The SSS-Class Hunter’s Garden Log Chapter 14

Hana picked up one of the savory-smelling lumps that had fallen to the ground and took a bite.

 

“It really is popcorn?”

 

【SYSTEM】 

<Popcorn?! This item is ‘Secretions of a Fire-Attribute Crop-Type Monster — D-rank Recovery Food’! > 

< Name: Flame Corn Kernels >

 

“Aren’t Flame Corn Kernels just popcorn? You want some too?”

 

Hana held out a piece of the popped corn toward the system window.

 

【SYSTEM】 

<The savory taste is top-tier! 〜^∇^)〜 >

 

Apparently it suited its palate, as the system window flashed brilliantly.

 

Encouraged by this, the small monster wagged its tail and spat out a few more kernels. 

 

The kernels that fell to the ground melted into the garden soil like disappearing snowflakes. 

 

In the blink of an eye, green vines began to stretch out from that spot, and emerald leaves and corn silk poked their heads out.

 

“Amazing.”

 

It was like an autonomous production system that automatically repeated harvesting and cultivation. Hana watched the scene in a daze, unable to hide her admiration.

 

Just then, the small monster tugged on the hem of Hana’s pants and whined.

 

“What’s wrong? Are you uncomfortable?”

 

“Kkiang!”

 

The monster turned its body and pointed its front paw toward the bushes.

 

“You want me to go over there?”

 

Wondering what was going on, Hana followed the monster past the brush. 

 

There, behind the bushes next to the garden plot, something large was collapsed on the ground. 

 

“Huh? What’s this shadow…”

 

A massive frame. Black hair poking out from between the tall grass.

 

Thinking it might be another monster, Hana quickly grabbed a nearby branch. But realizing it was a person, she lowered it.

 

“Why is there a person here? Hey! Please wake up!”

 

Hana’s eyes widened as she shook the shoulders of the man lying face-down. His sharp, deep features were familiar.

 

“Seo… Kanghyun?”

 

Why was a Hunter like Seo Kanghyun collapsed in a place like this?

 

“Is he hurt?”

 

At first, she was startled, thinking he might be seriously injured, but there were no visible wounds. 

 

Hana leaned her ear close to his high nose bridge. 

 

She only felt a sense of relief once she confirmed his breathing was steady.

 

“Is he… sleeping? No, why would he be sleeping here…?”

 

Wavering between confusion and absurdity, Hana scratched her head.

 

“Excuse me, Seo Kanghyun-ssi? Could you try to wake up?”

 

His long eyes with their slightly upturned corners didn’t budge. 

 

There was no sign of him waking up anytime soon.

 

“What should I do? I need to head back soon.”

 

After a moment of thought, Hana gently laid Kanghyun back down.

 

Is this okay?

 

“It bothers me to just leave him here. Even if he is an S-class Hunter…”

 

They say if you sleep on the ground, your face will get paralyzed.

 

As if she had made up her mind, Hana set all the fertilizer sacks on the ground and dragged over her empty cart. 

 

Whatever the circumstances, her conscience pricked at the thought of leaving a person to sleep on the street—or rather, on the floor of a Gate.

 

And so, she loaded Seo Kanghyun into the empty cart, accompanied by a complaint that wasn’t quite a complaint.

 

“How can someone’s shoulders be this broad…!” 

 

After somehow stuffing in his angular shoulders and long legs, which kept popping out, Hana began to pull the cart.

 

【SYSTEM】 

<Cargo: 5 Sacks of Fertilizer (150kg) → Removed > < New Cargo: 1 Adult Male added > 

<※ You’ve picked up something rare! >

 

And so.

 

Yoon Hana picked up a wild Seo Kanghyun.

 

She had no idea that she would eventually hear the words: ‘Picking me up was your choice, but throwing me away won’t be.’

 

* * * 

 

The cart carrying Seo Kanghyun rattled as it rounded the edge of the garden. 

 

Every time it jolted, Kanghyun’s long legs kept sliding out.

 

“Ugh, why are his legs so unnecessarily long…!”

 

Hana stopped her progress and pushed his legs back inside. 

 

But it was in vain. 

 

No matter how neatly she folded them in, a little movement caused his straight legs to return to their original position. And it wasn’t just his legs; his arms were flailing about as well.

 

Despite her grumbling, Hana’s hands continued to rearrange his limbs like she was folding a cloth wrap. Eventually, the cart came to a stop in front of the shack.

 

“Now that I get a good look at him, he looks even worse.” 

 

She hadn’t noticed in the Gate because it was dark, but seeing him now, Seo Kanghyun’s complexion was ghastly. 

 

He was so deathly pale she wondered if he was even breathing properly.

 

“…He’s going to be okay, right?” 

 

Hana carefully placed her finger under his nose. 

 

Fortunately, she felt his breath. 

 

Only then did she let out a sigh of relief, clutching her chest.

 

“Thank goodness. At least he’s breathing fine.” 

 

But even so, she couldn’t just leave him in the yard like this.

 

“I should probably lay him down inside the shack and go get the Director.”

 

Hana rotated her shoulders once to warm up so she could carry him.

 

It was then.

 

Ding—.

 

Along with a familiar electronic sound, the system window appeared before her.

 

【SYSTEM】 

<Are you planning to bring the cargo into the house? o.o >

 

“I have to. I can’t just leave a sick person on the street. And his name is Seo Kanghyun, not ‘cargo’.”

 

After a short shout of determination, Hana rolled up her sleeves. 

 

Then, she fell into a realistic dilemma of how to carry this massive physique. 

 

He was just too tall. No matter how she slung him over her, those long limbs felt like they would flail everywhere.

 

“Hmm… if I drape this over my shoulder… no. He’ll fall. Then if I do this…”

 

Hana measured the angles back and forth before finally reaching a conclusion.

 

“Ah, whatever. Let’s just lift him first.”

 

Hana grabbed one of Kanghyun’s arms and slung it over her shoulder as if she were grabbing the top of a grain sack.

 

Just then, the system window flashed as if it had only just remembered something important.

 

【SYSTEM】 

<Oh! I forgot to mention that the Gate you just entered was a ‘Prohibited Area for General Hunters’!>

<Oh my! If you take this person with you, the fact that you trespassed into the Gate might be discovered. Are you sure you’re okay with that? ∑(O_O；)>

 

“What? Why are you only telling me that now!”

 

Hana froze in a half-bent posture, horrified. 

 

It hadn’t said a word while she was busily entering and exiting the Gate to plant seeds! 

 

She had simply been diligent in performing her missions, but it turned out she had broken Hunter Law again.

 

She felt cheated and frustrated, but it was already done.

 

‘Who can I blame? It’s my fault for not looking into it more carefully.’

 

Hana squeezed her eyes shut. 

 

The situation had become very awkward. What was she supposed to say when Seo Kanghyun woke up?

 

Haha, I was secretly going in and out of the Gate through a crawlspace and found you collapsed!

 

“…I probably shouldn’t say that, right?”

 

Holding onto Kanghyun’s limp arm, Hana wavered seriously between humanitarianism and survival instinct.

 

“Can’t I just say I found him collapsed on the road?”

 

【SYSTEM】 

<Do you think that’ll work? Unless this cargo is an idiot, wouldn’t he find that hard to believe? ˘▾˘) >

 

“Seriously. You always have such a ‘lovely’ way of putting things.”

 

【SYSTEM】 

<You have a good eye! I am lovely! Look at this brilliant blue light. Systematically, this is—>

 

…Forget it.

 

Hana shook her head and sank back into thought. 

 

“What should I really do?” 

 

Hana bit her lip. 

 

Bringing him into the shack created a problem once he woke up, but she couldn’t just leave him lying in the yard.

 

It was right as her worries reached a peak.

 

“…Ugh.”

 

A low, cracked groan was heard. 

 

As if he was regaining consciousness, Seo Kanghyun’s eyelids flickered. 

 

Then, his light gray eyes slowly revealed themselves and turned toward Hana.

 

His blurry, unfocused gaze traced Hana’s face dreamily.

 

“You… who—”

 

“Oh myy!!”

 

Hana shrieked reflexively. 

 

Simultaneous with the scream, she let go of Seo Kanghyun’s arm.

 

The momentum sent Seo Kang-hyun’s body tumbling backward along with the cart. 

 

The wheel joints creaked and swayed violently.

 

A beat too late, Hana reached out to try and catch his arm.

 

“Ah, wait, no—!”

 

But the cart didn’t care for Hana’s cry. As if showing off, the front wheels lifted, the balance collapsed completely, and it flipped over backward.

 

The result…

 

SPLAT.

 

With a heavy sound of impact, Seo Kanghyun was perfectly planted face-first into the hospital garden.

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

A silence fell before anyone could speak. 

 

Even the system window seemed to have lost its words, as it flashed very slowly.

 

【SYSTEM】 

< …. >

 

Hana swallowed hard.

 

Of all days, she had just applied fertilizer to the garden.

 

Thanks to that, something slimy and brown was smeared all over Seo Kanghyun’s handsome face. 

 

And it wasn’t just his face. 

 

Fertilizer was spread evenly over his long legs and his broad back without discrimination.

 

She recalled seeing an article once that mentioned Seo Kanghyun absolutely, positively hated dirty things. 

 

It said he wore gloves every single time because he hated getting anything on his hands even during combat.

 

As if to prove it, the Seo Kanghyun before her eyes was wearing black leather half-gloves.

 

She wasn’t sure if it was true, but she also thought she’d seen a post saying he once sliced a monster into thousands of unrecognizable pieces because it soiled his clothes during a fight.

 

Hana felt the blood drain from her entire body.

 

She was doomed.