<Episode 110>
The weeds in the flowerbeds had grown wild, as if no one had tended them for a long time, and cracks ran through various sections of the wall.
“You said we were picking up an item. This is really the place…?”
I looked around uneasily as I asked.
Even if it wasn’t somewhere like the Hunter Market, I had at least expected a proper shop.
“It looks similar to the house you used to live in, nya.”
Hanyang muttered nostalgically, as though remembering the old days.
Still, our old house didn’t have cracks in the walls.
“This is the place. Just a moment.”
Seemingly unfazed by our reactions, Hyunwoo walked up to the old front gate whose paint had almost completely peeled away.
The moment he rang the doorbell, the rusty gate opened on its own with a heavy creak.
“The workshop is in the basement. Please take my hand.”
Afraid of missing a step, I firmly grasped Hyunwoo’s sturdy hand as we carefully descended the steep concrete staircase.
After walking down for quite a while and opening an iron door, an entirely different world unfolded before us.
“Wow…”
It looked like the laboratory of a scientist from a movie.
Unidentifiable cables tangled across the ceiling like snakes, while sparks flew from all directions and machines emitted constant humming noises.
“Please come inside.”
We carefully navigated through the maze of machinery and headed deeper into the workshop.
In the farthest corner of a workbench sat a man hunched over, relying solely on the glow of a monitor.
Knock knock.
When Hyunwoo lightly tapped the workbench, the man finally raised his head.
His unfocused eyes turned toward us.
Messy hair that looked unwashed for days.
Long bangs hanging down over his eyes.
Behind them, thick lenses reflected the monitor’s light.
“This is Hunter Pyeon Gyutae. He’s the most skilled production-type hunter in Korea after you, Haneul. The sword I use was also crafted by Hunter Pyeon Gyutae.”
After Hyunwoo’s introduction, the man slowly walked toward us.
Then he looked at me and muttered:
“Oh. Hunter Jung Haneul.”
“You know who I am?”
“If a production-type hunter doesn’t know who you are, they should retire…. Anyway, have a seat wherever you’d like.”
The answer came slowly.
Was that his way of saying he was happy to meet me?
Or not?
As I tilted my head in confusion, Hyunwoo smiled faintly.
“His personality is a little unusual, isn’t it? I was surprised at first too, but I got used to it quickly. He means no harm.”
After whispering that to me, Hyunwoo turned toward Pyeon Gyutae.
“Has the item I commissioned been completed?”
“Oh, that. Of course. It’s finished.”
Letting out a huge yawn as if exhausted, he carefully retrieved something wrapped in black velvet cloth from a safe-like storage box.
“It was a lot of work making it. You certainly had a lot of requirements….”
Despite his grumbling tone, his eyes were gleaming strangely.
The corners of his lips were slightly raised as well.
He clearly seemed satisfied with the result.
“Its name is Silvair. Its defining feature is firing as quietly as air.”
As Hyunwoo slowly removed the cloth, what appeared beneath it was a dazzling silver handgun.
“Wow…”
An involuntary gasp escaped me.
Its body had an overall smooth and elegant design, while the grip was wrapped in black leather.
It felt more like a work of art than a weapon.
“Not bad.”
Hyunwoo casually spun the hefty gun once, checking its balance and weight.
Then, keeping the barrel pointed downward, he held the grip out toward me.
“Would you like to hold it?”
“…Me?”
Hyunwoo smiled gently and nodded.
“You lost your precious weapon while saving me. This is a gift I prepared for you, Haneul.”
Placing the grip into my hand, he continued his explanation.
“As the name suggests, its greatest feature is that it produces almost no firing noise. It’s more useful for hitting targets at long range than in close combat. I also requested that the recoil be minimized as much as possible, so it should be comfortable to use.”
I felt the weight of the gun settling into my hand.
As expected of a high-powered weapon, it was heavier than the self-defense pistol I had used before.
Yet the grip fit my hand so perfectly that it felt surprisingly manageable.
‘He remembered that.’
Back in the S-Rank Gate Millennium Underground Tomb, where the Basilisk appeared, I had destroyed my pistol while trying to save Hyunwoo after he fell under mental manipulation.
Inside the gate, I hadn’t had the luxury of worrying about a broken gun.
Afterward, so many incidents occurred one after another that I had completely forgotten about it.
I slowly ran my fingers over the grip.
“I never expected a gift like this. Thank you. I absolutely love it.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
Turning my head, I looked at Hunter Pyeon Gyutae, who had already curled back up in front of his monitor as though being sucked into it.
“Thank you very much as well, Hunter Pyeon Gyutae! For making such an amazing weapon.”
“Uh… yeah, well. It’s only natural for a craftsman to meet a client’s requirements.”
He still wouldn’t make eye contact, merely nodding his head.
Chuckling softly, I pulled a still-warm paper bag from my inventory.
“This isn’t much, but it’s a gift from me. Please enjoy it while you’re working.”
“What is it?”
Only then did he turn and peer inside the bag.
The moment he saw the golden-brown fish-shaped pastries inside, his eyes widened behind his glasses.
“Oh…. Is this an item made by an SS-Rank? It’s my first time seeing one in person.”
“They’re custard-filled bungeoppang and spicy bungeoppang. I baked them myself at the shop.”
Slowly approaching, he adjusted his glasses and examined the pastries from every angle as if he’d discovered a rare mineral.
“How is the mana structure arranged to create such effects from ordinary flour dough? Fascinating. I need to study this immediately.”
Clutching the bag of bungeoppang like a treasure chest, he disappeared deeper into the workshop without even saying goodbye.
“……”
Staring blankly at the closed door, Hyunwoo and I simultaneously shrugged.
“He’s definitely a unique person.”
“He exchanged social skills for talent on a one-to-one basis. Shall we get going?”
We left the aging workshop and returned to the car.
“I’ve made reservations at a nice restaurant nearby. Shall we go?”
“Oh, sure! I was getting hungry anyway.”
Instead of heading straight home, we decided to have dinner nearby.
The place Hyunwoo had reserved was a Western-style restaurant with private rooms.
“Since you’re a public figure now, Haneul, I thought a private room would be more comfortable.”
He had a point.
Ever since reawakening as an SS-Rank and appearing constantly in the news, there were probably very few people in Korea who didn’t recognize my face.
The last time I had dinner with Shinhye, I had been so embarrassed by all the attention we received.
‘Is this why hunters prefer going into gates?’
Thinking about it that way, gates didn’t seem quite so bad after all.
Entertaining such dangerous thoughts, I twirled pasta around my fork and took a bite.
Fortunately, every dish we ordered suited my taste perfectly.
Bzzzt!
At that moment, the phone resting on the table vibrated.
Checking the screen, I saw a text from Ari.
[Sis~ I finally thought of something I want to eat! +_+]
A smile naturally spread across my lips.
Across from me, Hyunwoo set down his coffee cup and asked:
“Who is it? Your expression brightened immediately.”
“Oh, it’s Ari. A while ago, I told her to tell me if there was ever anything she wanted or wanted to eat. I guess she finally thought of something.”
“What does she want to eat?”
Hyunwoo asked with genuine interest.
As I typed a reply, I mentally listed the foods she might mean.
“Who knows? Maybe mala soup, since it’s trendy these days? Or perhaps that new rosé tteokbokki? She’s at that age where kids love those things.”
Ari had always liked spicy and stimulating foods.
I was certain it would be something along those lines.
With that assumption, I casually opened her reply.
Then…
“…Huh?”
My eyes widened.
[The gukbap restaurant your aunt supposedly runs! I heard it’s almost impossible to get a reservation. Could you take me there?]
A gukbap restaurant?
And one supposedly run by my aunt?
“I… don’t have an aunt…?”
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