Return of the Irregular Appraiser
Chapter 21

[Translator – Angel Dust]

[Proofreader – Prototype]

Chapter 21: Free Appraisal Office (1)

At Daesan Hospital in Gangnam, where Myeongsu’s mother is receiving treatment.

Two sturdy men enter and inspect the inside of the hospital room.

“Is this Kang Imja… this person?”

The man with a long scar on his cheek checked the name tag attached to the end of the bed and asked.

“Yes, that’s right.”

The curtains around the bed are quickly drawn aside. Inside, Kang Imja lies still, eyes closed and motionless. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ NƟvelFɪre.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

“Tsk, still not awake, huh?”

“Probably not. Suffering from a rare disease, the time to regain consciousness is erratic, and there are often moments when one cannot maintain sanity.”

“Haah… Damn. Shouldn’t a son be taking care of this? Huh?”

He looks around angrily. The other women in the same hospital room avoid eye contact, intimidated.

“Hey, ma’am.”

“Yes… yes?”

A patient in the next bed, startled, responds.

“When will this woman’s son come?”

“…I don’t know. He’s too busy.”

“Huh, what’s his number?”

“I don’t know.”

At that, his already grim face contorts menacingly.

With one hand, he crushes the top part of a watermelon placed on the table.

“Oh, my goodness!”

“What are you doing?”

“Nurse! Call a nurse!”

“It’s to let her have some watermelon. Ma’am.”

Despite the commotion from the other women in the room, the man gazes at them indifferently.

“The Salvation guys were here, right? Huh?”

An oppressive atmosphere fills the room. It’s different from the thugs who used to come looking for Hwang Myeongsu.

“…Yes.”

“If you act up, your heads might end up like this too. Just answer the questions.”

The women in the room fall silent as if struck dumb.

“Did Hwang Myeongsu call the Salvation guys?”

“…I don’t know.”

“If you just answer properly, we’ll leave quietly. Answer properly. I’ll ask again. The Salvation guys. Who called them?”

His demonic gaze scans the room. While the women gulp down their dry saliva, avoiding answering, there’s a sudden sound.

Drrrrrk-

The door opens, and Woogil enters.

“More gangsters coming?”

“Ah… it’s you? The one who sent our kids to prison.”

The scarred thug approaches Woogil, smiling.

“Right?”

“That’s right. Who are you? Are you the boss of those thugs?”

“Hahahahaha!! Yeah, that’s right. I’m their boss. I’m Jung Taejin. What’s your name?”

“…That’s none of your business.”

“You arrogant punk. If an adult introduces themselves first, you should politely give your name too.”

As he reflexively raises his hand to slap my cheek, Jung Taejin pauses.

“Tsk. You. Let’s talk.”

“If I don’t want to?”

“Kang Chanwook messed up the employee training. Ha. Are you him? The one who sent Kang Chanwook to prison?”

‘He was with Kang Chanwook at the cafe, and what exactly were they doing together?’

Jung Taejin. He seemed to be the boss of the Taejin Faction.

Those guys who lent money to Myeongsu and were extorting him were from the Taejin Faction.

They also seemed to know Kang Chanwook…

‘What kind of collaboration were the Taejin Faction and Kang Chanwook involved in behind the scenes?’

If the boss had gone to such lengths to find him, it seemed like they were engaged in quite an important business together.

Judging from what he said about using Hwang Myeongsu, it seemed they were involved in dealings with people.

‘What the hell?’

If he just brushed it off, Myeongsu could suffer again.

However, blindly apprehending Jung Taejin without knowing what they were up to wasn’t an option either.

There had to be evidence to do anything.

“Yes, that’s right. I sent that trash Kang Chanwook to prison. Do you want to join him?”

“Haah…. If you knew how much damage I’ve suffered because of that asshole, you wouldn’t be able to make fun of me with your mouth.”

“Tsk. What are you going to do? What kind of crimes were Kang Chanwook and the Taejin Faction involved in?”

“This guy… keeps whining. Can’t he just shut up already?”

Jung Taejin’s hand rises again.

[Insight Activated.]

The magic emanating from his heart flows down his arm.

‘An Awakened?’

The movement of mana was unusual. It was completely different from F and E rankers who had just awakened and couldn’t properly control mana yet.

If an ordinary person were hit by that, they wouldn’t be able to withstand it and might faint.

Thwack.

As I contemplates whether to use the Hyper-Sensory Cyclone, Oh Geomsu enters from outside the room and grabs Jung Taejin’s wrist.

“…Salvation?”

“I’m Oh Geomsu, head of the Awakened Management Division, Inspection Team 3, of the Korean branch of Salvation. Jung Taejin. What are you doing here?”

“Tsk.”

Jung Taejin withdraws his hand out of habit and adjusts his attire, glaring at me.

“You arrogant punk. We’ll meet again. Let’s go.”

As Jung Taejin signals to his subordinate to leave the room, Oh Geomsu blocks their way.

“Jung Taejin, come with me. You’ll have to be investigated for using magic against civilians.”

“…Why bother with the busybody? You’ll let me go anyway.”

After saying that, Jung Taejin glares at me and furrows his brows.

“Are you protecting this brat?”

“Quiet. If you don’t cooperate, it’ll get even more troublesome.”

With fiery eyes directed at me, Jung Taejin leaves with his subordinate following Oh Geomsu.

I cleared the remnants of the smashed watermelon on the floor and checked on Kang Imja’s condition.

[Insight Activated.]

[Failed.]

‘As I thought, huh.’

A rare disease of mana that modern medicine has yet to discover.

They’re diseases caused by mana that suddenly appeared on Earth. One of them afflicts Kang Imja, Hwang Myeongsu’s mother.

I wondered if Insight could uncover that, but as expected, it failed. Even if it did work, fixing it would be a separate issue.

Vrrrring-

A message came on my phone.

[Head of Inspection Team 3, Oh Geomsu]

[Once the formal investigation of Jung Taejin is over, I have something to discuss with you. Could you come here?]

‘What does he want to talk about?’

I saw Jung Taejin for the first time. What could he have to say about that?

[Yes, please let me know once the investigation is over.]

I sent the reply and immediately moved.

As I stepped out of the hospital room, I contacted Myeongsu and Junpyo as well, informing them that the situation had been handled well.

Now that Jung Taejin’s attention was turned in my direction, he probably wouldn’t bother Myeongsu for a while.

‘Haah… This bastard just keeps holding onto people’s ankles till the end.’

Thanks to Kang Chanwook, he got involved with gangsters.

Moreover, the gang leader turned out to be an Awakened, and quite a powerful one at that.

Was that why Oh Geomsu had been keeping an eye on the Taejin Faction?

Now that Myeongsu’s name had come up from Jung Taejin’s mouth, I couldn’t just sit back and watch.

– Kang Chanwook. Acting like he can handle everything on his own… Damn it. He did one thing right after a long time. Tsk. That Hwang Myeongsu, I can’t even use him.

Using him. It sounded like capturing monsters, just like the protagonist of an old animated series called Pocket Monster.

It wasn’t about exploiting slaves. Using them… What could that possibly mean?

‘I should probably talk to Oh Geomsu about this later.’

About an hour passed, and I received another call from Oh Geomsu.

Having been waiting near Jung-gu, where the Salvation Inspection Department was located, I entered the office.

Inside the inspection office, employees were busy working.

They moved tirelessly, some so engrossed that their eyeballs might pop out from the stress of not being able to rest.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

As I knocked on the door of Team 3’s office, I heard Oh Geomsu’s voice.

“Come in.”

Click.

Turning the doorknob, I entered the room.

Oh Geomsu, rummaging through documents with a complex expression.

I greeted him and sat down on the sofa.

“What’s the matter?”

“Would you like to see this?”

He handed me a document.

It was part of the contents of a case related to Jung Taejin.

“…The relationship between Kang Chanwook and Jung Taejin?”

“Yes. You know the two gangsters we caught at Daesan Hospital last time?”

“Yes.”

“The name Chae Jungkook, a current member of the National Assembly, appeared from their mouths.”

“…Chae Jungkook? The current member of the ruling party, Chae Jungkook?”

“Yes. I’m not sure if it was an intentional leak, but from what I see, those guys wouldn’t have had the luxury to do that, so it must have been a mistake.”

It turned out that a big shot was connected to the Taejin Faction more than I had thought.

For mere thugs like them to have connections with such a big shot…

“And the appraiser, Park, who worked with Kang Chanwook. That appraiser turned out to be Chae’s private appraiser.”

“…So that’s how it’s connected.”

“Yes. Based on the circumstances, it’s possible that Chae Jungkook is behind Kang Chanwook.”

Oh Geomsu’s face hardened gravely.

With Chae Jungkook appearing, it became a different issue from catching gangsters like Kang Chanwook or the Taejin Faction.

“For now, just keep that in mind. It’s not certain, just a suspicion.”

“Understood. So, why did you call me?”

“Actually, it wasn’t originally something to ask you about, but… I wanted to request something from you while I’m at it.”

“A request?”

“Yes. Take a look at this.”

Oh Geomsu handed me another document.

「Taejin Faction Free Appraisal Office」

‘Free Appraisal Office…?’

As I read through it, it was about the ongoing investigation of the case.

「The Free Appraisal office spreading among parents based in Paldal-gu, Suwon-si, was created by the Taejin Faction using methods…」

“Heh… Is this true?”

I asked in disbelief.

“Yes. That’s also one of the reasons I’ve been keeping an eye on the Taejin Faction recently.”

He sighed and continued.

“Our Salvation’s appraisers received a tip-off that the Taejin Faction is helping people, and we’ve been secretly investigating.”

“Salvation appraisers?”

“Yes, and Jung Taejin is probably targeting you, Kim Woogil, because of this incident. He might be tied up for a while due to this, but once it’s over, we don’t know what he might do to you.”

“…I see. Oh, and there was something I heard from Jung Taejin. It seemed like Kang Chanwook and Jung Taejin were involved in separate business ventures. It seemed like they were already planning something with Hwang Myeongsu, almost as if they were talking about using him like a slave.”

“Oh… Is that so? I’ll look into it. I’ll have to meet Hwang Myeongsu too.”

“Okay, I’d appreciate that.”

“Understood. Anyway, it seems like this is the will of the heavens for me to be with Mr. Woogil… What do you think?”

The will of the heavens… It might actually be true.

After returning, I had been continuously involved in important events.

Perhaps meeting Jung Taejin at the cafe earlier was also a sign from the heavens?

“Haha… Actually, our inspection team has been so busy that I couldn’t actively move. And we needed an exceptional appraiser.”

Oh Geomsu really felt like this was the will of the heavens.

They had been planning to request a dispatch of appraisers to the management department to handle the Taejin Faction’s affairs, and I seemed to be a perfect fit.

‘Dr. Park was also fooled by the fake Ellaris’s necklace, but I discerned it.’

Appraisal was such a diverse field, and one’s appraisal abilities varied depending on their expertise. One can’t prove their abilities with just one occasion.

In the world of appraisers where experience was crucial, I was at an incredibly young level.

From a rational perspective, it might seem like luck… but…

‘It felt like Hunter Kim Junghyun trusted Kim Woogil completely’

The relaxed atmosphere and demeanor emanating from Kim Woogil himself weren’t ordinary.

Even the exaggerations from the Salvation appraisal department didn’t seem to be at that level.

‘I guess this will tell us’

I wonder if Kim Woo-gil is a bubble or if he’s really an irregular who appeared like a comet in Korea.

“I’ll pay all the appraisal fees and necessary fees during the appraisal. Will you take the request?”

“Of course.”

It wasn’t worth worrying about. With Jung Taejin, Kang Chanwook, and Representative Chae…

I don’t know what the three of you are planning, but I’ll find out through this incident. And wasn’t there a saying that goes, ‘The one who strikes first in a fight wins?’

All I have to do is destroy the Taejin Faction before Jung Taejin gets involved.

“Did you say Paldal-gu, Suwon-si?”

[Translator – Angel Dust]

[Proofreader – Prototype]

Sᴇarch the NʘvᴇlFirᴇ.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.