Chapter 6

“Father, who is this?”

Do-jun saw Seol Yoon-hee’s cold sunken eyes.

For some reason, he felt as if he sensed danger for the first time in his life.

Cha Yeji immediately felt awkward and bashful.

“H-hello. I’m Manager’s… Ah, no, Mr. Do-jun’s colleague.”

“…Really? Just that?”

Seol Yoon-hee’s sudden cold and tight demeanor made Cha Yeji wary of her attitude and immediately nodded her head in agreement.

She then stared back at Do-jun to confirm her statement.

“We work in the same department. So, can we come in now?”

The weather during January was full of cold winter gales.

Although Do-jun didn’t seem to care much about it, Cha Yeji was clearly clenching her coat, feeling the cold.

At that sight, Seol Yoon-hee reluctantly opened the door while letting out an audible sigh as if expressing distress.

“Pardon the intrusion…”

Cha Yeji entered the door carefully.

Upon entering, she saw a fairly spacious living room.

And there seemed to be only one bedroom.

“Your house is pretty clean, Manager, ah no, Mr. Do-jun. Hehe.”

Plop.

Cha Yeji suddenly clung to Do-jun without hesitation.

She wore a coat, but her chest can still be seen since it was quite big, and unknowingly it touched Do-jun’s arms.

Seol Yoon-hee got agitated upon seeing that and separated the two.

“We’re having dinner in a little while, so you can just have a cup of tea and then you may go.”

“Uhh, b-but…”

Cha Yeji looked at Do-jun.

It was he who invited her for dinner in the first place.

She was making an expression as if asking him to say something.

Do-jun noticed her intentions and turned to Seol Yoon-hee.

“I invited her over for dinner tonight. So, please prepare dinner for the three of us.”

At Do-jun’s words, Seol Yoon-hee puffed out her cheeks to temper her emotion.

She then turned her head and walked towards the kitchen, fuming and visibly mad.

Do-jun muttered something at her sudden change of attitude.

“…Is she going through puberty?”

Seol Yoon-hee shouted in response as if she heard him.

“No, I’m not!”

However, Do-jun was still the owner of this house, so it was not upon her to make decisions in his place.

＊ ＊ ＊

An awkward silence filled the room.

Cha Yeji sighed while alternately looking at Do-jun and Seol Yoon-hee, who were only eating quietly. In order to somehow break the ice, she decided to talk to Seol Yoon-hee.

“Wow, this is so delicious! You’re such a great cook.”

“It’s store-bought.”

“…Ahh, okay.”

And again, there was silence.

However, something caught Seol Yoon-hee’s attention.

“…Oh? Is that a <Suitcase>?”

As Seol Yoon-hee began to show interest in it, Cha Yeji got caught and decided not to miss this moment. She then began spouting a torrent of words.

“Yes! I’m a Hunter! Though I’m only an F-class. Oh, this is a standard distributed equipment, but it’s still from the Schwartz workshop. In addition… AH!!!”

Cha Yeji quickly shut her mouth.

She then slowly turned her head and looked at Do-jun.

But he was just sitting there, eating without any change in his expression.

Crack!

Suddenly, his chopsticks broke.

“Hiiik! I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’ve said something punishable by death!”

“…You’re a Hunter? What do you mean? What are you talking about? I thought my father is a government employee.”

Seol Yoon-hee was now suspecting about their real relationship with one another. Surely, they said they were co-workers – but seeing that expensive equipment makes it all suspicious, and considering her suspicions, a public servant cannot work in public offices and be involved in hunter businesses concurrently at the same time… at least not openly.

So either she was truly a Hunter or a public servant as Do-jun once claimed.

Only one of the two scenarios was possible.

“She’s doing it as a side job. But if she gets caught, she’ll be disciplined, so we have to keep it a secret. This girl can really be careless sometimes. It would be a huge trouble if you say this elsewhere, so can you keep it a secret?”

“…Is that right?”

Seol Yoon-hee gave her a suspicious look.

In response, Cha Yeji nodded with her mouth shut.

Jolt!

Seol Yoon-hee rose from her seat and went beside Cha Yeji.

She then held both of her hands tightly as her eyes shone in admiration.

“Amazing! A-actually, I also plan to become a Hunter in the future! Though I’m still a student. But soon, I’ll be entering the National Hunter Academy this March! Woah! I can’t believe I’m seeing a real Hunter right now!”

“…Eh?”

She suddenly had a change in attitude.

Just until a while ago, Seol Yoon-hee was raising her guard up high against Cha Yeji.

However, right now, she looks like a dog wagging her tail at her.

“W-well, you don’t have to flatter me like that. I’m just an F-class…”

“What’s wrong with that? In any case, you’re still a Hunter. Didn’t you pass the test?”

“That’s true, but…”

“What type of Hunter are you? Close-ranged? Long-ranged? Or a Magic-user? Ah! A Healer?”

Do-jun smiled unknowingly at that sight.

＊ ＊ ＊

Seol Yoon-hee smiled and saw Cha Yeji off the front door.

“I had a great time today.”

“Me too! Hehe. I’ll come back next time.”

“Ah, I’m sorry, but I’ll have to refuse you on that.”

“Ehh! Why?”

Seol Yoon-hee crossed her arms and smiled back.

“Since, I still don’t like you.”

＊ ＊ ＊

“Good morning.”

8:20 AM.

Do-jun went out a little earlier than usual and arrived at the office.

The Chief Manager, Kang Chul-soo, still hasn’t come to work yet, but his senior, Kwon Hyuk-soo, has already begun working earlier as he’s madly pounding on his keyboard right now.

“Oh, Mr. Do-jun. Good morning.”

“Why so early?.”

“Well… I think I’ll be overtaken by you somehow if I don’t do this.”

Grin.

That was what Kwon Hyuk-soo said as he stood up.

“Coffee?”

“I’ll make it for you.”

“No need, it’s the least I could do for you as your colleague. It’s a culture of some kind.”

“…Then, I’ll gladly accept it.”

“Instant coffee will do, right? I don’t even have anything else to choose here.”

“That’s ok for me.”

Suddenly, the doors burst open and Kang Chul-soo appeared behind it.

His body reeked of alcohol indicating his drunken stupor last night.

“Bastard. Acting all great just because he’s a Hunter.”

Something must have happened.

However, Do-jun decided not to ask about it and said nothing.

“Oh! Mr. Do-jun! You’re early! Hahaha!”

Kang Chul-soo ruffled Do-jun’s hair as he passed by.

“I saw the report you sent yesterday. Man ~ how did you do it? It was perfect! Excellent!”

Kang Chul-soo was surprised to see his report yesterday on the exploration of the F-class Rift in Myeongil-dong.

Even though it was an F-class, there were no blank text boxes with unfilled data as if it had been explored for several months.

Usually, it would take at least three months to completely map the whole area.

Tak.

Kwon Hyuk-soo put down the cup on Do-jun’s desk and smiled.

“What would have normally happened if someone else had been assigned to it, Chief?”

“Hyuk-soo, I’m sorry for doubting you. Hahaha!”

Kwon Hyuk-soo shook hands with Do-jun as he sat down.

“Welcome to the team, Do-jun. Let’s keep up the good work.”

“Thank you, senior.”

＊ ＊ ＊

Tap. Tap. Tap. Click.

Only the sound of the keyboard and mouse were heard inside the quiet office.

Stare~

“…Do you make a living out of staring at other people?”

Do-jun scolded Cha Yeji, who kept on staring at him.

Then, Cha Yeji began to scribble in a notebook.

No, more than a scribble, it was a drawing of a stickman doing fencing.

“Do as you please. My salary would still be the same anyway.”

Jiiing.

The printer behind him made a sound.

Kwon Hyuk-soo then jumped out of his seat and put the paper on Do-jun’s desk.

“What’s this?”

“This is the schedule for the <Hunter Rating Assessment>. Now that you have a Hunter assigned to you, you need to know about these things too.”

<Hunter Rating Assessment>

All Hunters are required to take it once a year.

The ratings are divided by order.

Depending on their scores in the assessment, their rating could go up or down.

Thus, for Hunters, this day is quite important to them.

There are already hundreds of guilds established in South Korea alone.

With the saturation of guilds in this field, they are very eager to recruit those who become high-ranking Hunters by virtue of the Hunter Rating Assessment into their own guilds.

And at this time, most Hunters would transfer from one guild to another.

Therefore, the day of the Hunter Rating Assessment is also called the ‘Day of the Hunter Transfer Market’.

“This is what the Chief worries the most about.”

“…Is it because a contracted Hunter might suddenly decide to transfer to another guild if he gets a higher rank in this assessment?”

“Bingo. That’s why he drank a lot yesterday. A D-class Hunter from our department suddenly fled, and in order to persuade him back, he treated him to a drink, but I guess he failed.”

Suddenly, Kang Chul-soo shouted.

“This bastard! I can hear it all!”

“Haha. You have such good ears, Chief.”

“Tsk.”

Kang Chul-soo turned the chair around, not wanting to hear it anymore.

“In any case, Cha Yeji also has to go through this, so you’d better go with her next week. This is my first order to you as your Chief.”

Do-jun accepted the paper and read it at once.

Next to him, Cha Yeji’s expression began to darken.

As he saw that expression, Do-jun asked.

“Are you thinking of running away, too, Ms. Hunter?”

“N-no, I’m not! Well, rather I… I think it’s better if you extend the contract.”

“It’s not up to me to decide though.”

“Hmph.”

“In any case, It’d be great if your class would go up before the assessment. That way, it’ll be easier for us to explore Rifts. In addition, your annual salary would also increase.”

Cha Yeji sighed as she looked at the paper given by Do-jun.

“I’d still be an F-class anyway.”

‘To have a body that cannot have Mana.’

The Hunter Rating Assessment is decided through the Hunter’s level, their stats, and their fighting experience.

And then they’ll be assigned to a class depending on their total score.

However, the most important factor out of them all is the amount of Mana one has.

Hunters can undergo physical cultivation with the use of Mana Stones. This process is called <Mana Injection>.

Cha Yeji, who could not have Mana because she is still at her 1st Phase of the Scholar’s Swordsmanship, is still at a low level and has low stats. Thus, she could never aim to become an E-class or higher because of it.

“We won’t know unless you try it.”

“…You know, I know myself too well. That I… was born to be F-class.”

It was incomprehensible to Do-jun why Cha Yeji was so demeaning towards herself.

Is the gap between F-class and E-class that big?

No, it wasn’t like that.

There must be some other reason. Do-jun thought so.

However, he did not bring up these words easily because…

‘This person is simply a contracted hunter in our department anyway.’

Nothing more, nothing less.

With that in mind, he was now at ease.

Whether Cha Yeji would still be an F-class, or become an E-class, or even D-class.

Do-jun thought it would still not become a hindrance to him and greatly affect his work.

“Then it seems that I’ll also be staying in F-class, too.”

“…Eh?”

“Since you’re the only Hunter assigned to me. Your rating will also determine the rating of the Rifts I’ll be able to work on.”

“B-but…  If you look for another Hunter… You’ll be able to do more.”

“That’s true. Then, shall I do that? I can post a notice about that.”

“……”

“But right now… you’re the only one I have.”

Babump.

Cha Yeji’s face turned red.

To be honest, whatever Cha Yeji’s rating was, it didn’t matter to Do-jun.

Work is work – whether it be simple jobs or important ones.

However, Do-jun thought he’d help her a little bit, just a little bit.

‘Staying in normalcy is the best.’

To keep this state.

He could lend a hand as long as it does not interfere with his normal and quiet life.

Thus, he decided to give her some advice.