Chapter 11
As always, Yoon-Hee’s day started at 6 AM.
Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she got up from the mattress placed in the corner of the living room and took a shower.
Do-Jun had insisted that she use his room and that he was completely fine with sleeping in the living room, but Yoon-Hee firmly refused, feeling that she was imposing on him.
After showering, Yoon-Hee took out a large envelope tucked between the bookshelves. It was an admission guide from the National Hunter Academy. The guide was one of the standard pieces of mail that all schools sent their students.
Yoon-Hee sighed, looking at the school mail.
Accompanying the admission guide was a second sheet of paper titled “Payment Notice.”
The notice stated that she needed to pay the tuition fee, which included equipment rental, instructor fees, and other facility maintenance costs, by the end of the month. Even with the national subsidy reducing the amount, it still was a staggering 50 million won.
“Failure to pay the tuition fee by the specified date may result in the cancellation or deferment of admission.”
“How am I supposed to tell him about this…?”
It wasn’t just a few million won. It was fifty.
Knowing Do-Jun’s salary and already grateful that he took her in when she had nowhere to go, Yoon-Hee found it difficult to bring up the topic of her school fees.
However, there was less than a week left until the deadline.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
“Oh, look at the time.”
It was 7 AM.
She had to start preparing breakfast soon, or Do-Jun might have to leave for work without eating.
Feeling pressed for time, she left the documents on the spot and walked to the kitchen.
***
At 7:20 AM, Do-Jun got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. That was when he noticed a pile of documents on the floor. He picked them up and slowly began to read.
“Oh, you’re up. Fath... Eek!” Yoon-Hee screamed and hurriedly ran to Do-Jun to quickly snatch the documents from him.
“D-did you read this?” she asked, her eyes wide.
“Yeah, it’s the admission guide, right? But why are you hiding it?”
Yoon-Hee sighed in relief, thinking he must not have seen the payment notice.
She smiled awkwardly, hid the documents behind her back, and said, “It’s nothing. Ah, breakfast is ready, so please eat.”
“Okay, I’ll eat after washing up. Thanks.”
“Hehe, it’s nothing. It’s my job here, after all.”
Such was their father-daughter relationship that was bound by a contract.
Do-Jun nodded and went to the bathroom.
***
Do-Jun checked his bank account balance on his phone.
[818,070 won.]
It was the result of his lack of thriftiness. Before his accident, even though he had worked at his current job for a year, Do-Jun hadn’t saved any of his pay, frequently ordering delivery food and buying beer.
Furthermore, Yoon-Hee’s living expenses were added to his own starting this month.
After deducting rent, food, transportation, communication, and other bills, there was simply nothing left.
Well, the admission fee was never listed in the contract, Do-Jun thought.
He turned off his phone and looked at the computer screen, trying to refocus on his work.
But for some reason, he just could not concentrate.
Without realizing it, he typed “loan” into the portal search bar and pressed enter.
He soon realized that, in his current state, it was impossible for him to borrow 50 million won in credit loans.
Of course, he could use third-party lending institutions, but the exorbitant interest rates would be unbearable.
Tap, tap, tap.
As Do-Jun drafted the income report for the goblin’s mana stones and corpses obtained while exploring the F-rank Fissure with Ye-Ji, he was slightly surprised to see that the total amount was just over 2 million won.
The byproducts of the monsters caught in the Fissure were all handed over to the contracted Hunter, but for Do-Jun, who was earning a salary of 3 million won, it was a considerable amount.
I wonder how much the mana stones of an A-rank monster would be worth.
Do-Jun searched for the price list of mana stones by rank and was utterly shocked.
Unlike the F-rank stones, which were 50,000 won each, the price increased exponentially as the rank went up. Even a B-rank stone was around 30 million won.
No wonder everyone wants to become a Hunter. A stone from an A-rank monster is... 200 million?
He could easily solve Yoon-Hee’s tuition problem by hunting just one monster.
But he couldn’t do that.
Entering the Fissure would leave a record.
For Do-Jun, entering a Fissure wasn’t a difficult task in itself. Civil servants from the Fissure Management Division were allowed to enter any Fissure freely, whether B-rank, A-rank, or even S-rank.
However, there was no precedent for this.
Fissures with a rank of B or higher were also known as the Great Fissures, and they were strictly and tacitly the domain of the Hunter’s Bureau.
But Do-Jun faced a problem. Entering a Fissure and taking down a monster would be fine. After all, catching a single monster was not a difficult task for Do-Jun at all. But if, by chance, rumors of his activity spread, his so-called normal civil service life would be over immediately.
Ah, this is tiring.
Being the center of attention was an exhausting affair.
There was a reason the term recluse was coined.
In the Central Plains, Do-Jun had lived more fiercely than anyone else, and when he finally stood at the peak of it all, the entire world’s attention was focused on him.
It was overwhelmingly exhausting.
“It’s nothing.”
Do-Jun suddenly recalled what Yoon-Hee had said in the morning. She had told a lie to avoid placing a burden on him.
If she had just asked for money directly, it would have been easier for him to forget about it.
“This is why I didn’t want to get attached.”
Do-Jun clicked his tongue, opened a drawer, and then took out a Hunter ID card labeled F that was covered in dust. It was an unused temporary pass card.
It was something issued to civil servants for Fissure entry back when the Fissure Management Division was first established in coordination with the Hunter’s Bureau.
Do-Jun logged into the administrative system and clicked on the Hunter Management tab.
Just this once.
Without drawing attention, he added an F-rank Hunter affiliated with the Fissure Management Division—just this once, a fictional person who would enter the Fissure on his behalf.
***
Saturday morning.
Do-Jun woke up at 6 AM and approached Yoon-Hee, sleeping in the corner of the living room. He carefully covered her with the blanket that had slipped off, making sure not to wake her. Then he quietly walked to the fridge and took out a note that read, “I’ll be back after work.”
He stuck the note on the fridge handle where it would be easily visible.
He put on a pair of shabby jeans and a stretched gray hoodie, pulled the hood over his head, and finished his attire with a white mask to cover his face.
Then he opened his smartphone and checked the location of the A-rank Fissure, Swamp of the Dark Ogre, saved in his photo gallery. It was at the entrance of Guryongsan Mountain in Yeomgok-dong, Seocho-gu.
Although he could travel there instantly using his lightfoot technique, he decided against it, recalling how the Hunter’s Bureau had detected him when he activated the Heavenly Demon Sword.
I should take a taxi.
Considering the distance, the taxi fare would be at least 20,000 won, but it was a feeble amount considering the income he would gain from taking down just one Dark Ogre.
Squeaaak.
Thud.
Shortly after the door closed, Yoon-Hee opened her eyes, got up from the mattress, and took the note off the fridge to read it.
“But it’s the weekend.”
Looking at the firmly closed front door, she felt a pang of guilt.
She also reaffirmed her decision not to mention the issue of tuition fees.
***
The taxi that dropped Do-Jun at the entrance of Guryongsan Mountain sped away along the road.
After confirming his location with a map application, he began walking toward the area where the Great Fissure was located.
“Restricted Access Zone.”
There was a sign prohibiting entry along with a chain-link fence.
Following the fence, his gaze fell on a securely locked gate a little distance away.
He walked over to the gate and held his Hunter ID card against the attached lock.
[Hunter Kim Hyun-Woo, confirmed.]
The gate opened, and Do-Jun entered the Guryongsan Mountain.
It wasn’t even 8 AM yet.
After walking for about twenty minutes, he saw what seemed to be a slit torn in the sky that appeared to be at least dozens of meters tall.
Hunter’s Bureau staff and military personnel were stationed at the entrance of all regular Fissures, ranked C and below. But that was not the case for Great Fissures. Do-Jun could enter the Great Fissure with his new ID alone, without scanning his fingerprint.
[Hunter Kim Hyun-Woo, confirmed.]
[Warning! The difficulty of the Fissure is too high for your Hunter rank. If you still wish to enter, please tap your card one more time.]
Beep.
***
The inside of the Fissure was a dark and damp swamp with dry, withered trees and algae-filled waters.
Though the overall atmosphere was dark, a faint moonlight illuminated the ground.
A few birds flew past Do-Jun and soared into the sky.
As he closed his eyes and extended his qi sense, he felt presences around him, likely those of monsters.
An F-rank Hunter, Kim Hyun-Woo, accidentally entered Guryongsan Mountain, an A-rank Great Fissure, without a clue before fleeing in terror.
I guess taking out one monster wouldn’t hurt.
Having formed the ideal scenario in his head, Do-Jun walked on, but that was when the entrance to the Fissure split open again, and three people appeared.
Do-Jun turned around to look.
***
“Who is that…?”
Han Dong-Hyun frowned, glaring at the hooded figure.
Though it was hard to identify the hooded man because of his white mask and the darkness typical of a swamp, one thing was certain.
“Is he just some crazy person?”
Despite this being in a Great Fissure, this man wasn’t wearing a suit, nor was he carrying any weapon.
If someone had entered an A-rank Great Fissure, they should have been a well-known Hunter.
But entering one in jeans, a hoodie, and a mask? It was never seen or heard of.
“I am Han Dong-Hyun from the Mejai Guild. Who are you?”
Do-Jun stayed silent.
“Don’t want to say it? Do you even know where you waltzed into?”
Do-Jun sighed.
At this point, making up a story of unknowingly stumbling into the Fissure wouldn’t work. He considered leaving but decided that he had already spent too much time getting here.
“Of course, I know,” Do-Jun said.
“Are you even a Hunter? Don’t you know coming in here dressed like that is practically suicide?” Dong-Hyun retorted.
“Thanks for the concern. But I’m just here to take down one monster, so don’t worry too much.”
Coincidently, at that moment, a big rumbling sound was heard.
Rrrrrrumble!
[A Fissure Distortion is occurring.]
[A Monarch Ogre is appearing.]
[During a Fissure Distortion, entering and exiting the Fissure is restricted.]
[If all challengers inside the Fissure die, the Fissure will be released.]
The ground shook.
“Fuck me…” Dong-Hyun cursed. His face turned grim.
Why was a Fissure Distortion, a rare phenomenon occurring only in Great Fissures and above, happening now?
“Turn on the emergency cam.”
The emergency cam was a miniature camera equipped with image recording capabilities. The Hunter’s Bureau provided it for Hunters above C-rank entering a Great Fissure in case of a Fissure Distortion.
When Hunters activated the emergency cam, the footage was transmitted in real-time to the Hunter’s Bureau. They assessed the situation inside the Fissure and prepared to dispatch S-rank Hunters if necessary.
If all the challengers inside the Fissure were to die, the monsters inside would all escape to Earth.
“I guess I’ll have to worry about you again. It seems like you won’t be able to just take down one and leave,” Dong-Hyun said to Do-Jun with a bitter laugh, his face pale.
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