The F-Rank Hunter Defies Fate Chapter 4.4

It was Yoogeom who roused Harang, who had frozen in place. At the tap of his shoulder, Harang moved like a machine. The people scattered around blinked or gave a light nod every time Yoogeom passed.

Baek Yoogeom ignored all the greetings as if he were used to it, but Harang could not do the same. He had been covering his face at the team dinner, but now everyone could see Harang. Sure enough, those who had inhaled sharply at the sight of Yoogeom tilted their heads when they spotted Harang following behind him.

‘Would it kill him to tell me beforehand?’

His complaints were naturally directed toward Yoogeom. Harang glared at the back of his head as he moved forward without obstruction, then let out a small sigh. Now that it had come to this, he might as well eat with gusto. Harang, who had barely managed to get by on meals for years, had already melted into Yoogeom’s lifestyle.

“You can take as much as you want to eat. If there’s something else you want, just say so.”

Yoogeom, who had picked up a tray first, explained everything one by one. There was no hesitation in his steps; Yoogeom, surprisingly, seemed to be an expert on the cafeteria as well.

Harang inwardly clicked his tongue at the mention that they would make any dish that was not on the menu if he just asked. He had thought that this was what made large corporations different, but the trays of the people actually sitting at the tables only had the side dishes that were on display. This meant it might be a Baek Yoogeom exclusive.

“Mr. Baek Hunter.”

Harang, standing side-by-side with Baek Yoogeom, carefully called his name. Yoogeom, who had not even pretended to hear when the other hunters greeted him, immediately leaned his head closer.

“I’ll get my own food.”

Harang whispered softly, lest anyone hear. Even as he spoke, his ears felt hot. He had not felt anything strange when Yoogeom was explaining, but every time they passed by the well-prepared food, gazes would gather on them, pretending not to look.

It was inevitable. Baek Yoogeom, a man obsessed with food, had put his own meal on the back burner and was painstakingly filling each and every compartment of Harang’s tray. And with only the side dishes that Harang liked, at that.

“Do as you wish.”

Yoogeom stared down at Harang, who could not even meet his eyes, and then readily stepped back. Finally able to breathe, Harang quickly headed for a corner where people’s gazes could not reach.

“I’ve been thinking about it.”

Harang, who had sat down first, brought up the topic only after Yoogeom sat down across from him. Even though he had come to the very corner, he kept glancing around. He did not know who was a hunter and who was a civilian, and he was worried someone might be eavesdropping.

“You can talk now.”

Yoogeom, who had noticed Harang’s discomfort like a ghost, waved his hand in the air. At that, the occasional noise from the cafeteria completely disappeared. Harang’s mouth formed an ‘o’ as he marveled.

“I guess being the number 1 ranker allows you to do things like this.”

“This is nothing.”

Normally, he would have glared at Yoogeom for his attitude, which was a million miles away from humility. But right now, Harang was burdened by the attention of others, and he liked the reality that had distanced itself, even if only sensorily. Harang, who conveyed his gratitude with his eyes, opened his mouth.

“I’ve been thinking about it. The 80th floor is impossible, but I think going up one floor at a time would be okay.”

This was the result of Harang’s deliberation for several days and nights. When Yoogeom slightly lifted his chin as if to tell him to say more, he gained confidence. Having confirmed the positive sign, Harang carefully continued.

“Mr. Baek Hunter told me to participate from the next clearance, but that doesn’t make sense, really. You’re the only one who knows I’m a hun…ter, Mr. Baek Hunter. And I looked it up, and other hunters also start from the 1st floor and go up step by step.”

Yoogeom, who had stopped his hands to listen to Harang, nodded. He had wondered what Harang was up to, fiddling around all this time, but it seemed he had been studying the hunter ecosystem. Even Yoo Jaei, who had most recently joined Clearance Team 1, had climbed the Tower from the 1st floor.

“Ah, I spilled it.”

Unlike Yoogeom, who had stopped his hands completely, Harang was fidgeting. In the end, he touched the neatly placed utensils, and a chopstick rolled off the tray. Because of that, a little bit of seasoning got on Harang’s fingertips. When he frowned, Yoogeom, who was across from him, held out a napkin.

“Thank you.”

But did he take this out of his inventory? Harang, who had accepted it without thinking, tilted his head. Baek Yoogeom seemed indifferent but was meticulous, and detail-oriented in strange ways. Even with his inventory, unlike Harang who carried it around completely empty, Yoogeom carried all sorts of things.

Whether he knew of Harang’s gaze or not, Yoogeom even took away the napkin that had been used to wipe thoroughly. Harang, who had flinched at the touch of their fingertips, deliberately cleared his throat with a hem, hem, feeling like he was the only one overreacting.

“And Mingming said I’m the only one with the right frequency. I’m not a crazy person, but… you know how things like spirit possession only happen to certain people? Maybe Mingming is like that too?”

Having poured it all out, Harang rolled his eyes and studied Baek Yoogeom’s expression. He thought he had received glares for saying similar things when he was younger. But Baek Yoogeom’s expression was only calm.

“That could be.”

Rather, Yoogeom even offered Harang a water bottle, telling him to speak slowly as he was catching his breath. This time too, a small bottle appeared in the empty air as if taken out of his inventory. Harang, mesmerized by his direct gaze, accepted the water Yoogeom gave him and drank it.

The ticklish feeling in his chest was still unfamiliar. Harang deliberately tried to think of something else. As expected of a lucky bastard, he sure believes in superstitions, he thought.

New hunter in Team 1… must be the boss’s lover.

Author: Anonymous 3241 – 10:22

Anyone from Worlds would know, Team 1 got a new member.

There were a lot of rumors that he was a hunter with a rare ability or a prophet, but in my opinion, he’s just the boss’s lover lol

↳ ???? What???? Tell me more in detail.

↳ It’s true, I saw them too. If those two are just teammates, then I have no teammates.

↳ How do you guys know? What did you see to say that?

↳ Go to the cafeteria in the morning… In my 3 years at Worlds, I’ve never seen the boss act like that. Seriously, he looked like he was about to feed him.

Around the time Harang decided to enter the Tower, a storm was brewing in Yoogeom’s day as well. The change that had been slowly creeping up from under the surface started not from within Saenara, but from the outside.

“Boss! Have you seen the articles?”

Harang, who had been dozing off after being dragged to the training room at the crack of dawn, was startled by the loud voice and flinched. He stealthily wiped the corner of his mouth to check if he had drooled, and his eyes met Jaei’s, who was looking at him as if he were pathetic.

“Huh? Articles?”

Even though he knew it was no use since he had already been caught, Harang tried his best to act like he had been awake. When he repeated Jaei’s words, a crack appeared on his beautiful face.

“You don’t need to know.”

“What article?”

Jaei, with his eyebrows drooping into the shape of a number eight, muttered to himself and approached Yoogeom. He was cold to Harang, but it seemed he intended to readily give Yoogeom the answer.

“Well, they’re saying we’re deliberately monopolizing information. The way they’ve been pouring out since this morning, it seems like they’ve made up their minds.”

Jaei took his phone out of his pocket. Harang tilted his head, wondering what on earth was going on. In the meantime, a hologram screen appeared on the empty wall.

He had thought the interior of the team leader’s office was particularly bleak, but it seemed there was a reason one wall was left completely empty. The headline that filled one side of the wall caught his eye.

Saenara’s Information Monopoly: Is South Korea’s National Security Okay Like This?

Starting with that, a string of articles criticizing the actions of Yoogeom and the Saenara Guild followed. They were so provocative that even Harang, who did not know the situation well, found himself frowning. Yoo Jaei pointed out one of them in particular, indignant.

“Look at this. In the beginning, they were the ones who didn’t go in, saying it might be dangerous!”

Great Hunter Association Denounces ‘Saenara’s Monopoly on Tower Admission Tickets.’

• H Daily

In this era, which is called the Great Hunter Era, there is a team that climbs the Tower the fastest in the world. That is Clearance Team 1 of the Saenara Guild in South Korea. They recently completed the first ascent of the 79th floor in under an hour, earning them a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. Some are questioning whether it is okay to keep climbing like this when the top of the Tower is unknown.

Especially due to the Tower’s characteristic of granting an admission ticket to the first team to clear a floor, it is known that over 70% of the admission tickets for the Korean Tower are held by Saenara. Amid claims that this is a clear monopoly, Saenara’s Guild Master, Mr. Baek Cheolmin, said…

“What monopoly!”

While Harang was diligently rolling his eyes and reading the article, Yoo Jaei, who seemed to have already checked the contents, shouted in frustration. The comment section below was even more of a spectacle.

People who treated the public like fools, saying of course the 100th floor is the end; pessimists who recklessly claimed the world was ending; and those who argued that monopolies should be prevented in any field were engaged in a meaningless debate.

‘Monopoly.’

Harang muttered the word, which stood out with its impure intentions, under his breath. He had deliberately not paid attention to hunters until now, but even Harang knew that rankers, including Yoogeom, had been exploited since they were young.

Even Yoogeom, who was right in front of him now, had to enter the Tower, where he could lose his life, as if it were breathing, ever since he awakened in his teens. Even to Harang, who did not know the situation well, it felt like they were now making complaints out of regret. However, there was no expression on Yoogeom’s face.

“Then tell them to join another guild.”

“Why would we give away something so precious… It’s only natural that the priority admission ticket for the next floor is given to the first clearers. Why should we listen to the people who pushed you forward regardless of whether you got hurt or not, Boss? We should just put it up for auction.”

Jaei carefully objected to Yoogeom’s words, which seemed truly nonchalant. The young hunter was extremely on edge, but he looked bitter rather than foolishly blaming everyone. Even to Harang, who did not know their past, Jaei’s feelings were clearly legible.

Perhaps the hunters of Saenara had been thrown into dangerous situations time and time again. If one had watched that from up close, it was understandable to feel sorry for the criticism that was being poured out entirely on them.

“Are the admission tickets that important?”

Harang, partly to lighten the mood, voiced the question that had popped into his head. It would be a different story if he wanted to remain hidden as an ordinary person like before, but now he had made up his mind to enter the Tower. He wanted to escape from his ignorance now.

“They are important.”

Jaei, who had clicked his tongue at the innocent question, let his gaze travel from the top of Harang’s head to the tips of his toes. After a moment of narrowing his eyes as if to size him up, Jaei let out a sigh.

“The Tower may have been called the land of death in the past, but not anymore. Rather, admission tickets are as good as power. They’re essential not only for entering cleared floors but also for climbing new ones.”

As if words were not enough, Jaei fidgeted with the phone he was holding. Then, the articles attacking Saenara disappeared, and the market prices of various items appeared. There were a few things that were familiar to Harang’s eyes, and just the Absolute Covenant Contract alone had seven zeros attached to it.

‘You were going to use something that expensive so casually?’

Dumbfounded, he looked back at Yoogeom, and the hunter with a neat face shrugged his shoulders. A sigh escaped him, but he immediately understood what Jaei was trying to say.

“The items and demonic beasts will respawn anyway.”

It was Yoogeom who broke the serious atmosphere. Jaei, who had been biting his lip at Yoogeom’s cool attitude, opened his mouth as if to complain.

“But there might be one-time items, you know.”

As Jaei said, only demonic beasts and common items respawned in the Tower. Rewards given upon first clearance or one-time items would never appear again. Yoogeom, who was well aware of that fact, smiled faintly.

“It’s okay to hand over things like that. We already have more than enough admission tickets. You’ve been running forward without looking back too, so it’s okay to take a break.”

It had not been long since he had gotten to know Baek Yoogeom, but there were times when Harang felt he was a stranger. Like now, when he was being kind to a young hunter, or when he would casually volunteer for the most dangerous places.

“I-If you say so, Boss, then I have no choice.”

Yoo Jaei, perhaps feeling something similar to Harang, had his spirited momentum from when he first entered deflated. From the way he was still pouting, it seemed he was not pleased, but it was obvious he was trying his best not to show it.

As the tense atmosphere subsided, the hologram screen also disappeared as if it had never been there. However, Jaei did not leave right away and fidgeted, gauging the situation.

“But… you’re still going to train, right?”

Harang was inwardly surprised. He had thought Jaei was a hunter full of swagger, but he really was part of Clearance Team 1. He was sure Yoogeom had told him to rest, but to think he was thinking about entering the Tower in the midst of it all.