The F-Rank Hunter Defies Fate Chapter 4.5

Harang alternately thought of the articles and comments he had just seen, and the hunters before him. Those who were now trying to cherry-pick only the good things, and those who were constantly honing their skills. Among them, the one that shone was undoubtedly the latter.

“We have to.”

“Then I’ll get ready too. When are you going to start? It would be better to start from around the 60th floor, right?”

Jaei’s face lit up in response to the nonchalant answer.

“Last time, we started from the 50th floor, so it felt like something was lacking.”

The way he lowered his eyes made him seem like a puppy desperate for praise. Yoogeom, who had been looking at Jaei for a moment, gently stroked his head instead of firmly disagreeing.

“Go in with Hyemin.”

“Then what about you, Boss? No matter how strong you are, won’t there be too many for you to handle alone?”

At the gentle refusal, Jaei carefully chose his words. He was anxious about whether Yoogeom might be offended. At the same time, a childishness was evident in the words he added, not wanting to be left behind.

“It’s fine. I have a lucky item.”

Harang, who was witnessing the scene of Clearance Team 1 building their camaraderie, blinked his eyes rapidly. It was because he was wondering what kind of bullshit this was.

“Surely you’re not talking about that person, are you? What can a civilian do inside the Tower?”

It seemed Yoo Jaei felt the same way, as his cautious demeanor vanished, replaced by bewilderment.

“He can do a lot. He even blocks attacks.”

To be precise, it was not Harang who had blocked it, but the lucky item that had been helpful.

“I-Is that so?”

Nevertheless, confusion filled Yoo Jaei’s eyes. That was how confident Yoogeom was.

Thanks to Yoogeom’s needlessly high drive, Harang was able to enter the Tower soon after. Compared to last time, he had only come up one floor, but it felt unfamiliar.

There was no need to get on an elevator to be assigned a floor like before. Instead, because Yoogeom opened a portal at will, Harang had to struggle to avoid rolling on the floor.

Welcome back to the Tower. The current floor is the 4th floor.

The status window accurately pointed out Harang’s situation, having barely avoided kissing the dirt floor. No matter how many times he was dragged around against his free will, he could not get used to it. Harang glared at Yoogeom, his expression reflecting his current feelings.

“What?”

Yoogeom shrugged his shoulders with an attitude of complete ignorance. Right, he already knew the fact that Baek Yoogeom was insolent. Should he be glad that he was not thrown into a high floor, at least? Harang, who felt like he would say something if he opened his mouth, suppressed the anger that was welling up to the tip of his chin.

“It’s nothing. If it’s the 4th floor today, I guess we’re going to the 5th floor tomorrow?”

Instead, when he asked what they would do from now on, Yoogeom tilted his head as if he did not understand. As if he were looking at an underachiever who could not even solve a simple problem.

“No, we’re breaking through to the 10th floor today.”

“The 10th floor?”

Harang, who had the experience of defeating low-level demonic beasts on the 3rd floor and in the training room, turned pale. He even instinctively took a step back, but Yoogeom grinned and gestured with his chin toward the wide-open interior of the Tower.

“Don’t worry. You just have to follow me quietly.”

As Yoogeom had boasted, Harang did not have to squeeze out his mouse-tail-sized mana. He had thought that the reward had come to him, who was far away, even when Yoogeom defeated the ruler of the 3rd floor, but it was said that hunters could form a party regardless of their level.

‘Then he should have partied up with me sooner.’

Harang, who had not known this, kicked the innocent dirt floor. He could not say it out loud because this was inside the Tower, and Baek Yoogeom was a person who could push Harang, a support class, in front of a demonic beast without hesitation.

“Then what should I do? Should I read your fortune for you?”

Harang, who had managed to accept the situation, asked about his usefulness instead of being sarcastic. The future of Yoogeom running around alone was clearly drawn in his mind, but hiding behind someone younger than him did not suit his personality.

“If I was going to get it read, I would have done it before coming in. Don’t get hurt wandering around for no reason, and stay inside the barrier.”

Just as Harang was about to cast a skill, Yoogeom stopped him, holding his hand. Perhaps because Yoogeom’s body temperature was higher than his, their touching hands were warm.

“No, but still.”

Feeling awkward, Harang looked at the tips of his toes and mumbled. The hunter in front of him, despite his blunt way of speaking, was kind. At first, he had thought that Yoogeom was being kind to him, a Tarot Master, because he was a lucky bastard, but while staying at Saenara, he had learned that he was a kind person by nature.

Even if he did not take the initiative, he never backed down from anything Yoogeom needed. And he was a reliable pillar for his teammates. It was the same for Harang, who had ended up in Clearance Team 1 by a twist of fate.

“If you really want to, you can practice your secondary skill.”

After finishing his words, Yoogeom tapped the barrier he had created like before. The faintly blue curtain, resembling Baek Yoogeom’s eyes, was rippling.

Since it had taken Yoogeom a little over 20 minutes to clear the 3rd floor, he thought the 4th floor would take longer. However, before Harang could feel bored, Yoogeom began to break through the Tower at a surprisingly fast speed.

It took less than 20 minutes to defeat the rulers up to the 6th floor in succession. Harang, who had been quietly staying inside the barrier every time they moved to a new floor, began to feel embarrassed around the 7th floor.

“Mr. Baek Yoogeom. Um… isn’t the barrier a waste?”

He did not know if it was a skill or an item, but every time they moved floors, the barrier disappeared and was created again. In the time it took to break through three floors, the number of demonic beasts Harang had encountered was zero.

This was possible because Baek Yoogeom was annihilating them as soon as he saw them. Harang, who was safer than ever, indirectly said it was a waste. At that, Yoogeom frowned.

“You told me not to leave you alone.”

“Well… that was because I thought it would be dangerous. Do you know that I haven’t seen a single demonic beast today? You’re nipping them in the bud from way over there, Mr. Baek Yoogeom. Where would there be a chance for it to be dangerous?”

Harang pointed from the entrance of the Tower where he was standing to the farthest point he could see. Literally, Yoogeom was defeating all the demonic beasts before he even found the ruler.

No matter how weak or small they were, he never missed one, so naturally, Harang did not even see the tail end of a demonic beast.

“Do as you wish.”

Perhaps because the barrier itself was consumable, Yoogeom obediently nodded his head. Thanks to that, Harang’s mental burden was reduced, but the climbing speed was still fast. He was so busy that he had no time to think about his secondary skill.

It was when they reached the 10th floor that he remembered Yoogeom mentioning practicing his secondary skill. To be a little more honest, it was not that he had completely forgotten. But the memory of his hair fluttering and the warm energy when he used his secondary skill last time was stuck in his mind.

Harang, who had been weighing his personal peace against the future of humanity, could only make up his mind after Yoogeom had moved away to defeat the ruler of the 10th floor.

You will use ‘May I Reach You…’.

Even after making up his mind, he just stared at the status window, and a slightly strange phrase appeared. Before, it had at least pretended to ask for his intention, but now it was just informing him.

“Fine….”

Harang, who could neither avoid it nor enjoy it, let out a sigh and prepared for the impending shock. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the bizarre phenomenon to pass, but even after a long time, his hair did not flutter.

[Why did you come so late! T_T I thought you abandoned planet E-3800!]

Instead, a cute sentence appeared on the status window. Harang, who instinctively knew it was Mingming, blurted out his true feelings.

“Who abandoned what? Do I look like that kind of person to you?”

[That’s not it, but… in the past, a mortal who abandoned a planet….]

“Abandoned a planet?”

[Ah, no, it’s nothing. You don’t need to know that!]

It was obvious to anyone that he was trying to change the subject, but Harang did not intend to dig into it either. Even if he did not press the issue now, he could just use it later.

You have successfully cleared the 10th floor.

Clearance Time: 12 minutes 46 seconds

Maximum Contributor: Hunter Baek Yoogeom

Other Contributors: Hunter Min Harang

In the meantime, it seemed Yoogeom had defeated the ruler of the 10th floor. A small notification sound was heard a few seconds later. His level, which had been stuck at 6 until before he entered, had risen to 18.

[Looks like you’ve leveled up a bit in the meantime. I thought you were just playing around.]

Playing around! Harang was very wronged. He had ridden the number 1 ranker’s bus, to be sure, but how much dawn training had he done, and how much had he endured being treated like a freeloader? Harang, who was about to argue for a moment, paused. There was something that bothered him in what Mingming had said.

“You, you can see my status window too?”

[Of course, since I’m Mr. Harang’s guide. I have a duty to sustain the fate of planet E-3800.]

At the confident attitude, Harang was at a loss for words. One moment it was saying where is the hunter who reveals all his cards, and now Mingming was invading his privacy without his consent.

“Still, shouldn’t you get my permission?”

Harang, who felt like he had been robbed blind, asked coldly.

“The status window again?”

Just as Mingming was about to express its unfairness, a heavy, low voice was heard from the empty air. The first day they met, it had been so startling he had to clutch his heart, but now he was used to it. Harang, who had guessed the owner of the voice, answered without even turning his head in that direction.

“Yes, that’s right. But sharing this is a bit….”

Harang scratched his cheek in embarrassment as he spoke. He did not know how much Yoogeom could see, so he could not just open up without thinking. However, he also had a history of telling others not to whisper in front of people. From the other person’s perspective, it would be ridiculous.

‘Should I just show it to him?’

[No! Don’t show him! I’d rather…!]

The status window, noticing Harang’s wavering, shook like crazy. Mingming, who had been spewing out exclamation points in succession, sent out a resolute message.

‘What can a status window do anyway?’

Harang, who had a surprisingly simple side, made up his mind quickly. As he parted his lips, the shaking status window stopped. Then, it drooped as if dejected.

[If I do this.]

“Can you hear me?”

A moment later, the line that Mingming had said when it first appeared was heard by his ear. Harang, whose eyes had widened, looked around and then lowered his gaze at a stinging sensation. A small bird, about the size of two adult male fists combined, was pecking at his feet with its beak.

“A chick?”

Harang knew the name of that bird. Yellow fur that looked like it would be soft to the touch. Legs that, unlike its body, looked like they would break if you tapped them. And its black eyes! It was just a bit bigger, but it was a chick.

“I borrowed some of Mr. Harang’s memories. This entity had the least mana consumption.”

The chick puffed out its chest and spoke triumphantly, as if to prove it was really Mingming. Harang, who briefly recalled the oral structure of a bird, was dumbfounded.

“If this was possible, you should have done it from the beginning.”

“B-But back then, Mr. Harang, your mana was only the size of a speck of dust. If I had materialized, you would have collapsed from mana depletion right away!”

Experiencing mana depletion was something Harang really wanted to avoid as well. But what did mana have to do with it? Just like a moment ago, there were many suspicious aspects to Mingming’s words that he could not just overlook. Harang, thinking ‘no way,’ bent down and picked Mingming up.

“You, are you using my mana as you please?”

Because he had leveled up in succession, he could not tell how much mana he had now, or how much was being consumed because of Mingming. However, he could tell the answer without even needing to check. The chick, small and light as fluff, was avoiding his gaze.

“This entity has low consumption, so it will be fine.”

It was the same with its careful chirping. Perhaps what it said was true, as he did not feel thirsty or hear ringing in his ears like when he experienced mana depletion. But people have feelings.

“Even so, from using skills to everything else, it’s all your way. Aren’t you the dangerous one?”

“N-No, I am just in a community of fate with you, Mr. Harang. There’s nothing I can use as I please.”

When he glared and spoke, Mingming hurriedly flapped its wings. Perhaps it was true that Harang was the only one with the right frequency, as it became restless even when he only pretended to be slightly angry.

“How can I trust you? You just say no, but you used it your way just now too.”

“I-I was wrong. The situation was urgent, so I just… I’ll get your permission from now on! For talking, for materializing… for everything!”

The dejected chick frantically rubbed its wings together. Just like a person begging for forgiveness. With a satisfied smile, Harang finally looked back at Yoogeom. He saw the hunter, who was rarely stiff.

“Here. You can hear it now, right?”

When he held out the yellow chick, Yoogeom nodded with a reluctant expression. He had stretched out his arm as a sign for him to take it, but Yoogeom did not move an inch.

“I want to stay with Mr. Harang. I can talk from here, can’t I?”

It seemed Mingming did not want to be touched either. The thoroughly dejected chick rubbed its head against his palm.