D-Rank Constellation Hunter… Stuck Without Internet! - Chapter 176

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

Side Story 1-6
“So you want to know just how impressive our Ha Gyuhyuk is.”
“I don’t know how many times I’ve heard this same story, Se-um!”
Franson, who had humored me through at least ten iterations, now expressed his exasperation openly.
Fair enough—I’d repeated myself about thirty times already. But I had planned to tell it another three hundred times.
“I just want Franson to understand how remarkable Ha Gyuhyuk is.”
“Hearing you talk about it makes it impossible not to know.”
Tasha, having anticipated this situation from the start, had slipped away early to visit Ji Chae-ah.
My perceptive friend, always one step ahead.
I felt sorry for Franson, trapped here due to his lack of perception, forced to listen to my praises.
But what could be done? He was completely confined to my room at the moment.
“Can’t you let me go now?”
“No. You must keep me company until Ha Gyuhyuk returns.”
“Se-um’s changed. You used to spend time with us whenever you had the chance, but now you’re always with Ha Gyuhyuk.”
The way he said it could easily be misunderstood.
I still spent considerable time with Franson and Tasha.
Ha Gyuhyuk simply accompanied me during those moments since he was my attendant. And when I had tasks to complete, the three of us often remained alone together.
When I waved my hand dismissively at his exaggeration, Franson stuck his tongue out slightly.
“What exactly are you doing to make your clients like you so much?”
“When you say clients, Ha Gyuhyuk gets concerned.”
“Honestly, before Ha Gyuhyuk, didn’t Jong Seo-baek also have a particular fondness for you?”
“I’m not sure.”
I couldn’t remember.
I only vaguely recalled practicing swordsmanship for his sake. And even if he had cared for me, it was merely youthful infatuation.
“My client and that Constellation who claims to dislike you probably liked you too.”
“Do you think they’ve let go of those feelings now?”
“Well, I don’t really know that much about it.”
Franson shook his head, saying he didn’t pay much attention to his clients’ romantic affairs.
Though their relationship seemed quite close, it apparently wasn’t the kind where he’d discuss such matters with Kim Gyuwun.
Even if Franson were close with Kim Gyuwun, it would be difficult for him to speak freely given that I was his friend of three hundred years.
“That’s how everyone grows—through heartbreak and learning.”
Franson spoke as though he were a Constellation who had experienced great love, profound heartbreak, and valuable lessons.
From what I recalled, this Constellation didn’t even have a fiancée.
“Anyone listening would think you were speaking from experience.”
“Even if I’m Kim Gyuwun’s Constellation, others are still others.”
“That’s true enough.”
Franson had been agreeing enthusiastically until he suddenly drew a line, leaving me feeling oddly embarrassed.
Well, that was the typical dynamic between a Constellation and their client.
My relationship with Ha Gyuhyuk, and Delta’s with Irina, were rather exceptional circumstances.
I stole some of Franson’s snacks and pretended to look away.
“By the way, Se-um, when is your client coming back?”
“The one Ha Gyuhyuk picked from another Server? He’s already dead.”
“No, I mean Ha Gyuhyuk himself. Why would I be curious about a client I’ve never even seen that Ha Gyuhyuk picked?”
“Ah.”
Ha Gyuhyuk is my first client.
Franson slipped a pastry into my mouth while his expression turned subtly sullen.
“I don’t care what your client does with his time outside, but I want mine back.”
“If people saw this, they’d think our guy stole yours.”
“Well, he did steal him!”
Franson looked at me with an expression of utter injustice.
No, I feel a bit wronged too.
Anyone watching would think Ha Gyuhyuk had separated Franson and Kim Gyuwun forever.
I shot to my feet and raised my voice at him.
“What are you saying? Don’t let the listening Constellation misunderstand! They just went out for a team dinner!”
* * *
“You’re supposed to indulge your loved ones as much as you love them.”
“I don’t particularly want to receive Ji Chae-ah’s love.”
Kim Gyuwun desperately refused, but his glass was already filled to overflowing.
He’d never been able to hold his liquor well to begin with.
His face had already flushed crimson after just a few drinks.
“Still, Guild Master, you’ve come after so long, I c-can’t show you like this.”
His voice was already cracking, and his words weren’t coming out properly.
Ha Gyuhyuk, sitting across from him, simply smiled serenely.
“You’re still calling me Guild Master?”
“Well, um, you said it was f-fine to call you Guild Master in p-private, didn’t you?”
Kim Gyuwun mumbled with a loosened tongue as he repeatedly gulped down water to regain his senses.
“At this rate, won’t you forget that you’re the Guild Master even in official settings?”
“Nah, that won’t happen. This guy’s way too meticulous.”
Chae-ah took over the conversation and started chattering away.
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, he’s a different genre from Ha Gyuhyuk, but he’s still got that sharp, cold side to him, you know?”
“I didn’t think I was particularly sharp and cold.”
“Because of Se-um, you’re under the illusion that you’re a warm and soft person, but Ha Gyuhyuk really isn’t like that.”
Kim Gyuwun fell into thought, listening to the back-and-forth between the two with one ear and letting it pass through the other.
‘Me, a Guild Master.’
It had been several months since he became a High Priest—a transcendent being—and followed Se-um.
Since he couldn’t just leave the position vacant, Kim Gyuwun had no choice but to inherit the Guild Master’s seat without much resistance.
‘Either way, I’ve been doing the work, so wouldn’t it be better to keep the Guild Master position?’
‘Since you’ve always been the one doing the work, you should take the position now too.’
‘It’s a Guild created with great purpose. Wouldn’t it be wasteful to give it up so easily like this? I feel burdened too. There’s a certain value that comes with being Guild Master.’
I remember desperately trying to persuade Ha Gyuhyuk. Kim Gyuwun wasn’t the type to say such things under normal circumstances.
But from Kim Gyuwun’s perspective, Touch One still needed Ha Gyuhyuk.
Touch One had already grown to rival a respectable mid-tier Guild.
By prioritizing a Hunter’s potential and abilities regardless of rank, it had become the hope of low-ranked Hunters.
A separate personnel team had been established, and the Training Ground was being expanded whenever possible.
To abandon such a Guild and leave entirely. It was a place that wouldn’t even exist without Ha Gyuhyuk.
‘I’m not abandoning it.’
‘That’s just how others will see it.’
Ha Gyuhyuk had become a symbol.
A D-rank who rose to the highest position a Hunter could reach and was chosen by a Constellation.
This person who grew so much prevented the catastrophe of Landquake and exposed the corruption of the Hunter’s Association that Jang Deuk-sung had caused.
‘You are Touch One’s dream, Guild Master. You can’t leave so easily like this.’
Hadn’t I myself been moved by Ha Gyuhyuk’s refusal to give up?
If the ‘Constellation of the Entangled Apocalypse’s Finalizer’ was Korea’s pride, then Ha Gyuhyuk had become the dream of weak Hunters.
Looking at Kim Gyuwun speaking seriously, unlike usual, Ha Gyuhyuk smiled faintly.
The moment I saw that smile, I somehow felt certain that I couldn’t hold onto him.
‘You are also Touch One’s dream.’
I still didn’t believe those words, but I felt Ha Gyuhyuk’s unwavering resolve.
The choice to entrust what he had accomplished to others and be by Se-um’s side.
If he could be by Se-um’s side, that alone would make Ha Gyuhyuk happy.
“Guild Master, why are you thinking so hard without drinking?”
Ji Chae-ah urged Kim Gyuwun, who hadn’t even touched his glass yet.
[ ‘The Wings That Bear Life and Death’ is asking when you’re coming in. ]
[ ‘The Wings That Bear Life and Death’ is worried about your client’s intoxication. ]
“No, just for a moment….”
By then, my Constellation was watching over me.
Kim Gyuwun smiled slightly and gathered his courage, emptying his glass.
His head spun.
“I, I have s, something to ask you.”
“Oh my, Guild Master! Guild Master!”
Kim Gyuwun steeled his resolve.
Ha Gyuhyuk seemed to feel his determination and met his gaze seriously.
“Are you… happy right now?”
Kim Gyuwun barely finished speaking before his body collapsed to the side without even hearing a response.
He really had drunk too much.

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