“Uh? Is that so… It feels strangely old…”
“Yeah, so what is it?”
“Huh? What, what is it?”
‘What’s the reason for coming here?’
I muttered to myself in frustration.
Heuk-a looked silly for a moment before gasping with an ‘Aah!’ and said,
“At that time! I want to know if you’re thinking of having that match we couldn’t finish.”
“A match we couldn’t finish… was there such a thing? We never even fought?”
“I mean, that’s what I said! You definitely said you’d do it! Are you going to do it or not?”
‘At least he hasn’t forgotten what he said.’
“Sorry, I’m not sure if I actually made a promise back then, but we have something going on right now. If we get a chance next time, we’ll see.”
“Huh? Wh-What’s the matter? No matter how urgent it is, shouldn’t your blood be boiling seeing strong guys like us right in front of you? You should want to fight!”
Heuk-a stammered in surprise. But is he really an adult? He seems so small. He might be shorter than Ah-rin.
“Ha… A D-rank Hunter calling himself a strong player. Unbelievable.”
As Bae Joo-ah slightly mocked his words while quietly listening, Heuk-a’s face turned bright red, and the other guys next to him frowned and glared at Joo-ah. Joo-ah met their glares defiantly.
“Well, it’s not like I said I wanted to fight, so calm down. But we’re a bit busy for now, you know? I’m not just saying this to avoid a fight. If we fight now, we can’t go all out, you know? Will that still be okay?”
At Joo-ah’s words, Heuk-a and the other members of the veil immediately shook their heads. Heuk-a seemed to be thinking for a moment before opening his mouth.
“Alright. Let’s postpone it for next time then. Honestly, saying I’m a strong player as just a low-rank Hunter feels a bit embarrassing… How about we have a match when I reach C-rank?”
“Clap, clap, clap!!”
“Huh? What is that skeleton saying? Is it asking for a fight right now!”
“No! It’s saying it’s okay! I got it! Let’s fight when we reach C-rank.”
Ultimately, they turned towards the exit after getting our firm answer.
‘Weren’t they an assassination organization? Why are they so obsessed with matches?’
They don’t kill other Hunters recklessly and keep their promises well. Their affiliation might be shady, but their behavior seems pretty righteous. They’re oddly endearing.
Since I’ve never been involved with organizations operating in the shadows in my past life, I can only judge based on little information, but those guys are definitely peculiar.
“Hmm… Why did you say that?”
Yeon-hee asked, curious about my unusual behavior.
‘Because it’s hard to find sparring partners like that.’
Yeon-hee doesn’t know how difficult it is to meet strong players from the assassination faction yet. If necessary, I could step in, but it would be better if there’s an opponent to fight with more tension.
“Experience, I suppose, but do you think I could practice against those people? I feel like it would be a fight where I’d barely win even if I risked my life.”
Understanding my intention, Yeon-hee tilted her head and responded that way. Of course, they’re not the sort you’d take lightly. That’s why it would become experience.
Anyway, today’s dungeon exploration progressed very peacefully without any other events apart from meeting those four. As we came out of the gate, we felt oddly empty after a safe expedition.
“Um, excuse me! Hello! I’m Jo Hye-min from Haksan Newspaper! I’m the reporter who was given permission to enter today…”
Because I was dawdling, I got caught by a reporter who was stationed near the gate.
Usually, media outlets are given permission to interview near the gate in rotation, and I got caught by one of them.
I could refuse an interview, but with the nature of Hunters, who usually value relations with the press, I couldn’t just avoid it.
The reporter named Jo Hye-min, with striking pink hair ties that reporters don’t usually wear, unexpectedly requested an interview with Ham Eun-young.
“Is your grandmother’s name Park Heung-ja?”
“Umm… Yes…”
Ham Eun-young stuttered, taken aback by the sudden appearance of the reporter. But Park Heung-ja… I feel like I’ve heard that name before. It sounds like someone who would have experienced the Korean War… Where have I heard it from?
“Ham Eun-young Hunter. Could you share a bit about your grandmother? We’re planning an article on Park Heung-ja, one of the earliest Awakened Ones known as one of the strongest supporters, and I want to hear about her usual self, not just her public image. Just a little would be great.”
“I… um… I…”
—!!
The party members’ shoulders shook in surprise at the reporter’s words.
Ham Eun-young found it hard to respond immediately, glancing towards us for help. What can we do? You should handle it yourself.
“I… I’m not good at speaking…”
“It’s okay! It’s not going to be broadcast! I will edit it well and send it to you.”
Eventually, Ham Eun-young agreed to the interview. Watching her and the reporter head into the waiting room set up near the gate, we began chatting among ourselves.
“Whoa! What the heck! Why didn’t that sister mention something like this? She had a crazy background!”
Bae Joo-ah looked at Ham Eun-young with newfound respect, staring at the waiting room, which was not visible to her.
“Park Heung-ja… isn’t she the one who awakened at the latest age among the earliest Awakened Ones?”
“That’s right. She’s the one with the [Reverse Flow] ability that turns all unfavorable conditions for allies in battle into advantageous ones. She’s her granddaughter… amazing…”
Yeon-hee also looked surprised as she gazed at Bae Joo-ah, sharing the same sentiment.
“It makes sense now; I recognized that extraordinary hand mirror! An artifact that can’t be detected. It’s simply unbelievable, isn’t it?”
Bae Joo-ah, anticipating this, began recalling a few extraordinary moments from Ham Eun-young while trying to downplay it.
“Certainly… I had a chance to touch that hand mirror, but no information came up. It must be an artifact, but even searching for it yields no information on such abilities.”
Ah-rin, unable to hide her curiosity, had apparently already made efforts to obtain information about the hand mirror.
‘No information shows up even if you touch it? Does that exist?’
I knew from the start it was an artifact, but until Ham Eun-young mentioned it, I tried not to be too curious. However, hearing about the lack of information sparked my curiosity again. I should try to touch it if I get the chance.
“Oh come on, wrap it up already. We’re getting late.”
But such curiosity was short-lived.
As more than ten minutes passed without Ham Eun-young coming out, the party members began to show signs of dwindling patience. They had encouraged her to hurry, saying it was all experience and the like.
Joo-ah, Ah-rin, and even Yeon-hee, who seemed to be fidgeting, all eagerly awaited Ham Eun-young’s return when I focused on a familiar energy that I sensed through my instincts.
‘Two, four, six, seven? Is Ah-rin trying to catch one with seven?’
That group was the Apex Guild Members targeting Heo Min-sol’s bounty. I thought they would be resting until the dungeon tomorrow, but it seemed they had advanced their timeline.
It was a configuration of five existing members plus two more, but their overall strength seemed slightly weakened compared to yesterday.
Seven of them would share the bounty and donate a portion to the guild. It didn’t seem like there would be much left for them.
Though thinking about the various side incomes that could be obtained after killing Ah-rin, it could be a tidy little income after a simple task.
‘Hmm… What should I do? Should I take one down? No… I can’t predict what kind of repercussions that would have.’
It’s better to stick to the original plan and just provide some escort.
From what I heard, Bae Joo-ah’s Hunter-exclusive apartment was quite luxurious, and with that level of protection set up, it seemed unlikely the Apex guys would risk a terrorist attack while sleeping there. So, we just needed to drop her off at home.
“Haaah… S-Sorry…”
Ham Eun-young, who returned looking like a wreck, immediately bombarded us with questions upon arrival.
She was barely able to speak while tightly hugging the hand mirror and insisted we should go home right away. She seemed really exhausted.
Joo-ah and Ah-rin looked disappointed that they couldn’t ask more, but with tomorrow in mind, they sent Ham Eun-young off in a taxi.
After that, we took a taxi together to Joo-ah’s house.
The apartment we arrived at was far better than I had imagined. The entire building was within the range of a barrier spell, and to set that up required at least four or more barrier mages maintaining the formation.
In other words, it was an extravagant display of wealth, which didn’t quite match Joo-ah’s usual image of always talking about money. What’s this? Are you living well?
“I’m saying this just in case, but this is all on loan. I’m broke. I impulsively took out a loan after the jackpot at the mine last week, and I regret it so much. Please, never do something as foolish as I did.”
Joo-ah seemed to read my thoughts and preemptively spoke up.
“W-Well… at least… it seems fairly safe here.”
“Like Yeon-hee said, looking at the situation now, it seems like you made the right choice. Haha, you really never know what’s going to happen.”
“Then, we’ll be off now.”
“Huh? You came all this way and aren’t going to look around the house?”
As Yeon-hee offered her farewell, Joo-ah replied a bit disappointedly, wanting to show Yeon-hee around. Yeon-hee, however, politely refused, saying she had something urgent to do at home.
“No, what on earth is so urgent at home that you want to rush back? Is there a guy?”
“Yeah?! N-No!”
“Huh? That reaction isn’t convincing. Did you really get a guy?”
“Gasp… Yeon-hee, are you dating?”
“No! Absolutely not… I-it’s just… I need to go home…”
Yeon-hee ultimately couldn’t finish that last part and ended up raising more suspicions from Joo-ah and Ah-rin.
As I walked away from Joo-ah and Ah-rin, who were shooting strange smiles at Yeon-hee with sleepy eyes, we headed home. Naturally, Yeon-hee’s face was bright red, but my attention was still focused on those guys.
‘They aren’t making a move. They seem surprised too.’
Who would think there’s a D-rank Hunter living in an apartment with such security? They must be wondering why a rich girl like this is working as a Hunter. I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of the Apex guys caught up in such assumptions.
After parting ways with Joo-ah and Ah-rin.
“Y-You’re going straight home, right?”
Nodding-
Yeon-hee’s hand, held in mine, was shaking slightly. The trembling didn’t stop while we walked together, took a taxi, and even after we arrived in front of her house. Yeah, she really made me suffer yesterday.
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