The Dongdae Hunter Hates Working
“They say the drug is spreading.”
Cha Jae-hyeok spoke.
He cut his words short, but Choi Yeon caught the meaning right away—the word for drug.
Drugs are spreading in Yuseong-gu.
“At first they were peddling it as energy drinks,” Cha Jae-hyeok continued. “Drink it and you’ll have nonstop energy for days without sleep.”
“But it turns out it’s highly addictive, huh?”
“Yeah. You keep wanting more, keep using it, and before you know it, you can’t even get a full night’s sleep.”
“Hmph. So that’s—”
“Dreamless. Everyone calls it D.L.”
Cha Jae-hyeok added the name with perfect timing.
Dreamless.
A name that directly meant a drug that kept you from sleeping. It was almost too on the nose.
“Yeah. Where did this D.L. stuff even come from?”
“If you knew that much, you’d have gone straight to the Chief instead of me.”
“Yeah, guess so.”
“I looked into other neighborhoods too, just to be sure. Only Yuseong-gu has seen the spread in Daejeon.”
“Good for us, then.”
“Good for us.”
“Alright. I’ll tell the Chief right away—”
Choi Yeon pulled out his phone and started typing a message. Before he hit send, he called Cha Jae-hyeok over.
“...Hey, Cha Jae-hyeok.”
“What?”
“What do you think will happen to my vacation if I report this?”
“...Probably won’t be affected?”
“Really?”
“It’s just a Yuseong-gu matter. Knowing that, what are you gonna do as a Seonhwa Dongdae Hunter?”
“Right?”
Thwack.
Choi Yeon tapped the send button. Cha Jae-hyeok’s face looked disappointed.
“You weren’t planning to report it at all?”
“Nah, I did it.”
“...”
Choi Yeon gave a direct answer, but Cha Jae-hyeok struggled to believe it. Hadn’t he just watched the hesitation in that hand?
Choi Yeon noticed the skeptical expression on the opposite side and added right away.
“You think I’m lying? I just needed to psych myself up a bit.”
“Psych yourself up?”
“I was praying sincerely.”
Choi Yeon closed his eyes and clasped his hands together.
Then he muttered in a barely audible voice. He was actually carrying out the sincere prayer he had just claimed.
Whether he sent the message or not, the act of praying remained unchanged—only the order had changed.
Amen.
Soon after, the prayer ended. He looked at the phone on the table. Less than a minute had passed and a message from Kim Jaesang, the Chief, had already arrived.
“...Oh. He says he already knows and not to worry. The Yuseong-gu office is handling it themselves. And thanks for the tip.”
“Just like the Chief. Different from that squinty-eyed guy.”
“Isn’t that obvious? Comparing the two of you would be rude.”
“I’ll have to tell the kids not to worry about Dreamless.”
Choi Yeon laughed off Cha Jae-hyeok’s teasing. Cha Jae-hyeok, aware of the reaction, continued without care.
“Then the info’s all passed along?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. Then—”
“Beat it?”
“Something I usually say, but today I have a favor to ask.”
“A favor? From you?”
“You taught In-beom the detection skill, right?”
“I did.”
“Teach me too.”
Cha Jae-hyeok closed his eyes and opened them again after hearing the request. His blank stare confused Choi Yeon.
“Why? Is this the first time you’ve been asked for something?”
“No. I’ve been asked a lot.”
“Then why are you staring like that?”
“It doesn’t make sense. You really can’t use detection?”
“Didn’t In-beom tell you?”
“He did. But I didn’t believe it.”
“Why?”
“Well... a guy who could use sword energy since six years ago is still hiding it?”
Cha Jae-hyeok shrugged. A faint memory of that day flickered in his mind.
Choi Yeon, walking toward him with sword energy and mana wrapped around his left hand, had been terrifying. Those eyes that looked like they wanted to kill everything, including himself.
“So you were right. That day wasn’t sword energy.”
“Yeah. It was almost sword energy.”
Cha Jae-hyeok nodded. After Nubyeok was recognized by the Dongdae, Choi Yeon had come asking to keep it secret. He had only copied sword energy; if he ever mastered it fully, he’d reveal it himself.
Naively, he had believed it back then. How could a monster spitting killing intent have been this fox?
“Anyway, that’s why I thought you were pretending not to be able to use detection. I didn’t believe it at first.”
“What didn’t you believe?”
“Someone with mana control sharp enough to reinforce barriers can’t use detection?”
“I wouldn’t believe it if it were anyone else.”
“So that’s why it’s an odd trade.”
Choi Yeon just shrugged.
It felt off coming from the person he was asking for a favor. He wondered if he should just refuse.
Before deciding, he asked the question he had wanted to ask. This was the first time Choi Yeon had ever asked for a favor.
“...But why detection?”
“It would make things easier. I could finish work faster and go home sooner.”
“Hmm?”
Cha Jae-hyeok’s lips curved up in a teasing smile at the answer.
The Choi Yeon he knew would never ask him to teach detection just because it would make life easier.
There had to be another reason. Probably... something else.
“Detection splits into two types. Search type and barrier type.”
Cha Jae-hyeok accepted the request and slowly spread his index and middle fingers. Admitting his true feelings out loud would have been too awkward.
“Search type is like sweeping wide, and barrier type is like casting a net. Easy to remember?”
“I already knew that.”
“If you really understand, you can teach yourself?”
“I’ll listen quietly, Sensei.”
“Barrier type is exactly like it sounds. Set it up in a designated area and every person who enters will be automatically detected.”
“Hmm, makes sense.”
Choi Yeon answered flatly. He had known it all along, so fresh reactions were impossible.
If he complained, the “teacher” would stop the lesson.
“Automatic monitoring. You can catch footsteps, mana, even tiny movements once you master it.”
“At the cost of mana, right? Performance drops when you move.”
“That’s why most mages use it. Or they set up a medium for upkeep.”
Choi Yeon’s mind flashed to the cross in the Seonhwa Orphanage office and the lotus in the meditation room. Those were the upkeep media for barrier skills, and they had to be filled with mana periodically.
Even though they were A-class barriers, the mana drain was heavy. After Choi Yeon improved them, the consumption had dropped noticeably.
The priests who came to refill mana would look bewildered for a moment, wondering if it was some kind of miracle.
“Search type divides into three. Easy to imagine... waves, spiderwebs, mists, like that?”
Each image appeared as Cha Jae-hyeok spoke. The familiar terms made them easy to picture.
“Wave type lets you scan a wide area quickly.”
That made sense. Choi Yeon nodded to himself, and a calm ripple crossed his mind.
Plop.
A stone dropped and a perfect circular wave spread outward.
If the mana wave touched something, the caster would sense it.
What if it didn’t touch anything?
The mana would disperse into the air and lose its strength, scattering everywhere.
“Spiderweb type has a narrower range than wave, but it catches even tiny movements with high precision.”
Eight legs walking, the web trembling faintly, vivid and alive.
Probably because he had hunted in Yangji Dungeon that very morning. All the legs were red.
It specialized in area detection, like the web he had seen that morning. With fewer gaps, it would also catch stealth and concealment well.
Disadvantages followed right after.
Cha Jae-hyeok explained them at the perfect moment.
“The dense web means a longer activation time and higher mana cost.”
Of course, it was disadvantageous for wide-area searches. The silk web was set up in fixed locations to hunt prey.
Creating a long thread and stretching it into a big web was difficult, and mana worked the same way. Cha Jae-hyeok guessed an A-class mage would need it.
“Last is the mist type.”
In his mind, the mist sprayed water, then stopped immediately.
Cha Jae-hyeok’s face showed disapproval.
“Why? Isn’t this type good?”
“It has advantages. Narrow indoor spaces are where its detection shines. It finds hidden targets easily.”
“But—”
Choi Yeon cut in before the word came out.
Cha Jae-hyeok shook his head up and down and continued.
“Mana consumption is extreme. Even mages don’t use it much.”
“Ah.”
“The mana density makes it easy for enemies to sense it.”
“...The enemies who sense it will just hide better.”
“Exactly. So I don’t recommend mist type.”
“I see.”
Choi Yeon nodded and looked at Cha Jae-hyeok across from him. He wore an unusually studious student’s eyes, but
“...”
Cha Jae-hyeok’s mouth stayed closed.
He kept his eyes locked on Choi Yeon, refusing to speak. Could it be...?
“...Is that all?”
“Yeah. That’s all.”
“You’re joking, right?”
Choi Yeon asked immediately.
He had come asking for the secret of teaching detection that In-beom had taught him, not for an explanation of the skill itself.
This can’t be a joke.
Frowning in discomfort, Choi Yeon waited.
Cha Jae-hyeok finally spoke. His voice carried doubt.
“Yeon-ah. Can’t you spread mana like a wave?”
“...I can.”
“How about stretching it out like a spiderweb?”
“I’ve never tried, but if I want to, I should be able to.”
“Then what did you come asking me to teach?”
That’s right.
Cha Jae-hyeok’s words made perfect sense.
He knew how to do it, so why ask him to teach it? Even Choi Yeon found it strange.
Cha Jae-hyeok added more.
“In-beom couldn’t do either. That’s why I taught him myself.”
“Ah.”
“Anyone who knows it just keeps practicing and naturally gains the skill, right?”
“...”
“Now you know how I feel? You know everything but still have no detection skill?”
Choi Yeon had nothing to say.
It was probably a genuine issue. Even looking at a few detection skill videos online would have made him realize it himself.
“...Well, still, you’re the first one who ever asked me. Let’s go to the park. I’ll teach you.”
“No need. I already know Nubyeok’s getting busy from now on.”
Choi Yeon rejected the offer.
The young vigilantes were drunk on the full moon of the night, not the bright sun of the afternoon. They were about to stir up trouble.
“Leave it to the kids. In-beom will handle it fine.”
“I’m sure he will.”
Screech.
Choi Yeon stood up again, refusing once more.
If he couldn’t or wouldn’t do it, no. He could do it alone. He didn’t need anyone to watch him.
Only now had he truly realized he could handle everything from the start. But that was how it was.
“Grandma. How much is this?”
“That one, squinty eyes. It’s Choi Yeon, the kid Song said was you?”
The owner grandma recognized him.
Of course. He was the source of her gossip, and he had that distinctive squinty look.
Before he could answer, the owner grandma’s mouth opened.
“Then it’s settled. You’ve already paid, haven’t you?”
“Huh? Paid?”
“You brought home plenty for the kids. Even a big rabbit, right? That means you’ve paid in full.”
She waved her hands dismissively. There was no work, so go home.
“...I ate it all with pleasure.”
Choi Yeon smiled faintly.
That was why I...