The F-Rank Hunter Defies Fate Chapter 2.3

“There’s one question per shuffle. For example, after seeing today’s fortune, you can ask an additional question about what you should be careful of.”

That was a lie. Real tarot masters might do that, but Harang was reading fortunes with a skill, so he did not need to be bound by rules.

“But… you can’t suddenly ask about your boss’s inner thoughts while reading today’s fortune. One question per shuffle. Got it?”

Still, his efforts in reading the guide had paid off. Baek Yoogeom, an S-rank hunter no less, was completely engrossed. Having confirmed his intrigued eyes, Harang deliberately made his movements larger and spread the cards in a semicircle.

“Now, you can pick one card from here. Whichever one catches your eye the most.”

He hadn’t realized it when he was reading fortunes online, but it seemed fun to read someone else’s fortune. Even though he was just using a skill, his heart thumped for no reason. Since he was peeking into another’s fate, in a way, he was no different from the superstition-mongers.

“This one.”

Baek Yoogeom, who had been listening intently, chose a card only after a long deliberation. Harang, who had been nervous along with him while he examined the semicircular spread of the deck, carefully accepted the card.

Client: Hunter Baek Yoogeom

Current Mood: Good

The enormous rank difference is ignored due to the effect of a passive skill.

Today’s One-Line Fortune: A favorable wind is blowing. Even in a storm, the sea below is calm. Why not try challenging something you’ve been putting off today?

Lucky Color: Green

Lucky Item: Doll

The moment the card was flipped, a status window appeared, powerfully asserting its presence. Even though he knew it had no will of its own, Harang clicked his tongue at its inexplicably detestable appearance.

“Is the result bad?”

At his small reaction, the luck freak asked anxiously.

“No, it’s actually very good. It says a favorable wind is blowing, so if there’s anything you’ve been putting off, it would be good to do it today. The lucky color is green, and the lucky item is a doll.”

This time, there was no need to lie, so the words flowed smoothly. Yoogeom, who had been taking in every detail down to the lucky item, shot up from his seat as soon as Harang finished speaking.

“Wh-Why? Don’t you like it?”

Harang instinctively covered his head with his hands. Occasionally, a client who was displeased with their fortune would throw a tantrum. Today was the first time he had faced it in person, but he had seen many people point fingers at his grandmother, who had been a shaman.

“I like it.”

“Then why did you get up?”

Harang muttered under his breath and lowered his arms. His pride was already thoroughly crushed, but he did not want to show that he had been so easily frightened.

“You said to do what I’ve been putting off. So I have to.”

Yoogeom’s gaze was once again directed at the empty air. Even without being told, Harang guessed he was using the chat window. He predicted that the person Yoogeom had summoned would soon burst in.

“Boss! Where have you been?”

His premonition was correct. A woman with a sharp bob cut burst into the team leader’s office without knocking. Harang, who had thought it would take at least a few minutes, looked resentfully at the cause of this situation.

“Let’s go.”

Though not as much as Harang, the intruder was also surprised and glancing this way, but only Baek Yoogeom was calm. Even if he wasn’t going to explain every single thing, shouldn’t he at least explain who was who? This time, Harang only grumbled internally. He did not want to be treated strangely from the start by someone who was, in all likelihood, his teammate.

“Mr. B-Team Leader, sir. This person… who is he?”

Remembering the title that had rung out so loudly when he entered, the intruder carefully chose her words. It seemed the other person was probably thinking something similar to Harang. Harang beamed a smile at the palm that was reluctantly pointing at him.

I’m an innocent civilian. But your madman of a boss dragged me here. He kidnapped me out of the blue and told me to put my fingerprint on a pledge.

Being stuck between burly hunters, and then meeting someone who seemed relatively normal, he wanted to pour out everything.

“New recruit. He’s on our team, and today is day one.”

Except for the two words “new recruit,” he wanted to deny everything else. However, it seemed that was only Harang’s wish, as the intruder quickly agreed, saying, “I see.”

“Then what kind of ability do you have?”

It seemed to be a characteristic of this group to unconditionally believe whatever Baek Yoogeom said. The woman, who had accepted Harang as a teammate with just a single word, closed the distance without giving him any time to prepare.

“Me? I’m just a person who reads tarot cards.”

Having no energy left to be surprised by every little thing, Harang timidly revealed his identity, which he had already asserted who knows how many times. As he moved away, chair and all, because she had suddenly approached, the woman narrowed her brow as if troubled.

“Oh, my apologies. It’s been a very long time since a new hunter joined. I had no other intention than to ask how I should assist the team leader. Since we need to coordinate.”

Just by her words, she seemed very polite, but there was one misunderstanding. Feeling a sense of foreboding, Harang quickly corrected her.

“No. I’m telling you I’m a civilian. Just a person who reads fortunes with these cards.”

When he showed her the front of the card he happened to be holding, the woman’s expression turned strange. Harang secretly hoped that she was horrified by the luck freak’s tyranny. Yes, no matter how many strange people were gathered, there was bound to be at least one normal person.

“So… you’re a prophet. Understood.”

When she had cast a pitying glance at him, he had felt a sense of camaraderie, but it seemed the hunters under Baek Yoogeom had solipsism as a passive skill. A resigned sigh spread through the team leader’s office at how she could interpret it that way.

“He is a civilian. I confirmed it.”

A helping hand came from an unexpected place. Yoogeom stated flatly to the woman who was seriously declaring something along the lines of, “I will protect him myself.”

“If he’s a civilian, doesn’t he need more of a guard?”

Surprisingly, the woman might have understood Harang’s self-introduction correctly. At her innocent question, Harang’s lips, which had been muttering, wondering what to explain first, snapped shut.

“I’ll do it.”

“Then I will take the sub position.”

There was no need for Korea’s top hunters to fight over the guard position for a mere civilian. Turning his back on them, Harang just prayed to be allowed to disappear quietly. That the woman’s name was Mu Jeonghye, and that the thing Baek Yoogeom had been putting off was climbing the 79th floor, were things he would find out later.

As if the heavens had heard his plea, Baek Yoogeom and the intruder, who had been bickering, exchanged glances and left the team leader’s office. Hyemin, who had brought a pile of equipment as promised, also had to leave, caught in their hands. Although Hyemin asked with his eyes what was going on, Harang feigned ignorance and avoided his gaze.

At first, there was a certain pleasure in enjoying freedom in the quiet office. However, after spending several hours alone, he grew restless. After a moment of thought, Harang turned on the computer, thinking it would be fine since they had given it to him to use. Looking at the desktop with the intention of killing time, he saw a peculiar icon.

Below an N-shaped letter was the name Saenara. It seemed to be a program used within the guild. His curiosity piqued, he clicked on it, and a clean window came into view. There was a messenger for conversations, and the organizational chart he had been most curious about.

“I’m really in Raid Team 1.”

Harang, who had clicked on the organizational chart as if possessed while wetting his lips, grimaced when he found a box with “New” attached under Raid Team 1.

Below the team leader, a vice-leader and several team members were listed, and in the box marked ‘New,’ it said Team Member 5. It was utterly detestable, twinkling and flaunting its existence.

“Should I consider this a relief…?”

It seemed they had intentionally made it anonymous, but he wondered what the point was when you could find out everything from their age just by going on Cherry Wiki.

But on second thought, it was a relief for Harang. In an era where hunters were more popular than celebrities, wouldn’t he become a national sinner if it was discovered that a civilian was freeloading in Raid Team 1?

Harang, who had momentarily imagined eggs flying at his face, stared intently at the screen. Although no amount of staring would make the three clear words disappear.

After staring at the screen for a few minutes, Harang gave up the meaningless fight and slumped onto the desk. It was a relief that his full name had not been revealed, but seeing that he was really in Raid Team 1, a sigh escaped him automatically.

‘A first,’ the Republic of Korea has succeeded in climbing the 79th floor.

Raid Time: 59 minutes 57 seconds

Top Contributor: Hunter Baek Yoogeom

Other Contributors: Hunter Yoo Jaei, Mu Jeonghye, Baek Hyemin, Kim Yonghoon

Rewards will be distributed differentially based on contribution.

Selecting rewards…

A blue window popped up in front of the slumped Harang. As befitting a worldwide pop-up that was not often seen, the shimmering gold letters came into clear view.

Harang, who had been scanning the letters while lying down, was so surprised by the unbelievable content that he shot up to a sitting position. They had succeeded in climbing the 79th floor. It was the very floor that the world had been clamoring about, asking if there was a problem since Saenara had been neglecting it for a long time.

Minimizing the unsightly organizational chart, Harang went to whatever site he could find. The pop-up itself was only visible to hunters, but perhaps because it was good news, breaking news was pouring out from everywhere. Harang clicked on a news channel that was broadcasting live.

<HBS Live. The Proud Hunter of the Republic of Korea, Baek Yoogeom_Succeeds in Climbing the 79th Floor in Record Time!>

As soon as he entered the channel, whose title itself stirred the hearts of Koreans, chats scrolled up in a torrent with every blink of an eye.

• fr gaming powerhouse korea doesn’t go anywhere it seems
• isn’t 59 mins 57 secs basically 1 hour?
• still under an hour, could you do it?

His attention to the ceaselessly scrolling chat window was brief. A reporter, a wide smile on his face, pointed a finger at the tower entrance.

“It seems the reward selection is over! The entrance is opening. HBS will be the first to cover it.”

As the reporter ran, the entrance of the tower, which had been only black, began to shake. The door, said to be darker than Vantablack, slowly opened, and the hunters revealed themselves.

“Mr. Baek Yoogeom Hunter, you’ve worked hard. You succeeded in climbing with a small number of people again this time, were there any casualties?”

A microphone was thrust into the face of Baek Yoogeom, who was at the very front. His expression was not good, as if he had not known a reporter was waiting. It was a sight that even Harang, who did not particularly like Baek Yoogeom, would have clicked his tongue at.

“Shouldn’t letting them rest be the first priority?”

In the early days of awakening, it was common for hunters to lose their lives. When a climb was successful, mourning the dead and taking care of the injured came first, but with the emergence of high-rank hunters, it seemed people had come to think of tower climbing as a game.

“I’ll do the interview.”

It was just as Yoogeom’s lips were twitching, as if he felt the same way as Harang. A blond man popped out from behind him.

Surprised by his youthful appearance, Harang brought up the organizational chart he had put aside. To others, it would just show Team Member 4, but Harang, an official member of Raid Team 1, had the authority to see detailed information.

“Yoo Jaei? Twenty years old?”

Unlike his friendly smiling appearance on the screen, the Yoo Jaei in the profile was extremely prickly. Simple personal information was written next to his name, and Harang, who had been reading along, was stunned by his young age of twenty.

‘Are they working a child here or what?’

Harang had also awakened as a minor, but to him, who had given up the life of a hunter, the world before the pandemic was still more familiar. Wasn’t twenty the age to be laughing “ha-ha ho-ho” on a university campus and having a drink? When his guardian had been firmly by his side, Harang too had imagined himself as a university student.