Chapter 4-1. The Small Hours (3)
First things first, Lee Jun sat down with Seo Yoon and took stock of the situation.
By and large, the treatment was a success.
At the same time, though, you could call it a failure.
That was the strange state Seo Yoon now found herself in.
"Your total mana capacity, Miss Seo Yoon... I'll need to measure it properly next time."
"Yes, I hadn't anticipated anything like this either."
"Neither did I. Hard to say whether we should be celebrating or not."
Honestly, though, if you thought it through, there was nothing here but good news. The treatment had taken hold, and her usable mana had undeniably increased. Once she adapted to her current state, her firepower would climb even higher.
The only real problem was that, someday, this mana overload would still need to be cured completely.
Which meant—
"Will we have to... do the treatment again, like we just did?"
"...I suppose we will?"
"Hmm."
A strangely evasive reaction. Clearly, even Seo Yoon had found the experience embarrassing.
"Don't worry. I don't know when the next one will be, but until then, we can have Miss Jeong-hyeon..."
"...No."
"I'm sorry?"
"I would prefer... that you do it yourself, Boss. Every time."
"Ah... um..."
She means the treatment... right?
"W-well, of course! Anyone can say what they like—I'm the boss, after all! Employee welfare is something I handle with my own two hands..."
"Not as your employee... as your comrade. That is my request."
"...Comrade."
The expression on Seo Yoon's face as she said it was grave. She knew exactly what that word meant to Lee Jun. Which was why she wanted confirmation. Could she, too, trust someone completely, entrust them her back, expose her flank without fear?
"Of course you can."
Those words carried considerable weight. It might be a burden—Seo Yoon knew that too. Could she truly offer the same steadfast faith and support that Lee Jun's old comrades once had?
She had watched them, time and again, over the years. She was confident she could show that resolve to the very end herself—but conveying it was another matter entirely. And where her own limit lay... she could not know.
At those thoughts, Seo Yoon's expression darkened. The change was so subtle no ordinary person would ever have noticed. But Lee Jun caught it at a glance. He'd gotten used to reading her.
"Don't push yourself too hard. You've always been a help, Miss Seo Yoon."
"Boss..."
Lee Jun gave her shoulder a couple of light taps. He knew what kind of words a moment like this called for. All he had to do was deliver them sincerely. Playing the supporting role was his specialty—he'd always been cast in it, back then and now.
He didn't need to step into the foreground. He didn't need the spotlight. The greatest value, in the end, was something you decided for yourself.
"Honestly, I'm nothing special. I'm the one who needs other people's strength, more than the one who provides it."
Saying that, Lee Jun settled down right beside Seo Yoon. Together they leaned back against the wall and gazed out at an angle through the window.
Seo Yoon looked at him in silence. Instead of meeting her eyes, he drew a coin from his Pocket.
A coin stamped with the seal of the Jester—his own emblem. The coin in his right hand cascaded flamboyantly across his fingers and vanished entirely into his palm. When he opened his hand again, there was nothing there. The coin that had disappeared in an instant popped out of his left.
Seo Yoon had watched the trick plenty of times before, but even with a hunter's dynamic vision, she couldn't begin to work out how it was done.
"Well? What do you think?"
"I always think... it's amazing."
"Haha, right? When I watch other people do it, I can't figure it out either."
Lee Jun repeated the routine silently a few more times. It was what he always did when his thoughts grew tangled. Watching the coin flow between his fingers made the clutter in his head fall away. And then, just like that, his fingers would stop—and the conclusion would arrive for the thoughts filling his mind.
"I've been thinking things over."
His words broke a long silence. Lee Jun looked out at the moon beyond the window and spoke slowly, almost to himself.
"I honestly don't know anymore how much influence I can exert on my own. In the beginning I founded this company with grand ambitions of raising up my successors, but these days I wonder if that's even realistic."
The moment he'd realized he'd regressed, he'd decided to retire—and immediately after, he'd built this management agency. His ambition had swelled with excitement back then. He'd declared his aspirations at a press conference, played aggro-tank at the Seoul Dungeon. Not a single hunter had tried to join at first... and frankly, he hadn't cared. He'd landed one in the end, and there she was, sitting beside him even now.
But what direction had he actually wanted to take? Was it being achieved, even now, the way he'd envisioned? He genuinely didn't know.
"...I think you're doing wonderfully."
"Hmm. Do you, now?"
Seo Yoon didn't know his true plan. The cultivation of strong successor hunters—that was the broad shape of it. Toward that end he checked the guilds, handled all manner of troublesome business, and preempted the misfortunes waiting in the future. Dealing with Liberation was one piece of that. Judging by the results so far... you could say things were running smoothly.
And yet.
Fighting Kaplan had left one thought lodged in his mind.
Hadn't I stepped back from the front lines because I wanted to? So why, somewhere along the way, was I standing at the front and fighting again?
{Understood. You're an idiot.}
...Where did that come from?
"Was that the reason you wanted to retire, Boss?"
"Hm. Have I disappointed you?"
"No. If anything... it seems to me that you put yourself at the front more than anyone."
Me? At the front?
"Haha, no. I'm not that kind of person..."
"I think you are the person who fits the word 'hunter' better than anyone alive, Boss."
"..."
A hunter. A hunter, huh.
All right. Hearing that, let's give it a think. What is a hunter, exactly?
You slay monsters. You clear gates. You enjoy the wealth and glory that come out of them. You show up on TV now and then, do interviews with magazines, live a life somewhere close to a celebrity's... and then one day an accident strikes mid-raid, and you die. Or you're injured.
{Wrong.}
...And you protect people.
{Understand? That's the kind of person you are.}
Me?
{You talk about being weak, about dying before you quit—but you never once back down.}
Me?
{Hmph. You read everyone else's hearts like an open book, but you can't even see your own?}
Me...?
{You have no intention of giving up being a hunter. You retired because you didn't want to fall back from the front lines—that's all.}
...Me.
Me.
Was I that kind of person, all along?
"Boss."
"Yes?"
"If it isn't too much trouble... could you tell me about it?"
"About what?"
"From the gate incident—everything that's happened, up until now."
If it was just that, a few minutes on the internet would—
"No. What I want to know isn't that. It's your story, Boss."
"..."
Lee Jun turned his eyes from the window and looked at Seo Yoon's face. Her gaze was shining brighter than it ever had before.
Why had I been staring at that meaningless moon, of all things—when a sun this bright was right here?
"..."
TING—
He flicked his finger, and the coin went flying, striking the light switch.
Click—
The room went dark. Through the half-open curtains, soft moonlight spilled in.
"Better, isn't it?"
"...Sorry?"
"The moonlight. You can see the stars clearly too. Ever since the gate incident and the spread of magitech... the sky's gotten remarkably clean."
"Is that... so."
Lee Jun looked out the window again. Between the ribbons of moonlight, tiny stars crowded the sky, dense and glittering.
"I don't remember well what I used to be like, back then."
"I... see."
"Too much time has passed, you understand."
In that long span of time, countless things had happened. As many as the stars hanging in that sky.
"But if you're still curious, I'll try my hardest to remember."
At those words, Seo Yoon's expression seemed to brighten a little. No—it really had brightened. Quite a lot. Her range of expression had grown... or rather, she was hiding less, these days. He hoped that one day she would become someone who could take the mask off entirely.
"Your speech has gotten considerably softer, by the way."
"Wh-what? This is just..."
"I like that side of you better."
Taking off the mask, huh. Yes—those words were something he was saying to himself as well.
With that thought, he gave Seo Yoon one last smile and rose from his seat.
"I'd love to tell you the whole story, but it's gotten far too late tonight."
"Oh..."
"But that's all right, isn't it? We still have so much time ahead of us."
"...Yes. We do."
And she was right—tonight was hardly the last chance. Tomorrow, and the day after, they'd have time for as long as this management agency stayed afloat. And somehow, right now, he felt certain it would.
Seo Yoon had resolved not to leave the agency even if she rose to S-Class. If that was her will as his hunter, then as her boss, he had no choice but to honor it.
"Though seeing you say that—are you sure you're not a failed opportunist?"
"...No. I remain a perfect opportunist."
And with those words, the corner of Seo Yoon's mouth lifted—faintly, but unmistakably.
See. People really are better off smiling.
Thinking so, Lee Jun opened the door. Time for Seo Yoon to head back to her own room, too. What awaited a hunter was an endless chain of training, and for that, managing your condition was essential.
Creeeak—
THUD!
"...?"
"Aha, hahaha..."
The moment the door swung open, someone came tumbling down along with it. A shock of red hair waved back and forth—a very familiar shade.
"...Didn't this happen just a few days ago?"
"Th-that's... I was curious, so..."
Pfft—
"Boss?! P-please don't laugh...!"
"AHAHAHAHA!"
"Boss...!"
Flustered, Choi Jeong-hyeon scrambled to her feet and fidgeted wildly, her face—no surprise—blazing scarlet. She really was a person whose outside matched her inside completely. That was something enviable, in its own way.
"Hahaha... ah, it's been a while since I laughed that hard."
"Boss..."
He wasn't laughing at her. The situation itself had simply cracked him up. Somehow... it felt like he'd been thrown back into the old days again.
"All right, everyone, dismissed! Early to bed means early to rise, and early to rise means more training."
"How did Miss Seo Yoon's treatment go? That's why I was waiting out here...!"
"It went fine, so don't worry."
"It is true."
"Uuugh... why do I get the feeling there's something else I'm being left out of..."
"That's... a story for another day."
"You were stalling in there just now! Something really did happen, didn't it?!"
"Nope, nothing~"
"Nothing occurred."
"Aaargh, come on!"
He just... liked days like this. He liked this life. And because of that... it seemed he truly couldn't quit this work after all.
{See? I told you so, didn't I?}
He hated to admit it, but... yes. She was right.
{Hehe. Like I keep saying, nobody understands you better than I do.}
That was true as well. All this time, he might have been deceiving himself—twisting his own heart for the sake of distancing himself from reality.
{...What's this, agreeing that easily? No fun at all.}
He could graciously indulge even that complaint, for now. Thanks to her, he seemed to have found his direction—how to steer this management agency from here on out. He had a rough grip on it at last.
"Good night, everyone."
Creeeeak—
Clunk—
The door closed. Lee Jun lay down on his bed with an easy heart. If he fell asleep now, he felt like he could dream again. A sweet dream. Not the blood-soaked nightmare smeared across by trauma—but an actual dream.
"...Nice."
3 a.m. The dead of night, mere hours until dawn. After one round of clamor entirely unfitting for the hour, Lee Jun had at last drifted off in peace.
And from the trailing edge of his shadow, the shape of a person began to rise.
Bolting upright from the bed, she rested her chin on one hand and gazed at Lee Jun for a long, long while.
"...Hmph. Idiot."
She murmured it with a look that was somehow sulky.
Poke—
Poke— poke—
"Hehe. Sleep well, you hopelessly foolish human."
And at the tip of the finger pressing into the cheek of the sleeping man, a small smile had, before long, taken hold.