The SSS-Class Hunter’s Garden Log Chapter 29

Kanghyun’s eyes, heavy with exhaustion, closed tightly and opened again before veering to the side. 

 

It was because he spotted Choi Kwon in front of the guild building.

 

That is, Choi Kwon, wearing a beanie that didn’t suit the weather at all and heavily ripped jeans.

 

“Guild Master Seo Kanghyun!”

 

As soon as he spotted Kanghyun, Choi Kwon raised both hands high above his head and waved them around.

 

At that sight, Yoon Taegyeom shuddered in disgust.

 

“That guy is here again. Doesn’t he get tired? How many days has it been already? Why on earth is he making such a fuss about joining our guild?”

 

Paying no mind to Yoon Taegyeom’s distorted expression, Choi Kwon ran over to Seo Kanghyun.

 

“Guild Master. I’m really useful. I’m a rare A-rank among wind-attribute users, and I have a track record. I also have a lot of combat experience!”

 

“I don’t need you. We already have enough A-ranks.”

 

“Don’t be like that, just consider it one more time—uh, F-rank?” 

 

Choi Kwon, who looked ready to cling to Kanghyun’s trouser legs, looked delighted as he spotted someone approaching the guild.

 

At the word F-rank coming out of Choi Kwon’s mouth, Kanghyun also looked in the same direction.

 

Because Yoon Hana came to mind as soon as he heard that sound.

 

As expected.

 

Getting out of the car sent by the guild, Hana was approaching this way, holding one of the boxes full of crops in her arms.

 

Unable to see well ahead because of the potatoes and tomatoes filling the box, Hana poked her head out to the side and gave a greeting.

 

“Oh. Everyone is out here?” 

 

Before Kanghyun could offer any greeting, Choi Kwon promptly approached such Hana.

 

“Benefactor! Why are you carrying something so heavy? Give it here, I’ll carry it.”

 

“I told you not to call me that. And could you step back a bit?” 

 

Choi Kwon, who effortlessly snatched the box from Hana, stood closely by her side. 

 

Seeing the two of them looking quite close for some reason gave Kanghyun a subtle sense of displeasure. 

 

“I didn’t know you two were close.”

 

“We’re not close!”

 

Hana tried to step back in disgust, but Choi Kwon didn’t seem to have any intention of backing away.

 

Right around the time the corners of Kanghyun’s eyes narrowed further as he watched the scene. 

 

Along with the feeling of the ground vibrating lowly, the flow of the air changed.

 

The feeling right before a gate opens.

 

At that familiar sensation, from Hana to Kanghyun, everyone stopped talking in an instant and looked at one spot.

 

Sure enough. An alarm began to burst out above the place where the space was distorting.

 

[WARNING] 

[Gate Reaction Detected] 

[Location: Haechi Guild Front Yard] 

 

Red warning windows continuously popped up in the air.

 

And before they could even react, the entrance of the Gate opened halfway within the distorting space. 

 

Then, something like an arrowroot vine shot out through that gap and wrapped around Hana’s waist.

 

“Huh?” 

 

Hana’s body, which had been stepping forward, jerked to a stop.

 

The next moment, Hana was dragged backward just like that, unable to put up any resistance. Like a person who missed a step on a treadmill.

 

Furthermore, Hana wasn’t the only one being dragged in.

 

Even Choi Kwon, who had been sticking closely to Hana, had his ankle bound by another root that stretched out and was swept into the gate together with her.

 

“Whaaaa—?” 

 

“Ugh!”

 

Their bodies were violently hurled to the ground, and a dull impact delivered itself to her back.

 

“At this point, aren’t I sworn enemies with gates?”

 

She wondered how this could happen again when it had only been a few days since she was caught up in the last Gate. 

 

Hana stood up awkwardly while rubbing her aching back. 

 

The tentacle resembling a kudzu root that had been wrapped around her waist had vanished without a trace, as if it had never been there. 

 

As though it had withdrawn after successfully fulfilling its duty of dragging Hana inside. 

 

Choi Kwon, who had been tumbling next to her, also jumped up belatedly.

 

“What. I didn’t fall, you know?”

 

Choi Kwon snapped irritably for no reason, as if embarrassed. 

 

Did anyone say anything?

 

Hana narrowed her eyes and shook her head at Choi Kwon, who glared even in this situation. 

 

Tap.

 

It was because a cold raindrop had struck her eyelashes.

 

“Huh?”

 

The moment she raised her head in wonder, more raindrops lashed against her face. 

 

“…It’s raining?”

 

Come to think of it, rain was falling inside the gate.

 

Hana looked around.

 

The atmosphere had quite a discrepancy from the gates she had entered so far.

 

What spread before her eyes was an empty city.

 

Shattered buildings, collapsed roads, extinguished traffic lights. And the rain falling endlessly over it.

 

At the dreary scenery, a dry swallow naturally went down her throat.

 

Perhaps equally tense, Choi Kwon reflexively drew his sword.

 

“Isn’t it a bit strange here? There’s no sign of monsters at all.”

 

Just as Choi Kwon said, it was strange.

 

With a Gate of this scale, it was normal for monsters to lung forth the moment one entered. 

 

But right now, let alone monsters, the surroundings were completely empty.

 

In the vision of the two people who were looking around while heavily on guard, a system window popped up simultaneously.

 

【SYSTEM】 

<You have entered the ‘City of Melancholy Rain (S-Rank)’ Gate.>

<Boss Monster: ‘Gloomy Arrowroot (A+-rank)’> 

<An entity that has taken root throughout the gate, generates continuous rainfall> 

<When exposed to rainfall, a mental-type debuff occurs>

 

As soon as he read down the system window, Choi Kwon’s face turned pale.

 

“We shouldn’t get hit by the rain!”

 

He snatched Hana by the arm and guided her body beneath a nearby building. 

 

But the shoulders and hair of the two were already wet with rainwater.

 

Frantically brushing off the raindrops, Choi Kwon checked Hana’s condition.

 

“Benefactor, are you okay?”

 

“Please. I told you not to call me that.”

 

With her mouth clamped shut, Hana shook out her hair, following Choi Kwon’s lead.

 

Unlike the system window’s warning, she was quite wet but didn’t feel any particular abnormality.

 

Was it fine because she hadn’t caught much rain? 

 

“I’m fine. What about you?”

 

But what do you know? 

 

When she turned her head, Choi Kwon was squatting on the ground before she knew it. With a heavily gloomy face.

 

“Hah… My life is ruined. To be bald at this age.”

 

The corners of Choi Kwon’s eyes turned red.

 

Only then did Hana feel it for sure. It wasn’t that there was no effect.

 

This rain, and the debuff digging into the mind, everything was real.

 

Although she didn’t know why she herself was perfectly fine.

 

Hana tilted her head.

 

‘Is there a difference from person to person?’

 

She wondered if a mental-type debuff was originally this inconsistent.

 

Anyway, right now, lifting Choi Kwon’s status abnormality was the priority over that.

 

Because if a monster popped out suddenly at this rate, it could become extremely dangerous.

 

Hana lowered her body towards the squatting Choi Kwon.

 

“Hey, are you okay?”

 

“I’m not okay. I’m finished. I said I’m finished…”

 

Choi Kwon looked ready to curl his body into a ball completely.

 

“It’s okay. That hair has its own charm too. …Probably?”

 

“Don’t lie. You’re not even giving me rice seeds.”

 

Choi Kwon muttered with his head bowed deeply.

 

His voice sagged more and more as he finished speaking.

 

Hana hesitated for a moment, then leaned her head closer towards Choi Kwon’s ear.

 

And whispered very softly.

 

“I’ll give you rice seeds. Although I do have to discuss it with Seo Kanghyun-ssi.”

 

“…What?”

 

As soon as those words were finished, vitality returned to Choi Kwon’s pupils that had looked like dead fish eyes.

 

Fortunately, perhaps because the time he was hit by the rain wasn’t long, it didn’t seem he was in a completely encroached state.

 

“Really?”

 

“Yes. Really. So snap out of it a bit.”

 

At Hana’s words, Choi Kwon scrunched his face.

 

“But why am I acting like this?”

 

“I think you caught a status abnormality because of the rain.”

 

“Hah, this damn rain. But why only me? You look perfectly fine?”

 

But that was only for a moment; just as Choi Kwon’s shoulders were about to sag again, as if the gloominess was creeping up once more.

 

Choi Kwon shook his head vigorously, then suddenly began to slap his own cheeks.

 

“Ah, damn it. This is annoying.”

 

But maybe that wasn’t enough, as he immediately looked up at Hana and said.

 

“Benefactor. Just hit me hard, one time.”

 

“Pardon?”

 

“Usually, a beating is the cure for a weak mental-type debuff.”

 

Choi Kwon had a quite serious face.

 

“Ah, hurry. If a monster pops out while I’ve fallen into the status abnormality again, you’re really a goner then, you know?”

 

At those words, Hana ultimately sighed.

 

“Then just exactly one hit, okay?” 

 

“Yeah, yeah. Hit me quick.”

 

Hana carefully balled her hands into fists.

 

But her form when making a fist was more solid than expected, and seeing that, the back of Choi Kwon’s neck chilled.

 

Choi Kwon, detecting an instinctive danger, tried to wave his hand, but Hana’s arm had already extended forward. 

 

“Hey, Benefactor. Just a sec, st—.”

 

Smack!

 

With a dull sound, Choi Kwon’s face snapped to the side, and he collapsed onto the floor with a thud just like that. Very pitifully.

 

“…”

 

“…Excuse me?”

 

Since there was no reaction from him in that state, right around the time she wondered if he had fallen into the abnormal status again. 

 

Choi Kwon sprang up, clutching his red, burning cheek.