The SSS-Class Hunter’s Garden Log Chapter 38

…Was that a bit random?

 

But what could she do when watching quietly made her angry.

 

She recalled the story she heard from Choi Kwon in the gate.

 

That Haechan had left Red Moon on bad terms.

 

It’s not like he deliberately dug into other people’s weaknesses, but to drive a person into a corner like this just because of one ability characteristic.

 

It was unspeakably petty.

 

Of course, it was also partly because the human harassing Haechan was the one who had been acting like an obnoxious customer on the Hunter Exchange all this time, making him even more detestable.

 

“Yes. But you shouldn’t share it with weird people like them. Absolutely not. Okay?”

 

Anyway, while the Red Moon guild members were dumbfoundedly opening and closing their mouths, Hana grabbed Haechan’s hand and pulled him towards her.

 

“Let’s go.”

 

“U-Uh, yeah. Ye-es……!” 

 

Haechan’s bangs fluttered in the wind as he moved, practically being dragged along. 

 

The eyes that were finally revealed were sparkling so much it felt burdensome.

 

Choi Kwon also quickly stood on the other side of Haechan and glared at the Red Moon guild members.

 

Whether he did or not, Haechan, holding the box in his arms, kept stealing glances at Hana from her side.

 

Like a person who had just seen a hero.

 

* * *

 

Like that, the three of them entered the Haechi Guild building.

 

Standing in front of the information desk in the lobby, Hana readjusted the box she was holding.

 

It was the remaining box for delivery after giving one to Haechan.

 

“Pardon? Seo Kanghyun-ssi isn’t here?”

 

At Hana’s question, the receptionist nodded.

 

“The Guild Master went out on a gate subjugation in Busan as soon as he returned from the Sindorim Station Gate. He is scheduled to return today, but the exact time is still…”

 

Sindorim Station, then Busan.

 

Popping up here, popping up there, he was practically Hong Gildong himself.

 

To think a human who can’t even sleep properly would go all the way to Busan for a gate subjugation. Does he think he’s some kind of omnipotent fixer?

 

Since Seo Kanghyun had a reputation for being tough, nothing like that had happened so far, but she worried he might really collapse at this rate.

 

But suddenly, a sound of sniffling came from beside her.

 

The culprit was Haechan.

 

Looking to the side, Haechan was shedding tears.

 

“Wh-why are you crying?” 

 

Hana’s voice momentarily rose in panic.

 

Haechan, tightly hugging the box, stammered out his words.

 

“Th-Thank you… for helping me. I-It’s the first time someone stepped up for me…”

 

Then Haechan offered the box he was holding back to Hana.

 

“Th-This… you just lent it to me for a moment, right? I’m not qualified to receive—.”

 

“No.”

 

Hana shook her head firmly.

 

“I gave it to you. Really.”

 

Haechan’s eyes grew redder.

 

“H-Hic. You’re really giving it to me? Why? Everyone was almost in danger because of me…, even in the gate a little while ago…!”

 

Haechan’s tears, which had been falling a drop or two occasionally, started pouring down.

 

At that, Choi Kwon freaked out, grabbed Hana’s arm, and shook it.

 

“Benefactor, why are you making people cry!”

 

“What did I do…!”

 

Haechan was now sobbing out loud with his shoulders shaking entirely. 

 

“Inside the Gate, I’m sor—hicc—ry. I didn’t mean to recreate a nightmare on purpose. You must have been disgusted.” 

 

His crying sounded so sorrowful. People passing by looked suspiciously at Choi Kwon and Hana.

 

Since it looked to anyone like they were the ones who made him cry, Kwon and Hana hurriedly tried to soothe Haechan.

 

“It’s okay! I’m not weak enough to hold a grudge just because the nightmare of my hair blowing away got exposed, alright?”

 

“I’m okay too! For some reason, Hunter Lee Haechan’s ability didn’t work on me. So I didn’t feel unpleasant at all. Please don’t worry.”

 

But surprisingly, it wasn’t Lee Haechan who was being soothed, but Choi Kwon who suddenly caught the end of Hana’s words out of nowhere.

 

“What’s this, Benefactor. Why didn’t the ability work on you?”

 

“I don’t know the details either.”

 

“Rather than it not working, isn’t it that you don’t have nightmares at all? Because your head is too clear or—.”

 

For a moment, as Hana’s eyes narrowed, Choi Kwon clamped his mouth shut.

 

So what he just said was a roundabout way of saying my brain is very clean (empty), right?

 

Ha, really. 

 

Yet her feeling that Choi Kwon’s words were outrageous lasted only a moment. 

 

Upon reflection, she thought it might not be entirely absurd.

 

If her memories had been blown away completely, then there wouldn’t be anything to call a ‘nightmare’ in the first place, would there?

 

So that might be why the ability didn’t work. 

 

Hana nodded without realizing it.

 

At that moment.

 

“It… didn’t work? My ability?”

 

Lee Haechan’s face, subtly lifting his head, entered her vision.

 

Ah, right. 

 

Hana, who had been thinking of other things, quickly returned to reality. 

 

Crumpling her random thoughts like paper and shoving them into the corner of her mind, Hana answered.

 

“Um, yes.”

 

If he had asked her to explain why, it would have been embarrassing. 

 

It was awkward to go on a long tangent about amnesia and such.

 

But fortunately, Haechan’s interest wasn’t on that.

 

“Th-Then… you weren’t disgusted because of me?” 

 

It was a face asking while cowering heavily and walking on eggshells.

 

To Haechan, whether Hana and Choi Kwon didn’t hate him seemed to be the most important thing. Pitifully so.

 

Just how much did the Red Moon guild members harass him for him to be like this.

 

A sigh escaped automatically.

 

Because he had been at the Yangpyeong branch all this time, Choi Kwon had no contact with Lee Haechan, who mainly operated in Seoul.

 

Perhaps because of that, he too wore a complicated expression, as if he didn’t know the Red Moon guild members’ tyranny was to this extent.

 

Hana first returned the answer Haechan most wanted to hear.

 

With the intention of raising his self-esteem first.

 

“I told you. I wasn’t disgusted, not at all.” 

 

At Hana’s answer filled with certainty, his face seemed to brighten a bit, but then it returned to its original state.

 

“I-I’m pathetic, right, calling myself an S-rank but unable to even control my ability properly. Being timid and j-just frustrating.”

 

Haechan bowed his head, picking at the skin next to his fingernails.

 

The tips of the picked skin swelled red.

 

“I understand. Th-That’s why the Guild Master excluded m-me from the gate subjugation…”

 

His shoulders curled inwards more as his words finished.

 

His self-esteem had broken through the floor and descended into the basement.

 

If left alone, he looked ready to truly dig into the ground.

 

Hana rolled her eyes.

 

How could she break this atmosphere?

 

Then a lightbulb flashed in her head.

 

“Ah! That’s right!” 

 

Hana rummaged through the box she had given Haechan and found the oyster mushroom.

 

She had brought it after seeing the efficacy that it absorbs the consumer’s depression, but she had been half-doubtful if it would be useful.

 

Now, a perfectly suitable test subject was right in front of her.

 

Hana thrust the mushroom out in front of Haechan.

 

“Will you stop crying and try eating this?”

 

“S-Suddenly?”

 

Hana nodded, her large eyes sparkling.

 

“Yes. Eating it might make your mood feel a bit better. There won’t be side effects.…Probably?” 

 

At the word ‘probably’ attached to the end, Haechan stared intently at the mushroom with slightly suspicious eyes.

 

“M-My mood will get better…?”

 

* * *

 

At that time.

 

Kanghyun, having finished the Busan gate subjugation, was standing in front of the gate exit.

 

As the rift of the gate closed completely, the air vibrated greatly once.

 

Then, the air mixed with the smell of blood, ash, and hot magical reverberations hit him.

 

While Kanghyun, looking at the fluctuating gate exit, was taking off gloves crusted with monster blood, Taegyeom, who had been waiting, approached him.

 

“I got a call from the guild, saying someone is looking for you?”

 

“Who.”

 

“Yoon Hana-ssi.”

 

Kanghyun’s hand, taking off the glove, stopped.

 

“But it seems there was some noise near the building between Hana-ssi and the Red Moon Guild.”

 

“Red Moon Guild?”

 

“Yeah. It seems not only Hana-ssi but also Choi Kwon and Hunter Lee Haechan were tangled up in it together.”

 

Kanghyun languidly rubbed the end of his eyebrow with his long fingers.

 

“Why are Red Moon people near my guild.” 

 

“You know too, the Red Moon Guild Master is glaring daggers lately because he lost two of his affiliated Hunters to our guild. Looks like they came to retaliate or something.”

 

Retaliate.

 

At that single word, Kanghyun’s facial muscles stiffened instantly.

 

His smoothly extending lips sank coldly.

 

“So what about Yoon Hana. She didn’t get hurt or anything, did she?”

 

The blood-stained glove quietly crumpled in Kanghyun’s hand.

 

“Don’t worry. It seems things passed without incident.”

 

While Taegyeom answered faithfully, he looked at Kanghyun with fascination.

 

Because it was a new sight to see the guy who always wore the exact same expression like he had a mask on frowning.

 

Noticing that Kanghyun showed a reaction particularly to matters concerning Hana, Taegyeom subtly probed Kanghyun.

 

“But did something happen between you and Yoon Hana-ssi?”