The SSS-Class Hunter’s Garden Log Chapter 28

It seemed his claim that he would be right back wasn’t empty words. Though she had no idea what he had done to manage to make it back in such a split second. 

 

However, if there was one peculiar thing, it was that unlike when he left, Choi Kwon looked like a mess.

 

Judging by his dust-covered clothes, he looked like someone who had rolled spectacularly on some dirt ground. 

 

“I got rejected from joining Haechi.”

 

“See. I told you it wasn’t that easy. But what’s wrong with your clothes? Don’t tell me… Haechi did this to you?”

 

“No.”

 

Choi Kwon shrugged his shoulders, dusting himself off.

 

“My previous Guild Master did this. He beat me up when I said I was quitting. Still, don’t worry.”

 

“…”

 

“I’m officially out of my old guild anyway, so I can just keep applying until Haechi accepts me.”

 

Choi Kwon was burning with fighting spirit, tightly clenching both fists.

 

Watching that sight, Hana pressed her forehead.

 

It seemed she had let an incredibly strange human being into her home. 

 

* * *

 

“Damn it! What on earth did that little girl feed me!”

 

As soon as the door to the Vice President’s office slammed shut, the Vice President’s loud shout burst out.

 

But as soon as he yelled, pressure was applied to his lower abdomen, and the Vice President’s mouth promptly shut.

 

The Vice President clutched his stomach and frowned. The burning sensation as if his stomach had been scalded by fire still hadn’t faded.

 

Watching his appearance grow haggard in half a day, the secretary pondered.

 

Should he correct the facts? 

 

Saying it’s not that she fed it to you, but that you extorted it and ate it.

 

But he didn’t put it into practice.

 

Because bringing it up would just be asking for trouble, and it was obvious his other shin would be kicked this time.

 

With the secretary quietly keeping his mouth shut, the Vice President, having vented all his temper, gulped down cold water and sat quietly in his chair.

 

“Anyway, I really don’t feel good about this.”

 

The Vice President nervously set down the empty glass.

 

The biological energy detected at the Gangnam Station Gate was a simple error? Really?

 

The Vice President fumbled beneath his desk. 

 

Then, finding a small groove that caught on his hand, he brought the ring he was wearing on his index finger to it.

 

Click.

 

Along with the sound of the ring fitting into the groove, a small space hidden under the desk opened.

 

The Vice President took out the metal box contained within.

 

When he opened the box, things resembling seeds revealed themselves. 

 

These things, emitting an ominous dark red light, were gate cores.

 

No matter the location, if planted, they could tear the order of that land apart and open a Gate. 

 

Among the several gate cores, an empty core emitting no light caught his eye.

 

The Vice President picked up that seed.

 

It was the core used to open the Gangnam Station Gate three years ago.

 

“Right. Since the core that was in the Gangnam Station Gate back then was recovered like this, it must be a groundless fear.”

 

The Vice President swallowed dryly and inspected the cores inside the box once more.

 

“…Instead of wasting time on useless thoughts, I need to spread the gates faster. Before I displease That Person.”

 

The Vice President took out one gate core and handed it to the secretary.

 

The secretary asked the designated question as if accustomed to it. 

 

“Where shall we plant it this time?”

 

At the secretary’s question, the Vice President tilted his head as if thinking for a moment, then soon snapped his fingers.

 

Since they were going to open a gate anyway, he thought it would be nice to deal a blow to Seo Kanghyun, who was a thorn in his side.

 

“Plant it in the Haechi Guild’s front yard.”

 

“The Haechi Guild, sir?”

 

As if quite surprised, the secretary hesitated.

 

But that was all.

 

Without any further questions, the secretary soon left the room with a response of understanding. 

 

Left alone in the room, the Vice President leaned back in his chair.

 

But his heart just wouldn’t calm down.

 

It was definitely his doing that the frequency of gate appearances had increased lately.

 

Artificially planting cores, adjusting locations, and opening gates; all those things moved within his hands.

 

But Yangpyeong was different. 

 

The Gates that had occurred there were not by his hand. 

 

Even though he hadn’t scattered cores, Gates were appearing one after another around Yangpyeong as if reacting to something. 

 

There was definitely something there.

 

An existence with energy strong enough to summon gates.

 

“Hmm…”

 

As far as the Vice President knew, there was only one living organism with that kind of power.

 

‘1’.

 

As soon as that name came to mind, the Vice President quickly shook his head.

 

It was an absurd assumption. 

 

There was no way ‘1’ could have survived that massive gate runaway three years ago.

 

To eliminate any potential threat, hadn’t he even tampered with ‘1’s skill right before they entered the Gangnam Station Gate so it wouldn’t activate properly?

 

“But it really bothers me that I couldn’t confirm the corpse.”

 

Besides, hadn’t a connection record for ‘1’ appeared in the Hunter Database? 

 

Unable to sort out his chaotic mind in the end, the Vice President slightly raised his upper body.

 

That wasn’t the only thing bothering him.

 

Moving the mouse, the computer screen turned on, revealing the picture of the Hunter with a bag over her head.

 

“An unidentified Hunter capable of subjugating the Shrieking Bird alone.”

 

Could it be……. 

 

The Vice President carefully scrutinized the monitor.

 

Although blurry, the body type roughly seemed similar to ‘1’.

 

“It couldn’t be, but it wouldn’t hurt to check.”

 

The Vice President clicked the mouse to view ‘1’s personal information.

 

The people who had actually seen ‘1’s face could be counted on one hand.

 

Even then, most weren’t certain.

 

‘1’ always appeared hiding her identity, and more often than not, ignored even the Association President’s summons, only subjugating the gate before disappearing.

 

Equipment hiding her face, skills blurring her identity, and a method of movement that left no records.

 

Even within the Association, there were almost no individuals who could say they had actually encountered ‘1’.

 

Furthermore, ‘1’s personal information was a file under the exclusive viewing authority of the Association President.

 

Preventing even the executives from accessing it. 

 

But it was different now.

 

The full authority of the Association President was temporarily delegated to him.

 

It was at the exact moment the personal file was opening on the computer screen. 

 

Gurgle. 

 

Once again, a loud sound rang from his lower abdomen.

 

“I thought it had gotten a bit better, but here it goes again!” 

 

The Vice President scrunched his face.

 

Unable to hold it in the end, he hurriedly got up from his seat with the screen still on and headed to the restroom.

 

While the Vice President was briefly away like that.

 

The firmly closed door to the Vice President’s office opened, and someone slipped into the room as if seeping in.

 

The figure silently approached the terminal, then moved closer to the computer.

 

Then, after clicking the mouse a few times, they soon silently exited the room again like a ghost.

 

A moment later.

 

The Vice President, returning to his office with a much paler face, froze stiff while checking the open personal file.

 

Because the screen was completely blank. 

 

As if nothing had existed from the beginning.

 

Only the cursor was blinking on the white screen.

 

“What is this? Where did the file contents all go!”

 

The file was gone.

 

“Which b*stard did this!”

 

The Vice President, angered to the top of his head, was about to yell but clutched his stomach again.

 

His insides were in an uproar once again.

 

The Vice President inhaled a breath, then gritted his teeth.

 

“Damn it!”

 

He changed direction and ran back to the restroom.

 

He shouldn’t have eaten the rice seed back then.

 

It felt like things had started to get seriously tangled from the moment he ate the rice seed given by that F-rank Hunter.

 

Thinking of Hana and grinding his teeth, vowing to make her pay if they ever met again, the Vice President’s face soon turned pale blue as he began running to the restroom again.

 

“That F-rank Hunter. What on earth kind of item was she holding!”

 

* * *

 

A whole week passed like that.

 

As the time for Hana to come for her first delivery approached, Kanghyun hurried his steps towards the guild.

 

He had just completed the purchase of the Gangnam Station Gate and was returning from the Association Headquarters.

 

Having heard Seo Kanghyun’s report, the Association executives no longer paid any mind to the Gangnam Station Gate. 

 

To them, it was practically a Gate no different from a nuisance. 

 

Something they couldn’t just dispose of somewhere, only taking up volume.

 

So when Kanghyun stepped forward to purchase the ownership of the Gangnam Station Gate under the Haechi Guild, the Association’s response was extremely favorable.

 

As if they had been waiting, the Association demanded a high price, and Kanghyun merely frowned once before signing the contract just like that.

 

Because not only was it not just once or twice the Association did business with gates, but he was also willing to pay that price to keep his promise with Yoon Hana and to search for any possible traces of ‘1’.

 

As Kanghyun shoved the gate ownership transfer documents they had just filled out into his bag, Yoon Taegyeom grumbled from the side.

 

“Anyway, the Association people are nothing but daylight robbers. Demanding such a high price for a gate with only its shell left? It wasn’t this bad when the Association President was in good health.”

 

Regardless of what was said, Kanghyun merely pressed hard between his brows. A heavy headache rolled in. 

 

It was because of the fatigue piling up recently.

 

For a few days after eating Yoon Hana’s crops, he was able to sleep without nightmares.

 

But that effect didn’t last long.

 

Because of the nightmare of that day three years ago that surfaced whenever he closed his eyes, his insomnia was growing worse by the day.