Don’t Look for the S-Class Hunter with Retirement 3

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* * *

Though they said the medication dosage had increased a little, there was nothing he could feel physically right away. Doun was still dazed, sometimes wanted to die, and found everything bothersome. When he confided this state, his attending physician carefully recommended inpatient treatment. But Doun refused.

If he was hospitalized, it felt like there would truly be no going back. Instead of the everyday clothes he always wore, wearing patient gowns with hospital logos and starting and ending each day in a place with restricted visits somehow felt wrong.

It would be like admitting that he, who hadn’t been scared even in front of disgustingly shaped monsters, had lost to mere formless depression.

‘Couldn’t we try treating it with medication somehow?’

Fortunately, the doctor said they could try that, and whether his condition was getting better or worse was unclear. Since the medication dosage had increased, he could only vaguely guess it wasn’t a positive situation.

“I’m finished cleaning. I’ll be going now.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Doun saw off the cleaning helper who was leaving through the front door with cleaning supplies. He regularly used a cleaning service. He couldn’t bring himself to clean at all, and since he had money, he couldn’t find a reason to move around himself.

‘It’s important to get out of bed by using simple house cleaning as a pastime.’

The gentle psychiatrist’s advice briefly floated through his mind before scattering. He knew, but he didn’t want to do it, so what was he supposed to do? In the quiet house with no signs of people, Doun closed the window the cleaning helper had opened and looked up at the sky.

Seeing the blue sky that felt blindingly bright, the contact lens on his left cornea felt newly bothersome. As if his broken mind wasn’t enough, now even his eyeball was acting up.

He wasn’t even using a skill, so why wasn’t his eye color returning? He checked his stat window for no reason, but couldn’t find anything strange. There was no debuff applied and he wasn’t in a poisoned state either. It meant it was temporary aftereffects stemming from mental problems, as the doctor had said.

‘My eyes feel dry…’

Looking in the mirror, Doun removed the lens and threw it in the trash, then lay down on the bed as he was.

“I should eat…”

After becoming a hunter, he’d gained a sturdy body that wouldn’t get injured from most attacks, but hunger was still hard to avoid. If he skipped meals, his stomach hurt from continuously taking medicine on an empty stomach. Maybe he was hungry.

‘Let me eat something simple.’

When he turned on his phone thinking to browse through delivery apps, that crazy bastard’s message had arrived again today without fail. Maybe it was because he was the bastard who calmly sent the guild address even after being threatened with destroying the guild. Strangely, it seemed like he would keep sending messages.

[Magnetic-nim. I’m wearing pretty clothes and waiting, so may I ask when you’re coming to destroy the guild building? (Selca photo)]

What the hell is this supposed to mean? Doun frowned and glared at the message. Today there were no flashy emoticons for once, but instead there was an attached photo that appeared to be self-taken. Because he’d taken the selca from an angle looking way up at the camera, the already wide white area of his eyes was considerable.

“He has a face that deserves a punch if he doesn’t answer.”

Is this how guild masters make threats these days? Doun became curious. He turned off the messages, threw down his phone, and closed his eyes.

Lying on the bed in the middle of the room with moderate sunlight and just breathing silently, he realized he still hadn’t ordered delivery. When he picked up his phone again and looked at appetizingly photographed food pictures, strangely his appetite disappeared.

‘Let me just sleep…’

As for food, he just needed to eat it before starving to death. Being an S-class hunter, he probably wouldn’t die from taking medicine on an empty stomach. If he died, it couldn’t be helped. Death. Rather, it was what Doun had been hoping for.

‘I wish a dungeon would suddenly break somewhere and when I opened my eyes, I’d be in the afterlife…’

Since he wouldn’t even feel pain before dying, wouldn’t that be a good death? However, for an S-class hunter to die instantly without being able to prepare, at least an S-class dungeon would have to break unexpectedly. In our country, that was a rare phenomenon that could be counted on three fingers.

‘Should I just go to some empty lot and use a skill on myself to die?’

Even as Doun had such plausible fantasies, he remembered that he had special immunity that made him unaffected by skills he used himself.

-Special Immunity (S)

Limited to magic skills, the person who directly casts the skill is not affected. The same effect applies to magic skills cast by others.

It was a cheat skill that contributed to putting hunter Magnetic at domestic ranking 1st place. Similar to immunity acquired by general magic-type hunters, but Doun’s special immunity was unaffected even by magic skills cast by others. It meant he was invincible against magic skills cast by hunters.

Doun had once used that skill to stand at the very front, breaking through magic skills pouring down like heavy rain, and dealt with monsters.

‘Since it’s passive, I can’t turn it off and on…’

It seemed suicide using magic skills would be difficult. Doun curled up his body for no reason and hugged the blanket. His family who could embrace him had been dead for a long time, and there were no colleagues nearby to comfort him.

Buzz—

He only had one psychiatrist he couldn’t consult with unless he went directly, and one cleaning helper from a cleaning company who wouldn’t come unless called.

Buzz—

No, there might be about one.

‘Ah, fuck. Whether it’s Slave or whatever, just let me see that bastard.’

As if wallowing in self-pity was also a luxury, his phone kept vibrating. Doun reached out and checked his phone.

[Magnetic-nim~ I’ll be at our guild building all day today.]

[Please come destroy it when it’s convenient for you~! If they ask who you’re looking for at the entrance, just give my name! My name is Kyung Samin₍ᐢ ᵕ ༚ ᵕ ᐢ₎ෆ In case you forgot hehe! (Map link)]

He became curious if he was being serious. Was this situation normal, where the 2nd ranked hunter using a building in the heart of Seoul’s subway district as a guild building was inviting him to come destroy it, telling him to give his name? Even as a patient steeped in depression, he could distinguish what was abnormal.

“What kind of crazy bastard is this, really…”

It was fortunate that he was truly the hunter who used the nickname Magnetic, but if it had been someone else, wouldn’t he be doing this to an innocent person?

Doun stared blankly at the message then touched the keypad.

[If you keep acting crazy I might really come find you]

Even though he said that, he had no intention of actually going to cause a scene. He didn’t want to be talked about by people again. How long had it been since he sent that reply when another message came right away.

[If I keep acting crazy, I can see you directly????]

“Isn’t this guy a complete fucking lunatic?”

Until just a moment ago he had absolutely no intention of going directly, but seeing the absurd reply, his mind changed as easily as flipping his palm. With this level of obsession, even if he blocked this number, he might persistently contact him with other numbers.

‘Would it be better to meet directly and settle this?’

Doun wavered.

* * *

The guild master’s office of Yeoun Guild, which was in the midst of recruiting guild members. Choi Jiyoon, who had been checking applications on her tablet while slurping coffee, frowned.

‘Everyone’s ranking is low… Their clear experience is too lacking to match up right away?’

Hunters who already had some experience had either established their own guilds or occupied positions in other guilds through school connections, regional connections, or blood relations. Though new hunters were awakening every day, the hunter Yeoun Guild currently needed was an offensive hunter who could help clear the 55th floor they still hadn’t conquered.

It was like finding a needle in the desert. She had hoped a reclusive veteran hunter would miraculously discover the posting and apply, but honestly, what were the chances of that?

Rather, the probability of that immature guild master seducing Magnetic and bringing him to the guild would be higher.

It was when Choi Jiyoon was sighing.

“Waaaah!”

Kyung Samin, who had been lying on the sofa with his legs stretched out just playing with his phone, suddenly jumped up and screamed. What kind of trouble had he caused this time to be making such a fuss?

“What is it, again! You crazy bastard!”

“Magnetic is directly, directly…!”

“Directly what! Did he say he’d shoot a skill at the guild?”

This immature guild master was finally going to ruin the guild. He had found the 1st ranked hunter’s phone number and stalked him, and now he was clearly about to get hit by an angry skill.

“No! He said if I keep acting crazy he’ll really come find me.”

“Yeah. That’s great. Getting killed by the 1st ranked hunter’s hands isn’t too bad either. Don’t forget to process it as a work-related injury when I die, okay?”

“Where’s the work-related injury in our guild? Don’t you know that even though you’re the sub-guild master?”

“Sure. Since the guild master is personally confirming that our guild’s welfare is shitty, I’m deeply grateful. You bastard!”

Choi Jiyoon, who was holding the tablet, shouted back with a volume that didn’t lose to Samin’s. Working under a crazy guild master like this, this level of boldness was essential.

“Shut up. My hyung replied so I need to reply back.”

Samin moved his fingers and sent a reply.

[If I keep acting crazy, I can see you directly????]

He was in such a hurry to reply that he didn’t have time to prettily decorate the message with strange emoticons. Rather than taking time to copy and paste emoticons, it was the heart of a fan who wanted to send a reply even a few seconds faster.

He pressed the send button and anxiously stared at the screen, and surprisingly, a reply came right away.

[You just wait right there.]

Samin’s heart was pounding hard.