Chapter 18
“I didn’t expect to run into you here,” Min-Hyuk said with a slightly surprised expression.
Why was Ye-Ji inside a Great Fissure where B-rank monsters like trolls appeared?
I didn’t expect her to come this far in such a short time, Min-Hyuk thought.
It was just a month ago that she was labeled an F-rank Hunter.
Ye-Ji’s Mana is 10, and she shouldn’t have received any physical enhancement since then.
No matter how he tried to look at it, it was close to impossible for her to defeat a troll.
Or is she just tagging along?
However, he couldn’t overlook the champion troll’s corpse with wounds that were undoubtedly from sword strikes. Of the four Hunters present, Ye-Ji was the only one who wielded a sword.
“You’ve grown, Hunter Ye-Ji,” Min-Hyuk said.
“Thank you,” Ye-Ji murmured softly.
Min-Hyuk noticed that Ye-Ji was grabbing onto the end of Do-Jun’s shirt. This act only meant one thing: she relied on him.
But why?
He was just an average civil servant, nothing more, nothing less. Especially to the Hunters, he was truly no different than an ordinary civilian.
On the other hand, Ye-Ji was a Hunter—not just any Hunter, but an above-average one who could apparently handle B-rank monsters.
“We appreciate the suit you gave us, Hunter Min-Hyuk,” Do-Jun said with a smile.
“Well… a bet is a bet.”
Then came the awkward silence, and the heavy atmosphere weighed on everyone’s shoulders.
Choi Ho-Jun rolled his eyes and looked at Do-Jun and Min-Hyuk. What the fuck is this shit? Are these two enemies or something?
While they were both smiling, they didn’t seem close at all. The tension was palpable.
“Senior Min-Hyuk, please stop.” Min-Ji sighed and nudged Min-Hyuk’s side.
Min-Hyuk’s smile faded. “Tsk.”
He just went deeper into the Fissure, and the roars of trolls followed shortly after.
“My senior can be a bit mischievous. Please try to understand.” Min-Ji smiled as she approached Do-Jun and handed him a business card with the Icarus Guild’s contact details.
“By the way, if you ever change your mind, feel free to contact us anytime.”
“What do you mean?” Do-Jun asked.
“Handing Ye-Ji over to our guild.”
“You are… Han Min-Ji, right?” Do-Jun said.
Ye-Ji’s grip on Do-Jun’s clothes tightened.
“I...” But before she could even finish, Do-Jun took the business card from Min-Ji. Ye-Ji’s eyes wavered, looking up at Do-Jun with an uneasy gaze.
“Gasp!”
“W-what are you doing!”
Choi Ho-Jun and Park Sung-Min were startled at the scene that unfolded next.
Do-Jun tore up the Icarus Guild’s business card.
“What are you trying to tell me, Supervisor Lee?” Min-Ji asked.
“I don’t concern myself with others. I’m sure most people are like this, too.”
The corners of Do-Jun’s mouth were slightly upturned. He was definitely smiling, but his eyes were cold.
W-what is this?
Min-Ji stepped back out of pure instinct without even realizing it. Cold sweat trickled down her body, and she felt suffocated by the oppressive feeling.
Do-Jun continued, “But if that ‘other people’ is one of ‘my people,’ then it’s a different story.” As he opened his clenched hand, the torn pieces of the business card scattered to the ground. “This is your last warning. Don’t meddle in matters beyond your business, and keep telling me whether to hand her over or not. It’s extremely unpleasant.”
***
Sizzle.
The pork on the grill over the charcoal was cooking deliciously.
The Fissure Exploration Unit staff were having a casual outing near Seoul City Hall in a samgyeopsal restaurant in Bukchang-dong Food Alley. [1]
“Pahaha! So, then, Mr. Administrator was like!” An extremely drunk Ye-Ji put down her soju glass and shouted, “I’m the one who’s going to protect my people!”
Hearing that, Cheol-Soo laughed heartily and turned to Do-Jun. “Do-Jun, is that true? Kyahahaha!”
“I’m telling you, it is! Hehe, isn’t that riiiight, Mr. Administrator?”
“That never happened,” Do-Jun said firmly, then downed a glass of water in one gulp.
After that incident, Min-Hyuk and Min-Ji handled all the monsters in the Fissure, including the boss monster, and the Fissure was closed.
I should’ve just stayed quiet, Do-Jun thought with a sigh.
Honestly, they annoyed him a bit. So, he said what he had to say to Min-Ji to draw a clear line this time.
Anyway, the Icarus Guild won’t like me too much from now on.
To be precise, the two S-rank Hunters, Min-Hyuk and Min-Ji, would likely have that sentiment.
Do-Jun sighed, thinking there might be some troublesome times ahead.
“Tearing up their business card might have been a bit too much,” Hyuk-Soo said as he looked at Do-Jun with concern.
The Icarus Guild was one of the top guilds in the country. Do-Jun was well aware of their significant influence on the Hunter industry.
“I’m sorry about that—” Do-Jun started his apology.
But Hyuk-Soo cut it short. “But man, is it satisfying hearing about it.”
“Sorry?”
Hyuk-Soo grinned and continued, “Do-Jun, I believe that you should bow when you need to but also get angry when needed. The Icarus Guild is indeed a big deal, but that doesn’t mean we always have to let them walk all over us. Who are they to tell us to hand over Hunter Ye-Ji? You did well. Unless Hunter Ye-Ji leaves of her own accord, it’s not right to treat her like some object.”
“Yeah, man. At times, it’s okay to mess with those big-shot S-rank Hunters! Hahaha!” Cheol-Soo said that and then slammed his nose into the table. Then he started snoring.
This was the consequence of the binge drinking with Ye-Ji.
“Since the establishment of the Fissure Management Division, there have been many ups and downs. Some questioned whether mere civil servants could handle the domain of Hunters. Well, there were parts they were wrong about, but they were also right about some. After all, we can’t handle everything ourselves without any Skills or Awakenings.” Hyuk-Soo paused to take a breath. “But we’re doing pretty well in our own way, right?”
He filled Do-Jun’s empty glass with soju and lifted his own glass.
“Do-Jun.”
“Yes, senior.”
“Am I also considered one of ‘your people’?”
Do-Jun nodded with a slight smirk.
At that moment, Ye-Ji extended her glass as well. “Hehe, Mr. Administratoooor.”
“Chief is completely passed out, and Hunter Ye-Ji is quite drunk, too. Let’s call it a night after this one, hahaha!” Hyuk-Soo let out a hearty laugh that he had never shown before.
Clink!
The three soju glasses clinked in mid-air.
As Do-Jun downed the soju that could never make him drunk, he thought to himself that he would protect the peaceful daily lives of his people.
***
By the time he returned home, it was only 10 PM.
When he opened the front door and entered the living room, Yoon-Hee greeted him with quick steps, as she always did.
“Welcome home.”
“Thanks. Did you have dinner?”
“I did. You must be tired... Oh? Did you buy new clothes?”
Despite Do-Jun’s effort to choose something similar to his clothes, she immediately noticed the subtle changes.
Do-Jun nodded and changed the subject.
“They were too old. I’m going to wash up right away.”
“Oh…” When Yoon-Hee hesitated, Do-Jun realized that she had something to say.
He sat at the dining table and hung his outer coat on the chair. “Can you make me a cup of tea?”
“Of course!” Yoon-Hee hurried to the kitchen, filled the kettle with water, and turned it on. Taking out two tea bags from the drawer, she placed them in the cups.
Then silence followed.
She immediately wanted to ask about the Hunter ID card and mana stone fragments she found in Do-Jun’s desk drawer. She didn’t want to believe it, but a growing suspicion lingered in her heart that maybe, just maybe, Do-Jun could be a Hunter.
Come to think of it, Ye-Ji is also a Hunter, she remembered.
Do-Jun had said that his colleague Ye-Ji was doing it as a side hustle in secret, but upon some pondering, it didn’t make any sense. Civil servants were prohibited from having a second job.
Of course, some people might secretly take under-the-table jobs out of necessity, but Seoul City Hall would be informed if they registered as Hunters.
The premise of not getting caught didn’t make sense.
I got him right now.
“Yoon-Hee, I think the water has boiled.”
But what if Father really is a Hunter...?
“Yoon-Hee.”
Could she ask him to quit being a Hunter?
Maybe that’s how he was able to come up with the 50 million won…
Lost in her thoughts, Yoon-Hee was startled to see Do-Jun suddenly beside her. “Eek!”
“What are you thinking about, zoning out like that?”
“O-oh, it’s nothing. I’m sorry. I’ll make the tea right away.”
Yoon-Hee quickly reached for the kettle. But just as she was about to pour the water into the cup, it fell out of her hand.
Without time to dodge, she thought the kettle would fall on her foot.
However, Do-Jun quickly caught the falling kettle before it hit the floor. “You’ve got to be more careful.”
“I-I’m sorry. But… Father, w-why are you holding the kettle that way?”
“Huh?”
Yoon-Hee quickly grabbed the handle, removed the kettle from Do-Jun’s hand, and examined his palm. Do-Jun had grabbed the kettle at its base, which was bound to be hot. His hand should’ve been burned, or at least that’s what she thought.
“Huh?” Yoon-Hee exclaimed in surprise.
“What’s wrong?”
“A-are you okay?” she asked.
Do-Jun’s hand looked fine on the surface. From what Yoon-Hee knew, the kettle’s base could reach several hundred degrees after heating. It was natural to get a burn from touching it with bare hands.
“I’m fine. Just be more careful next time,” Do-Jun assured her.
“What are you talking about?! Quick, put your hand in cold water.”
“Huh? What’s wrong with you?”
“Was that not hot? You just grabbed the kettle’s base!” Yoon-Hee said incredulously.
In that split second, the scenario from a few seconds ago played through Do-Jun’s mind. He quickly turned on the tap and put his hand under the running water. Then, he frowned and pretended to be in pain.
“See! Geez! We have a burn ointment somewhere; hold on a second.”
Do-Jun sighed in relief as he watched Yoon-Hee run to the living room to get the first aid kit and look for the burn ointment.
That was close. She would’ve been suspicious if I had acted like nothing happened, Do-Jun rebuked himself mentally.
This level of heat couldn’t harm Do-Jun’s Indestructible body at all; in fact, it couldn’t cause him even a bit of pain.
“You need to keep it under running water for about twenty minutes,” Yoon-Hee instructed him.
He nodded.
After the twenty minutes, Yoon-Hee examined Do-Jun’s hand and tilted her head in confusion.
Why does it look fine?
Yoon-Hee still applied burn ointment on Do-Jun’s palm and put a bandage over it.
“Thank you.”
“No, it was my fault for being careless in the first place... I’m really sorry.”
“Anyway, it looked like you had something to tell me,” Do-Jun tried to continue their conversation.
But Yoon-Hee shook her head, thinking this wasn’t the right moment to ask. Instead, she broached a different topic.
“Oh, right.”
She stood up, took a piece of paper from her bag, and showed it to Do-Jun.
“This is…”
It was a notice about a school admission ceremony.
“I just wanted to let you know... I’m not asking you to come, since I know you’re busy... And it’s on a weekday…” Yoon-Hee said hesitatingly, looking at Do-Jun.
Do-Jun checked the date of the admission ceremony: it was the following Monday.
1. samgyeopsal is pork belly. ☜
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