The F-Rank Hunter Defies Fate Chapter 3.4

“Ugh…”

Harang’s head, which had been munching on meat, swayed from side to side. The flushed cheeks, the moist eyes, and even the unfinished words. He was a classic drunkard.

“I think the Master is drunk.”

Hyemin, who had been moving his chopsticks frantically, waved a hand in front of Harang’s eyes. The already unfocused pupils followed the trace of his fingertips before losing focus on their own.

“Who gave it to him?”

At Yoogeom’s cold question, Hyemin just furtively glanced around. He was sure he had only poured one glass, so he wasn’t the culprit. The same went for the other hunters. Yoo Jaei wasn’t interested in Harang, and Mu Jeonghye wasn’t the type to force a drink on someone who couldn’t handle it, even if she would pour her own.

“He was drinking this.”

While they were exchanging glances to find the answer, Yonghoon pointed to a bottle on the table. Yoogeom, frowning, immediately brought his nose to the mouth of the bottle.

Beneath the sweet scent, a faint smell of alcohol lingered. When he checked the label, he saw the words ‘2%’ written on it.

“That’s mine. No wonder it was going down so fast.”

Yoo Jaei grumbled as he took the bottle. Yoo Jaei, who had just become an adult, didn’t enjoy alcohol, but he didn’t want to be the only one sipping on a soft drink either. His choice had been a low-alcohol, fruit-flavored drink.

Because it had such a sweet scent, Harang must have thought it was a soft drink too. It wouldn’t have mattered if Harang had a decent tolerance, but as he himself had said, he could really only drink exactly one glass. And that was three sips of a 2% alcohol drink. Since he had chugged it down without knowing, it would have been strange if he hadn’t gotten drunk.

“It seems he really is drunk. I’ll take him home.”

Strictly speaking, it was Yoo Jaei’s fault for leaving the bottle anywhere, but it was Hyemin who had first offered the drink. Feeling guilty, Hyemin moved to Harang’s side. The moment his rough hand was about to touch Harang’s back, Yoogeom stopped him.

“Don’t.”

“His neck is going to hurt if we leave him like this.”

Harang’s neck, which had been swaying slightly, was now completely slumped over. Seeing his shoulders rising and falling faintly, it seemed he had fallen asleep.

“I’ll take him.”

Yoogeom, who had answered indifferently, naturally took Harang from Hyemin. It was a starkly different attitude from his usual self, who would fling even a guild member away if they got in his way.

Hyemin, who was slightly tipsy, watched his hyung with his mouth slightly agape. Carefully supporting Harang, opening a portal. Just as he was about to think, ‘What the hell is this…,’ the two of them disappeared.

“But you know…”

Harang, who was being supported to the point of almost being carried, pulled on Yoogeom’s sleeve. He had come to his senses while traveling through the portal. Even though it was a very weak force, Yoogeom let himself be pulled along as Harang led.

Thinking he had something to say, he leaned in, and Harang let out a series of breaths. Pooh. Every time he breathed out, a refreshing tangerine scent wafted from him.

“That chat window, why didn’t you invite me?”

“Chat window?”

“Is it because I’m an ordinary person?”

Perhaps due to the alcohol, his pouting lips were particularly red. Yoogeom was so captivated by the moving lips that he couldn’t understand Harang’s words in time.

Harang was hurt again by that. It was one thing to seem powerless, but how could they talk amongst themselves with him right in front of them, he continued to complain.

“Even ordinary people can use the guild chat window.”

“You shouldn’t discriminate like that. Always, always leaving me out… what did you say?”

Harang, who had been consumed by the effects of alcohol, stopped his rant. Seeing him furtively glance at Yoogeom, it seemed he had heard correctly despite his muddled state.

“I said anyone can use it.”

“Don’t you need something?”

Harang, who, despite being a proper early-stage Awakened, had never thought to test his abilities, was more ignorant about hunters than an elementary school student. He had naturally assumed that something would be required to use the chat window. Like having to awaken as a hunter, or consuming mana with every word.

“You don’t need anything except when you first create it or increase the maximum number of members. The Guild Leader used it too.”

“Did… he…?”

Come to think of it, on his first day at Saenara, Cheolmin had also conversed without speaking. He had naturally assumed he was a hunter since he was the head of a guild, but to think he was an ordinary person.

“Then why can’t I use it?”

Putting the shock aside, hearing the explanation that even Cheolmin, an ordinary person, used it made him feel even more sad. There was also the matter of being thrown into the team leader’s office on the first day without a word. The sudden company dinner, and the fact that they were talking with only Harang left out, made it a pile of grievances.

“No one ever said you couldn’t use it.”

Yoogeom was dumbfounded. Anyone who heard him would think they were really persecuting him. But neither Yoogeom nor the other hunters had ever taken away Harang’s freedom. If anything, they had been considerate of him.

“Min Harang?”

He could tell him right now if he was curious, but Harang didn’t answer. The consciousness that had returned for a brief moment while traveling through the portal had already departed for dreamland.

Instead of waking Harang up or leaving him behind, Yoogeom carefully lifted him into his arms. He hadn’t been eating much, and he was just as light as last time. Harang didn’t stir even as he was carried to the room.

“Mr. Baek Hunter. Last time…”

However, as he tried to lay him on the bed, Harang woke up as if he were a ghost and mumbled something. Thinking he would say something useless again, Yoogeom casually ignored him and covered him with the blanket.

“I didn’t avoid you because you were dirty.”

The hand that had been pressing down indifferently paused. What was dirty? At the out-of-the-blue story, Yoogeom leaned in to listen, and Harang let out a small sigh.

“It’s true.”

This time, he even grabbed Yoogeom’s hand. It was a completely different attitude from how he had tried to keep his distance in the past.

“There are only two things I’m scared of in this world.”

“What are they?”

Yoogeom asked, pretending to be uninterested. He didn’t egg him on or raise his voice, for fear of startling Harang, but his eyes were full of curiosity.

“One is blood. That spider from before, I mean… I thought it got on your hand when you killed the monster. Because it was so cold. That’s why I avoided you. I didn’t think you were dirty…”

The mention of a spider brought back a memory. It was when Harang had avoided Yoogeom after the simulation training. He had been so startled that Yoogeom had assured him it wasn’t dirty, but it seemed he had been holding it in his heart.

“I see. What’s the other one?”

“The other one… is.”

Harang, who seemed like he would answer obediently, slowly blinked his eyes before closing them completely.

“Min Harang?”

“…”

Wondering if he had really fallen asleep just like that, Yoogeom gently shook Harang’s body.

“Min Harang.”

He called Harang twice, but the person who was already asleep did not answer.

Warning! You have violated the restriction ‘A pure body and mind.’ The ability to tell the future and glimpse into destiny is not given for free. Always maintain a pure body and mind. Otherwise, your stats will be lowered.

As a penalty, your Intuition stat will be lowered by -50 for one week. Time remaining: 156 hours, 30 minutes, 21 seconds

As soon as he woke up, he saw a hallucination. His head was already splitting with a headache, and he wondered what all this fuss was about.

“Ughhh.”

As he let out a groan, a water bottle flew out of thin air. Harang, who had been staring at the bottle that landed safely on the bed, couldn’t overcome his thirst and opened the lid.

The contents were a clear blue color, and it was as refreshing as its color. After gulping it all down, the splitting headache subsided as if it had been a lie.

“Thank you. But what is this?”

Harang, who offered his thanks first as is the Korean way, belatedly asked about the identity of the water bottle. From the color alone, it looked like a familiar sports drink, but he was suspicious that it could cure a hangover in an instant.

“An elixir.”

“Oh, so it’s an elixir.”

The elixir that was said to be priceless. He had heard that it could even fill up dwindling mana, and he newly learned that it was also effective for hangovers.

He nodded his head in pure admiration for a moment, then his body froze from the tips of his toes. Elixirs were expensive, but that was a story from another world. After all, it was a potion that only worked on hunters.

When he unnaturally turned his head to face Yoogeom, he saw him standing crookedly, leaning against his back. Pfft. He wished he would just say something. The way he just smiled with the corners of his mouth pulled up, like usual, made a person’s heart more anxious.

“Please keep it a secret.”

Without a second thought, Harang shot up and dropped to his knees. A thud sounded from the sudden throwing of his body. Literally clinging to Yoogeom’s trouser leg, Harang blurted out whatever came to his mind.

“I’m really an F-rank. No, if you think about it, I’m not even an FF-rank. My strength, stamina, and agility combined are 6. 6! I could die from just a slight touch. In a way, the ability I have is a support type, isn’t it? If people find out, how will they see me? What if I get pushed around and then just die!”

It was a fantasy Harang had imagined dozens of times while living in hiding. As his unfortunate end drew near, the words flowed out like a torrent. Yoogeom, who had been watching quietly, opened his mouth bluntly.

“You didn’t seem to have any intention of hiding it.”

No intention of hiding it? Not at all! Harang was serious about hiding his ability. If he weren’t, he wouldn’t have bothered to collect cards or look at the interpretation guide as if memorizing it.

The reason he lived avoiding people included some of his personal inclinations, but in any case, Harang’s dream was to live a long, ordinary life.

“I’d never even seen a hunter before. You didn’t know at first either, Mr. Baek Hunter. Right?”

Yes, even Baek Yoogeom had been easily fooled at first. When he pointed that out, Baek Yoogeom uncrossed his arms and fiddled with his chin.

“The other kids did seem to be fooled.”

“Right? Even from your perspective, Mr. Baek Hunter, I did a good job hiding it, right? So can’t we just keep it between us and move on?”

When he pleaded, even nodding his head earnestly, Baek Yoogeom let out a long, “Hmm.”

“What’s your level right now?”

“My level?”

“If you don’t want to say, go to the Tower and check.”

“5! I just turned 5 this year.”

“But your stats are 6?”

Yoogeom’s eyes deepened in a different way. He seemed to have thought that since the sum of his strength, stamina, and agility was 6, his level would also be stagnant, but Harang, who had been steadily accumulating experience points, couldn’t help but feel offended.

It wasn’t like Harang was maintaining a strength, stamina, and agility of 6 because he wanted to. There was a limit to reading tarot remotely, so it was hard to gain experience, and his stats weren’t something he could choose to raise himself; they went up automatically according to his class.

‘Still, considering I was at a strength, stamina, and agility of 3 when I first awakened, it’s doubled…’

“I’ll keep it a secret for now.”

Harang, who had been making excuses in his head, quickly nodded, afraid he might change his mind.

“Instead, participate in the next raid without fail.”

“You just heard my stats.”