A S-Class Hunter With Great Agility - Chapter 174

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 174: The Eve (2)

“Hiding something? What are you talking about?”

I feigned ignorance and asked back. I didn’t forget to hide my flustered expression either.

“What could I possibly be hiding from you?”

“You always avoid eye contact when you lie. You usually look at me fine, but at times like this you keep looking elsewhere.”

Choi Yu-il opened his eyes narrowly. Then he stared at me intently, making me think he was a shaman with 50 years of experience.

Why is he being so serious? I tried hard to play dumb.

“Are you really not going to tell me?”

Yeah, absolutely not.

‘I could never tell him that I’ve decided to voluntarily enter a cult’s den where dozens of people have been killed, not even if I died and came back to life.’

I’d be lucky if he didn’t faint on the spot after hearing that. Even though it was an operation with S-rank Hunters, dangerous was still dangerous.

When I maintained my silence, Choi Yu-il muttered with a pitiful expression.

“…I get it. I understand. Even though we’re in the same industry, there are confidential matters. You can’t just tell me carelessly.”

“Huh?”

“Even though we’ve been friends for over 15 years, yeah, there are things that are okay and things that aren’t. It’s disappointing but… if you can’t even tell me, it must be something that requires maintaining secrecy even with a knife to your throat. If it’s something like that, well…”

“No, it is confidential but.”

I waved my hand. Why is he being so dramatic?

“It’s not that top secret?”

“If it wasn’t that serious, neither you nor Sister wouldn’t be hiding it from me like this.”

“Did you ask Sister too?”

“No. I couldn’t ask her. But I’ve known for a while that there’s something the Vice Guild Leader doesn’t know about.”

Sister Yu-kyung really isn’t the type to keep secrets well. You could say she can’t lie.

If even someone as oblivious as Choi Yu-il noticed, that says it all…

‘God, why did you give me these siblings?’

They were definitely a blessing, but sometimes they were quite troublesome too.

“What Sister is hiding and what you won’t tell me are the same thing, right? Just like when you couldn’t explain about meeting Yeon Na-yeon last time.”

“Why do you only get sharp at times like this?”

He was probably quite hurt.

Now he wasn’t just a friend but someone in the same industry, yet there was something only Sister Yu-kyung and I knew while he didn’t… Even if he couldn’t show it, he must have wondered what was going on.

‘He tried to figure it out on his own, but when he couldn’t, he couldn’t stand it and came to me.’

I could understand that feeling of exclusion since I’d experienced it several times before my Awakening.

Though I never cried like he did.

‘I guess I have no choice…’

I sighed. It seemed some explanation was necessary.

As long as it wasn’t important information like the name Goemin Sect or the operation date, this much was within my discretion.

“…Fine. I’ll tell you. I can’t tell you everything though. Is that okay?”

“Is it okay for me to know?”

“What wouldn’t be okay? I was feeling frustrated too, so this works out better.”

I opened my mouth.

“…There’s a certain force.”

“A force?”

“Yeah. The Association bombing incident, you know? They’re the ones who orchestrated it.”

Choi Yu-il seemed a bit surprised. He opened his mouth slightly then closed it again.

“That… wasn’t a dungeon break after all. Something did seem strange about it.”

“They disguised it. By releasing several monsters. That incident isn’t the only one those bastards caused. Several people died because of them too.”

“…”

“We absolutely have to root them out.”

When I spoke seriously, Choi Yu-il slowly nodded.

“…So you’re working on that now. Trying to root them out.”

“That’s right.”

“Why didn’t Sister tell me about something this important…”

I crossed my arms and continued speaking. I ignored the penalty warning sounds flowing in.

“This matter is only being handled at the Guild Leader level. If more people knew, it would definitely leak somewhere. To prevent social chaos, they probably thought it was right to proceed with a small elite group. Since it’s an alliance of S-ranks to begin with, they wouldn’t really need help from others.”

“…”

“Well… it is a bit too much though. To not know anything at all.”

‘She probably didn’t say anything because she was worried Choi Yu-il might get into danger.’

Sister Yu-kyung had a tendency to be overprotective of him, even if it didn’t seem like it.

“…What about you? Aren’t you participating too?”

“Ah, I’m personally involved in something… I ended up joining by chance. I can’t tell you more about this, sorry.”

“No, it’s fine.”

Choi Yu-il shook his head.

“I see. Ah, I’m suddenly embarrassed… It’s like I threw a tantrum.”

“Isn’t it similar? I thought the world was ending. You were crying so hard.”

When I giggled, Choi Yu-il covered his face and couldn’t continue speaking for a while. He seemed quite embarrassed.

“Still, well… You should at least know this much. I understand why Sister hid it, but just in case something happens… It’s better to have at least one person who knows something.”

“What? Is it that dangerous?”

“Who knows.”

I shrugged my shoulders. Then I rolled my eyes for a moment.

‘Anyone who’s faced those ‘Bishops’ several times would probably think the same way I do.’

They were dangerous beings. Jumping in believing only in the hypothesis that they were soul entities was definitely a gamble.

An operation where things could go wrong at any moment… where it was hard to read even one step ahead.

The Guild Leaders might think differently, but from my perspective as someone who had just become a Hunter, it would be a lie to say I wasn’t worried.

“Hey.”

“Yeah?”

I casually asked Choi Yu-il.

“I won’t die, will I?”

It was a playful question. I wasn’t expecting a serious answer.

I was just expecting him to react with bewilderment, asking what kind of nonsense I was suddenly talking about.

“You won’t die.”

But the guy became serious. As if telling me not to even mention such ridiculous talk.

“Why would you die? Don’t make jokes like that.”

“…Right.”

I uncrossed my arms with a chuckling laugh.

He’s not a Prophet Hunter or a Shaman… so why do his words make me feel reassured?

It was a sense of relief I couldn’t feel among the S-ranks.

“Friends really are nice to have.”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

That day’s commotion came to an end like that.

* * *

The day of the operation.

An alley near the Church of Gomin.

“Oh, hello? You’re here early?”

A man wearing pitch-black sunglasses greeted me. Dressed in a leather jacket, he was tall and had his black hair slicked back, revealing his forehead.

“Aren’t you standing out too much? There’s no point in wearing a mask.”

I, in the form of a young man wearing glasses, spoke without hiding my bewilderment.

“Haven’t you heard that offense is the best defense? Trying too hard to look ordinary will only arouse suspicion. And this kind of appearance suits me best.”

[Item]

Secretive Night Walk (A)

— A woman walked the night path hiding everything.

Changes the user’s identity to something else. Cannot be removed by external force.

*Additional Buff | Item Invisibility

Lee Cheong-ryu, wearing the disguise item, shrugged his shoulders. I shook my head from side to side.

“Yes, yes…”

Well, a man with that way of speaking and those mannerisms would only feel awkward if he dressed normally.

It seemed right to leave this matter to his judgment.

“By the way, I rode public transportation for the first time today, and it was really fascinating. Do grandfathers usually fight each other often on the subway? Or is it just Line 1?”

“You’ve never ridden the subway before?”

“Yeah! Probably?”

If it’s your first time, then it’s your first time, but what’s with the “probably”? Were you some precious young master from a wealthy family…

“I had no choice but to take it since traveling through Gates would be too conspicuous, but it was a more interesting experience than I thought—”

Lee Cheong-ryu didn’t look like someone facing an important operation.

He never gets nervous no matter what happens.

“Good morning.”

Finally, Hong I-jo arrived. He waved his hand with an expressionless face.

“Ah, hello.”

I lightly nodded to the ordinary-looking man and asked.

“What did you take to get here, Hong I-jo?”

“Taxi.”

“I see.”

“First time riding one.”

“I see…”

It was typical of people who had transportation methods that transcended common sense, like Gates and wings.

[Ah, can you hear me?]

Suddenly, someone’s voice reached my ear. I lightly tapped the radio attached to my ear and focused on the voice.

“Yes, I can hear you.”

[Enough with the small talk. It’s almost time to start, so let’s get ready.]

“Yes.”

It was Sister Yu-kyung. She focused all three of us with her voice that had become completely serious.

“Lee Cheong-ryu.”

“Okay.”

He stood pressed against the alley wall. Naturally, Hong I-jo and I also took positions beside him.

“…Do we really have to stand like this?”

“Isn’t it nice? Like a spy movie.”

If I complained here, it would just lead to more talking. I kept my mouth shut.

“Look, it’s starting.”

Lee Cheong-ryu pointed outside the alley. There was a fairly large church there.

At first glance, it really looked like an ordinary church… However, it was a place hiding all kinds of incidents beneath the surface.

[Butterfly, please.]

Yu-kyung’s instruction came down. She must have been ordering Yeon Na-yeon to cast her illusion skill.

Lee Cheong-ryu and I stared intently at the church where the skill was being cast.

“…Hmm, I can’t tell what’s changed.”

“No. It’s definitely changed.”

The visible scenery hadn’t changed at all. However, I could tell.

‘Something about the flow has changed.’

The atmosphere flowing around the church had definitely changed.

“Probably no matter what happens there, no one will be able to tell. They won’t even be able to hear sounds.”

“Really…? Well, the Butterfly Guild Leader’s illusions are trustworthy. So are your senses.”

Soon Yu-kyung’s radio transmission continued.

[It’s done. You can proceed with entry.]

With this, all the preliminary work was completed. I answered briefly with a “yes.”

“Shall we start off light—”

Lee Cheong-ryu said as he emerged from the alley. Hong I-jo and I also headed toward the church front with him.

‘The illusion… has been perfectly executed.’

We didn’t receive a single glance while approaching the church front. I had been worried because Lee Cheong-ryu’s disguised appearance was too conspicuous.

I glanced around briefly. Even though it was daytime with heavy foot traffic, people just passed by us.

“…Whew.”

I took one deep breath.

Knock knock.

I knocked on the church door.

“Oh my, please come in.”

A middle-aged woman with a gentle impression appeared from inside the door.

“Are you the people who applied for the special baptism today?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“You’ve come at just the right time. You’ve made the long journey to receive grace.”

She smiled and guided us inside the church.

“Please come in.”

“…Excuse us.”

I pulled up the corners of my mouth. Though my eyes weren’t smiling.

Creak—

Finally the church door opened. We stepped inside.

It was the calm before the storm.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————