D-Rank Constellation Hunter… Stuck Without Internet! - Chapter 71

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 71
“Ulrim! Ah, over there.”
And the fragile peace shattered spectacularly the moment Kim Gyuwun burst through the door without so much as a knock.
Seeing us huddled together in conversation, he seemed to have jumped to some conclusion, his face flushed with confusion.
Whatever he was thinking was probably close enough to the truth.
“Well, if you burst in without warning like that, it must be urgent.”
I naturally extracted Ha Gyuhyuk from my embrace and turned my attention to Kim Gyuwun.
Being caught in a scene like this meant nothing to me.
When you’re a Constellation, you see all sorts of things happen—it’s just the nature of existence.
Ha Gyuhyuk, however, wore an expression of discomfort.
“Ah, we believe there’s a possibility that the Gate we observed inside the Dungeon could be a Landquake.”
“I see.”
Kim Gyuwun’s face fell slightly at our complete lack of surprise.
“You already knew, didn’t you?”
“It’s not easy for me not to know these things. So you came rushing over to tell me about it?”
A Landquake shouldn’t cause any real problems unless it’s forcibly opened.
I wondered if the humans I’d chosen were simply prone to worry, or if their attitudes had shifted after my death.
Either way, they all seemed to fret far too much.
I noticed Kim Gyuwun had brought a tablet—apparently he’d compiled some kind of articles or reports on it.
“Hand it over. What’s got you so worked up?”
Kim Gyuwun respectfully passed me the tablet with both hands, then glanced sideways at Ha Gyuhyuk.
There seemed to be some subtle tension flowing between the two of them.
Well, they were at that age.
I shrugged and lowered my eyes to the screen.
[ The observed Gate displays wave patterns completely identical to the Landquake in our data.
However, the Hunter Association has determined that the likelihood of the Gate opening immediately appears remote, and citizens are responding with anxiety, saying “How can you tell us to stay calm when a Gate appeared inside a Dungeon?”
Since this Gate appeared and disappeared as a one-time occurrence, conducting further investigation is currently difficult.
The Hunter Association has stated they will seek assistance from the Constellation side, which has access to the entire world. ]
Reading to the final sentence, I understood why Kim Gyuwun had come rushing over in such a panic.
“They’re already here? Asking for help or whatever?”
“Yes… The Hunter Association people have already arrived and are desperately begging me to let them meet with you, Ulrim.”
“Can’t you just send them away?”
“Hunter Ji Chae-ah and Hunter Dan Yibum are refusing them at the entrance, but…”
“They’re refusing, but the visitors are being relentless about it—something like that?”
Kim Gyuwun nodded grimly.
The ones blocking the way happened to be from the Hunter Association itself.
It was obvious how easily my former subordinates, whom I had some history with, would cave.
“Fine, whatever. Let’s go.”
As I stood up, both men looked at me with worried expressions.
Especially Ha Gyuhyuk’s face darkened further once he realized I was the one who had sealed the Landquake.
“Why that expression?”
“I just hope Se-um doesn’t suffer any harm because of this.”
“To be honest, I also wish Ulrim weren’t entangled with the Landquake situation.”
Ha Gyuhyuk’s concern was one thing, but why was Kim Gyuwun acting so worried?
There was no way he could have known I was Se-um.
“Why are you so anxious?”
“I’m afraid you might be killed.”
So that was it. I couldn’t deny it.
After a brief silence, I shook my head.
“Even if a few humans came rushing over, it wouldn’t be easy for them to trouble me, so you don’t need to worry too much.”
If things went wrong, I could simply erase them as if they never existed in the first place.
Ah, so that’s what they were worried about.
The moment my expression turned cold, I felt both of them flinch.
I touched the ends of my hair that Ha Gyuhyuk had carefully braided and smiled faintly.
“I like it. Thank you. I’ll be going then.”
“We should come with you—”
“No, if you two show up, you’ll just expose your faces. Besides, even if you added up all their ages, they wouldn’t reach mine. Surely I won’t lose in a confrontation.”
Honestly, I was more concerned about Ji Chae-ah and Dan Yibum standing in front of me than the others.
I could only hope they wouldn’t resort to such petty tactics that would provoke the worst in both of them.
If they did use such methods, I wouldn’t be able to face them with a smile.
* * *
“I must repeat myself. Please leave.”
“Dan Yibum, this is an emergency. Only a Constellation can help with this. Does this look like a situation where you can tell me to go or stay based on your judgment?”
Hunter Association Chairman Jang Deuk-sung frowned.
He had tried persuasion, tried inducement, and even resorted to the petty threat of losing a team member this time.
But Dan Yibum maintained a firm expression, repeating only that he should leave.
“Chairman, the Constellation affiliated with our Guild is not a Hunter, and they’re not someone you can meet just because you wish to.”
Ji Chae-ah, standing beside him, showed clear displeasure as well.
When they were at the Association, they did whatever was ordered, never complained about the meager pay, and even took on others’ work.
‘Just keep cutting, and it’ll work.’
That was Jang Deuk-sung’s basic motto.
He pocketed half the budget that came down to the Association and only distributed the rest to other departments—there was no way the Association could function properly.
On top of that, the paid programs provided by the Association were expensive enough to make Hunters’ jaws drop.
Even when department heads from other sections, who knew the Association’s income well, all rushed to him begging him to loosen the budget, Jang Deuk-sung wouldn’t listen.
It had been a rare Association composed of relatively decent people.
But with a single chairman, it was rotting from the top down.
“Ji Chae-ah, surely you’re not doing this. I asked you so earnestly for help, yet you quit and left so blatantly. There should be some old affection between us.”
Ji Chae-ah was originally the type who spoke little and couldn’t refuse even when given excessive work.
When she quit, he thought he’d squeezed her well, but seeing her active here twisted his insides.
Other Constellations have entered this land in greater numbers now, but Ulrim was different.
The first to enter Earth, a symbolic figure who has brought countless updates to South Korea.
Someone who cleared several dungeons through sheer individual strength and displayed an unusual affection for Korea.
“I’m not asking for much. I just wanted to request that you help us resolve dungeons the way you did last time.”
“You’ve entrusted it to us.”
Dan Yibum spoke in a cold voice.
Jang Deuk-sung’s irritation flared sharply.
It had been a while since he’d seen his face, and now he was crossing lines unnecessarily.
Ji Chae-ah didn’t add her words, but her expression conveyed agreement.
“I didn’t want to bring this up, but… the hunter Ulrim belongs to our Association.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Ji Chae-ah’s expression twisted slightly.
There was even a sense of anger, as if she wouldn’t tolerate nonsense.
However, Jang Deuk-sung grinned, thinking that what he’d just conceived was an exceptionally brilliant move.
“And if a hunter exists, it’s their basic duty to strive for dungeon clearance.”
“That’s pure sophistry. That’s the human Ulrim, and…”
“But if there are records like residential registration proving that the human Ulrim actually exists and hasn’t died, shouldn’t they fulfill their duties as a hunter?”
…
“I came to meet Hunter Ulrim, not Constellation Ulrim.”
He had come with all manner of insistence at first, demanding to meet the Constellation, but now he flipped his attitude like turning over his palm.
Ji Chae-ah stood up abruptly, as if astounded.
“Honestly, I don’t see the need to accommodate you further. Please leave.”
It was a perfect dismissal.
But as if he hadn’t heard those words, Jang Deuk-sung remained seated in his place.
A subtly threatening mana began to flow from Dan Yibum’s body.
“Are you threatening me right now?”
No matter how much his time had passed, Jang Deuk-sung was once an S-rank hunter who dominated the nation.
The two hunters’ mana collided at the center, and Ji Chae-ah’s, which was thoroughly agitated, further disturbed the interior.
“Stop.”
And a voice that overwhelmed all of it at once.
With that single cold voice, the mana scattered completely.
Jang Deuk-sung felt this sensation for the first time in a very long while.
A powerful emotion that forcibly severed the flow of mana.
Fear.
A woman with purple hair, leaning against the doorframe and twirling it around, looked at him.
Golden eyes pierced through him.
“You said you were looking for Hunter Ulrim? But…”
Jang Deuk-sung swallowed hard in that instant.
Ulrim smiled gently.
“How rude of you.”

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