“What about the other executives?”

“It’s more comfortable for us to have a private conversation. With others present, we’d have to use formal speech unnecessarily.”

“Yes, this is indeed more comfortable.”

Yeonju smiled bitterly as she said that, then pulled up a chair and sat down with her legs crossed.

Although the hunter society was known for not being overly concerned with hierarchy, her attitude was so casual that someone unfamiliar with the situation might think it was excessively disrespectful in front of a superior.

However, Seunghwan didn’t mind at all, and Yeonju was equally unconcerned.

“What brings you here?”

“What brings me here, you ask? You told me to look into it. Daphne.”

When the name ‘Daphne’ came up, Seunghwan nodded gravely.

He was also a hunter who retired around the same time as Yeonju and took on the role of backing up hunters. They were on the same team.

Just like Suji’s team, which is currently at the forefront of the Tower, they were a capable team responsible for establishing and announcing monster attack strategies, enhancing national prestige.

At that time, it was really not long after the start of the A.W. generation, in other words, the Wave generation.

The grades of monsters appearing were not much different from now, but hunters’ skill levels and information were far inferior to the present.

There wasn’t as much specific information about hunters or gates as there is now, so everything had to be learned through experience.

Everything was too difficult, and because of that, many valuable talents were lost.

That’s how they lost Peneios.

Peneios was a truly charming and wonderful woman.

Everyone liked her, who was so easygoing and affectionate that she chose her hunter name from a male god in mythology, saying she wanted to have a couple name with her friend.

She was loving and knew how to give. And above all, she was excessively talented.

At that time, every single person was too precious.

Peneios took a break from hunter work when she became pregnant, but after giving birth and recovering, she inevitably returned to the front lines to help.

Back then, the Tower had no save points, and they always had to start from the first floor. That was discovered after Peneios died.

Peneios used to joke every time they passed the first floor of the Tower.

“If I die and you guys survive, you’ll have to take care of my child.”

As team members who always had death in mind, they knew the weight of those words. But none of them could imagine her death.

“If you’re in a situation where you might die, we’ll all be dead already.”

“That’s right. You’re talking nonsense.”

For a while, peaceful time passed without incident. … And then an accident happened.

A crack appeared in the Tower, and it was a terrible accident where monsters that should never have appeared on the 30th floor devoured people. Peneios lost her life saving everyone.

Peneios’s existence was too significant to be dismissed as just one of the many injuries and deaths of colleagues.

Just by looking at Seunghwan’s eyes, Yeonju knew he was recalling some day from the past.

“Suji will be fine. She’s living just as remarkably as Peneios, no, even more remarkably, with a face exactly like Peneios’s.”

“There’s a reason for everything in this world.”

“I suppose so… Suji must be getting tired too.”

She sighed and pointed her finger at the poster visible through the glass wall right outside Seunghwan’s room.

There hung a promotional poster for the Hunter Response Team that Suji had reluctantly posed for just once.

Although her forehead was covered by wing-shaped decorations and everything below her nose was hidden by armor, her appearance looked dignified, reminiscent of Peneios.

Yeonju stared at that poster for a while before mentioning the reason she came to see Seunghwan.

“If you have time to indulge in such sentiments, listen to what I have to say. Daphne has been scammed quite badly.”

“…Scammed? What do you mean?”

A dangerous light flashed in Seunghwan’s eyes, which had been filled with a heavy glow.

Yeonju explained to Seunghwan the details of the incident she had heard from Saint.

Seunghwan snorted in disbelief.

“They scammed an SSS-rank hunter and fled overseas?”

“Strictly speaking, it was an AAA-rank hunter. Since Saint was the party to the transaction.”

“Anyone with eyes in our country would know that Saint goes tower climbing with Daphne. Especially a merchant dealing with such high-grade items in this field.”

“That’s true. So, don’t you think it’s too strange?”

“…Is there a mastermind behind this?”

Yeonju nodded lightly.

If there was light in the hunter world, there was also darkness.

While there were hunters performing public duties, there were also many forces using their power for private interests, ranging from private security companies. Among them, of course, were criminal organizations.

“What’s the purpose?”

“We need to find out. First, I’m thinking of capturing them and doing some interrogation. Daphne won’t stand by while someone endangers her team members, but she’s still soft-hearted. If this doesn’t end up being just a simple fraud case, it would be faster if we investigate.”

Seunghwan nodded silently.

“You said you heard it from Saint? I’ll personally contact him again and investigate.”

“Please do.”

Yeonju was about to get up, cleaning her seat neatly as if she had finished her business. But Seunghwan was quicker, tapping the table in front of him with his palm.

Instantly, a transparent light rose, and the light formed a map of the world.

Yeonju silently looked at the few red points specially marked in the white light. These were regions where Wave occurrences were expected, tracked by the spatial stability index of the corresponding areas.

She pointed to a yellow light she had never seen before, mixed among the markings. Near the Philippine Sea, not far from Korea.

“What’s this?”

“The ‘Laurel Tree’.”

At Seunghwan’s calm answer, Yeonju’s eyes widened.

“The ‘Laurel Tree’ has been detected?”

“Yes.”

The tower they usually called the ‘Laurel Tree’ had completely opposite properties to the towers that generally appeared one in each country.

The towers each country possessed were mainly located in the capital, and although there might be time limits depending on the boss or gimmicks of each floor, they could be challenged as many times as needed.

By conquering these towers, one could get hints about monsters that would appear in the future, and also determine the benefits each country would receive. In other words, if this was something that needed to be conquered by combining forces…

The ‘Laurel Tree’ appears at random intervals, in random locations. And it disappears exactly 24 hours after it appears.

The ‘Laurel Tree’, known to be directly connected to the ‘Great Beings’, had completely different properties each time it appeared.

Sometimes it would be filled with beings immune to defense-ignoring damage, or it would inflict tremendous damage over time status effects… Anyway, it was extremely annoying and tricky to clear.

However, if there was a hunter who reached the top floor, they could obtain an item from the ‘Great Beings’ presumed to be in charge of the ‘Laurel Tree’.

Because of the rare items, it was a space that every hunter wanted to challenge, and a place that anyone who wanted to test their skills had to go.

And above all, the most attractive condition was that in the ‘Laurel Tree’, you don’t die even if you fail to conquer it. Unlike ordinary towers, you could challenge it without worry.

“It hasn’t appeared for a while.”

“That’s right. Is it the first time in 20 years?”

“The last time was the worst.”

“Indeed.”

Yeonju and Seunghwan made eye contact and nodded.

After the initial Wave, people went through quite a long transition period. Not just South Korea, but the whole world.

For example, at one point, crime was rampant. Although hunters were cultivated to deal with monsters, there were some beings like thunderbolts who couldn’t control their suddenly acquired power and ran wild.

Amidst this, countless hunters flocked to the ‘Laurel Tree’ when it appeared. Before anyone could get the reward, many lives were lost in the chaos inside the ‘Laurel Tree’.

“What happened to that Japanese hunter who last got the reward from the ‘Laurel Tree’?”

“He’s in prison.”

Yeonju frowned deeply.

“Why? They didn’t kill him? He was a terribly awful guy.”

“Well, the principle is that the punishment of a country’s own criminals is handled by that country, so I don’t know what they’re thinking over there.”

Seunghwan didn’t look particularly pleased either.

When the last person to get the ‘Laurel Tree’ misused it for crime, a truly nightmarish incident occurred.

This is still often featured in educational materials as an example of what happens when a hunter turns their blade towards ordinary citizens, with the murderer ‘Ageha’ appearing as a criminal who killed dozens, hundreds of people in an instant and still brazenly strutted down the streets.

But with the appearance of the ‘Laurel Tree’, there’s no law saying such unfortunate incidents won’t happen again.

Yeonju deliberately changed the direction of the conversation to shake off the heavy silence.

“But, conquering the ‘Laurel Tree’ is directly connected to not just individual glory but also the national status of the country of origin, right? It boosts morale too. It would be good if we could bring in this ‘Laurel Tree’.”

“I think so too. If Japan takes it again this time, we’d have to watch those guys swagger around… I’d rather return to active duty than see that.”

Yeonju looked at Seunghwan with incredulous eyes.

“Don’t talk about returning to duty. Just take your joint medicine.”

“Thank you so much.”

“Right. What’s friendship for? Ah, if it were Daphne, something like the ‘Laurel Tree’ would be nothing.”

“Stop it. Let’s just string up those damn swindlers like dried yellow corvina and present them.”

“Still, we should let her know. She might be interested in the ‘Laurel Tree’.”

“Don’t put pressure on her.”

“Of course not.”

Yeonju and Seunghwan let out small sighs.