Chapter 144
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: What Happens?
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Me and my courteous escorts took the elevator down to the lobby.
"……."
They didn't say much to me.
Normally, they would've teased me or chattered away.
But right now, they were just standing silently by my side.
It felt like they were being considerate after seeing my state.
I did need a little time to sort my thoughts...
I headed to a corner of the lobby and first called the association.
It had been an emergency, so I'd made the call on my own judgment and acted fast, but my affiliation was still the association.
A post-incident report was the right thing to do.
"…Yes. That's correct."
- Such an incident occurred... Understood. You should head home right away today…
The handler replied in a relieved voice.
Normally, I wouldn't have accepted the suggestion to clock out, but today… I had no intention of refusing.
"Yes, thanks for your hard work."
- Oh, by any chance, are Hunter Mary and Hunter Seol Yu-wol both there as well?
"Yes."
Did these two just barge in or something?
Well, it didn't matter.
I hung up.
Next up… Union Guild.
The signal barely rang a few times before a frantic voice came through.
- Yes! Counselor!
I gave a rough explanation that the situation had been resolved.
It was awkward to go into details, so I framed it as exhaustion or burnout hitting.
- Truly… thank you so much…
They sounded on the verge of tears.
Well, with their guild's top two fighters suddenly going on strike, it was understandable.
"No, no."
- How are the two of them doing? Shall we send the medical team right now?
"No, that's fine… but it'll take some time before they return."
At least a week.
They might need some recovery period too.
- Ah… Yes, that's plenty… Yes, that's a relief.
It was right as I was about to hang up.
- And Counselor… this incident puts our guild in your debt as well.
- We'll prepare compensation at the guild level, the absolute best. You can look forward to it.
"…Sure."
I ended the call.
I hadn't planned on receiving any compensation.
Strictly speaking, wasn't it me who started the fire and put it out?
I pocketed my phone and turned around.
Mary was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, and Seol Yu-wol was watching my every move.
"…… Shall I take you home?"
Mary straightened up carefully as she asked.
Her eyes had a strangely subdued look.
"I'm good."
I shook my head and declined. Fatigue was crashing over me; I didn't have the energy to be around anyone.
The… concentrated pheromones of S-rank hunters weren't easy to handle in many ways.
"I want to explain what happened, but…"
It left a bitter taste. Even if they'd come as escorts, shutting them out with just "go" and "come" didn't sit right. I wanted to give them a proper explanation they'd accept, but my mind was blank, and words wouldn't come.
"It's okay, Oppa."
Seol Yu-wol stepped forward, blocking my path.
She gently patted my slumped shoulders.
"You don't have to explain now. You look tired. I'll hear it slowly later."
"Yeah, your face… looks half-dead. Go rest quick."
Mary came over too and straightened my disheveled collar.
"…I'm upset."
She pouted, then grabbed my cheek with a smack.
"…Thanks."
I smiled and replied sincerely.
Their consideration lifted a weight off my chest.
As Mary released my cheek, I turned and left the apartment.
The two gazes watching my back felt reassuring.
Time to…
go home.
"……."
"……."
Mary and Seol Yu-wol were returning to headquarters in silence.
The two hadn't exchanged a single word the whole way.
It wasn't awkwardness. Nor a lack of things to say.
From the start,
all their nerves and focus were locked on one person: Yoo Seon-woo.
Mary moved instinctively, not wanting to miss a single glance or desire of his.
When he was at ease, so was she; when he smiled, she smiled too.
Seol Yu-wol took it even further.
She tracked every look, every action.
When Seon-woo was in a good mood, they all were.
The world seemed brighter, everything more forgiving.
Conversely…
if Seon-woo was in a bad mood…
Theirs plummeted too, turning utterly, utterly rotten.
Especially in cases like now, where they couldn't solve it.
When they couldn't ease his fatigue or lift his spirits.
"Ha…"
Mary irritably kicked a pebble on the roadside.
Her expression was tinged with gloom.
It was always like this.
He resolved her worries as if they were nothing.
Through counseling, or just by showing that handsome face.
No matter the method, she ended up saved.
The problem was she had never resolved his worries.
All she had was this lewd body.
And he wasn't the type to like her throwing herself at him, nor did he seem like someone who unwound through that kind of act…
At least on the surface. The powerlessness of having nothing to offer crushed her chest.
"……Hoo."
The pebble she'd kicked scraped across the asphalt and rolled toward Seol Yu-wol.
Seol felt the same. Interfering with Oppa right now would cross a line.
Unwanted involvement would surely be poison.
But understanding that in her head and feeling the frustration in her heart were different matters.
She felt like she couldn't bear it without venting at someone.
That was when it happened.
"…Suddenly fucking pissed."
"?"
Mary spat the crude word and halted.
Seol stopped walking and turned to her.
"The kid's already struggling… and thinking about it, the association's been messing with him too?"
Setting aside Seon-woo's unsolvable issues for now.
Her outlet for anger turned to the culprits: the association.
Thinking back to yesterday morning.
The association had pressured him under the pretext of handling S-rank hunters like them.
It was plenty to count as one source of his stress.
Seol Yu-wol instantly caught what she meant.
Her blue eyes sank cold too.
She needed an outlet too.
Hunter Association.
You just stepped in it.
"What should we do? Plenty of options."
Seol Yu-wol asked lowly.
"First… let's cut off their hands and feet."
"From where to where?"
Life finally sparked in Seol Yu-wol and Mary's conversation.
The association was about to bear the brunt of their wrath.
The moment I got home, I moved mechanically.
Loosened my tie and tossed my shirt aside.
Showered, changed clothes.
Cooked food, ate dinner.
All in silence, slowly, sluggishly.
No sounds but the water running.
[…….]
- Shhhhh…
[…….]
- Clink.
- Sizzle sizzle.
[…….]
In the midst of going back and forth like that,
throughout the whole routine, I felt someone's gaze in the corner of my vision.
The system window appeared and vanished repeatedly.
"What's up, dude."
It felt like it had something to say but couldn't spit it out.
That hesitant look was kinda cute, making me chuckle.
I finished the dishes, wiped my hands, and asked into the air.
Kept glancing sneakily.
"You look like you have something to say. Don't hold back—speak freely. Freely."
The moment I spoke, the wavering text hesitantly floated up.
[You look so down, User…]
[(｡•́︿•̀｡)]
"Me?"
I asked back, touching my face.
If asked if I was in a bad mood…
Honestly, it was complicated and exhausting, but I wasn't angry enough for it to notice and hold back.
If anything, I was grateful to it for handling the situation well.
No need to be cautious.
"Nah. I'm fine."
[Can I share my thoughts, maybe?]
It broached cautiously.
I nodded while grabbing water from the fridge and drinking.
"Yeah, speak freely."
That was when.
[User so like here's the thing when I think about it this time you did absolutely nothing wrong and those rabbits couldn't control their instincts and your charm is overflowing what can you do about that]
[Absolutely don't self-blame or have ethical dilemmas…]
"Hold up."
I shook my head with a laugh.
My head spun from the breathless barrage.
"I think this incident was unavoidable too."
[……Gasp.]
I knew Luna had feelings for me.
I felt responsible for how things turned out.
There might be blame in not reciprocating and leaving it ambiguous, lighting the fuse.
But I wouldn't self-flagellate over them losing reason to pheromones like today.
It was just a mismatch of circumstances… and legs.
However.
What I was really pondering wasn't the past.
What was done couldn't be undone.
The important thing was the direction forward.
I fiddled with the water bottle from the fridge.
"Just been thinking about how to handle things going forward."
Yeah.
Yeah. Since it's come to this, might as well ask while I'm at it.
The root of my worries.
"Alright, then one question."
[Yes! Ask anything!!]
I moistened my dry lips.
"Luna and Elise."
[Yes!]
"What if I date both of them?"
Silence fell.
And the next instant.
[What?!?!?!?]
The system exploded.