The SSS-Class Hunter’s Garden Log Chapter 19

Meanwhile, unlike the noisy outside, inside the gate was peaceful.

 

Hana was brushing off the rice seeds that were thickly covering the soles of Popcorn’s feet while laying out a string of nagging.

 

“Popcorn, you shouldn’t just eat random things like that!” 

 

Then, feeling a strange prickle of hot gazes, she stopped dead in her tracks just before stepping through the exit. 

 

And that was when she noticed. 

 

That the gazes of the swarming crowd of people beyond the entrance were all focused in her direction.

 

“U-Uh?” 

 

Hana rubbed her eyes, wondering if she had seen something wrong.

 

Usually, when a gate burst, everyone was busy running away; people didn’t gather around so densely like that.

 

But no matter how many times she looked again, people in pajamas were huddled closely together outside the gate, bustling about.

 

Perhaps they were even taking pictures, as camera flashes burst from the phones someone was holding.

 

“…What is going on?” 

 

Hana narrowed her eyes and scanned the outside.

 

“Why are there so many people gathered like that?”

 

With the flashes pouring toward her, Hana hurriedly pulled the fertilizer bag back over her head on impulse. 

 

Because she had roughly tucked it into the waistband of her overalls, it was a bit crumpled, but it was still decent enough to cover her face.

 

“Looks like everyone came out because of the Gate alarm.” 

 

Looking now, she also saw Hunters who were just about to enter the gate.

 

Hana scratched her chin.

 

Was it really okay for her to walk out there? 

 

“I hope this doesn’t turn into a whole annoying thing.” 

 

She absolutely hated drawing attention.

 

Maybe she should have just opened a shortcut to leave, like she usually did. 

 

Just as she was about to activate her skill with that thought in mind— 

 

A chestnut-haired Hunter abruptly jumped into the gate and pointed a finger at Hana.

 

“You over there! Stop!” 

 

“Oh—.” 

 

Hana, who had been bending her knees and sticking her hips way out to squeeze her body into the shortcut that was about to open, was abruptly frozen in that exact posture. 

 

The chestnut-haired Hunter, Choi Kwon, was equally startled.

 

“W-What the?” 

 

His confusion at the fertilizer bag greeting him lasted only a brief second. 

 

Choi Kwon immediately drew his weapon and took a defensive stance.

 

“Are you really a hunter? Aren’t you a humanoid monster?” 

 

“I’m a human! And I am a hunter!” 

 

Hana felt terribly wronged. 

 

First Seo Kanghyun earlier, and now this guy—why did everyone keep treating her like a monster?

 

Without withdrawing his suspicious gaze, Choi Kwon placed a hand on his hip.

 

“If you’re a Hunter, did you apply for entry?”

 

“Suddenly—.” 

 

“Huh?”

 

She was about to say that a gate suddenly opened under her feet and she was swept in.

 

In that instant, Choi Kwon’s eyes widened.

 

Wondering why he was suddenly acting like that, he had discovered the Shrieking Bird lying dead with its belly turned up in the background.

 

“What is that? Did you defeat that thing?” 

 

“Well, I did defeat it, but it happened by accident—.” 

 

“By accident?” 

 

Kwon’s eyebrows shot right up.

 

The Shrieking Bird wasn’t a monster you could deal with ‘by chance’.

 

The person who knew that fact better than anyone was Choi Kwon himself.

 

Kwon slowly scanned Hana from head to toe.

 

A suspicious figure with a fertilizer bag over her head.

 

No matter how he looked at it, she didn’t possess the air of a veteran hunter. 

 

Meanwhile, Hana’s fists clenched tightly due to Choi Kwon constantly cutting her off.

 

Whether she did or not, Choi Kwon consistently poured out only what he had to say.

 

“Are you an A-rank? But there’s no human who looks like this among the A-ranks I know.”

 

“No.”

 

“Then B-rank?”

 

Hana shook her head.

 

Jutting out his chin, Kwon took a beat longer.

 

“Don’t tell me C-rank?”

 

“I’m F-rank. Haha.”

 

In that instant, it became as quiet as if the air had stopped.

 

Soon, shaking his head as if dumbfounded, Kwon looked around.

 

“Stop joking around, where’s the Hunter who accompanied you? That person must have taken care of the Shrieking Bird.”

 

“…”

 

“Don’t tell me you’re alone? Don’t you know that D-ranks and below must be accompanied by at least one C-rank or higher hunter to enter a Gate?” 

 

Sigh.

 

Hana looked off into the distant mountains. 

 

“I didn’t… know.”

 

“…”

 

Choi Kwon, who also lost his words for a moment and stared into the distance, suddenly lost his temper. 

 

“What kind of person are you? You don’t even know something basic like that? You didn’t even apply for Gate entry in the first place, did you!” 

 

No, it’s not like I entered because I wanted to.

 

What am I supposed to do when a gate suddenly opens under my feet?

 

Just as Hana opened her mouth, Kwon’s gaze traveled down to Hana’s pocket.

 

The red rice seeds poking out caught his eye.

 

“Wow. Don’t you know that taking by-products without permission is illegal if you’re not the subjugator?”

 

“I’m telling you I am the subjugator!”

 

“Oh, please. An F-rank being the conqueror, right. Just hand over the byproducts. I heard there are freeloaders these days who sneak in just to swipe byproducts. You’re exactly that kind of case.” 

 

Hana lightly pounded her chest with her fists.

 

She understood being looked down upon for being an F-rank, but that Shrieking Bird or whatever wasn’t even that strong.

 

It was frustrating why he couldn’t believe she had taken care of it.

 

And why was he driving an innocent person into being a thief?

 

With eyes narrowed sullenly, Hana glared at Kwon rebelliously.

 

It was a very petty revenge.

 

However, since she hated unnecessary confrontations, Hana was about to just hand over the rice seeds and pulled a handful out of her pocket. 

 

At that moment.

 

Without warning, a blue circle appeared under her feet.

 

【SYSTEM】

<For you in trouble! Don’t you want to leave for anywhere? Chirpy will grant that wish right now!>

 

Hana’s cheekbones twitched as she saw the system window calling itself ‘Chirpy’.

 

“You must have actually really liked the name I gave you?”

 

Then, she was startled reading the text that followed.

 

【SYSTEM】 

<Activating Skill ‘Opening a Shortcut for Cultivating Monster Crops Lv.1 (D-rank)’.>

 

“No, that’s not the problem right now!”

 

Hana shook her head violently at the sensation of the ground dropping beneath her feet. 

 

In the midst of this, Chirpy was proudly flashing its window. 

 

【SYSTEM】 

<How is it, User? A true system window is one that figures out what the User wants and perfectly executes it even without you saying it!>

 

What are you feeling proud about! When did I ever want this!

 

I don’t want to leave! If I leave like this, it really looks like I’m running away because I’m guilty!

 

However, the skill had already been activated.

 

“Ah, wait a minute—!”

 

Before she could even stop it, her body was sucked right in.

 

In the midst of that, Hana threw the rice seeds she was holding straight at Kwon.

 

The rice seeds smacked into Kwon’s face.

 

A few grains even went right into Kwon’s mouth.

 

“Pfft-ptui! What is this!”

 

While Kwon was throwing a fit, Hana’s body completely disappeared into the shortcut.

 

Leaving only a helpless cry behind in the empty air. 

 

“I really didn’t steal them! I’m the one who subjugated itttt—!”

 

The blue circle closed in the blink of an eye.

 

But Kwon couldn’t even dare to try and catch Hana.

 

Because he had unwittingly swallowed the rice seeds that hit his face and entered his mouth earlier.

 

“…Huh?”

 

It was that moment.

 

Something surged up from his insides.

 

“Aaaahhh!!”

 

Kwon reflexively clutched his stomach and screamed.

 

It was an absurd spiciness, as if he had swallowed whole a bowl of Fire Chicken Noodles with two extra circles of capsaicin poured in.

 

“What the, hey, Choi Kwon! What’s wrong with him?!”

 

The other Hunters who entered the gate belatedly hurriedly ran towards Kwon.

 

Kwon thrashed and rolled around on the floor as if he were about to breathe fire, and the hunters who saw this simultaneously gasped, cutting off their breath. 

 

“Water! Give me some water! Anyone got water?!” 

 

Kwon shouted, almost crying.

 

Only after snatching a water bottle someone handed him and pouring it straight into his mouth did Kwon manage to catch his breath and slump down.

 

“Shit, dammit. I thought I was going to die from the spice. That damn F-rank! What did she make me eat!” 

 

While extinguishing the fire in his mouth, Kwon felt something was strange.

 

Because the gazes of his colleagues surrounding him were exceptionally peculiar.

 

“Why are you all staring like that? It’s creepy.”

 

“Hey, Choi Kwon.”

 

“…What.”

 

“Your, your hair……” 

 

Kwon’s heart sank completely. 

 

“What. What’s wrong with my hair.”

 

Ah damn. Did even the remaining hair all fly away in the midst of this?

 

With an anxious heart, Kwon grabbed his head.

 

In that instant, a dumbfounded sound slipped from Choi Kwon’s mouth.

 

“…Uhh?”

 

Instead of a prickly sensation, his fingers were entangled in a full head of fine-textured hair that flowed smoothly between them.

 

Hastily going to a nearby puddle and checking his reflection, Choi Kwon covered his mouth at the luxuriantly grown hair.

 

“…Crazy.”

 

* * *

 

Along with the sensation of the shortcut closing, Hana’s body dropped from the air with a thud.

 

“Ouch.”

 

Hana stood up in the middle of her vegetable garden while rubbing her rear. 

 

Taking off the fertilizer bag, Hana arched an eyebrow to lodge a complaint against Chirpy. 

 

“How can you just activate a skill out of nowhere! You just made me look suspicious for no reason!”

 

【SYSTEM】 

<That’s too much, I only did it all for you, User 8ㅅ8 sob sob>

 

“N-No, but still, why are you crying again…”

 

Hana, who had deliberately acted strict, quickly softened.

 

As she tried to comfort Chirpy, who was shedding pixelated tears, Hana’s foot bumped against something. 

 

Hana, who lowered her head, froze stiff.

 

It was a handcart.

 

The handcart she had loaded Seo Kanghyun onto.

 

“Why is this here? I definitely left it in front of the Red Moon Guild Branch?”