VSP 61

A man barely squeezed through the narrow entrance, narrow enough that a 190-centimeter body would struggle to fit, and he frowned at the messy, dim interior.

“Turn on some lights and live.”

“I like it this way.”

It was what he said every time he came, but Jang Eunho refused as always, shrugging his shoulders. It was his space, so what about it.

At least he left out the usual order to clean up, since by now he seemed to have learned that it was pointless.

“With your eyesight it’s the same as setting the brightness to maximum anyway, isn’t it? You complain every damn time you come.”

Jang Eunho grumbled, but the man did not answer. He only looked around the office with a frown, and worried that he might get nitpicked about something else, Jang Eunho hurried to open his mouth.

“So what brings the world’s strongest hunter to the humble office of this ordinary man?”

The world’s strongest hunter.

It was a title that could be called excessive, but the man did not react much. What he reacted to was another part.

“Ordinary man?”

The man, Cha Dogyeong, laughed as if the phrase was absurd.

A hunter born with a trait unrelated to combat, owner of this hunter specialty shop ‘Hun Shop,’ there was no one in the world who could call Jang Eunho an ordinary man.

And there was also no one who could deny that Cha Dogyeong was the world’s strongest hunter.

In the end, the two men, neither of them ordinary, looked at each other and smiled meaningfully, and Cha Dogyeong sat down naturally across from Jang Eunho’s seat.

“I came to request a few items.”

“What items? You still need items?”

“There are a few.”

Cha Dogyeong said that and handed him a piece of paper, as if he had prepared a list in advance. The list was packed, and Jang Eunho frowned.

“Ha, you always ask for only the hardest things to get, you crazy bastard.”

Not only was the quantity a lot, but there was not a single easy one. Hunters from all over the world were Jang Eunho’s clients, but one of the reasons he did not enjoy Cha Dogyeong’s visits, despite him being a VIP among VIPs, was exactly this.

There was not a single thing on Dogyeong’s requests that was easy to acquire. Since he only asked him for the things that were troublesome to get even for himself, there was nothing to be done.

The list was crammed, but it did not seem like something that should make this guy come see him in person… Jang Eunho grumbled inwardly.

Then Cha Dogyeong, after handing over the list, made a face that looked hesitant. A face like he was questioning whether to bring this up, whether he was right to request it. Not like him at all.

In the end, after a short pause, Cha Dogyeong opened his mouth.

“There are a few more.”

Jang Eunho instantly knew this was the real reason Dogyeong had come to his office today.

“Ah, what the hell now? You could’ve just put it all on the same list!”

Already annoyed at the packed list, Jang Eunho shouted in irritation when he heard there was more.

But whether or not, Dogyeong had decided to request them and began stating what he wanted.

“An item that lets me respond when I don’t have mana. Something that protects the caster, or at least can be used even without mana.”

“Hm?”

The request was far too strange. An item to protect the caster when mana is lacking?

A man who, with only his physical ability, could overwhelm an A-rank hunter who had mana, what did he lack that he needed such a thing?

“Why would you need something that bizarre? Isn’t that the most useless item for you, Cha Dogyeong?”

Lack of mana? That had nothing to do with him.

“I know what your mana stat is.”

Jang Eunho knew roughly what Dogyeong’s stats were.

Even though it was a flattering remark, Cha Dogyeong’s expression did not change. What was really meant was, “you make pointlessly difficult demands,” but instead Dogyeong added another to the order.

“Or an item that lets me instantly recover mana in an emergency.”

Jang Eunho laughed in disbelief. The first one had only been absurd, but at least it was possible. The second one, impossible.

“You’re insane. Go write a novel instead.”

Mana was the treasure and reverse scale of hunters. An item that could restore it in an instant? Even if the world offered gold, it could not be found. It was unknown if such a thing even existed.

Even as the owner of Hun Shop, Jang Eunho could not make the impossible possible. He shook his head.

“Dogyeong, if something like that existed, I would’ve already put it up for auction.”

“If something like that existed, you would’ve hoarded it in your vault. I know you’re a scrooge who treasures items more than money.”

But it seemed Jang Eunho’s words did not reach Cha Dogyeong at all.

The two had known each other for a long time. They had been of help to each other, and they knew each other far too well.

If such an item really existed, Jang Eunho would not put it up for auction just to make money. He would add it to his collection, treasure it, and polish it like the items he was carefully wiping down now.

Someday, it would end up tossed in a pile like junk with the other goods, but even so, he would hold on to it and not let it go. After all, he was one of the richest hunters in the world. Money came after other values.

And one of the people who knew that best was Cha Dogyeong.

Tch. This isn’t working. Jang Eunho clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“Well, anyway. The first one might be possible, but the second oneis too much even for me.”

No matter how great a craftsman and seller Jang Eunho was, he could not make something that did not exist. The fact that the first one was even possible was already incredible. The problem was that Dogyeong did not appreciate it.

At those words, Cha Dogyeong thought for a moment, then asked quietly,

“Is it that hard?”

“What is?”

“Something that increases mana.”

What’s with him today? Jang Eunho frowned. Of course it’s hard, you crazy bastard. Instead of yelling it, he let out a long sigh.

“Don’t you remember hunters fighting like beasts over a potion that only raises mana by one? Last time, an American S-rank and a Mexican S-rank fought to the death over a potion that raised mana by ten. In the end, both of them nearly died. For them, it’s worth staking their lives on.”

How could someone who had never felt a lack of mana understand the desperation of hunters starving for it?

“You’re really acting strange today. Why do you need something like that, the great Cha Dogyeong?”

That was what made it strange. Someone who was never short on mana was suddenly making odd requests.

But Dogyeong shook his head at Jang Eunho’s question.

“I’m not the one who’ll use it.”

“…..?”

He gave no further explanation, and after that he closed his mouth.

That made it both easier to accept and even more strange.

It might sound odd, but Jang Eunho knew Cha Dogyeong fairly well. Not because they were embarrassingly close, but because their connection went past labels like “friends.” They had been tangled together since the early days of their hunter lives, helping each other here and there.

He was someone who drew people around him, almost like the protagonist of this world, and won others’ favor without effort, but he himself never picked out one person to keep close or truly like.

Even with the other S-rank hunters he bumped into most often, he kept them at a distance. He had no one you could really call a close friend. Why was someone like suddenly going out of his way to request items for another hunter?

Dogyeong? That was something that did not fit him at all.

“……”

Jang Eunho stroked his chin, staring at Cha Dogyeong with a meaningful gaze.

Who could it be? Who made this man personally run around trying to find such items?

He dated constantly, but not because he truly loved someone. It was more like moving by inertia. For someone like him, doing something for another person was strange.

Thinking that, Jang Eunho suddenly asked,

“Hey, come to think of it, aren’t you not dating these days?”

It was a rumor going around lately. Dogyeong had stopped dating. Because he was always in the middle of some gossip, even just news that he was not seeing anyone spread. Some even sold it as information.

“Tired of dating too?”

At that question, Dogyeong’s expression changed.

“Why is everyone so interested in my love life?”

So someone else had already asked him the same thing.

If anyone had, it was probably Na Yookyung. Jang Eunho naturally pulled the answer out and shrugged.

“Well, people get curious.”

How could people not be curious when someone who acted like he couldn’t live without having someone next to him, who cycled through dull relationships without pause, now suddenly losing all drive and not meeting anyone?