I had no sense of where and how he had started misunderstanding things. But instead of correcting his misunderstanding, I stared quietly at him.
'What the hell did he misunderstand?'
Then the bastard went ahead and confessed the context of his own distortion.
“I have high mana sensitivity compared to my rank. I can tell whether someone is S-rank, A-rank, or some completely absurd B-rank.”
“Just from Skill use?”
“Yeah. And among A-rank Hunters, I’m practically at the top. But you....”
Roman shut his mouth tightly, as if his pride had been scraped away, then snapped his head aside.
“Weren’t you especially close with Chase?”
I was genuinely curious now. In the Dungeon, he had come charging at me, saying he would avenge him, and yet his spirit had been crushed this badly just because he got knocked out after taking a few hits?
At that, the bastard unfolded some strange logic I had not expected at all.
“Chase was good to me. Not only me. Everyone in our crew liked him.”
“.......”
“But not enough that I’d want to get on the bad side of a high-rank Hunter from another country. One reason we stayed close to Chase was because he was a strong Hunter who didn’t lose anywhere.”
“You’re kind of like a primitive tribe.”
He wasn’t some primitive tribe or a pack animal.... It was a fascinating way of thinking. Was there some side effect where, once your rank got above a certain point, your intelligence dropped and your instincts were maximized?
Roman’s jaw twitched, expressing his displeasure.
“I thought you’d killed Chase by some kind of trick.”
“.......”
“But he purely lost....”
If we were talking about pure defeat, shouldn’t he be going to Sung Uijae, not me....
But I had no intention of telling him the truth.
'It’s not like I lied. He misunderstood on his own, so why bother?'
“In any case, I... hope you won’t hold any malice toward me. I don’t plan to fight strong Hunters.”
“If I had just been B-rank, you would have fought me?”
“......?”
Roman tilted his head as if he did not understand why that question had come back at all, then answered.
“Obviously?”
“Oh....”
So, in other words...... he picked his opponents and attacked weaker people first.
“When killing monsters too, it’s right to kill monsters weaker than me first. Do you not know how Dungeon rank assignments work?”
“I like how consistent you are. No need to get confused.”
At his proud declaration of being strong against the weak and weak against the strong, which I had not heard in a while, even the last of my desire to argue disappeared.
“As soon as I woke up, I told the others not to provoke you either.”
“Right.... Communication is going really well somehow.”
“We don’t make trouble with S-rank Hunters. S-ranks are... born with something wrong in their heads. It’s hard to have that much ability and still think normally.”
That was something I agreed with to a certain extent. I would not say all of them were insane like Chase Holt, but the S-rank Hunters around me were all mental cases with abnormal thought processes.
“It seems one of my companions already informed Nate, but can you clean up that much....? You looked close with Nate anyway.”
“Sure.”
The moment I answered briefly and turned to leave, Roman suddenly caught me. I waited a moment, wondering if he had something to say, and the bastard asked something out of nowhere.
“So why are you going around saying you’re B-rank? This is a violation of international law.”
“Mm.... I don’t think it is?”
Because I was not S-rank in the first place.
But Roman seemed to have misunderstood that too through some strange context and slowly nodded. It seemed to mean he would keep quiet...... but whether he talked or not was none of my business.
After the conversation with Roman ended and I walked back down the hallway alone, I saw a familiar face.
Sung Uijae, who was sitting on a sofa placed in the hall and quietly watching me, gestured for me to come closer. When I obediently went nearby, Sung Uijae hit the sofa, meaning I should sit beside him.
“If you have something to say, say it.”
“...I don’t want to scold you over something already past, and whether you intended it or it was coincidence, you’ll claim it was coincidence, so I’ll stop here.”
“Yes.”
“At what point did Chase die?”
I looked quietly down at Sung Uijae, who was sitting on the sofa, and answered.
“You weren’t the one who killed him, Hunter Sung.”
“Does that mean you did?”
“Well.... I don’t think I did.”
“Look, Hunter Seo. Do you know who gets punished between the person who delivered a poisoned cupcake and the person who put in the poison?”
Cupcake, my ass.... What a cute little metaphor.
“No idea.”
“Usually both.”
“Wouldn’t it be the fault of the person who built up enough karma to eat a poisoned cupcake?”
“That’s a very dangerous thought.”
Sung Uijae shook his head with a sigh. Then he suddenly asked something else.
“Why are you in a cold war with your friend?”
“Cold war?”
“During the entire meeting earlier, your friend was looking only at the table with a face like they were losing their mind. You’re not doing weird relationship business, right? You don’t have that open relationship mindset or whatever, do you? Dating several people at once.”
“Why are you so interested in my love life? Do you want in?”
“What a horrible thing to say....”
Sung Uijae frowned and waved his hand, then said shortly,
“Go.”
“Yes.”
“Are you leaving the country today?”
“Well.... I probably can’t, can I?”
When I answered half-heartedly, only then did Sung Uijae nod as if he understood. I stared at him for a moment, then turned my back and left.
On the way back to my room to wait, a call came in. Instead of answering, I shoved the phone straight into my pocket.
I did not bother checking the caller, but I knew who it was.
'Right, it’s about time to contact me.'
After arriving in the room, I called back.
A moment later, a familiar voice that felt like I had not heard it in a long time reached my ear.
— Yes, Jehyun.
“It’s been a while.”
— Congratulations on clearing the Dungeon. I was going to go support you... but, well, there was a Hunter so stubbornly insisting that they had to go personally that I gave up.
“Yes....”
— When did you get that affectionate? Or... did you know each other from before?
The openly probing question did not contain any serious curiosity.
When I did not answer, Im Haekyung moved on to the next topic on their own.
— Actually, because Taehan was so proactive, public opinion improved quite a bit. Did you look it up? Of course, I know you aren’t the type to look up that sort of thing.
“That’s fascinating. I fought Hunter Kwon here.”
If it had been any other time, Im Haekyung would have sighed or kept silent, but this time, they paused for a moment with an, “Mm,” then offered an entirely random option.
— So what do you want to do?
“What?”
— You can stay in Australia for a few more days... and travel. Isn’t there an island with little animals? Those slightly rat-like ones....
“Quokkas?”
— You can go see things like that.
Was this bastard joking?
“Why would I go see something like that?”
— I suppose watching animals isn’t your hobby. Well... even if not that, I meant you can think of it as a vacation and stay comfortably for a few more days before returning.
Im Haekyung suggested it in a gentle voice, as if they were truly doing me a favor.
“Vacation?”
— Yes. You’ll probably... be busy for a while, so you should enjoy it now.
“.......”
Im Haekyung laughed low and added,
— It’s time for you to change jobs, isn’t it?
Moving to Haeseong.
It had been brought up several times, but until now, I had never been practically notified of it, so it had not immediately occurred to me.
'In this situation?'
When I gave no answer, the bastard laughed softly as if it did not matter either way. Once the faint laughter stopped, Im Haekyung spoke as if something had occurred to them.
— Ah.
“......?”
— How many plane seats do you need? I thought I should know.
***
Kwon Taehan going to clear the Australian S-rank Dungeon is fucking hilarious
When Seo Jehyun rammed Kwon Taehan with his car and the two of them grabbed each other by the collars, the whole country was playing detective and saying their relationship was fucking awful, but the people involved themselves are... damn
Comments
— Now that’s some intense love lololololol
— Did Kwon Taehan say he’d go himself?
└ Then did someone else pick him and send him?
└ The level of manly friendship is insane ??: Only you can kill me
— Then it wasn’t because they had a bad relationship????
└ It’s love-hate
└ An intense expression of love
└ A pledge of manly friendship
└ ??: I will leave an eternal mark on you
Then what happened to Seo Jehyun being an asshole?
Did it get settled as sudden acceleration?
Comments
— Yeah, sudden acceleration of love
└ Fuck, that’s so damn funny lololololol
└ lololololololololol crazy bastard
— Only the people involved would know. Maybe they got closer after he hit him with the car?
└ What kind of bullshit is that lololololol fuck
└ I got into an accident not long ago too, and the fault was 10:0, so I got some sweet financial therapy. When I looked at my bank balance, I felt like I could even be friends with the other driver. I almost went straight to find them and kiss them.
└ Crazy bastard
So is Seo Jehyun going to Haeseong after all?
Public opinion got fucking good again because of this S-rank Dungeon clear
Hunters really do get fans even after hitting someone with a car, fuck their lives lol
Comments
— He’ll go
— Even if I were Seo Jehyun, I’d go to Haeseong; for us, it’s basically like getting a job at Seongmu, so why the fuck wouldn’t you?
— But why does Im Haekyung keep recruiting Seo Jehyun? Because they’re close?
└ Looking at Im Haekyung’s personality, the angle is obvious. They spent their life eating Pyongyang cold noodles, then suddenly tried buldak, so of course they can’t get a grip
└ Bad boy hits different
└ As expected of the original scandal owner, damn....
└ This side is the real love. Kwon Taehan is friendship
└ Stop making gay jokes, you socially clueless loser
└ Why is this bastard so pressed? Does he want to get topped?
