September 29th, 2023
“Are they gone?”
My voice was so small that it was almost like ASMR. Even considering the ventriloquism, it was faint. It was something I could do because I believed in the hearing of the S-rank guy right next to me. Sa-young, sitting with his legs crossed next to me, answered so much that only I could hear.
“Yes, well. What can they say, I was trying to save someone.”
“That’s great.”
“Well, I’ll pay some fines.”
“…Are there any fines?”
“Yeah, because hunters have to be punished to listen.”
Well, he is right. Powerful and capable Hunters are controlled by powerful restraints, laws. Ostensibly, since Lee Sa-young was at the centre of this disturbance, he would be punished. I made a deliberate grunt, a sound of pain.
“So much for hiding the fact of registration.”
The best plan was to move on quietly without even getting caught in the registration, but thanks to being caught in a rift that suddenly appeared, the plan and everything went up in smoke. I muttered.
“Is Min-ki really capable of modifying the grade?”
“Well, if he can’t do that… There’s no point in taking money.”
At Sa-young’s reply, I recalled Min-ki’s last appearance.
Before the rift had dissipated, Min-ki had paced nervously, then plunged into the shadow of the ashes. Before I could ask what he was doing, a head popped out of the shadows again and explained.
“It’s a setting that I’m currently in a dungeon in Jongno 3-ga with the vice leader. It’s a big deal if I catch people’s eyes. It’s going to be very hard on me. Wouldn’t swearing increase your life span by 20 years?”
(TL/N: 욕으로 수명이 20년쯤 늘지 않을까요? I need help with this :’))
“Hey, I’m not supposed to be here either, right?”
“It’s all right, sir. You’ve just woken up, so you can pretend you’re just here for a while, and we’ll be fine. By the way, how did you get your rating?”
“I’m screwed.”
“I knew it, and I’m sure the computer got caught up in it, which makes things easier for you.”
“Are you going to use the last option?”
“Exactly.”
Min-ki’s head moved up and down.
“The computer is broken, so everything is okay, well, not really. The records will remain online. As soon as it’s measured, it goes to the Awakening Management Bureau data center. No one would have thought of reading it because the rift burst in time, so it’s just a matter of a quick manipulation.”
“Are you sure that manipulation is really no big deal?”
“Don’t worry too much. I’ll take charge and turn you into a D-rank awakener. Then I’ll go now!”
With that, he gave a thumbs up and slowly sank into the shadows. Like a scene from the film Terminator…. I smiled as I recalled that last scene.
‘There are only idiots in the Pado Guild….’
It’s possible because Lee Sa-young, the leader of the guild right next to him, is a weird guy. Anyway, I didn’t know how long I had to lie down like this. I was about to get up when Jung-bin and Yang Hye-jin disappeared, but the person’s appearance only increased as the incident might have grown bigger than I thought. More ambulances arrived and sirens sounded louder.
Some people approached this way, but when they checked who was next to me, everyone couldn’t come closer than a certain distance. I found out that Lee Sa-young had also written ZONE.
“Hey.”
“Lee Sa-young.”
I can’t believe you gave your own name out of the blue instead of answering me. Are you asking me to call your name or what. I opened my eyes and looked at him at the angle, but I couldn’t see his expression because he was wearing a gas mask.
“…Yeah, Lee Sa-young.”
“Yes.”
Sa-young replied half-heartedly. When I heard the sound of tapping the screen, he must have been fiddling with his mobile phone. I froze, my eyes still closed.
Jung-bin still doesn’t want to leave?
Saeyoung replied with a long, drawn-out, Mm-hmm.
“He’ll be here until dawn today…. It’s a bigger deal than I thought.”
It was the worst news. Damn. It was when I muttered a low curse. A cold skin touch touched the back of my neck, where the others couldn’t see it. I flinched harder than I thought I would but rationalized that it was because all my senses were heightened after the battle.
“Does it hurt?”
“What?”
The gloved finger was groping at the nape of my neck and penetrating through my hair. I got goosebumps all the way down my spine because of the unfamiliar sensation. If I shook my head and shook it off, I would catch the attention of Jung-bin and Yang Hye-jin at once. I gritted my teeth and murmured.
“What are you doing?”
“Because you were sweating cold.”
“Leave it. I’ll be fine soon.”
“…….”
Something clicked in my head. Lee Sa-young seemed to lean his head. His fingers were still gently running through my hair. Is he patting me? I was confused. What’s wrong with him all of a sudden?
I couldn’t put his finger on his behavior. Isn’t he acting like a child again, gently touching people and then quickly backing away…
“You know you’re really crazy.”
I don’t know. No complications, this guy is just a total bastard. I slowly opened his eyes. I didn’t want to hear this disgraceful sound from a madman.
“Are you going to argue?”
“You’re so good at lying.”
“That’s what service jobs are for, lying for a living.”
“How did you come up with this excuse?”
“Don’t try to dig it up. You’ll get hurt if you do.”
Sa-young laughed lowly. The fingers that had been running through my back hair moving more gently. Is it because I was quite nervous. It’s been a long time since I’ve had chaos.
“You’re really suspicious.”
“What are you going to do if I’m suspicious… You’ve already signed me.”
“I know. Why would I sign with someone so suspicious….”
Fingers brushed against the nape of my neck, and I tried to close my eyes, inhaling the sweet scent of Sa-young…
‘This crazy.’
It reminded me of a haejang-guk house.
My mind snapped back to reality. My body stiffened and I straightened my back. Sa-young must have noticed the change, too, because he stopped running his hands through my back hair. I muttered gravely.
“Lee Sa-young.”
“Huh? What.”
Where the two of them are now is in the back of an ambulance. The paramedics are busy tending to the other survivors, and they don’t approach this ambulance because of Lee Sa-young.
“Do you know how to drive?”
“…What did you say?”
“I haven’t got my licence because I’ve been a bit busy. Do you have a licence?”
I gestured to the steering wheel, and after blinking for a moment, Sa-young smiled disbelievingly.
“See, you’re the crazy one.”
From then on, it was all good. Actually, it was a bit of an eventful journey, but we managed to get to haejang-guk house on time, so it was a success by our standards.
Unfortunately, Lee Sa-young also did not have a license, and it was quite a distance to run from Gwangjin-gu Office to Haejang-guk house. Hailing a taxi wouldn’t be much help anyway, as the roads in the area were completely paralysed. I sincerely wondered if I should hijack the ambulance and drive there.
Lee Sa-young was curiously watching me, who struggled until just before, and somehow planned to go to the Haejang-guk house.
“Do we have to go?”
“Yes, absolutely.”
“That’s compulsion.”
“Cut the crap and think about it.”
“What…. It’s not like there isn’t a way.”
Sa-young, who was looking at it interestingly with his chin, took something out of the inventory and put it in my hands. It was a crumpled A4 sheet of some kind of.
“…Trash?”
“What do you mean trash. It’s Hong Ye-sung’s masterpiece, but you’re talking too much. Read the description first.”
[Artisan’s Emergency Escape Button Prototype (S-)
Tear it off and you can go anywhere you want. However, it cannot be used inside rifts and dungeons, and is disposable.
Producer: Hong Ye-sung]
…Crazy. There’s such an item. But why is it called a button when it’s shaped like an A4 sheet of paper. When I asked Sa-young, he shrugged.
“I heard he made them like rubbish because he was afraid Jung-bin would take them away if he found out.”
The question in my head only grew stronger, but the existence of the item was great news nonetheless. I grabbed Sa-young’s arm with my right hand and the escape button with my left, and immediately took the paper into my mouth and tore it in half.
There was a sense of being swept away somewhere and the sounds of commotion became distant.
After a while, before I could open my eyes, a familiar smell lingered at the tip of my nose, causing me to blink. Hong Ye-sung hadn’t lied when he said it was his masterpiece.
“Oh my god, there’s such a thing in the world.”
“It’s not trash.”
“Oh, the broth!”
I quickly dismissed my gratitude for the paper button that had sent me to Haejang-guk house in a matter of seconds and rushed to the kitchen.
September 29th, 2023
“Are they gone?”
My voice was so small that it was almost like ASMR. Even considering the ventriloquism, it was faint. It was something I could do because I believed in the hearing of the S-rank guy right next to me. Sa-young, sitting with his legs crossed next to me, answered so much that only I could hear.
“Yes, well. What can they say, I was trying to save someone.”
“That’s great.”
“Well, I’ll pay some fines.”
“…Are there any fines?”
“Yeah, because hunters have to be punished to listen.”
Well, he is right. Powerful and capable Hunters are controlled by powerful restraints, laws. Ostensibly, since Lee Sa-young was at the centre of this disturbance, he would be punished. I made a deliberate grunt, a sound of pain.
“So much for hiding the fact of registration.”
The best plan was to move on quietly without even getting caught in the registration, but thanks to being caught in a rift that suddenly appeared, the plan and everything went up in smoke. I muttered.
“Is Min-ki really capable of modifying the grade?”
“Well, if he can’t do that… There’s no point in taking money.”
At Sa-young’s reply, I recalled Min-ki’s last appearance.
Before the rift had dissipated, Min-ki had paced nervously, then plunged into the shadow of the ashes. Before I could ask what he was doing, a head popped out of the shadows again and explained.
“It’s a setting that I’m currently in a dungeon in Jongno 3-ga with the vice leader. It’s a big deal if I catch people’s eyes. It’s going to be very hard on me. Wouldn’t swearing increase your life span by 20 years?”
(TL/N: 욕으로 수명이 20년쯤 늘지 않을까요? I need help with this :’))
“Hey, I’m not supposed to be here either, right?”
“It’s all right, sir. You’ve just woken up, so you can pretend you’re just here for a while, and we’ll be fine. By the way, how did you get your rating?”
“I’m screwed.”
“I knew it, and I’m sure the computer got caught up in it, which makes things easier for you.”
“Are you going to use the last option?”
“Exactly.”
Min-ki’s head moved up and down.
“The computer is broken, so everything is okay, well, not really. The records will remain online. As soon as it’s measured, it goes to the Awakening Management Bureau data center. No one would have thought of reading it because the rift burst in time, so it’s just a matter of a quick manipulation.”
“Are you sure that manipulation is really no big deal?”
“Don’t worry too much. I’ll take charge and turn you into a D-rank awakener. Then I’ll go now!”
With that, he gave a thumbs up and slowly sank into the shadows. Like a scene from the film Terminator…. I smiled as I recalled that last scene.
‘There are only idiots in the Pado Guild….’
It’s possible because Lee Sa-young, the leader of the guild right next to him, is a weird guy. Anyway, I didn’t know how long I had to lie down like this. I was about to get up when Jung-bin and Yang Hye-jin disappeared, but the person’s appearance only increased as the incident might have grown bigger than I thought. More ambulances arrived and sirens sounded louder.
Some people approached this way, but when they checked who was next to me, everyone couldn’t come closer than a certain distance. I found out that Lee Sa-young had also written ZONE.
“Hey.”
“Lee Sa-young.”
I can’t believe you gave your own name out of the blue instead of answering me. Are you asking me to call your name or what. I opened my eyes and looked at him at the angle, but I couldn’t see his expression because he was wearing a gas mask.
“…Yeah, Lee Sa-young.”
“Yes.”
Sa-young replied half-heartedly. When I heard the sound of tapping the screen, he must have been fiddling with his mobile phone. I froze, my eyes still closed.
Jung-bin still doesn’t want to leave?
Saeyoung replied with a long, drawn-out, Mm-hmm.
“He’ll be here until dawn today…. It’s a bigger deal than I thought.”
It was the worst news. Damn. It was when I muttered a low curse. A cold skin touch touched the back of my neck, where the others couldn’t see it. I flinched harder than I thought I would but rationalized that it was because all my senses were heightened after the battle.
“Does it hurt?”
“What?”
The gloved finger was groping at the nape of my neck and penetrating through my hair. I got goosebumps all the way down my spine because of the unfamiliar sensation. If I shook my head and shook it off, I would catch the attention of Jung-bin and Yang Hye-jin at once. I gritted my teeth and murmured.
“What are you doing?”
“Because you were sweating cold.”
“Leave it. I’ll be fine soon.”
“…….”
Something clicked in my head. Lee Sa-young seemed to lean his head. His fingers were still gently running through my hair. Is he patting me? I was confused. What’s wrong with him all of a sudden?
I couldn’t put his finger on his behavior. Isn’t he acting like a child again, gently touching people and then quickly backing away…
“You know you’re really crazy.”
I don’t know. No complications, this guy is just a total bastard. I slowly opened his eyes. I didn’t want to hear this disgraceful sound from a madman.
“Are you going to argue?”
“You’re so good at lying.”
“That’s what service jobs are for, lying for a living.”
“How did you come up with this excuse?”
“Don’t try to dig it up. You’ll get hurt if you do.”
Sa-young laughed lowly. The fingers that had been running through my back hair moving more gently. Is it because I was quite nervous. It’s been a long time since I’ve had chaos.
“You’re really suspicious.”
“What are you going to do if I’m suspicious… You’ve already signed me.”
“I know. Why would I sign with someone so suspicious….”
Fingers brushed against the nape of my neck, and I tried to close my eyes, inhaling the sweet scent of Sa-young…
‘This crazy.’
It reminded me of a haejang-guk house.
My mind snapped back to reality. My body stiffened and I straightened my back. Sa-young must have noticed the change, too, because he stopped running his hands through my back hair. I muttered gravely.
“Lee Sa-young.”
“Huh? What.”
Where the two of them are now is in the back of an ambulance. The paramedics are busy tending to the other survivors, and they don’t approach this ambulance because of Lee Sa-young.
“Do you know how to drive?”
“…What did you say?”
“I haven’t got my licence because I’ve been a bit busy. Do you have a licence?”
I gestured to the steering wheel, and after blinking for a moment, Sa-young smiled disbelievingly.
“See, you’re the crazy one.”
From then on, it was all good. Actually, it was a bit of an eventful journey, but we managed to get to haejang-guk house on time, so it was a success by our standards.
Unfortunately, Lee Sa-young also did not have a license, and it was quite a distance to run from Gwangjin-gu Office to Haejang-guk house. Hailing a taxi wouldn’t be much help anyway, as the roads in the area were completely paralysed. I sincerely wondered if I should hijack the ambulance and drive there.
Lee Sa-young was curiously watching me, who struggled until just before, and somehow planned to go to the Haejang-guk house.
“Do we have to go?”
“Yes, absolutely.”
“That’s compulsion.”
“Cut the crap and think about it.”
“What…. It’s not like there isn’t a way.”
Sa-young, who was looking at it interestingly with his chin, took something out of the inventory and put it in my hands. It was a crumpled A4 sheet of some kind of.
“…Trash?”
“What do you mean trash. It’s Hong Ye-sung’s masterpiece, but you’re talking too much. Read the description first.”
[Artisan’s Emergency Escape Button Prototype (S-)
Tear it off and you can go anywhere you want. However, it cannot be used inside rifts and dungeons, and is disposable.
Producer: Hong Ye-sung]
…Crazy. There’s such an item. But why is it called a button when it’s shaped like an A4 sheet of paper. When I asked Sa-young, he shrugged.
“I heard he made them like rubbish because he was afraid Jung-bin would take them away if he found out.”
The question in my head only grew stronger, but the existence of the item was great news nonetheless. I grabbed Sa-young’s arm with my right hand and the escape button with my left, and immediately took the paper into my mouth and tore it in half.
There was a sense of being swept away somewhere and the sounds of commotion became distant.
After a while, before I could open my eyes, a familiar smell lingered at the tip of my nose, causing me to blink. Hong Ye-sung hadn’t lied when he said it was his masterpiece.
“Oh my god, there’s such a thing in the world.”
“It’s not trash.”
“Oh, the broth!”
I quickly dismissed my gratitude for the paper button that had sent me to Haejang-guk house in a matter of seconds and rushed to the kitchen.
