Holy B-Class Life – Chapter 186

#186

Only after staying up all night did Dan Joo-hyuk finally leave the Special Administrative Security Department.

The intense emotions that had been spurring him on finally subsided after waiting for several hours. It was only afterward that he interrogated Lee Tae-jung, fearing he might accidentally kill him despite his remaining usefulness.

“…”

As Dan Joo-hyuk came up to the ground floor, washing his hands, he looked up at the rising sun with eyes that still held a trace of coldness.

Today, he had pressured Lee Tae-jung based on Kim Min-ji’s testimony. After all, there was now testimony suggesting that Kim Tae-jun had regular places where he discussed his operations.

However, unexpectedly, Lee Tae-jung acted as if he had no idea about any such places.

Dan Joo-hyuk probed for information about whether it might have been foreign hunters or Park Jung-hoon, but Lee Tae-jung denied it. Instead, he firmly stated that they were all merely Kim Tae-jun’s puppets. This contradicted Kim Min-ji’s claim that she had seen Kim Tae-jun change his opinions quite frequently after communicating with someone external.

So one of them was lying. Considering that Lee Tae-jung looked dejected after consecutive interrogations, it was more likely that Kim Min-ji was the one telling falsehoods—unless someone had completely erased Lee Tae-jung’s memories.

Dan Joo-hyuk got in his car and slowly began to move. The roads were quiet in the early morning.

Something in the corner of his chest felt tight and constricted, but he didn’t have the courage to examine it.

“Sigh…”

After letting out a sigh, Dan Joo-hyuk slowly organized his thoughts.

The other information that Lee Tae-jung had divulged wasn’t very useful. It was necessary to uncover the truth behind the incident, but it wasn’t the information Dan Joo-hyuk was interested in.

Particularly, the reason why Lee Tae-jung had betrayed Heo Sang-yeon was clearly revealed. Though he had somewhat suspected it, Lee Tae-jung had many grievances with Heo Sang-yeon’s guild management style.

Heo Sang-yeon’s method of protecting the weak and cooperating with the government was truly idealistic. So idealistic, in fact, that people like Lee Tae-jung, who had fallen into hunter supremacism, were dissatisfied.

Lee Tae-jung said he had originally planned to deal with Heo Sang-yeon through the Great Gate. Afterward, he wanted to naturally take over the guild and create a country for hunters—nonsense that was excruciatingly boring to hear.

However, contrary to Lee Tae-jung’s wishes, Kim Tae-jun had apparently been reluctant to eliminate Heo Sang-yeon, using his secret agreement with Kim Min-ji as an excuse.

Unable to tolerate Kim Tae-jun’s changing words, Lee Tae-jung had taken advantage of Kim Tae-jun’s busy schedule to brainwash Heo Sang-yeon. He thought there was no need to follow all of Kim Tae-jun’s opinions since he himself was also receiving a status window directly from “God.”

Because of Lee Tae-jung’s impulsive plans, the Great Gate that was scheduled to occur in the new year happened several days earlier. Yoon Pa-ran’s orphanage had been safe by the narrowest of margins.

While listening to this nonsense, Dan Joo-hyuk pressed Lee Tae-jung on how he was able to brainwash an S-rank hunter like Heo Sang-yeon. After all, even on the morning when he had gone to Heo Sang-yeon’s guild office, she hadn’t seemed to be under control.

After several more harsh questions, the existence of an item obtained through the quest was further revealed.

[Blessing of the Forgotten Sacred God C]

May the blessing of the Sacred God be with you.

What had been an ordinary shield item when confiscated from Lee Tae-jung suddenly changed its appearance.

[Puppet’s Tear S]

Forcibly enlightens one person to His greatness.

Number of uses 0/2

This happened when Dan Joo-hyuk held the item in his hand after hearing the information from Lee Tae-jung.

The items confiscated from him had been kept isolated elsewhere for safety. Even with isolation, it was still extremely dangerous. If this item could still be used, it was hard to gauge what kind of damage might occur.

Like the [■■■ fragment], it seemed that such dangerous items were circulating quite freely among hunters. Dan Joo-hyuk immediately restricted access to all of Lee Tae-jung’s possessions. He felt he should convey this detailed information to Minister Byeon once more.

“Ah.”

As he continued his train of thought, Dan Joo-hyuk suddenly came to his senses and looked out the car window.

Without realizing it, he had already arrived at Yoon Pa-ran’s orphanage.

“…”

He hadn’t intended to come here; it was ridiculous.

With trembling eyes, Dan Joo-hyuk stared blankly ahead for a moment. Today, the orphanage walls seemed especially high.

Eventually, he deliberately parked his car in a different spot than usual.

“…”

In that state, Dan Joo-hyuk again couldn’t do anything for a long time.

His head felt heavy, like a tangled skein of thread soaked in water. His throat, which had seemed parched and droughty, now felt filled with a muffled moisture.

He could have incinerated everything inside him to dry it all out, but strangely, he had no desire to do so. He simply didn’t want to escape this damp emotion. He could have just coldly ignored it as he had always lived, but he couldn’t.

Unable to think about going home or contacting Yoon Pa-ran, Dan Joo-hyuk absently read his status window. He also looked at his Blessing Contract with Yoon Pa-ran, which he now regretted, and traced the letters of [Sacred Energy] that remained at 0%.

[Stealthy Extorter S—Lover’s Call]

: Each time the absorption rate exceeds 90%, one use accumulates.

—Can be used bidirectionally.

Current accumulated uses: 0/1

When he displayed the last status window, Dan Joo-hyuk’s eyes stopped abruptly.

“…”

The word ‘lover’ caught his eye anew.

Originally, the names attached to items or skills varied greatly. Therefore, unless one was a gate studies scholar, it was common not to pay much attention to the superficial words in the status window.

Dan Joo-hyuk was the same. But this time, strangely, he found himself reading the phrase for quite a while.

“…”

After much deliberation, Dan Joo-hyuk finally picked up his phone.

“Yoon Pa-ran.”

—Yeah.

“What are you doing?”

—I just finished bathing the younger kids and I’m resting in my room. Why?

The voice flowing through was peaceful. Dan Joo-hyuk’s heart, which had been churning like lava since yesterday, gradually calmed down along with it.

Leaning one arm on the steering wheel, Dan Joo-hyuk whispered softly.

“I just called because I wanted to see you.”

—How trite.

Though he had tried to convey his sincerity, Yoon Pa-ran casually brushed it off. Whenever he became conscious of such responses, wounds that had seemingly healed seemed to reopen one by one.

He had intended to suggest meeting in person since he was nearby, but his lips felt too heavy. He was afraid of something like yesterday happening again.

Yes, he was afraid of feeling those emotions toward Yoon Pa-ran.

—Oh, right. I had something to tell you.

“What is it?”

Finally swallowing a sigh internally, Dan Joo-hyuk planned for tomorrow. He also felt disgusted by his own struggle to postpone the impending doom.

Yoon Pa-ran, completely unaware of Dan Joo-hyuk’s feelings, spoke about something else.

—I’m thinking of going into a gate tomorrow.

“You want to go to a gate?”

—Yeah. I got a call earlier; this time they want to bring out the statue directly from inside the gate for experimentation. I want to see the process firsthand.

“I see.”

—I haven’t been inside a gate since that day, so I also want to observe the differences while I’m at it.

All logical points. Dan Joo-hyuk had also heard about these plans.

Nevertheless, Dan Joo-hyuk didn’t like the situation where Yoon Pa-ran had to be so busy. He was concerned about the well-being of the younger children, but also worried about Yoon Pa-ran’s soft nature.

“…You don’t need to rush, you know. It could still be dangerous.”

So Dan Joo-hyuk cautiously tried to dissuade Yoon Pa-ran. However, Yoon Pa-ran said something that made Dan Joo-hyuk even more wary.

—That’s true, but they said they’re forming an attack team with trustworthy people. I looked at the list, and it seems fine.

“…Is that so?”

Trustworthy people?

Dan Joo-hyuk, who had been slouching, sat up abruptly. His eyebrows, which had been stiff all day, contorted.

Yet Dan Joo-hyuk himself hadn’t received any notification about Yoon Pa-ran entering a gate.

“Who are these trustworthy people?”

—Quite a few, I’ll send you the list later.

Despite the casual answer, his insides boiled. The now-familiar anxiety that came as naturally as breathing screamed within him, threatening to tear him apart.

To Dan Joo-hyuk, who had suddenly fallen silent, Yoon Pa-ran casually added, as if he had just remembered:

—Oh, do you want to come too? I actually wanted to experiment…

“I’ll go.”

—…Oh, okay. I had something I wanted to experiment with. It would also be good to get statue fragments directly for experiments I couldn’t do last time.

“Let’s do that.”

His heated mind finally calmed at the proposal to go to the gate together.

Of course, Yoon Pa-ran’s intention was obvious. He probably thought Dan Joo-hyuk would be interested in gate information as usual. Even though none of that mattered anymore.

—Alright. See you tomorrow.

“I’ll call you.”

As soon as his business was finished, Yoon Pa-ran naturally ended the call. Swallowing his disappointment, Dan Joo-hyuk’s lingering gaze stuck to the walls.

Though the walls still seemed impossibly high, he couldn’t just sit there.

“…”

After organizing his thoughts carefully, Dan Joo-hyuk started the engine again.

There was something unsettling that he needed to look into.

Author: Hyacinthus B

Hyacinthus