Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: The Dignity of a Senior Hunter
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Before Do-yoon returned to the association.
Jeong A-hyeon, a hunter affiliated with the Korean Hunter Association, had no choice but to spend her days in constant anxiety.
It felt just like sending a child off to a distant land, not knowing if they might get lost along the way.
Having taken on her first junior in her hunter career, she couldn't help but take it more sensitively than most.
"Wh-what if something happens...?"
"A-hyeon."
"The hunters there are really ruthless... I feel like I should go watch over him...!"
"A-hyeon."
"Agh...! If something really happens—"
"Jeong A-hyeon!"
"Eek."
In the end, Jo Ha-rin, unable to stand it any longer, snapped Jeong A-hyeon out of her trembling daze.
"What kid did you send off? Why are you shaking like a leaf?"
"N-no, sis... You know how dirty and underhanded that place is..."
The hunters you meet through Theme Stages—
they were the epitome of selfishness, distrusting, envying, and jealous of one another to an extreme degree.
It was so bad that most hunters came back with mental breakdowns that hadn't existed before.
But could Do-yoon, who had just become a hunter, handle all that?
For Jeong A-hyeon, every talented individual was precious, but a junior was even more so.
Do-yoon's safety was her top priority—and the main reason she couldn't sleep.
"And get some sleep. Why are you ruining your own condition too?"
"B-but..."
Jeong A-hyeon mumbled timidly.
Having lived her whole life adored for her stunning looks, she had no idea how to show concern for someone.
Goodwill had always come to her without effort.
So she clumsily buried her feelings deep inside, letting them fester alone.
As Jo Ha-rin said, Jeong A-hyeon hadn't slept properly for days, waiting for Do-yoon's return.
"You're not even keeping up with your schedule properly, are you?"
"Th-that's the manager's..."
"The manager's not an idiot. They know you'd cause a scene if you went. They're suffering big time in some unknown place."
Jo Ha-rin revealed the unseen hardships of the manager as she spoke to Jeong A-hyeon.
Hunters needed to excel not just in one area, but across multiple fields.
Not only tower raids, but promotions and external activities too.
'Do-yoon oppa.'
She had recently admitted it to herself honestly.
That she was obsessing over one man far beyond what a senior hunter should feel for a junior.
And so.
"H-he's back."
Upon receiving the report from the handler who rushed back to the association, the hunters quickly moved to welcome Do-yoon.
"He's back...!"
"He must have perfectly cleared the Theme Stage."
If he died, other hunters would recover the body.
In other words, if something happened to Do-yoon, Jeong A-hyeon or the others would have had to go retrieve his corpse.
But this time, Do-yoon walked out on his own two feet.
He had successfully cleared the Theme Stage.
What they encountered at the tower's entrance was.
"Whoa...!"
Do-yoon's appearance, markedly different from before.
"D-Do-yoon oppa...?"
His eyes had become sharper, perhaps.
The moment their gazes met, Jeong A-hyeon felt a sharp pang in her chest.
The source of the pain was anxiety.
It was clearly the instinctive reaction of the human psyche to change.
She herself hadn't changed at all.
The change was definitely on Do-yoon's side.
Having operated inside the tower for so long, mental fatigue.
Physical fatigue from facing objects and clearing trials would be burdensome for him too.
Overall exhaustion permeated his body, yet his eyes burned with an eerie vitality.
As if refusing to let anyone pry into what he had done inside—
Do-yoon's gaze subtly shifted away from Jeong A-hyeon.
"...Huh?"
The other hunters noticed the change too.
Once Do-yoon fully returned to the association, the senior hunters helped with his follow-up procedures and reports.
In truth, most paperwork was handled by their handlers, so there wasn't much left for them beyond tedious chores.
"It's probably fatigue."
Among the gathered hunters, Han Ji-hyeok spoke first.
He wasn't trailing off suspiciously or anything.
His words had become noticeably fewer than before.
Han Ji-hyeok thought it was because he was now fully bearing the burdens of being a hunter.
"We all know how dirty and underhanded that place is."
"We do."
"It's a place that treats human lives like tools."
If the relationships among Earth-born hunters could be called competition.
Then among hunters from other worlds, it was a deathmatch where survival meant killing or being killed.
"H-he's definitely just tired..."
The hunters exchanged glances behind the gloomy Jeong A-hyeon's back.
-Nod.
Then Cha Yun-ha, A-hyeon's closest friend among them, subtly nodded.
"If you're so worried, why don't you go check on him?"
"Eh...?"
"You're his direct senior. And you're the closest to him. Talk to him one-on-one. It'll cheer him up."
Those words lit a small flame in a corner of Jeong A-hyeon's heart.
"R-really...?"
The hunters nearly burst out laughing at her adorable reaction but barely held it in and continued.
"Yeah, yeah. If that's the case, take the association card and go on a date or something."
"D-d-date?!"
Jeong A-hyeon stuttered at the sudden suggestion.
A date was usually a refreshing outing between close men and women, right?
'Ah, not quite to that level yet...'
With her feelings already half-accepted, Jeong A-hyeon secretly gauged the distance between her and Do-yoon.
They were close, but not beyond professional colleagues yet.
"Why are you freaking out? Just going out together is a date. You weren't thinking anything more, were you?"
"N-no, that's not it...?!"
Jeong A-hyeon's ears turned bright red as she hissed at Cha Yun-ha like a cat.
"Just go relax then. There are tons of great restaurants and sights around here."
The Korean Hunter Association was located in the heart of Seoul, Korea's most densely populated city.
So naturally, there were far more things to see and do than elsewhere.
If she could take Do-yoon's mind off the tower for a bit.
It would surely be immense emotional relief.
"I-is it really okay...?"
"Of course he'll love it. Let him rest today. Go tomorrow after he starts work."
With that sly, serpent-like whisper, Jeong A-hyeon wavered and nodded slightly.
#
After savoring the Wine Lord's lamentations in the gallery for a while, Do-yoon headed to the training room to properly investigate his new skill, 'Eira'.
'Call me again!'
Recalling how she had said that at the last moment before seeping into his body, Do-yoon focused his mind in the training ground.
-Shaaaa...
Triggered by his will, something began to manifest.
Eira's mana, which had shared a bond like family with him, began to well up from Do-yoon.
'Will it work?'
Separate from his desire to see Eira again, her presence would be a huge help in conquering floors.
Though an object, her origin and motif stemmed from the tower's owner, the Progenitor.
-Crackle.
From his fingertips flowed not Do-yoon's mana, but Eira's blood-red mana.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Activating 'Progenitor's Memory(???)'. "Urk."
With the system's alert, an enormous amount of mana drained from Do-yoon in an instant.
He braced his nearly buckling knees against the intense fatigue and caught his breath amid his blurring vision.
'This level of risk.'
He had somewhat anticipated it, leaning on his conscience.
Summoning an object, no less.
He never expected to command such a powerful summon without any cost.
Great power comes with great responsibility.
Recalling someone's words, Do-yoon faced the manifesting phenomenon.
-Clink.
What arrived after the quiet echo was.
A single slender chain wrapped around one arm.
"...?"
Do-yoon wondered at its presence for a moment.
"Oppa!"
The familiar voice ringing in his head let him instantly recognize the chain's identity.
"Eira...?"
"Did you miss me?!"
"No, this is."
Facing this new phenomenon for the first time, Do-yoon couldn't help but be flustered.
Was this another mystery of mana?
One thing was certain: this chain was definitely part of Eira.
"Eira?"
"Yeah...!"
"But why like this..."
"So you won't get hurt, oppa!"
The burden of the Progenitor's Memory skill demanded far too much mana for Do-yoon to handle yet.
So Eira had voluntarily limited her own power to a level he could barely manage.
"Uh...."
"Heehee, when oppa gets stronger, then I'll come out fully!"
In the end, the issue lay with him.
'Then...'
Do-yoon extended his left arm, wrapped in the chain. The end slithered out like a snake, swaying its head this way and that.
How cute is that?
Thinking of it as part of Eira made it feel endearing rather than creepy.
-Slither.
The chain's "head" turned toward Do-yoon and gently rubbed against his cheek.
"Heehee."
"..."
After spending some time feeling that odd sensation.
He took a photo for a gallery update post, then unsummoned Eira's chain.
As he left the training ground.
"Do-yoon oppa!"
"Huh?"
He ran into Jeong A-hyeon, her face full of determination.