Chapter 110

“It is nice to meet you, Hunter Yoo Myeongwoo-nim!”

“You are much cooler in person!”

“Please tell us what to do, whatever it is! Do you have any materials you require?”

There were excited noises from all directions . When Myeongwoo, who had been secluding himself at home for a long time, finally showed himself, all Hunters within the building swarmed over . The mid to low rank Hunters couldn’t easily intrude, so at first, it was a little over ten people, but people heard the news and streamed in, so over thirty A-Rank Hunters filled the lobby . From time to time, I also saw faces I met at Haeyeon .

Only Hunters who had permission to enter could come into the inner lobby, so I thought there might be more outside . All of them had S-Rank equipment in their sights, so they were impatient .

Myeongwoo was a little taken aback at first, but soon, confidently picked out volunteers to boss around in order to shop for materials . Seeing A-Rank Hunters being bossed around by the fingertip[1] felt pleasing .

Our Myeongwoo was completely a boss among bosses .

“Then, I’ll be back . ”

“Be careful going around . Safety is number one . ”

Though, he had Shalos’ Bead and could dodge into the Forge if need be, so there probably wouldn’t be any problems . When Myeongwoo left, most of the people followed after him . But a few stayed and turned their attention to me with eyes that said something was better than nothing .

Just then, Yerim appeared from the entrance connected to the parking lot . She was still young and her outward appearance didn’t look that strong, but the surrounding Hunters knew to get out of her way . Without anybody blocking her path, Yerim walked lightly over to me and smiled brightly .

“Ahjussi~ oh? It’s a bracelet I haven’t seen before . It’s pretty! But it doesn’t seem to suit your clothes . Ahjussi, get proper styling, too . ”

“That’s annoying to do . ”

It wasn’t like I went on air and needed to manage my image like guild leaders, so for what? Yerim, who had been staring at the bracelet, searched around me .

“It looks like Noah oppa isn’t here . ”

“Why? Do you need to see him for something?”

“No, he’s just pretty . And he sparkles . Ah, did you know? Soyoung unni came to see Comet and saw Noah oppa practicing flight, and was stunned the whole day . Even now, she mumbles ‘I can’t, I have Comet’ at the drop of a hat . It seems like he was really appealing to her . ”

It made sense for that to happen . Comet was also going to grow up to be an S-Rank dragon type, but it couldn’t compare to Noah . Though of course, Noah was a person . No, was it better because he was a person, so communication worked? I wanted to show Riette once to Kang Soyoung, too . I was getting curious over her reaction .

“You said you are going to the special isolation center, right?”

“Yeah . Though you don’t have to come along . ”

The atmosphere was going to be different from the detention center, so it was bit much to take a kid . But Yerim raised her eyebrows as if asking what I was talking about .

“While I’m here, I’m ahjussi’s bodyguard . That’s how we made the contract . ”

After decursing the contract with Yerim that was annulled during the kidnapping, I tried to not make a new contract . It was because I thought that there probably wasn’t a need to bind her with a contract . Since she was a kid who would try to help me even without something like that . But Yerim wanted to draw a contract up again, and this time we decided on a condition where she would protect me when I called for her .

While I looked down at Yerim, who would follow me wherever it was, I suddenly noticed the earrings shaking on her ears .

‘It was called the Mermaid Queen of Sea Waves Earrings, right?’

It was definitely a design similar to Water Droplet’s, the mermaid queen’s, earrings . Specifically, just the size of those blue gems were different, but they seemed to be the same mineral . I didn’t have the ability to accurately distinguish between them, but the color and the cutting were completely the same .

‘If Myeongwoo could teach his skill to other people with the talent, then it would probably be possible for the immoral people, too . ’

If it was true that those earrings were Water Droplet’s, then her skills would be water-, ice-affiliated . What abilities would the others have? I didn’t know about Newcomer, and Deer, Wolf, Tree . …I really couldn’t tell . There was Water Droplet, so why wasn’t there something like Flame?

Anyways, I should extort out all that I could extort out .

“I also have to meet Yoohyun, but for some reason there’s no reply . ”

I said, taking out my phone as I entered the parking lot . I needed to tell him about the bracelet and going into a dungeon with Myeongwoo .

“Guild Leader? Did you ask Kim Sunghan ahjussi or Team Head Suk?”

“No . Should I try calling?”

When I opened my contacts, Yerim stuck out her head and stared .

“What did you name my number?”

“Yerim . ”

“Ahjussi really seems like an ahjussi . They’re all just names . ”

I mean, what now? Of course you wrote in names; what else would you write? Yerim snatched my phone away and and scrolled straight through my contacts .

“Guild Leader is also just ‘younger brother’? That’s unexpected . Huh? What’s this? Skill? Who is it?”

“Sung Hyunjae . ”

“…The Seseong Guild Leader?”

“Yeah . ”

“It’s not even his name – how did it become Skill?”

“Because he’s just that . ”

Yerim laughed, going ‘wow, treated as a skill’ . I took my phone back from Yerim, who was asking why it was so empty and was recommending apps, and called Kim Sunghan . When I asked him about Yoohyun’s location, a surprising answer came back .

“The special isolation center?”

[Yes . He left about one hour ago . ]

Why did he go there? Right now, the A-Rank Hunters centered around Yoon Kyeongsoo were locked up at the special isolation center . MKC’s Choi Sukwon alone had escaped to the detention center, and the remaining were planned to be strictly punished .

Putting aside visiting since it was a matter related to me, why wasn’t he answering me contacting him? Did they block calls there? No, I had sent the text an hour ago . I had a slight ominous hunch .

“He said Guild Leader is at the special isolation center?”

“Yeah . Looks like I should go soon . It’s foreboding no matter how I look at it . ”

“Should I call Soyoung unni? It should be twice as fast as going by car . ”

……Um, that was .

“There’s stacks of tickets, but she has never gotten into an accident . ”

“…Alright . Let’s do that . ”

Was there a helmet lying around somewhere?

***

The fire elemental that was in the shape of a small lizard, quietly circled its owner’s ankle . Then, it went down before his foot and seeped into the floor . The movements of the elemental, who left only a little faint dark spot as it passed through the layered walls, weren’t noticed by anyone except for the owner who gave the order .

Faintly smiling as he sat in the waiting room, Han Yoohyun stared at the man who was standing on the other side of the table . Song Taewon let out a sigh that he couldn’t completely hold back .

“Unless you are one of the victims themselves, it is impossible to visit the special isolation center prisoners . Even if you are the brother, it is not allowed . ”

“How particular . I merely have a few things I want to ask . ”

“It is possible if you have the agreement of the prisoner, but Yoon Kyeongsoo, as well as all the other Hunters, refused the visit . ”

Would there be any cause for them to accept? He had a smile on his face, but it was clearly obvious how Han Yoohyun wanted to handle the prisoners . Song Taewon spoke to the young man who was difficult in a different way than Sung Hyunjae .

“So please go back now . ”

“As I have already come here, I will wait until hyung arrives . He is supposed to visit today, correct?”

“…I understand . ”

He hesitated slightly, but Song Taewon nodded his head . Once Han Yoojin, who was directly involved in the incident, arrived, it would become hard to block the visit . But at the same time, Han Yoohyun would be as quiet as was manageable in front of his hyung .

‘It’s enough to be amazed . ’

The one who changed the most noticeably was Han Yoohyun, but it wasn’t just him . Riette quietly went to the detention center, and Sung Hyunjae treated the fledgling Hunter tolerantly, whatever inner motives he had . There was no need to speak of Bak Yerim, and it was probably because of the kiseungsu, but apparently he was close to Moon Hyuna, too .

Whatever the reason was, it was a happy phenomenon for Song Taewon . Since Han Yoojin, who was at the center, was someone with whom you could resolve things through conversation .

The moment he was relaxing .

Puung!

Along with the sound of something bursting,

Kooreureung-

There was the sound of something collapsing and breaking and burning . The bell of the emergency phone on the wall rang, and Song Taewon couldn’t hide his confusion as he lifted the receiver . An urgent voice saying that a portion of the imprisonment facility had broken spilled out to even Han Yoohyun’s ears .

“It seems they were tired of being quietly locked up . ”

Speaking calmly with a tone that was gentle to the point of being warm, Han Yoohyun stood from his seat . Something red faintly flashed up from his feet, and hid its appearance . Song Taewon hardened his face and turned to look at the very young Hunter .

“There is no need to pay attention to it . The imprisonment measures are in place, so it is enough with just the Hunters inside the isolation center . ”

“If you say so . ”

An explosive sound was heard again . Han Yoohyun took a long and sleek sword out from his inventory . One of his eyes held a red light .

“Though if the inventory sealing tool breaks, then even the imprisonment measures would not be useful . They are S-Rank, A-Rank Hunters, so they would have ample high rank potions and recovery or curse resistance equipment . ”

Even if it was the special isolation center’s inhumane imprisonment measures, as long as you could take out and use potions, you could break out . It was the same for the curse-related restriction .

“…I am curious how you are certain that the sealing tool is broken . ”

“It is that noisy, so is it not an obvious guess? So I will help . ”

Han Yoohyun walked toward the entrance . Song Taewon reflexively blocked his path . If he sent him like this, there wouldn’t be anyone left alive among the Hunters led by Yoon Kyeongsoo .

“There is no need for hel- . ”

“Chief Song . If you don’t want to see yourself, as well as the other innocent people, get hurt, then go and evacuate them . ”

“Is that a threat?”

“I am holding back . Or why don’t you nitpick with Sung Hyunjae? If he had cleanly disposed of them inside the dungeon, there would not have been any need to work this hard . Did he possibly leave me my share?”

Song Taewon moved to the side in the end . Truthfully, they were people that, even if they had been massacred inside the dungeon, it wouldn’t have been weird . Rather than increasing the damage by blocking Han Yoohyun, it would be better to evacuate people like he said .

Even after making that decision, Song Taewon’s complexion wasn’t good . The gaze staring at the young man leisurely walking out of the door, was cold beyond measure .

Beasts free of their reins . Monsters[2] that didn’t even have leashes to be tied down with .

He himself was also included, so it was even more detestable . Song Taewon clenched his teeth and moved in order to clean up afterwards .

***

Hunter Kang Soyoung’s competency was impressive . Not only that, her combination with Yerim was also great . If we were caught at a signal or was blocked by a road that you had to turn back on, she lifted the bike as well and flew past, so there really were no obstacles . Even though my insides flipped over a bit, we were able to arrive at the special isolation center in the outskirts in a scarily fast time .

“It looks like Guild Leader already made a mess . ”

Though it was after one side of the isolation center had collapsed down . It was a relief in terms of safety, that the surroundings were a field . But a fire was spreading out . I saw a fire truck from far away, but it couldn’t approach the place that was on fire . Since, there would only be innocent victims if they happened to be swept up in a fight between Hunters .

“Yerim, can you put out the fire?”

“Yes! Soyoung unni, ahjussi- . ”

“No, I’m going to go in, too . ”

At my words, Yerim’s eyes went round .

“Ahjussi, are you crazy?”

“Let’s use nice words . I have the item from that time . Don’t worry, and I’ll leave putting out the fire to you . Thank you for driving us here, Soyoung-ssi . Please stand off to the side, in case you get swept up . ”

“I will receive thanks in the form of Noah-ssi’s contact information, and I will just watch!”

Kang Soyoung excitedly took out her cell phone . …Was she filming right now? Besides that, Noah’s contact information – was it that she couldn’t give up? I understood, but please think of Comet .

A barricade was set up, and the isolation center’s Hunters were standing guard, but they didn’t block S-Rank Hunter Yerim . I was able to go inside as Yerim’s extra as well .

When I used the bracelet, and went inside the building that didn’t have traces of people as if most had evacuated, I saw corpses that were left after being burned .

“Yerim, you go toward the side where the fire is spreading . ”

“It’s not like it’s my first time seeing a corpse . ”

“Hey! Still, there’s nothing good about looking at them!”

It was impossible to not see them at all, but it would be good if she saw less of them at least . Even at my nagging, Yerim floated around the surroundings, pretending to not have heard, and put out the embers with Sigh . In the meantime, one more corpse appeared . This time, I remembered the face . It was one of the Hunters who had attacked in the dungeon last time .

‘…Yoohyun, this punk . ’

He had acted like he would reasonably let it go . Avoiding the building wreckage, I walked more inwards, when someone jumped down in front of me .

“Why did you come this early?”

Yoohyun looked down at me with a smiling face .

“What ‘early’! Did you kill them all? What about Yoon Kyeongsoo?”

“Wouldn’t he have died by now? Don’t mind it . It was weird that the Seseong Guild Leader let it go, and they even tried to escape, so it’s the obvious result . ”

I also was surprised at Sung Hyunjae’s intention to reuse them, but to think that it was escape . When I sent a skeptical gaze, that little brother smiled shamelessly .

“Let’s just go . What time is it? Should we eat lunch?”

“He is alive, though . ”

What? At Yerim’s words out of the blue, Yoohyun and I turned our heads at the same time . Yoon Kyeongsoo was standing in the place Yerim was staring at . With his neck about half sliced .

“No, is he dead? But he is moving . What is it?”

Yerim tilted her head, and Yoohyun frowned . And then Yoon Kyeongsoo opened his mouth .

“Hi!”

It was an unfamiliar woman’s voice .

[1] it just means ‘completely boss arnd’, sort of like eng ‘under sb’s thumb’, but I thought the lit . meaning was understandable so I left as is

[2] krn word for monster, which I’ve been tl-ing as ‘fiend’ to differentiate, since the eng word transliterated is what is used for the monsters that come out from dungeons . But word-choice-wise, I think ‘monster’ is the best to use here .