Even an S-Class Hunter Wants to Get Married - Chapter 35
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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35. Before Me!
Jessica and Namgung Yeon, as I knew them, could be called polar opposites.
Namgung Yeon, the Young Master of the Namgung Family who values tradition and family.
Jessica, the eldest daughter of Hellite Industries who pursues change and innovation.
But when it comes to romance, people don’t necessarily date long just because they’re similar to themselves.
While individual differences certainly exist and I can’t say for certain, sometimes people who are polar opposites actually suit each other much better.
Originally, Marriage Information Agencies aren’t about deciding after meeting just once, but rather a process of continuously meeting various people to find someone who suits you.
“So there’s nothing strange at all about me matching those two together.”
“…”
This was my answer to Kim Yang’s question while riding in the Police Car to the Police Station.
“Even if they seem like polar opposites, there are cases where they suit each other, you know?”
“Don’t, don’t know. Just, just arranged marriage. Match two.”
“…”
Of course, it’s not like there wasn’t some weight to my judgment that they were a perfect match since they both wanted arranged marriages.
But then they should resolve things politically without fighting.
“This is really damn annoying.”
“Go, go home today?”
“Don’t know. Let’s see the situation first. You locked the Office door, right?”
“Of, of course.”
Look how she catches onto quitting time like a ghost.
Shortly after, we arrived at the Police Station.
The Detention Cell at the far end of the Police Station.
A woman with blonde hair and a sleek figure was crouched down, hugging both her legs.
“Miss Jessica, are you alright? I was so worried that I rushed over as soon as I heard from the Detective!”
“Damn, damn annoying, you said.”
Kim Yang was repeating what I had said earlier from behind, but I ignored her, pretending not to hear.
Sorry, but Miss Jessica is also a premium Customer.
Cursing behind their back but putting on a capitalist smile in front of them is the minimum courtesy of someone who’s been paid.
“Boss.”
Jessica jumped up abruptly.
Beyond the bars, she looked as fresh as if she had just received makeup, with a lustrous shine flowing from her hair and skin.
I heard that the 6th Floor’s cybernetic bodies had advanced even into beauty applications.
That was certainly the case.
However, Jessica’s facial expression was shadowed with gloom.
“Did I make a mistake?”
* * *
“…I’m leaving work.”
Back at the Meracle Office.
When I gestured to the grumbling Kim Yang, she immediately started brewing coffee for Jessica.
Jessica was released after paying bail money.
Since the investigation concluded smoothly, the police officers released her right away.
During the investigation, I heard a summary of what happened yesterday.
The unbelievable story of how she turned the Seowol Sword, a family treasured sword gifted by Namgung Yeon, into her right arm.
And Jessica-.
“Did I do something wrong?”
She still didn’t understand.
“I understand that the Seowol Sword is an important sword. However, to be coldly rational about it, it’s not efficient.”
“What use is it to give that to me when I don’t even know how to handle a sword? Should I carry it at my waist all the time?”
“If it had been a ring or necklace, I would have accepted it, but a sword is truly meaningless. If a precious item were practical, I would cherish it even more.”
“So in my own way, following the spirit of the Namgung Family’s Human-Sword Unity-.”
It felt like talking to an AI.
Jessica calmly poured out her thoughts from within her logical thinking.
It wasn’t wrong.
But it wasn’t right either.
“For the Namgung Family, that’s their tradition. Conversely, wouldn’t you be displeased if someone suddenly returned a gift you gave and exchanged it for something else?”
I tried to persuade her with empathy while handing over the coffee Kim Yang had brought out, but-.
“That’s why I give gifts through catalogs and credit cards. If it’s practical, they’ll use it often, and if they use it often, they’ll treasure it more.”
A brutally cold response came back. There’s something I need to check at this point.
“What percentage cybernetic body did you say you had, Jessica?”
“With this right arm replacement, 67% of my body is cybernetic.”
“So you’re basically a machine?”
“That’s inaccurate. My brain hasn’t been touched except for installing the latest Argos Chip.”
This is hopeless.
Since she wanted a political marriage, I just overlooked the personality aspects.
I didn’t know that would come back to bite me like this.
“You seem troubled.”
“Pardon?”
“I have an Emotion Spectrum Scanner built in. Your expression reads as 71% worry.”
That’s creepy.
I’d heard that 6th Floor technology was amazing, but I was surprised that even this was possible.
After looking at my expression, Jessica’s head dropped slightly downward.
“He-.”
A weak voice quietly leaked out.
“I thought he would be happy.”
“…Jessica?”
“I was wrong.”
Without even touching her coffee, Jessica headed outside.
“I’m sorry, Boss. For getting you involved in something strange.”
“Where are you going?”
She stopped walking briefly at my question. She seemed hesitant, as if she herself didn’t know where to go.
“I should return to Cyber City.”
In the end, she declared she would return to her original place.
After Jessica left, I looked down at the coffee I had given her for a moment, then cleared it away.
‘It’s not my responsibility, but it does feel uncomfortable.’
The fact that the relationship between the two people I had matched was heading toward catastrophe gave me a strange feeling.
This was the first time something like this had happened.
“B-Boss.”
Kim Yang called out worriedly.
“Th-those two people. Wh-what will happen to them?”
What will happen?
Isn’t it obvious?
“They’ll fight. Between the Namgung Family and Hellight… I’m not sure who would win.”
Strictly speaking in terms of military power, the Namgung Family side has a much greater advantage.
However, the wealth that Hellight possesses has more versatile power than the Namgung Family.
They could hire Cyber City’s ‘fixers’ who play a role similar to the 3rd Floor’s Hunters. It’s also possible to gather large mercenary groups like PMCs.
“Th-then. An i-inter-floor war?”
“No, it won’t go that far.”
Surprisingly, fights between groups are quite common in the Tower.
Representative examples would be the Holy Knight Order of Rajesta Continent and the Devil Worshippers of Cyber City.
“Inter-floor wars don’t break out that easily. The Azure Dragon incident last time was a special case.”
An intense presence that could destroy all of Seoul just by descending.
Unless it’s at that level, conflicts between individuals or between companies occur quite frequently.
“Th-then will they r-really fight?”
“That’s how it’ll turn out. What can we do? The situation has developed this way. We just need to wash our hands of it and focus on our own work.”
If we get involved in a fight between massive organizations, we’ll just become shrimp crushed by whales.
“Just forget about it. It’s easier to live by forgetting.”
* * *
Three days later.
A massive fire was blazing at Hellight’s Prosthetic Manufacturing Factory located on the 6th Floor.
The Factory Workers inside the burning building were evacuating in panic, while the Fixers hired as mercenaries protected them, pulling their triggers without rest.
“Those old-fashioned bastards are jumping around like crazy!”
“Those guys are moving like that without a single prosthetic?”
Even amid the pouring hail of bullets, the Namgung Family Warriors moved gracefully.
They dodged bullets or deflected them with their swords.
They easily advanced forward even through the water pouring from the sprinklers.
Reacting to bullets was practically a required course for the Murim Warriors of the 5th Floor Old Murim.
And naturally, leading the charge at the very front of these Warriors was the Namgung Family Young Master.
“Attack! Destroy everything! We’ll answer with our swords to those who dared disrespect our Namgung Family!”
The Murim Warriors advanced with unstoppable momentum.
Their swords, forged through hundreds of years of tradition, were strong enough to slice through even the products of science and technology like pieces of tofu.
“The time we’ve accumulated is different!”
Namgung Yeon confidently raised his Sword. No matter how impressive the 6th Floor’s technology might be, it was meaningless against Murim masters.
While taking pride in the weight and value of their preserved traditions—
Suddenly, a sharp electric shock surged up from the soles of their feet, causing the Murim Warriors standing on the ground to scream and foam at the mouth.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaah!”
“Gueok?! Gueheoeoek?!”
“Gyeok! Gyeeeak!”
The culprit who created this horrific scene of screaming bodies turning black and burning left a brief comment.
“Feels like I’m in a kitchen making french fries. Or maybe frogs?”
His name was ‘Buster’, wearing a thick Suit covering his entire body. Among the Fixers of Cyber City who come and go, he was a big shot who had maintained his reputation for a long time.
“Keuuup!?”
“I heard Old Murim even eats fried frogs? How barbaric.”
Namgung Yeon was likewise electrocuted and fell to one knee. Blood vessels burst, turning his vision red, and he felt a burning pain as if his brain was being scorched.
Drooling as he lifted his head, Buster smiled and continued sending electricity through his suit.
“This is technology, old fools. No matter how much you swing your swords in dusty dojos, sweating for a lifetime. One pull of a trigger and your head gets blown off just the same.”
“Shut, up—!”
One strike squeezed out with everything he had.
Sword Energy shot from his greatly swung sword, cutting Buster’s leg.
Thud—!
The Electric Shock stopped with a heavy noise. Namgung Yeon swallowed his humiliation and shouted.
“Retreat!”
“Kahahaha! Get lost, old geezers!”
Even with his leg cut off, Buster giggled and laughed. Since it was a Cybernetic Body, he could just replace it, which made him even more relaxed.
“Kahahahahaha!”
Buster’s mocking laughter continued to echo behind the fleeing Namgung Family’s backs.
* * *
A few days after the incident with Namgung Yeon and Jessica.
After getting off work from the Convenience Store, Renea and Kim Yang who came to visit are chatting away.
They’re putting their heads together thinking about what kind of event Merakl should do in preparation for the upcoming Christmas.
‘Though I don’t know why they’re doing it together.’
I’m not sure why Renea, who’s a Customer, is worrying about that, but since you never know what might come out of a 1,901-year-old bag of tricks, I just left them alone.
There’s something called experience, isn’t there.
I was working while using their chatter as white noise when the Office door opened.
“We’ll find your miracle—”
I was about to give the Meracle greeting, but it was a familiar face who entered.
Hair tied up with a Hairpin, a Silk Outer Robe worn over the Namgung Family’s Martial Arts Uniform.
Even carrying a Large Blunt Sword.
Don’t get me wrong, but carrying a sword that large on the streets of Seoul involves quite complicated procedures.
It had to be one of two things.
Either they had struggled through an incredibly difficult procedure.
Or they had such a powerful backing that they could ignore such procedures.
She was the latter.
“It’s been a while since I’ve breathed this air.”
18
Heartless Sword Princess Namgung Hwa-ryeong.
The eldest daughter of the Namgung Family and a master who had surpassed first-rate.
And she was our Merakl’s prospective customer.
Why prospective? Because we don’t count Martial Combat Marriage lists as customers.
We receive payment and handle the work only when challengers come.
In simple terms, it means we won’t take responsibility if no challengers show up.
While Kim Yang and Renea were surprised, I thought what was bound to come had come, and slowly stood up.
Then I pulled out an analog phone from the drawer.
“You came because of the war between the Namgung Family and Hellight, right?”
I had told Kim Yang to ignore it, but when I looked into the news, the situation was becoming more serious than expected.
What if someone came asking for help?
I had prepared something for that possibility.
“With this, there’s quite a high chance of resolving it.”
I had said let’s not beat around the bush and get to the point-.
“That’s not why I came.”
“Pardon?”
“However, there’s one irritating rumor I heard.”
Namgung Hwa-ryeong crossed her arms and glared at me as she asked.
“I heard one name disappeared from the Martial Combat Marriage registry.”
“….”
“That brat called the Twin Meridians of Taegeuk Yin-Yang Sect dared to-.”
“….”
“Before me?”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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