The F-Rank Hunter Defies Fate Chapter 2.2

Then, the pledge that could hold Harang’s life hostage disappeared as if it had never been there.

“Really?”

Although it was clearly playful, to Harang it felt like nothing but obsession. I should just read his fortune quickly and get it over with. Harang pushed Yoogeom’s back with a bit of emotion.

“Let’s go, hurry.”

“Don’t push.”

He had pushed with all his might, but it was obvious Baek Yoogeom wouldn’t feel a thing. Yet, when he even grumbled, Harang’s glare sharpened.

Simultaneously with Harang’s irritated palm striking Yoogeom’s shoulder, gasps and choking sounds were heard from here and there.

Harang’s cheeks, belatedly noticing the attention on him, flushed red. Forgetting that he had been rushing Baek Yoogeom, Harang ran to the elevator he had just come down in. The first priority was to get out of here.

“Master! You found your way here just fine.”

In the 27th-floor office, which he had reached after many twists and turns, Hyemin was waiting with his hands clasped. He looked truly delighted, even waving his hands as soon as the two of them got off.

“You should have told me if you were in a hurry. The restroom is on the right side of the hallway.”

If Harang had really been a civilian, he would have jumped in surprise and asked how he knew. However, as he was wearing the shell of a hunter, Harang knew that they had a dedicated chat window.

When he glared at Baek Yoogeom, meaning to ask if they really shared such trivial things, he saw him ignore it as if it were pathetic.

“I guess I was nervous because it’s my first day.”

Instead of glaring at Hyemin as well, Harang drew on his customer service experience to put on a smile. Fortunately, Hyemin did not press further and only checked his complexion with concern.

“Are you okay now?”

“What? Oh, yes… should I just sit anywhere?”

Finding it burdensome, Harang deliberately looked around busily. It seemed to be true that they used the entire 27th floor, as most of the desks were empty.

“You can use any spot you like. Or you can sit next to me.”

There was no need to sit so close when there were this many empty seats. Furthermore, the fact that he was even blushing made it more unsettling. Harang consciously smiled and looked for the farthest seat. It was definitely not because he was scared of Hyemin’s muscles.

‘This side looks messy, so someone must be using it…’

“I’ll sit over there…”

“You’re going to share with me.”

Baek Yoogeom cut in and interrupted him so naturally that it gave him a strange sense of déjà vu. Harang, who had deliberately kept his distance from hunters, did not know his exact position. However, considering Hyemin had called him ‘boss’ when they first met, he thought he might be a team leader or something. But why with me?

“No.”

Of course, the word “no” came out first. Baek Yoogeom, annoyingly enough, wore an expression as if he had never expected to be refused.

“Why should I share with you, Mr. Hunter? You said I’m a fortune-telling assistant. You’re a ranker, and I’m just a civilian. Our jobs will be different, won’t they?”

He wanted to list more reasons why they could not share, but that was all that came to mind. Harang swallowed his pride and sent a pleading gaze to Hyemin.

“That’s true, but… you’ll probably be almost exclusively assigned to hyung, Master. It might be more convenient for you since you’d be closer if you share a room.”

For a moment, he had forgotten that Hyemin was crazy about his hyung. At the ridiculous sophistry, Harang felt helpless. There was no one in this bleak building who would take his side.

“You heard him?”

Yoogeom was satisfied even with the words Hyemin had hastily made up. Not stopping there, he was reaching out to grab the nape of Harang’s neck.

“I’ll go on my own two feet. Where is it?”

Harang, who had barely dodged it with his agility stat of 1, slapped Yoogeom’s hand away with his last shred of pride.

“The team leader’s office is th-that way.”

At the unexpectedly loud voice, Hyemin hesitated and pointed in a direction. Only a few desks showed signs of use, and it seemed that, as befitting a team leader, he used a separately partitioned space.

“It’s clean.”

Harang, who opened the door with Baek Yoogeom on his left and Baek Hyemin on his right, let out a small sound of admiration. Just like the fastidious owner’s personality, the inside of the team leader’s office was utterly bleak. It was similar to Cheolmin’s meeting room he had seen when he first arrived at the building. Except that it was a bit more gloomy and lacked any sense of being lived in.

“There’s only one desk here? I’ll just use any desk outside.”

Looking around slowly, he could see why it looked so bleak. The sofa and table barely made up the appearance, but there was only one proper desk. Harang turned his back in the same posture he had been in when he opened the door. However, before he could take a single step, Yoogeom called Hyemin in an ominous voice.

“Baek Hyemin.”

It was just his three-syllable name, but Hyemin was unhesitating. Even though he had not been told what to do, the big guy quickly dashed out and was carrying a desk and chair back as if he were carrying away a prize.

Even though he had carried something incredibly heavy, the way he set it down was light and breezy. Hyemin caressed the spotless desk and said with a smile.

“You can use this one!”

Harang, who was half-forced to sit down by Hyemin’s vigor, put a hand to his forehead. It seemed he had walked into a den of madmen on his own two feet.

Worlds’ Big Boss Got a Lover?

Author: Anonymous1 – 10:33

My friend who’s in Worlds said they saw Yoon-Sword on the 1st floor. Wasn’t Yoon-Sword supposed to only appear in the tower or the penthouse?

What’s more, the person next to him hit Yoon-Sword, but he didn’t react at all. They said he was escorted away respectfully, has anyone seen them?

↳ What’s Worlds and what’s Yoon-Sword?

↳ Saenara thinks their own name is lame so they call themselves New Worlds. That’s lame too so it’s shortened to Worlds.

↳ I was there, and it just looked like they brought in a rare ability hunter? I heard something about a fortune or whatever.

↳ Anon4 is probably right? Yoon-Sword with a lover lol. He’s married to magical beasts.

“Excuse me.”

“…”

“Mr. Baek Hunter.”

“…”

“Mr. Baek Yoogeom!”

Baek Yoogeom, who had not answered no matter how many times he was called, finally raised his head languidly only after Harang called out his full name. His wide-open eyes did not hold a speck of apology.

Even if he had not called his name, there were only two people in the team leader’s office. If he wanted to be stubborn, he could argue that Baek Hyemin outside was also Mr. Baek Hunter and that he could have been confused, but in Harang’s mind, Baek Yoogeom’s score was already hitting new lows.

So it was only natural that a chilly gaze was directed at the person who had made him say the same thing three times.

“Am I just going to sit here like this all day? You.”

“Baek Yoogeom.”

There was a mountain of things to say, but Baek Yoogeom was already cutting him off. Harang, suppressing his anger, calmed his resentment with a small exhale.

“Fine, Mr. Baek Yoogeom Hunter, you must have work to do too.”

“What’s the problem?”

What’s the problem? Everything from one to ten was a problem. Harang had met Hyemin at 8:30, and it had been 30 minutes at most, including the time he ran away to the first floor and got caught.

And now it was 11:00. For a whopping two hours, Harang had been sitting idly at an empty desk. No matter how inexperienced he was with office life, it was so meaningless that he worried it might be workplace harassment.

“Is my job to just sit still? Well, it’s my first day, so I can understand. But you should at least give me some guidance. Like with the restroom earlier.”

As he spoke, he ended up bringing up what had happened a little while ago for no reason. He had not really been trying to go to the restroom, but if he had been told from the beginning, Harang would not have had a chance to make up a half-hearted excuse.

“Ah.”

That was all the reply Harang got after his passionate speech. Baek Yoogeom, who, like Harang, had been sitting like a stone statue for two hours, slowly closed and opened his eyes.

“Did you call?”

That was all it took for the door to burst open. It was so fast that it was suspicious whether he had been waiting right outside the team leader’s office.

“Set up his equipment.”

Baek Yoogeom, not at all surprised, gestured toward Harang with his chin. The word ‘equipment’ reminded him of what Hyemin had said about the 28th floor and so on, and he automatically tensed up. The fortunate thing was that Hyemin was not that much of a hunter-centric person.

“Should I bring you a desktop? Or a laptop?”

Harang, who had been spacing out at the dizzying situation, finally relaxed. He peeked at Baek Yoogeom’s desk, making sure he did not notice, and saw two large monitors.

Is the computer tower underneath? He did not know much, but he thought it would be better to follow the experienced person’s lead, so Harang silently nodded.

“Yes, but me bringing it…”

Although he had committed an act of insubordination after two hours of torment, Harang was, strictly speaking, a new employee. A new employee with a short, limited term of one month, at that.

“…No?”

Harang finished his sentence only after mimicking Hyemin, who was tilting his head.

“Hey, Master, you’re a civilian, you don’t need to waste your strength on unnecessary things. That’s what I’m here for!”

The reason he had spoken to Yoogeom was not to ask for equipment, but to be told what to do. Yoogeom was the one who had called and ordered Hyemin, but the excessive treatment made him feel like he wanted to crawl into a hole.

“No, but still…”

“Please wait just a moment. I’ll bring you the best one!”

Harang earnestly asserted that he was a healthy adult male, but Hyemin just pressed down on his shoulder with a thick forearm and left the team leader’s office. Harang, left alone at the scene of the suffocating harassment, now realized he had to admit it.

The de facto boss of the guild said to be the best in South Korea (he clearly remembered Hyemin calling him that several times) was crazy about superstitions, and he himself was the superstition-monger that the boss believed in.

“Need anything else?”

The de facto boss who had thrown Harang into this absurd situation asked casually. He wanted to say no, but Harang’s conscience was too upright to just sit around and get paid.

“I really… haaah…”

“What is it?”

Considering he had said something about being exclusively assigned, Yoogeom should have been the one to delegate tasks, but he did not seem to expect anything from Harang.

“Come and sit over here. I’ll read you today’s fortune.”

Blaming his own diligence, Harang beckoned to Baek Yoogeom with his finger. He was startled by his own action, but fortunately, Yoogeom just moved to Harang’s side like a well-trained military dog.

“Ahem. Should I show you how it’s done?”

Pretending to clear his throat, Harang used his skill. There was no need to recite the full skill name, ‘The Path I Walk Becomes the Way, and Your Heart is None of My Business?’, but the status window would only listen if he made some kind of gesture.

“This is called shuffling, when you mix the cards like this, see?”

It was not accompanied by a dazzling light or loud sound effects. Harang took out the cards that had just been created as if they had been in his pocket all along. As he began to shuffle, remembering the sleight of hand he had learned from videos, he saw Baek Yoogeom’s eyes widen.