Chapter 38
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: After the Rain, the Ground Hardens
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Seeing Han Yuseol suddenly appear, I reflexively scurried behind her.
Looking down at me with a gentle smile, Han Yuseol soon spotted the auntie I'd been talking to and unleashed a wave of cold hostility once more.
"H-Han Yuseol...? That's you, right?"
As expected of an S-Rank Hunter.
Maybe because her fame had skyrocketed recently due to the Layered Gate incident, the other woman recognized her instantly, her face turning pale.
"Yes, that's me, Han Yuseol. I was wondering what you were just discussing with my little sister."
"Ah, um, that..."
Huh? Why can't she speak?
Oh, maybe she's just shocked by the sudden appearance of such a celebrity?
Guess I'll have to explain for her then.
"Um, Yuseol ni— er, sis."
"Hm?"
I grabbed Han Yuseol's sleeve to speak, but remembering we're known as sisters now, I hurriedly changed how I addressed her.
I worried she might take offense, but somehow her tone softened even more than before.
Looks like she wasn't upset. Thank goodness.
"I-It was my fault. The auntie didn't do anything wrong."
"Is that so? Hayang, could you explain what happened?"
"Sure."
Man, Han Yuseol sure makes it look natural.
I had a hard time even calling her 'sis' once.
She switched to a casual tone and called my name without hesitation, like she'd always seen me as her little sister.
Pfft, no way.
Han Yuseol seeing me as her little sister?
I'm a Grand Master, you know.
So this is all just acting, nothing more.
"Truth is, I didn't know the rules and was just playing on the playground. The auntie came over and warned me that outsiders aren't allowed to use it."
"...What do you mean? 'Outsiders aren't allowed to use it'?"
"...!"
As I explained step by step,
Han Yuseol's eyes grew even fiercer.
The auntie noticed and her eyes went wide.
Uh, what?
Did I say something wrong?
I just repeated exactly what happened.
"You mentioned earlier, sis, that this place is open to outsiders too, right?"
"Yeah? But the auntie..."
Why are their stories different?
I glanced at the auntie, and the moment our eyes met, she looked away.
Like she had a guilty conscience or something.
"Alright, I get the gist. I'll handle this with her, Hayang. Why don't you head home and wait? Take this too."
Han Yuseol held out a small box she was carrying.
It was an opaque box with a transparent section in the middle, letting me glimpse what was inside.
Whoa, a cake!
And it's huge!
Plus, it looks super sweet—a chocolate cake!
"Eat this while you wait. Got it? There's milk in the fridge, so have some with it."
"Okay, sis."
It's not like I was swayed by the chocolate cake temptation.
Nope, Grandma said kids shouldn't butt into adult conversations.
I'm just following that.
Dododo—I turned right around, clutching the cake as I dashed toward the apartment,
but slowed down a bit, worried I might drop it.
How delicious would chocolate cake with chocolate milk be?
There should still be plenty of the chocolate milk Han Yuseol bought in the fridge, right?
She didn't say to drink it with plain milk, so chocolate milk should be fine.
A full chocolate feast!
"Hehe!"
My slightly intimidated mood from moments ago vanished in an instant.
Once Hayang left, Han Yuseol's eyes, which had been feigning gentle sisterly affection, turned icy in a flash.
"...Was what she just said true? That you tried to chase my little sister out of the playground?"
As she sharply confronted her,
the housewife who'd tried to shoo Hayang away, Bang Yejin, flinched but snorted derisively.
"I'll apologize for that. But it's not entirely my fault. Your sister said some misleading things."
"Misleading? Like what?"
"She lied to me, saying she doesn't live in this apartment. Said her parents aren't around either..."
"And if that's the truth?"
"...Pardon?"
At Han Yuseol's retort, the woman looked utterly dumbfounded.
What did she mean?
Didn't she call her her little sister?
Then they'd live together, and their parents would be right there in the same space.
"Sadly, due to circumstances, she's been staying with me recently. And our family doesn't have parents anymore. So nothing she said was a lie, was it?"
"I-I see. I didn't know. Ahem."
Cought off guard by the unexpected twist, the woman coughed awkwardly but clung stubbornly to her haughty demeanor.
No matter that her opponent was an S-Rank Hunter.
Living in this apartment complex marked her as a wealthy housewife in her own right.
With pride to match, she had no intention of bowing her head in front of so many onlookers.
"And from what I heard, you tried to chase her out just because she doesn't live here... That strikes me as even stranger. I thought this playground was open to outsiders."
"Sigh, you're so naive because you're young. Sure, with so few kids these days and hardly anyone using it, the rules say it's open. But does the world always follow the rules?"
Despite the attitude that openly condescended to her under the guise of age, Han Yuseol calmly listened to the end.
"What do those kids pay in maintenance fees like we do? And they're all ragged—parents too cheap to even buy them clothes—splashing around in the water like they own the place."
"Did those kids cause any actual harm?"
"It makes the whole apartment look cheap. The prestige. Do you know how much per square foot it is here? Hearing rumors and coming from some rundown dump..."
To think such a person existed in the world.
Han Yuseol marveled inwardly, purely astonished.
The malice was so blatant, the reasoning so incomprehensible, she didn't even need to grit her teeth and try to empathize or understand.
She felt stupid for even bothering to listen.
"Who'd let mudfish into clear water? Plus, I'm the neighborhood representative. Those damn delivery vans coming and going—I've been trying to stop that too..."
"I see. So, you're chasing them out to prevent the apartment's image from dropping? All for the greater good?"
"Exactly. As expected of an S-Rank Hunter—even young, you catch on quick."
Ha.
Pretending to praise while treating her like a subordinate.
At this point, Han Yuseol had already given up on the conversation entirely.
Her only boast in life was living in a luxury apartment complex.
It felt like she'd perfectly exposed the depths of this woman's pettiness.
"Got it. I'll take your word for it then."
"Thanks for understanding. Oh, while we're at it, any thoughts on running for resident representative yourself? You're young, but with your reputation, you'd have a good shot..."
She said that, but Han Yuseol saw right through her scheme.
She figured from the way I'd scurried off that I'd be easy to manipulate.
That's why she was trying to rope her in.
But Han Yuseol smiled coolly and drew a firm line.
"No, that's fine. I'll be moving out of this apartment soon anyway."
At that moment, a three-second silence stretched like time had frozen.
"...Pardon? W-What do you..."
Bang Yejin stared wide-eyed, demanding clarification.
It hit like a bolt from the blue.
And rightly so—in modern society, hunters were vital human resources.
Especially after the past revelation from America's most renowned gate research institute:
Phenomena like Assault Gates that indiscriminately ravaged the modern world
were more likely in areas with high population density.
Once that news spread,
land prices around top-rank hunters' residences skyrocketed worldwide.
The rising values in Gangnam and Gangbuk, home to Yeohae and Titan Guilds, were largely due to this.
High population density, solid infrastructure,
and top-rank hunters making it the safest spot.
Nowhere better to live.
This very apartment had started with much lower per-square-foot prices,
but once word got out that Han Yuseol—the house given to her by the government—was living here,
values more than doubled practically overnight. It was infamous for it.
And now that Han Yuseol was leaving?
What about their property values?
This area wasn't even under Yeohae or Titan's influence, making a top hunter like her even more crucial.
And if word spread?
The backlash aimed at her?
"W-Wait a minute, Yuseol! I misspoke earlier. Please, let's talk...!"
"Take care then. I need to look after my sister."
Bang Yejin reached out as she approached, but
Han Yuseol simply turned and walked away leisurely toward home.
"Haa..."
Standing before the front door, Han Yuseol let out a sigh.
It had been a rash move.
But she didn't regret it.
This place was just a government handout she happened to live in.
She wasn't the type to fuss over where she stayed.
'Master said she'd be heading back tomorrow.'
More importantly, though Hayang liked it here,
she wanted to live in the house where she'd stayed with Grandma.
She'd just relayed the message that they'd return tomorrow.
Wouldn't it be better to live close to Hayang?
She'd love to live together in Hayang's house, but
Hayang had adamantly refused, insisting it wasn't suitable.
'Guess I need to scout some places.'
Thinking she'd be busy starting tomorrow, she punched in the door lock code and grabbed the handle—
"Yuseol! Yuseol!"
"Hayang... no, Master. Is something wrong?"
Suddenly, Hayang came dododo-dashing right up to the door, calling her name frantically in an excited voice.
She felt a twinge of regret at not hearing 'sis' again, but
she kept it hidden and asked what was up.
Then Hayang thrust her phone right in her face.
There, it showed:
Deposit +831,688,490 (Titan Guild)
It was pocket change by Han Yuseol's standards,
but an astronomical sum by Hayang's—clearly deposited.
"L-Look at this! The payment for selling that second-layer raid came in! If we manage it right, we might be able to fix up our house and live there!"
Not moving, but fixing up the house to live there anew.
That one phrase revealed how many memories Hayang held in her current home.
Han Yuseol felt her own heart lift at the words.