When I Returned to Farming, National-level Big Juniors Flock - Chapter 100



Only Krnovel

100. King of the Shade

Seoul, South Korea.

The long-standing culture of Koreans loving coffee has not faded even after going through turbulent times.

The number of cafes clustered together was proof of this.

But that doesn’t mean it’s difficult to imagine cafes like they were in the past.

Slurp.

Oh Hyun-seong sat by the window and drank coffee.

As expected of a cafe located in the heart of Seoul, the interior of the building was very stylish, and the atmosphere was nice because it was a quiet daytime.

But his expression soon turned into a frown.

“Coolook! Big…”

Oh Hyun-seong’s shoulders trembled.

It’s been a while since I’ve had coffee in the city, so I’d forgotten about it.

How terribly tasteless today’s coffee beans have become.

‘Damn, I’ve lost all my appetite.’

A self-destructive taste, like Satan’s phlegm.

It was hard to believe that so many people were ingesting these impurities in the hopes of getting their caffeine fix.

When the lingering feeling did not go away at all, he stretched out his arm toward the piece of cake in front of him.

A pure white whipped cream cake topped with strawberries in a very pretty shape.

Turup!

“…”

The sensation I felt when I took a bite of the cake scooped up with a fork was sweet.

The bitter and strange taste that had lingered in my mouth from the coffee was washed away by the strong sweetness, and I felt much more at ease.

But that was only for a moment.

As he began to chew the cake slowly, his expression crumpled again.

‘No, what kind of cream is this…’

Oh Hyun-seong covered his mouth with a slight gagging sensation.

The cheap, factory-made, synthetic whipped cream that was spread thickly gave off a strong sense of rejection, and the terribly dry texture of the bread was a bonus.

They say humans are creatures of forgetfulness.

After living for a while eating only delicious food, I had forgotten the destructive power of these tastes.

It was also because the sense of reverse tension was so strong.

A combination of cheap, stimulating sweetness and excessive sloppiness.

I looked at the coffee, feeling nauseous as if I was on the bare ground, but I knew that drinking it would be like pouring salt water on my thirst.

“Sigh… I guess I’ll go back and try growing some proper coffee.”

He grabbed the table tightly and muttered, barely suppressing the anger welling up inside him.

Of course, Korea’s climate was not suitable for coffee farming.

But with the help of the fire spirits, even completely unfamiliar tropical fruits could be grown.

He had never grown coffee on his fields before.

Among the original seeds he secured were coffee seeds, but they were one of the types that had not been brought from North Korea’s secret seed vault.

Since he was thinking about other crops that he had not brought with him at the time, Oh Hyeon-seong decided that he should stop by again sometime soon.

But that’s for later.

There was something that had to be taken care of immediately.

Thud thud.

The sound of approaching shoes drew his gaze back.

There stood a woman whose face I had seen before.

“It’s been a while.”

“Yes, how have you been?”

The woman nodded toward him.

Director of the Public Security Bureau of the National Security Agency, Seo Ho-yeon.

It was a subordinate employee sent by his junior Baek Ji-soo.

Unlike his usual well-dressed coat attire, he was wearing casual everyday clothes, such as a black baseball cap pulled down low, a blouse, and jeans.

It was quite a refreshing combination for someone who had only seen him in stiff attire.

Druk.

Seo Ho-yeon, who asked for understanding and naturally sat down in front of him, glanced around.

For a security agent, it was practically an occupational disease, but this time it couldn’t be called an occupational disease.

It wasn’t a personal matter, as the casual clothes she was wearing suggested, but she was clearly on duty at the moment.

She focused her gaze back on him, making sure there was nothing particularly bothersome in the room.

“Are there any problems with the original seeds you secured then?”

“Thanks to your help, everything is fine. Of course, we had some uninvited guests, but they were sorted out.”

“I also heard that after we hijacked the truck, the Samjeonghoe was suddenly destroyed. So you were involved.”

Seo Ho-yeon nodded as if he knew this would happen.

But she didn’t bother to dig into the details of what exactly happened, and just got straight to the point she had come here for.

“As for the ‘rumors’ you mentioned, we actually did investigate them. But unfortunately, we haven’t been able to obtain any meaningful information, either then or now. They are all things that are significantly unreliable.”

“okay.”

A while ago, a rumor was heard in the hunter industry.

There was a rumor that a weapon used by a Korean hunter in the past, and a national treasure at that, was floating around somewhere in the underworld.

A rumor without a clear source or evidence.

But as news is news, the rumor gradually grew bigger and bigger, becoming quite a hot topic.

Artifacts that were worthy of the title of national treasure were treated as strategic weapons rather than mere tools even at the national level.

Thanks to this, the number of cases where an individual owned one was virtually non-existent.

But if such an item were wandering around the back alleys, anyone who got their hands on it would have their life turned upside down.

Because national treasures have astronomical values, which is an amount that even high-ranking hunters cannot even see in their entire lives.

“To be honest, I think the chances of the rumor being true are slim. The content itself is just too absurd.”

“Is that so? But I still think it’s pretty plausible.”

“… Is that true?”

Seo Ho-yeon looked at him with surprised eyes.

There were countless people who fell for false rumors, and there was no need to worry about whether it was true or not.

If your credibility increases because others collectively think that way, then that doesn’t mean the situation has changed; you’re just being swept up in the crowd mentality.

But the words of none other than Baek Ji-soo’s former superior were different.

‘A national treasure artifact with the earth attribute… As expected from the rumors, it’s a bit mixed up, but when I put together the commonly talked about information, a weapon I know strangely comes to mind.’

Artifacts with earth attributes were very rare.

Although the number of affinity users for the main attribute was relatively small, especially for relics, it was similar to the number of unheard-of, non-mainstream attributes.

But strangely enough, the information floating around the area accurately described one weapon he knew of.

A weapon that you would never know about if you had not been a member of the special forces in the past.

‘So, I can’t just let it go.’

Oh Hyun-seong got up from his seat.

This was enough to compensate for the tasteless coffee and cake I received for renting the space.

“Nothing has been confirmed yet, so let’s investigate it ourselves.”

“Yes, I understand.”

After leaving the cafe, they started to investigate the ‘rumor’.

Of course, if it was an investigation, it wouldn’t have mattered if Oh Hyeon-seong went alone.

As for his agent career, no one could match him, so he had ample know-how in digging up information and was actually superior to her.

Of course, in terms of espionage and information gathering, Seo Ho-yeon was one of the few experts in the country.

It’s just that Oh Hyeon-seong is superior to him.

But still, there were two reasons why I met her and joined her.

The most important thing is her affiliation.

She had the vast human resources and information network of the National Security Agency at her back, something that Oh Hyun-seong did not have.

Among the numerous informants planted by the National Security Agency, there were also those who monitored the country’s dark side.

There were also many people who were not part of the security agency, but who served as our eyes and ears in a cooperative relationship.

As agents of the National Security Agency are considered highly skilled personnel, they even bring in outside personnel to collect detailed information.

Seo Ho-yeon contacted those ‘outside eyes’ and received information.

It wasn’t until the sun began to set that we finally got some useful information.

‘The city center is also chaotic, but this place is difficult in a different way.’

Oh Hyeon-seong entered a dark alley and looked around.

The alley was filled with a damp atmosphere even though the sun had not yet fully set. A foul smell wafted from everywhere, and an unpleasant dullness seemed to stick to the soles of my shoes.

The environment is so poor that you might wonder if it is really the same Seoul.

Polarization has become even more severe than in the past.

After the Gate incident, many people flocked to Seoul, where there were many hunters, for safety.

However, because of this, Seoul became overcrowded beyond its capacity, and paradoxically, its quality of life and public safety declined significantly.

“I don’t think it’s something to worry about… but still, be careful. It’s one of the top five crime-ridden areas in Seoul.”

“Keep that in mind.”

It wasn’t just a rumor.

A dangerous neighborhood where you can get stabbed in the back if you wander around without thinking.

Since the emergence of the Awakened, who were originally difficult for governments to control, crime rates around the world have skyrocketed.

Even though Korea had good control over the situation, it could not prevent these ‘back alleys’ from emerging.

Right now, regular police officers aren’t even patrolling this area.

Since it is a place where numerous criminals and criminal organizations that are former hunters are active, you can’t do anything anyway unless you are an Awakened person.

First memory.

Oh Hyun-seong stopped in front of the door of an old wooden building.

I tried the doorknob, but the door was firmly locked.

Oh Hyun-seong turned his head and looked at Seo Ho-yeon.

“…no problem.”

The second reason why he joined Seo Ho-yeon.

When he was a special agent, there was no problem with going into another country’s embassy as long as he was not caught by the other country, but now he was a civilian.

But when you have a reliable high-ranking government official friend with you, the realm of the illegal simply falls into the realm of the legal.

Kwajik!

Oh Hyeon-seong simply tore down the wooden door and stepped inside.

The interior makes you wonder if this is really a house or a ruin.

In the midst of the chaos, Oh Hyeon-seong looked around and found a staircase leading to the basement and went down it.

“This is…”

The body of a man who was murdered with his body cut in two.

Judging from the traces, it looked like a homeless person or an outlaw wandering around an empty house in an alley, but that body wasn’t the point.

From the floor to the walls of the basement.

A long and strongly engraved mark.

It wasn’t a normal sword mark, but a mark that looked like the ground had been dug up, and Oh Hyeon-seong could immediately tell what it had left behind.

“It was true.”

Oh Hyun-seong’s expression changed strangely.

It was a cold, chilling atmosphere, but on the other hand, Seo Ho-yeon felt a somewhat sad atmosphere.

“Do you… know something?”

In response to her question, Oh Hyeon-seong nodded silently and got up from his seat.

Traces of a weapon used by a long-dead old friend and colleague.

The thing was, the weapon that should have been buried quietly next to his dead comrade was wandering around a back alley somewhere.

Oh Hyun-seong became curious about the reason.

*

Lee Gil-sang.

He was once a senior member of the criminal organization Samjeonghoe who got into a lot of trouble by hiding in someone’s closet.

He was the king of the underworld who now reigned as the unified head of four major organizations.

Of course, he did not achieve such success through his own efforts.

He is just a puppet, acting as bait to uncover the power behind the scenes.

But whether he is a puppet being manipulated from behind or not, the fact remains that he currently controls all four major criminal organizations in Korea.

“Lee Gil-sang, gather all the members of the organization.”

And Oh Hyeon-seong gave a single word of instruction to the king of the shadows.

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