NOVEL NEXT 26. Light and Debt (1)
Beneath the carpet lay a massive secret space the size of a sports field.
Hidden within were arsenals of weapons in development, robot legions, and experimental devices.
[Oh! A secret base! To think such incredible firepower was hidden here!]
Ahezar exclaimed in pure admiration. Habin asked:
“Do the guild members know about this?”
“Hah……”
Chae Jiseok let out a heavy sigh. Well, given how tightly this was hidden, he probably didn’t want it to be discovered.
“……No one knows. For confidentiality reasons, only my sister, our secretary, and I know about it.”
Chae Jiseok pressed another button, and an elevator smoothly rose up.
“Well, now that you’ve seen everything…… You might as well take a look around.”
Having seemingly given up on keeping it a secret, Chae Jiseok sighed and began openly guiding them. Thanks to this, they comfortably descended in the elevator.
In the spacious area below, various maintenance robots were moving back and forth, inspecting weapons, vehicles, and flying devices.
‘Oh…… It’s like something out of a superhero movie.’
Habin’s eyes sparkled as she looked around. Seeing her reaction, Chae Jiseok smiled. It was a smile tinged with subtle pride.
“How is it, impressive, right? I’d be dead if my sister found out I showed you this, but I’ve been itching to show it to an outsider at least once! My mouth has been so itchy to talk about it.”
We have such an incredible research lab under our house! Chae Jiseok wore a proud smile.
“This is all my sister’s work. These mechanical devices and robot legions, they’re all things my sister is researching. She’s secretly developing firearms and weapons that work on monsters too.”
“Your sister’s work? I heard Jise-unni was a priest class?”
Habin had seen Chae Jise on TV a few times. But rather than healing skills, she always came out with peculiar devices or weapons of terrifying firepower, sweeping away enemies.
That’s why some people mistook her for a special crafting-type job, but her official class was actually-
‘Golden Priest.’
“That’s right. She’s good at healing too. One of her nicknames is ‘National Healer’ after all.”
A unique position that combines both healer and dealer roles. A case of starting as a healer and mastering dealing as well.
People assumed that the weapon items Chae Jise used were rare items obtained from dungeons.
“So, are you saying she developed all this technology purely on her own?”
Habin frowned. From intricate robots to flying devices that looked straight out of the future. It was a sight hard to believe was created by a single person.
“She used her precognition ability.”
Jiseok explained.
“My precognition ability is low, so I can only vaguely know what I’m looking for or get a general idea of future events, but in my sister’s case, she can know what she wants in extremely detailed ways. So she focused her precognition ability intensively on the ‘technology field’.”
“Technology?”
“Doesn’t this scene look like future-level technology? It’s exactly that. My sister used precognition to steal all the possibilities and technologies that could be developed in the future.”
[My goodness. I’ve never seen someone utilize precognition abilities in such a way.]
Ahezar marveled.
“In exchange, to avoid potentially stealing credit for someone else’s future inventions, all the technology is used solely by my sister. It’s knowledge she absolutely never shares externally.”
Whirrr-
A robot passing by Habin stopped and cheerfully waved before moving on.
“Wave back. Despite appearances, it has emotions. It’ll get upset if you ignore it.”
Just as Jiseok finished speaking and was about to demonstrate by waving to the robot-
Click.
A golden gun barrel was pointed at Chae Jiseok’s head.
“……!”
“Didn’t I tell you not to enter the lab without permission for a while?”
“……Hyun Habin figured it out. She asked to see it.”
A woman with long blonde hair suddenly appeared between them. She had features similar to Chae Jiseok and an elegant voice.
Habin recognized her from TV as well.
Chae Jise.
Solaris’ Guild Master, and the owner of this house and basement.
Chae Jise turned to Habin with a gentle eye-smile.
“Ah. Habin-yang, it’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Nuna. It’s too late to act like a nice person now.”
Zing- Click.
Jise silently loaded a bullet.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve always been a nice person.”
“……Alright, I get it, but could you maybe lower the gun from my head before we talk? It doesn’t look good to point a gun at your little brother’s head. People will talk. They’ll say we’re a dysfunctional family.”
“Who’s going to talk? Bring them if you can.”
“And if I do? Will you do the same thing you’re doing now?”
At Jiseok’s question, Jise gave a warm smile. She explained in a kind voice:
“Guns and force are excellent tools for blackmail……I mean, negotiation.”
“Nuna, your job is a healer, remember? Is that something a healer should say!”
“A good healer eliminates the enemy before allies can get hurt.”
“……”
Of course, a top-ranked hunter like Chae Jiseok had little reason to fear ordinary guns.
Although the gun was pointed jokingly, Chae Jiseok knew its power all too well.
Magic defense ignore, physical defense ignore. A special item with cutting-edge guidance functionality added.
Chae Jise slowly lowered the gun. She turned to Habin again and asked sweetly.
“Come to think of it, I’m not sure if my brother has been a good host. Habin-yang, are you thirsty? Hungry? Shall we have something to drink while we talk?”
“……I told you it’s too late for image management?”
“Haha. My always loving little brother Jiseok…… Let’s close our mouths when drinking good water.”
Jise affectionately put her arm around Jiseok’s shoulder. Ignoring Jiseok, who was shivering as if creeped out, she gestured to Habin and Ahezar.
“Come over here! Tell me what you’d like to eat!”
Habin didn’t refuse.
“Hmm, then I’ll have cheesecake.”
◆◇◆◇◆
Drip drip.
Orange juice and appetizingly sliced cheesecake appeared before her eyes.
Habin picked up her fork, looking at the blonde woman sitting across from her.
Chae Jise.
Officially ranked 2nd domestically, 7th globally.
Representative and leader of Solaris, one of the two guilds known as Korea’s Two Wings, alongside Caligo.
Up to this point, some might think it’s ambiguous. After all, she doesn’t rank first in any category.
But knowing the inside story changes things a bit.
Chae Jise had a somewhat unique background compared to other star hunters.
Namely, she was famous even before the Gate Crisis.
Five years ago, the student bulletin board of Korea University, the most prestigious university in Korea, was often flooded with posts like these:
‘Does Chae Jise-nim from Mechanical Engineering have a boyfriend?’
‘CJS taking Introductory Psychology on Wednesdays! Are you dating anyone?!!’
‘Jise-unni, marry me!!!!’
‘There’s a gorgeous classmate in the Mechanical Engineering department… Does anyone know her… She’s totally my ideal type…
└ CJS?
└ Must be Chae JS, I heard she even modeled for University Today magazine recently
└ CJS posts keep coming up, just search for her at this point’
She gained fame as Korea University’s Engineering Goddess, then was scouted for magazine modeling and interviews, even appearing on TV a few times.
Many entertainment agencies sent her love calls for her outstanding visuals, but,
‘I sincerely entered university because my dream is to be an engineer, so I have no interest in the entertainment industry. I’m sorry.’
She refused, saying her dream was to be an engineer, and focused solely on her studies.
If the Gate Crisis hadn’t occurred, she might have achieved her dream and lived an ordinary, successful life.
The problem was that her life changed when she awakened as the country’s 2nd ranked SS-rank hunter after the Gate Crisis.
-[Exclusive] ‘Engineering Goddess’ Chae Jise Awakens as Korea’s First SS-Ranker…… ‘No. 2 in Korea’ Following Kang Taeseo?
-Awakened Chae Jise to Hold Exclusive Press Conference Today…… Netizens React ‘Surprised’
Currently, when asked about the most famous hunter in Korea, people naturally point to ‘Kang Taeseo’. Current domestic rank 1, world rank 2.
However, right after the Gate Crisis, this wasn’t the case.
Even then, Kang Taeseo was widely reported as Korea’s No. 1 and the first SSS-class, but he was limited in his ability to establish a guild or take on international roles.
This was because Taeseo was only a first-year high school student at the time. At 15 years old, he was still a minor.
If they put him at the forefront of battle based solely on his rank, he would have been seen as a young boy, potentially inviting international criticism for child abuse.
He was also too young to be put forward as an official representative in international organizations.
‘Regrettably, no matter how powerful Kang Taeseo is, he’s a card we shouldn’t play. He’s still a minor who needs to be protected both legally and morally.’
‘He’ll be disrespected for his lack of social experience.’
‘That’s right. Especially for diplomatic roles……’
The disapproving gaze of political figures. And the heavy responsibility of representing Korea. It was too much for a 17-year-old boy to bear.
So instead of Kang Taeseo, the one who shouldered all the responsibility and the hot seat was the then 2nd-ranked ‘adult’ Chae Jise.
‘Strictly speaking, Chae Jise is also just a fresh adult who’s new to society.’
‘Then let’s just make her a figurehead.’
‘If we put Kang Taeseo forward, there would be accusations of child abuse, but not with Chae Jise.’
The initial Hunter Association didn’t have high expectations for Chae Jise.
Rank 1 Kang Taeseo. (Minor)
Rank 3 Chae Jiseok. (Minor)
Rank 2 Chae Jise. (Adult)
To the Hunter Association, Chae Jise was just ‘a hunter good to put forward because she’s an adult and unlikely to cause problems’.
With just this level of expectation, the Hunter Association formally assigned her all the roles of representing Korea, being a goodwill ambassador for the Korean Hunter Association, a promotional ambassador, and so on.
‘Thank you for entrusting me with this. I will work hard at whatever I can do to live up to your expectations.’
Even though she was young, Chae Jise must have been aware of these circumstances.
But at the actual press conference, Chae Jise was composed. It was a quiet resolution, where she didn’t even mention losing her parents in the Gate Crisis or having to hastily graduate from the university she had been attending.
However.
The twist began with her subsequent actions.
To cut to the chase, Chae Jise did her job well.
Extremely well, at that.