Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Civil Servant Hunter’s S-class Resignation Log – Chapter 8
Wait? Hold on. What? What do you mean, bring what?
"Yes?"
"I'm giving you an S-rank weapon."
She thought her ears were playing tricks on her, but they seemed fine. Se-ra couldn't hide her bewilderment.
"To me? An F-rank like me, who can't even properly use a gun, gets an S-rank weapon?"
"I need to give you something so I can feel at ease. Even if you don't activate it, it's sturdy enoughjust swing it around."
"Uh, um..."
She'd been thrown into a dungeon once, and now she was having the weirdest experiences imaginable.
Se-ra glanced up at the strangest one of them all.
'Well, compared to the Administrator, this is nothing.'
'He's embarrassed, he's embarrassed.'
She'd seen him act all high and mighty or excited before, but this shy side was a first. Se-ra couldn't help but smile at how unexpectedly cute he was being.
But Song Han-na, oblivious to all this, interpreted the smile differently.
"Right! Doesn't it sound great just thinking about it? Come on, let's go pick one out right now. Whew, finally I can relax."
Tsk tsk. Should've done this ages ago. Han-na's face lit up as she grabbed Se-ra's hand and jumped to her feet.
Se-ra had only smiled at the Administrator, but now she was being dragged off with a dazed "Uh, uh?"
Her aunt, blinded by love for her niece, didn't hear a word and hauled her all the way to the weapon vault in the basement of the Association building.
* * *
There's a saying like that.
A person's heart changes from the moment they enter the bathroom to when they leave.
The metaphor's a bit off, but anyway the second Se-ra stepped into the armory, her mind flipped in an instant.
"Oh my god. How much are all these worth?"
Weapons radiating a deadly aura.
Priceless treasures you couldn't buy even if you brought sacks of gold were stacked everywhere.
'As expected of the Association President's private armory.'
The Association always kept weapons on hand for emergencies. Of course, Awakener-specific weapons were so expensive that most were C-rank or lower consumables.
But that clearly didn't apply to Song Han-na, the top domestic Association President who'd contracted with one of the world's elite entities.
In her personal armory, where she could grab anything she wanted, S-rank weapons she'd only ever seen online were scattered about.
"You said no at first, but now you're thrilled, aren't you?"
Song Han-na wiped under Se-ra's chin. Whoops. Her desires must have leaked out without her realizing.
"What kind of weapon do you want? Honestly, considering your traits, a firearm would be ideal, but..."
Song Han-na trailed off.
The truth was, even though Se-ra had awakened as a gunner, she'd never properly held a real firearm.
Regular bullets couldn't pierce monsters' tough hides, so Awakeners used special guns that converted mana into ammunition. The problem? Her mana pool was pathetically small.
Even a D-rank gun drained her after three shots. That said it all.
'But now I'm wielding an EX-rank diamond weapon.'
Talk about a life turnaround. Se-ra tamped down her excitement and began browsing carefully.
"This place is heaven."
Maybe it was because she'd gone from gunner to sniper traits, but just looking at the guns filled her heart with joy.
'Whoa, that revolver looks so cool. Gasp, isn't that the one they just barely managed to produce for Awakeners? Wow, as expected of the President. She got her hands on it already. There's even a machine gun. Firing that thing non-stop would feel amazing.'
The more she examined, the more steam puffed from Se-ra's nostrils.
"Feel free to get even happier. You're the first F-rank to pick from the Association President's private armory. It's all because your aunt loves you so much."
"Isn't this abusing public authority? Is the President allowed to do this?"
Se-ra teased, and Song Han-na smiled radiantly.
"Everything here is mine anyway. If they're jealous, tell them to come take it. If they can."
Whoa. Se-ra couldn't help but clap at the bold declaration. The unofficial number one lived up to her reputation.
Rightabusing authority only mattered against reasonable opponents. Song Han-na, still fielding love calls from powerhouses like the US, China, and Russia, was someone the nation had to cherish at all costs.
They couldn't let her get snatched away.
'Come to think of it, how strong am I now?'
She suddenly wondered. Rankings weren't official system talliesjust fun fan listsso they weren't precise.
'Since I'm S-rank now, I'm curious how strong I really am.'
The Administrator reacted, as if to say, Why didn't you ask sooner if you were curious?
'What's that? You're making me nervous.'
Chills ran down her spine. It'd only been days since meeting the Administrator, but those glowing eyes rolling left, right, doing cartwheelsit was unnerving no matter how she looked at it!
'Don't make your eyes glow. Don't get any weird ideas...!'
If she were alone, she'd have grabbed those messages and shaken them.
'Don't do anything!'
Se-ra kept glancing at Han-na while glaring at the Administrator.
'Aaaah!'
But that untrustworthy emoticon made her want to tear her hair out.
This wasn't the time to find his shyness cute. It felt like she'd strapped a ticking time bomb to her backher hands were shaking.
"Se-ra, what are you doing by yourself?"
Staring into space with wide eyes, hands trembling. Han-na blinked at her odd behavior.
"Oh, nothing."
"Doesn't look like nothing. Was the shock too much after all? Tsk tsk. You weren't the type to space out like this..."
Park Jin-yong, that bastardturning my niece into an idiot. I'll never forgive him.
"..."
No, Aunt. I'm not an idiot. Why make your niece out to be one...?
"Come on, pick a weapon. Choose wisely. You never knowsomeday you might get a chance to pretend it was an accident and kill, er, I mean hit that guy."
"..."
That didn't sound like a slip-up at all. It was dead serious.
Song Han-na really was the scariest person in the world.
Se-ra obediently shut her mouth and started seriously selecting a weapon.
* * *
"Even after all this time, you're still as cute as ever."
Having finally gotten Se-ra to take a weapon, Song Han-na returned to her office.
Those tiny lips twitching despite her best poker facehow adorable. She'd barely held back from smothering them with kisses.
"If I hadn't, my contracted entity would've thrown a massive fit. Thanks to my jealous entity, I can't even properly kiss my niece anymore."
What am I supposed to do about this? Han-na clicked her tongue at the empty air.
A golden haze tousled her bobbed hair. It wasn't a light touch from the entity.
"Don't touch me without permission. If you want to lay a hand on me, give me the answer I want first."
Turning her head irritably, Han-na shot a glance into the distant void where her entity resided.
"Is my niece really okay? She seems a bit dimmer, but otherwise unchanged. My eyes aren't wrong, right?"
The daughter of a dear friend entrusted to her care.
Not her own child, but precious enough to hold in her eyes without painand that beloved girl had nearly died.
If not for her position with so much to protect, she'd have already gone half-mad and beaten that scum to death.
So she had to confirm it.
Whether Se-ra was truly safe.
"'Voracious Predator.' How did my entity see Yoon Se-ra through its eyes?"
The entity, which devoured everything it desired just like its name, gave her an answer.
"...Silence?"
An unexpected response. This supreme entity, unburdened by distance, was holding back today?
"To think I'd see you choose silence. Is that your decision? Or are you forced to?"
"You're compelled to obey. Wow, that's fascinating. What on earth happened to my niece?"
"Your troubles aren't my concern."
Unsatisfied with the answer, Han-na scowled.
It meant a colossal influence was shrouding Se-raone powerful enough to seal even a supreme entity's lips. She didn't like it one bit.
"Se-ra isn't in any danger right now, is she?"
If so, she'd pay any price to secure her niece's safety.
That was when Han-na steeled her resolve.
"Safe? Not just safevery safe?"
Shrouded in immense influence, yet very safe. There was only one conclusion.
Perhaps Se-ra had contracted with some entity in the dungeon.
One at the supreme level, no less.
'Of course, I know that's impossible, but exceptions always exist.'
If true, there was only one question.
Why was she keeping it from me?
"...Well, she's an adult now. No rule says she has to tell me everything. I'll play dumb for a while. I gave her an S-rank weapon, so she'll handle herself if something comes up. Sigh, only my heart's burning here."
Oh, my Se-ra. What on earth are you going through right now?
* * *
And around that time.
Her niece Yoon Se-ra, blissfully unaware that Song Han-na was fretting over her, was buzzing with excitement.
Her curious eyes fixed on the rift before her.
In other words, Se-ra was now standing before a rift on the verge of bursting into a dungeon. If Song Han-na knew, she'd clutch her neck.
Oblivious, Se-ra gripped the weapons in both hands tightly.
Heat, her EX-rank weapon, was in her right hand; the S-rank one from Han-na today, in her left.
"This is what diamond in both hands feels like."
Confidence surgedshe could smash anything in her path.
So she'd rushed to the dungeon. She had to test the new weapon's feel right away; she couldn't wait.
Plus, she needed to gauge just how much stronger she'd become.
"Administrator, you can really control this gate, right? If people show up, I'm done for."
The cocky emoticon eased her anxiety a bit.
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