IRNH C53

#53
‘What was that? Did Taewoon’s energy spike strangely just now?’
Sihyeon frowned slightly but turned his head squarely again, watching the boy’s usual pretty smile with suspicion.
It was unlikely Taewoon had clumsily controlled his energy deliberately, and it wasn’t the right time for any special action, so the behavior seemed suspicious.
‘Hmm…’
Curious, Sihyeon expanded his energy perception again, scanning farther beyond the building they were in towards more distant areas.
As expected, he found no results in his hand.
No seemingly dangerous presence was nearby, and the neighborhood densely packed with old villas remained unchanged since earlier.
Sihyeon tilted his head briefly, then examined Taewoon carefully again.
‘Is he sick?’
Taewoon wouldn’t behave like that without reason, and if he was ill and couldn’t control himself, Sihyeon intended to separate and leave him behind immediately.
“What’s going on with you two?”
“Uh…”
Ha-jung, watching the two who abruptly stopped talking to smile at each other with twisted expressions, soon grinned.
Of course, Sihyeon’s face looked doubtful, but that didn’t bother him.
Ha-jung spoke with a hint of dissatisfaction.
“Take your dating antics elsewhere.”
“Aaah! You crazy! It’s not like that!”
Seeing their obviously suspicious expressions, Sihyeon read Ha-jung’s lips quicker and shouted, terrified, waving his hands to disperse the outpouring words.
He couldn’t understand why Taewoon behaved that way, especially with the odd atmosphere recently!
He wanted to grab Ha-jung by the collar and shake him vigorously.
His neck flushed red as he stifled a choked sound and resolved to have a serious talk this time, springing up.
“Thanks. I’ll be careful from now on.”
But soothing, soft singing-like words nearby crushed Sihyeon’s motivation instantly.
He looked betrayedly at Taewoon, but seeing him with half-closed eyes smiling bright, his irritation vanished.
“Oh, well… alright then.”
Ha-jung, who had seemed cheerful playing around with the bouncing Sihyeon, suddenly looked reluctant.
She averted her eyes as shy Taewoon gently took the still bewildered Sihyeon’s hand, pulling him closer than before to sit with him.
Sihyeon felt a bit upset.
Though Ha-jung had started the teasing, she was ultimately the loser.
“But I didn’t just call to talk about that.”
In reality, Sihyeon was desperately making lame excuses through telepathy.
Still, seeing the two exchanging glances with subtle moods, Ha-jung sighed as if witnessing an unseemly sight and spoke again.
If the Villain Alliance that shattered Sihyeon’s home was connected with something inside the Hunter Association, searching within the country might be impossible.
Even illegal routes were impractical since, as the site of the Divine Mine, the Association held powerful influence, resulting in one of the lowest crime rates.
Hence, proper illegal channels likely did not exist.
Ha-jung knew this best. Although now it was uncertain.
“Sigh, I didn’t want to recommend this.”
“What is it?”
“You’ve heard of ‘Black Thorn,’ right?”
Sihyeon’s eyes narrowed sharply. The name Black Thorn was the first that popped up online when he decided to probe the Villain Alliance.
“It’s an information guild…”
“That’s right.”
Even a quick search revealed Black Thorn’s notorious worldwide reputation as an information guild.
But their fame wasn’t only for information trading.
When first appearing in the hunter world, they employed an unusual yet effective marketing strategy: releasing some information online free of charge.
Of course, if the information were trivial, it wouldn’t blow up like that.
Black Thorn shared incredibly rare information ranging from political corruption in various countries to secrets about gate items and locations of special artifacts.
They occasionally released mysterious information in several rounds, apparently achieving some goals, then vanished suddenly.
Among the public, rumors spread that they held answers to all conspiracies and knew the reasons behind the current world situation.
However, part of their reputation was that, despite being famous, no one knew their location or how to contact them.
That ignited people’s adventurous spirit, making Black Thorn even more renowned.
“I get that Black Thorn exists. But how do you find them? Nobody knows where to go.”
“That’s why I’m telling you. They announced they’ll appear in Las Vegas.”
Ha-jung sighed and continued after a short breath.
“They plan to show up at the world’s biggest auction next month in Las Vegas. The rumor’s been spreading among insiders, but it’ll reach the public soon enough. Probably that info came from their side; the guild leader wouldn’t expose himself so easily.”
“Okay, that makes sense… but…”
Sihyeon rubbed his chin and considered Ha-jung’s long explanation thoughtfully.
He was glad they’d come to Las Vegas but unsure if they could meet directly. Even if so, how to pay for the information was a problem.
Information trades required money or equivalently valuable information. He had neither.
‘Should I catch and intimidate them?’
Momentarily frustrated, Sihyeon sighed deeply and rubbed his head.
Even if tortured or killed, that massive cache of information would probably be managed separately—it’d be like killing the golden goose.
The guild was surely thorough in damage control.
“Don’t worry too much. There’s a way.”
Seeing Sihyeon grow somber, Ha-jung smiled and took out something.
“What’s that?”
“A business card.”
Sihyeon held up a black slip with only a name on it.
“When the A-Rank gate opened in Hong Kong, I went to help in a hurry and received this as a gift.”
“Huh? Just that?”
“Listen to me in Korean till the end, man. The card came from ‘Liang Qiaosha,’ an official of the Hong Kong Association. He promised to help however he could. Among the things he mentioned was Black Thorn; it might be possible to arrange contact.”
Sihyeon, looking between the card and Ha-jung’s face, was amazed.
Though she used to be a college student busy drinking, she seemed completely changed.
Noticing his feelings, Ha-jung’s face briefly grew mischievous.
“What? You think this noona looks a bit different now? Well, I better look good then.”
“Ugh. Got it.”
A friend who delivered a satisfying hit no matter what.
Ha-jung laughed, tousled Sihyeon’s hair roughly, then quickly withdrew her hand as those sharp red eyes stared.
‘Ugh, just when things seemed okay, here we go again.’
Shivering, she rubbed her arms.
“Anyway, I’m telling you to prepare to leave the country soon.”
“Thanks.”
Though always receiving help at first, Sihyeon felt gratitude yet more guilt.
Scratching his head, he opened his mouth to ask if there was anything he could do—he couldn’t help worrying.
Buzzing—
But his phone suddenly started ringing incessantly.
After linking with Shin Ryuha, his phone had been ringing at all hours, prompting him to change his number recently.
So few people could have gotten the new number to call him.
Sihyeon hurriedly lifted his phone to check.
‘Huh?’
The caller, though thought to be Kyu-min, was not in his contacts.
The number even had an area code, not a mobile number.
“Hello?”
“Gasp, huff.”

“…Damn, what?”
Sihyeon hesitated to answer but as the ringing continued, he pressed the phone to his ear.
A faint wheezing came through the receiver, and his face twisted in pain.
“Wait, wait. Huff… Sihyeon-nim!”

But the next words stopped his urge to hang up. The voice was one he vividly remembered.