Chapter 32
“What’s this?”
The corpse had specific parts severely crushed, and was pierced through in various places as if something had penetrated it. There were also intermittent torn marks and seriously damaged sections visible, but no matter how he looked at it, this wasn’t Baek Rak’s fighting style.
Baek Rak used a sword to deal with creatures. He would cut or slice them, so usually around Baek Rak after battles were only neatly severed corpses.
So this meant someone else had dealt with the creatures here. Who could have made it like this? Seo Won was about to ask Baek Rak out of curiosity when he noticed someone running toward them.
“Baek Rak!”
“I heard Yu Sol got hurt. Is she okay?”
The people who came running while calling for Baek Rak were two men.
Seo Won stepped back and examined them. One was a boy-like man who appeared small, not even reaching 170cm, and one was a man with a blunt face and a mountain-like build.
The boy-like man had a bow on his back, and the blunt-looking man was wearing gauntlets on his hands.
Rather than firearms like guns or cannons, they carried specific weapons like Baek Rak, so they were definitely hunters. The remaining two people among the five hunters Yu Sol had told him about. They seemed to be the ones who had fought creatures here.
“We’re monitoring her progress.”
“Hah, really. Why did she come outside so dangerously? She can’t even treat herself. Didn’t we tell her to hide with the people when they were evacuating?”
“It’s not life-threatening or anything like that, right?”
At Baek Rak’s brief explanation, the two men’s reactions were different. But they were the same in that they were worried. They just expressed it differently.
“It’s not dangerous.”
“That’s a relief. She hasn’t woken up yet?”
At the blunt-faced man’s question, Baek Rak nodded. The man, who felt much more relieved, let out a sigh of relief.
But the man presumed to be a boy next to him started grumbling with fire in his eyes.
“When she wakes up, I need to give her a good scolding! I told her to be careful but she wouldn’t listen, I knew this would happen.”
“Park Haru. Don’t needlessly stir up a sick kid, just leave her alone.”
“What did I do! Yu Sol is the one who did something to deserve scolding!”
“She must have had her reasons. It’s fine since Baek Rak saved her.”
“What if something like this happens again later? She’s only seen creatures from far away so she doesn’t know how dangerous they are. That’s why today’s incident happened.”
“She experienced it today so now she’ll know. So don’t scold her too much.”
“Nora, because you keep covering for her like that, Yu Sol doesn’t listen. When she needs to be scolded, she should be scolded!”
The two men bickered over whether to scold Yu Sol or not.
Objectively speaking, both people’s words made sense. But Seo Won couldn’t help but watch the boy-like man’s mood. Because he was the one who had taken Yu Sol out.
But it felt a bit unfair. Yu Sol knew better than anyone how dangerous creatures were. Yet she had found the courage. To save Rang and the pups.
“Excuse me.”
When Seo Won raised one hand and started to speak, three pairs of eyes gathered on him.
“What’s with this guy?”
The boy-like man, Park Haru, frowned and looked Seo Won up and down. Then he made a strange expression.
“Why does he look like this?”
At the harsh evaluation, Seo Won’s eyes flinched. He had thought he might look strange, but it felt like his appearance was being evaluated in a different sense.
Then he suddenly remembered Yu Sol who had doubted Baek Rak’s taste.
“…”
Ah, at this rate his self-esteem would be worn down to nothing…
Seo Won shook off the unnecessary thoughts and collected himself. First, regardless of appearance or whatever, he had to clear up the misunderstanding about Yu Sol.
“Sol went out because of Rang and the pups. They weren’t visible until all the people had evacuated. And it wasn’t such a dangerous situation either.”
“What?”
“It was fine until we found the kids and brought them back… We got caught by creatures in the middle.”
“If something like that happens, you should radio us, why did she go out herself?”
Seo Won met Haru’s piercing gaze and let out a faint sigh.
“We thought we could bring them back quickly. Rang was hiding in a pile of boxes stacked on the platform tracks, and it took some time to get her out of there.”
“You, were you with Yu Sol the whole time?”
“Yeah.”
Haru was silent for a moment, then narrowed his eyes.
“You’re the person Baek Rak brought, right?”
Seo Won nodded lightly and immediately added, “I’m Yoon Seo Won. Sol is my handler.”
But hearing those words, Haru forgot about glaring and opened his eyes wide. Then he walked around Seo Won in a circle as if amazed. When he returned to his spot, he tilted his head and asked with a puzzled expression, “Are you a hunter… right?”
Seo Won glanced at Baek Rak and shook his head.
“I’m not a hunter.”
“But why is Yu Sol your handler? If you’re not a hunter, there’s no particular reason for Yu Sol to be in charge of you.”
Actually, even though it was only half, he was still a hunter, so by that logic there wouldn’t be a problem. It was only complicated because Baek Rak and Han Seong Hyeon told him to hide it.
“Well, Han Seong Hyeon told her to do that.”
“The captain?”
Of course, since even he didn’t know the reason it had to be hidden, explanation was impossible. So he had no choice but to pass the buck. He figured the person who said to hide it would handle the clarification or explanation themselves.
“Yeah, I don’t really know, so ask Han Seong Hyeon.”
After a moment of silence, Haru waved his hand as if annoyed.
“Well, the captain must have had his reasons for entrusting you to Yu Sol.”
Looking at his reaction, his trust in Han Seong Hyeon seemed considerable. That meant Han Seong Hyeon’s abilities were exceptional. Seo Won let out a small sigh inwardly as things went more smoothly than expected.
“But… why do you look like that?”
“Huh?”
But Haru seemed to still have unanswered questions as he approached Seo Won closely. Then he began examining Seo Won’s face.
Even though Yoon Seo Won wasn’t embarrassed or flushed, his entire skin had a faint reddish tint. Unlike the people here who were full of gray tones without pigment, his lively-looking skin was extremely fascinating.
While rolling his eyes back and forth between him and Baek Rak beside him, Seo Won subtly backed away as if feeling burdened. What, why are you running away? I haven’t finished looking yet. Haru approached by the distance that had opened and stuck his face close. When Seo Won ran away again, he stuck to him again.
Finally, Baek Rak, who couldn’t stand watching anymore, blocked Haru’s face with his hand.
“Mmph!”
“That’s enough.”
Haru straightened up and rubbed his nose while saying, “It’s fascinating. I’ve never seen someone who looks like that before. Where did you bring him from?”
“From far away.”
“How far?”
“Well, he’s not from around here.”
It wasn’t just Haru who was surprised by those words. The big man who had been quiet until now asked, “Someone from another region? Not Seoul?”
“Probably.”
“Where did you find him?”
The place where Yoon Seo Won was found wasn’t far from Gangnam Station. But to support his claim of coming from “a place farther than you could imagine,” it was better to match the story.
“At the edge of Seoul.”
“…Is that possible? You said he’s not a hunter.”
For an ordinary person to cross from another region to Seoul was virtually impossible. Because if they encountered creatures even once on the way, it would be over. So the man’s reaction was natural. Anyone would have to be suspicious in this situation.
When Baek Rak was lost in thought, the man changed targets.
“Really? How did you get to Seoul when you’re not even a hunter?”
Seo Won turned his hands this way and that, thinking of the differences between these people and himself one by one, when he suddenly felt an intense gaze. When he looked up, two pairs of eyes were sticking to him more persistently than before.
Seo Won pointed at himself with his finger and asked the big man, “Me?”
“Yeah, you.”
“…”
Even if he wanted to answer, he had nothing to say…
To begin with, this place and where he had lived were completely different. He didn’t know the reason or method for coming here either. But they didn’t seem easy-going enough to gloss over it subtly like Yu Sol, which was troublesome.
“That’s…”
“Are you really from another region? You’re not from Seoul Station shelter?”
“Seoul Station?”
He had heard that the shelters in Seoul lived while keeping each other in check. Not hostile, but not friendly either. So asking if he came from another shelter probably wasn’t meant well.
Seo Won swallowed his saliva and actively clarified, “I don’t even know well how things work here. There are so many different parts from where I used to live that Sol even scolded me asking what I knew.”
“Couldn’t you just make that up?”
“There are limits to making things up…”
“It would be more convincing than saying an ordinary person from another region came to Seoul.”
“Why is that?”
“Even going to the riverside 100m ahead is a life-risking matter for ordinary people, so how could you possibly come from another region to Seoul?”
Seo Won was about to argue back but closed his mouth. Because that helplessness when he first encountered creatures came to mind. Even Baek Rak moved carefully to avoid them, so it wouldn’t be easy for an ordinary person to travel such a long distance.
But the possibility couldn’t be completely ruled out. Originally, humans are beings who transcend limits. Of course, that wasn’t him.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
