Chapter 1: Prologue

“It’s the worst.”

In an office on the 18th floor looking down upon Mapo Bridge, an office worker in Yeouido heard something he didn’t want to hear from his boss. In the middle of winter, a middle-aged man with sweat pouring down him answered carefully, “Yes, the state of Gangjin right now is not good. An urgent request from the Jeju-do office was sent in so I took the liberty to report it to the CEO first…”

“How much?”

“They need over seven A-class hunters alone…”

An iPad of the newest model resting on the old desk reflected the view of Gangjin. Lee Juwon, who was looking at the scene with an apathetic face, cut off the words of Team Leader Choi and questioned him clearly, “How much are they giving?”

He had already grasped the grade level and number of people needed to resolve the situation in Gangjin just by looking at the monitor. However, things that were related to money were difficult for even Lee Juwon to guess accurately.

It was clear how much they needed to receive, but it was uncertain how much the other party would give. Besides the lowest labour cost, there was no fixed unit price, so he had to determine whether to accept it or reject it.

Team Leader Choi, who had taken on the difficult report, hesitated before speaking, “The provincial government said that they’ll transfer all the dungeon rewards to us separately from the contingent fee. They also said they’ll give priority use of all the dungeons that occur in Jeju to us.”

“Hmm…”

Lee Juwon, who sat back loosely on a creaking chair, nodded his head as if he were thinking. However, while he was listening to Team Leader Choi’s words, Lee Juwon had already finished making calculations in his head.

It’ll take over ten thousand carats to handle the Gangjin dungeon, but the estimated reward would be eight thousand at most. Hunters will gain experience, but there’ll also be as many incidental expenses as well.

Priority usage or whatever, it’s possible verbally, but there’s no real ownership of dungeons they didn’t know about the time of appearance or the time of disappearance. It was also difficult to reach an agreement with the landowners of where the dungeon appeared, so how could there be priority usage?

Even if it was a successful handling, it’d match with the bidding price of the established government, so there was no profit. It was only in the early stages of expanding the business that they needed to deal with the bleeding in order to produce results, but there was no need to do low-cost jobs now.

Lee Juwon only thought it was a relief that Kang Inheon was in another dungeon right now and that he couldn’t hear this news. He was worrying about how to keep Kang Inheon from being aware of this until the Gangjin situation was roughly wrapped up.

Seeing Lee Juwon absorbed in his thoughts, Team Leader Choi held a bit of hope. He was worried because he thought he’d flatly refuse. As expected, even Lee Juwon, who was said to have blood colder than that of a monster, seemed to have a bit of humanity left.

However, an icy voice easily extinguished the excitement bubbling in Team Leader Choi’s chest. “You can go now.”

Team Leader Choi’s shoulders drooped. Normally, he’d just curse inside and leave, but the situation in Gangjin was really serious right now, so he couldn’t just walk away. Still, recalling the appearance of Lee Juwon who had been worrying a bit, Team Leader Choi carefully opened his mouth, “...CEO-nim.”

When Lee Juwon stared strangely at Team Leader Choi, who hadn’t immediately left, their eyes met. Team Leader Choi immediately lowered his gaze at the face oozing coldness and the even colder look in his eyes. He still didn’t have enough experience to look at him in the eyes while talking. Team Leader Choi continued, looking somewhere at the old tie Lee Juwon was wearing, “Our company, December, is the only company that’s able to immediately dispatch over seven A-class hunters right now. As you know, isn’t Edwon currently in the midst of clearing the flower garden dungeon? Presently, only a thousand Gangjin residents have been evacuated, and if it isn’t suppressed right at this moment, then there’s a high possibility that the entirety of Gangjin will be devastated. Or… if it’s Hunter Kang Inheon, who will return soon, him alone is enough…”

“How much is your annual salary, Team Leader Choi?”

“…What?”

At those strange words, Team Leader Choi had no choice but to stare at Lee Juwon again. Lee Juwon personally folded his iPad holder and handed it to him while saying, “Do you want me to cut it in half during salary negotiation next month?”

“……”

“Or would the Team Leader like to do the work that seven people can barely manage all by himself?”

“……”

“If our Team Leader Choi wants to have a work life balance, he has to do business at a company level, right?”

Team Leader Choi, who received the iPad, was about to leave because he thought it was hopeless, but he remembered the earnest eyes of the maknae intern in his hometown Gangjin. He gulped in order to move his gular sack stiff with tension before barely managing to continue his words, “I apologize if I’m being presumptuous but, in the long run, it’ll help the company image too…”

“’But’ following after ‘I apologize’ is a conjunction that should not be added.”

Lee Juwon’s voice was definitely colder than when he was looking dryly at the LCD. He didn’t know if it seemed more so because of the pale, ghost-like face he faced in the representative’s office where the heater wasn’t even turned on during a frigid winter.

Maknae-ya, I’m sorry… Team Leader Choi apologized to both the maknae and the CEO.

“…I apologize.”

“Should I open the door for you too?”

“……”

Instead of apologizing three times, Team Leader Choi silently bowed and left the representative’s office. Not caring whether he had left or not, seeing Lee Juwon’s appearance of looking at other documents made Team Leader Choi remember his old nickname.

Yess and Yes[1]. Pretty Trash and Pretty Scrooge.

[1] The abbreviations of pretty trash and pretty scrooge in korean is yesseu and yeseu, which sounds like yess and yes

 

* * *

 

At the time Lee Juwon had peace of mind because Kang Inheon was in another dungeon and couldn’t hear the news about Gangjin, Kang Inheon had already cleared the dungeon ten days ahead of schedule. Therefore, he should’ve been on vacation for at least fifteen days, but he was currently in the schoolyard of Youngil Elementary School.

The dungeon occurred in the basement of an elementary school under the jurisdiction of December.

When a dungeon occurs in multiple facilities protected by wartime international law, such as schools or hospitals, they are automatically placed under the responsibility of the hunter company within the vicinity. Most hunter companies outsourced unprofitable allocation managements or assigned low-ranked hunters.

December was no different. However, contrary to their expectations of a C-class dungeon that wouldn’t be difficult to clear, the hunters were having a hard time because a Baiten appeared.

Except for the inside of its neck, the entire body of the Baiten, who had a large figure that reached three meters and a dangerous tail, was encased in hard skin made of steel that was like armour, making it difficult to attack. By nature, a large size would be slow, but its speed was also fast.

A long time had passed since they requested assistance from the headquarters, but they heard no news. It was natural that the hunters who had been desperately struggling saw Kang Inheon, who suddenly appeared, as their saviour.

“Hunter K-Kang-nim?”

“Gasp! How did Hunter Kang Inheon-nim get here?!”

“Hello,” Kang Inheon leisurely greeted them as he spread his palm. A blue light the size of a baseball appeared on his hand. With that as a pivot, blue light was securely gathered from all sides. The spherical light in his grasp lengthened and changed into a long stick in an instant.

Swaaaa—.

The air vibrated unstably. Contrary to Kang Inheon’s calm expression, the energy raged on as if it was going to tear skin.

The hunters swallowed dryly. They could vividly feel the pulse[2] being gathered through their skin.

[2] Word used to describe the energy of hunters

“Kuwooooh!”

As expected, the Baiten also noticed that the airwaves had completely changed. The Baiten, suddenly feeling pressured, roared while brandishing its stone fists towards Kang Inheon.

Kang Inheon avoided the attack while taking a step back. The flying fist violently cut through the air and the sound wave made Kang Inheon’s hair flutter.

“Oh...” Kang Inheon spat out a sound of admiration. It was a force that could separate bone from flesh if directly hit.

“It’ll hurt if I get hit...”

Avoiding the Baiten’s uncouth attacks by an inch, Kang Inheon entered the inner side of the Baiten.

Kuung! Kung! Kwang!

When he couldn’t avoid all the long and nimble tail attacks, he’d block them with his rod and change its direction. At some point, Kang Inheon reached right under the Baiten’s neck.

“Kwiiiiik!” The monster, noticing the crisis, roared as it stepped back. No, it tried to step back. The rod Kang Inheon had been holding, which instantaneously elongated like a beam of light and pierced the Baiten’s neck, was quicker.

“Keok—!”

As if hit by a harpoon, the Baiten couldn’t move. The roar echoing in the cave suddenly ceased.

For a while, the silence resembling weightlessness hung in the air. As soon as Kang Inheon pulled out the rod, a cloud of dust rose from the floor along with a deafening boom that broke the silence.

Kuung!

Kwang, the Baiten’s enormous body fell forward. A glare still remained in its eyes, unable to tell what had just happened to it.

Kang Inheon fixed his grip on the rod again. Then, as if chopping up carrots, the Baiten’s head and body were cut with light strokes.

As it was something that happened in an instant, the hunters watching the scene couldn’t even close their mouths. The monster that had been ferociously rampaging up until now and that they couldn’t handle couldn’t even fight back properly and was turned into a lump of meat in a flash?

Only when Kang Inheon had taken care of the aftermath and dematerialized the rod seeping with pulse did they understand the situation and cheered.

“Uwaaaa!”

“It’s over, it’s over!”

Overcome with emotions, the hunters balled up their fists and raised both hands high. Their hands throbbed due to the aftermath of the pulse permeating the air. They throbbed even more because they never expected that Kang Inheon would be the one to answer the assistance request from the headquarter.

“I-it was this easy?”

“You’re amazing, Hunter Kang-nim!”

“Even though I saw it with my own eyes, I can’t believe it!”

After handling the Baiten, the underground dungeon began collapsing little by little. It’d all be over now if they went up to the ground and the barrier maker seals off the entrance to the dungeon.

“Let’s hurry and leave!”

“Thanks to Inhunter-nim[3], the kids will be able to have classes like normal tomorrow, right?”

[3] In Korean, the order is (name) hunter, as opposed to the English version of hunter (name). Kang Inheon hunter-nim -> Inheon hunter-nim -> Inhunter-nim. Inheon can also be written as Inhun.

“Really? Schools were ordered to close indefinitely, though.”

“Argh... Will the kids actually like that?”

While the hunters, who finally had some free time, exchanged jokes, Kang Inheon tilted his head and said, “One person is missing.”

There was one less person than the report Kang Inheon received. He looked around his surroundings and continued, “Did the space contractioner die?”

At Kang Inheon’s question, the team leader sighed and said, “Hunter Lee Hyungwoo separated from us midway through. He heard about there being mana stones in the Sagaek dungeon, but stupidly...”

“Oh, my...”

Low-grade hunters who rarely had chances to participate in dungeons would often seek items and separate from the party midway through. In such cases, it was customary to close the dungeon, leaving them dead or alive. To add on, Lee Hyungwoo was different from other hunters as he was a short-term freelance hunter.

“How’s the life recognition signal?”

The senser replied in a small voice at Kang Inheon’s question, “It’s faint, but... there’s a signal.”

The dungeon was still collapsing, and there was no more time. The team leader said in a firm voice, “Let’s leave him and go. I brought him because he said his feet were fast, but turns out he was fast at running off?”

The senser who was close with Lee Hyungwoo made a small protest. “Still, if he’s alive...”

“He dug his own grave. It’s dangerous for us if we’re delayed here.”

After speaking, the team leader stared at Kang Inheon. It meant that they had to listen to Kang Inheon now that the decision maker has changed.

Kang Inheon rubbed his eyebrow with two fingers as if he was having difficulty. Then, he took something out of his pocket. A small coin shone between his fingers.

“We’ll save him if it’s heads and go if it’s tails.”

Kang Inheon threw the coin. The coin, flying high in the air, spun around and tak, fell on the back of Kang Inheon’s hand.

Everyone’s gaze was directed towards his hand. “Ah...” People groaned here and there when Kang Inheon removed the other hand that was covering the back of his hand. It was unknown whether each and every exclamation was one of lament or of relief, but the coin showed heads.

Kang Inheon scratched his cheek while saying, “It can’t be helped. Then, please leave everyone.”

“...What?”

“No, but...”

The hunters exchanged glances. Didn’t he say they’d save him if it was heads?

The team leader, who understood Kang Inheon’s intentions, furrowed their brows and said, “Alone?”

“I’ll come back right away.”

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When Kang Inheon shrugged his shoulders, the senser took a step forward.

“I-I’ll go too...”

“Sorry, but the speed of collapse is faster than I expected.”

After those words, the ground shook as if there were a violent earthquake. In an instant, Kang Inheon grabbed the shoulder of the senser who lost their balance and almost fell before stretching out his hand.

The senser, who was puzzled for a moment, soon realized what he meant. The senser imbued pulse into Lee Hyungwoo’s life signal bead, which they had registered prior to entering the dungeon, and handed it over.

“Thank you.”

Kang Inheon rolled the bead around in his hand and looked at the team leader.

The team leader sighed as they ordered them to retreat. That was because it was clear it’d be easier for Kang Inheon to move alone rather than add more manpower.

Kang Inheon made sure the other hunters made it outside before entering the dungeon again. The ground cracked and small and big stones fell from the ceiling.

A while later, the bead was dyed a bright yellow before a blocked door.

“Is it here?”

A flashy sight spread out as soon as he opened the heavy door. Eclipses of hundreds of moths flew around. A torn cocoon was hung in the innermost part of the room.

The moths that came from that cocoon were only beautiful and had no attack power, but the powder they sprinkled everywhere was different. The powder the hundreds of moths spread when they fluttered their wings was a sleeping powder strong enough to put even a Baiten to sleep in a moment.

If you pierce through the cocoon and reach the core inside the hard, armour-like barrier, you can acquire a mana stone. It was something more cumbersome than expected, so even though Lee Juwon himself knew that there were mana stones, he calculated the cost-effectiveness and ordered them to only clear it.

Kang Inheon held his breath and cut through the fluttering moths and approached the inside. Lee Hyungwoo was unconscious in the cocoon.

Lee Hyungwoo was even wearing an oxygen mask but he couldn’t pierce through the barrier even when all the oxygen in the container ran out. He seemed to be prepared in his own way, but it even took A-class hunters a few hours to break the barrier surrounding the mana stone.

Kang Inheon lifted Lee Hyungwoo who inhaled the sleeping powder and was sleeping deeply over his shoulder and contemplated for a bit.

Will he like it if he brought him this?

Kang Inheon, who made up his mind, spread out his palm. A blue light appeared atop his hand again. Kang Inheon made a rod out of the pulse and struck the barrier.

Chaeng!

The barrier didn’t break, leaving only his hand to throb.

Kang Inheon changed the end of the rod he held to a sharp one. While holding his breath, he forcibly rammed the blade into the barrier. Because, no matter how hard of a barrier it was, it had no choice but to tear if he keeps striking it harder.

Kwakwak! Kwak!

A fine crack spread out from the centre of the area of the barrier that the blade touched. When Kang Inheon put a little more strength into his grip, the barrier shattered with a pajijik sound.

Kang Inheon put his hand into the huge cocoon and rummaged around before taking out the core. The red core was fragile, so it was squeezed and crumbled like tofu when he clenched it.

The mana stone buried inside the core was brighter and purer than he expected. Kang Inheon held up the mana stone, and it shone here and there in the dim light.

The mana stone, which was only as big as a fingernail, was worth hundreds of diamonds of the same size. Seeing how it was the size of a plum seed and its brilliant sparkle, it belonged to a fairly high grade.

He’ll like it.

Kang Inheon put the mana stone in his pocket. His pocket became heavy, but somehow his heart felt heavy too. Without even realizing it himself, he let out a sigh and quickly stopped. He shouldn’t have breathed yet.

 

 

 

The hunters waiting for Kang Inheon outside were anxious as it took longer than they thought. The barrier maker said as if they were upset, “Why was it heads...?”

The team leader, who was looking at the dungeon’s entrance intensely while crossing their arms, shook their head and answered, “Only heads will appear from it.”

“Wow... Is it possible to do that too if you’re an S-class hunter?”

“That’s why there’s a theory that both sides of the coin are heads.”

“...What?”

They couldn’t continue speaking.

Kuuuuung!

With a deafening boom, the entrance to the dungeon collapsed. The schoolyard was thick with a fog of dust.

“What do we do?!”

“Ah, damn it!”

As the hunters were about to put their foot down and run, a violent winter wind suddenly blew through the schoolyard. As dust flew and the dark clouds cleared up, the round moon was revealed in the night sky.

Under the moonlight, a black figure glimmered beyond the dust floating about. Bit by bit, it held the figure of a person as it left behind the thick cloud of sand that had bloomed and its appearance was slowly revealed.

It was Kang Inheon, carrying Lee Hyungwoo.

“I-Inhunter-nim!”

“Hyungwoo-ya!”

The hunters ran towards Kang Inheon. It was only when Lee Hyungwoo, who was unconscious but breathing, was passed over that they could all let out a sigh of relief.

“I’m so, so glad you’re safe!”

“Ah, do you know how much you surprised me?!”

Kang Inheon said while looking down at the watch on his wrist, “2:17 AM, report the clear to the HA[4] and headquarters.”

[4] Hunter Association

“Ah, yes!”

The team leader got a grip on themselves and turned on the in-ear to report the clear. “December team D7, Sagaek dungeon in Youngil Elementary School, Yeouido-dong cleared, 0 deaths 1 injured, space contractioner Lee Hyungwoo is unconscious, entered the 12th December at 1...”

“Gasp, is your s-shoulder okay...?” When the healer saw Kang Inheon, they lowered the sound of their surprise and whispered. The blood dripped down under the sleeve of the black clothes Kang Inheon was wearing and dyed the dirt of the schoolyard black. The deeper part of the black fabric continued from the shoulder.

“Of course,” Kang said nonchalantly as he checked the report the team leader uploaded on his iPad. To protect the injured man on his shoulder, he didn’t avoid the few falling rocks on the other side. Wounds like these don’t hurt that much and heal quickly.

“Ah...”

Seeing this, the healer nervously rubbed their nails. He was a C-class healer, and he was hesitant to step forward because he felt that Kang Inheon would only receive treatment from a much higher-grade healer.

“Uh...”

The small and cautious voice made Kang Inheon’s attention turn away from the iPad and towards him. The healer, who wanted to administer emergency treatment, hardened his resolve and asked Kang Inheon, “Can I treat you?”

“It would be nice if you could.”

Kang Inheon grinned and flopped down on the ground. He had to bend down to make it easier for the healer to work on his shoulder, as he was nearly 190cm tall.

The healer approached Kang Inheon. He manifested his healing powers, and with the utmost sincerity, he instilled his pulse into Kang Inheon’s shoulder. His treatment was nothing more than a hemostasis, but Kang Inheon spun his shoulder and said, “I feel so much better, thank you.”

“...Thank you, too....”

The hunters who saw that scene continuously glanced and clap, clap, clap, they clapped while snickering.

“Wow, how heartwarming!”

“What a beautiful night.”

They said it jokingly, but the atmosphere was really good because they completed the mission without any deaths or serious injuries, even though there were unexpected situations such as Lee Hyungwoo or the Baiten. Until the post-processing team arrived from the head office, they continued to talk about such-and-such topics like everything from the weather to MBTIs, preferred music genre, dungeon strategies, and then the barrier maker said, “Hey, do you mind if I ask a question?”

When Kang Inheon nodded, the barrier maker narrowed their eyes and continued, “That coin from earlier, are both sides really heads?”

“...How did you know?”

Kang Inheon, who rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, added in a whisper, “Please keep it a secret.”

“Secret my foot. Everyone knows.”

At the team leader’s dumbfounded comment, Kang Inheon laughed lightly. His slightly droopy eyes bent as he laughed, and he looked nothing like the man who slaughtered the monster earlier. The hunters watched in awe for a moment before they changed the subject to regain their senses, “By the way, we won’t get in trouble, will we...?”

“Yeah, who knows how much the CEO will grill us if he finds out Inhunter-nim got hurt because we couldn’t control Lee Hyungwoo...”

“Oooh! I just got goosebumps.”

Only then did the hunters remember the problem at hand. In an instant, the atmosphere became gloomy. A chill ran by as they remembered the look in those threatening eyes of that pale, corpse-like face.

“That ghost must be....”

“The CEO just follows the rules. I’m the one who intruded for no reason.”

At Kang Inheon’s words, the schoolyard suddenly fell silent. The hunters’ faces were filled with questions.

Rules? Lee Juwon was the greatest antipode of the word rules. But they couldn’t bring themselves to say anything in response. Only then did the hunters realize their mistake.

They shouldn’t have insulted the head of the company in front of Kang Inheon... Kang Inheon’s atmosphere was so relaxed that they did it out of habit. When Kang Inheon, who was always kind, seemed subtly displeased, the hunters quickly corrected themselves. “Yes..., he is... principled.”

“W-we apologize for misspeaking...”

Kang Inheon gently rotated his hemostatic shoulder and said, “It’s not a serious injury, but he might react sensitively. Should we keep me coming here a secret? I came because a request for assistance popped up when I was passing by, not because it was reported separately.”

There was a moment of silence. Taking this as tacit agreement, Kang Inheon continued, “I’ll remove Hunter Lee Hyungwoo from my party. Because the CEO... might be a bit stricter.”

The senser smoothed down their chest. If it was Kang Inheon, he would have ended it by expelling Lee Hyungwoo from the HA, but Lee Juwon was different. Kang Inheon simply said that he would be a little strict, but in reality, it wouldn’t be like that at all. Wouldn’t the rest of Lee Hyungwoo’s life be in jeopardy?

Before they knew it, the outside of the schoolyard became a bit noisy. It seemed that the post-processing team had arrived.

“Then I’ll go before I get caught.”

When Kang Inheon recovered and stood up, the hunters greeted him with sincerity. “Thank you, Hunter Kang-nim.”

“We’re alive thanks to Inhunter-nim...”

As he walked to the back door, the healer quietly approached Kang Inheon. Kang Inheon matched his pace and waited until the hesitant healer opened his mouth. After a while, the healer spoke with concern, “...Hunter Kang-nim, t-take care of yourself. And if you get seriously injured...”

Kang Inheon also kindly responded to the kind concern, “Thank you, but I take very good care of my body.”

Even though it was midwinter, the evergreen trees planted on the school grounds gave off a green glow all year round. The glossy leaves looked even fresher in the moonlight.

 

“My goal is to live a long and happy life.”

 

 

 

Translator notes:

this is a character development>>>romance solely for my scum babygirl lee juwon

the next chapter is like 35 pages lol give me 10 years

 

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