Chapter 14

It was a peaceful Monday morning.

As usual, Do-jun woke up at 7 AM, took a shower, and sat in front of the table already dressed up for work. However, the food on the table seems to be more sumptuous than usual.

“…When did you prepare all of this?”

What they had for breakfast was not the usual white rice but exquisite brown rice topped with finely chopped mushrooms. Plus there are stir-fried radish and anchovies, fried eggs, soybean paste stew, grilled mackerel, and finally, and three slices of bite-sized pear for dessert.

“Hehe. Enjoy your meal.”

“So this is what you did early in the morning. You should’ve slept more at that time.”

“Breakfast is the most important part of the day. You have to eat a good breakfast so that you’ll be strong throughout the day!”

“…Then, I’ll dig in.” 

Seol Yoon-hee smiled brightly as she sat across Do-jun, holding her chin with both hands while watching him eat. Then, she picked up her chopsticks and put a piece of mackerel on top of Do-jun’s spoon.

The usual Seol Yoon-hee was already so kind to him, but today – she seems too eager to be of service.

Surely, the only reason for this drastic change was because Do-jun said he would pay her tuition fee for the academy.

In fact, he immediately paid it after saying that remark.

“I’m so happy these days.”

“…I’m glad to hear that. Thanks for the food. I should get going now.”

Do-jun then wiped his mouth with a tissue and got up from his seat.

Seol Yoon-hee walked with Do-jun to the front door to see him off.

As Do-jun was about to go out and close the door,

“Oh, wait a minute.”

Seol Yoon-hee came close to him, smiled, and then proceeded to fix his tie.

“Take care, Father.”

＊ ＊ ＊

Sip.

8:40 AM.

Kwon Hyuk-soo was drinking coffee while reading an article in a news site.

It was about the occurrence of a Rift Distortion in the A-class Great Rift, Dark Ogre’s Swamp, located at the entrance of Guryong Mountain.

– Magi Guild Defeats the Ogre Leader!

Click.

The content of the article was simple.

A Rift Distortion happened in the Dark Ogre’s Swamp resulting in the appearance of the A-class boss monster, the Ogre Leader.

And three elite members of the Magi Guild, including the guild leader, were able to subjugate it.

incu****: Uwah! Magi Guild’s rising to the top! (Likes: 92,231 / Dislikes: 11,531)

dokd***: They were able to kill an A-class boss monster with just 3 A-class Hunters? Woah… during a Rift exploration of an A-class Rift near the neighborhood here, 7 A-class Hunters were wiped out even though it wasn’t distorted… The ranking of the Rift wasn’t finalized yet at that time, right? Their skills are already S-class. (Likes: 72,231 / Dislikes: 29,461)

sinh****: But seriously, what’s that F-class Hunter doing there? Stop putting a shrimp in the middle of a whale fight! (Likes: 32,231 / Dislikes: 2,511)

tutu****: Reveal the F-class Hunter’s name. He seems to have a loose screw on his head. Sigh… He needs to be attended to properly. (Likes: 9,231 / Dislikes 6,531)

Tak.

“Good morning, sir.”

Do-jun put down his bag and greeted him.

Kwon Hyuk-soo slightly raised his hand to accept the greeting before reading more comments in the article.

jds7****: I heard they turned on the Emergency Cam. Why didn’t they release the video? Even if the cam is broken, there should still be a recording in their database. Hmmm, there seems to be something more to this story. (Likes: 33,231 / Dislikes: 199)

“For three A-class Hunters to kill an A-class Great Rift boss monster…”

Kwon Hyuk-soo muttered.

Even though he didn’t know much about the world beyond C-class, he still knew how ridiculous it was.

Boss monsters inside Great Rifts have higher ranks than the class of the Rift they belonged to.

In addition, they had special abilities, so the Ogre Leader could already be considered an S-class.

However, they were able to kill an S-class monster with just three A-class Hunters?

“Something’s odd. Don’t you think so too, Do-jun?”

“Eh? W-what…”

Do-jun glanced at what Kwon Hyuk-soo was looking at on his monitor, and was nonchalantly surprised.

The screen showed what had happened on Saturday two days ago.

However, Do-jun replied as if he knew nothing while controlling his facial expression.

“If you say so, then I guess that might be the case.”

Screech.

Do-jun sat on his chair and turned on the computer.

“I think it’s time for you to study about Great Rifts now, Do-jun. Based on Ms. Yeji’s growth rate, she’ll reach B-class in no time. Although we’ve never had a Hunter beyond C-class in our team, so I don’t know what or how we should prepare for it.”

Looking at the relevant laws and ordinances listed under the topic, he had his work cut out for him.

Particularly, if Cha Yeji were to be promoted to B-class, he had to think about the management rights of Rifts beyond C-class. Great Rifts can’t always be considered as the territory of the Hunter Management Agency only.

“Oh, right. I forgot to give this to you.”

Kwon Hyuk-soo gave Do-jun a folder entitled <Orc Forest>.

“This is…?”

“It’s a new Rift in Deokyang-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do. I went on a business trip last time and entered there for a while. There were Orcs inside so the Rift is estimated to be C-class. As Hunter Cha Yeji has been promoted to C-class this time, I thought it would be a good idea for the two of you to go there.”

[T/N: Places ending with -do are provinces in Korea, followed by -si for cities, -gu for districts, and -dong for neighborhoods/municipalities.]

Do-jun was only in charge of one Rift.

That’s why Kwon Hyuk-soo looked remorseful while handing the job over to Do-jun because he was supposed to manage all of the C-class Rifts, including that job in particular.

“Okay, I got it.”

“It’s the chief’s orders, I hope you don’t mind it.”

“No, I’m rather grateful that you entrust me with this work.”

Kwon Hyuk-soo’s eyes widened at Do-jun’s answer and laughed.

“You’re doing really well these days, Do-jun.”

“Not really. I still have long ways to go.”

“If you need help, feel free to ask me. I’ll tell you everything I know.”

“Okay, thank you.”

Bang.

The door of the Rift Management Department suddenly opened to someone who was a bit exasperated when she entered the building.

It turned out to be Cha Yeji. She then sat next to Do-jun, which now seemed to be her designated seat, and hurriedly looked at her watch.

9:03 AM.

“I’m sorry, I’m late.”

She groomed her hair with her hands which hadn’t been dried properly.

Do-jun looked around. The Rift Management Department had a total of 7 employees.

But not a single Hunter can be seen sitting inside the department except for Cha Yeji.

“Uh… Hunter Cha Yeji, you can stay at home. No, that’s actually the rule.”

Kwon Hyuk-soo said in a more polite speech.

After Cha Yeji was promoted to C-class, employees of the Rift Management Department, including Kwon Hyuk-soo, began treating her with more respect.

“Oh, no! I am receiving a salary for my job at the clock. Obviously, I have to go to work on time as well!”

“That’s not what I meant…”

Do-jun looked for a while at Kwon Hyuk-soo and Cha Yeji who were talking to each other, he then began to look through the file.

Obviously, that place isn’t still mapped and other information is still uncertain.

The name “Orc Forest” is also tentative.

“Sir, are you busy today by any chance?”

“Why do you ask…?”

“I’d like to visit there with Yeji.”

“Uhm, report it to the chief first…”

At that moment, Kang Chul-soo suddenly jumped up from his seat.

He then strode towards Do-jun, grabbed his wallet from his pocket, and took out two 50,000-won bills,

Tak!

And placed it in Do-jun’s hand.

“Buy her some beef!”

“……”

Kang Chul-soo smiled at Cha Yeji.

“Have a safe trip, Hunter Cha Yeji.”

＊ ＊ ＊

The C-class Rift was specifically located in Seongsa-dong, Deokyang-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-go.

Upon arriving at their destination, Do-jun could now understand why Kang Chul-soo wanted him to buy Yeji some beef.

“Ahh, the Rift is actually situated near a Korean Beef store.”

“It seems that’s the case. Hehe.”

However, Do-jun had no plans of spending a single won out of the 100,000 won that Kang Chul-soo gave.

Civil servants were paid 20,000 won as allowance for business trips in their jurisdiction without using their own vehicles, and under the service regulations of Contracted Hunters, transportation costs were also shouldered by the department if ever Hunters went on a business trip.

“Did you already have breakfast?”

“I’m not hungry since I ate some bread on the way. I think we’re good to go now.”

Cha Yeji answered, looking at the Rift which was a little over 10 meters long.

At the entrance of the Rift, there were also employees dispatched from the Hunter Management Agency.

It seems that several Hunters immediately came running after hearing rumors of a new Rift opening up here.

‘This is nerve-wracking.’

Cha Yeji could see some famous B-class Hunters amongst the crowd.

It was common for Hunters to usually hunt at Rifts one class below their own for reasons like safety and any possible unforeseen contingencies.

And for Cha Yeji, this is her first time entering a C-class Rift so she was worried.

Furthermore, information about the Rift was limited, so there might be other dangers lurking beyond it unbeknownst to them.

‘I have to absolutely protect him at any cost.’

At first, she suspected that Do-jun was hiding his power.

And honestly, that doubt still lingered.

Nonetheless, Do-jun right now seems to be a normal person.

And that maybe he really is just powerless.

‘I can’t miss any of the monsters this time.’

Goblins are F-class, the weakest of all monsters.

However, C-class monsters are very different from F-class.

An average person could instantly die after with just one blow.

“Manager, if I come across a dangerous situation, run away immediately.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“What?”

Do-jun answered casually as if it was a conversation familiar to him.

“…What I mean is that you already have an A-class suit, so I thought that wouldn’t happen. Also, your ability was already verified before the Rating Assessment. You were able to deal with the Orc Warriors easily at that time. That’s why, if you’re careful, we won’t be in any danger.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Manager.”

Cha Yeji took out her suit with a solemn expression and brought the ‘bead’ to her chest.

Then a bright silver suit wrapped around her body.

“We’ve got a tanker, so let’s now go inside.”

“Let’s be careful since we don’t have a healer.”

Do-jun could see several Hunters entering the Rift with a party.

He suddenly recalled the trio from the Magi Guild that he met in the <Dark Ogre’s Swamp>.

They were a balanced party composed of a healer, close-combatant, and long-ranged Hunters.

‘If it’s a Great Rift, Cha Yeji might have a hard time, so it would be best if we could get a tanker or a healer in advance.’

However, no matter how many times he posted a recruitment notice,

The number of Hunters trying to enter the City Hall as Contracted Hunters were quite little.

No, it was right to say that there were few if not none.

“Ms. Yeji.”

“Yes?”

“If I could find you a colleague, what type would you prefer? For example, we could find you a tanker who will attract monsters’ attention or archers that could support attacks from a distance…”

Cha Yeji’s eyes sank and turned cold.

She murmured, slowly walking step-by-step towards Do-jun.

“Are you cheating on me?”

“…What?”

“Didn’t you say I was the only one? Was that only a lie? Are you thinking of signing another Hunter?”

It seems that she was mistaken about something.

“Just because we’re contracting another Hunter doesn’t mean we’re terminating yours, Ms. Yeji.”

“Manager.”

“Yes?”

“I don’t need them.”

Cha Yeji then walked to the entrance of the Rift.

However, she subsequently turned around, reached out to Do-jun, and smiled.

“Let’s go.”