< Superior Rank Bait (1) >
Was it because of the backdrop of the gloomy gray sky and the buildings that had collapsed and burned? Song Taewon’s two eyes were beyond being heavy to feeling gloomy . Though it was a situation where it would be tiring from his standpoint, it didn’t seem like he was simply sick of it . He seemed like a tiger that was starved and had become a mess from being swept away by a tempest, but still had left enough strength for a last leap . The target was none other than me .
It was a gaze that might’ve made me break out a little in goosebumps, if I didn’t have the fear resistance .
‘Still, Song Taewon probably isn’t related to this matter . ’
If he was a man flexible enough to pull nonsense like putting false charges on an innocent person, he would be living much more comfortably . As a high ranking public servant and an S-Rank Hunter, he probably wouldn’t have acted like a self-restraining ascetic .
As a petit bourgeois once upon a time, I had humane goodwill toward him, but at the same time, I very slightly understood Sung Hyunjae’s car crashing high handedness . It was stifling .
‘And it would be incredibly difficult . ’
Seeing how he sensitively checked my status, I became reluctant to even apply the keyword . In fact, the easiest and fastest method would be to just throw him away . Since, if just Song Taewon wasn’t there, the Hunter Association would naturally lose their strength .
Even so, I didn’t want that person to end up at the same outcome as before the regression . What should I do? I was wondering if I should talk to him first, when Song Taewon turned around . I stared at his back as he conversed briefly with the people setting up a restriction line around the wreckage and then went past that .
The wide but heavy-looking shoulders made my mood weird .
“Yoohyun . You’re not bugging my phone, right?”
I asked, turning my head .
“I’m not . And the radius for the block isn’t that large either . Above all, the opposition from the surroundings will be fierce, so bugging is impossible . ”
If I thought about the people contacting me, it made sense .
“Were there no people who opposed having their phones blocked?”
“Since I said it was only for the vacation . Seseong and Breaker also agreed . I was going to deal with them while you were resting . ”
Yoohyun glanced around at the collapsed buildings .
“It seems like the Breaker Guild Leader’s lips were too loose . ”
“She tried to not tell me . I forcefully probed into it . ”
“What did you give away this time?”
The end of the gaze that returned to me was sharp . I was pretending to be calm because it wouldn’t do for it to be caught that I made this mess, but as expected, it seemed like that little brother’s mood wasn’t pleasant . What did I give away – he was probably talking about the price for overturning the buildings .
“Just what I normally do . I mean, I was also going to be quiet this time, but they acted so pettily . ”
If they had unhesitatingly set the whole building on fire, I would’ve been like ‘hm, Yoohyun seems to have gotten a little angry’ and watched the fire . …Or, that wasn’t it . I probably would’ve been thinking of ways to settle it . Anyways, I wouldn’t have directly come and turned things over .
“Alright . ”
I had been resolved in my own way, but my brother surprisingly stood down easily . How weird . Just then, one more car arrived . The person who came out from the car took a picture of the buildings’ wreckage with an expensive-looking camera . The moment I wondered if it was a journalist, one more person came out of the car . While carrying a large bouquet of flowers .
It was my first time seeing this person, but I thought that I knew where they were affiliated to .
“Han Yoojin-nim . ”
The bouquet came before me . They were roses . Thin drops of rain were dangling from them so they looked even more fresh .
“The Seseong Guild Leader asked to convey that he is incredibly sorry he could not become audience to an amazing stage . ”
“Ah, yes . ”
To think that he just sent someone even after hearing the news . He wasn’t that kind of person, though .
‘It looks like saying it was lightly or whatever, wasn’t a simple excuse . ’
It was obvious that there was a different reason for why he couldn’t come . Was he doing something somewhere? I was going to accept the bouquet without much thought when,
Hwareureuk-
The roses lit on fire splendidly .
“You can’t accept things like that carelessly, hyung . ”
“That is true . Bouquets are especially even more dangerous . You cannot know if there is something hidden inside . ”
It seems like you have received a bouquet with a knife embedded into it before, Noah-ssi . Even if a blade was inside, it wouldn’t be bad . And I could get my fingers pricked a little and then insist he forgive the debt with that .
“It seems like the two of you are right . While you’re at it, what about becoming friends?”
At the nonsensically tossed words, Yoohyun and Noah frowned at the same time . Woah, their expressions were similar, too . If I put them together often, wouldn’t they feel at least reluctant attachment[1]? Wasn’t it that boys became friendly as they fought?
When I thought of those two hanging out, my mood became better on its own . The visual was also good . What did young people do to play nowadays?
“There is one more thing he sent . ”
The Seseong Guild member was a little surprised at the bouquet burning, but soon they calmly took out a small box . It would probably be difficult to work under Sung Hyunjae if you were taken aback by small things like this .
“Don’t burn it this time . ”
I said to Yoohyun as I quickly accepted the box . When I opened the top, a wrist watch appeared .
“It is a watch for Hunter use that can be stored in the inventory . ”
I was thinking of getting one anyways .
“It is not a stage I prepared, but as he is purposely saying he will hand in a viewing fee, I will accept . ”
Seeing how each component had to be made with dungeon byproducts, Hunter-use watches were things that were expensive and it took a long time for even the order to be accepted . So, I should gratefully- .
“…I had also put in an order, though . ”
Yoohyun mumbled softly . Ah, then wait .
“I will accept just the thoughts behind it . ”
I immediately closed the box and returned the watch as if throwing it back . I didn’t need it . The Seseong Guild member was at a loss, but quietly drew back .
I wanted to talk to Song Taewon before we left, but he looked busy sorting out the site . It was reported as a higher-than-Rank dungeon break, so it would be hectic for him for a long time . Since it became that only the giant dragon that looked like the boss monster was disposed of, there would probably be a search around the area for the remaining monsters .
I was becoming a little sorry . You shouldn’t send a false report, but the Association sent out a false article first, so let us call it even .
“I’m sorry, but there’s only one seat left . ”
Yoohyun said to Noah, with a face that wasn’t sorry at all . And then he grabbed my arm and pushed me into the front passenger seat . He probably didn’t purposely bring a car that only had two seats, right?
Before I could say anything to Noah, the car started . It wasn’t that he wouldn’t be able find his way home, but wasn’t it too much to leave him like that?
“You said you’ll quietly rest . ”
Yoohyun said, racing through the road that was originally on the deserted side but was even more completely empty because of the restricted passage . Though he said he understood a while ago . It really looked like he didn’t plan on quietly letting it go .
“Officially, I didn’t do anything . I only came to see my brother . ”
“Hyung . ”
“So what were you planning on doing? While your reputation is falling . ”
Along with the sound of the wheels scratching the asphalt, the car stopped on the side of the road . Suddenly my hand felt empty . If would’ve been good if I could pet Peace or Chirpie .
“If I tell you . You’ll step forward again . ”
“I’ll do that even if you don’t tell me . ”
The glaring gaze stung . I wanted to touch Peace’s fur . It was warm and soft .
“Wouldn’t it be better for you to tell me instead of me rummaging around?”
“How about being dragged home like this? I’ll put in Peace and Chirpie, too . ”
Yoohyun was probably talking about his house . If he blocked the mini portal, I wouldn’t be able to move . Though there was the final choice of asking Peace to break a window and jumping down .
“Do whatever you want . ”
“…What?”
“After you tell me . I’m curious . ”
After a short silence, my brother opened his mouth with a softer voice .
“Inside the Association, possibly among the people involved, there are guys who are trying to make a deal with foreign countries . ”
“With other countries?”
“It’s presumably with China or Russia, but it’s not certain . The objective of those guys is you . ”
“According to Hyunssi, our government apparently wants to put a leash on me . ”
“Opinions are still divided for that . You’re on the cooperative side, so the side saying to let sleeping dogs lie[2] is predominant . ”
Then again, if they persecuted me so I ran off overseas, it would get troublesome . Since I would be welcomed wherever I went .
“It’s already been let out that you can know Unawakened People’s expected Awakening rank . From a dictator’s standpoint, being able to raise Awakened People, in addition to the monsters, within the country should be incredibly attractive . Especially since it’ll be easy to train young Unawakened People . ”
Were they thinking of brainwashing kids and forming something like Awakened People troops? It was something far removed from love for humanity . I hadn’t thought of the idea of using me in that way . There were quite a lot of dirty people in the world .
“I don’t know what bastard it is, but how much are they going to receive that they would sell off people?”
Though it wasn’t anything new in a situation where there were people who would sell off their country .
“Still, stealing me away wouldn’t be easy . There’s always S-Ranks Hunters around . ”
Noah was stationed here, and there was Peace, and the building right next door was Haeyeon Guild, so it was teeming with S-Ranks . Even when I went outside lately, there weren’t any instances where an S-Rank Hunter wasn’t following me .
“With the current state, it’s realistically impossible . If it wasn’t, I would’ve locked you up until it was resolved . ”
“That sounds like you absolutely had no intention of getting my agreement? There’s also other people connected to me . ”
“You told me to do whatever I wanted . And the others should all agree . ”
That’s right, well . It seemed so . They would probably come over to hang out a lot . Though Sung Hyunjae didn’t need to .
“Anyways they can’t touch me right away, so they were harassing you?”
“More accurately, they tried to induce that . The Seseong Guild Leader was the first to figure out that the information about you had leaked out . Since secreting the one and only special skill user Hunter to overseas is none other than a betrayal of your country, if it’s just revealed, the Association can receive a large blow, so he looked for my cooperation . ”
“How did that person manage to find that out?”
“I don’t know in detail, but it seems like the Seseong Guild Leader has a lot of connections outside of the country . And considerably widely and deeply, at that . ”
It was no joke . But if I thought about how Sung Hyunjae contracted with the lizard owner guy right after Awakening and accepted this and that, it wasn’t surprising . It might be that there were numerous high rank Hunters he had placed leashes on, like Noah, around the world .
…I was a little worried for my future . Should I tell him we should clear our relationship at least now? But I couldn’t miss out on someone who was that impressive .
“If I showed a weak appearance, those guys would definitely approach, so I purposely gave them an excuse to attack . ”
“Since when? When you went into the dungeon just with Peace?”
“It was around then . ”
“It hasn’t been long . Ah, then when you came to the lake dungeon, was that an act?”
At my question, Yoohyun smiled .
“No . I just held back less . ”
It wasn’t that he didn’t hold back, but that he held back less?
“What about fighting with Noah-ssi?”
“At that time, I held back a lot . ”
“…Still, the isolation center was a little excessive . I couldn’t try out even once the latex mattress that I barely bought, and it just burned up . ”
“Latex matress? Should I buy you one?”
“I’m talking about Yoon Kyeongsoo . ”
I was thinking of applying the keyword and keeping him tied .
“Ah, that guy . ”
The tip of a long finger tapped the steering wheel .
“There’s something I heard from Hunter Riette . ”
“Riette? What did she say?”
“It wasn’t anything much . There’s no evidence for the isolation center case, so it’s okay . It’s just that I excessively took action . ”
That little brother said that he did things that would be minorly rebuked . The actual big matters weren’t on purpose, but maybe rather because of that, it seemed like the response came faster . Since they seriously added a false charge and tried to bring down pressure .
Since, if they first tightened around Han Yoohyun’s neck, it would be easier to touch his brother, me .
“Even so, there’s a high possibility that deliberately lowering your reputation will become bad in the long term . And it’ll be hard for me to quietly watch, too . So let’s end it cleanly . ”
At my continuing opinion, Yoohyun frowned hard .
“Let’s go home . I’ll let you loose in a week . ”
“Hey, wait!”
And it was really very difficult to persuade my brother .
There was filming equipment spread around the rooftop garden . At the center of many people’s gazes, I petted Peace as if nervous . The male and female entertainers who were sitting on the other side sent me smiles .
“It was really a cool flight . ”
-Kkyaa!
Maybe she had understood the words praising her, because Blue triumphantly flapped her wings . Then they tossed several questions to me . When I replied while being reasonably awkward, various exclamations poured over . It was for the broadcast, but the praise was excessive .
It was just then . Along with a slight disturbance, the camera turned toward, not us, but the trail connecting to this side . When I turned my head, I saw a tall and lean young man walking over . It was Yoohyun . When he met my eyes, he gave a most refreshing smile . Whoever’s younger brother he was, he sure was handsome .
“It looks like I arrived too early . I didn’t know you were still filming . ”
“It’s a live broadcast, this . ”
“Really?”
Yoohyun’s eyes became round as if he didn’t know . Then the two entertainers didn’t know what to do and asked if it was okay if he came out on screen like this . The Haeyeon Guild Leader said of course it was okay and smiled beautifully .
“It looks like the two of you are really close . ”
“Since it’s just the two of us as a family . And he is a younger brother to be incredibly proud of . His only flaw is that he worries too much about me . ”
“What’s wrong with worrying about you, hyung?”
“Still, you hearing bad things because of me is…”
Purposely trailing off, I stared at Yoohyun . It wasn’t hard to put on a sorry expression . When I mumbled and let out a sigh, tossing the bait that ‘it is all my fault’, the male entertainer quickly took it, asking what was the matter .
“Wasn’t there talk lately that the Haeyeon Guild Leader was acting a little harshly?”
That was all because my brother was worrying about me so much . Since my stat was F-Rank, not any different from an ordinary person . I spoke, emphasizing the close-to-ordinary-person hyung . My younger brother was this good . He was S-Rank, but he defended his weak hyung . Our relationship was extremely good .
“If I was a little stronger, there would not have been cause for bad talk to come out . It is my fault . ”
“Don’t talk like that, hyung . I’m okay . ”
It was true, but it felt a little cringy to converse like this in front of the camera . The two entertainers had extremely moved expressions . If they were this close in distance, they should be feeling pressure from Yoohyun, but they didn’t show it at all . They really were pros .
In the middle of a good atmosphere, another uninvited quest appeared again . It was Song Taewon .
“Hunter Han Yoojin . You will be arrested for inciting harm to Jeon Junhwan and 8 others, as well as violation of the dungeon gate special law . ”
[1] lit . ‘bad/hateful affection’ from the idiom that’s sth like ‘(feel) good affection bad affection’ that means sth like ‘if you live w sb or know them for a long time, then you become attached to them through both the ups and downs’ . When you say just the ‘bad affection’ part like yj does here, then you mean at least you feel a sense of attachment/affection from the bad experiences bc it’s sth that’s passed or bc you still went through it together or w/e the reason
[2] lit . ‘scratch and make boils’ w similar meaning to the eng idiom used in the tl