Why Did You Come Out There? (Part 2)
Some used car stores were like that, but among the dealers who sold them, there were quite a few bad ones.
Because of those, the reputation of used cars had to suffer.
They listed fake listings, or when someone came looking, they'd say they stepped out, or "there's a better one," and show them another car, or they'd fleece them, or they'd overcharge them, or sometimes scare the customer.
It wasn't just a bad image.
People wanted to check everything carefully, but of course not everyone did that. If there was a promising listing they skimmed through, they'd buy it, so fake listings flourished.
The 'Hunter Used Car Store' was one of those places.
"Hah, did the rumor spread? These days no one comes."
Lee Do-won frowned as he chewed on a cigarette and scanned the surroundings, spitting out a string of saliva and muttering irritably.
One of the staff spotted him and hurriedly left, so he must have been pretty worked up.
He advertised that he was a real hunter and put on a good image, but the store that looked the most like a delinquent place was this 'Hunter Used Car Store' run by Lee Do-won.
Just because someone was a hunter didn't mean they couldn't be a delinquent. It was just living the same way.
Lee Do-won had been working at a used car store run by someone who had been with him since school days, but only he, Lee Do-won, was the hunter.
*Sigh.* "These guys, why aren't they coming?"
Lee Do-won muttered with a full heart while calling his friend who worked with him on his phone, but there was no answer.
Probably still hungover and couldn't wake up. Lee Do-won had drunk with him yesterday, but even though he was an F-rank hunter, his recovery ability was far superior to ordinary people's.
Lee Do-won was grumbling like that when he saw a man who was glancing around as he entered the store.
He looked a bit dim-witted, a man of his own age.
Around the early to mid twenties?
Seeing that guy, Lee Do-won couldn't help but grin.
Those kind of naive guys would get hooked up with just a little scare.
'Good.'
He wondered what the guy would ask, so he tossed the cigarette he'd been about to light and went over to the dim-witted looking man.
"Welcome."
"???"
Lee Do-won blurted out casual speech and the man looked a bit startled, so Lee Do-won grinned and asked.
"Looking to see a car?"
"Yes. There was a two-thousand-kilometer Sonata X listed here, so I came."
"Hahaha. That one? Just wait a second."
Lee Do-won said with a grin.
At that moment, there was no one in the office but himself, so he made a bit of a face as he quickly sat at the computer and typed away, pretending to look up the listings.
Of course, there was none.
'Heh heh heh, this is why I can't stop faking listings.'
There were people who got hooked like this, so how would he stop it?
He looked like a university student, so if he lied about a decent car and sold it, he'd probably just ride it around without saying a word anywhere. Lee Do-won thought that while looking at the man, and then—
The man's pupils and eyes met, and a faint pressure came over him, so Lee Do-won stared blankly at Do-hyun.
It felt like the atmosphere he'd sensed from the instructors at the hunter training center.
He didn't know why that hellish place suddenly came to mind, but Lee Do-won twitched his head and pretended to look at the monitor, muttering sadly.
*Sigh.* "Hah. This two-thousand Sonata X hybrid, you're talking about that one, right?"
"Yes. I came after seeing it."
"Ah, what do I do about this?"
"......?"
"It disappeared at just the right time. You probably came before it was processed in the system."
Lee Do-won sounded weird saying that, but the man nodded as if not thinking much of it.
Maybe he thought it was natural or didn't have much regret, and Lee Do-won grinned at the cool guy.
"Then how about showing you something better?"
"Is there a better listing?"
"Idiot, the whole place is clean. Come this way."
Lee Do-won said that and led the way, and the man went along, thinking it was strange but deciding to follow anyway.
The man was, of course, Do-hyun, and the car was the one Lee Do-won had been analyzing.
『Lee Do-won』
『Trait: Warrior[F]』
『Skills』
▶「Analysis[F]」
▶「Mana Manipulation[F]」
『Stats』
▶「Strength: 7」
▶「Agility: 6」
▶「Stamina: 6」
▶「Mana: 2」
[Analysis succeeded.]
[10 AP acquired.]
'He really is a hunter.'
Even at the hunter training center, he had learned analysis and mana manipulation. The other stats were all too low, but Do-hyun didn't care.
He wasn't even in his party, so why worry about someone else's stats.
He'd just buy the car and be done, so he followed along roughly.
As he followed Lee Do-won, they reached a parking tower filled with cars next to the office, and seeing it, Do-hyun realized it was clearly not as clean or presentable as other places.
It was a pretty mediocre spot, and Do-hyun thought with a slight frown.
'Mediocre.'
When Lee Do-won saw Do-hyun's reaction, he grinned as if familiar with it.
Then.
"Hey, student?"
"No. I graduated."
"Ah, social newcomer? I'm your older brother."
Where were the older brother and younger sister in customer service? Just the customer and the salesperson.
Do-hyun thought that while looking annoyed, but he nodded anyway.
Whether he was the real older brother or not, Lee Do-won said with a laugh.
"These days, when people come to look at cars, a lot just look and leave, so how much stress are they getting?"
Lee Do-won said that and casually came closer to Do-hyun and put an arm around his shoulder.
It was the habit from school days, but Do-hyun watched quietly in case something was up, and Lee Do-won chuckled inside.
'Heh heh, scared already?'
Should I land the finishing blow here? With that thought, Lee Do-won put strength into his shoulder pat and spoke.
"Hah, I've been stressed lately, but I hope my little brother doesn't get stressed?"
*Crack.*
Normally, he'd yell and fall over here, but Do-hyun just stared at Lee Do-won blankly.
That made Lee Do-won the one who panicked.
"Eh, ehh?"
The strength of an F-rank hunter like Lee Do-won was enough to crush an ordinary athlete's muscles.
Normally, putting that much strength into a shoulder pat would kill someone, but Do-hyun was fine, too fine.
Seeing that, Do-hyun let out a sigh and shook his head.
He'd come to buy a car and ended up in a shady place where the customer was supposed to be scared, so it was lame.
Do-hyun thought that and figured he had no choice but to respond.
Since the other side had come out lame first, he should come out a little lame too.
As Do-hyun looked at Lee Do-won with the shoulder pat, Lee Do-won firmly sensed that something had gone wrong at that moment.
*Crack crack crack.*
When Do-hyun lightly applied strength, both shoulders felt like they were about to dislocate, and Lee Do-won screamed and thrashed.
But no matter how he thrashed, Do-hyun didn't move an inch, and Lee Do-won couldn't budge no matter what, like a stone.
Do-hyun grinned and said to Lee Do-won.
"Hey, hyung. Why that? You're a hunter, right? Hold it in."
*Heh... ugh! Heh ugh!*
He wanted to say please stop, but just from the shoulder pat his breath was cut off and he couldn't even speak properly.
Lee Do-won was lifted off the ground like a puppet when Do-hyun lightly raised him with the shoulder pat.
Do-hyun felt that Lee Do-won was a very bad dealer and added intimidation to suppress him.
"Huuu, so there's something better than the two-thousand Sonata X, right? Or not?"
*Krruuhhk!*
Lee Do-won, who couldn't win against Do-hyun's pressure anymore, nodded frantically.
When Do-hyun smiled and lightly loosened his grip at Lee Do-won's nodding, Lee Do-won collapsed to the ground with a thud and panted.
"Hah... ha... ha..."
Finally catching his breath, Do-hyun squatted next to the slumped Lee Do-won and patted his shoulder, making Lee Do-won jump in fright and roll his eyes.
"Hyung, shall we do it well?"
"Y-yes!!! Yes!!! Y-yes, let's do it well!!!"
Seeing Lee Do-won answer in terror, Do-hyun shook his head.
He hadn't wanted to do it this much, but since the other side had come out like that first, he had no choice. As Do-hyun said that, he clicked his tongue and stood up, and a familiar voice came from somewhere.
"Oppa?"
"......?"
At the familiar voice, Do-hyun turned his head and there stood a face he shouldn't see here.
It was Lee Do-hyun, his younger sister, who was covering her mouth while looking at Do-hyun and Lee Do-won, and she looked quite shocked. Next to her was Lee Do-hyun's friend, who Do-hyun had seen a few times, and she was trembling together.
Seeing that expression, it wasn't just that he had accidentally met Do-hyun and was surprised.
A bad premonition crossed Do-hyun's mind as he asked Lee Do-hyun.
"From when..."
"......When you were giving the shoulder pat to that guy?"
*Sigh.*
He had seen everything, so he was a bit embarrassed. But then Do-hyun asked oddly.
"Why are you here?"
"......Min... you know Min? Min-i got scammed by someone here who said they were a hunter a few days ago... so I came to check together."
At those words, Do-hyun let out a deep sigh and looked at Lee Do-won and said.
"Ha... hyung."
"S-sorry."
Lee Do-won said he was sorry right away and spoke quickly.
"I-I'm responsible, I'll return the money right away."
Seeing Lee Do-won terrified like that, Do-hyun glared at him and asked.
"Hyung, then what about my car?"
"Of course, I'll give it to you."
"Alright."
Even though he solved the friend issue too, Do-hyun scratched his head while looking at Lee Do-hyun who was staring at him as if she was trying to figure out what had happened.
Something bigger than a fake used car listing had occurred.
He scratched his head wondering how it happened and decided to make a contract for the car first, giving Lee Do-won a signal, and they could actually make a contract for the two-thousand-kilometer Sonata X hybrid for ten million won, and Do-hyun's friend Lee Do-hyun's money could also be partially returned.
"Oppa, thank you so much! I'm grateful too, Do-hyun!"
"Yeah. Min-i, I'll contact you later. First, there's a family issue."
"Uh, y-yes, th-that!"
At Lee Do-hyun's fierce expression, Kim Ji-min quickly left, and Do-hyun looked at her awkwardly. She still looked fierce and asked Do-hyun.
"So, what happened?"