<Episode 24>
The status window blinked insistently, as if urging me to hurry up and meet the talented person it had found for me.
A staff member inside a gate? Then their hunter rank was probably high too.
‘Though I don’t know whether a high-ranking hunter would actually work at my shop….’
After hesitating for a moment, I called Hunter Lee Hyunwoo.
First, I should meet this “talent” and decide afterward.
The moment I told him I had to enter a gate right now, he sounded dumbfounded… but he still immediately turned his car around and came to my house.
“You actually came.”
“I agreed to accompany you. I also reported it to the Director and received a temporary permit.”
Deep down, I had hoped he’d refuse because he was busy, so I clicked my tongue in disappointment.
With his usual expressionless face, he slowly looked around my house.
“…Your home is very cozy.”
“Sorry, it’s so small.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for. Homes like this exist too.”
His serious tone left me speechless.
Did he really just call my house tiny?
Seriously. Did he think it was easy to get a place like this in Seoul?
Even this costs a fortune in rent.
Grumbling under my breath, I checked whether my attack items were properly stored in my inventory before standing up.
“If you’re ready, shall we go?”
“You can only enter once the Management Bureau approves the portal.”
Approval from the Bureau?
If something like that were actually necessary, how would I have secretly entered and exited gates all this time without them noticing?
I smirked smugly at him.
“I have my own method.”
“Don’t tell me you’re using spatial movement–”
“Hey now! If you dig too deep, you’ll get hurt.”
I waved my hand dismissively and looked toward Hanyang.
“Hanyang, come here too. You’re coming with us.”
Hanyang, sprawled lazily across the bed, flicked his paws at me.
Apparently, he was too annoyed to move and wanted me to leave him behind.
Usually, he always accompanied me into the gates, but maybe because Hunter Lee Hyunwoo was coming along today, he’d decided there was no need for him to follow.
“You really aren’t coming?”
“Mweeeeng.”
Even answering seemed like too much effort for him. He rolled over onto his side again.
“How am I supposed to enter the gate without you?”
“You can enter even without me, nya. If you want to enter with that human, just maintain physical contact and press Enter, nya.”
The fact that he was giving me a detailed explanation for once showed just how badly he didn’t want to go into the gate.
Ugh, that pig-cat.
“Alright. We’ll go by ourselves then. Shall we?”
When I held out my hand, Lee Hyunwoo reluctantly overlapped his hand with mine.
His rough palm, calloused from wielding a sword, brushed against mine.
“So how exactly are we entering without Bureau approval–”
“We’re leaving now!”
I grabbed his hand tightly and pressed ‘Enter’ on the system window.
My vision suddenly went dark, and the ground vanished beneath my feet.
Ugh, dizzy.
At that moment, someone firmly wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
Once the nauseating sensation passed, I cautiously opened my eyes.
The first thing I saw was Lee Hyunwoo’s chest right in front of my face.
“Wah–! What are you doing?!”
Startled, I shoved him hard.
Of course, there was no way my strength could move the solid body of an S-rank hunter.
“So we truly entered the gate.”
“I told you we’d go right away… Ugh, could you loosen your arm? I can’t breathe.”
“Ah…!”
In the end, I smacked his sturdy arm repeatedly with my fists. Only then did he release me.
“Haa… I thought I was going to suffocate. Why were you suddenly hugging me like that?”
“My apologies. I instinctively reacted because I thought it was dangerous.”
He said he was sorry, but his expression didn’t look apologetic at all.
His face was as expressionless as always, but…
‘Wait. Are his ears red?’
I rubbed my eyes and looked again.
Sure enough, the tips of his ears were slightly flushed red.
Was he embarrassed right now?
When I stared blankly at him, he subtly avoided my gaze. Running a large hand over his face, he quickly surveyed our surroundings.
“We should check the area first.”
“R-right. Checking the area sounds good…”
Feeling awkward for no reason, I scratched the back of my neck and looked around.
But the atmosphere felt different from the last time I’d entered this gate.
Back then, the cave had been dark. Now it was bright enough to see without a lantern.
‘…There are torches lit.’
Looking closely, torches lined the cave walls.
There was no way they’d lit themselves naturally.
Was someone here?
“Hunter, over there–”
“Shh. Someone besides us is here.”
Before I could even finish, Lee Hyunwoo pulled me into a corner and hid us.
Not long after, I heard a young girl’s voice.
“–I told you to do it!”
Peeking out carefully, I saw a girl grabbing someone’s arm and angrily protesting.
Her voice was thin and high, like she hadn’t finished puberty yet.
She looked about fifteen… far too young to be inside a gate.
The man she grabbed violently shook her off, and the girl lost her balance and fell to the rocky floor.
The moment I saw her hit the ground, my body instinctively lurched forward.
Lee Hyunwoo firmly grabbed me.
“Let’s observe the situation first.”
“…But–”
“It won’t take long.”
He was right.
We didn’t know who they were or what exactly was happening. Charging in blindly would be reckless.
I anxiously watched the scene unfold.
“Damn it! This brat’s so annoying.”
“Hyung, just endure it. Why’d you even bring her again?”
“If my share gets smaller because of you, you’d better take responsibility.”
A rough-looking man raised his hand threateningly, as though he were about to hit the girl.
The others halfheartedly stopped him while grumbling.
‘Are they not on the same team?’
Most of them wore dark navy combat uniforms with white accents.
But the girl, who collapsed in the corner, wore only a faded old windbreaker.
“You promised me magic stones if I did the bait job properly.”
The skinny girl glared at the man with furious eyes.
“Hah, look at this little brat. Did I say I wouldn’t give them to you? I said I’d distribute them afterward!”
“You said that last time too, and you never paid me!”
As the girl raised her voice, another man hurriedly covered her mouth.
“Hey, are you trying to die? Don’t you know voices echo in cave-type gates?”
“Mmph! Mmph!”
“Hah… what a headache.”
I bit my lip.
The girl was what people called ‘gate bait’.
Someone brought along to distract monsters by exploiting their tendency to target the weak first.
‘I’d heard this kind of thing existed…’
But after it caused a massive media scandal years ago, I’d heard it had disappeared entirely.
Yet from this conversation, it was obvious they were using her as bait.
“This is annoying. Shouldn’t we just kill her here?”
“Hah, maybe we should. We’ve collected enough magic stones already…”
“She entered the gate planning to die to monsters anyway. She should feel honored to die by your hand instead, hyung.”
The eyes surrounding the girl gleamed dangerously.
Unable to endure it any longer, I hurriedly pulled a gun from my inventory and ran toward them.
“Everybody freeze!”
…Did I sound too much like a cop?
Embarrassed by the words that slipped out automatically, I awkwardly scratched my cheek.
But their reactions were strange.
“H-huh?! Impossible!”
“Ugh…!”
“Please spare us!”
Where had their vicious attitude from moments ago gone?
They were now whining like frightened puppies before a tiger.
‘…Is this gun really that scary?’
I tilted my head while looking at the small pistol in my hand.
The firepower was supposed to be strong, but it looked pretty cute on the outside.
Then I realized they weren’t afraid of the gun.
They were afraid of the person standing behind me.
“If I’m here, why are you bothering to hold a gun?”
The man who slowly emerged behind me looked at me, holding the gun, and smirked faintly.
Embarrassed, I lowered the gun and scratched my cheek.
“You’re right. Hunter Lee Hyunwoo was here… there was no reason for me to.”
“Still, you were fairly brave. Though saying ‘freeze’ wasn’t ideal.”
“Don’t tease me.”
While we chatted leisurely, the men slowly started backing away before suddenly turning and running.
But I wasn’t worried.
After all, I had an S-rank hunter standing beside me.
“I’ll go have a brief conversation with them.”
After giving me a small nod, he turned toward the direction they fled.
Dust scattered behind him as he disappeared instantly into the distance.
“Having someone accompany me really is reassuring.”
I trusted that Hunter Lee Hyunwoo would have a nice little “conversation” with them in his own way.
Which meant the thing I needed to do now wasn’t chase the fleeing men…
It was to help the fallen girl.
“Are you okay? Can you stand?”
The girl stared at me with a wary expression.
Above her head, a translucent window blinked into view.
—
Name: Shin Ari
Rank: A+
Finally found.”
The perfect talent Master was searching for!”
—
Thankfully, the A-rank talent I’d been searching for wasn’t one of those fleeing pieces of trash.
It was the girl standing right in front of me.
“I’m Jung Haneul. I run a small shop in front of the Management Bureau.”
I extended my hand toward her with the gentlest smile I could manage.
Winning her favor was the top priority.
“So?”
…Huh?
The girl glanced at the hand I held out, then stood up on her own instead of taking it.
Dusting off her windbreaker with rough motions, she looked at me and spoke coldly.
“Why did you suddenly interfere?”
“…You looked like you were in danger, so I wanted to help–”
“But those people ran away. What are you going to do if I can’t get my magic stones now?”
I stared at the girl standing before me with my mouth hanging open.
Her sharp eyes blazed with hostility as she glared at me.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Wasn’t she supposed to be an A+ talent?
Wasn’t she supposed to be the perfect employee I’d been searching for?!
Did personality not factor into the evaluation at all?!
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