15
Chapter 3. Meanwhile
A small park near the apartment complex.
Samin carelessly sat on the bench where he had been with Doun just moments before. When Doun was beside him, he had been adjusting his bangs and smoothing the wrinkles in his t-shirt. His attitude now was completely different from then.
“Ugh, the battery’s going to die.”
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that almost everyone saved in his contacts had reached out to him. The reason was obvious. It must be because of the celebrity who would be dominating the Veritas boards by now.
As Samin expected, even now all the content visible in the notification window was asking about one person.
[Guild member Kim Chansol (Bright Sol): Guild Master, youngest member, our guild… (more)]
[Guild member Do Hyeonwoo (Rain Work): If we can’t bring Magnetic… (more)]
[Choi Jiyoon: Kyung Samin do you really want to die]
At the full name address that seemed to indicate patience had reached its limit, Samin made a call to someone with a reluctant expression.
—Hey! You crazy bastard! What were you doing that you’re only calling now? You want to die!
Naturally, the other party was Yeoun Guild’s sub-guild master Choi Jiyoon, whose booming voice alone was first-rate.
“People crowded at the tower entrance so I was taking Doun hyung home. But why is noona so impatient?”
Samin crossed his legs and leaned back against the bench. Listening to the insect chirping reminded him of Doun who had been shedding tears here just moments ago, making him feel unsettled.
“*Sigh*.”
He had been flustered by the unexpected situation, but thought he had handled it well enough. Hadn’t he actually taken Doun to the tower? Even after entering the training floor, the atmosphere had been fine.
The aftereffects of the emotion from seeing that tremendous skill he’d only watched in videos still made his spine tingle. It had been such an overwhelming spectacle that he needed to reconsider his literary sensibilities for describing it as “aurora-like light.”
The person himself had directly told him the name of a skill that even those Chronos Guild members who deserved to be torn apart and killed didn’t properly know, and the atmosphere had been good enough for him to say he’d seriously consider joining the guild.
Recalling the hunters who had crowded at the tower entrance after rumors spread made his irritation rise for no reason. Even if the entrance was originally crowded with hunters, those bastards who followed them on the way back and held up their phones—were they even human?
—Why did you two enter the tower in the first place when you were just sitting there?
“What would we do on the training floor? I watched hyung’s skills.”
—That’s all?
“The details are hyung’s personal business, so it’s a bit much for me to talk about.”
To explain today’s events in detail, he’d have to start with Doun’s condition. That way, he might inadvertently mention his depression too. Even if it was something Doun had said while overcome with emotion, Samin didn’t have the right to convey that fact to others.
—*Sigh*… Let’s move on for now, and, um… is he next to you?
Whether her throat hurt from yelling or she’d belatedly regained her senses, Choi Jiyoon couldn’t continue speaking easily and asked ambiguously. Even without stating the subject, it was Magnetic Lee Doun.
“No. I’m alone.”
Samin recalled Doun turning to leave, saying he was going home just moments ago. Still, it seemed like his gloomy mood had improved a little thanks to his antics in the taxi. In fact, Doun had even casually mentioned sending a text when he got home.
‘Hyung. Are you worried about me? Like you’re worried something might happen to me on the way home and you want to receive confirmation that I got home safely and stuff?’
When Samin pestered him with a moved expression, Doun screamed with eyes clearly full of regret.
‘What… I’m just saying that because it seems like things got troublesome after coming all the way to our neighborhood for nothing!’
Even though he said that, the underlying meaning wasn’t much different from what Samin said. It meant he was worried.
—Just tell me the main point, do you think that person will come to our guild?
At Choi Jiyoon’s question, Samin wiggled his toes. His feet in colorful sneakers kept moving restlessly. Choi Jiyoon on the other end of the phone didn’t bother to rush him either. Instead, she was nervous. It was a moment that would be decided by Samin’s single word—whether the guild’s power would be reinforced or not.
“He said he’d think about it seriously.”
—Wow. Really?
“But it’s not certain. As noona said, he’s someone who’s been burned by a lot of people around him.”
Samin deliberately left room for doubt. If Doun came to his guild, he’d be the happiest person of all.
He had persistently tried to talk to him to bring Magnetic to the guild even without getting a single reply, searched for emoticons, and squeezed out conversation topics.
But after vaguely getting to know the human Lee Doun behind the hunter Magnetic, he became reluctant to think only of his own position.
The one who had been unreasonable was himself, and Doun had merely been swept up and accepted it. Even if he thought about it seriously, couldn’t he reach the conclusion that he didn’t want to?
—Right. Well, it’s already a miracle that he’d think seriously about it after seeing your antics…
Listening to Choi Jiyoon’s half-resigned voice, Samin looked at the grass.
“Noona.”
—What, you bastard.
“Let’s not pressure him too.”
He was someone who shrank when people crowded around him anyway. It was probably because of all those shitty former guild members and people who used anonymity as a shield to freely pour out malicious comments.
Yet he showed signs of missing people. His lips that subtly relaxed while not knowing what to do when praised, his eyes that widened in confusion at even small gestures of care, his weak resistance that was feeble for an S-rank hunter even though he cringed at physical contact when he actually thought about it.
‘Since he’s like this, people around him rush to stick their straws in him.’
Samin resolved that if Doun came to his guild, he’d treat him amazingly well.
—What? Not pressuring and what now? This bastard is being funny! Hey! Who was it that found out someone’s phone number and texted first, and now you’re telling me not to pressure him? Are you done talking?
Choi Jiyoon, who had been silent for a moment in disbelief after hearing Samin’s words, burst out yelling. It seemed like she’d given up on her throat health.
“Why are you suddenly yelling?”
—I clearly told you not to do that, and you ignored everything I said and pulled that shit! You were the only one who pushed forward, you bastard! Honestly, that Magnetic person looks like a human Buddha to me.
“What?”
—He’s keeping a crazy person like you alive and even seriously considering joining the guild. If it were me, my fist would have flown first! Dude.
At Choi Jiyoon’s voice hitting the nail on the head, Samin’s lips curved up sideways. He had been planning to keep the sub-guild master position for her because of their shared bond, but to beat him up with words while pointing out facts one by one like this.
“Noona.”
—What, you fucking bastard. Why do you keep calling me today?
“I promised that if Doun hyung says he’ll come to our guild, I’d fire noona and make him sub-guild master.”
—You, you ungrateful bastard! You’re abandoning me like this when I’ve been busy just cleaning up after you? Are you even human?
At the voice full of anger, Samin chuckled.
“No, then when we barely manage to bring the #1 ranker after begging and pleading, should we leave him as a regular guild member? What would others think?”
—What would they… think.
“Yeoun Guild is just like Chronos.”
—Hey!
“That’s what they’d think. Haven’t you seen those sleazy hunter bastards acting up on anonymous boards once or twice?”
At Samin’s point, Choi Jiyoon caught her breath then answered in a calm voice.
—Well, you have a point too… Hey. Rather, if he says he’ll come, you be the sub-guild master and make him the guild master.
“I bought that guild building though?”
—You be a figurehead president! Who said to hand over the building too?
“Still, hyung suits being guild master, right? Noona was also planning to at least treat him as sub-guild master anyway.”
—*Sigh*, this shameless bastard. How did I end up joining this guy’s guild to see this mess.
She said that, but didn’t actually quit the guild. Samin quite cherished Choi Jiyoon, who was a founding member of the guild.
“Noona. You made tons of money after we formed the guild and bought a Han River view apartment.”
—I bought that by earning as much as I worked! It’s not like you bought me that apartment for free!
“Wow. Should I also collect guild fees and drastically cut distribution rates like those other guild master bastards at this opportunity?”
After awakening as hunters, the veterans who awakened first began creating all sorts of bad practices. Those whose egos became inflated after wearing the plausible armband of ‘guild master’ collected membership fees under the strange name of ‘guild fees.’
Not satisfied with that, when forming parties to hunt or conquer new floors, they began dividing the distribution rates of magic stones dropped from magical beast corpses according to their own methods.
A hunter version of the seniority pay system with differential distribution based on position!
Many hunters resisted, but since all the major guilds operated similarly, it was a case of “if you don’t like the temple, the monk should leave.” Samin’s guild was the only one conquering towers at the frontlines while advocating equal distribution.
—Min-ah. Calm down. If you do that, our guild is fucked.
“Noona. How is your language getting rougher and rougher?”
—Hey, you try going around towers with a bastard like you as guild master! See if your language stays pretty!
“How could there be two people like me in this world? That would bring great chaos to the world.”
Samin rambled on while staring intently at the spot where Doun had been sitting in the park where the summer night breeze was blowing. Using Choi Jiyoon’s curses as background music, he thought.
‘I hope hyung says he’ll come to our guild.’
It was a delusion he’d recalled countless times, but somehow he felt like it would become reality.
* * *
[Kyung Samin: Arrived home! (ゝω´･)b⌒☆ It was good going to the tower with me today, right hyung? I’m really glad you didn’t block me, you know?ㅎㅎ I’m going to wash up, eat, and sleep. I wanted to eat with hyung but couldn’t again ( Ĭ ^ Ĭ ) I know a really delicious steakhouse, want to go together tomorrow???]
Doun propped his chin while reading Samin’s text. Gradually, grateful feelings were growing larger than annoyance. Even though he was nothing special, he consistently talked to him, asked to be together, and on top of that, cleared up his misunderstanding too.
It had been his first time using a private training facility, and he’d been too exhausted to cross-verify. Doun had been in such a state of despair that he believed the doctor’s diagnosis, which was close to speculation, at face value.
‘If it wasn’t for this guy, I would have just continued… thinking depression was the only problem.’
He still felt reluctant about hunters, but if it was a place where Kyung Samin was guild master, it might be a little different. His mood was still depressed. However, just not having to dig tunnels over his skill power anymore was a big help.
[Where is that place]
Just as he was holding his phone and typing a reply to send to Samin.
Buzz—
His phone vibrated.
[Doun, this is hyung Wook. I heard about you. Are you trying to join Yeoun? Think about it again. Hyung is saying this because I’m worried about you]
Eleven digits from an unsaved number. The text referring to himself as ‘hyung Wook’ and sent in a tone trying to lecture him was from Timer Choi Jeongwook.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
