The Otherworldly Magic Swordsman Who Disciplines the Hunter World Chapter 33

How should I bring it up? Should I sound him out after the meeting? Or should I ask Myeong Haejin again? It was obvious that if I made a fuss for no reason, I wouldn’t even break even.

The meeting began while Julian was gauging Gong Siyoung’s mood. Gong Sijin flipped through some papers. At the instruction to check the contents, the sound of rustling paper filled the conference room.

“Re-entry is scheduled for three hours from now. This time, our guild will enter alone.”

Gong Sijin’s expression was more serious than ever. The others were much the same. It seemed yesterday’s failure had indeed become a major issue.

With the atmosphere like this, it was clear that even if I interrogated Gong Siyoung now, I wouldn’t hear anything good. Should I ask him after we come out of the dungeon? Or should I ask him secretly while inside?

“Until the cause of the status window error is identified, everyone will move conservatively. However, that dungeon is our territory, and we can’t just sit idly by.”

Just a while ago, they were rushing in like jackals hoping to get something, but now that the risk had increased, everyone’s attitude had shifted.

The reason for their caution wasn’t a mystery. There were more than just one or two abnormal signals. The grade changed, and the status window vanished.

That alone was enough to instill terror in hunters who blindly trusted the system. Even if they were greedy for crumbs, it wasn’t to the extent of risking their lives to seek them.

“And more than anything… because more people have become curious about Mr. Yuri, things have become a bit complicated.”

At those words, everyone’s eyes turned to Julian. Not knowing why, Julian pointed to his own face with a finger. Gong Sijin nodded to indicate he was right.

“Your performance inside the dungeon was incredible, after all. Actually, it would have been fine if it ended there… but somehow, the fact that you aren’t registered as a hunter was also revealed.”

It was hard to call it a fault, but because Julian’s performance was so prominent, the aftershocks were great. The hunters who had entered the dungeon all asked in unison, “Who on earth is that person?”

Since a rookie hunter belonging to the Yeollak Guild had annihilated monsters even in a situation where the status window wasn’t visible, it was bound to be a shock to those who witnessed it.

The problem occurred after that. Other guilds, as well as the Hunter Management Bureau, were curious about the identity of Julian, who had performed so well, and in the process, the fact that he was not registered in the computer system was discovered.

Before things got any bigger, Gong Sijin stepped forward proactively to plead their case. He argued that Julian had undergone a proper screening long before entering the dungeon, and there was even a witness who conducted the examination at that time. It was a system error that prevented the grade measurement; it wasn’t that he hadn’t done it.

The Hunter Management Bureau also concluded to take those circumstances into consideration. However, they demanded that the registration be finalized before re-entry.

That meant Julian had to go to the Management Bureau before re-entering the dungeon. Unless he underwent the grade screening again and registered as a hunter, he had to be excluded from this raid.

“So I’ve been thinking… what is your opinion, Mr. Yuri? I did suggest joining the guild, but I didn’t mean for you to take the lead in such an abnormal environment.”

Gong Sijin smiled awkwardly. It was true that he coveted the knowledge and information Julian possessed as someone from another world. He didn’t want to lose a talent who knew monsters well and could even identify sudden dungeons.

However, that didn’t mean he intended to push Julian into a death trap.

In fact, he preferred Julian not to go into the dungeon. Even if he just found monsters while roaming ordinary dungeons, it wasn’t a loss for the guild.

Rather, that was a much safer way to utilize Julian continuously.

“Because life is the most important thing in any situation. If you say you don’t want to, you don’t have to participate in this raid. Rather, that might help cut off the excessive attention focused on you.”

At the lengthy explanation, Julian crossed his arms. He tapped his toe and looked around at his surroundings.

“Then what about the others? Are the people here going back in there?”

“We have to. Siyoung is there, so it will be okay.”

Julian raised an eyebrow. One thing became clear with that single sentence. Everyone here, with one heart and mind, took it as a given that Gong Siyoung would take the lead.

He said life is the most important thing with his own mouth, yet he pushes his own younger brother, Gong Siyoung, like this without even asking for his consent?

Is it always like this? Don’t they think this is unfair? Julian found Gong Siyoung surprisingly fascinating—usually, he grumbled and rebelled so much, yet in a moment like this, he was quiet.

Whether it was his imagination or because of the situation, Gong Siyoung’s expression looked particularly exhausted today. With the hollow eyes and all, he looked like someone who had failed to sleep. There were deep shadows under his eyes.

Noticing the gaze, Gong Siyoung rolled his eyes. His sharp eyes were so piercing they seemed ready to spit out the words, ‘What, what are you looking at?’ at any moment.

“Mmm…”

So, this means this kid is going back in there? Even when no one knows the monsters well and everyone ran away because the status window thingy didn’t show up, he’s going in because he’s being pushed?

If Gong Siyoung is totally unreliable, it would be nice if the people entering with him were at least trustworthy… but here, well. Julian examined the people sitting around one by one.

Myeong Haejin, who was busy picking a fight whenever he saw Gong Siyoung. Woo Yujin, whose mind was more on chatting than fighting. And Gu Jayoung, who was at least the most normal of the group.

No matter who he looked at, rather than a feeling of ‘Mm, they’re reliable,’ his concern that ‘Will this really be okay?’ only grew.

Could those weak moderners really fight well and calmly without a status window? The image of them making a fuss just because a single monster appeared was still stuck in his mind.

Thoughts completely opposite to the feeling of trust surged in his head.

‘Well… I don’t think it’ll work.’

Whether it was pity or just being meddlesome, he didn’t know. Whatever it was, ignoring it like this pricked his conscience.

If he hadn’t known them at all, he would have ignored it, but how could that be easy now that they were already facing each other and rubbing shoulders? If someone died, how would he deal with the worry?

“No, I’ll go in with you. We should live while helping each other, right?”

What if someone dies or gets hurt? In all likelihood, his heart would sting with guilt. Rather than living like that, it was better to lend a hand.

It’s not like he’d only fought monsters for a day or two; that level of threat was always present, so he wasn’t particularly scared.

“Just trust me, Siyoung.”

Leaving everything else aside, shouldn’t he at least protect Gong Siyoung as a way of repaying his kindness? He grinned at him to show him not to worry.

After blinking for a long time, Gong Siyoung finally parted his lips.

“…W-What, why, why… why, why are you calling my, my name just like that?!”

“Huh? That’s because a name exists to be called?”

Asking why. I called it because it’s a name, right?

Julian became puzzled because he was stating the obvious.

Why is he so flustered? It’s not like I said something strange; I just called his name, so what’s the big deal.

“Is it because I’m speaking casually? But I’m the hyung. I heard from Haejin that you’re twenty-five. I’m twenty-seven.”

“No, no. Just don’t call me! Coming any closer than this is forbidden, okay? Looking at me while smiling like that isn’t allowed either, just don’t do that! Everything is forbidden!”

He made a gesture as if drawing a line in the air. His swinging hands were quite firm.

At Gong Siyoung’s outburst, Julian felt even more unable to understand. What is it? Why is he overreacting like that?

Because of the sudden fuss, everyone’s eyes were focused on the two of them. Before Gong Siyoung could have more of a fit, Gong Sijin clapped his hands together clap-clap. He raised his voice to change the atmosphere.

“Now, now, focus, focus. Then I’ll take it that Mr. Yuri is also participating in this raid. As soon as the meeting ends, Hunter Siyoung will lead the team and go straight to the gate to wait, and Hunter Haejin, go to the Management Bureau with Mr. Yuri right now. I’ve already spoken to them, so you can go straight to the 4th floor.”

He gestured, telling them to go to the Management Bureau since there was no time. Julian, rising from his seat as if being kicked out, scratched his head.

Myeong Haejin, who had approached his side at some point, glared at Gong Siyoung and grabbed Julian’s hand.

“Hyung, shall we head out first then?”

Everything happened naturally, like flowing water. He followed Myeong Haejin out of the conference room. From behind, he heard Gong Sijin’s voice adding urgently.

“Hunter Siyoung will stay here for just a moment!”

Before Julian could even look back, the door shut with a thud. Myeong Haejin’s solid hand firmly held the door. His face, looking like he was dying of joy, shone brightly.

“Let’s go quickly.”

Following Myeong Haejin, who was even humming, Julian soon moved his feet as well.

∞ ∞ ∞

Thud, as soon as the door closed, a warning followed.

“Hunter Siyoung still has a lot of work to do here, so shall we focus?”

Gong Siyoung, who had been glaring at the door, flopped down into his seat and swept back his hair with an annoyed hand. It was an attitude that made it obvious to anyone that his mind was elsewhere.

Gong Sijin, sending a warning gaze, continued the explanation.

“We’ll enter as soon as Hunter Haejin returns, but I’ll tell those here in advance. In this dungeon, focus on information searching…”

Gong Sijin’s voice played like background music. Gong Siyoung anxiously shook his leg and stared at the door Julian had left through. It was a sight that showed his heart was already elsewhere.

‘What the hell, seriously…’

Leaving everything else aside, how can someone just call a person’s name so affectionately like that?