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“We’ve actually been watching you ever since you first awakened.”

Jiho pulled a face at Hojin’s seemingly considerate words. 

“Why… were you only watching? You could’ve approached me sooner….”

“Yang Hojin” joined the guild extremely recently. If they were really watching Jiho since he awakened, shouldn’t they have at least approached him when he set up No Name Guild?

The corners of Hojin’s lips rose into a smile as he looked at Jiho, who was full of suspicions. Since Hojin actually looks like a mythical fox-turned-human after revealing his true self… Jiho can’t trust him.

“Although it seemed that you couldn’t see the system at the time…. We needed someone with the perfect disguise for when you could. I wasn’t involved with Mireu Guild back then, but… I joined at the elder’s call.”

“You can’t fool everyone?”

“Yes. [Disguise] can only imitate someone weaker than its user. Because of that, the “Yang Hojin” in the guild is really no stronger than a C-rank hunter. I’d be discovered as soon as the disguise falls off.”

Hojin scowled and sighed.  

“I wasn’t supposed to appear this time. This might’ve been a trap.”

“…You believe that the reason I was attacked was to trick you?”

“Perhaps.”

Though it’s just speculation, it isn’t completely unfounded. After all, Hojin was able to completely fool them even when they found him suspicious and investigated him. Like this, his disguise was perfect, and he would’ve never been discovered under normal circumstances. 

“Who would trick you?”

“Someone near you who is always blocking our attempts to approach you.”

There’s only one person Jiho can think of. 

“Joo Yiwon?”

“That’s right. I see that you are aware he’s suspicious too.”

“No, the only person strong enough to block you guys is Yiwon. It’s not that I suspect him.”

Offended, Jiho denied. Hojin tilted his head. The nine fluffy tails swished without tangling, as if responding to their owner’s thoughts. 

“You don’t suspect him?”

“No. Are you not strong too? And Hunter Kim Tae Yong is at least an SS-rank, he could even be an SSS-rank.”

Hojin chuckled as he shook his head. 

“Our young master is strong, but he’s not an SSS-rank. Only one or two beings that strong might be born in one century. Rarely any are born at SSS-rank; most are born as SS-ranks and grow into SSS-ranks…. Given a thousand more years, Young Master could become an SSS-rank. After all, his scales are still tender.”

“…I’m just curious, what is Hunter Kim Tae Yong’s race and age?”

“He is the son of the Dragon King. His age… I’m not certain, but he should be over 100 years old?”

“…”

What a cheat.

Of course, Kim Tae Yong might be young in their standards, but for a human like Jiho, he’s ancient. To think he was acting young when he’s really an old man…. Well, to be fair, his speech pattern was slightly elderly. 

“From what I know, there are three SSS-ranks in this world right now.”

If there’s only three, that’s much fewer than Jiho thought. But that also means there’s more SS-ranks under that, and many, many more S-ranks under that. 

Seeing Jiho busily thinking, Hojin quietly smiled. 

“And of those SSS-ranks, the Yellow Dragon once visited Joo Yiwon to check his rank. His conclusion… was that Joo Yiwon is vastly stronger than he is.”

“…Joo Yiwon is?”

A being vastly stronger than an SSS-rank. If they were the same rank, the Yellow Dragon wouldn’t have reacted in such a way. That means….

“That’s right, that man is probably an EX-rank.”

EX.

A couple of Jiho’s skills are EX-rank. Because all of those skills are OP, Jiho thought no person could be ranked that high.

But Joo Yiwon is an EX-rank?

How strong is he? Jiho tried to imagine it, but… he couldn’t wrap his head around it. Jiho frowned. Looking at this, Hojin’s tails slowly swished back and forth. 

“It’s hard to picture it through the alphabet, right? The higher the rank, the wider the gap. You’re aware of the difference between A-ranks and S-ranks, right?”

“Of course I am.”

“Right. The higher you go, the wider that gap grows. Hm, for example… if you give me, an S-rank, an hour, I can kill all of the people I see in this neighborhood. Maybe destroy a few buildings while I’m at it.”

“…The example is too extreme.”

For some reason, Hojin smiled in satisfaction at Jiho’s rejection of his uneasy and ominous example. 

“Eung, that’s right. I’m a kind fox. But I have to put it like this for you to understand.”

“…”

“If I can do that, forget people and buildings, an SS-rank can destroy half of Seoul in an hour. Then SSS-ranks can probably start from Seoul and reduce Gyeonggi-do to dust? And EX-ranks….” 

Hojin’s eyes narrowed as though he was trying to gauge a realm he’s never experienced before. 

“Their scope of destruction can be a country or even a planet. It’s a realm we can’t fathom. Since someone that strong isn’t in the realm of creation… that’s the realm of god.”

“…”

Jiho feels like he’s going to be sick from the extremity. Not the realm of creation but the realm of god? But Joo Yiwon is a human. A human who’s lived with Jiho since he was very young; a… not normal but slightly extraordinary human.

“Does it make sense that a mere human innately has that kind of power?”

“…What are you suggesting?”

“It is impossible for a normal human to become an EX-rank in just 20 years. However… there was an EX-rank next to Joo Yiwon. You.”

“I’m an S-rank.”

“As I’m sure you’re aware, you are unusually weak right now. You should be much stronger.”

“…”

“It is said that the star puts special effort in crafting the first guardian. There’s no way that the soul the star spent thousands of years perfecting for its survival is a mere S-rank. Wouldn’t you agree? This is speculation, but your skills are likely much stronger than S-rank. [Blessing of the Star]. Is that skill not truly unbelievable?”

Unable to refute the fox’s words blowing doubt into him, Jiho sucked in a breath. 

Just as Hojin said, Jiho’s skill is an EX-rank. Based on the system windows he’s seen thus far, while it’s common for people to have skills a rank higher than their own rank, no one’s skills are two ranks higher. If so, then Jiho should’ve been at least an SSS-rank. 

Jiho didn’t say anything and glared at Hojin. Hojin slowly opened his mouth as if he was cooking the prey he already caught. 

“But at first? You were barely a B-rank. Where could your power, which should’ve been EX-rank, have gone? You should be so much stronger. Even more than now.”

“…”

“Didn’t your body weaken after you grew closer to Joo Yiwon?”

Yang Hojin whispered as if dealing the last blow to Jiho’s inner turmoil. 

“Since when were you sick? It shouldn’t have been since you were born.”

“When I was about five or six….”

Jiho answered in a trance. Hojin grinned. 

“And when did you first meet Joo Yiwon?”

“…”

When he was about five or six.

“It’s just speculation.”

Even at Jiho’s forceful resistance, Hojin quietly smiled. As if he had expected Jiho to say that. 

“I knew you would say that. I was certain that you would come out like that. However, to be honest, I doubt that Joo Yiwon is human at all.”

“What do you even mean by that…. How far are you planning to go? You’re going too far.”

“We just want to help you.”

“…”

Is that “help” separating Shin Jiho and Joo Yiwon?”

“If you’re going to say weird things, leave. I don’t want to hear it.”

“It seems that I am being hated. But I’m used to that.”

Hojin walked up to Jiho. From him, a particularly fragrant scent wafted. Jiho’s guard was about to collapse, but he held on. 

“I know. The reason you shield Joo Yiwon is because you want to protect your friend. Isn’t that right?”

What does he want to say this time…. Whether Jiho opened his eyes and looked at him or not, Yang Hojin leisurely bowed his head. Their eyes are now on the same plane. Hojin’s pupils are clear, like he can see through everything. 

The person in front of him is a 1000-year-old fox. He must’ve lured countless people. There’s no need to listen to that guy’s words.

“Do you know what I find most strange about your relationship with Joo Yiwon?”

But Jiho inadvertently turned his head back. As he said something that Jiho couldn’t help but be curious about, Hojin’s eyes smiled. 

“Joo Yiwon loves you.”

Jiho relaxed. 

“No, that’s….”

“Even if you don’t acknowledge it, anyone who’s seen you and Joo Yiwon from up close will probably agree. That Joo Yiwon loves you. That those actions aren’t possible without love.”

“…No, he’s a friend. And if, as you said, he took my power or something, how could he love me?”

“Hate isn’t the only reason someone would take everything. Right, it’s easy to fake love. Joo Yiwon could be pretending to love you so that he could take everything from you.”

As if to prove his point, Hojin looked at Jiho with gentle, affectionate eyes like he was really in love with him. 

“And the important part here is not whether he really loves you or not.”

If that’s not important, then what is? Aggrieved, the reason Jiho couldn’t say those words is because he felt that if he did, other things would spill out too.

“What’s important here is that everyone who’s seen you will agree that Joo Yiwon loves you. Anyone can see that Joo Yiwon appears to love you.”

“Nonsense….”

Jiho’s voice trailed off. Even though it’s nonsense, why can’t he deny it more strongly?

Hojin grinned as if he had been waiting for that reaction from Jiho.

“Right, it’s weird that you deny that statement itself.”

“…”

“From what I’ve seen, while you’re used to receiving affection, you’re not so dull that you’re unable to differentiate between friendly affection and romantic love. On the contrary, you listen to people’s words and always respect them. Aren’t you usually quick to notice when someone likes you?”

“…”

“But why are you so sure that Joo Yiwon’s confessions are all lies? Any third-party can see that it’s love. So why?”

“…”

“I think that the very idea that Joo Yiwon likes you has been entirely eliminated from your mind. That can’t be a natural phenomenon. Someone artificially….”

“Stop!”

Jiho shouted. He can’t take any more of this nonsense. All of this is just crazy speculation. 

“Stop saying things that make no sense. If Joo Yiwon wanted to use me, why would he do something like that?”

“Yes. You’re right, there’s no need to do that. It’s better for him to whisper sweet nothings, coax you, and then swallow you whole. Why would he do such a thing? When it’d be more advantageous to court you and have you crave affection like Joo Yiwon’s doing now.”

“If you know that then why….”

“I’m not saying that Joo Yiwon manipulated you. All living things have a sixth sense. They instinctively know. Whether something is harmful or beneficial to them. “

And Jiho’s sixth sense is betraying its owner and screaming at him to listen to Hojin. 

“As your power has been sucked out for a long time, maybe your instinct knows. That ‘that’ is like a parasite to you. That you can’t give everything to him.”

To believe this nonsense. 

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LaZ Bird Corner

A fox indeed. Someone should count how many times Hojin smiled in this chapter.

Thank you Lava for the Kofi!!! (๑>ᴗ<๑)

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