Chapter 44
Chapter 44
Civil Servant Hunter’s S-class Resignation Log – Chapter 44
"No, no! I said no! So stop crying! I don't want to die!"
I frantically ripped out tissues and wiped Se-ra's eyes. When she sniffled, I even cleared her runny nose.
"It's not like you stole your parents' luckit's just that they left you more than they could use in their lifetime! So death has nothing to do with you!"
Oh, for heaven's sake. What am I even saying? Baek Hee-won grumbled to herself and let out a heavy sigh. Se-ra sniffled again.
"I don't know who passed it on, but anyway, you've got the luck of three people right now. It's not complete, so some must be with your brother."
I see. So Mom and Dad left some for my brother too...
"You've been through all sorts of things? That's not misfortune. It might look that way on the surface, but in reality, it's brought you luck."
"Luck..."
Her gloom lasted only a moment. Se-ra's face turned icy in an instant.
She had met the administrator in the Werewolf Dungeon, but she'd truly felt the terror of death back then. And after that, a regressor and a returnerprotagonist material, walking disaster magnetshad glued themselves to her sides. How on earth was that luck...?
"It's true, I swear. Stop giving me that double-finger glare."
"How am I supposed to believe that? Those two are my luck? Terror of death is luck?"
Let's think generously, say ten thousand steps back.
After meeting Kang Se-jun, she'd made a fortune in the magic stone cave. And for babysitting in the Holy Forest, she was set to get an S-rank weapon.
But that was nowhere near enough to call it luck. What about compensating for all the mental trauma she'd endured?
"I really can't believe it. Or is your ability just not up to snuff?"
"You're really pushing it!"
But what could she do if it just didn't ring true?
Reading the disbelief in Se-ra's clear eyes, Baek Hee-won thumped her own chest.
"Fine, give me one more reading. I'll decide if you're a fraud after hearing the answer."
"Fraud...? Ugh, first time in my life hearing that. Ha! What do you want from an untrustworthy hack like me? You won't believe that either."
"Oh my, you're so narrow-minded."
"What is it? What now?!"
"If you nail this one, I'll believe you about my luck. It's really important too."
As Se-ra straightened up with a serious expression, Baek Hee-won tensed a bit herself.
"Shoot."
"Well..."
Gulp.
"When can I resign?"
"...What?"
"Resign! The ultimate joy for office workers. Re! Sign! I want to resign!"
Madness gleamed from Se-ra as she pounded the low table.
"Resign? You don't even need to worry about job huntingjust submit your letter and bounce."
"Think I don't know that? My boss keeps rejecting it! So tell me, when will he accept my resignation?"
Staring into those madness-glinting eyes, Baek Hee-won realized once more: messing with an office worker whose vacation or resignation was on the line was worse than poking a sleeping lion's whiskers.
They were monsters who could punch through a zombie horde barehanded for a clean 6 PM exit, paid leave, or quitting time.
To avoid a total beatdown here, she had to choose her words carefully.
"Hm, hmm."
Baek Hee-won scattered a few grains of rice on the low table with a grave look. Se-ra tensed up.
Please, please! Whoever this god is behind Baek Hee-won, I beg yougrant me the energy of resignation!
"Hm, I see."
Did the answer come?
But Baek Hee-won just gathered the rice silently. Then scattered it again, gathered, scattered, gathered, scattered, gathered...
After repeating this about ten times, she looked up with a serious face. Se-ra swallowed hard.
"D-did you get the result?"
"You..."
"Yes! Tell me! When? Today? Tomorrow? In a week? This year?"
"What was your favorite from what we ate earlier?"
"...Pardon?"
"Never mind. You ate everything well, so it all suited you. I'll pack some for you to take home."
Baek Hee-won shot up from her seat and strode toward the door.
"Wait! Where are you going? You were divining my resignation! Tell me the result first!"
"Hey, I'm offering to pack your favoriteswhy the fuss?"
"The result! Tell me the result first! When can I resign?!"
Se-ra lunged to grab her leg, but Hee-won hopped away nimbly in her socks. With crane-like agility, Se-ra clutched at empty air in vain.
"I'll pack enough to stuff yourself silly, don't worry! I'll even cast preservation magic so it doesn't expire! Take it home!"
"I don't need food! Just tell me when I can resign! My resignation! Resignaaaation!"
Se-ra rolled on the floor screaming, but Baek Hee-won heartlessly bolted out.
Nooo. Don't say I can't resign. Don't say I'll work foreverreee.
"Waaah! My resignation, resignaaaation!"
"Waaahhh!"
Wails echoed long from the massive tiled mansion, like a noble's estate. They were so loud that hikers on Mount Taebaek started rumors of a pitiful ghost weeping in the mountains.
* * *
Baek Hee-won never revealed the resignation timing in the end. Not even if it was possible, which made it all the more heartbreaking.
I'll definitely shout "fraud" at her after I resign, Se-ra vowed through her tears.
But those tears stopped the moment she stepped outside. Apparently, too much shock makes you forget even sadness.
"Whait's not the association, why is Kang Se-jun here...?"
She nearly blurted out "regressor" in shock.
Standing by the gate with Seong Ja-rim and Jeong Ho-young was, astonishingly, Kang Se-jun.
"You... were you crying?"
He scanned her red-nosed face in surprise, his expression screaming, 'You can cry too?'
You jerk.
"I'm in the deepest sorrow of my life right now. Don't tease."
As the surprise faded, tears welled up again. Se-ra pinched her tingling nose.
"What on earth happened? I asked Baek Hee-won to look kindly."
Jeong Ho-young pulled Se-ra into a hug and glared at Baek Hee-won.
"She's fragile enough alreadywhat if she fainted from shock? What did you say to her?"
Sniffle.
She looked like a mother bird cradling her chicka ridiculous sight. The three who knew the truth grimaced coldly.
Ignorance is bliss, they say. Fragile? Fainting? If she fainted, we'd be the ones dying.
Baek Hee-won felt truly wronged but couldn't spill the truth, so she just thumped her chest innocently.
That little monster snug in Jeong Ho-young's arms, eyes narrowed slit-like, was utterly infuriating.
Kang Se-jun and Seong Ja-rim looked at her with pity.
"No misfortune at all, so no need to worry even a tiny bit! Seriously, not even a smidge! You're bursting with such insane luck, it's enviable!"
A contract with the System Administrator? Where'd she snag that golden opportunity? So jealous.
"What? Then why's she crying like that?"
"Ahem. Well, ahem."
Unable to say there was no opening for resignation, Baek Hee-won coughed dramatically.
"Anyway, I've said what I needed to. No more help from me, so don't come back. I don't want to see you or that guy again. Scram."
She waved him off, then grabbed the dazed Kang Se-jun by the scruff and yanked him inside.
But just before closing the gate, Hee-won glanced at Se-ra. Her lips twitched like she had something to say.
"What? Do I have something on my face?"
"Yeah, some yokga crumbs. But that's not it. You... ugh, not sure if I should say, but I'll tell you one thing."
"What? What is it? That I can resign?"
"Ahem! More important than that! Him, you know? That guy? Hold on to him tight. Get really close."
That guy? The administrator? Why him?
"...So you can make a different choice this time."
"Choice? What does that mean?"
"Ugh, too scary, can't say more. Ask your god if you're curious. I'm out!"
Leaving cryptic words, Baek Hee-won dragged Kang Se-jun beyond the slamming gate and vanished.
What the heck was that? Se-ra just blinked.
'Liza? Choice? What choice? What did you do?'
Huh? Avoiding eye contact. For real? What?
Se-ra wanted to grab him and wring out answers, but the situation wasn't right.
"Se-ra, you sure you're okay?"
Seong Ja-rim wasn't aloneJeong Ho-young was there too. After glancing at the air, Se-ra shook her head.
"No. Not okay. Ha... I just wanted to resign..."
Jeong Ho-young, about to ask what "that guy" meant, let out an "Ah" at Se-ra's quiet mutter. Seeing her so depressed, she just gently patted her shoulder.
* * *
"What day is it today? All kinds of weirdos showing up."
Baek Hee-won grumbled nonstop as she let Kang Se-jun into her house.
"Well, no one as special as Yoon Se-ra, though."
"That much?"
Baek Hee-won gazed at him steadily.
Famous even before the cataclysm, her abilities had sharpened post-awakening. She couldn't see everything, but she grasped situations in finer detail.
"Yeah. Sure, you and Seong Ja-rim are unusual too. But after seeing Yoon Se-ra, you don't impress much."
"That big a deal?"
"To repeat: you're both unusual. But she's special. Get the difference?"
"Special coming from you. Is her contract entity that impressive?"
From his curt question, Baek Hee-won gleaned a few facts.
Kang Se-jun knew Yoon Se-ra contracted a "full entity." But not that it was the administrator, not a true entity.
So she had to keep that secret too.
"Impressive, yeah. But I find the girl who wrangled a contract from that impressive entity even more so."
"She does have a unique side."
Kang Se-jun nodded, recalling how Se-ra had flustered him from their first meeting. Especially her maniacal cackling while swinging a pickaxe in the magic stone cavethat was unforgettable.
"You know me well, so we've met before?"
Baek Hee-won smiled brightly at himnothing like her demeanor in front of Se-ra.
"Yeah. How many times have you looped through life already?"
Baek Hee-won was indeed Baek Hee-won. Her instant read on him brought back lost past memories vividly.