At the silent response, Geon-hoo nodded. “That’s… So I do have…”
“You’ll be fine. The doctors said you would get better with treatment and surgery.”
Seo-ah didn’t mention the matter of liver transplantation for now.
“But, noona, where will we get the money? You canceled our insurance…”
“Hey, Park Geon-hoo! Why are you worrying over that!?” She raised her voice and slapped him on the back.
“Ah, ah! I’m a patient here!”
“Don’t worry! I have my ways. You will surely receive treatment.”
“What are you doing, noona? Hah… fine.”
“Do you need anything? I’ll bring it to you the next time I visit. Do you need a game console?”
Geon-hoo glanced at her blandly, and Seo-ah couldn’t help but laugh.
“Well, I’ll bring one next time. I have to go, but I’ll be back in a few days.”
Fortunately, this hospital’s nurses took care of the patients, so there was no need for guardians or any separately hired caregivers.
Seo-ah went down to the lobby and paid for the hospital bills with the money she had received from the raid. It was the amount that normally would have been a month’s worth of her salary, a small sum for hunters.
Still, her new job needed to be kept a secret from Geon-hoo, who would be burdened by the knowledge.
“He has to undergo chemotherapy first… And then we need to find a match for his liver.”
According to the doctor, his cancer needed to be controlled before it metastasized. In the meantime, she could only hope that she found the right donor in time, and save enough money for the entire procedure.
“Let’s be strong, Seo-ah!”
***
The next morning, her phone vibrated. Seo-ah looked at the screen, toothbrush in mouth.
‘Who is it? It’s an unknown number.’
[ 10 a.m. tomorrow, at the Sun Guild. ]
‘Ah, it’s Yoo Ji-an.’
It sounded just like him.
She put her phone down and headed to the bathroom.
***
Cha Tae-woon, president of the Hunters’ Guild, was sitting at his desk for the first time in a long time. His neatly pomaded hair and towering height made him stand out everywhere, even then, like a seated, two-meter-tall mountain behind a tiny desk.
He was the president and the only S-class hunter in administration, always busy handling the gates that no one else wanted to do.
Reading Kim Jung-soo’s report, he frowned. “What nonsense is this?” He looked at it again carefully to check if he hadn’t misread anything. “Why did S-class hunters like Yoo Ji-an and Baek Eun-hee enter a D-class gate?”
“Well…”
Cha Tae-woon dropped the file folder. “A whopping four people disappeared. A fatal accident in a D-class gate that had S-class hunters in it.”
Their disappearance clearly meant that the S-class hunters either ignored their plight or outright killed them. If it was the former, nobody would be held accountable, but if the situation was the latter, it was a different story.
“Yes. I didn’t know what to make of it, so I brought the matter to you.”
Kim Jung-soo and Oh Hyun-soo stood in front of the desk with nervous expressions.
Of course, accidents could happen at any time, and some of them were fatal. Even when someone was killed in a conflict between hunters, the case was treated differently from murder. However, this did not mean that it would go unnoticed.
Criminals who were hunters were dangerous, so they were arrested and disciplined by the Hunters’ Guild. That was the story of many arrogant hunters.
When S-class hunters were involved…
If they decided to commit genocide, they were virtually unstoppable. Fortunately, though, there have been few cases of that worldwide. Rather, middle- and low-level hunters caused more accidents. The theory was that hunters’ instincts were honed to fight monsters, so they were not very interested in the lives and deaths of human beings.
That was not to say that they were all easy to deal with. Many of them were selfish and uncontrollable.
The fact that the S-class hunters of the world didn’t cause chaos was something to be thankful for.
“Why did they enter the gate? There’s no way they’d both do that for no reason.”
It was strange enough that Baek Eun-hee and Yoo Ji-an entered a gate together, but that they didn’t fight each other but instead quite possibly eliminated the other hunters.
“I haven’t heard from them yet, but it’s probably because of Ms. Park Seo-ah.”
Cha Tae-woon glanced back down at the document. “Indeed, the name of that E-class healer has been mentioned often in this report.”
“Yes, those three met with us here one day when you were out.”
“And nothing happened that day?”
“Yes, it went rather amicably.”
Thud!
The president slammed a palm on his desk, causing a tremor to shake the office. Fortunately, nothing was damaged, as his desk was created and refined purposefully to withstand his strength.
Kim Jung-soo, as an ordinary person, was frightened, and Oh Hyun-soo took over the job of explaining. It helped that he was also the first person from the Hunters’ Guild who met Park Seo-ah.
“As you can see, she is an ordinary E-class healer. She seems to have awakened a long time ago, but she has barely any history of using her skills. It was only recently that she registered as a hunter.”
“But why are those powerful hunters interested in someone like her? Enough to follow her into a D-class gate, even.”
Oh Hyun-soo and Kim Jung-soo became speechless. They were both in the meeting room that day, but they still didn’t know the real reason behind the continued interest.
Cha Tae-woon paused for a moment, lost in thought. “So you’re saying that neither of you knows why they did that.”
“Yes, but we do know that Ms. Park Seo-ah has decided to take turns going on raids with the Sun and Royal Guilds. They have been making advance payments and reservations for B- or higher-level gates.”
“Should we meet?”
“You and Mr. Yoo Ji-an?” Kim Jung-soo asked.
Cha Tae-woon shook his head. “No, I meant meeting with Ms. Park.”
Kim Jung-soo and Oh Hyun-soo glanced at each other.
“It’s possible, but why do you want to meet her…?”
“She’s the reason for the behavior of those S-class hunters, right? Who knows what’ll happen when they bring her to a high-level gate.”
“Understood, President,” Oh Hyun-soo replied.
Kim Jung-soo asked, “What about the events in the D-class gate?”
“It is true that two S-class hunters were involved in the disappearances, so let us conclude this case by imposing fines on each guild. Please make a report, though add details in moderation. Seeing the profiles of the missing hunters, they appear to be the worst of the worst among their ilk. Several low-level hunters have suffered because of them.”
“Yes, sir.”
***
“Oh no, I’m going to be late.” Wearing a large backpack, Seo-ah ran out.
She’d overslept because she didn’t notice her alarm, and it was already 9:30.
“Ah, but—!”
There was a strange car at the end of the alley, a blue sports car that looked out of place in the old town.
Seo-ah stepped past it, thinking that it had nothing to do with her.
Honk! Honk!
She looked back and saw a man with bright blond hair and sunglasses sticking his head and a waving hand out of the car window.
“Ms. Park Seo-ah!”
“Sun Guild…?”
“Yes, that’s right. I’m Han Seok-hyun. Get in!”
“Oh, yes.” Seo-ah slid into the passenger seat as fast as she could.
The car was so conspicuous that she didn’t want it to spend a second longer in the area.
It started smoothly and soundlessly.
From the outside, it looked like a regular expensive car, but it was completely different inside. Complex patterns were engraved here and there, and there were many small buttons on the dashboard.
It seemed to be a vehicle that was modified for hunters.
Just in case, Seo-ah quietly put her hands on her lap to avoid touching anything by mistake.
‘Does he bring this car to the gates too?’
“How did you know to go here?”
“I checked the address you wrote on the form.”
“Then why…”
“Ji-an said that you would be training with us today. Is that correct?”
Seo-ah nodded. “Yes, but I didn’t think the head of the guild would be picking me up. Of course, I’m very thankful.”
It was rather burdensome, but she did not forget to be grateful.
“Well, he couldn’t come himself because something urgent came up.”
“Yes?”
‘Yoo Ji-an? Here? That would have been awkward…’
