentiment.
Though I had suspected that someone at the top of the World Hunter Association wouldnât be ordinary, it still seemed subtly different from what I had expected.

âBut how old is she? She looked older in the interview and news clips.â

Seemingly hearing Lee Pyeong-hwaâs question, Yoo Han-ul answered.
âWhen you reach a certain level, the aging process slows down drastically, or you regain the physical youth you had before. She wasnât like this the last time we met, but it seems Estella has crossed another threshold.â

âIs it like reverse-aging? That sounds like something out of a novel.â
Even though Hunters with supernatural abilities were out there, slicing through the sky with a sword or burning the sea with magicâ¦
It wasnât so common for someoneâs body to rejuvenate.

âBut Estella edits the videos and photos that go out to the media to make herself appear older. Sheâs very skilled at media play.â
Han Jae-young said sharply.
âShe really seems to dislike her, huh. Did something happen?â

âThis isnât the place to talk about it. Iâll tell you when we have the chance.â
It was clear from his tone that he wasnât planning to talk about it any time soon. He smiled and turned his head toward Yoo Han-ul.
âSo, why is the Association President at the Korean embassy? Did she need to talk to you?â

âYes, thatâs correct.â
Yoo Han-ul nodded.
âI think I mentioned this before, but I held Estella accountable for the leakage of the performance-enhancing item.â

Oh right, thatâs why Yoo Han-ul entered Manhattan in the first place.
He was there to meet Estella and hold her responsible.
The item used in the Gwanghwamun Dungeon Break.

âIt was definitely a threatening item.â
Even Hunters donât always keep their guard up during their daily lives.
Maybe for a day or two, but you canât constantly be aware of every breath you take.

The item was fully optimized for suppressing powerful individuals.
âTheyâve come to a conclusion and delivered the results.â
âShe confessed and told you who the culprit was?â

âYes, it was too big to cover up.â
Yoo Han-ulâs explanation was somewhat anticlimactic.
The investigation revealed that one of the senior Hunter Association members had been bribed and secretly handed over the prototype item to a deputy secretary at the U.S. Department of Defense.

âBecause itâs tied to the government, itâs going to be a big scandal,â he added.
âOne of the senior members? How would we know who it is?â
âItâs Layla.â

âLayla Lopez?! No way.â
Han Jae-young seemed genuinely shocked upon hearing the name.
Is she a famous figure?

âWho is that?â
âSheâs a Hunter with a very unique skill. She can scan someone elseâs inventory.â
â...Thatâs a thing?â

Isnât that cheating?
Normally, just like the systemâs user interface, inventory is private and only the user can see it.
But now thereâs a unique skill that scans other peopleâs inventory?

I think Iâve heard the name Layla before.
I believe Han Jae-young mentioned before that it would be great to have someone with that ability to stop item smuggling.
But to think that she was the one who leaked the items.

âWell⦠if Layla hadnât turned a blind eye, it would have been difficult for the Hunter Association to sneak those items out. The Hunter Associationâs R&D department canât access the items without Laylaâs scanning.â
âSo the security officer was the one who stole them.â
âYeah, itâs a real mess. We were even developing a magic tool to analyze Laylaâs unique skill and scan the inventory... So, was Layla arrested?â

âWell, not exactly.â
Yoo Han-ul said with a serious expression.
âLayla Lopez is currently on the run within New York City.â

Although Layla Lopez was on the run, it didnât seem like it affected us directly.
Once she was captured and properly investigated, the Korean branch of the Hunter Association would deliver an official apology.
After all, there had been casualties during the Gwanghwamun Dungeon Break, so the responsibility for the lack of management was clear.

âBut itâs not just the performance-enhancing item.â
I sat alone in the waiting room, lost in thought.

I was waiting for my turn for the paperwork and interview needed for the repatriation process.

Lee Pyeong-hwa and Han Jae-young were working on their tasks first, and Yoo Han-ul had left saying he had something to discuss with the staff.
âHeâs probably avoiding me, but honestly, Iâm fine with that.â
At this point, I had decided to stop thinking about Yoo Han-ul.

Unless he suddenly comes at me with a sword shouting, âI will take revenge for my past life!â Iâd just leave him be.
It seemed like things had gotten pretty complicated on his side, but since he wasnât approaching me first, I honestly didnât mind.
Maintaining a distant relationship with the hero was ideal for me right now.

âAnyway, getting a chance to observe the soul of the Association President is a gain... but it feels a bit lacking.â
Orbisâs tail is hard to catch.
I took out the snake-engraved bracelet I had taken from Lee Man-bok and fiddled with it.

It was the item from Lee Man-bok, the leader of the True Light Church, who had caused the Gwanghwamun Dungeon Break by smuggling items from the World Hunter Association.
At the time, when I interrogated Lee Man-bok, he had muttered about something called the âCentral Management Bureauâ before falling under a mental restriction and dying.
After that, the Central Management Bureau covered up and downplayed all the related incidents, so they were definitely suspicious, but...

âIt might have been a word intentionally planted to cause confusion.â
There was no doubt that Orbis was the one who created the item and placed the restriction on Lee Man-bok.
It was made with the same principle as the Incompetent Fool, and it had the snake motif that Orbis liked.

And if it was Orbis, he probably anticipated that I would interrogate Lee Man-bok and placed the restriction on him.
After all, Orbis was a crafty individual, with no room for error.
âThe Gwanghwamun incident... Maybe it wasnât Lee Man-bok who was targeting me, but Orbis who orchestrated it. I can't be sure of anything...â

My situation was much more disadvantaged compared to my opponents.
I had no power, no wealth, and I was still bound by military service at only twenty years old.
It was hard to move freely to check suspicious points, and incidents kept happening, so I couldnât do much.

âOf course, this might also be part of Orbisâs plan.â
He was probably trying to push me into a corner while I couldnât move.
It wasnât surprising since Orbis was a person who would fight to seize control, even if he were playing chess.

Luckily, my basic military training was done, and if I could transition into social service, Iâd have a little more freedom to move.
Once I return to my past world and enhance my body, then I can start movingâ¦
Knock knock.

Someone knocked on the waiting room door.
It was probably a staff member from the embassy, coming to call me for my turn.
âYes, Iâll go.â

I said and stood up from my seat.
The door creaked open, and a staff member came in.
âI was about to leaveâ¦â

Click!
The staff member closed the door behind them and slowly turned to face me, speaking in a pleading tone.
Even though the voice came through a mechanical translator, I could feel the desperation in it.

âPlease... stay quiet.â
The person who entered wasnât an embassy staff member.
She was wearing a janitorâs uniform, but her dirty black hair and haggard face told a different story.

She looked like someone who was cornered.
And most importantly, in one hand...
âA bomb?â

I quickly examined the item in her hand.
It was clearly some form of condensed magical power.
If that bomb went off, the entire building would be destroyed.

She nodded when she saw my gaze fixed on the bomb.
âHunters might survive, but the civilians in this building wonât.â
What does that have to do with me?

As much as I wanted to say that, I kept quiet.
Quest, âYou Will Be Blessed If You Do Good Deeds?â is ongoing.
When the user performs actions that meet social standards, the userâs stat limits will be gradually lifted.

 
Of course, this quest.
I fiddled with the bracelet in my hand, curiosity rising.

âWhat do you want from me, Layla Lopez?â
Why did Layla Lopez, who was on the run, come here holding a bomb?