Chapter 9
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Unfamiliar Things
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The illegal hunters dropped one by one under my attacks. I didn’t need to use much strength, so even holding back, they were only around B-Rank hunters and couldn’t properly respond to me, collapsing in sequence.
That’s how I toyed with them half-heartedly.
“Fuck……. Fuck!”
The last one standing bolted backward. He’d completely forgotten there was nowhere to run and froze mid-stride. Only now remembering that you couldn’t go back to the previous stage after advancing, he panted heavily and plopped down on the spot.
“You’re giving up, right?”
I stepped within five paces of him and spoke. My words must have wounded his pride, because his face flushed red and purple, his eyes bulging as he glared at me. He bit his lip so hard it looked like it might split, then asked me in a voice straining to contain his rage.
“How the hell…….”
“How what?”
“Fuck, there’s no way Pattern Harmony happens that fast……. No way you can use your ability this well! You’re just some punk whose Pattern manifested today, with zero experience……!”
“Oh, that. It was easy.”
“…What?”
“Maybe you’re just talentless?”
“You little fuck……!”
“No, come on? Someone with talent wouldn’t be sputtering curses without a proper comeback. Oh, if you had talent, you would’ve beaten me from the start.”
I mocked him with the same sneering grin they’d used on me, and he couldn’t shut his mouth, glaring at me like he wanted to kill me. No, not like he wanted to— he actually tried.
Seeming to realize any more talk would only hurt him, he gripped the ground tight, then sprang up and charged at me desperately. His legs had been trembling from exhaustion, but he came at me anyway, fearless.
No, he was scared shitless, but charging me was his only option.
“Fuck, fuck!”
Whoosh, swish. His manifested weapon was a shortsword, which suddenly appeared in his hand and swung at me with precise aim and full force…… but he just kept swinging without using any ability, making it boring as hell and wasting time.
Thwack! Without hesitation, I smashed the blunt end of my rod down on his head. He slammed into the ground and passed out cold, not twitching a muscle. There seemed to be a bit of blood welling up from his scalp……
‘…Did I hit too hard?’
I could’ve gone easy, but considering what he’d done, he had no room to complain even if it hurt. If he died, oh well.
‘Did my wrist ache for two days after?’
I rubbed the stinging inside of my right wrist a few times.
The Sand Relic Fruit I’d just eaten was the world’s only one-of-a-kind item that shortened the time for Pattern Harmony.
It had been secretly auctioned off in the past and slipped through my fingers multiple times, but not anymore. I’d just snatched it before it hit the market.
Now, the Sand Relic Fruit no longer existed. Since it never came out into the world, it was as good as never having existed.
The ache in my wrist came from the shortened harmony time making the Pattern go berserk. In simple terms, growing pains.
“Time to head out.”
I pulled a purple-glowing thread from the hammer guy’s pocket, tied up all the thugs nice and neat, and dragged them out of the Gate.
I pocketed the bonus item rewards too, and the moment I stepped outside, my eyes met those of the E-Rank hunter waiting in front of the Gate. A brief silence passed, and within minutes.
“You’re Han Ji-eon, right?”
The battered E-Rank hunter spoke first.
“Uh……. Yeah.”
“…Holy shit. Insane. I recognized you just from a quick glance. Am I a genius? My memory’s nuts.”
The E-Rank hunter alternated between his ragged phone and me, staring with eyes full of certainty. They sparkled a bit too intensely and creepily, but I ignored it. I dragged the rest of the tied-up guys out of the Gate and looked at the E-Rank hunter.
“Please don’t tell anyone about this.”
“Why not?”
“Just don’t.”
“Why? Stuff like this should spread far and wide. It’s a heartwarming story.”
Heartwarming my ass. If word got out that I’d pulled this off barely a day after my Pattern manifested, they’d suspect I delayed reporting it and chew me out, you idiot.
…Yeah, I knew talking wouldn’t work.
“Could you give me your account numbers?”
“…Pardon?”
The battered E-Rank hunter blinked in confusion at the sudden request but didn’t refuse, and Park Woo-yun reluctantly gave his too.
I sent each of them a million won. It was from the pocket money my brother had given me, which I’d saved up. Not like I had much to spend it on.
“Think of it as hush money.”
“Gasp, fuck.”
“…….”
The battered E-Rank hunter glanced at me. I flashed a bright smile and tilted my head, and he immediately spoke up with a different answer than before.
“I don’t have anyone to tell anyway, and I’m not the type to grab random people and blab, so I’ll be off!”
Then he bolted somewhere. Probably scared I’d ask for the money back, but I had no intention of chasing him. We’d never meet again anyway.
One was a drug addict desperate for his next fix, the other desperate for even a single won for his family’s hospital bills. A million won was plenty for both. Sure, it might not be enough for Park Woo-yun, but…… giving him too much would just burden him with his personality. Even now……
“…Um.”
Park Woo-yun looked at me with a resolved expression. I smiled brightly at him as he hemmed and hawed. He flinched and finally spoke.
“I can’t take money like this.”
“…….”
“It’s not money I earned, and you saved me and gave me this…….”
“Didn’t you take this job because you need money?”
“That’s true, but…….”
“Then just think of it as a simple investment.”
“Huh?”
“Search online, there are plenty of good guilds. Or join the Association.”
“What are you talking about……. I can’t even control my ability…….”
He hadn’t gotten proper hunter training, so Park Woo-yun probably didn’t know how valuable an uncontrolled hunter was. It was basic info anyone could find with a quick search, but someone scraping by day-to-day like him wouldn’t know.
“Then join any of the three major guilds.”
“That’s impossible.”
“It’s possible. Or a mid-tier guild at least. They have solid training facilities too. The Association’s are decent as well. Just try something. That’s what the money’s for.”
Park Woo-yun had lived desperately just to make quick cash, ignorant of basic hunter knowledge. His low self-esteem told him he could never join a guild, so he hadn’t.
That’s why he’d recklessly cleared dungeons for fast money, and in the process, attacked his own teammate, earning trauma. If he’d joined a guild from the start, it probably wouldn’t have happened. Bad luck, basically.
Can’t control his ability. Sure, at first, it might be useless. Could hit teammates, after all.
But with someone helping for as short as a week or as long as a month, he was an unstable but guaranteed prospect—B-Rank now, potentially A-Rank later.
“Apply to any guild with good training facilities. Just give it a shot.”
“…….”
“Let’s both do our best.”
“…Yeah.”
Park Woo-yun hustles for the present, I hustle for the future. How perfect for both of us.
Why was I going out of my way for Park Woo-yun? Obviously for the future.
The more strong hunters, the better. Even if they’d committed crimes, you could pull them out of prison and use them as shields. That’s why I hadn’t killed the illegal hunters. Park Woo-yun would be useful down the line, so helping him now wasn’t a bad investment.
Then why not motivate the battered E-Rank hunter? Simple. He was beyond saving. No matter what pep talk you gave, he’d brush it off, skip honing his skills, and blow the money on drugs, illegal gambling, or luxury. No reason for me to bother.
Hard work, diligence, and clean living—that’s the best look.
Yep.
“Then I’ll be off.”
“Huh? Oh……. Sure.”
I turned with a clean smile, heading between the trucks, when—
“Han Ji-eon.”
Someone called out to stop me.
Not Park Woo-yun’s voice. No, it was a clear woman’s voice from the start, so it couldn’t be.
“…….”
I hid my surprise at the familiar voice and turned around. The person who’d called me came into view.
“…….”
“That’s you, right?”
The woman smiled brightly at me.
Long wavy hair, sharp and clear eyes, impeccably tailored suit.
I glanced sideways at Park Woo-yun, who gaped at her like he might topple over. Normal reaction since he knew her too. She was that famous.
“You seem to know already, but let me introduce myself.”
I knew. All too well.
“I’m the Guild Master of Hwajin Guild.”
Once an ally and comrade, sometimes an enemy, other times a stranger.
“Ji Hwa-yeon.”
Ji Hwa-yeon. One of the S-Rank Guild Masters.
“…….”
“Sorry for showing up out of nowhere, but you weren’t home.”
I was shocked. No, more than shocked—extremely so. I couldn’t even speak.
“Why are you looking for me…….”
“To congratulate Han Ji-un’s little brother on becoming a hunter, of course?”
No way. That had never happened before. Not once. Ever.
“But…… just to check.”
Her sharp eyes crinkled as she glanced at the illegal hunters collapsed behind me. She scanned Park Woo-yun next, then lifted the corner of her mouth slightly and spoke.
“Your Pattern just manifested, right? And you’ve already cleared a dungeon?”
She’d never congratulated me even when I became S-Rank.
‘Why now…….’
Never, not once, had she appeared in this exact situation.
‘Which means…….’
I barely suppressed a grin and kept up my bewildered expression.
‘I thought only my brother had changed…….’
Not much had changed so far, leaving me a bit disappointed. I’m human too—expectations unmet sting. I’d hoped for changes, but only my brother seemed different, and I was getting bored.
‘To give a surprise gift like this.’
Since regaining my memories, I’d checked the major players’ actions and confirmed they were all the same as before. Neither better nor worse than my brother—just stagnant.
Barely a day and a half since my memories returned. I hadn’t done much. …Well, not nothing, but I had mountains of work ahead.
So, the only reason Ji Hwa-yeon’s behavior had changed was one.
‘Brother.’
The main cause of all these changes, and probably the protagonist.