Chapter 3: The Mark of a Demon

#3

“Welcome.”

“Hello, sir.”

He approached with a wide smile, offering his greeting first. The middle-aged man, presumably the owner, looked bewildered before returning a hesitant “Yes, yes.”

However, the moment the word ‘part-time’ left Dokyeom’s lips, the owner’s benevolent gaze instantly hardened.

“I, uh, saw the part-time job posting outside and came to inquire…”

“You, aren’t you a Hunter?”

“Pardon?”

His words were cut off sharply before he could finish. ‘Wait, how did he know… Ah.’

Dokyeom instinctively reached up, as if to cover the area behind his ear. Not only had the owner interrupted him, but he also scowled and waved his hand dismissively, as if utterly fed up.

“You say you saw the posting, but you must’ve missed the tiny print that says ‘No Hunters,’ didn’t you? Honestly, who hires a Hunter these days? You’d just run off without a second thought if some Gate Break or whatever happens. Get out! If you’re not buying anything, leave!”

With a shove to his back, Dokyeom was practically expelled from the convenience store, unable to utter another word. He slumped back onto the sun-drenched bench outside. The entire incident had unfolded so quickly, it felt as though nothing had happened at all.

[‘Orias,’ the demon of ‘Lemegeton,’ clicks their tongue, asking if you still haven’t come to your senses after such a humiliation.]

“…”

‘This isn’t that. That world-building detail.’

He had momentarily forgotten. Forgotten the fact that Hunters faced discrimination in this world.

In the novel’s world, a Hunter’s rank directly determined their treatment and social standing. The higher or lower the rank, the more it shaped their status and social position.

This created a vast wealth gap within the Hunter community and established a rigid hierarchy. Meanwhile, the Association and government had consistently ignored the pleas of the disadvantaged, labeling it an unavoidable reality of a rapidly changing societal ecosystem.

Consequently, the contempt an E-rank Hunter received was worse than that faced by unawakened civilians. They couldn’t even dream of joining a raid party, and their only available work was manual labor, making their very livelihood precarious.

The crucial point was that Han Dokyeom was precisely one of those lowest-ranked E-rank Hunters. He was the lowest, effectively below civilians. For him, contempt was an everyday occurrence.

“No, why did I even include such a detailed setting?”

‘Was I insane?’

He desperately needed a thousand won, yet there was nowhere suitable to work. It was an utter disaster.

Just as he wondered if he should look for a loading and unloading part-time job, the jingle of the glass door sounded, and a bread and an ice cream were abruptly thrust before him.

Dokyeom glanced up at the person offering the food. A teenager, reminiscent of unripe fruit, was looking down at him with an indifferent expression. A scratched eyebrow beneath his beanie stood out particularly.

He casually pushed the food towards Dokyeom again and spoke indifferently.

“Hey, mister, a Hunter?”

A crooked scarf hung around his neck. These were the ‘Carrier Pigeons,’ tasked with conveying information about Gates to those who appeared to be Hunters. They were essentially brokers.

“Mister. Even if Hunters’ standing has diminished, a convenience store part-time job seems a bit much, doesn’t it? It’s pathetic to see someone with an obvious Seal like that. I’m almost embarrassed for you.”

Although his bulky physique made him seem like a Hunter for a kid these days, an instinctive feeling classified him as a civilian. Dokyeom stared at him, then his eyes crinkled with a slight smile.

“I don’t think we’re close enough for you to mention my Seal on our first meeting, kid. If you don’t have business, why don’t you move along? Why would our budding young master suddenly bring up someone’s Seal like that?”

Despite his spirited words, a groan echoed from his stomach the moment he finished speaking. Even his stomach felt constricted now.

Dokyeom pressed his lips together and clutched his stomach. The other boy, however, looked down at him with disinterest, then grinned, settling in and bending forward, shaking the ice cream enticingly.

“Mister, be honest. How many days have you gone without food? I could hear that from thirty meters away! Seriously, why are you so pitiful? It makes me want to help you.”

‘Help me, my ass.’

He found the boy’s subtly curved eyes annoying, but another sharp groan reverberated from his stomach. Dokyeom’s posture slumped even further.

[‘Orias,’ the demon of ‘Lemegeton,’ says they’re too embarrassed to lift their head and will sit this one out.]

As Dokyeom merely hunched over, clutching his stomach without replying, the boy quirked an eyebrow, unwrapped the ice cream himself, and pressed it into Dokyeom’s hand. Then, he spoke, subtly revealing his true purpose.

“Mister, I’ll give you this if you follow me. It’s nothing dangerous, and I can help you earn some money. Oh, want some bread too? What do you say?”

Hearing that, Dokyeom felt the sheer absurdity of life. He gave the boy a crooked look, his attitude shifting instantly. Taking a large bite of the ice cream, Dokyeom put on an air of arrogance.

“How much? Just so you know, I’m expensive.”

“You’re clearly E-rank, so why the big show?”

“So, how. much.”

“About… 20?”

“Beat it.”

“Alright, alright. I’ll go up to 30.”

Dokyeom silently took another bite of the ice cream. The crunchy, melting ice soothed his hungry thirst.

Deals with these so-called brokers were notoriously stingy; one would be lucky to break even even after prolonged haggling. These brokers, or ‘information-delivery boys,’ were typically deployed as guerrillas to recruit manpower when Gates were short-staffed.

Their job was simply to connect nearby Hunters with temporary labor agencies, and such work was usually classified as one-off manual labor.

This included mining minerals in cleared Gates or disposing of monster corpses.

“Alright, alright! 40!”

Dokyeom’s silence made the boy impatient, and he now shouted out 400,000 won. At that point, Dokyeom decided to shake himself off and stand up. As he rose with an expression of resignation, the boy narrowed his eyebrows in annoyance and retorted sullenly.

“You’re just an E-rank, but you’re being incredibly annoying. Fine, fine. You’re starving, so I, the pitiful one, will just have to endure it. Wouldn’t want you to collapse and blame me.”

“You’ll be happy to hear you’ve ruined a deal by messing around like that, won’t you? Why don’t we just ruin today’s deal completely?”

“Oh, come on. You can’t just change your tune after eating what I gave you, can you?”

The fact that even broker boys were being deployed suggested a considerable Gate scale. At this time, there was only one such place.

It was the first reunion where the protagonist and Han Dokyeom would meet, as per the original story’s flow.

“But, mister. I didn’t believe it… but this is real, isn’t it? How did you get a Seal here? It’s really provocative, it just pops out at you.”

The ice cream he was holding dropped to the ground. ‘What? What? Provoca… what?’

“Let me see. Demon, angel? Wait, this looks like a ‘Lemegeton Demon Seal.’ But why E-rank?”

The moment he saw a hand reaching for his neck, Dokyeom almost reflexively covered the area below his ear and elbowed the offending hand out of his sight.

“If you’re not messing around, take your hand off.”

“What, so the rumors were true? Ah, I won’t touch it, just let me see. I’m even brokering a deal for you, so it’s fine to show me, right?”

Several scuffles ensued. Each time the boy reached out, Dokyeom pushed him away, until finally, the boy retreated, rubbing his reddened, chapped hand. His face, with its habitually narrowed eyebrows, was filled with overflowing dissatisfaction.

“Do you always react so sensitively? Fine, I won’t look, I won’t look. They said you hid your Seal, but who knew you’d be this sensitive? I’m just the bad guy, aren’t I? Ugh, whatever. We’re out of time, so just follow me.”

Shaking his reddened hand, the boy turned irritably towards the road. A lingering sense of regret seemed to hover over his back. Dokyeom watched him and let out a long sigh into the air.

He understood the boy’s feelings perfectly. It was only natural for any civilian to be curious and interested in a ‘Seal.’

A Seal was a medium through which humans could borrow unfathomable power, yet it was also a shackle connecting them to the unknown beings known as Constellations. It invariably appeared on Hunters who contracted with Constellations, and depending on the circumstances, it could act as a weakness or a vulnerability, meaning it wasn’t always a boon.

Especially ‘contact.’

Among these, the ‘Lemegeton Seal’ was bestowed by high-ranking demons, including the 72 demons listed in the grimoire ‘Lemegeton.’

It was inevitably distinct from the common Seals received from demons not among the 72. Its markings were unusually complex and jet-black, making it instantly recognizable.

Hunters called this mark, received from a demon, either a ‘Lemegeton Seal’ or a ‘Demon Seal.’

This was precisely why the convenience store owner had recognized Dokyeom as a Hunter at a glance. Most Hunters’ Seals manifested in inconspicuous places, but Constellations who particularly favored their contractors would bestow Seals on visible areas, often as an expression of their affection.

In other words, to others, it would appear as though the Constellation truly cherished their contractor.