The SSS-Class Hunter’s Garden Log Chapter 61

Just as an unpleasant sensation was about to creep up from the tips of her toes.

 

She felt warmth in the hand Damian had been holding.

 

It was Kanghyun.

 

Grasping Hana’s hand, he slowly swept his thumb over the spot where Damian’s hand had touched hers.

 

Though his eyes appeared no different from usual, the temperature underlying his gaze had dropped a notch lower. 

 

As if sensing the atmosphere, Damian languidly tilted his head.

 

“Ah, did I happen to be rude? Having lived overseas for a long time, I tend to be somewhat casual with physical contact.” 

 

It sounded like an apology, but the tone was anything but apologetic.

 

Looking at that face putting on an act of benevolence, Hana’s brow twitched ever so slightly.

 

Is this person doing this on purpose right now?

 

Hana didn’t back down.

 

“You still haven’t answered me. How do you know my name?”

 

Damian’s eyes narrowed into a curve.

 

“Ah, so that was what was bothering you.”

 

Damian continued speaking with immense fluency.

 

“While reviewing the records of corruption committed by the previous Vice Chairman, I happened to come across the files on Hana-ssi by chance.”

 

Happened to. 

 

The word, pronounced with deliberate emphasis, sounded exceptionally hollow. 

 

“Besides, you’re quite famous on the Hunter Exchange, aren’t you? Was it the Heave-ho Potato? Having such a unique and precious ability, I kept a closer eye on you.”

 

Chattering playfully, Damian suddenly leaned forward, drawing close.

 

Then, he whispered low in her ear.

 

“And the fertilizer bag too. It suited you better than I expected.” 

 

Hana’s pupils instantly froze.

 

The ‘Fertilizer Bag Hunter’ that had set the internet ablaze. 

 

He was definitely referring to that.

 

“For the record, please don’t misunderstand, as I learned about this from the former Vice Chairman’s files as well.”

 

Smiling brightly, Damian straightened his upper body once more.

 

Then, seeing Hana’s thoroughly guarded expression and the overtly displeased aura radiating from Kanghyun, Damian covered his mouth with feigned innocence.

 

“Oh dear. Was it perhaps a secret? Don’t worry. Unless Hana-ssi wishes for it, this matter will never leak to the outside.”

 

Damian reassured Hana like a gentle gentleman.

 

“And you may use the garden again as well.”

 

It was then.

 

“Vice Chairman.”

 

A secretary dressed in a suit hurried over and whispered softly.

 

Judging by the atmosphere, it seemed he had to get going.

 

Damian stepped back with an air of regret and looked at Hana.

 

Then, rather ostentatiously, he gave a light wink with one eye.

 

“Let’s meet again soon, the two of us.”

 

Ugh.

 

Hana shuddered, her stomach turning as if she had just swallowed a whole tub of butter raw. 

 

“What does he mean, ‘the two of us’? Acting so familiar when we’ve barely even met.” 

 

Hana’s eyes, usually so gentle, narrowed crossly.

 

She watched Damian’s retreating back with deep disapproval.

 

“Something smells fishy here.”

 

At that moment.

 

Popcorn, who had been hiding in her arms, let out a small whine.

 

“Kkoong.”

 

The little creature’s body stiffened tensely.

 

And then, a system window flashed across Hana’s vision.

 

【SYSTEM】

 

<‘Sweet Corn Sprout’ has detected artificial gate core energy from an entity the user came into contact with.>

 

Hana’s gaze grew even sharper.

 

“…Look at that. I told you something smells fishy.” 

 

* * *

 

“Ah! I should have just checked right then and there! Whether he had a core on him or not!”

 

The moment they returned to the penthouse, Hana threw herself flat onto the spacious sofa.

 

Her two legs, resting atop the deeply sinking cushions, thrashed about in a huff. 

 

He was a strangely unpleasant person, that Damian Park.

 

At first glance, he seemed like a perfect gentleman straight out of some classic movie, but he possessed a distinct talent for leaving a lingering sense of disgust once the encounter ended.

 

Just then, a low, heavy sigh fell from above her head.

 

It was Kanghyun.

 

“And how were you going to check? Damian is an SS-rank, just like me.”

 

After delivering a reality check that brought her down to earth.

 

Kanghyun put the cushions that had fallen to the floor from Hana’s thrashing back in their proper places, and slipped one of them beneath her head.

 

Thanks to that, Hana’s posture became far more comfortable, but her lips still pouted out like a beak.

 

“Of course! I couldn’t.” 

 

Hana spun her body around and looked up at Kanghyun.

 

“Instead, Seo Kanghyun-ssi was there with me. I should have asked you to discreetly check right then and there.”

 

“Ha.”

 

A hollow chuckle slipped from Kanghyun.

 

“I’ve mentioned this before, but you’re trying to work me to the bone quite naturally now.”

 

“What do you mean, work you to the bone? As I said before too, that’s not it.”

 

Hana mimicked Kanghyun’s words as she bolted into an upright sitting position. 

 

“I’m doing this so we can all live well together. That Damian Park or whatever his name is. That person could be an Evil God follower too, couldn’t he? What if he’s like the previous Vice Chairman, carelessly opening gates using artificial cores?”

 

“Or it could simply be a piece of evidence he acquired during the investigation process.”

 

Tsk.

 

Unnecessarily rational as always.

 

Hana’s lips pouted out a little further at Kanghyun’s sharp retort. 

 

However, separate from the personal distaste she felt toward Damian, there were things that gave her pause before hastily suspecting him.

 

Damian was said to be a hunter with the Light attribute.

 

His moniker was also well-known for projecting a righteous and pure image.

 

For such a person to be an Evil God follower.

 

It was a bit of a stretch.

 

Besides, they had only just discovered the mark symbolizing the Evil God; it wasn’t even certain whether the former Vice Chairman was truly an Evil God worshiper in the first place.

 

“Ugh, I don’t know.”

 

Hana flopped back down flat on the sofa.

 

Right, what would change with an F-rank like her worrying about this?

 

Right before her eyes was an exceptionally capable SS-rank hunter.

 

Other people would surely handle things just fine on their own.

 

‘I should just tend to my garden and find my memories. I can’t even take care of myself, so who am I to be nosy?’

 

Hana tried to forcibly push the miscellaneous thoughts out of her head.

 

Watching her, Kanghyun let out a quiet chuckle and shook his head.

 

Thanks to spending so much time together, she had been helping Kanghyun with his sleep far more often than their contract dictated, and perhaps because of its effectiveness, the sharp edge that once radiated from him had softened considerably.

 

The shadows cast beneath his eyes seemed to have lightened a little as well.

 

Staring blankly at Kanghyun’s face, which looked upside down from her perspective, Hana suddenly bolted upright.

 

It was because she belatedly realized that she had naturally returned to Kanghyun’s penthouse.

 

“Wait a minute. That blue Smurf-like man said earlier that I could use the garden again.”

 

“….”

 

“Then doesn’t that mean I can go back to my cabin now?”

 

“That won’t do.”

 

Kanghyun’s reply was instantaneous.

 

Hana blinked.

 

“Why?”

 

“Just as you said, if Damian Park is an Evil God follower, it’s dangerous.”

 

Wait, didn’t you just say he might not be?

 

Having flipped the words he uttered mere minutes ago, Seo Kanghyun tried to raise an empty water glass to take a sip, only to become even more flustered and put the glass back down.

 

“At any rate, let’s agree that you’ll stay here a bit longer for the time being.”

 

Then, suddenly claiming he had business to attend to, he turned around and walked straight out.

 

Left alone out of nowhere, Hana merely scratched her cheek. 

 

“What’s with him? Why is he acting like that?”

 

However, too much had happened today to place deep meaning on Kanghyun’s eccentric behavior.

 

Hana soon gave up on thinking and buried herself back into the sofa.

 

Her life here had been extended out of nowhere.

 

“Ugh…” 

 

Looking up at the ceiling, Hana let her arms drop limply.

 

“I don’t know anymore. I just wish I could hurry up and get my memories back.”

 

It was merely a pointless murmur she muttered to herself.

 

Yet no sooner had she spoken than, as if it had been lying in wait, a system window popped up before her eyes once again.

 

【SYSTEM】

 

<A garden naturally requires sweet and sour fruits as well!>

 

<Mission: Acquire ‘Strawberries Bloomed on a Snowfield🍓’!>

 

<Reward: 4,500pt EXP>

 

<Current EXP: 300/8,000pt>

 

<Upon reaching 8,000pt cumulative EXP, ‘A Fragment of Lost Memories’ will be granted as a reward.>

 

“Snowfield? Strawberries?”

 

Hana, who had been sprawling limply across the sofa, sprang to her feet.

 

And then she shuddered.

 

For a mission to pop up right when she muttered that she wished to recover her memories.

 

The timing was truly uncanny.

 

As if it possessed a will of its own, accurately discerning what she needed before serving it right up.

 

When Hana cast a squinting, suspicious gaze toward Chirpy, an emoticon sweating nervously appeared on the blue window.

 

【SYSTEM】

 

<(・・；) That look in your eyes is quite disrespectful!>

 

“What? What’s wrong with my eyes!”

 

【SYSTEM】

 

<I am indeed quite cute, but please don’t look at me with such fiery passion. It’s rather overwhelming.>

 

“Seriously. You never lose an argument, do you?”

 

At times like this, it felt like it had a better way with words than most actual people.

 

Even while grumbling, Hana directed her gaze back toward the mission window.

 

And then, her attention was firmly seized by one particular phrase.