Chapter 20: An Unexpected Call
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 20: An Unexpected Call
The next day, I went to work as usual, fanning myself with my hand against the weather that was starting to get seriously hot.
In case you were wondering about the weapon restoration from yesterday…
Let’s just not talk about it.
Today’s the day.
Shaking off thoughts of the game, I checked the time on my phone.
Starting today, Si-ho was scheduled to join us.
Though “joining” just meant getting her and Ji-eun, who was the same age, to become friends before they officially became hunters.
Besides, if she’s A-rank, even the instructors will have a hard time teaching her.
The professional instructors would handle the combat training, so it wasn’t like I had to get involved, but I was still worried.
An A-rank hunter, and the sister of the S-rank hunter Snow Mountain Wolf, Ha Seo-ho, at that. The instructors were in for a headache.
When I asked the team leader about Ha Seo-ho later, she just smiled nonchalantly and said, ‘Oh, I didn’t mention that, did I?’
That was definitely the face of someone who had left it out on purpose.
She really enjoys playing pranks.
“I wonder when she’ll get here.”
“I’m here.”
She’d said she would call when she arrived, so I was waiting when a voice from behind made me jump. I turned my head.
Standing there was Si-ho, wearing a different school uniform from Ji-eun’s.
Her ponytail, tied up high, and her tough-looking expression were as striking as ever. She was staring at me intently.
The time was 4:40 PM.
In high school terms, that was right after school let out, assuming no supplementary classes.
“Oh, y-you’re here already?”
“I’m a spatial ability user. It’s convenient.”
She answered bluntly, her expression asking what was so surprising.
Spatial abilities are so damn cool.
To think commuting to and from school could be this easy.
This was basically Doraemon’s Anywhere Door from my childhood dreams.
“What are we doing today?”
“Ah, I’m already in charge of one hunter. Why don’t we wait for her to arrive before we talk?”
“Do as you please.”
So prickly.
Si-ho plopped down onto a nearby chair, then took a cardigan out of her bag and put it on.
It seemed the office air conditioning was too cold for her.
After that, she leaned against the desk and started playing on her phone.
I snuck a glance and saw she was playing a game where you build things with cute little cats.
Somehow, watching her, she seemed incredibly used to being on her own.
Well, even with hunter business, for her to leave school this promptly…
I had a vague feeling that she probably didn’t talk much with her friends.
The 7th period for high schoolers ends at 4:30, and after a few words from the teacher before dismissal, it would be exactly 4:40.
Now that she was here, I sent a text to Si-ho’s mother—‘Si-ho has arrived safely at the company’—and decided to finish up some work.
There wasn’t much to do until Ji-eun arrived anyway.
“Ah, another nosebleed.”
“Here’s a tissue.”
As blood trickled from her nose, I quickly pulled out a tissue and handed it to her.
She gave me a slight nod, then expertly rolled up the tissue and stuffed it into her nose.
She’s used to this.
I was sitting there with Si-ho playing her game beside me when, a short while later, my phone started to ring.
The caller was, unsurprisingly, Ji-eun. I picked up the phone and stood up.
“Si-ho, it looks like Ji-eun is here. Shall we go?”
“Alright.”
Thankfully, Si-ho was cooperative. She put her phone in her pocket and stretched her arms out wide.
Her pretty face alone was enough to draw attention, but I paid it no mind and headed for the elevator.
It seemed I’d built up an immunity after being around so many exceptionally good-looking people lately.
Ting—
When the elevator reached the first floor with the still-silent Si-ho in tow, I saw Ji-eun, also in her school uniform.
Her face lit up when she saw me, but as she noticed Si-ho getting off beside me, her expression slowly fell.
“Who’s this?”
“Ji-eun, this is Ha Si-ho. She’s your age and will be joining our team starting today.”
“Ah, I see.”
Ji-eun wore a somewhat sullen look for a moment before forcing a smile.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Yoon Ji-eun.”
“Ha Si-ho.”
Awkward.
The two just stared at each other for a moment without saying anything else, so I had no choice but to take the lead.
“Let’s go to a cafe nearby for now.”
This is a job for the adult, I guess.
Afterward, I took Ji-eun and Si-ho to a cafe and grandly announced that they could order whatever they wanted.
Because I had the company card in my hand.
What the team leader said about the support being generous was true.
She’d told me I could spend as much as I wanted if it helped them get along.
“Then I’ll have this, and this, and this.”
Thanks to that, Si-ho became much more proactive.
Despite looking like someone who would only drink espresso, she seemed to have quite a sweet tooth, ordering a whole array of cakes.
These were prices I normally wouldn’t even dream of paying, but I swiped the company card without hesitation.
A cake flex.
After getting our cakes and drinks, we sat down, and Ji-eun naturally took the seat next to me.
As soon as she sat, she watched Si-ho removing the plastic wrap from a cake before turning back to me.
“Wasn’t I enough for you?”
“There you go with that weird talk again. Hunter teams are usually a three-person system. And Si-ho is an A-rank hunter.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Muttering, Ji-eun took a sip of her drink and looked at Si-ho, who was now putting a piece of cake in her mouth.
“She is pretty, though.”
“? Thanks.”
Si-ho responded to Ji-eun’s comment as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Her self-esteem is quite high.
No, is it just natural?
With looks like that, an S-rank hunter for a brother, and being an A-rank hunter herself, it was only natural for her self-esteem to be high.
It would be stranger if it were low.
“So when do we do hunter work?”
Just then, Si-ho, having swallowed her cake, threw a question at me.
It seemed she was more interested in hunter work than in team dynamics.
“Si-ho, minors aren’t allowed to do hunter work.”
“Then why did you call me here?”
“To form a team in advance, before you become a hunter.”
Her reaction was a simple, “I see,” as if accepting it.
She didn’t seem to have any major complaints about forming a team.
“So, this is Yoon Ji-eun, who will be on your team.”
Si-ho glanced at Ji-eun for a moment, then spoke with cake still on her lips.
“Are you two dating?”
“Do we look like it?!”
Ji-eun slammed her hand on the table and leaned sharply toward Si-ho.
Her eyes were sparkling so brightly that Si-ho seemed overwhelmed, leaning back with an uncomfortable expression and nodding.
At that, Ji-eun, looking thrilled for some reason, let out a triumphant “Hmph” and crossed her arms.
“I like this Si-ho.”
“That’s a relief. And Si-ho, adults don’t date minors.”
“They don’t?”
Why is that a question?
It was the same with Yua’s fellow Blackstar members. It seems girls this age automatically interpret any man standing next to another girl in that way.
Is this another +1 to my lawsuit stack today?
I’d gotten more used to being around women lately since my social circle had expanded, but I still hadn’t forgotten my experience with that bitch from university.
Because of that, I really wished they wouldn’t make such assumptions or act that way.
It’s more of a trauma than you’d think.
Si-ho, as if losing interest in me, turned her eyes back to her cake.
After that, I explained to Si-ho what Ji-eun and I had been doing to prepare before she became a hunter.
Most of it was about her YouTube channel.
“So this is the YouTube channel!”
Ji-eun proudly showed off her channel.
Her subscriber count had recently climbed into the four-digit range.
Thanks to a boost from a YouTube channel run by the Rodri Company, it had started to show rapid growth.
At this rate, she might even hit five digits soon.
Of course, her view counts were still modest.
Si-ho took the phone from me and watched for a while before nodding.
“It’s interesting. The dogs are cute, too.”
“Right, right? Si-ho, you should come with us next time! The subscribers would love it if you made an appearance!”
“I don’t like cameras.”
“Aww, that’s a shame.”
All in all, it was a decent review.
“Si-ho, why do you want to become a hunter?”
I asked her the same question I had asked Ji-eun.
Hearing my question, Si-ho fell silent for a moment, then looked at me.
A strange, subtle emotion flickered in her dark eyes.
“Because it seemed like it would be easier.”
Easier?
I blinked, not understanding what she meant. Si-ho covered her mouth with her hand as if she’d misspoken and shifted her gaze out the window.
“Because my brother does it.”
Her brother was an S-rank hunter.
It was plausible that she would be influenced by that.
But for some reason, I had a vague feeling that wasn’t the real reason.
“Your brother? Your brother’s a hunter?”
At that moment, hearing Si-ho’s answer, Ji-eun suddenly chimed in with a question.
It was a natural reaction for her, not knowing that Si-ho’s brother was the Snow Mountain Wolf, Ha Seo-ho.
And when she later heard that her brother was indeed Ha Seo-ho, Ji-eun let out a scream.
But I’ll spare you the details of that.
3
After Si-ho and Ji-eun’s relatively smooth first meeting, I sent them home and returned to my own place.
It was a cramped one-room apartment, but it was still my home.
The moment I stepped inside, a sense of comfort filled my lungs. I took a shower and came out.
The weather was starting to get seriously hot, and my suit was soaked with sweat.
Si-ho, who wore a cardigan in this weather, was the strange one.
Maybe I should buy another suit soon.
The suit I was wearing was one I’d bought a while ago. If I kept working like this, I’d probably need to buy at least one more.
“To think that I, who was struggling with rent not long ago, am now thinking about buying a suit.”
Heh, money really is the best thing in the world. It’s thrilling.
With that thought, I pulled out my chair and sat down at my computer.
I planned to log into Lord of Academy now that I was off work, but first, I wanted to check if there was any new information.
News related to returnees and hunters was updated daily, so as someone working in this industry, it was best to stay on top of it.
What caught my eye was none other than the recent dimensional gate incidents occurring frequently in city centers.
Normally, dimensional gates rarely appeared in urban areas.
This was because returnees and hunters worked together to place dimensional distortions around large cities, intentionally deflecting the phenomenon.
As a result, dimensional gate occurrences were relatively low in urban areas.
If a gate opened in a densely populated area, it would paralyze not just traffic, but countless other things as well.
Of course, gates still manage to break through and open from time to time.
But it was a rare occurrence.
And yet, for some reason, these gate phenomena were now happening simultaneously all over the world.
This was clearly an anomaly.
“Did the Tower of Revelation do something?”
I thought of the entity that had caused so many strange phenomena in the world, but I could only scratch my head.
It wasn’t something an ordinary citizen like me could possibly know.
The only thing that came to mind was that strange laptop I saw with Kkotbi and Ahyu.
But Ahyu had taken that to the World Returnee Association, so there was no way for me to find out more.
As I scrolled down, another article caught my eye.
It was about a phenomenon being observed in Korea where dimensional gates would suddenly fizzle out right before they were about to form.
What was this now?
I started looking for related data.
But there was very little information available, making it difficult to find anything.
To dig deeper, I’d probably need access to the deep web or high-level clearance.
At times like this, I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.
Even though I worked for a company specializing in hunter training, I was still just an ordinary employee.
I didn’t have the ability to uncover this kind of information.
“I still have a long way to go.”
What kind of confidence did I have, vowing to create a world where returnees could return in peace, when I couldn’t even access simple information like this in a timely manner?
Trrrring!
As I leaned back in my creaking chair, I realized my phone was ringing.
Startled, I picked it up and saw an unexpected name on the screen.
“Ha Seo-ho?”
The S-rank hunter, Snow Mountain Wolf, Ha Seo-ho.
We had certainly exchanged numbers yesterday, but I never expected him to call me the very next day.