Chapter 98
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: Let's Live at That Uncle's House Now
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After the commotion had died down, the lobby of the council building fell quiet.
The lobby was now home to massive potted plants wriggling around and pouncing on a child.
"Ughhh, no!"
To an outsider, it looked like a desperate life-or-death struggle—a giant carnivorous monster plant attacking a kid.
"Stop! Wait! Sit!"
Su-hyeon yelled at the plants shoving their stems in her face like overexcited puppies.
But the plants tilted their stems as if to say they had no idea what she meant, then went right back to rubbing their leaves against her cheeks.
These bizarre plants were the orchids and money trees that An Jung-bong had nurtured like precious treasures for years.
Just a few more years, and they might've wowed collectors or ended up in his private collection—extremely valuable specimens.
Swish swish swish—
"Gaaack."
Their well-tended leaves burrowed relentlessly into her soft cheeks and sides.
"Su-hyeon, what do you even mean when you tell plants to 'sit'?"
"Huh?"
Su-hyeon glanced down at what might pass for the plants' lower halves.
These plants, which should have been neatly potted in handmade ceramic planters crafted by the artisan himself, were now wrapped in black plastic bags around their roots and plopped right in front of her.
"Eugh, wait! Stop! I said stop!"
As a ghost orchid licked up her face with a broad leaf like a giant tongue,
Su-hyeon put some real force into her command.
Siimook.
Only after her will reached them did the plants finally halt.
"Phew."
These orchids, which Su-hyeon had accidentally triggered into their dark evolutions, were each worth tens of millions of won.
Even the cheaper money trees ran a few million apiece, from what she'd heard.
No matter how much money Grandma sent, this wasn't pocket change...
Su-hyeon's bank account had nearly faced a catastrophe, but luckily, Jun-hyuk had stepped in to cover the purchases.
So before carting the pots off to Jun-hyuk's office, she was waiting out front while the bosses chatted it over.
"Will they... go back to normal?"
"Probably...?"
"...Why the question mark?"
"Well, they've never been this lively before."
Chan-seong nodded at Su-hyeon's words.
"Su-hyeon, I had no idea you could control not just monsters, but real plants too."
"Yeah, tell me about it."
In truth, the plants had come first, with monsters as a bonus...
But she hadn't expected the plants to perk up quite like this.
Even when they'd bolted from Honey Slime Mountain, they'd still felt like regular plants.
Su-hyeon sighed as she gazed at them, and the plants all tilted in unison toward her.
...They'll snap out of it, right?
Honestly, even if they didn't, that was Jun-hyuk's problem now.
Ding-ding—ding-ding—
Just then, her pocket buzzed with an incoming call.
It was Ga-eun.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Su-hyeon. You busy by any chance?"
"Nah? Your stream over?"
"Yeah, was supposed to go longer, but... circumstances cut it short."
Probably gate entry issues. Tough going all the way out to some remote area.
Su-hyeon nodded and gripped her phone with both hands.
"So you couldn't get into any in the end?"
"Right. Tried one more nearby, still no dice. Wound up back at the dorm, did a quick dried-squid mukbang stream, then logged off. You watched, huh?"
"Just the start. Caught you turning back after failing the first gate."
Ga-eun's quiet sigh tickled Su-hyeon's ear.
"Yeah, anyway, that's why I tried calling Da-hye unnie. No answer... So I figured I'd ring you instead since I had nothing else going on."
"Ah."
Da-hye hurriedly checked her phone at the mention, revealing over ten missed calls.
"Oh no, this is bad."
Ga-eun picked up on Da-hye's mutter.
Sharp ears, huh.
"Huh? Da-hye unnie's with you right now?"
"Uh, y-yeah."
"Lemme talk to her."
"...She wants to switch?"
Sa-sa-sak—
Su-hyeon, sitting on the bench, looked up at Da-hye.
The plants followed suit, their big leaves swiveling toward her.
No eyes, though.
"Hey, boss...? Stream went fine?"
"Unnie, why didn't you pick up? They said you skipped boxing today too."
"Oh, got tied up with something urgent. Just wrapping up now."
"Urgent on a weekend? Don't lie to me."
"Ga-eun, what kinda talk is that...? I have a private life too, you know."
"Oh, private life? So my calls don't count as work on weekends? You could've at least checked KakaoTalk."
Ga-eun's voice pitched up in mock anger.
Obviously joking, but ten missed calls? That'd frustrate anyone.
Especially after her content tanked.
Just some cute whining at her close unnie.
"Sorry, there was a situation, uh..."
Da-hye glanced at Su-hyeon.
They'd gathered today under Su-hyeon's lead to buy a surprise gift for Ga-eun.
Of course, it was a secret from her.
...No helping it.
"Hmph."
Clack.
As her shoes hit the floor, the plants perked up in interest.
Ignoring them, Su-hyeon hopped onto the bench, stood on tiptoe, and leaned on Da-hye's shoulder.
"Ngh, truth is, we snuck off to the outlet today to get you a gift without you knowing..."
"...A gift?"
Da-hye lowered the phone to speaker mode for Su-hyeon's sake.
"Ohhh, that's what it was? Heh. Why bother trekking to the outlet?"
Her tone softened noticeably at "gift."
"You gonna keep what we got a secret? Nah, I shouldn't ask?"
"Uh... well."
Da-hye took the last bit.
"Like I said earlier, we hit some snags here too and couldn't pick anything. If you need stuff, let's shop together next time."
"Sorry, Ga-eun. My fault."
"Eh, what can ya do... Wait, why's Chan-seong apologizing?"
The surprise flopped, but Ga-eun didn't seem too bothered.
Mind made up her day, maybe?
"Anyway, what'd you wanna tell me?"
Da-hye steered back to business amid the chaos, and Ga-eun's voice amped up again.
"No, unnie! Listen. This temporary license crap? It's seriously sketchy. Some viewers got their certs same time as me, got temp licenses—no issues at all."
"Yeah, yeah~."
Da-hye turned down the volume two notches as she replied.
"This has gotta be targeted at me. Looked it up—some weird association's pulling strings. They're big shots, pushed the Hunter Management Corporation on 'international standards' and 'safety,' forcing the change."
Sounded like the "association" was this very building.
News to her there was a separate corp handling hunters.
So what was this place, really?
"Hmm~? Still, that seems overkill. Why target you? Maybe it's just to make sure you're trained properly?"
"They won't even let me into tourist gates. Super suspicious. Others don't get blocked this hard... Plus, it changed right after I got certified. How many rookie solo hunters with under a year are out there besides me?"
"Yeah, feels sloppy. Kinda weird."
"Right? Doesn't this violate some law or whatever?"
"Dunno..."
Just then, raucous voices echoed from the far end of the lobby.
Up front were Na-rin, looking irritated, and Jun-hyuk with his trademark unpleasant grin.
"Took a bit, huh?"
Jun-hyuk remarked as he returned around the time the call wrapped.
He started picking up the bagged plants one by one from in front of Su-hyeon.
Thwack—
Crunch crunch.
"Ow, these guys are vicious."
"'Cause you're handling them rough."
"I'm innocent~. Gotta move 'em somehow."
The plants smacked his hands away and gnawed at his knuckles like "hands off," but Jun-hyuk didn't bat an eye.
S-rank for ya?
"I'll help carry 'em over."
"Sure, take it slow. Nah, we'll head out soon too."
No choice—Su-hyeon had to soothe them all the way to the car.
"Not sure these'll all fit. Space-wise okay, but height... Tsk, trunk's a no-go?"
The luxury sedan's backseat wound up claimed by the reluctant plants.
Once crammed in, the doors shut silently.
"Thanks."
"No sweat. Swing by later, check on 'em."
"Will do."
Su-hyeon waved to Jun-hyuk as he closed the door.
He'd done her so many favors, money aside.
"By the way, overheard your call earlier."
Eh?
The call—from Ga-eun?
"You heard that?"
"Eh, from up here? Not everything, just bits toward the end."
Hit her anew how her friend's physical specs were inhuman.
Or maybe not—good ears could pick up same-floor chatter, right?
"Anyway, I've got some leads on Ga-eun's issue."
"Really?"
"Yeah, stuff I oughta tell you..."
"?"
Those big eyes looking up at him.
Not a worry in the world. Jun-hyuk paused, wondering how much to share.
'I get why the elves keep secrets from her and stick to bodyguard duty.'
Those innocent, dopey eyes made it hard to dump grim tales on her.