#6
Ha-seong caught his breath and then faced Do-hyeok who was approaching. Who was this? It was definitely the person who had been sleeping soundly earlier, but the atmosphere was completely different. Earlier he thought the guy was dead, but now, how should he put it, his energy and atmosphere didn’t seem like an ordinary person.
“Can’t you hear?”
Do-hyeok asked while tapping his own ear with his finger. What’s with this bastard all of a sudden? Ha-seong was about to say something but closed his mouth again.
Wait, let me think carefully. This guy just took down that monster—the S-rank Blind Sword Demon—with one skill. Moreover, seeing that he wasn’t even holding a weapon, it seemed like he had attacked in a defenseless state just like himself, but the monster still died from that attack. In other words.
‘He’s a hunter. And a considerably skilled one at that.’
From the beginning, the fact that he had entered here and was sleeping so peacefully should have made it clear he wasn’t an ordinary person, but he had stupidly overlooked that.
“I think there’s a misunderstanding.”
Ha-seong took a step back from Do-hyeok who had approached.
“I’m just a civilian.”
Then Do-hyeok slightly furrowed his brow and tilted his head. Please. Let it work. Ha-seong prayed like that. He didn’t know when that hunter had woken up, but if he hadn’t seen Ha-seong’s entire battle scene, there was a chance.
“A civilian?”
“Yes.”
“Do civilians these days carry weapons like that?”
Do-hyeok pointed with his hand to where the sword Ha-seong had been fighting with earlier lay pitifully abandoned, broken in two. Oh no. Ha-seong showed footwork that would put soccer players to shame, kicking the sword and smoothly hiding it behind him while shrugging his shoulders.
“Ah, this isn’t mine, I just picked it up.”
“Hmm.”
Do-hyeok continued to stare at Ha-seong with his arms crossed. Looking at how he was gauging with such an uncertain expression, that bastard definitely hadn’t seen Ha-seong’s battle scene either. Then if he could just add the finishing touch at the right time, it would be perfect.
[Huh? Why are you lying? I saw you take out your weapon earlier… Oink.]
Ha-seong threw a random stone from the ground and hit the wild boar that was hiding behind a tree.
“Haha… what’s with that pig making noise? Hmm, but by any chance… are you a hunter-nim?”
Do-hyeok nodded. As expected. With that extraordinary atmosphere and behavior, he knew it just by looking. The eyes that had been rippling blue until just a moment ago had somehow changed to black. Regardless, Ha-seong immediately prepared for the next stage.
“Ah, that’s a relief.”
He scrunched up his face as much as possible and breathed roughly with all his might. It wasn’t easy for ordinary civilians to endure in dungeons. Ha-seong knew well that excessive energy pressing down on the body like gravity and shortness of breath were typical symptoms that appeared in ordinary people.
“I’m at my limit now…”
And that they would lose consciousness and collapse if it got severe. Ha-seong showed off the method acting he had built up over the years and collapsed with a thud onto the dirt ground. More precisely, he pretended to collapse. The best solution when facing an unfavorable situation was always escape. For Ha-seong, who had accumulated considerable experience pressing the computer power button when it seemed like he was going to lose in games, this was quite an easy action.
“……”
Ha-seong, who couldn’t observe the situation because he was pretending to lose consciousness, was curious about Do-hyeok’s reaction to the suddenly quiet air, but he absolutely couldn’t open his eyes. Then it would be revealed that this was all acting.
“Mm.”
Then he heard the guy make a low sound in his throat. And approaching footsteps. Even without looking, Ha-seong could tell that Do-hyeok had approached and crouched down in front of him.
“Is he dead?”
As if he’d be dead. If you’re a hunter, at least try to make some effort to save a pitifully collapsed civilian.
“It would be troublesome if he died.”
Ah, well, I told you I’m not dead. Is that bastard really a hunter? The mission of a hunter should be to safely rescue non-hunters, that is, civilians, from danger. But what’s with that guy? No matter how suspicious the situation was, a person had collapsed right in front of his nose, but he wasn’t even blinking an eye.
Still, Ha-seong thought this was enough, that he should just endure a little longer. The dungeon’s master was dead anyway. This place would soon collapse. Once he got outside, he’d just run away. It was a bit regrettable that he couldn’t farm items in the S-rank dungeon he’d encountered after so long, but the situation being what it was, there was nothing he could do.
Thud-
Then the ground started rumbling. It seemed the collapse was about to begin. He thought it was time now.
“…!”
Suddenly he felt a touch lifting his bangs. The bastard who had been crouching and just staring at the pitifully collapsed civilian’s face suddenly swept up Ha-seong’s forehead and lifted his bangs. After being startled by the cold body temperature for a moment, Ha-seong’s breath was momentarily blocked.
“Strange.”
What’s strange? Could it be his face? No, but he lived without hearing that his face was ugly anywhere, yet this guy was complaining it was strange right to his face. Ha-seong wanted to get up right now and swat away that hand, but he couldn’t. Since the ground trembling was getting worse anyway, complete collapse was imminent, so he should just endure a little longer.
“I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere…”
Do-hyeok muttered quietly, but his voice was buried in the sound of the dungeon collapsing.
Ha-seong desperately relaxed the strength in his body even more. No matter how heartless and merciless the bastard was, he wouldn’t just leave a collapsed civilian in a dungeon that had started collapsing and go out alone. As soon as Ha-seong thought that, he felt the bastard getting up. And immediately Ha-seong’s hoodie was lifted up.
‘What, don’t tell me he’s going to drag me out like this?’
He had hoped not, but once again Ha-seong’s “don’t tell me” was right. The bastard grabbed the hood tightly and then started dragging the collapsed Ha-seong along.
‘Damn, what kind of bastard is this?’
Ha-seong went outside like that, with his fists clenched tight, held in Do-hyeok’s grasp.
* * *
Kim Min-su, an employee of the Hunter Management Bureau’s Safety Management Division, was busy today controlling the area around the gate that had opened in the middle of Jongno. Since the gate that opened in the heart of the city had suddenly risen to S-rank, he had to be especially careful about safety.
Fortunately, the guild that had decided to attack this dungeon was Nameless. That guild had many capable hunters including Cha Do-hyeok, who was the number one ranker.
“Let me see… The team that decided to attack this dungeon today is…”
Kim Min-su held up a small tablet and opened the documents. Nameless Guild’s Team 3 led by Won Hye-seong. Won Hye-seong was a hunter who ranked within the top 30 and was a very capable person, so there was nothing to worry about. Moreover, Hye-seong had a very good personality too. Since Kim Min-su’s job was to confirm whether the gate had disappeared and the aftermath had been properly handled, he couldn’t hate facing difficult hunters more. Especially bastards like Cha Do-hyeok.
Kim Min-su shuddered as he thought of Cha Do-hyeok’s face. And then the gate’s energy began to grow faintly thin and a figure began to be visible from inside.
“Looks like it’s finished.”
Kim Min-su slowly approached the gate.
“Thank you for your hard work. Won Hye…”
And Kim Min-su gasped and swallowed his breath. The very person who had made him shudder just by thinking about him was coming out with a nonchalant face, and moreover, with something that looked like a person in his hand.
‘No, why is Cha Do-hyeok coming out from there?’
An expressionless face with cold eyes. It was definitely Cha Do-hyeok.
“It’s rude to stare at someone’s face like that.”
“Ah, I’m sorry. I heard that today’s attack team was Hunter Won Hye-seong. So…”
“Not Hye-seong, I did it.”
Do-hyeok dropped Ha-seong’s hood that he had been holding.
“Ah, I see. Then may I ask the reason…”
“I was bored waiting until meeting time.”
“Pardon?”
What kind of talk is that, you fart? Kim Min-su scrunched up his expression.
“But I went over time.”
Do-hyeok checked the time on his wristwatch with a face that seemed displeased about something. What on earth was he talking about? Even though he wanted to ask him to speak properly, it was difficult since the other party was that Cha Do-hyeok.
“Ah, it seems like someone got caught up in the gate. Here, this. I brought him out for now, so get him treated, and when he wakes up, contact our guild.”
“Yes.”
So that thing he brought out like luggage—no, that person—had been caught up in the gate. Kim Min-su, who had thought he had just beaten up someone again, stroked his chest in relief and approached behind Do-hyeok. Still, how pitiful. Of all things to get caught up in, it had to be an S-rank. But since he met an S-rank hunter, that person was quite lucky in his own way.
“Uh… wait a moment.”
Then Kim Min-su tilted his head.
“What.”
“He’s not here. That person.”
“What?”
Cha Do-hyeok turned around and looked behind him. The guy he had brought out earlier had disappeared without a trace. He had definitely been collapsed, so what was this? Moreover, if he had gotten up and disappeared, there was no way he wouldn’t have known. There was no way he wouldn’t have sensed his presence…
“Huh.”
Cha Do-hyeok let out an incredulous chuckle. He had roughly guessed that he wasn’t an ordinary civilian, but to hide his presence and disappear without Do-hyeok being able to notice. As expected, he wasn’t an ordinary guy.
“Hey! Cha Do-hyeok!”
Then someone shouted loudly from far away and came running. For Kim Min-su, who had been tense due to Cha Do-hyeok’s suddenly changed atmosphere, it couldn’t help but be a welcome face.
“What are you doing here, you bastard!”
It was Kang Won-hyeok, the vice guild leader of Nameless Guild.
“What do you mean what am I doing, I’m working.”
“No, I mean why are you doing it when it’s not even your job? That was Hye-seong’s attack assignment. And what’s with that damn document? Because of that, I ran all the way here!”
“I was bored.”
Cha Do-hyeok said exactly what he had written after crossing out lines on the document. Won-hyeok sighed, saying he knew it would be like this.
“Then finish quickly and come back to at least attend the meeting. What have you been doing to still be like this?”
“There was a bit of an incident inside. I collapsed for a moment too.”
“What…”
Before Won-hyeok could ask, Cha Do-hyeok looked at Kim Min-su, who was sighing in relief.
“Our guild’s purifier will come soon, so this place is fine, just search around the area.”
“Pardon?”
“You remember the appearance of the person I brought out earlier, right?”
“Yes, yes…”
“Find him. And contact me.”
Kim Min-su swallowed his resentment. This was why he didn’t want to get involved with Cha Do-hyeok. Even though he wanted to refuse, saying he couldn’t take on personal matters as a civil servant, if that person was really a civilian who had been caught up in the gate, he did need to find him and hear the whole story.
“Yes. I understand…”
Kim Min-su sighed at the increased workload and trudged away from the spot.
“Who are you telling him to find?”
Won-hyeok, who didn’t know the context, was just puzzled.
“Someone. Someone who seems like he’ll be interesting.”
Do-hyeok recalled what had happened earlier. The scene he had seen when he came to his senses and got up. Specifically, Ha-seong’s figure accurately parrying the S-rank monster’s attack.
Before he knew it, Do-hyeok’s eyes were rippling blue once again.
Notable Physical Description:
- Do-hyeok’s eyes change color from blue to black and back to blue, indicating different states
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
