The SSS-Class Hunter’s Garden Log Chapter 42

Having been told not to make holes in the side of gates, she had to enter through the official entrance now.

 

She figured Seo Kanghyun would know of a gate that was reasonably safe and gave a reasonably abundant amount of EXP.

 

“A gate suitable for you to enter? Have you come to need monster excrement again?”

 

Perhaps not fully awake yet, Kanghyun, who was languidly flowing fire energy into the rice seeds, asked with his eyes cast down.

 

Hana smiled ambiguously.

 

“Well, you could say that, I guess?”

 

As a faint heat flowed from Kanghyun’s fingertips, the rice seeds sparkled minutely.

 

He paused for a moment, deep in thought.

 

“There are quite a few low-rank gates, but hmm.”

 

Thanks to becoming temporarily affiliated with the Haechi Guild, Hana could enter and exit gates without a separate application.

 

But the regulation still stood.

 

She must be accompanied by at least one Hunter of C-rank or higher.

 

So the problem wasn’t the existence of a suitable gate, but the person to accompany her.

 

Kanghyun slowly stroked his jawline and looked around.

 

There were three candidates.

 

Is it Lee Haechan, who is timidly nibbling on the mushroom Hana gave him bit by bit.

 

Or is it Choi Kwon, who is holding his hands together towards the rice seeds that were sparkling with Kanghyun’s energy until just a moment ago, chanting some kind of spell like “Grow… sprout… quickly…”.

 

Or is it Yoon Taegyeom, who is munching on potatoes with both cheeks bulging full.

 

A strange sense of despondency flashed in Kanghyun’s eyes for a moment.

 

One S-rank and two A-ranks.

 

Looking purely at their combat power, it should be a reassuring combination, but why is it so hard to trust them.

 

Anyway, still, Kanghyun picked the most trustworthy person among these three.

 

‘If it’s Taegyeom Hyung, it should be fine.’

 

Even if he looks loose on the outside, Yoon Taegyeom was the only comrade Kanghyun trusted to entrust his back to.

 

“Hyung.”

 

“Ooh?” 

 

Taegyeom, who had just taken a large bite of another potato, raised his head awkwardly.

 

“You called mwe?” (You called me?) 

 

At the sight of him approaching with cheeks puffed like bread, Hana briefly averted her gaze. 

 

Kanghyun said calmly.

 

“Hyung, go enter a Gate together with Yoon Hana-ssi sometime soon.” 

 

“Mwe?” (Me?) 

 

“Yeah. Is there a problem?”

 

For an instant, Taegyeom’s expression turned serious.

 

But soon, as if nothing had happened, Taegyeom returned to his silly expression and swallowed the potato whole.

 

“What problem could there be. Got it.”

 

Then he turned to Hana and smiled brightly.

 

“Just trust me, Hunter Yoon Hana-nim!”

 

* * *

 

And at the same time.

 

An entirely different air was flowing in the Red Moon Guild.

 

In the heavily sunken silence, the Red Moon Guild Leader’s gaze slowly scanned the people standing in front of him.

 

His eyes were so piercing that just their momentum felt like it would prick the skin.

 

Gulp.

 

The sound of someone swallowing dryly echoed clearly.

 

“So you’re saying right now, you got humiliated by a Haechi guild member, and a mere F-rank at that?”

 

The people standing in front of the Red Moon Guild Master were the Hunters who had gone to harass Lee Haechan a few days ago, only to return humiliated.

 

A file folder flew towards the Hunters, who were sweating bullets and couldn’t even dare to raise their heads.

 

Along with the Red Moon Guild Master’s ear-splitting yell.

 

“Are you people out of your minds right now?” 

 

The Red Moon Guild Leader’s anger showed no sign of subsiding.

 

It was because of the guild members who flocked to Lee Haechan claiming they’d do something they weren’t even ordered to do, only to return humiliated.

 

Let alone crop items, it only confirmed the fact that Lee Haechan and Choi Kwon had completely stuck with the Haechi Guild.

 

“Haechi and Taesan. Do you know how many years we’ve been pushed back by them.”

 

The Guild Master gritted his teeth and growled lowly.

 

At one time, Red Moon was the number 1 Hunter Guild in South Korea.

 

Before Haechi and Taesan raised their heads.

 

What about now, though? 

 

They are barely maintaining 3rd place.

 

Not only that, they were in a position where they could be pushed down to 4th or 5th place at any moment.

 

The Yangpyeong gate was like that too.

 

He thought Choi Kwon had handled it and they could tie it up as a guild achievement.

 

But a crazy person wearing a fertilizer sack over their head, who knows where they popped out from, appeared, cleared the gate, and disappeared.

 

Lately, not a single thing had been working out. 

 

The Red Moon Guild Master’s temples trembled minutely.

 

“If we fall out of favor with the Vice President at this rate…”

 

With impatient gestures, the Red Moon Guild Master roughly rubbed his face all over.

 

There was only one reason Red Moon was still holding its ground here.

 

The deal with the Vice President.

 

After being pushed back by Haechi and Taesan, Red Moon rode the Vice President’s line.

 

In exchange for maintaining their guild ranking, on the condition that they handle matters behind the scenes that are difficult for him to step forward for himself.

 

And among those ‘difficult matters’ was included the distribution of illegal items that induce Hunters to go on a rampage.

 

The Red Moon Guild Master snatched up the item resembling a black dot that was placed on the desk.

 

The exact same shape as the item that was stuck to the back of Haechan’s hand.

 

Small and miniscule, but once activated, it’s an object that tears human minds to shreds.

 

He rolled it on his fingertips.

 

It was also him who tipped off the Vice President about Lee Haechan’s trauma, instigating the use of the rampage-inducing item.

 

But the result, as everyone knows, was a failure.

 

Far from Haechi’s prestige falling due to the rampaging Haechan, he didn’t know what kind of trick they pulled, but every single person who entered the gate walked out perfectly fine.

 

“There shouldn’t have been anything wrong with the item.”

 

Even if they were S-ranks, it shouldn’t have been that simple to resolve this.

 

There was no way to know what on earth happened.

 

The situation was not good at all.

 

Lately, the Vice President’s reaction had strangely cooled down.

 

If they couldn’t produce results, the one tossed aside could be Red Moon. 

 

“I need results.”

 

Not just a simple subjugation record, but a definitively noticeable result is needed.

 

As it happened, there was a figure the Vice President was showing interest in.

 

That Hunter wearing a mysterious sack who appeared at the Yangpyeong gate.

 

He seemed to covet that person, who is presumed to be high-rank combat power; if he found that Hunter and presented them before the Vice President, he might be able to score points.

 

And the Red Moon Guild Leader already held a clue.

 

Because his main abilities were tracking and transformation.

 

Following the faint residual energy left inside the gate, he had just confirmed that the flow cut off near a convalescent hospital in Yangpyeong.

 

Finding that Hunter who drew public attention was now only a matter of time.

 

But this alone was not enough.

 

Since the Vice President is a greedy person, he would have to hand over something bigger.

 

If so, Seo Kanghyun, the figure the Vice President is blatantly wary of. He had to inflict damage on him as well.

 

However, since directly attacking Seo Kanghyun to inflict damage was unreasonable, the Red Moon Guild Master chose a more despicable path.

 

When a person loses someone they cherish, they naturally break down.

 

That would be especially true for someone who has already lost a close person once, like Seo Kanghyun.

 

After pondering for a moment, the Red Moon Guild Master activated his second ability with an unreadable expression.

 

Then the item in his hand flashed brightly and faded.

 

Along with a message on the system window.

 

【SYSTEM】 

<Casting skill ‘Transformation (A+-rank)’. ‘Transforms’ the target of the rampage item into a monster.> 

<Casting skill ‘Tracking (S–rank)’ targeting ‘Yoon Taegyeom’.>

 

When the tracking ability was cast following transformation, a translucent map visible only to him floated up in midair. 

 

On the map, a red dot marked as Yoon Taegyeom was slowly moving.

 

A red arrow extended long following that trajectory, then fixed towards one point.

 

At a gate location on the outskirts of Gyeonggi-do.

 

As the Red Moon Guild Master flicked his finger, the transformed rampage item seeped towards the red dot on the map.

 

It didn’t scatter into the air, but felt like it was flowing along the coordinates.

 

Like an invisible thread pulled taut, the item was sucked exactly into that spot.

 

The Red Moon Guild Master stared at that flow for a long time.

 

“I really hope it succeeds this time. So I can cater to that damn Vice President’s moods.”

 

* * *

 

Kanghyun moved faster than expected.

 

It hadn’t even been a few days since she said she wanted to enter a gate, and he immediately assigned a gate for her to enter with Taegyeom.

 

The place Hana was to enter was a D-rank gate that each guild had long used together for field experience for new guild members.

 

With a rocky structure, monster population numbers were high, but the danger level was on the low side. 

 

Hana looked at the blue swirling gate entrance.

 

“It would be nice to use an exclusive gate on our side, but all the gates Haechi owns are B-rank or higher.”

 

Even with Taegyeom accompanying her, a B-rank has a high danger level, meaning it was a gate he found out of consideration.

 

Just then, a careful voice was heard from the side.