At exactly midnight, when most citizens had collapsed from exhaustion, in the hallway of an apartment building in Seoul.

"Is this really the right way to do this?"

Ju-hyeon had doubts about this truly rare form of meeting in modern society.

"With two folding chairs set up in an apartment hallway, facing a portrait hanging on the opposite wall?"

"What's wrong with it? We even have a table. This table was custom-made by our guild."

"It is nice that the table is semicircular, so it feels as if Mr. Jio is here with us too."

"Doesn't it just feel like he's here because he actually is?"

"He hasn't come out of the frame in person, after all."

Ju-hyeon smiled bitterly.

"Since it happens to be in the form of a frame, it feels like we're talking in front of a memorial photograph, so it feels strange."

At that, the portrait himself answered.

"In a sense, I am a memorial photograph."

Yu Seongun refuted him.

"No, Jio, you're not a photograph. You're a portrait."

"On that point, Mr. Yu Seongun's opinion is correct."

"Of course, 'Jio's Portrait' might not be an ordinary portrait, but another kind of funeral portrait. You know, the kind involved when you hold a funeral."

"That seems like a witty conjecture."

"We are discussing your identity. Do you have nothing to add?"

"I would like to say that I respect all diversity."

And Ju-hyeon thought.

'What kind of conversation is this?'

It was the sort of quality conversation that naturally brought out his social smile.

"Is there truly no risk of this conversation leaking outside?"

"As I told you in advance, Mr. Ju-hyeon."

Yu Seongun gave him a sturdy, trustworthy smile.

"This is an expensive apartment."

"That it is."

"It is also the sort of apartment that would easily break the backs of any Hunters who do not have very deep pockets."

"I imagine so."

"If this were a place where information leaked despite taking that much money, it would already have burned to the ground."

"I suppose it would."

Ju-hyeon, who had obediently agreed, pointed at the CCTV camera in the apartment hallway.

"That has been taken care of as well, I assume?"

"For someone who agreed so readily, you are still very suspicious."

Yu Seongun nodded.

"That part was also cleanly handled long ago, so you do not need to worry."

"Now I am worried about what part you cleanly handled."

"There are many ominous rumors about Collector, but as you know, most of them are ghost stories created by our works, are they not?"

"Yes, that is one of the things I continue to worry about."

"Collector does not spill innocent blood. It was not the sort of handling that harmed the building managers, so you truly may be at ease."

He added.

"We simply reached an ordinary financial agreement."

"Which of the countless things coming to mind should I say first for our conversation to proceed smoothly?"

"You do not need to bring up the things in your head."

Yu Seongun cut off Ju-hyeon's worries in advance.

"Would it not be far better for them to receive a great deal of money and keep their mouths shut of their own accord than to be silenced without receiving any money? I can confidently testify that there was absolutely no coercive atmosphere."

"A world where money solves everything really does leave a bitter taste in one corner of my heart."

"I cannot help but agree on that matter as well. But there is no one in the world who dislikes money, and in the end, is it not important not to cross the line? We resolved it within a line both sides could accept."

"I was not trying to nitpick Collector's way of handling things..."

"And above all, you may wonder whether money alone could truly ensure silence, but we used a soul contract for that part. Unless they wish to have various prices torn from them, their silence should be certain."

"Could you please stop saying 'ensure silence' like an illegal guild?"

It made an ordinary person feel very strange to hear.

"I was rather flustered by this unfamiliar form of meeting I had never seen before in my life, but if it is a soul contract, I can trust it."

"What exactly is a soul contract?"

"Ah, that is..."

At the portrait's question, Ju-hyeon organized his thoughts.

It was such basic common knowledge that he could not immediately think of how to explain it.

"... It is, literally, a contract made with the soul as its target. These days, quite a variety of methods are used, but if there is one thing they have in common, it is that they utilize the System of the Awakened."

"The System of the Awakened."

"Because it is a higher-dimensional existence, unlike human things, which easily grow dull and lose meaning. Unless related clauses are added, it is impossible to change the contents of the contract midway."

"Are the building managers here Awakened?"

"Some are Awakened, and some are Unawakened. But in the case of a soul contract, it can be concluded as long as there is even one Awakened involved in the ritual. It is possible even as a presiding party rather than as a contracting party."

Yu Seongun added to Ju-hyeon's explanation.

"The building manager I contracted with was Awakened."

"That is a sufficient explanation."

The portrait nodded.

"Shall we begin the meeting now?"

"Let's."

When Yu Seongun nodded as well, Ju-hyeon opened his mouth.

"Fortunately, in this spirit-summoning uproar, the Hunter industry's main attention has turned toward Miss Dana. I think it was largely thanks to having previously described Hunter Seo Jio as a trainer. The claim that the help of a monster, rather than the Hunter's own ability, played a large role is being accepted by the public as the most convincing."

If Jio had caused such a thing alone without Dana, it could not have been smoothed over as merely an "astonishing uproar" like this. Was it not beyond the realm of humanity for an individual to call forth intact souls with a single gesture? Even if skills related to souls did exist.

However, the number of trainers was extremely small, and among them, there had been no trainer who had succeeded in training an anti-cat. Ju-hyeon thought that because people were told this unknown monster, the anti-cat, had such astonishing abilities related to souls, they had somehow accepted it.

"In practical terms, I do think Mr. Jio's help must have been significant, but the public would not know that much."

In the first place, if "Jio's Portrait" had not permitted it, an anti-cat the size of a kitten could not have grown to that extent, nor could it have obtained the ability to call forth souls.

Training an ordinary anti-cat probably did not mean everyone could pull the same eccentric stunts as "Hunter Seo Jio," but for Jio to blend among humans without any sense of incongruity, it was better to let things pass like this for now.

"Perhaps because of that..."

Ju-hyeon continued his explanation with his characteristic smile.

"The religious world seems particularly interested in this uproar. The Sun Cult and Moon Cult especially showed a response."

"I have visited the Sun Cult before."

"You must have seen it briefly during the previous initiation ceremony. But that was a large prayer space opened up so even outsiders could enter freely, so if you go farther inside, your impression will be different."

Ju-hyeon took out a single document.

"It is in that context that I say this."

He continued speaking to the portrait.

"A request for cooperation has come in from the Sun Cult."

"Do they wish to confirm my abilities?"

"It may sound unpleasant to you, but that is the situation."

Yu Seongun, who had been watching the conversation between the two, inwardly admired Ju-hyeon's calm agreement.

'To be able to answer so casually... He has nerves of steel.'

It was not as though Ju-hyeon knew nothing about "Jio's Portrait." With help from Yu Seongun and the other Collector guild members, he had learned information about him, and thanks to having been a researcher for the Association, he knew well how dangerous he was and how great his rank was.

'And yet that is his reaction.'

If they were ordinary people, it would have been difficult to answer a tremendous mystery, who questioned the humans daring to measure his abilities, with "It may offend you, but that is the truth."

'He really is bold in such strange ways...'

While Yu Seongun was having that odd impression, the conversation between the two continued.

"People currently know nothing about 'Hunter Seo Jio,' after all."

"I believe I provided as many clues as possible about my information."

"Mr. Jio, your recognition has risen thanks to the small miracle you performed at Gita Orphanage."

"It was not enough to be called a miracle."

"Yes, it must have been a kind of performance rather than a miracle. Thanks to that performance and the cooperation of Curator Yu Seongun, you are building recognition at an unusually fast rate."

However.

"That does not mean people have resolved all their questions about 'Hunter Seo Jio.'"

"You mean their questions have grown instead."

"Yes, what exactly is this Hunter's specialty? What position does he take? What has he been doing all this time... There are more than enough things for people to be curious about."

Ju-hyeon showed him the document sent by the Sun Cult and said,

"In that regard, this contact from the Sun Cult could be a great help."

It was a visitation request from the Sun Cult.

"This is the most commonly used method when a group wants to take the measure of a famous Hunter. If it were a guild, which is the most public kind of group that manages Hunters, they would likely have sent an email or business card."

"Right. You could call it a kind of request for friendly relations. Greenhorn Hunters judged worth getting close to often receive requests like this. They are testing the waters."

Approach methods varied by guild.

"The method also changes depending on whether the Hunter belongs to a guild or is a freelance Hunter. Even if they are a freelance Hunter, if they have a manager, contact will come through that side first."

At that, Ju-hyeon nodded.

"My case was the same. It is rude to contact a Hunter directly first when you have never met them. So if they are following etiquette, they usually make various requests and expressions of intent to that Hunter's manager or affiliated guild."

Ju-hyeon added.

"Ah, 'greenhorn Hunter' is slang referring to Hunters who have not been active for very long."

"It was slang?"

"Usually, it refers to a Hunter with a short career, but rarely, it is also used to disparage the other person's ability. Naturally, that too is an extremely rude act."

"That is a sufficient explanation."

"If there are words or actions you do not understand in the future, I would appreciate it if you asked me."

Ju-hyeon slid the document toward Jio and continued speaking.

"To put this request simply, it is a light greeting along the lines of, 'Shall we try to get along?' But it is unusual for a cult of the Sun Cult's scale to reach out this directly."

Everyone who was in a position to know probably already knew.

"I will prepare as you wish."

"The Sun Cult."

Jio asked Yu Seongun,

"Is that not where Priest Kang Seodam and student Cha Yisol are?"

"Right, and this request also came through Priest Kang Seodam."

"It seems he did not contact me personally."

"Priest Kang Seodam isn't the type to make a private request, you know."

"I felt that way when I saw him before as well."

The portrait made his decision.

"I will visit soon."

"The cult?"

"Priest Kang Seodam."

At that, Ju-hyeon nodded.

"I will understand it that way and prepare."

As he did, he thought inwardly.

'Has the cult itself not yet received a passing mark?'

In the first place, it would actually have been strange for Giovanni to have good feelings toward the Sun Cult. Even so, perhaps because the personality called Giovanni was itself so strange, he did not seem to have ill feelings, but that did not mean his feelings seemed particularly positive either.

'About the level of slight curiosity.'

Since he had said he had stopped by once before, he did not seem completely uninterested. From Ju-hyeon's perspective, it was the easiest reaction to handle.

"Several other requests and messages have come in as well. Their importance is not particularly high, and most are contacts from mass media, so I only organized them lightly. Shall I explain them?"

"I do not wish to proceed with two events together."

"Ah, I understand. Certainly, it would be too much for Hunter Seo Jio to proceed with two tasks at once. I will prepare things so you can handle only one cleanly."

Ju-hyeon and Yu Seongun thought.

'Is this Mr. Jio's rule?'

'It seems there are restrictions when he is active.'

One was a Gardener, and the other was a former researcher of the Association. Neither of them thought simply, "Jio is an introvert, so he does not have the energy to handle many things at once."

This was not only an issue of their careers. To a complete stranger, and even to someone who had known him a long time, Seo Jio's impression was never that of an introvert who wilted the moment he came outside the house.

'Well, it must be difficult to stay outside the frame for a long time while keeping his rank lowered.'

Thinking so, Yu Seongun gave a calm smile.

"Then when would be a good date?"

"I will follow whatever you recommend."

"Good. Mr. Ju-hyeon can check that, then."

In a warm atmosphere, the first hallway meeting came to an end.

And here, there was someone who was neither warm nor finished.

"Haaa..."

The priest of the Sun, Kang Seodam, who had been stuck with the scut work, thought,

'Maggot-ridden religious circles.'

It was a world where the younger and lower in rank one was, the more naturally one became a slave.

Thinking that if not for the merciful Sun, he would have made his exit long ago, he composed himself.