The Unemployed Life of a Hunter 9

Ha-seong started today’s routine just like any other day. No, to be precise, he was making tremendous efforts to make it seem no different from usual. Because that damn drawing that resembled him was still floating around in his head, he hadn’t been sleeping well lately.

Was he such a weak human being? When he was in the previous world, he could handle being stuck with monsters in dungeons for days without a problem. To think his daily life would be shaken just from encountering one hunter. And it was funny that he was being shaken as much as he was being shaken.

As soon as Ha-seong woke up early, he washed first and roughly packed his things. But what could he do? To survive in this harsh world, having to work without rest remained unchanged. Why, wasn’t there such a saying? Even if zombies that bite people suddenly appeared in this world, modern people would have to commute to work through those zombies.

Ha-seong was the same. Even if the situation was a bit unstable, there was nothing he could do. He couldn’t ruin his unemployed dream over such a happening. When Ha-seong was about to pack his purifier license last, the boar that had woken up at some point was staring intently at that license.

“What are you doing? Go away.”

[But, Ha-seong-nim. Aren’t you a hunter?]

“Uh. No.”

Ha-seong answered without hesitation. Then the pig tilted its head and asked.

[That’s strange. I was sure you were a hunter…]

“Do I look like that to your eyes too?”

[Pardon?]

“Do I look like a hunter to your eyes and all that?”

Ha-seong stopped packing and sat next to the pig, asking with a serious face.

Thinking about it carefully, doing purifier work meant he would have to keep encountering hunters from now on. Although the moments they faced each other were only when exchanging initial greetings, and when receiving payment after coming out from item farming and doing gate purification work… even those short moments were worrying because of that damn drawing. Because of the thought of what if they recognized him.

[Uh… um… first of all, I saw you fighting in the dungeon directly! Anyone who saw that would think you’re a hunter, wouldn’t they?]

The pig was saying only right things today. He had been continuously worried about whether that blue-eyed hunter he encountered in that dungeon might have seen his combat scenes.

“Why. These days, among ordinary people, there are so many who are good at sports and good at fighting.”

Ha-seong laid out his own sophistry. Then the pig scrunched up its expression.

[Come on, even so, that’s not right! Ha-seong-nim, looking at you, you have a very naive side, don’t you?]

“Be quiet, dude.”

Ha-seong gave a light flick to the forehead of the giggling pig. Then the pig made an “oink” sound and stopped laughing abruptly.

“I’m going out.”

[If you’re going to work, I want to follow you too!]

What was it saying? When Ha-seong glared sharply, the pig read the room and gently came to Ha-seong’s side, sticking to his leg. He wanted to remove it right away, but perhaps because it was a pig, it had considerable strength. Well, this was the guy who had grabbed onto his leg that was being dragged and followed him to the end even in that collapsing dungeon.

“Don’t get in the way.”

In the end, it was Ha-seong who surrendered.

[Hehe. Yes!]

Ha-seong left the house with a heart full of regret, thinking that he indeed shouldn’t have entered that dungeon that day.

* * *

“Then I’ll start the purification work.”

Ha-seong, who had finished farming in the dungeon and come out, completed the purification work as usual and slowly approached the guild that had made the request.

“Thank you for your hard work. Here’s the payment.”

“Thank you.”

“Um, but…”

That’s when one of the hunters who had handed over the payment tilted his head and looked Ha-seong up and down. He even drew out his words as if he had something to say.

‘What? Don’t tell me he recognized me? No, he recognized me from that kind of drawing?’

“By any chance…”

By any chance? Ha-seong gulped. What if he asked about that drawing or asked about Nameless Guild? What to do? There was only one thing to do. Deny it unconditionally. It wasn’t even a photo, just a drawing at best, and there wouldn’t be any other evidence. He just had to play dumb.

“Right?”

Then the hunter who had been staring at Ha-seong with an uncertain face clapped his hands and shouted happily. Damn. Did he really recognize me? These days, is there some item that makes even earthworm-like drawings look realistic?

“That’s not me.”

Ha-seong quickly shook his head and denied it. He didn’t know for sure, but he had to deny it unconditionally first.

“Huh? It’s not?”

“I said it’s not.”

Then that hunter went “That’s strange…” and stroked his chin. When I said it wasn’t me, why was he being so persistent? Ha-seong wondered if he should run away, but that would obviously raise more suspicion.

“That’s a fire-breathing boar, isn’t it?”

“No… what?”

Looking closely at where the hunter was pointing, the direction was subtly different. It seemed he wasn’t pointing at his face but at the pig riding on his shoulder.

“Ah, this?”

Ha-seong patted his surprised chest. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like he was trying to talk about that drawing. Anyway, they say the one who farted gets angry. Ha-seong was exactly in that situation, getting angry by himself for no reason. How embarrassing.

“This is just a boar.”

“Kyu?”

Then the pig made a strange sound and looked at Ha-seong. Just a boar? This pig was clearly a monster, unlike ordinary pigs. And it wasn’t just any boar either. It was a fire-breathing boar, so Ha-seong’s words couldn’t help but be statements that ignored its identity.

“It’s just a pig I picked up in the mountains. How could a purifier like me go around taming monsters?”

“Ah… that’s true.”

Ha-seong covered the mouth of the pig that kept crying and quickly escaped from that place. When he told the pig that if it kept crying and interfering like that, he would throw it into a dungeon, the pig became relatively quiet.

But strangely, today in particular, things that made his heart sink kept happening.

‘But… by any chance…’

‘That’s not me.’

‘Huh? No, I was wondering how you take care of your skin, could I get some information? Your skin is glowing…’

There was a hunter who suddenly said his skin was too good and asked him to tell his skincare routine.

‘Excuse me, by any chance.’

‘Yes. That’s not me.’

‘Huh? No, that’s not it, do you happen to know any good restaurants around here? We couldn’t eat lunch.’

‘Ah… there’s a famous snack bar on the main street.’

Even guys suddenly demanding information about good restaurants. It was quite varied. Normally, when working, he didn’t have conversations beyond what was necessary with hunters. He only spoke when occasionally sharp guys seemed like they would find fault asking if purifiers could do this, and if it wasn’t such a case, he would just do his work and take what he needed to take and part ways cleanly.

But they say when you go out, it’s market day – today he was only meeting hunters who asked very personal questions. Ever since that drawing started floating around on the internet, nothing was going right. This was all because of that damn hunter. Cha Do-hyeok or whatever his name was.

Ha-seong eventually didn’t take any more requests and went straight home. If he continued working with this mindset, his lifespan might be cut in half. Anyway, today he had collected quite a few decent items, so he thought it would be okay to get off work now.

* * *

“Hah… what is this because of that guy?”

Ha-seong let out a deep sigh and toweled his wet hair. After that, he closed requests and went straight to Boss Kim’s shop to sell a few items and returned home, and it was already evening. After throwing a few cabbages to the pig, Ha-seong turned on the TV.

<Yes, today is the day when the results of the male hunter appearance ranking that was conducted last time are finally announced!>

A popular variety show that was currently doing trendy street surveys was being broadcast.

With the MC’s shout, Cha Do-hyeok’s face appeared huge on the screen. Ha-seong let out a deep sigh. Why? Until now, not even the letter ‘Cha’ from Cha Do-hyeok had ever caught his eye. But lately, Cha Do-hyeok kept flickering in Ha-seong’s sight, causing no small amount of stress.

Ha-seong eventually picked up the remote and switched to another channel. When he moved to a terrestrial channel, news was flowing just in time.

News would be fine. Ha-seong nodded, thinking he finally had something to watch.

<Yes. You probably already know that the gate that opened in Jongno 3-ga suddenly rose to S-rank. But the dungeon strategy was successful without any damage. The protagonist is none other than Nameless’s Hunter Cha Do-hyeok…>

“Argh!”

Ha-seong eventually let out a single scream and turned off the TV. It was about Cha Do-hyeok again. Ha-seong let out a deep sigh and went into his room to lie on the bed. Right, let’s sleep. Let’s think about it after sleeping and waking up.

Ha-seong told himself not to think complicatedly and not to worry excessively, and slowly closed his eyes. Fortunately, perhaps because he was tired from not sleeping well lately, he felt sleepy today.

Bzz-

But on this unlucky day, as if not allowing even that sweet sleep, the phone he had placed by his bedside rang loudly.

“Hah… who is it? In the middle of the night…”

Ha-seong got up irritated, kicking off his blanket. They say the worst things are those who bother you when eating and those who wake you from sweet sleep. Rubbing his eyes and looking at the screen, there was a number that was familiar but not saved.

“…Hello.”

Ha-seong answered the phone after some thought.

– Ah, by any chance… is this Purifier Do Ha-seong’s phone?

A familiar voice was coming through the receiver.

“Yes, it is. Who is this?”

– I don’t know if you’ll remember, but I’m the guild leader of Sewon who requested purification a week ago.

Sewon? Ha-seong narrowed his eyes and began earnestly searching through his memories.

‘I’ll call you again if there’s another opportunity.’

Ah, I remembered. That hunter who had been suspecting Ha-seong with sharp eyes. The opponent who had completely fallen for Ha-seong’s acting skills that would make famous award-winning actors step aside. The one who praised him saying he was a person with firm beliefs and will… what was his name again…

“Ah, Hunter Kang Hyun-jun from Sewon?”

– Yes. That’s right! You remember.

“Yes yes. But what’s this about at this late hour…”

– I’m sorry. I know it’s rude, but an unexpected situation arose, so I contacted your personal number. Would it be possible to request purification right now? Ha-seong-ssi is the only purifier we can contact immediately.

“Ah…”

Ha-seong fell into contemplation. He was someone who considered sleep the most important thing in life after food, clothing, and shelter. When he worked like a dog, there were many times he couldn’t sleep properly. His superiors who made Ha-seong work used to say that you could sleep even after death. Having been treated like that, regular sleep was so precious to Ha-seong.

“…Yes. I’ll go. Please send me the location.”

– Ah, thank you! There’s still time until the dungeon opens. Come slowly.

Ha-seong hung up and roughly grabbed any hoodie to wear. Normally he would have refused, but today he hadn’t taken many requests and came back right away, so his earnings were slightly below quota. He had to fill it up somehow.

Fortunately, the location was Olympic Park, which wasn’t too far.

When he took the bus there, there was a warning sign announcing closure and what appeared to be a Management Bureau employee in front of the park. Ha-seong showed his purifier license to the Management Bureau employee and slowly entered inside. By now, the hunters would be fighting hard in the dungeon inside the gate, so Ha-seong had to wait for the clear in front of it.

“Ah, I’m sleepy.”

Ha-seong yawned and confirmed the location that appeared to be the gate, then sat down nearby. And a few minutes later, the gate’s energy slowly began to fade.

It ended quickly. Ha-seong, who had been dozing off, straightened his body. Now all he had to do was roughly farm in the dungeon where monsters had been cleanly dealt with, receive payment from Kang Hyun-jun, go home and sleep again, and everything would be okay.

When Ha-seong was reviewing his perfect plan in his head, someone slowly walked out from beyond the gate. He could tell without looking. It would be Sewon’s guild leader.

Thinking that, he approached closer to the gate. But Ha-seong’s footsteps stopped abruptly before long. The person who came out of the gate alone. Ha-seong held his breath as he faced that person.

“Mm.”

The man who crossed the gate wiped the blood on his forehead and faced Ha-seong. A man with blue eyes. The guy who had been scratching Ha-seong’s nerves just a few hours ago by appearing on variety shows and news.

“Finally found you.”

The man who approached Ha-seong was Cha Do-hyeok, wearing a fishy smile.