The group guests, who I had received for the first time, left the hotel with very satisfied faces.
âYouâll be able to go well, right?â
âYes! Noona!â
âYes!â
The two answered confidently.
Even if they had done a few hours of required training with the Hunter Association as soon as they Awakened, the dungeon they were going to now was C-Class.
I wasnât too worried about the fact that there was a hunter with A-Class skills.
Thatâs not what Iâm worried aboutâ.
âCan I just take a picture? I brought a video camera from inside the dungeon.â
âŚThis is it. This.
I firmly refused the camera equipment Hwang Seongjin shyly offered.
âYou canât, student.â
âAh, yes⌠I understand.â
âCan I get an autograph? I donât think my classmates would believe that we saw the Paladin.â
With a sullen face, Lim Hyunggeol held out a low-level artifact that was clearly paid free of charge by the Hunter Association.
I refused, of course.
What would be good for leaving my handwriting.
âOh, itâs difficult⌠Still, thank you very much, Noona. From now on, I will definitely tell them that there are angels in the dungeon!â
Please donât talkâŚI wanted to say that, but I gave up.
Yeah. It would be better to buy time if the absurd rumors keep increasing in vain.
And if I tell them not to say it, I think they will brag about it even more.
âUntil you become an adult and officially belong to a guild, never enter a dungeon without permission. Got it?â
I looked at the two with a smile without much reply.
Then, Lim Hyunggeol and Hwang Seongjin both nodded their heads.
Hwang Seongjin looked at me with faint eyes right before checking out and said,
âI, if I become a cool hunter that suits Noona even if Iâm not S-class one day⌠Please appear in front of me again, Angel Noona!â
ââŚThis brat who falls in love easily.â
I heard Lim Hyunggeol muttering from behind, but I didnât know what he was talking about, so I just bowed my head as I usually do to guests.
âI hope you finish your journey well. Hunter-nim.â
So the two of them checked out.
I woke up from a deep sleep after a long time and washed my body clean.
I grabbed a bottle of water and left the closed hotel, where a cold wind hit me.
âUgh⌠Itâs getting colder.â
âWoof! Woof woof! (If itâs cold, put on a scarf, boss!)â
Wearing the harness I bought in Seoul, Geumdong came from the staff dormitory with a scarf and sat down in front of me, wagging his tail.
âThank you. Geumdong-ah.â
âKkyu!â (I can keep your ears warm!)
At that time, Toto came up to my shoulder and hugged my ear.
I burst into laughter as the soft fur tickled my ear.
ââŚThank you too.â
These guysâŚ
Are you excited to go for a walk?
I took the two of them to a nearby beach and got some fresh air.
Whooshâ whoosh.
Looking at the flowing blue waves always puts my mind at ease.
Realizing that I had been spacing out for 10 minutes, I quickly pulled out my phone.
Han Woohyun.
I found a friendâs name on KaTalk and hesitated for a while before sending a message.
What kind of food do you like?
After sending it, I thought I had talked too much about the main topic, but I couldnât help it.
I browsed the internet news, waiting for the 1 to disappear.
I was wondering if there was any news about the return of the runaway youth hunter.
However, instead of such news, the Internet window was covered with stories related to the Baekho Guild.
Baekho Guild, another fatal accident during a raid. Whatâs wrong with the Guild with âS-class healersâ?
A Hunter is dead again.
I frowned.
Even before the Baekho Guild gave way to Hanwoon as the No. 1 guild in Korea, rumors of it driving hunters to death with unreasonable raids were circulating.
However, there were many hunters who preferred Baekho for the reason that they could make a lot of money by taking risks because there were so many incentives and by-product acquisition.
Still, hearing that a Hunter from the Baekho Guild had died, which is something I hear often, used to make me tremble.
So normally I would never have clicked on this article, but this time it was different.
It was because it reminded me of a hunter from the Baekho Guild who had dark skin and a calm look.
Shim Jiyoon.
I skimmed through some articles thinking of her.
The content of the article was as follows.
A few days ago, Shim Jihyeok, the second son of the Baekho Guild leader, went out on an A-Class dungeon raid in Jeju Island, and three hunters, including one A-Class hunter, lost their lives.
Shim Jihyeok also returned with a major injury to his leg and is now being treated by Yoojun.
Most of the comments were like this.
[Comments]
-kdj***: Baekho did just like Baekho.
-d1j2**: Wow, Shim Taeseong, the guild leader, doesnât even care about his son. Are you going to drive your son to death as well?
âfjw***: Shim Taeseong is famous for being crazy about pseudo-crazy things. Type Sim Taeseongâs testimony of salvation in the search bar. Letâs see before you get fired.
âeli***: This person is giving creeps here too. I think youâll come to your senses if someone sues you.
-fjd***: So the guild has to predict even dimension cracks? Even the pre-exploration team didnât know. How do you know that there are A-Class monsters in A-Class dungeons?
The comments were half and half.
Half of these people say that it is impossible for the guild to know about the level upgrade due to the dimensional rift.
Half of the critics criticize the Baekho Guild for making too dangerous raids and turning guild members around.
In addition, some argued that Shim Taeseong was offering guild members as âscapegoats,â referring to an article that said he was crazy about pseudo-religion.
And a very small number of them even insulted the deceased, mentioning the enormous amount of consolation money the families of the guild members were sacrificed.
When I got to that point, I just left the article.
Then a new window popped up on the screen.
Han Woohyun
I think I sent the wrong messageâŚ
Iâm not picky. I eat everything.
* * *
The second son of the Baekho Guildmaster, Shim Jihyeok, lived on the top floor of the Seoul Palace.
From the top floor of Seoul Palace, where the view is open, he can see the whole of Seoul.
Yoojun gazed down at the panoramic view of Seoul and saw the side face of Shim Jihyeok, who was being treated absent-mindedly.
Shim Jihyeok, who was upbeat and liked to hang out with others, sometimes acted like he was out of his mind from two years ago.
âI heard it was a dimensional crack? Iâm going to replace all the pre-exploration crew! How the hell do you do things?!â
Beside him, Shim Jihyeokâs mother, Mrs. Lim, was screaming at Shim Jihyeokâs secretary.
Yoojun frowned as if his ears were burning and examined Shim Jihyeokâs body.
There was no major problem with the internal organs, and there was no sign of being poisoned.
The problem is the right leg, and the muscle rupture was a little serious.
Because he was attacked by an A-Class monster, the rupture range was wide and messy. He must have been something with magical powers, and he could feel the dark energy of mana.
The pupils of Yoojunâs yellow eyes contracted as thinly as those of a snake.
Yoojunâs âHealing Eyeâ skill hit a pretty solid mana barrier.
Yoojunâs skill was to use magic. Therefore, he was able to sensitively distinguish and recognize other peopleâs mana.
However, there were two types of mana in Sim Jihyeokâs body.
One is the mana used by A-Class monsters.
And another oneâ
âItâs a familiar mana.â
It was the moment when Yoojun frowned at him.
Shim Jihyeok suddenly grabbed Yoojunâs hand. As Yoojunâs energy was disturbed, the activation of the âHealing Eyeâ stopped.
Shim Jihyeok said.
âPlease leave for a moment. mother.â
Mrs. Lim looked at Yoojun with her anxious eyes. But she soon got up and left without saying anything.
When Mrs. Lim left, only Yoojun and Shim Jihyeok were left alone in the room.
Yoojun twisted his hand out of Shim Jihyeokâs and pulled it out.
It was still unpleasant for someoneâs body to touch his body.
âYou donât like being touched as a healer. Youâre so special, June.â
Yoojun remembered Shim Jiyoonâs voice.
Yoojun was a Korean-American.
Although he has changed his nationality now, Yoojun, a second-generation immigrant, went to college in the United States. And he met Shim Jiyoon there.
White people couldnât distinguish Yoojunâs name âJunâ from Jiyoonâs name âJiyoonâ.
In fact, it would have been close to not distinguishing.
So, Shim Jiyoon tried to stand in front of Yoojunâs dormitory several times with that gruff face.
One would have thought it was the beginning of a fateful love.
Two men and women from the same hometown on a campus full of white people. A relationship that leads to mail that keeps getting wrongly delivered.
However, Shim Jiyoon had a lover. She also said that he was a lover who promised to be with her until the end despite opposition from the family.
Well.
It didnât matter.
Still, Jiyoon was the only one who told Yoojun that she was âspecialâ rather than âunusualâ.
So when Yoojun fully developed his abilities, he chose Korean nationality without hesitation and entered the Baekho Guild.
âIs my body okay?â
Shim Jihyeok looked at Yoojun with a worried face.
Yoojun replied with a sigh.
âWell, thereâs no big problem. But should I say congratulations on this⌠You did the same last year, and this time too, your rating has risen in a non-ideal way, Hyung-nim. Each time you return from a fatal situation, your rank goes up. The person who was a C-Class until the year before last is now an A-Class. Congratulations.â
There was a similar accident last year, and Shim Jihyeok became a B-Class hunter at that time.
Then, this time he rose to A-Class.
It was a little unusual that it happened twice in a row, but it was a rare but real phenomenon that the rank of a hunter who returned from deadly situations was raised.
So there is nothing strange about it.
Yoojun got up from his seat to shake off the strange feeling that kept lingering in his head. At that time, Shim Jihyeok held Yoojunâs hand again.
âAm I really okay? Are there any problems?â
At that moment, the luxury ring on Shim Ji-yeokâs hand sparkled.
Seeing this, Yoojun tilted his head.
Ring.
Come to think of it, when she said she was quitting the Baekho Guild, the ring was also on Shim Jiyoonâs hand.
It seemed to be a keepsake that was picked up by going to recover the remains of her lover Song Jungmin.
âIâm going to propose to Jiyoon.â
Before his death, Yoojun clearly remembered Song Jungminâs innocent boasting to him.
However, after Song Jungminâs death, Shim Jiyoon remembered that she felt a different type of mana that she had never felt before in the ring.
She canât feel the traces of the caster to be humanâs, and itâs too powerful and dangerous to be a monsterâs.
Thinking that far, Yoojun looked at Shim Jihyeokâs legs again.
Wasnât that the mana he felt on his leg just now?
Yoojun sat down.
âIf youâre anxious, can I look at you one more time?â
âOh⌠yeahâŚâ
Shim Jihyeok let go of Yoojunâs hand.
Yoojun sat next to him with a cool face and activated the skill on his leg again.
This time, he wanted to look deeper and more closely.
But at that moment, a strong reaction began to absorb Yoojunâs mana.
ââŚ.!â
If Yoojun hadnât collected his mana quickly, he could have fallen out of mana exhaustion in an instant.
Seeing Yoojunâs face turn white, Shim Jihyeokâs face turned whiter.
âW, whatâs wrong! Is there a problem? Is something wrong with my body? Damn it⌠I really canât eat anymore⌠No matter how strong I become, coming into contact with that weird thing is really⌠Itâs terrible that people burst out in front of meâŚâ
ââThat weird thingâ?â
It was the moment when Yoojun sensed something strange and asked.
Shim Jihyeok closed his mouth tightly.
Then the door opened and Mrs. Lim entered. In Ms. Limâs hand was her cell phone.
âJihyeok-ah. Your father is calling. He told you to go to work right away. Heâs saying that the guyâs missing, and heâs a little hurt?â
Mrs. Lim glared at Shim Jihyeok, blocking the phone receiver with her hand.
âGet to work right now. Jiyoon is not there, so this is not an opportunity, you fool.â
Yoojun looked at Shim Jihyeok, who only nodded with a frightened face.
Something was wrong.
But he wonât gain anything by asking more questions.
Yoojun got up from his seat and patted Sim Ji-hyeok on the back, smiling smirkingly.
âYou seem to have suffered a weak mental shock. Iâll give you a good potion. Well, anywayâŚâ
Yoojunâs eyebrows furrowed. He whispered softly into Jihyeokâs ear.
âCongratulations. You came back alive at the price of someone elseâs life.â
Sim Jihyeok threw up as soon as Yoojun left the room.