“Thank you for coming all this way.”

“Oh, it was nothing.”

Oh Hyunseong loaded boxes of strawberries into the truck bed.

The driver hurried out to help him.

The entire shipment was headed for Hangyeong Department Store.

“Wow, there seems to be even more than usual this time.”

“I’m starting to get the hang of farming.”

Hyunseong grinned.

He had begun farming awkwardly, consulting his phone every step of the way, but his operation had since become remarkably stable.

The strawberry farm he had expanded in a hurry was no exception.

Crops tended by the spirits never suffered from disease or pests, and the harvests were abundant.

Their quality was also perfectly consistent, with nothing needing to be discarded, so the yield was far higher than that of an ordinary farm.

Oh Hyunseong himself had also picked up a number of useful tricks as he grew accustomed to the work.

Though, honestly, it’s reached the point where they hardly need me anymore.

Meanwhile, the strawberries had filled the truck bed.

The driver climbed behind the wheel and bowed his head.

“I’ll be on my way, then.”

“Sure. Have a safe drive back.”

Oh Hyunseong watched the truck depart, dusted off his hands, and headed toward the farm.

By “farm,” he did not mean the fields farther up the hill where he conducted his actual farming.

He meant the strawberry farm below the house.

He had erected new greenhouses on the side of the property that was not enclosed by the barrier.

At first, he had considered building a proper smart farm to make the deception more convincing. After consulting the siblings, who were experts in the field, however, he realized that it would be no small undertaking and changed course.

Even putting aside the cost, there were far too many details that would require his constant attention.

Instead, he settled for installing greenhouses whose interiors could not easily be seen from outside.

Nngh!

When he stepped inside, he saw the spirits playing throughout the greenhouse.

They were having a wonderful time among the rows of strawberries.

They might have looked as though they were merely playing, but they had already finished all their work.

They had harvested the day’s strawberries long ago.

Oh Hyunseong had become accustomed to farming, but the same was true of the spirits, who were now even better at it than he was.

They could harvest everything efficiently without any help from him. At this point, it was practically an automated farm.

“I brought strawberries.”

Nngh!

At his words, the spirits came stampeding toward him.

Oh Hyunseong called over the others that had been playing around the house and the other fields, then took the strawberries from their container and distributed them.

Considering their size, each strawberry was enormous, yet the spirits eagerly devoured them without difficulty.

“Haha, you really do enjoy those.”

After handing out all the strawberries, Oh Hyunseong sat down on a ledge.

He took out one of the strawberries he had brought along with the spirits’ portions and began eating it.

Naturally, neither he nor the spirits were eating the inferior strawberries grown here. These were the genuine strawberries cultivated in the fields farther up the hill.

“Mmm...”

Oh Hyunseong closed his eyes and savored it.

The juice bursting inside his mouth was intoxicating.

The flavor made him understand why the spirits shook their heads from side to side as they ate.

“They really are delicious.”

Even though he had grown them himself, he could not help but marvel.

The spirits were utterly enthralled as well.

They seemed to like strawberries even more than they had enjoyed their first taste of potatoes.

Apparently, when eaten on their own, strawberries suited the spirits’ tastes better.

Ding!

—Hello, this is Park Jeongtae. I heard that the latest strawberry shipment is also on its way. Thank you, as always, for sending us such wholesome and excellent produce. Thanks to you, our department store is enjoying unprecedented growth. We have received such an enormous favor from you that we cannot begin to express our gratitude...

“Whoa...”

Park Jeongtae had sent him an incredibly long message.

He did not send them often, but every now and then, he would burden Hyunseong with one of these texts.

The man had left looking miserable after their contract negotiations, but he certainly seemed pleased with the strawberries now.

Near the end of the message, however, there was a sentence different from his usual remarks.

If you have the time, we would be honored if you visited our department store. We will gladly show you the distribution process and demonstrate that every term of our contract is being faithfully observed.

“Hmm... He wants me to visit the department store?”

Oh Hyunseong muttered as he popped another enormous strawberry into his mouth.

He was already well aware of how people were responding to his produce.

The reaction had been so intense that merely going online was enough to see it everywhere.

During his years as an operative, however, he had learned that certain things never truly felt real, no matter how much media coverage he saw or how many reports he received, until he witnessed them personally.

“...Maybe I should take this opportunity to go.”

He had now taken his first genuine step toward becoming a full-fledged farmer and had even experienced supplying produce to a retailer.

It might not be a bad idea to use this opportunity to see how his produce was actually being distributed.

An office at the Gangnam branch of Hangyeong Department Store.

The department’s usual cheerful atmosphere, buoyed by its recent outstanding performance, had vanished without a trace. A deadly tension now hung in the air.

It was not due to any internal problem.

“What the hell did I just hear?”

Joo Jihye let out an incredulous laugh.

After failing to sleep properly again the previous night, she had gone straight to Hangyeong Department Store the moment she got up.

There, she had asked to speak with the person responsible for the naturally grown food section.

She had not caused a scene or demanded an unreasonable quantity of strawberries.

That was precisely why she had never imagined there would be any trouble.

“So... you’re saying you won’t tell me?”

“I’m sorry. Our policy prohibits us from disclosing information about contracted farms, so we cannot provide it to you.”

“Ha. Wait, wait. You know who I am, don’t you?”

“...Yes, of course.”

“And you still dare give me that answer? Do you have any idea how much I spend at this department store every year?”

Joo Jihye was one of the highest-ranked members within Hangyeong Department Store’s Trinity tier, making her an exceptionally important client.

Her wealth and social prestige placed her on an entirely different level even from ordinary VIP customers.

If she demanded to see the department store’s president, he would be expected to come out and personally attend to her without complaint.

Yet from her perspective, a mere employee was stubbornly refusing to hand over one simple piece of contact information.

“W-well, the farm owner was also extremely insistent about this condition when we signed the contract.”

“I don’t give a damn about the farm owner. I said I need to see the bastard.”

“...I’m sorry.”

Park Jeongtae repeatedly bowed his head.

Under normal circumstances, he would have handed over a phone number without a second thought. In this case, however, he had no choice.

Of course, there was no reason for Joo Jihye to understand his circumstances.

“You’ve been screwing me over since last time... Now you’re really starting to piss me off.”

Her eyes blazing, Joo Jihye strode toward him.

She was not merely walking closer.

Her vicious aura stabbed into Park Jeongtae as though carving his body to pieces.

The intense killing intent pouring from her made sweat stream down his forehead.

“P-please stop!”

“Stop? Stop what?”

The pressure was so overwhelming that he could barely remain conscious.

It was a murderous force far beyond what an ordinary civilian could withstand.

“Should I drag the department store president in here and make him kneel before you?”

“Urgh...!”

Whenever Joo Jihye was in a foul mood, she was notorious throughout Aegis Entertainment as a lunatic whom no one dared approach.

She had already held herself back far more than usual, and now her fury erupted with even greater force.

“W-what do we do? Shouldn’t we stop her?”

“Are you insane? How the hell are we supposed to stop that?”

Department stores inevitably attracted their fair share of abusive customers.

Under normal circumstances, if a situation escalated this far, they would have summoned the department store’s security personnel and taken action.

The problem was that their opponent was a Grade 10 hunter.

A two-digit grade held special significance in the hunter world.

It marked the point at which a hunter became capable of clearing S-rank Gates, humanity’s greatest enemy, and transcended the level of ordinary hunters entirely.

Two-digit hunters received special treatment wherever they went. Countries around the world even maintained separate lists to monitor them.

What would happen if someone like that lost control and began rampaging?

People might be able to swarm around a celebrity drunk on fame and calm them down, but an enraged high-ranking hunter was a physical catastrophe.

An immense disaster that neither the police nor the military could suppress.

“You don’t seriously think a hunter can’t make one person disappear in this day and age, do you? Keep this up, and you might actually die.”

Joo Jihye seized Park Jeongtae by the collar.

The conviction that he might genuinely die filled his mind.

“Give me the phone number or the address. Right now. Before I crush everything below your jaw.”

“I-I absolutely cannot! I can’t tell you even if it kills me! You might as well just kill me!”

...What kind of lunatic is this bastard?

Even threats of this magnitude failed to make Park Jeongtae budge.

It was enough to make Joo Jihye hesitate, since she had never truly intended to kill him.

She found his behavior utterly baffling.

From Park Jeongtae’s perspective, however, he had agreed to pay an enormous penalty if the information was leaked, and Oh Hyunseong had given him a severe warning as well.

Only a few days had passed since they signed the contract.

If the information leaked already, not only would the contract be terminated, but Oh Hyunseong might take offense and switch his deliveries to Daeseong Department Store.

If that happened, Park Jeongtae’s life would effectively end with it.

He truly did not want to die, but at this point, being physically killed here seemed like it might be the less painful option.

“Why don’t you stop?”

Just then, someone intervened in a confrontation no one else had dared approach.

The man strode forward without the slightest fear, grabbed Joo Jihye’s arm, and freed Park Jeongtae from her grip.

“...?”

Joo Jihye frowned at the unexpected interference.

Ignoring her reaction, Oh Hyunseong spoke to Park Jeongtae.

“Take the employees and leave.”

“Ah... Y-yes!”

Gasping for breath, Park Jeongtae hurried out of the office.

The other employees sensed the ominous atmosphere and quickly scattered as well.

“Who the hell are you?”

“Someone involved in the matter who happened to be passing by.”

“Are you that bastard’s superior?”

“The company’s rules prevent him from telling you. Why are you causing a scene over it? Do you have some business with the farm owner?”

“Yes, I have important business with him! Something far more important than your stupid rules!”

Joo Jihye snapped at him.

Oh Hyunseong tilted his head.

“So you’re throwing this tantrum because you want some limited-edition strawberries?”

“D-don’t be ridiculous! That isn’t it! What do you know about my circumstances?”

Joo Jihye shouted, her face turning red.

She had already been on edge, and one thing after another had continued to pour fuel on the fire.

At last, everything she had been suppressing exploded.

“...Enough. There’s no reasoning with any of you. I’ll show you with force instead. If I bring down half the department store, maybe even the chairman of Hangyeong Group will come crawling out to beg.”

The space around them trembled violently.

It was her special constitution, Telekinesis.

Every object in the office floated into the air, and anything sharp simultaneously turned toward Oh Hyunseong.

It was an impressive degree of control, befitting a telekinetic hunter above Grade 10.

She had already seized complete control of the space. With a mere twitch of her hand, she could crush the entire office.

Oh Hyunseong, standing at its center, would naturally die instantly.

Yet he showed no agitation and did not move an inch.

“You’ve never killed anyone before, have you?”

“What...?”

“A telekinetic dies if someone gets this close. Even a cripple with a bad leg like me could take you down with me.”

“You fucking lunatic... What are you muttering about?”

Disgust spread across Joo Jihye’s face.

Judging by his presence, he was an ordinary civilian rather than a hunter. What could possibly justify such bravado?

She began to wonder whether some mentally unstable bystander had wandered in, rather than a department store employee.

Flash!

Just then, her telekinesis was neutralized in an instant.

Her firm control over the space scattered, and the floating objects crashed to the floor.

Joo Jihye instinctively whipped her head around.

“What are you doing here?”

“P-president?”

A sharp-featured man with his hair swept back was glaring at her.

It was Choi Jeongil.

“I told you not to cause trouble. Especially not with civilians.”

“W-well, that’s...”

Her tone immediately softened.

She was known within the company as a mad dog, but there was one person to whom she alone would lower her head.

Choi Jeongil, the president of Aegis Entertainment—a legend of the hunter world and a pioneer of the hunter-management industry.

Yet even his appearance was not enough to dispel all of Joo Jihye’s anger.

“No, just listen to me first. These people have been—”

“Choi Jeongil. It’s been a while.”

Oh Hyunseong raised a hand in greeting.

Joo Jihye scowled at his sudden interruption, looking utterly dumbfounded.

There he goes spouting ridiculous nonsense again... Who the hell does he think he’s pretending to know?

Choi Jeongil headed the largest hunter-management company in Korea and one of the three largest in the world. He was an enormously influential figure who regularly received invitations from both the presidential residence and the White House.

He was also a war hero who had distinguished himself during the Northern Defense War. Even Joo Jihye, who showed no respect for hierarchy, had always admired him.

He was not someone an ordinary civilian could casually claim to know.

“...?”

Choi Jeongil’s face, however, filled with astonishment when he saw Hyunseong.

A brief silence followed.

Then, to Joo Jihye’s utter disbelief, Choi Jeongil strode forward and bowed deeply to Oh Hyunseong.

“Sir! It’s been far too long!”

Chapter 15

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