Chapter 57
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: That's Not Allowed!
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That's not allowed!
"But... why are you just standing there?"
Ga-eun subtly tried to change the subject.
"Oh, well... someone played a nasty prank on my car."
As the hunter stepped aside, a car utterly wrecked and covered in plants came into view.
It looked like the vines had woven into the interior as well, so simply cutting them away wouldn't solve the problem.
"Whoa... what the heck is this?"
"Ugh, I have no idea who did it. Gotta be some overgrown kid who never grew up!"
Su-hyeon made a dumbfounded face upon hearing that.
'Isn't that like spitting in your own face...?'
Out of everyone I've seen, this guy's the most childish.
Then again, thinking back to high school, guys are all pretty immature.
"Come on out."
"Pardon?"
Su-hyeon approached the car with an annoyed look.
She shrugged her shoulders as she walked, probably trying to look cool and nonchalant, but from above, it just looked like she was toddling along.
Her face had a haughty expression, but the leaves atop her head were twitching back and forth nonstop.
Seeing that, Ga-eun had to bite her lip to stifle a laugh.
"Hmm..."
As Su-hyeon closed her eyes and groaned, the leaves on her crown swayed slowly.
Then, an astonishing sight unfolded.
Ssssh...
The stems binding the car began wriggling like living snakes.
Those poking out from the grille and engine bay gaps started slipping out smoothly.
The vines wrapped around the tires one by one slithered away.
Wherever the plants retreated, a pristine car body without a single scratch emerged.
"Such power..."
Jun-hyeok watched wide-eyed, unable to close his mouth.
"There, all done."
Su-hyeon said proudly.
She looked just like a kid bragging about getting a perfect score on a dictation test.
**
"Man, you saved my skin! This isn't even my car—it's the guild's. Haha, if I'd had to abandon it, I'd have been in deep trouble."
"Glad it worked out. Good thing Su-hyeon was passing by."
Jun-hyeok's eyebrow twitched slightly at the name Su-hyeon.
"Couldn't agree more. Oh! By the way, what's your awakener rank?"
"...E-rank."
"When did you get tested...?"
"Early this month? Not long ago."
She rolled her eyes slightly to the left as she answered.
She had gotten tested at the health center, so it wasn't a lie.
Of course, it had come back as non-responsive.
"For real? You seem way beyond E-rank no matter how I look at it. Most C-ranks couldn't pull this off."
"Hmm, well, I guess... But why are you buttering me up like this? It's kinda creepy."
She said that, but her twitching lips and the fluttering leaves on her head betrayed her delight.
"I'm serious! I've seen plenty of abilities in my position, and I've never met a domestic awakener who handles plant manipulation this well. Your control is incredibly precise!"
Invisible plants tangled up in hard-to-reach spots. Multiple types, all moved simultaneously. No breaks leaving remnants inside, no damage to the car body.
Even with lacking offensive power, the applications were endless.
"Yeah, it's pretty impressive, I guess. But..."
For Ga-eun, who knew Su-hyeon's true nature, it only made her more uneasy.
She agreed it wasn't E-rank performance, but it was probably not an awakening ability—it was the power of her dryad race.
Regardless of Ga-eun's worries, the two kept chatting.
"How should I repay you?"
"No need. I didn't do it expecting anything."
"Right. If you're free now, how about stopping by the guild? We could do a precise measurement while you're there."
He clearly wanted to pull Su-hyeon into Camellia Guild.
HR manager, was it?
If he got her that interested, he might notice something off during testing.
No matter how good Camellia's image was, no one could predict their reaction to the truth.
"Hold on..."
"No, I've got a major class next."
Su-hyeon turned him down faster than Ga-eun could intervene.
"Ahh."
Jun-hyeok looked disappointed.
"Well, contact me anytime later. You too, Miss Ga-eun."
The man handed over his business card and sped off in his car, claiming it was getting too late.
[Camellia Guild HR Manager Hunter Jo Seong-min]
Once the car fully exited the parking lot, Su-hyeon, who had been flipping the card over, spoke up.
"See? Suddenly all polite out of nowhere—kinda gives me the creeps, right? Like he's wearing a mask."
The moment the target was gone, she started trash-talking, so Ga-eun plopped a sandwich on Su-hyeon's head like a scolding.
"That's just how society works—you have to wear a mask even if you hate it. Especially B-rank hunters; they have to manage their image."
Leaves poked out, wriggling under the sandwich wrapper.
"You didn't see him at the PC bang. Totally different from now—like another mask."
"What was he like?"
"Hmm... Like he was deliberately poking at people? Not teasing for fun, more like probing them or something."
Struggling to find the right words, a furrow formed between Su-hyeon's brows.
"Really? When he talked to me, he was begging shamelessly."
Ga-eun recalled him suddenly dropping to his knees and grabbing her leg.
"...That's scary too. Wait, how do you even know about that?!"
"Eh... it happened."
"What? Nothing weird, right...? Like offering money to come with him or...?"
Ga-eun looked down at Su-hyeon's crown, remembering that time.
"Well, something like that."
300 billion won. 300 billion.
Back then, 300 billion meant nothing.
She might've caved for even 3 million.
Ga-eun, a minor at the time, was clashing with her parents and struggling.
Couldn't incorporate without permission, just eating tax bombs.
Overdue editor salaries, even considered quitting streaming.
Meeting Da-hye was a godsend.
"What...!?"
Su-hyeon's pupils shook violently.
"It felt shady, but the amount was huge, so I was tempted. Whew, good thing my streams have grown lately."
Not just Su-hyeon's info, but the condition of living as a hunter herself.
Felt like selling her entire future, so she refused.
Ga-eun spoke breezily, relieved.
But to Su-hyeon, it hit entirely differently.
A rich guy in his early 30s.
A beautiful 20-year-old female streamer.
Offered big money to follow him...?
"That's not allowed!"
"W-Why are you...?"
Ga-eun panicked as Su-hyeon grabbed her leg and shook it.
"That's it! You know...! P-Papa Kats? Sponsorship? Old guys paying cam girls to do this and that!"
"!!! What are you even talking about!?"
Ga-eun rarely flustered, yelped loudly.
"Ga-eun, short on money...? Subs have been growing lately though...?"
"So let go already! What do you even think of me?"
"Ow ow ow!"
Ga-eun sighed deeply and yanked Su-hyeon's cheeks from both sides.
A bit harder than usual.
"Get a grip. Do I seem like that kind of person? And that's rude to Hunter Jo Seong-min too."
Looks like he'd be fun for dress-up, but what comes out of her mouth?
Su-hyeon rubbed her cheeks and hung her head.
"Sorry... I was just worried..."
Ga-eun patted Su-hyeon's head.
"Fine, just get up. And like I said, it wasn't anything like that."
Su-hyeon stood awkwardly. The leaves on her head drooped in embarrassment.
"By the way, how do you even know about that stuff?"
Ga-eun eyed her suspiciously.
Just early this month, she barely knew beyond NewTube.
"Uh... um..."
Su-hyeon stammered, even more flustered.
Actually, she'd been bored recently, browsed other streams, and accidentally peeked into the abyss.
...Super stimulating.
That's when she realized how wholesome Ga-eun's streams were.
Ga-eun sighed and shook her head.
At 23, she might know that stuff, but with her appearance...
"Whatever, not curious. Let's go."
Not much time left before class—they needed to eat quick.
The two headed to a nearby bench.
Inside Jun-hyeok's car.
A call came in from his secretary, automatically connecting to the car's speakers.
"Master, where'd you run off to now? Can't you at least tell me before you go? Do you know how hard it is chasing you around every time?"
"Ah, just hit the convenience store on the first floor. Taking a quick breather."
"Now you take the elevator down in the car too?"
"Ah... busted?"
"Sigh, no need to lie to me."
"Yeah~ sorry sorry. Heading back for real now."
"...I'll believe that."
Gonna get chewed out again...
Self-inflicted, though.
Call ended, Jun-hyeok sank into thought.
'As expected, that exhibition hall was her doing too.'
At this point, suspicion was conviction.
'But E-rank? Did the measurer break? Or...'
Ga-eun's fidgety demeanor at the end.
Department store, unprecedented gate type, atypical monsters, exhibition, terror, Pitbull Guild, human trafficking, elf, Mystic, the mysterious overseas group cornering Lee Jae-hyeok, and the two attacked by them.
All coincidences?
And—
"...Su-hyeon?"
Common name, but it stuck in his mind unusually.
Sparks flew from Jun-hyeok's eyes.