CH 34

“Can’t you show your whole body, not just your head?” I said calmly to IRL, who just stuck his head out.

“Ah.” Then exclaiming as if he’d just realized something, he appeared with his shoes on.

Oh my God, how dare you do such a rude thing! You bastard don’t even know the law of a Confucian state! I mean, moping the floor is my job!

I stared at IRL’s shoes with my eyes wide open. IRL, who unexpectedly received my intense attention, glanced around and quietly put his shoes somewhere.

He didn’t seem very tactless. Well, I’d be in trouble if he were. 

“The man next to me decided to take me there. Well, I’ll be back soon.”

This is a situation in which the daughter who stayed out overnight called out a high-ranker with a wretched personality! It’s also a situation where, for some reason, she’s politely kneeling on her knees! The daughter, who’s just returned from the Daybreak Guild, is now with a man from the Paradise Guild! What the hell does this mean?!

What a life filled with thrill, shock, and suspense. I looked at my mom, whose pupils shook like an earthquake, and fumbled her hands.

Tok.

My hand that landed on IRL’s shoulder gripped his shoulder. I lowered my upper body and whispered in a quiet voice.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

The answer’s very obedient. Well, how many of the people in Paradise are abrupt? Cha Sehyeong was the only one standing out.

The scenery before my eyes changed in an instant. It wasn’t until I saw that message that I thought I should go to Paradise.

***

“I…”

Jiiing—

As soon as I opened my mouth, the terminal vibrated, breaking the heavy atmosphere immediately. Oh, what happened again this time?

In any case, the association headquarters is of no help. They always say this and that doesn’t work and make me do it.

Advanced gate appearance warning.

-Hunters Association Headquarters-

I pulled the terminal in my pocket out. The purple blinking icon is a special message delivered directly from the Hunters Association headquarters.

There are countless gates in the world. Some become dungeons, while others become waves, threatening people.

The discovery of new things is the beginning of a new study. After learning about the existence of another dimension, humans began to study the new dimension.

That’s how dimension science came out. Some say it’s a complex study because it is an area that can only be studied by Awakened, who can enter and exit the gates. Still, in any case, I’m cooperating with headquarters to collect information to help the research over there.

Knowing the enemy makes it easier to deal with it, so it’s good for the public interest.

[Estimation (98:44) until the spread of the advanced gate in the Osan area.

Dungeon: Wave probability estimated at 2:8.

Estimated gate rank S. Estimated damage rank SS+. Recommended Attribute: Space.]

This gate has a much higher estimated damage rank than the estimated gate rank.

This usually happens when a gate becomes a wave, and as expected, the probability of a wave is eight.

I’m sure it’ll be a bit difficult to close this gate safely. I fumbled the end of the straw in my mouth and scrolled down. After analyzing this, I needed to know what the people of the dimension society wanted.

[Assuming that the surroundings are similar to the King of Pride’s territory, it is estimated that the King of Pride’s army will appear.

Please send environment samples and monster data only if the territory is 27.54% unfilled. Otherwise, submit only boss data.

The association will accept the compensation from the society as before.

* The president seems to have something to say about the illegal acts you committed the other day. Please visit the association headquarters as soon as possible for the prestige and dignity of Rank 1. If you do something wrong, the TF may be dispatched, and international disgrace may occur. -Recording of Melting Heart of Paradise-]

The purple icon that blinked for a long time quickly disappeared after I read the message to the end.

And at the same time, I was in agony.

Ah. How did they find out?

Does it even matter when I’m outside the world rankings? Fucking HQ bastards. If you have time to worry about unnecessary things, please use that time to revise the Hunters International Law.

The information collected by my diligent labor is stored intact in the terminal managed by the headquarters.

Indeed, we need terminals to attack gates, but is it right to stuff all Hunters’ identities around the world like now?

This isn’t some kind of cyberpunk genre. Isn’t the genre of our neighborhood mass-produced Hunters?

You see, I’m the only one with the strong fantasy genre. The one where only I can excel and conquer another dimension.

I wish I could go to the press conference in my tracksuit and say, “I’ll do whatever I want because I’m strong. Don’t gossip behind my back. You’re being rude.” Or, you know, say other lines that will earn me the spotlight as the number one performer?

However, the reality is people are just ordinary people. The inner petit bourgeois, if not commoners. A clueless crowd because the world hasn’t been destroyed yet, with reckless intent after the end of the world, requiring attention.

Wee-woo.

A red siren rings in my imagination. It’s the sound of Daybreak guild members being taken to the hospital after creating the current situation.

However, there’s a big gap between reality and imagination. Since ancient times, love and peace have been essential between people, so I shoved the phone with the screen off back into my pocket and opened my mouth, “I don’t like cooperation.”

I raised my chin high and widened my eyes arrogantly. I folded my arms, pretending to use honorifics as my last courtesy. “I don’t know if cooperation won’t hold me back. Even if I look like this, I’m a powerhouse with three characteristics.”

“Even though I’ve prepared a reward that’s enough to tempt you?”

“I won’t cooperate with you no matter how much money you give me. Still, I don’t want to see the elated faces of the Paradise guys, so I’ll go see the gate.”

I must see it no matter what. The association guys told me to go.

But the other side doesn’t know the inside story. I smirked as I watched Ban Seojun frowning as if he was troubled.

“If I were someone who would be greedy for money or fame, I would have already revealed my identity.”

Someone greedy for money or fame. Yeah, right. I actually love money and fame.

But first of all, isn’t my image the strongest hero who hides her identity and protects the Earth? As far as that goes, I’m Captain Korea. In other words, I can pretend I’m not greedy.

“Then let’s not bother each other anymore, and I’ll see you later. When we meet at the gate, don’t act like we know each other.”

Yes. The jackets worn by the 3rd raiding party are really embarrassing. Other raiding parties don’t do that. Only the kids here wear them. Is it because it is a party whose primary mission is publicity?

Klotak.

There was a loud chewing sound. I calmly raised my middle finger toward Ban Seojun, who was swearing silently with a smile. His eyes glowed blue as if the switch was up.

Crash—!

At the same time, a window in the dining room broke. I asked, pondering over the disappearance of the crowd at the same time, “Is it Paradise?”

“Yes.”

Everyone knows that I Really Like of Paradise listens to everything everywhere like a rat. So I opened my mouth, thinking I’d see IRL again sooner or later, “This is not something I should say.”

Truly, it’s not for me to say.

“But if you want to ask someone to do something for you, show them the reward first before asking. You know the saying ‘when people see money, their eyes go round’.”

Honestly, I would’ve thought about it if I had gotten paid first. But we’ve gone too far now. I don’t think I’ll agree even if I listen to it now.

Although I said it carefully, other people’s expressions were spectacular. In particular, Ban Seojun looked dumbfounded.

“Then I’ll be going for real now.”

There’s no way to restore an already damaged image, so I just played a weird human. I only need to be a lovely and diligent puppy in front of my madam.

“Oh, right.”

Come to think of it. This is the neighborhood of Yeoksam.

“Do you have bus fare?”

I have to take a bus or subway to get home…

***

So let’s return to the present. Come to think of it, I said I wouldn’t stick with Paradise, but now I’ve come to Paradise.

But we can’t always live by keeping our word, right? Those who say they clean their rooms don’t do it.

And I had to come to Paradise.

I don’t know if it will be a wave, but a dungeon is a closed space. If Paradise appears this time, they will surely do something in it. 

As I still had to work steadily as a member of the association, it was necessary to know in advance what those humans would do in it. Why not ask someone else to do it? Sure, I can ask the nationwide quibbler I know to gather information, but isn’t Paradise a little different from the ordinary?

This neighborhood is so tightly closed that no matter how much you brush the outside, no speck of dust emerges. So I was thinking about how to contact him, but it worked out somehow.

“Your Highness, I will open the door.” IRL knocked on the tightly closed door and opened it. Loveless, a familiar face, was inside, along with some unfamiliar ones.

“The universe-”

“Mm. Thank you for your hard work, but please shut up.”

As soon as the door opened, they jumped up from the sofa and began the strange greeting. I greeted them with a rotten expression. It’s a really humiliating greeting, no matter how many times I hear it.

“We don’t have time, so let’s get down to business,” I sat on the seat of honor that seemed to have been left empty on purpose and opened my mouth. Loveless, who held out the Capri Sun according to my taste, seemed embarrassed, but I had no intention of sharing the refreshment with Cult Leader Lee, Leader Sam, Leader Sa, or whoever it was.

“I heard you are going to the advanced gate that will be opened this time.”

“Yes. That is our intention.”

“What are you up to?” I asked, sticking a straw into the drink pack Loveless gave me. Then, Polar Night, who had been smiling calmly, opened his mouth with his lips slightly raised to the side.

“We don’t play tricks behind your back as you think, and if I tell you that your current thoughts are a misunderstanding, will you believe me?”

His white eyelashes fluttered under his slightly lowered eyes. I looked here and there, staring at his still awesome face today.

Frankly, if you ask me if I can trust that man, the answer is no.

After all, you can only trust the people you trust. Of all the people in the world, I only believe in my mom, but if I put her as a standard, I think I’ll also be able to trust Daybreak.

But above all, I was strangely reluctant. I didn’t know where this unnatural unpleasantness came from, but I didn’t intend to reject the sirens ringing in my head.

The room was so quiet that you couldn’t even hear the sound of breathing. I replied with a thump, fixing my eyes on the straw that had pierced the pack horizontally, “If you’re calling me to be in command, you should act like a vassal. Instead of asking me to believe in you, shouldn’t you act trustworthy first?”

The juice leaked out through the gap the straw had pierced. I gently put down the juice pack and reached for IRL. It was very Doraemon-like when the tissue was immediately handed out.

I didn’t mean to be treated like a king, but this is more comfortable than I thought. I feel like I know why they live at the pinnacle of pseudoscience.

I wiped my hands with a tissue and raised my head again. Even under the lighting, the purple irises of Polar Night shimmered ominously.