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Dark-Haired Beast (6)
As Sayun passed through the gate, Geonjoo, who had lost his focus, heard Jongsik asking him to follow him, and only then did he come to his senses.
“…Can we leave like this?”
“What?”
“…Someone is dead.”
“How can people not die in this field?”
Sayun replied in a plain tone, sighing when he saw Geonjoo wearing a confused face, unable to comprehend what Sayun was saying.
Of course newbies would be uncomfortable with this.
It was easy to get along with the guys who had been in the hunter world for a while, but if there was a newbie with a firm sense of morality because he hadn’t been stained with blood yet, there were many cases where the conversation wouldn’t go as well as it was now.
If you’re strong, you live. If you’re weak, you die. Sometimes, people were more afraid of humans than monsters, so when they saw a strong person, they had to save their own lives. Just like the guards a while ago. If they bowed their heads, then there was nothing to say.
The government didn’t usually intervene in stuff like these, so it only went back to the implicit rules between hunters. Geonjoo felt repulsed by the fact that Sayun killed another person, so he felt quite frustrated.
Of course, murder was a crime, but he was about to enter a crime guild.
Sayun called the quest window to confirm the relationship status that had turned into hostility and boundaries, then looked at Jongsik. Sayun gazed at him as if he was asking Jongsik to explain it for him, then placed his hand on Geonjoo’s shoulder.
“Brother has always been good at killing people, so get used to it.”
“…?”
‘This bastard?’
Sayun asked him to explain how the situation was, but Jongsik ended up explaining how broken his personality was instead. Of course, Han Geonjoo’s expression changed more and more, and it was the same with Sayun.
“But it’s not easy to catch and kill innocent people, and if someone bothers you like this, you’ll have to kill them so that they don’t get in the way of Brother’s mood…”
“Come on, you punk!”
Slap!
Sayun raised his hand and slapped Jongsik across the back of his head. Surprised, he turned around with a confused expression, and Sayun hit him twice more in disgust.
“I asked you to explain what the hunter world is like, and what are you talking about? You’re annoying, Jongsik. You’re getting on my nerves.”
It was a mistake to ask him to take care of it, even though he knew how dense he was. Jongsik clenched his fist and raised his hand to rub the back of his head, expressing his indignation.
“Brother told me to explain!”
“I told you to explain? Alright, it’s my fault for leaving it to you.”
He sighed, as Jongsik looked more tearful as he went on. Sayun felt sorry for trying to hit him one more time, so he caved in. Instead, he pushed Jongsik out of the way and took his place, which seemed to pass on a dozen methods to Geonjoo on how to not bother Sayun.
The 22-year-old hunter looked at the beaten-up Jongsik with confused eyes. Sayun grabbed Geonjoo’s attention by snapping his fingers.
“He can’t explain it anymore, so talk to me, pretty one.”
“What?”
“What do I mean? I mean, let’s have a talk about what kind of place you set your foot in.”
Sayun lowered his voice as he put his arm on the puzzled newbie’s shoulder.
“Among those who worked as hunters, there’s nobody who hasn’t ever killed a person, pretty. This place is not as safe and docile as you think.”
“What do you mean?”
“Quite literally. Not a day goes by when a person’s life isn’t taken. Whether it’s due to betrayal, a raid, or being misled by a madman. Everyone goes through a situation like that at some point and ends up having to kill someone to survive. As the years go by, things like this will become more common.”
“…”
“You’re smart. Did you really think that all hunters do is catch monsters?”
The moment you entered a gate was like stepping into a lawless zone. No matter how new he was, he would’ve passed the beginner’s gate, so Geonjoo must’ve had that level of common sense.
He didn’t have the ability to kill monsters yet, so he had been struggling to survive that way. That was how most of the hunters became official hunters.
It was a place like that.
That was the hunter world.
It was a dirty and cold world, not the tough and mysterious things that ordinary people thought of. Tolerant of the strong and cruel to the weak.
“Just look at the gates. If you were to ask someone how others died, it would all come down to saying that they were attacked by a monster.”
There were Sayun’s parents and the uncle who gave him the consistent teaching of morality and ‘correct’ humanity, but Sayun, who had been stagnant in the hunter world for several years, eventually came to believe in such an evil theory.
tl/n: ‘uncle’ refers to that old man neighbour of his that took care of him after his parents died, they weren’t blood related.
Humans were evil by nature, and it was a perfect opportunity for people to reveal their true evil nature within the gate, where there were no morals or norms. So, a human who was a genuine teacher outside the gate would become a ruthless killer inside, mentally ill with a strange perversion.
“You won’t understand now. How would you like to kill someone?”
“…”
“Go through a gate a few more times and you’ll find out. It’s easier to swing a sword at a human than at a monster.”
Geonjoo remained silent. Sayun was happy to help his pretty one since he was wearing a confused face, and he didn’t deny or refute anything.
“Think about it, pretty. If a certain hunter suddenly threatened your life, you would also kill that hunter. Would you stab me in the back?”
“…I understand what you mean, but what the guild leader did and the example you just gave are different.”
“What’s different?”
“…Huh?”
“If I hadn’t killed that guard, I might’ve been killed by the sword he wielded.”
“I don’t think you’re that weak.”
“Such carelessness is the most dangerous thing.”
Geonjoo frowned when Sayun responded without backing down even an inch. The corners of Sayun’s eyes twitched, his expression changing to an incomprehensible one while he pulled Geonjoo’s arm towards himself.
The distance between their faces was narrowed in an instant by Sayun’s rough force. Sayun was so close to Geonjoo to the point where he could feel his breath.
Strange blue eyes and murky eyes met. As if surprised by the sudden situation, Sayun stared into Geonjoo’s eyes, which were trembling slightly, and spoke in a low voice.
“Can I give you a piece of advice, pretty? The stronger you are, the more cruel your hands should be. That way, your underlings won’t climb up expecting sympathy.”
“…”
“I have no intention of betraying you.”
Sayun took a little time before he let Geonjoo go. Even though he held it for a short time, a red handprint was engraved on his wrist.
He thought that the likeability he came up with for fun would go even lower. Imagining a number like -10 floating above Geonjoo’s head, Sayun remembered what he brought the pretty one here for and slowly brushed his index finger over the handprint.
“You shouldn’t have become a hunter if you wanted to live a clean life.”
“…”
“You should’ve lived a normal life, just the way you wanted. If you jumped into this world to make money for yourself, you’ll have to get used to it, pretty one.”
‘After all, someday, even if he didn’t want to adapt, he would get used to it.’
If only he hadn’t set foot in this world from the beginning. Geonjoo caught Sayun’s eye as soon as he started his life as a hunter, and now, all that was left for Sayun to do was dye him in colours of his own choice. In the process of that, it didn’t matter how diligent and altruistic Han Geonjoo was.
Even if he hated murder and wanted to return to being a normal person because he couldn’t adapt to this world.
The most important thing for Sayun was to activate the ‘Resistance’ alignment, not to please or comfort Han Geonjoo. So whether he liked it or not, he had to be by Sayun’s side.
That was the life Sayun had decided for Geonjoo. When he narrowed his eyes at the thought, he caught Geonjoo looking down at him with a suspicious gaze. Sayun looked up, since the person in front of him was taller.
“Well then, you still have no idea what to say.”
Usually, people had the characteristic of being able to properly understand when they were directly subjected to something. It would be faster for Geonjoo to experience it himself, rather than have Sayun explain it to him a hundred times. Sayun, who had been caressing Geonjoo’s hand without realising it, finally let it go.
“And don’t concern yourself with the security guard who just died. He wouldn’t be the kind of guy you’d care about anyway.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s obvious that they know my face and my skills. Do you want me to tell you what they have in common, pretty?”
“Something’s wrong with them.”
“…”
“They have committed a crime, whether it’s murder or illegal trade. So why would you care about a murderer killing a bad guy? It’ll be one hell of a fight anyway.”
There was no need to waste sympathy. Sayun patted Geonjoo’s shoulder and walked inside the Yongho Guild with him following behind. After a few steps, an alarm rang throughout the building. The alarm that the security guards called for previously seemed to be ringing even now.
Not too far away, Sayun could feel the presence of around a dozen people, so he left Jongsik to take care of them as he walked further inside. At the same time, the elite guild members of the Yongho Guild rushed out from the other side of the hall, but by the sound of their footsteps, Sayun could already tell their skills were insignificant. When he kept walking, Geonjoo glanced at Jongsik’s fight as it took place behind them.
“You won’t help him?”
“If he can’t handle that by himself, he will have to quit being a Night Rat executive.”
“…He seems to be a very trustworthy person?”
“Since we’ve known each other for a long time, he is. To a certain extent. Even if he looks like that, he’s still an S-Class. He won’t lose to a bunch of A-Classes.”
“Ah.”
“Even if Jongsik seems docile, he’s quite capable of being a Night Rat, so whether you like it or not, you’ll have to watch and learn if you join the guild.”
Still, there was no other member that did things as neatly as he did.
If Jongsik didn’t have what it took in the first place, he wouldn’t have been an executive. Both the executive and the secretarial positions were obtained by Jongsik through his skills and loyalty, so under Sayun’s instructions, he confirmed the Yongho Guild members who would continue to work in the future.
Even though Chunbok must’ve heard that Sayun had arrived, he sent guild members to take care of him, so it seemed that he made a lot of money.
“Ack!”
Sayun grabbed the neck of the guild member who attempted to attack them and threw him at the rest of the enemies. Some people from the crowd that was rushing towards them fell down with a loud thud. Sayun paid them no attention, even after they made such a loud noise, and instead he focused on suppressing the rest of Yongho Guild members in a similar way.
Calling this a fight would be ridiculous. Because neither skills nor weapons were used, it was close to a fistfight, and definitely not melee. Sayun, who was handling the guild members easily with a few simple techniques, suddenly threw one of the members who grabbed Geonjoo by the collar.
“Ugh!”
Geonjoo looked at the guild member who fell with a thud at his feet with bewildered eyes. The corners of Sayun’s lips curled up while looking at the rookie.
“I almost forgot, didn’t I?”
“…?”
“What are you doing, pretty? This is your welcoming ceremony.”
‘Overpower me.’
Geonjoo expressed his doubts at Sayun’s words.