Chapter 39
“Are you coming tomorrow too?”
“Yeah, I have to.”
Evening, after finishing training.
Early in the morning, I sparred with the Association President due to the gate issue, then went to Sui’s guild for training, moving my body diligently until sunset.
“It might be a strange thing to ask… Is it really okay for me, who isn’t even a guild member, to come this often?”
“It’s fine, I got permission from everyone.”
“…Right, you did.”
I already knew they’d given permission, but as an outsider, it was hard not to feel a little self-conscious.
No matter how thick-skinned I am, using the facilities this frequently was starting to make me feel a bit conspicuous, but since she brushed it off as no big deal, I let it go.
‘Well, as long as I can use the facilities, it’s fine.’
It’s not like the environment is so poor that I can’t train due to a lack of facilities anyway.
I’m just using one of their many spare training grounds, so it’s not like I’m causing a nuisance.
‘And since I have permission, it should be okay.’
Even the guild staff I frequently see told me to feel free to use it, so I’ll just take them at their word and use it comfortably.
“Then, see you tomorrow.”
“Yeah, see you from the morning.”
“Got it.”
Sui emphasized the ‘from the morning’ part.
Leaving her behind, I walked in the opposite direction at a fork in the city road.
I walked along the road like that to the bus stop.
A road lined with many cars.
Looking at them, I fell into thought for a moment.
‘Should I buy a car?’
I’m in a financially comfortable situation now.
I also had a license I’d gotten in advance at the Hunter Academy, so it wouldn’t be a problem.
‘I wonder what kind of car would be good.’
Juhyeok had virtually no knowledge about cars.
He slowly looked at the cars passing by on the street, which he usually didn’t pay much attention to.
‘That one’s too small… Something like a sedan would be better than a compact car, right?’
His attention focused on looking at cars even as he sat at the bus stop.
As he looked at each one, he suddenly spotted a very eye-catching car in the distance.
‘That one’s probably too expensive. It looks like a foreign car even to me.’
A foreign car brand that even someone with no car knowledge like himself felt he should know.
As expected of a famous brand car, its eye-catching color made him stare at it without realizing.
But then, the car didn’t go far before stopping right in front of the bus stop, right under Juhyeok’s nose.
Then the window quietly rolled down, and he made eye contact with the man inside.
“Hello, Hunter Juhyeok.”
“…”
A person riding in the backseat of a seemingly expensive foreign car had stopped in front of him, called his name, and greeted him.
The rather surreal scene left him speechless for a moment. As he stayed quiet, the man continued.
“I’d like to have a little chat. Is that possible?”
“When I don’t even know who you are?”
“Oh my, I’m late introducing myself.”
He put his hand inside his jacket.
Contrary to the expectation that he would pull out a business card, what emerged was a small handgun with a silencer attached.
BANG!
He pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Juhyeok didn’t move.
The barrel was aimed at a trash can far away from Juhyeok.
The hole pierced through the trash can proved it was a real gun.
“That’s the kind of person I am.”
“…Huh.”
A weapon that only someone who is a Hunter or possesses a firearm license could carry.
And here he was, firing it casually on the street.
There was only one type of person who would do such a thing.
“What business does an illegal hunter organization have with me?”
“It’s not illegal. Formally, we are a legitimate business.”
A business.
They probably had a front company that looked completely fine on the surface, while doing all sorts of dirty deeds behind the scenes.
The audacity to call it a ‘business’ was astounding.
“So, why have you come to find me?”
“It’s a bit awkward to talk with the window open.”
With those words, the car’s back door automatically opened.
The man gestured slightly inside, making room, and said.
“Will you get in?”
“…”
An illegal hunter organization that had precisely pinpointed his location.
If he didn’t comply willingly, they might resort to pre-prepared measures.
‘I had no idea I’d get tangled with these scumbags… And of all days, my mom has the bakery open today, so it’s dangerous.’
A quick judgment.
Without a word, Juhyeok quietly got into the car and sank into the plush seat.
Then the door closed, and the car began to move quietly.
“I’m glad you followed along so meekly, more than I expected.”
“Let’s not drag this out.”
He didn’t like long preambles.
Talking in circles with people who already knew everything was a waste of time.
Juhyeok turned his head to the man with the ponytail and asked.
“What’s your purpose in seeking me out?”
His tone had lowered.
His monotonous tone made the man laugh hollowly.
“Well, I see… I wonder if showing the gun was a mistake.”
The atmosphere had become quite tense due to the flashy entrance.
As if he didn’t like the current mood, he chuckled and continued.
“Scouting. Our industry is always in desperate need of talent.”
With those words, his hand went into his pocket again.
This time, it wasn’t a gun but a business card that he subtly pulled out and offered.
Inside was written the cute company name ‘Hyunho Candy’ and the name ‘Branch Manager Jang Yeonho’.
“Candy?”
“Yes, a company that makes sweet candies and jellies that go into good children’s mouths.”
Quite a cute name for a front company set up by an illegal hunter organization.
The business card was even covered with teddy bears and candies, making one wonder what this was all about.
As Juhyeok was intently examining the business card, Jang Yeonho spoke.
“And conversely, we show a righteous bitterness to bad adults.”
“…”
Righteous bitterness.
As if they were suing abusive parents on behalf of bullied children.
If that were their business, they’d deserve applause, but it seemed unlikely that someone who fired a gun so casually on the street would mete out punishment so legally.
“Hunter Juhyeok, you’ve encountered quite a few bad adults yourself, haven’t you?”
“I’ve seen plenty. There’s one right in front of me now.”
An adult who impulsively picked up a young hunter at a bus stop and put him in his car.
To anyone, there was plenty of room to classify him as a ‘bad adult’.
“Haha, you’re funny.”
Yeonho laughed off the appropriate sarcasm.
He subtly held out his phone to show him.
“Would you take a look at this?”
Juhyeok looked at the photo on the phone he handed over.
A young boy wearing a rather dirty white T-shirt.
Sunken cheeks.
Dark circles heavily settled under his eyes.
Unlike an ordinary child, signs of hardship were evident.
“It’s an old photo of me. As you can see, I was skin and bones, right? I grew up not having enough to eat…”
“…”
It was beyond just ‘not having enough to eat’.
The boy in the photo looked like he could collapse at any moment.
Now that he looked, the eyes definitely resembled his grown-up self.
“There was a laboratory that gathered orphans, awakened them as Hunters, and pushed them into extreme environments every day. I was one of the orphans in that laboratory.”
“One day, they’d skip all three meals and lock us in a room with beasts, another day they’d lock us in a sauna without a single drop of water…”
He began recounting his past with his eyes closed.
He looked at Juhyeok, his smile never fading, and asked.
“Quite harsh, don’t you think?”
“It is harsh.”
“Right. It’s harsh.”
He put his phone away and continued the conversation.
“There are too many bad adults in the world who do things like this.”
His finger tapped on his crossed knee.
“And there are also bad adults who condone and overlook these problems.”
Bystanders.
He called them ‘bad adults’ without exception.
The corners of his mouth still formed a curved line.
“Our goal is to show such bad adults a taste of bitterness.”
“…”
Was he saying they had a purpose, their own form of justice they acted upon?
Even though he hadn’t asked, listening to this made one thing curious.
“What does that have to do with me, for you to seek me out like this?”
I get that you hate bad adults.
But what does that have to do with me, who grew up with proper parents and wasn’t an orphan, that you’d fire a gun and pick me up in a car?
“We judged that Hunter Juhyeok must have similar thoughts to ours.”
“In what way?”
“Well…”
He pretended to think deeply for a moment, then quickly answered.
“Because Hunter Juhyeok also has a background story that suggests you might hold quite a few grievances against the world, right?”
He said this while mimicking a slightly sad voice.
“Just thinking about how harsh your time at the academy must have been brings tears to my eyes.”
“So you’re saying that because I was a low-achieving student, you think I must be twisted somewhere.”
“A reasonable grievance.”
After saying that, Yeonho paused for a moment.
After an intentional silence, the tension built, and then he spoke again.
“Isn’t that the reason you aren’t joining a guild?”
“…”
Ah, so that was it after all.
The poor grades during academy days.
The subsequent course of action, moving alone without joining a guild.
It seemed this illegal hunter organization had judged him to be a promising candidate for a criminal.
Sigh, because I’m not joining a guild, all these weirdos keep clinging to me.
If it weren’t for the pattern, I would have joined a guild right away.
He knew he shouldn’t blame the training room, but he grumbled inwardly anyway.
Juhyeok let out a big sigh internally and said.
“It seems there’s a pretty big misunderstanding. I’m not the type to view the world so cynically.”
A model hunter who has never broken the law and has no intention of doing so in the future.
He had never even felt a strong desire to commit a crime in his heart.
“And I don’t have any background story that would make me deeply hate someone like you do.”
Juhyeok took out his phone, turned on the screen, and showed it to him.
Proof that he wasn’t recording the conversation.
Showing it to him, he spoke as gently and persuasively as possible.
“So, let’s just bury today’s incident as a mutual misunderstanding and go our separate ways.”
He had not the slightest intention of reporting it and getting involved in a hassle.
It was a proposal to let it slide quietly. In response, he showed not a hint of panic and smiled slyly.
“Even if you’re not someone similar to us, the scouting offer still stands. You can never have too much talent.”
“Even if the scouting offer stands, my mind hasn’t changed.”
“So it seems.”
With those words, the car stopped.
“For now, that is.”
Then the back door opened, revealing his mother’s bakery across the crosswalk.
Thinking it was fortunate it ended with words, Juhyeok tried to leave without a word.
“Just in case, I’ll say this.”
Then, as if he just thought of it, he stopped while trying to close the door, opened it wide again, and said.
“If you lay a hand on anyone around me, I’ll kill every last one of you, whether it’s Candy or whatever.”
The fact that they knew the bakery’s location meant they might cause trouble later.
Leaving a clear warning, the man stared at Juhyeok for a moment, looking dumbfounded, then burst into loud laughter and replied.
“You’ve never even killed a person before.”
“If I work as a Hunter, I’ll probably end up killing someone someday.”
That’s actually what they said during training at the academy too.
They said that since there might be people who attack within parties for money, you might end up killing someone someday if you continue life as a Hunter.
“I’d rather not have to do it outside, so be careful.”
He hoped that if it happened, it would be because of something that happened inside a gate.
His voice was filled with resolve.
In response, Yeonho paused for a moment before answering.
“…I’ll keep that in mind.”
The door slid shut automatically.
The vehicle quietly drove away from the bakery and disappeared into the distance.
