Don’t Look for the S-Class Hunter with Retirement 2

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Doun sat in the psychiatry waiting room and let out a sigh. As gentle music flowed through the space decorated with warm-toned interiors, his breath caught in his throat for no reason. The counseling was meaningless anyway, and all he wanted was medication to dilute his shitty depression.

“Lee Doun-nim. You may enter the consultation room now.”

“……Yes.”

Called by the nurse, he rose from his seat and opened the tightly closed door to the consultation room. When he sat down and raised his head, a psychiatrist with a kind expression greeted him.

“Doun-ssi, how were you this past week?”

“Just ordinary. I had no appetite and kept lying down sleeping.”

“Hmm.”

The doctor chose his words carefully, then gave advice in a dry voice about how he should still try to move around little by little. It was extremely common-sense content that Doun already knew.

Clean the house thoroughly, wash frequently, take walks even if just a little, take medication consistently…

He understood it all in his head, but putting it into practice didn’t go well. Even though it would be very simple for someone else, it felt difficult and overwhelming for Doun. To the point where it seemed easier to tackle new floors of the tower alone like before.

“I’ll increase the dosage a bit more than what I prescribed last time. If you feel uncomfortable taking it or if it doesn’t seem to suit you, please come in for a visit.”

“Yes.”

The brief consultation ended. Doun adjusted his mask and left the consultation room. While waiting for his medication, his phone kept buzzing intermittently.

[Our guild is really the best but there’s no way to explain it so I’m really sad T^T If hyung comes to Yeoun Guild I think I’d be so happy]

Yeoun Guild. It was a guild Doun had never heard of when he was actively working as a hunter. The bastard who was supposedly the master of such a guild had never once replied to a message or answered a phone call, yet every day whenever he had spare time, he would send greetings on his own and inform him about the weather.

‘What the hell is this bastard doing? Doesn’t he have anything else to do?’

In his irritation, Doun typed words into a search portal.

[Hunter Guild Yeoun]

As soon as he pressed the search button, an enormous amount of information poured out.

www.guild-afterglow.co.kr

This is the Republic of Korea’s Hunter Guild Yeoun. A small elite guild composed of top-tier rankers focusing on tower conquest.

Guild Introduction • Member Guide • Recruitment Notice • Directions

Doun, who had been about to click the homepage link, lowered his gaze and read the briefly summarized information. It seemed to be a big enough guild to be registered in some kind of encyclopedia.

Yeoun Guild is a hunter guild in the Republic of Korea. Among the famous hunters belonging to it, Guild Master Slope (real name: Kyung Samin) is representative. A guild composed mainly of attack-type hunters, it’s counted among the top domestic guilds. Recently challenged a solo guild clear of the 55th floor of the tower, but failed… (More)

Guild Master Slope. It was a nickname Doun had vaguely heard of when he was active.

‘His real name is Kyung Samin…’

It was definitely the same name as the bastard who had been tormenting him with messages for the past month.

[Hyung hyung my name is Kyung Samin. Please feel free to call me Min (｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )b]

The name was so unusual that it stuck in his memory. Doun suddenly became curious about the face of the bastard who had been tormenting him for nearly a month. When he clicked the link and entered, then clicked on his nickname, some random delinquent photo appeared.

It was a face that looked like it would demand a wallet from a passerby whose eyes met his while smoking in the back alley of a seedy bar. A handsome delinquent with a bunch of piercings on his ears like he had some disease that made him restless if he couldn’t pierce holes, and wavy permed hair that strangely suited him well.

That was Doun’s first impression of Samin.

‘A guy who looks like this sent those kinds of messages…?’

Thinking that such a delinquent had sent messages dripping with aegyo and emoticons made from all sorts of incomprehensible symbols gave him chills.

The nickname registered in the Hunter System Veritas was Slope. When it said he was staying at 2nd place in the domestic hunter rankings, Doun tilted his head. Why was a bastard with explosive growth who had jumped up to 2nd place in the rankings in just one year doing this shit to him?

[Today they say the weather will be very hot ( ᴗ_ᴗ̩̩ ) Our Yeoun Guild has a newly built building equipped with the best heating and cooling facilities. How about having a cup of coffee with me in a cool office on this hot day? (｡˃́⌔˂̀｡)]

He was sick of guilds now. The profession of hunter and the ridiculous nickname Magnetic were irritating too.

Hunter Magnetic had died, no different from being dead, the day he came out after clearing the 44th floor a year ago. What killed him wasn’t Lee Doun himself, nor the colleagues who had cleared the tower together.

Countless anonymous fellow hunters.

The criticism, curses, and contempt they poured out killed Magnetic. At least that’s what Doun thought.

His phone had never rung even once except for text reminders about psychiatry appointment dates and bank notifications that utility bills had been transferred.

But then one day, a bastard suddenly appeared saying he needed him, that he was his fan, sending trivial bullshit. He said he needed him.

He thought about blocking him right away, but figured it would quiet down in a few days anyway, so he just left it alone.

Human hearts originally flared up easily and then settled down.

Doun decided to ignore all messages like he had done with his former colleagues. When had they ever poured out criticism to the point of death, but back then they contacted him saying they were sorry and let’s start over like before. When Doun didn’t reply to them, they soon sent one-sided feelings he didn’t want to hear about being disappointed and cut off contact. This time would probably be the same.

However, despite thorough ignoring, there were messages waiting every time he opened his eyes. The messages asking about his well-being were covered in flashy emoticons, and the messages about weather weren’t much help to Doun who rarely went outside.

Sometimes when he read messages confessing how his guild was made up of hunters with such good personalities and how passionate a fan he himself was of Doun, his depression seemed to lighten momentarily, but it quickly returned to normal.

‘You’ll probably badmouth me behind my back anyway.’

He didn’t know what the 2nd-ranked hunter was lacking that made him do this to him.

‘Besides, I…’

He had become a washed-up hunter whose skills only produced less than half their former power. The doctor had reassuringly said it was a temporary problem stemming from psychological shock, but Doun was rather glad about his decreased abilities.

Nobody would welcome a washed-up hunter.

Magnetic had met social death in the hunter industry just as they had wanted. All that remained was to be forgotten. He thought he was forgetting well too, but the bastard who suddenly appeared kept stirring up his heart.

Doun’s patience finally ran out. He was sick and tired of messages from some delinquent-looking bastard.

[Stop sending messages before I destroy your guild]

If he had his way, he’d want to kill that bastard Slope or Slave or whatever who was being annoying, but then he’d really become a murderer. So he threatened to destroy the guild he was so proud of. Even with his skill power cut in half, collapsing one building would be nothing.

‘Now this bastard will probably screenshot my message and pass it around among themselves or post it somewhere to badmouth me, right?’

He hadn’t accessed the bulletin board provided by the Hunter System in a long time anyway. He only occasionally used search portals on the internet, and he didn’t have SNS accounts, so whether faceless bastards cursed him or not wasn’t Doun’s concern.

“Lee Doun-nim. Your medication is ready.”

Since they said the dosage was increased from last week, the bag containing the medicine was quite thick. He paid the medical fee and prescription cost and was about to leave the hospital when the phone tucked in his back pocket vibrated.

“What the…”

[Here’s the address for you to come destroy the building! (map link)]

When he clicked the link attached to the message, an address appeared along with a photo of the building. A building near a subway station with a stylishly remodeled exterior. It looked perfect to collapse with a few skill shots.

‘Fuck. Should I actually go cause a scene in my anger?’

Doun irritably shoved his phone back into his back pocket. If he got caught up in a crazy bastard’s rhythm, he’d be treated like a crazy bastard too. He was trying so hard to live like a normal person – he couldn’t derail in the middle.

Waiting for a taxi, Doun gripped the medicine bag in his hand tightly.

‘It’s hot.’

Next week he should wear a slightly brighter colored t-shirt. He stood swaying under the blazing sun as if he might melt at any moment, thinking he wanted to just get hit by a car and die.