The SSS-Class Hunter’s Garden Log Chapter 22

Hana seemed to ponder for a moment, then surprisingly nodded willingly.

 

“Yes. That’s right. But I didn’t break any hunter laws while trading on the Hunter Exchange. Seriously!” 

 

Kanghyun’s gaze moved to the box of tomatoes stacked on one side of the garden patch.

 

As expected, it was too much of a waste to take her to the Association like this.

 

Lately, the Association had been blatantly keeping Haechi in check.

 

They were piling on absurd regulations and restrictions, claiming they needed to block their growing influence.

 

The starting point was when the Association President collapsed and fell into a coma a while ago.

 

The Vice President, who had always disapproved of Kanghyun, temporarily took over the President’s authority.

 

From then on, recovery items and buffing resources were heavily skewed towards the large guilds under the Vice President’s patronage.

 

Thanks to that, Haechi had been having quite a hard time securing supplies lately.

 

But then.

 

A production class Hunter rolled in at such a timely moment. And one with quite good abilities at that.

 

Since the efficacy of her items was already proven, whatever Hana’s rank was didn’t become a major obstacle.

 

There was no reason for Kanghyun to let this opportunity slip away. 

 

Honestly, the violations Yoon Hana committed weren’t important.

 

She didn’t cause a gate explosion, and in the end, she had even managed to clear it. 

 

It would only be beneficial; it wasn’t a loss.

 

While Kanghyun finished up the calculations in his head, Hana was staring into empty air with an incredibly troubled face, her lips merely parting and closing. 

 

The reason was none other than the system window, which had popped out again with zero sense of timing. 

 

【SYSTEM】  

<New Mission Assigned!> 

<Target: Try cultivating the ‘Flame-Resistant Rice Seeds🌾 (Rare Rank)’.> 

<Reward: Farming Skill Lv.2 → Lv.3> 

<For reference, in order to maintain the flame resistance attribute of the rice seeds, you must periodically inject high-quality fire energy during the growth process! =t=>

 

‘Fire energy?’

 

As Hana blinked, Chirpy immediately displayed the next sentence as if it had been waiting.

 

【SYSTEM】  

<Fire energy of a certain grade or higher can be obtained from a fire-attributed hunter.> 

<An S-rank or higher fire-attribute skill is required. Oh my! What a coincidence—there just happens to be the perfect hunter right here!>

 

A Fire-attribute Hunter of S-rank or higher?

 

If it was such a person in South Korea, there was exactly one.

 

Hana’s pupils shook left and right. 

 

She wanted to pretend she didn’t know, but she couldn’t even do that. 

 

Because Chirpy had very kindly created a massive arrow and floated it right above Kanghyun’s head. 

 

【SYSTEM】 

<↓↓↓>

 

“Ah, seriously…”

 

For a moment, Hana felt the urge to clutch her head.

 

‘As if Seo Kang-hyun would cooperate! Look at that man’s eyes right now, will you? He has a face that wouldn’t look out of place even if he buried someone alive!’

 

Hana, who was wailing only on the inside, suddenly tilted her head. 

 

He had definitely been much fiercer until just a moment ago. 

 

The current Seo Kanghyun looked as if a tiny gap, just enough to fit a needle, had appeared.

 

As if to show such thoughts weren’t entirely baseless.

 

Kanghyun calmly opened his mouth, as if he had seen right through Hana’s inner thoughts.

 

“It looks like you have no desire to make it public knowledge that you were the one at the Yangpyeong Station Gate today.” 

 

Hana’s shoulders flinched.

 

“Am I correct?”

 

“Yes. I… suppose so?”

 

She didn’t particularly intend to hide it, but with the video already circulating on the internet, she absolutely hated things getting more bothersome.

 

Besides, it wasn’t just once or twice she had violated Hunter laws. If all that was discovered, the situation would become incredibly complicated.

 

Hana quickly nodded her head.

 

Kanghyun watched that reaction for a moment before making a proposal.

 

A very sudden proposal, yet simultaneously an incredibly sweet one for Hana.

 

“In that case, let’s keep everything I saw today a secret.” 

 

“Gasp, really?” 

 

Hana’s eyes sparkled.

 

“Instead, let’s make a contract. Yoon Hana-ssi, are you the owner of this garden patch?”

 

“That’s right. Strictly speaking, it belongs to the hospital director, but I grew the crops here.”

 

“Then let’s arrange for all of these crops to be supplied to Haechi.” 

 

“Yes, great! I’ll do it!” 

 

She had been wondering how on earth she could get Seo Kanghyun’s fire energy, and to think such an opportunity would come. She had to grab it first.

 

At the answer that popped out without even a moment’s thought, a faint hint of doubt appeared in Kanghyun’s eyes.

 

“…Aren’t you deciding a bit too quickly?” 

 

“Ah, well.”

 

Hana laughed awkwardly and scratched her cheek.

 

“It’s originally common courtesy to quickly grab a good proposal. When would an F-rank Hunter like me ever get to sign a contract with Haechi again.”

 

Still looking at Hana with suspicious eyes, Kanghyun calmly added a condition.

 

“If you sign an exclusive contract with our guild, you can no longer list items on the Hunter Exchange.”

 

At those words, Hana’s expression briefly hardened.

 

The income from the Hunter Exchange wasn’t small. She was covering most of her living expenses and hospital bills from there.

 

Furthermore, there was one thing holding her back. 

 

“But it’s a little difficult for me to stop using the Hunter Exchange right away. I still have one transaction left to settle.” 

 

“Is that transaction larger in scale than the one you would have with Haechi?” 

 

“It’s not that, but……” 

 

Hana gritted her teeth.

 

“There’s someone who bought potatoes and hasn’t paid the remaining balance. Until I receive that balance, I think I’ll have to keep using the Hunter Exchange app.” 

 

At that moment, the username ‘KingKongIfTheKingFalls,’ who hadn’t even logged in for days, flashed through her mind. (t/n : I changed KingKongFallsKingKong to KingKongIfTheKingFalls). 

 

How many times had she sent messages regarding the balance during this time? 

 

Thinking about how he hadn’t even checked them, she felt so indignant that the corners of her eyes naturally sharpened.

 

“If it’s that kind of problem, let’s have it handled on my end.” 

 

“Huh? No, you don’t have to go that far—.”

 

“I’m doing it because this way seems more efficient. Dragging things out isn’t my style.”

 

At Kanghyun’s firm attitude, Hana couldn’t say more and closed her mouth.

 

After a moment, Hana stealthily straightened her knees and asked as cheerfully as possible.

 

“Then…… by any chance, how much would the down payment be?” 

 

Without a word, Kanghyun pulled out his phone and displayed a number on the screen. 

 

“Around this much.”

 

Hana swallowed hard, her throat clearing with a gulp. 

 

‘Just…… how many zeros are there?’

 

It was an amount that would more than cover settling three years’ worth of hospital bills right now.

 

Kanghyun firmly drew the line one last time.

 

“Keep this in mind. From now on, all crops produced by Yoon Hana-ssi are exclusively for our Haechi’s use.”

 

Hana’s mouth naturally watered.

 

With conditions like these, there was no reason to refuse.

 

Wondering if she might have drooled, Hana wiped the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand, then gave a determined thumbs up.

 

“Don’t worry. Mutual trust is important in a contract. I will work hard to grow crops solely for Haechi.”

 

Slyly lowering her thumb, Hana clenched both fists tightly in excitement.

 

“Long live Haechi!” 

 

Along with a loud shout.

 

“Hah.”

 

Kanghyun looked at such Hana in disbelief and shook his head slightly side to side.

 

* * *

 

After Seo Kanghyun left the garden patch like that.

 

With a half-dazed face, Hana opened the cabin door and went inside.

 

Then, she threw her body flat onto the bed. 

 

“Haa, I’m dying.”

 

Her body slumped heavily.

 

Her entire body ached and the strength had drained right down to her fingertips.

 

But because a faint smell of fertilizer still lingered, Hana forced her heavy body up and headed to the bathroom.

 

As she stepped out after washing with lukewarm water, warm steam bloomed over her skin. 

 

Only then did it feel real.

 

Ah, today is really over.

 

Hana roughly dried her hair with a towel and sat on the edge of the bed. 

 

“I somehow managed to get through it well.”

 

It still didn’t feel real.

 

To think she had signed a contract with that Seo Kanghyun. 

 

“By the way, what do I do about the rice seeds?”

 

In the end, she couldn’t even bring up a single word about the rice seeds right until they parted ways.

 

However, it was only a matter of time; she would eventually need Seo Kanghyun’s help to carry out the mission.

 

Thinking about that fact, Hana chewed on her lip, feeling a sense of dread.

 

“How do I even bring it up?” 

 

She couldn’t just abruptly ask, ‘Could you please share some of your energy?’

 

“He’ll look at me like I’m a weirdo.”

 

Wait, was she not? Wasn’t she already being treated like a thoroughly weird person? 

 

“Let’s talk about it gradually, gradually.”

 

Hana muttered as if soothing herself.

 

For now, she had decided to keep using the hospital’s garden patch, and since Seo Kanghyun said he would handle the second garden patch she made inside the Gangnam Station Gate and that she didn’t need to get rid of it.

 

At present, even this much was enough. 

 

Being too greedy all at once would only lead to trouble.

 

Since there would be many days to see Seo Kanghyun from now on, wouldn’t there be another opportunity.

 

“First, let’s get some sleep.” 

 

Since they had agreed she would go to the Haechi Guild tomorrow to draw up the contract. 

 

Hana buried her body comfortably into the bed. 

 

As her tension dissolved, drowsiness rushed in instantly. 

 

Slowly blinking her rapidly heavy eyelids, Hana muttered.

 

“By the way, when are they giving me that reward called a memory fragment or whatever…”

 

Yaaawn.

 

Her eyelids, which blinked a few more times, soon stopped opening. 

 

Along with the sound of a yawn, her breathing settled evenly.

 

Shortly after, Hana fell into a deep sleep. 

 

That night.

 

Hana had a dream—one she had never once dreamt since waking up in the hospital.