Kael looked at Dun’s face and could clearly see the tension hidden beneath his calm expression. The man was trying his best not to panic, but his eyes had already betrayed him.
Kael quickly realized he needed to smooth things over before this situation became even more awkward.
"Sorry," he said with a small shake of his head. "That was rude of me. My name’s Kael. My mother is admitted here, so I came to visit her."
He paused briefly before continuing in a more casual tone.
"As for how I know about your research... let’s just say I heard some things here and there."
Dun stared at him silently.
Heard some things my ass.
Nobody knew about the research.
He had kept everything hidden precisely because he knew what kind of people worked in this hospital.
Immediately, suspicion rose inside him.
"Did the director send you?" Dun suddenly asked.
The atmosphere inside the elevator instantly turned cold.
Kael’s eyes darkened sharply as rage surged across his face.
"Why the hell would I work for that bastard?"
Even Dun was slightly startled by the reaction.
He hated that corrupt oversized pig himself, but something told him the young man in front of him hated the director even more than he did.
Kael soon realized he had overreacted and exhaled lightly before calming himself down.
"Sorry," he muttered. "Just had a bad run-in with that fat pig."
Dun blinked once before suddenly chuckling.
"Well, every run-in with that man is a bad one."
Kael couldn’t help but agree.
Even though today was technically their first meeting, the director had already secured a permanent place on Kael’s list of people he despised.
Dun’s expression gradually became more serious again.
"Then what exactly do you want from me?" he asked. "If you’re from the media looking for an interview or some miracle headline, then I’m afraid you came too late."
His eyes dimmed slightly.
"The research already failed. There’s nothing left to continue anymore."
Kael frowned immediately.
"Failed? Why?"
Dun leaned tiredly against the elevator wall before answering.
"Funding."
A bitter smile appeared on his face.
"No money means no research. My relationship with the director has never been good, so he cut off my funding a long time ago. I’ve been using my personal savings to continue everything since then, but those already dried up."
He let out a quiet sigh.
"So yeah... you could say the project is dead."
Just then, the elevator came to a stop with a soft ding.
The doors slowly slid open.
Dun stepped forward, but before leaving, he paused and turned back toward Kael.
"Sorry to disappoint you, kid," he said with a tired smile. "But there’s nothing left for this old man to offer."
"What if I provide the funding?"
Dun froze mid-step.
Slowly, he turned back around.
"What did you just say?"
Kael met his gaze calmly.
"I said I’m interested in funding the research."
Dun stared at him for several seconds in complete confusion.
"Why?"
Before Kael could answer, the elevator gave another warning sound reminding them both to either enter or leave.
Dun rubbed his forehead lightly before stepping out.
"Come with me," he said. "Let’s talk in my office."
Kael followed behind him through a quieter hallway before eventually arriving at a small office tucked away near the back of the floor.
The moment the door opened, Kael was greeted by pure chaos.
Books were piled everywhere. Stacks of papers covered almost every visible surface while handwritten notes and research files were scattered across desks and shelves.
It looked less like an office and more like the aftermath of a storm.
Dun scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"I wasn’t expecting visitors, so... it’s a little messy."
Kael shook his head.
"It’s fine."
Dun gestured for him to sit before walking around the desk and dropping heavily into his chair.
The relaxed expression from earlier disappeared as he looked directly at Kael.
"So," he began seriously, "you said you want to fund the research."
His brows furrowed slightly.
"But why? I already told you the project failed. Most people would be pulling their money away from something like this, not investing in it."
Kael shrugged casually.
"Let’s just say I have confidence in both the project and the person behind it."
Dun’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Clearly, he still wasn’t fully convinced.
Kael noticed the hesitation and quickly decided to lower the man’s guard a little.
"My mother has late-stage mana sickness," he said quietly. "So you can think of this as me investing in hope."
His tone carried genuine sincerity.
And technically, he wasn’t lying.
Although there was supposedly an elixir appearing in an auction three months from now that could cure almost anything, it was still nothing more than a rumor at the moment.
There was no guarantee it would actually work.
Even if he somehow managed to obtain it, there was still the possibility of failure.
So supporting Dun’s research could also serve as a backup plan.
Dun’s expression softened slightly after hearing that.
"I see..."
But after a few seconds, his face turned serious once more.
"I understand your situation, but research like this isn’t cheap," he warned carefully. "The amount needed isn’t some small figure, so unless you truly understand what you’re getting int—"
Suddenly, a transparent notification screen popped up in front of him.
Dun’s eyes widened instantly.
His unfinished words got stuck in his throat.
"T-This..."
He stared at the screen in disbelief.
"What is this?"
Kael leaned back calmly.
"I just transferred a hundred thousand tower coins to you," he said casually. "That should be enough to keep the research running for now, right?"
Dun completely froze.
Enough?
This was far beyond enough.
His hands trembled slightly as he looked at the notification again, almost wondering if he was hallucinating.
Meanwhile, Kael simply nodded.
"That’s good then."
He stood up from his seat.
"I still have some things to handle today, so let’s exchange contact information first. We can discuss the cooperation details later."
Dun snapped out of his daze and immediately nodded.
"Y-Yeah. Sure."
The two quickly exchanged contact information.
Even after Kael left the office, Dun still remained seated there staring blankly at the transfer notification floating before him.
Meanwhile, Kael returned to the elevator and headed back down toward the hospital lobby.
Once he arrived outside, he didn’t linger around for long.
He immediately booked transit toward his next destination.
The Hunters Association.
...
The third floor of the Hunters Association building was bustling with activity by the time Kael arrived.
The exchange center was filled with hunters moving in and out constantly. Some were discussing recent tower runs while others stood in line waiting to exchange tower coins for Earth Credits.
Kael calmly joined one of the shorter queues.
A few minutes later, his turn arrived.
The woman behind the counter looked to be somewhere in her mid-thirties. She greeted him with a professional smile the moment he approached.
"Welcome to the exchange center. How may I help you today?"
"I’d like to exchange some tower coins," Kael replied.
"Certainly."
She reached beneath the counter and handed him a small silver device.
"Go ahead whenever you’re ready."
The device was specially designed to store and process tower coin transactions. While direct transfers between awakeners were possible, equipment like this was far safer and more efficient for large-scale exchanges handled by organizations like the Hunters Association.
It also prevented fraud and theft during transactions.
Kael placed his hand against the device before inputting an amount.
500,000 tower coins.
The woman accepted the device and began processing the exchange.
However, after pulling up Kael’s hunter information, her expression subtly shifted.
According to the records, he had only officially become a hunter two days ago.
So how did someone like that possess this much wealth already?
Was he some hidden young master from a powerful family?
Still, she wisely chose not to ask questions.
It wasn’t her job to investigate where hunters got their money from.
Kael naturally noticed the slight change in her expression and inwardly sighed.
He had expected this reaction already.
That was the problem with accumulating wealth too quickly before building enough influence to support it.
People started asking questions.
Luckily, he hadn’t exchanged everything he possessed.
Not even close.
There was no way he would expose the full extent of his wealth this early.
Publicly, the Hunters Association presented itself as humanity’s righteous pillar against the monster threat, but Kael knew better than most that humans remained humans no matter what organization they belonged to.
Greed existed everywhere.
Corruption existed everywhere.
And the Hunters Association was no exception.
If news of his sudden wealth spread upward to certain people within the higher ranks, it wouldn’t take long before attention started gathering around him.
And attention was the last thing Kael wanted right now.
Because once enough powerful people started investigating him, the possibility of his secret being exposed would increase dramatically.
He didn’t even want to imagine what would happen afterward.
At best, he would lose his life.
At worst...
He’d become nothing more than a tool.
A slave forced to endlessly enter the tower and generate wealth for others.
The thought alone made his expression darken slightly.
After completing the transaction, Kael quietly left the Hunters Association building.
For the first time in his life, his bank account felt almost unrealistically heavy.
Five million credits.
Now it was finally time to begin setting his plans into motion.