He was simply frustrated. Not necessarily even with himself.
First, the Association, and now this guy from the White Tiger Guild.
In the Association, however, only Chief Inspector Woo knew, and apparently the fucking president himself. Still, only two people and for now they were just watching him.
It's possible that they will finally lose their patience and want him to stop hiding.
But so far they haven't shown any such thing.
Now he just had to check how many people in the White Tiger guild knew about him.
As it turns out, it's quite easy to put the whole story together if you have enough pieces of the puzzle.
This meant that a) their speedy dungeon clears had been noticed, and b) it was possible that he would have to hurry up with climbing to S-rank and ending this charade of hiding before he was noticed.
- How many people know about me?
- Only me and my subordinate, but only him. The rest of my people just know that I was gathering information on you.
Jin-Woo nodded.
Just as he thought.
This would be too much for one person to handle. Investigation, surveillance, and contact.
The damning evidence was the contact. He was called as soon as he returned home.
Someone must have been observing him and given the signal when the raid ended and he began to return home.
They wanted to meet with him, but they couldn't afford for Yoo Jin-Ho to find out about it.
But he had managed to confirm that not the entire Guild was interested in him, only two individuals.
Honestly, he felt a great relief about that.
It was easier to deal with two people than with the whole damn Guild that would have known his secret, and if they really wanted to recruit him, they might even try to blackmail him by exposing it.
The man's earlier reaction to 50 billion confirmed his words. The man had panicked when Jin-Woo raised the amount he couldn't agree to. If the Guild's superiors were involved, the man would have at least tried to contact them. Jin-Woo suspected it was just a small team involved, and as he thought, it was indeed only two people.
He didn't want to complicate his situation. He could have intimidated Ahn Sang-Min a bit to make sure he wouldn't talk about him and would leave him alone.
- To be honest, I also rejected Yoo Jin's offer.
- What?!
- The reason I turned down Yoo Jin's offer was that I currently have no plans to join a Guild. I don't want the number of people who know about me to increase.
What he wanted was simple. He didn't want to join the Guild and didn't want his information leaked. Ahn Sang-Min understood what the hunter meant. There was one interesting thing though,
- So, why are you participating in raids with Yoo Jin-Ho? - The man asked carefully.
- I'm helping Yoo Jin-Ho for personal reasons. He was the only one who knew about my Second Awakening and I considered him a trustworthy friend.
Jin-Woo said his next words with great seriousness.
- I assume that if rumors about me start spreading, it will be the fault of your subordinate and you?
Jin-Woo has repeatedly emerged unscathed from numerous incidents. They say what happens in the dungeon stays in the dungeon. No one knew exactly what this man was doing during these incidents.
What's more, this man can use camouflage...
Camouflage was a troublesome skill. The person possessing it could freely commit crimes without leaving a trace. He bypassed all surveillance and monitoring devices. A trickle of sweat ran down Ahn Sang-Min's face.
To think he had such skills.
Having extraordinary skills and a rare ability, Yoo-Jin had offered him 30 billion, and now it wasn't surprising at all.
They weren't a company that just overpaid for anything.
- I'm obligated to report to my superiors. However, I'd like to live a little longer. Gee-Chul... I'll make sure his mouth remains shut.
Honestly, Ahn Sang-Min was the one who wanted to raise the issue of silence. Jin-Woo was a hidden treasure that no one else had discovered yet. Ahn Sang-Min did not want to invite unnecessary competition by spreading the news of his existence.
The fewer people knew, the better. Another thing is that he couldn't even tell his colleagues.
He also didn't want to incur the wrath of someone like Hunter Sung. The man was terrible, you had to admit it.
- Thank you.
Sung Jin-Woo reappeared in the seat in front of him as if he had never gotten up.
- Our actions must have gotten under the skin of your guild. Unfortunately, we cannot abandon our actions for now.
- This will be a problem. Without this, we have nowhere to send our young Hunters. We can't send them to tougher dungeons.
Jin-Woo pretended to think about solving this issue.
- Maybe we can work something out.
- Work something out? - the man asked, surprised.
- We'll sell you three of the reserved dungeons. Of course, this offer is only for today; we can't just wait around. If you don't take it in the future, you might have trouble acquiring C-rank dungeons. At least for a while, of course.
Is he playing the role of an acquisition agent?
The gates didn't just appear in the city; they could always send their Hunters elsewhere. But then they would be encroaching on the territories of other Guilds, which could cause problems.
- Let it be. For how much?
- 300 million (221203 USD) per gate. - Jin-Woo said after a while.
Ahn Sang-Min nearly choked on the air at the price he heard.
- But the maximum you can get from them is 200 million. This would be throwing money away! Maybe 200 million! 300 is too much.
After a moment of silence, Jin-Woo nodded.
- Let it be. 3 C-rank gates for 600 million. (442406 USD)
After Jin-Woo had already left, Ahn Sang-Min sat frozen, trying to understand what had just happened.
Finally, his subordinate Hyun Gee-Chul found the boss sitting there. He watched the cafe from a distance and waited for Hunter Sung to leave so he could talk to the boss.
- Did the meeting not go well?! - Hyun Gee-Chul asked worriedly, seeing his boss's face.
- I think... I think we may have miscalculated a bit. - the man finally managed to say.
They had to get this treasure. Ahn Sang-Min's head was filled to the brim with thoughts of how to get Hunter Sung. Fortunately, there was still a chance.
***
After leaving the cafe, Jin-Woo called Jin-Ho with the good news.
- 600 million, just as you said. - Jin-Woo announced happily.
- Haha! Who would've thought they could be sold for that much? - Jin-Ho said happily. - Who bought them?
- That's a trade secret.
- Okay, I won't push it. Has anyone ever told you that you are truly amazing?
- No. I think you're overestimating me a bit, Jin-Ho.
***
On the same afternoon in Ahn Sang-Min's office, there was another storm, but this time for a slightly different reason.
- Boss! Boss! - Hyun Gee-Chul ran to his superior's desk, panting.
After a while, Ahn Sang-Min knew why the boy in front of him was so agitated.
- What the hell!? Are C-rank gates available in our area?! - The boss looked with wide eyes at the map on the phone shown to him.
- Moreover, all the offers are below 10 million. - Hyun Gee-Chul said pitifully.
- Is that so?
- Yoo Jin-Ho didn't reserve anything today. And it doesn't look like he plans to. - I think they've outsmarted us, boss. They had no intention of working today.
Ahn Sang-Min stared blankly at the phone as his mind disconnected.
He had failed on every front.
But...
Did this mean he wasn't afraid that Ahn would reveal his identity?
What the hell happened here?!
Suddenly, he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket.
Taking it out with a trembling hand, Ahn Sang-Min looked at the message sent from an unknown number.
\ This is Sung Jin-Woo. We're even now. I'll pretend you never looked for information about me. \
Oh. So that's what it was about. Teaching him a lesson. Hence the bluff and selling the gates at such an astronomical price.
That's what the deal was about.
Clever, very clever. Although somewhat vindictive.
He didn't expect Sung to contact him. He had to remember the number on the business card he showed him.
In this way, he managed to obtain his number. And that was something.
With small steps, such as this one...
The ultimate goal is to recruit him, even if it looks unconventional.
Money is not a problem. Those were just peanuts.
Although the boss probably won't like it.