Damn Hunter Life 42

Damn Hunter Life Chapter 42

The attempt to scrape together all the determination within himself and send me a warning message in front of his younger sister Ma Cheon-ah, refusing to be intimidated, was admirable.

‘Just because you do that, Yang Pyo, do you think you can even follow a fingernail’s worth of Woo Sae-geon?’

We marked coordinates on the currently open D-rank gate and teleported together as a group of four.

Korea, which you can only see when going on gate expeditions, well, it’s consistent as always.

It seemed the gate had luckily opened in an area with no people around. Police officers stood sporadically outside the police line. Inside the line, there were a few regular hunters disguised as raiders instead of us.

Since we had discussed it beforehand, they knew the identities of the people who had just appeared.

It would be nice to see the popular Ma Cheon-ah or Ja Hyeong-woo in casual clothes. But ignoring that, most of them were glancing at me instead.

‘Three people with earth energy. One who looks particularly strong seems to be under Woo Sae-geon. The person standing at the very end has the precious wood attribute?’

Since the day I realized I could see all attributes, my vision had changed dramatically.

‘…Isn’t this how people who see ghosts must feel?’

You wouldn’t know what it means to understand without trying to understand, just by seeing, unless you experience it yourself. The sensation of seeing what others cannot see is on a different dimension from moving with knowledge of the original story.

Since I can’t actually do anything just by looking, it’s both unfortunate and fortunate.

Even the order of entering the white gate entrance was as I expected.

The enthusiastic Ma Cheon-ah took the lead.

Yang Pyo followed behind her, clearly trying to walk with his shoulders squared and looking confident.

I and Ja Hyeong-woo entered last with barely any difference, but Ja Hyeong-woo wasn’t looking at the front like he should, instead watching more intently where I was stepping.

The gate scenery opened up on all sides. Ja Hyeong-woo stepped in front of me and blocked me with his arm, but I didn’t pay attention to it.

‘This place is…’

This was a gate that had been described in the original work. I couldn’t help but recognize it. It was so unique.

Gates, which are the source of monsters, usually have ordinary natural backgrounds, but perhaps due to Earth’s influence, three-dimensional and special spaces would sometimes appear.

Like right now, for instance, a giant maze.

I had expected some kind of field to spread out, but it was a space blocked by walls on all sides. I thought it was a concrete set.

The maze walls were so high they seemed to pierce the sky. Because of this, we couldn’t see across to the other side, and what lay immediately ahead were three winding paths.

Bang!

Without warning, Ma Cheon-ah swung her butcher knife hard against the wall. Since the wall didn’t break completely, her hand would hurt more, but she turned around pretending to be nonchalant.

“If we’re going to break through, it’ll take quite a while, right? Yang oppa, want to bring out your familiar and try pushing through? Your familiar is the biggest, isn’t it?”

At that moment, I clearly saw the negative emotion that flashed across Yang Pyo’s eyes.

‘Fear.’

Yang Pyo touched his head with his hand and showed his embarrassment.

“…Sorry. My familiar probably won’t come out right away.”

“That’s just like you, oppa.”

Ma Cheon-ah spoke with a sharp tone and quickly turned her head. Even though there was no particular tone of criticism in her words, an uncomfortable silence flowed.

So I opened my mouth.

“Aren’t you going to ask me? I’m also earth attribute. Classified as a tanker, you know?”

How dare that bastard Yang Pyo act all important in front of me. As long as I’m here, no one can be more incompetent than me.

Indeed, Ma Cheon-ah’s interest shifted. Ma Cheon-ah spun her wrist holding the butcher knife. I was reflected like a mirror in the large blade.

“Can you see? In case you can’t be objective about yourself, take a direct look. Do you look like you could be a tanker?”

Despite being female, Ma Cheon-ah was taller and more imposing than me. So she could be called the natural enemy of a weakling like me claiming to be a tanker.

“Dog. Do you even have a familiar?”

“What do you think, do I have one or not?”

“Don’t play word games.”

When I kept going in circles, Ma Cheon-ah made a genuinely annoyed face.

Even in this troublesome situation where we had to wander around a maze, Ma Cheon-ah didn’t bother trying to find out about the newcomer’s abilities. If it were Won Ha-ri, she would ask about this and that.

Even if I said I could break through the maze… Ma Cheon-ah would never extend her hand to me. Her pride would be hurt by a dog.

“Let’s focus on the raid.”

Ja Hyeong-woo, who didn’t take anyone’s side in particular, changed the topic.

Even in the disadvantageous situation where possible movement directions were limited, the gate raiding method wasn’t particularly different from others.

Kill monsters when you see them, find the boss and kill it. The work of marking the return path was also something we always did. This time Yang Pyo was in charge of it.

The problem was that there were too many walls, making it harder to find the boss than in other gates.

“We should have come with someone who has detection skills. We took the D-rank gate too lightly.”

“Instead of talking, just hurry up and find it, okay?”

When Yang Pyo became dejected and muttered, Ma Cheon-ah quickly retorted. The two had completely opposite personalities.

“Ah damn, Dragon oppa should have come. It would be good if he could fly up and look down from above.”

Although familiars are like transparent ghosts, they retain some habits of the zodiac animals, and currently only the dragon familiar could fly.

Ma Cheon-ah, who had briefly lamented Jin Seol-woon’s absence, glanced back again this time. Her gaze went toward Ja Hyeong-woo.

“Mouse oppa. Please keep a good lookout as we go.”

Ma Cheon-ah is treating me like a complete civilian. No, she’d probably be kind to civilians.

So I should think she doesn’t see me as human at all?

The mindset Ma Cheon-ah subtly shows, that healers should just quietly and safely follow behind others, is like that too.

Kyaak! A monster resembling a wildcat jumped out from around the corner.

It was such a realistic entrance that Yang Pyo was startled, but unfortunately, the one at the very front was the community-certified butcher.

Slash. There was the sound of something being cut.

“Cheon-ah! I keep telling you, don’t swing your sword so widely. What if you hit us too?”

“Mouse oppa is here though.”

A statement that makes the healer’s responsibility heavy.

‘…It’s fine though? If I get hurt, he’ll treat me and Ja Hyeong-woo’s skills will improve…’

Since almost all gates are wide open on all sides, they have the disadvantage of exposing your back the moment you enter. Overcoming this problem is the key for most gates.

But now it was problematic because the surroundings were too narrow and blocked.

Tanker Yang Pyo lacked space, dealer Ma Cheon-ah was bored to death because monsters only came out in small trickles, and Ja Hyeong-woo had even less to do. So that’s probably why he’s watching me so intently every second.

“I’m getting restless and can’t stand it.”

Finally Ma Cheon-ah raised both hands.

“Can I go ahead first? Since it’s a maze, should we split up and search?”

Before an answer came, Ma Cheon-ah leaped lightly into the air. Hee-hee-hing, sparks flew around as a horse called Cheonlima appeared, its red mane fluttering. Ma Cheon-ah, who had nimbly mounted it, shook her bundled hair.

“What if we split up and then something changes in the gate…?”

Yang Pyo showed a negative reaction.

“What kind of intelligence would a D-rank gate have? It’s more economical to split into two teams and search! Cho-hui eonni did the same thing during the last practice.”

Now it makes sense to divide into teams with me alone and the remaining three with Yang oppa. Ma Cheon-ah chattered excitedly, not knowing how Yang Pyo felt listening.

She was ready to run out as soon as a fork in the road appeared, patting her familiar that was snorting like a living horse.

Ja Hyeong-woo stared at my face this time. Had my expression changed?

“Ma Cheon-ah. Don’t go around separately.”

Actually, it’s not really my business, but I’m worried for no reason.

No matter how big and reliable Ma Cheon-ah looks, she’s really just a high school student.

‘D-rank gate, background is a maze. Originally it was supposed to be Won Ha-ri’s practice but changed to me – assuming everything else is the same as the original work… Ma Cheon-ah, you get hurt here from showing off. It’s a minor injury where your arm gets slightly torn, but the scratch to your pride from being hurt by a low-grade monster lasts a long time.’

Since it’s not great for the kid to get hurt no matter how small the injury, let me slightly twist the original story here.

I’ll change the situation, but try to keep only the emotions going according to the original. In this case, I just need to damage Ma Cheon-ah’s pride in advance?

Coincidentally, I’m a specialist at pissing people off.

“If the problem is that I can’t run fast, you could just let me ride on your familiar, right?”

I pointed at the magnificent horse with a mane fluttering like flames. Ma Cheon-ah looked back with a rotten expression from on top of the horse.

“The horse will smell like dog.”

“It’s not that you can’t let me ride?”

“…”

Ma Cheon-ah’s familiar, like its owner, was like a wild horse and couldn’t carry other people.

In previous stage raids when a colleague needed to borrow another successor’s familiar to ride, Ma Cheon-ah had secretly considered it humiliating that she couldn’t be an option. She saw it as her only flaw despite being good at both individual and team play.

Following its owner’s emotions, the familiar’s crimson color intensified. Startled, I quickly distracted Ma Cheon-ah’s attention.

“Don’t act alone, and if you’re bored, want to make a bet with me? If the boss appears within 30 minutes, I win, and if not, you win.”

Even for D-rank, finding the boss usually took more than 30 minutes on average. So from Ma Cheon-ah’s perspective, this was quite a worthwhile bet.

I had thrown it out half-casually, but Ma Cheon-ah’s eyebrows perked up – the gate must have been quite boring.

The horse she was riding made small clattering sounds as it came in front of me. I had to crane my neck and look up because of the height difference.

“It won’t happen, but what if the dog wins?”

“You call me oppa for a week.”

“…”

It was eerie to have someone with a butcher knife looking down coldly from horseback.

“I don’t know if you realize, but I’m the same age as Ja Hyeong-woo.”

“What will you do for me if I win?”

“From then on, you can act alone…?”

“Do you think that makes sense?”

Unable to watch any longer, Ja Hyeong-woo put his hand on my shoulder asking what I was doing. He slid his hand away with obvious displeasure and focused on Ma Cheon-ah.

‘Did I push it a bit too far? Knowing what Ma Cheon-ah would propose as compensation…’

“If I win, you call me noona. Got it?”

She’s accepting this.

Suddenly Ma Cheon-ah looked like a kid her age, and at the same time…

Unintentionally, I made eye contact with Yang Pyo who was behind the horse. Yang Pyo was desperately trying to suppress laughter that was about to burst out.

Considering that Yang Pyo had almost lost his ability to laugh due to Woo Sae-geon and… other things, this was quite meaningful. Like during the previous stripping show, and now too.

I grinned.

“Okay, deal.”