A Curious Incident (1)
A Curious Incident (1)
A monster with no hair stared straight at Choi Yeon.
It was exactly like a dungeon monster, so Choi Yeon had nearly thrown the dagger in his pocket.
If he hadn’t suddenly thought of his boss, Kim Jaesang, he probably would have.
“…Why are you doing that?”
“Why? Why are you back?”
“What?”
“W-well, I came to bring bread, right? This?”
Kim Jaesang, the Dongdae chief, asked in a worried voice.
Choi Yeon saw the anxious face and the faint hope that flickered across it and realized all over again.
He had intended to leave work right after his outside assignment, but Kim Jaesang had found out he came back.
“…I did come to bring bread.”
“Tsk!”
Before he finished speaking, Kim Jaesang clicked his tongue.
With a face as if all hope had vanished, he pointed at the round table by the window. He meant sit down, eat bread, and talk.
Choi Yeon walked to the table and dumped the bread onto it in a mess.
He gathered the honey bean red bean bread and handed it over while watching Kim Jaesang, the Dongdae chief, scoop up the drip coffee behind him.
Choi Heeseok, sitting across from him, winked with one eye and then opened it. Choi Yeon squinted back in reply.
When Choi Yeon and Choi Heeseok were still chewing, Kim Jaesang, the Dongdae chief, brought the drip coffee maker.
“Alright, what’s the matter?”
“It’s about Mr. Lee Sung-jun.”
Choi Yeon spoke as if nothing was happening.
Choi Heeseok, who had quietly picked up a piece of the honey bean red bean bread, looked thoroughly natural.
Drip… drip…
Kim Jaesang, the Dongdae chief, poured warm water into the drip filter without a clue what was happening behind him. The fine coffee grounds swirled evenly inside the filter and got wet.
The aroma of coffee spread thickly through the Dongdae.
“Lee Sung-jun?”
“Well, he awakened the Ignite skill—”
“I wasn’t asking who he is.”
Swish, Kim Jaesang waved his left hand once.
“Even so, I was going to take him to the station next week. Do you know why?”
“According to Cha Jae-hyeok, he has no skill.”
“…What?”
Kim Jaesang’s eyes popped wide.
A person who heard a weird story always stopped moving.
Suk.
Choi Heeseok lifted the spout of the drip pot with his index finger. Thanks to him, warm water didn’t overflow.
With a grateful murmur, Kim Jaesang, the Dongdae chief, who had come out of his daze, asked.
“He has no skill?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t mean you’re just not realizing it because you’re confused?”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
“You’re sure?”
“The person who told me is Cha Jae-hyeok.”
“Right. Cha Jae-hyeok isn’t the type to say nonsense just for the sake of it…”
“What?”
“You’re not going to tell me the reason?”
“He didn’t. He was acting mysterious even though he knew everything.”
“Hmm…”
Thud, Kim Jaesang the Dongdae chief set the drip pot down. He crossed his arms and sank into thought.
Drip, plink…
The coffee drops that passed through the filter fell into the drip server and shattered, and the sound rang out along with the crunching of the Choi siblings chewing bread.
When Choi Yeon had eaten two pieces and Choi Heeseok had maybe five, Kim Jaesang the Dongdae chief spoke.
“…There’s only one case that comes to mind immediately. It’s not very likely, but…”
“A magic item?”
“That’s right. If it’s a magic item, it’s not strange at all that Lee Sung-jun awakened the Ignite skill and made flames.”
“But according to that, Lee Sung-jun didn’t even know he was carrying a magic item.”
“If that’s a lie…”
“You should ask him to act. Wasting talent like that is pointless.”
“Tsk, so he accidentally gained a magic item…”
Kim Jaesang the Dongdae chief scratched his head. A few strands of hair fluttered.
Accidentally gaining a magic item…
“If we look at it positively, it means the maker made and sold it without knowing he activated the skill.”
“Would there really be such a fool in the world?”
“That’s why we have to think about it negatively.”
Then Kim Jaesang the Dongdae chief looked straight at Choi Yeon.
It was as if he was waiting quietly, hoping Choi Yeon would say it because he thought negatively.
“…If you think negatively.”
Why are you like this?
Choi Yeon felt bewildered and said.
“You’re deliberately leaking it onto the streets, right? The one who made the magic item.”
“Maybe so. But why?”
“Why? Well. That’s…”
“That’s what?”
“Shouldn’t we just catch him and ask?”
“…….”
Kim Jaesang the Dongdae chief frowned.
It seemed he didn’t like the answer, but Choi Yeon didn’t care.
At this point, thinking about the purpose gave nothing but guesses that didn’t even reach the level of conjecture.
With just a little information, there were many possibilities for a different result, so why bother thinking it over?
Honestly, to Choi Yeon, it didn’t look like the magic item was the cause at all.
“Go to Lee Sung-jun’s house.”
Did Kim Jaesang read his thoughts?
Kim Jaesang the Dongdae chief openly showed his displeasure and said.
“Bring back all the magic items you suspect.”
“Right now?”
“Yes, right now.”
“Can I just go home today and come back on Monday?”
“…It won’t do. There won’t be any that can’t be done.”
“Oh.”
Choi Yeon sighed at Kim Jaesang the Dongdae chief’s words.
He had expected him to say don’t waste time and come back immediately, but he was surprised he didn’t.
Would he really be allowed to go home boldly like this?
While thinking that, Kim Jaesang the Dongdae chief spoke in a sinister tone.
“During that time, magic items will keep leaking onto the streets, chaos will increase, and we’ll end up hearing nothing but the useless Dongdae speech.”
“…….”
“Nothing but the useless Dongdae speech…”
“I know, I know. I can go right now. Let’s go!”
Choi Yeon stood up from his seat.
Watching a middle-aged chubby man grumble pathetically was literally a form of suffering.
Seeing Choi Yeon stand up, Kim Jaesang the Dongdae chief said with a bright face as if it were nothing.
“While you’re at it, bring Lee Sung-jun too.”
“Bring Lee Sung-jun?”
“Just in case, we should check his emotions. It’s better to be sure, right?”
“Then we have to go to the station… By then, won’t the station’s emotion handler have gone home?”
“I’ll contact him. Don’t worry.”
“You’re going to hold him back from going home?”
“If not? Wait until next week?”
Choi Yeon shrugged in response to the gruff question.
He hadn’t asked Kim Jaesang the Dongdae chief to stop him in the first place.
It had just been a little pity.
Thinking of the station’s emotion handler who had been stuck in overtime on Friday made him unable to hold back his regret.
“Why are you suddenly smiling?”
Aigoo.
Choi Yeon covered his mouth with a milk and butter bread.
＊＊＊
The front door opened and Lee Sung-jun came out.
Seeing Choi Yeon standing in front of the door, his face and voice were bright with greeting.
“Mr. Choi Yeon, hunter! What brings you to our house?”
“I have something to deliver to Mr. Sung-jun and something to receive.”
“Receive something? From me?”
“Yes. Is a little time okay?”
“Of course! Ah, please come in!”
Accepting Lee Sung-jun’s bright welcome, Choi Yeon went into the house.
The house wasn’t empty with Lee Sung-jun. A woman was just getting up from the living room sofa, and from her middle-aged appearance, she was clearly his mother.
“Hello. You’re the hunter who helped our Sung-jun last time, right? You really have sleepy eyes.”
“…Yes, I’m Choi Yeon.”
“What brings you here? Ah, sit at the table first. Coffee is fine even if it’s mix, right?”
“Of course. Thank you for having me.”
Even though he had already drunk coffee at the Dongdae, Choi Yeon didn’t refuse.
It was to organize his thoughts about what to say first.
Lee Sung-jun led Choi Yeon to the table, and as he was about to sit in a chair, he noticed a fire extinguisher on the table.
Not the kitchen, on the table?
Once he recognized it, Choi Yeon’s eyes saw fire extinguishers placed everywhere inside the house.
It was clear that Lee Sung-jun had spat flames again after that day.
“I still can’t control it well…”
Lee Sung-jun said in a voice that sounded like he was forcing it down.
It seemed he was ashamed that he had awakened the skill and still hadn’t realized it.
This had to be said first…
Choi Yeon stopped his thoughts.
“It’s not Mr. Sung-jun’s fault.”
“Really?”
“I just found out this new fact. There was another case like Mr. Sung-jun’s on the streets.”
“Me? Really?”
“Yes.”
“Then—”
“It’s not because my son is stupid, okay?”
Suddenly Lee Sung-jun’s mother, who had been mixing coffee mix, chimed in.
Thud, thud.
She placed coffee in front of each of them and sat next to Lee Sung-jun.
Lee Sung-jun glared at his mother.
“Mom, calling me stupid because of my son…”
“Mm, just be quiet for a moment.”
She held his mouth that was grumbling and then asked Choi Yeon.
“So, it’s not that Sung-jun awakened his skill?”
“Yes. Our Dongdae is judging it that way because of a magic item.”
“A magic item? That’s a rare thing, isn’t it? Sung-jun having one…”
Whip, he stopped talking and looked at his son.
Her hand that had been holding his son’s lips as if telling him to speak left.
“Has Sung-jun ever bought such a thing?”
“No. How could I buy it with my allowance?”
“Really? You can’t lie in front of a hunter, you know.”
“I really didn’t buy it! What’s the point of lying with something like that?”
“You drew a tattoo on your body on a whim, so you could lie for no reason, right?”
“Mom, stop! Why are you suddenly bringing up the tattoo?”
“What can’t be helped? Anyway.”
Her gaze turned back to Choi Yeon.
Horo ro…
Choi Yeon, who had been quietly drinking coffee, set his cup down.
“So, it’s possible that Sung-jun unknowingly bought a magic item?”
“It’s not certain, but it’s highly possible.”
“Hmm… But why are magic items being circulated on the market?”
“Ah. That’s…”
Choi Yeon trailed off.
He wasn’t in a situation where he had confirmed the magic item as the cause, and even if he had, he didn’t know yet because he was going to catch the one who distributed it and ask.
He couldn’t bring himself to tell the truth like that.
Should he have thought of a reason?
Just as that thought crossed his mind.
“It’s hard to tell?”
“…What?”
“Everyone in the public service always says it. It’s hard to say, it’s a secret. This time it feels the same, doesn’t it?”
“…….”
Choi Yeon didn’t answer and only slightly raised the corner of his mouth.
It wasn’t true, but he thought she would guess on her own and go along with it.
Lee Sung-jun’s mother shook her head.
“Should I give you the things Sung-jun had that day and the clothes he was wearing?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Mm, wait a second. I’ll bring them quickly since I’ll take them separately. I didn’t do this because I knew this would happen…”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me.”
Lee Sung-jun’s mother waved her hand once and went to get the things.
While waiting, Choi Yeon drank the coffee in one gulp. The sweet taste filled his mouth, but he felt empty.
It was right after six o’clock.
In the end, overtime…
“Tattoo.”
Lee Sung-jun suddenly said.
Because of him, Choi Yeon’s answer to the coffee was a little late.
“I wanted to become an enthusiastic person, so I got it tattooed.”
“Eh, really? Okay?”
Choi Yeon swallowed as if he were swallowing the coffee.
He had almost answered “What am I supposed to do?” sharply to Lee Sung-jun.
Whether he didn’t know the truth or not, Lee Sung-jun fidgeted with his fingers and continued.
“I’ve been living too lukewarmly lately…”
“Lukewarm?”
“A friend I met in university got it recently. He said you’re boring and ordinary…”
“…After hearing that, I got the tattoo because I wanted to live more enthusiastically?”
“Yes.”
You fool.
Choi Yeon pursed his lips.
It was to stop the thought that was trying to burst out.
Anyway, what should I say? If it were Hyeseok-hyung, he would have said something cool at this timing…
Unfortunately, nothing like that came to Choi Yeon’s mind.
“Are you a hunter?”
“No. We’re the same university students.”
“Then that person probably hasn’t been living a particularly ordinary life, right?”
“Eh, compared to the world hunters live in, yeah…”
Lee Sung-jun nodded.
Choi Yeon immediately understood the reluctant nod.
He knew there would be no empathy in telling a normal person about a hunter’s life.
“No, forget all that. Shouldn’t there be something more interesting and not ordinary from the start?”
“…What?”
“I was wondering if life has to be so spectacular. Honestly, I’m not trying to become a famous A-class hunter; if I can just get along well with the people around me, that’s enough.”
“…….”
Blink, blink, Lee Sung-jun blinked and opened his eyes again. He was slowly processing Choi Yeon’s words.
The table became quiet, and Choi Yeon felt awkward and just drank the coffee.
About ten seconds passed?
“…This is nonsense. Nonsense.”
Lee Sung-jun’s mother came back.
In both hands she held envelopes containing the things Lee Sung-jun had that week. She handed them to Choi Yeon and glared at her son.
In reality, she had heard everything her son said while packing. Since the house wasn’t very big, she could hear most of it if she didn’t close the door.
“Getting a tattoo to become enthusiastic?”
“Ugh!”
“Get up, make the bed, clean the room by yourself. That’s the only way to make even a little bit of enthusiasm!”
“Ah, no. Mom, I said I’ll do it if you leave me…”
Blushing shyly, Lee Sung-jun’s face turned red.
Seeing her son’s eyes darting to check Choi Yeon’s reaction, she decided to be mischievous.
“You do? So did you even make the bed this morning? What do you think, hunter? This?”
“You?”
“Ugh. Just say it.”
“Well, I…”
“…….”
Choi Yeon and Lee Sung-jun’s gazes met.
A faint expectation that he would support his side was felt.
Choi Yeon did his best to meet that expectation,
“Of course I think your mother’s words are right. If getting a tattoo makes one enthusiastic, everyone would get one, right?”
He didn’t respond.
Choi Yeon had long since realized the truth that siding with adults in these matters makes you bothered.
Look at his mother, smiling satisfied and nodding.
“Sigh… Thank goodness it’s easy to remove that tattoo of his… If it had been like before, I would have torn up his household register, I would have.”
“What now? Are you tearing up the household register over something like this…”
“Over what? Over what? How beautifully we gave birth to you! On that wonderful body, a tattoo?”
“Ugh…”
Lee Sung-jun’s face turned bright red.
It was as if he had no chance to check his eyes as he lowered his head deeply.
Horo ro, Choi Yeon finished the coffee and said. The faint smile looked pleasant.
“…And, just in case, shouldn’t you go to the station right now and get your emotions checked?”
“Eh, if you say so, of course I should! But, it’s already late, is it okay? It’s almost six…”
“Don’t worry. The station’s emotion handler said he was waiting for you.”
“I’m sorry for that. Because of this guy, I can’t even go home on a golden Friday…”
“Ahaha, it’s okay.”
Choi Yeon answered with a smile.
It was a soft smile, but somehow it felt sticky. It was a wet, sticky feeling only he could take.
Perhaps feeling that wet, damp atmosphere, Lee Sung-jun’s mother tilted her head at the same time.
While trying to figure out where the feeling was coming from, Choi Yeon looked at Lee Sung-jun.
“Would you need some time to prepare?”
“Ah, no! I can go right now! You can’t go home because of me, and I can’t delay!”
Lee Sung-jun stood up abruptly from his seat and grabbed the fire extinguisher.
Choi Yeon looked at the scene with satisfaction. A university student worried about people doing overtime going home.
How wonderful and foolish.
In a few years you’ll get a job and be in the same boat as us.
＊＊＊
At the station, Choi Yeon faced dead eyes. They belonged to a person who had been working overtime.
“…….”
“…….”
“Emotion handler. Will you say it again?”
“Huuu…”
The moment Choi Yeon asked, the emotion handler sighed.
As if showing his frustrated heart to the fullest, he let it out long and said.
“Of the items you brought, there is no magic item.”
“No magic item?”
“Yes.”
“Not even one?”
“Not even one.”
“Then is there no skill for this person—”
“There isn’t.”
“None?”
“Yes, there isn’t.”
Choi Yeon closed his mouth.
He took his eyes off the emotion handler with dead eyes and turned to Lee Sung-jun. Then he carefully looked over the items and clothes placed in front of him.
No skill. No magic item.
But Lee Sung-jun had used the Ignite skill.
What the hell was going on?
He had expected there might be no magic item, but once it was true, it left him at a loss.
“I said it was a curious incident, didn’t I, Yeon-ah?”
Somehow, Cha Jae-hyeok’s calm voice seemed to reach him.
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