F-Rank Secretly Becomes Stronger - Chapter 16

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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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16

“It’s already been 2 weeks without any contact, but he’s okay, right…?”

“Haha, you don’t need to worry too much.”

Inside the hospital ward.

Jung Juhyeok’s mother was still hospitalized for rehabilitation after her surgery.

Yena visited her without missing a single day, keeping her company.

“Hunter Jung Juhyeok will be back in just a few days.”

She couldn’t actually guarantee when Jung Juhyeok would return either.

She had simply received a request from Jung Juhyeok to explain well to his mother that he would disappear for at least a week without any contact for a while.

‘If you’re going to make requests like this, just join the guild already!’

He wouldn’t even join the guild, yet he made such troublesome requests.

She wanted to voice her complaints, but the fact that he was her lifesaver held her back from saying anything.

‘…That aside, this disappearance is probably similar to that week-long absence from the Academy, right?’

Disappearing for at least a week without leaving any contact information.

According to the information she had gathered, he showed dramatic improvement in abilities afterward. She could naturally guess that this disappearance was probably the same kind of thing.

‘He gets stronger without any reawakening at all. I was already considering his current abilities to be close to the limit for an F-rank Hunter, but could he get even stronger from here?’

The limits that could be shown through training alone without reawakening.

For humans, the reality was that no matter how much an F-rank survived and trained in Gates, they could barely defeat a D-rank monster at best.

Jung Juhyeok had actually taken down a Mutant Orc estimated to be at least D-rank.

Of course, it was somewhat easier since it wasn’t a pack creature, but even considering that, he had shown the best an F-rank Hunter could do.

‘If Jung Juhyeok gets even stronger from here… no, that would be greedy.’

The talent he already showed at this stage was sufficient.

Although it wasn’t manifested through awakening, he was plenty capable just looking at his qualities as a Hunter.

Hoping for him to get even stronger without reawakening would be far too greedy.

‘But there really isn’t a single trace of him.’

If he had entered a Gate somewhere, there would have been news.

Aside from Gates, Yena currently couldn’t track his whereabouts at all.

She had knocked on his house and even sneakily looked inside through the windows, but there were no signs of human presence inside.

‘Where on earth did he disappear to?’

Even if she asked, he didn’t seem like he would answer easily, so she had tried not to dig deeper, thinking of it as privacy.

But he had truly vanished without a trace like a ghost, and curiosity was turning her mind upside down.

“Could you perhaps tell me a little about where my son went?”

Jung Juhyeok’s mother asked quietly with worried eyes.

Yena felt guilt at that gaze while simultaneously spinning lies.

“…Well, it’s tied to guild secrets, so it’s a bit difficult to tell you.”

Had there ever been a time when Jung Juhyeok was more resentful than now?

Having to spin such poor lies in front of a parent who was purely worried about her son made her feel more uncomfortable than ever.

“He already went once when he was attending the Academy, so you don’t need to worry too much.”

Still, she couldn’t very well say at this point that she didn’t know where her son had disappeared to.

Yena peeled apples for her as always, trying to reassure her.

Just as she was repeating the same routine for the second week, the face she had been waiting for finally opened the door and appeared.

“I’m back.”

“Hunter Jung Juhyeok?”

“You’re here too, senior.”

Jung Juhyeok had disappeared for over two weeks without a word, then appeared and calmly entered the hospital room to sit down.

He chewed and swallowed a piece of the peeled apple in one bite, then spoke.

“It took a bit long, didn’t it? The work took longer than expected.”

“What on earth were you doing that took so long? Did you eat properly?”

“Well, I was rushing to get here, so I didn’t eat breakfast this morning.”

“Good grief, what a thing to do.”

Mother scolded him but felt relieved seeing his face without a single injury.

Jung Juhyeok smiled at his mother and said.

“I’ll go grab a meal with senior for a bit. Is that okay?”

“Right, Yena said she hasn’t eaten yet either, so you two go together.”

It was almost lunchtime now.

Unlike Mother’s warm attitude, Yena quietly stared at his face.

At her stone-like rigid expression, Juhyeok carefully asked.

“That sounds good. Shall we go out for now?”

“…Alright.”

They left Mother behind in the hospital room.

The two headed to a bulgogi restaurant that happened to be near the hospital.

Throughout the walk, neither of them said a word.

Even Yena, who seemed to have many questions, just kept making eye contact with Juhyeok.

Only after their ordered food arrived did she finally speak up.

“You showed up after 2 weeks.”

“It was a bit long, wasn’t it? It took longer than I expected.”

“….”

Juhyeok answered nonchalantly.

He spoke as if it was nothing, like he had just returned from a trip, but Yena’s expression wasn’t so relaxed.

“What on earth did you go through?”

“….”

“Did you secretly go to a Gate by yourself?”

She could feel it.

The sense she could feel as both a Hunter and Scout.

How much the person in front of her had changed from before.

To Yena’s eyes, who made a living measuring people’s abilities, it was clearly visible.

“Did you do some secluded training inside a Gate? No, even that would be difficult to create this kind of atmosphere.”

It was only 2 weeks.

Could such a short period of confined training even be called secluded training?

More than anything, from Juhyeok’s visible aura, it wouldn’t be wrong to say he was someone who had trained for at least 10 years.

Sharply honed eyes.

Pupils that shone as if an Artifact Craftsman had personally ground his soul to create them.

Every time she saw herself reflected in them, she felt a sense of alienation.

“Thank you. I heard you came to visit Mother every day.”

“…If you’re grateful, don’t change the subject and explain.”

“I told you before I left. Or did I not…”

Memories that didn’t come back clearly, mulled over alone.

Watching Yena press her temples slightly while trying to remember, he let out an incredulous laugh.

“Ha, forget it. You’ll just brush it off like that anyway.”

“When the day comes that I can explain, I’ll tell you first.”

“I don’t consider anyone who’s not in our guild as my junior.”

“Is that so? Then I’ll just call you Scout.”

His unyielding response made her inexplicably irritated.

She was about to say something since this wasn’t the proper attitude toward someone who had taken care of his parents, but she swallowed her words.

“If you were a little later, you might have missed the raid too.”

“I finished faster thinking about that.”

The D-rank Gate raid schedule with less than a week remaining.

At the 2-week mark, she had worried about whether to quickly remove his name, but fortunately he came back just in time to avoid such an unfortunate situation.

“If you disappear for 2 weeks and then immediately go on a raid, your mother will worry a lot.”

“Please comfort her well, Scout.”

“…Ha.”

Another shameless request brushed off.

Yena had expected him to act this way, so she agreed without much protest.

“Don’t get hurt or anything. She worries a lot.”

“Yes.”

At his light answer, Yena took a bite of bulgogi.

Savoring the quite decent taste of sweet bulgogi with a smoky flavor, she continued speaking.

“And after you come back from the Gate, come see our Guild Master’s face at least once.”

“The Guild Master?”

“He says he really wants to see your face.”

Though he seemed reluctant, thinking it would be burdensome to meet face-to-face, he still showed subtle continued interest in Juhyeok.

Seeing how she asked about his whereabouts every day while pretending not to care, it was obvious she definitely wanted to meet him in person.

“She won’t force you to join the guild.”

“Then what’s the point of meeting?”

“Just…”

How should I explain this?

After pondering for a moment, Yena came up with an answer.

“Collecting disciples?”

*

The day of the raid.

The gate he entered after showing his Hunter License at the entrance.

Inside, a small group of people were gathered together waiting.

Since the party entering this gate today was already reserved, those people there must be the party members who would go in with him.

Jung Juhyeok walked into the group of people and said.

“Sorry. I’m a bit late due to traffic.”

Eyes turned toward him as he joined the crowd.

The place became quiet with the attention, and soon a man in his 30s who appeared to be the leader asked.

“Are you Hunter Jung Juhyeok?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

The surroundings became somewhat noisy with those words.

Murmuring voices tickled his ears.

‘…Probably word about the previous gate incident has spread.’

If it weren’t for that incident, he wouldn’t have been able to join a D-rank gate party even with Mir Guild’s help.

It was something he had to accept.

“Okay. That’s everyone accounted for.”

After checking his notebook, he shouted to everyone in a loud voice.

“We’ll wait a bit and depart in 15 minutes!”

The group dispersed after hearing they would depart in 15 minutes.

Jung Juhyeok also sat down in a suitable spot

“You’re the one, right? The F-rank Hunter who killed the Mutant Orc last time.”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Ooh~ it really was true.”

Several hunters came over as a group and chattered as if finding it fascinating.

When he responded casually, they continued the conversation.

“I heard you also beat the Salutatorian? How did you get so strong in such a short time?”

“Consistent training.”

“Come on, not such a textbook answer.”

A party member leaned his head closer.

He whispered very quietly as if worried someone might hear.

“Didn’t you get some good equipment or something?”

“Who knows.”

“Don’t be like that, let’s share some information with each other~”

“…”

He was grateful for the friendly treatment, but their true intentions were too obvious.

Of course, it was understandable that they’d be curious, but from his position, it was just troublesome.

He tried to deflect with textbook answers as the other had said, but the other party was quite persistent and wouldn’t back down easily.

It seemed like they wouldn’t leave until they got an answer they were satisfied with.

Just as he was sighing inwardly and feeling annoyed.

“Jung Juhyeok. Why are you so late?”

Someone approached, calling his name familiarly.

“…Jihoon?”

“Long time no see. This is the first time since graduation.”

A classmate approaching with a warm smile.

He definitely remembered this guy’s face.

Unlike himself who couldn’t even make the top 200, this guy consistently ranked in the top 10 every semester.

Since he was the face he saw most often and longest at the training ground, they occasionally chatted during breaks.

Jihoon approached the hunter and said.

“Since we’re classmates meeting after a long time, would it be okay if we talked alone for a bit?”

“Ah, now that I think about it, you and Jihoon are classmates.”

The Hunter nodded as Jihoon appeared.

He stepped aside as if he had no choice.

“Alright, you two catch up for a bit.”

“Thank you.”

The senior Hunters disappeared.

Then one of them stumbled and fell sideways in a comical manner.

“Don’t you fall down every single day?”

“Damn it… why is there a stone stuck here?”

The man scratched at the ground, embarrassed for no reason.

Jihoon smiled softly watching those seniors.

“That senior falls down every day, he’ll definitely fall at least once when we enter the Gate today too.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, and the seniors are acting like that to help their junior relax, so don’t feel too uncomfortable.”

“I wasn’t particularly uncomfortable.”

“Hey, even I would feel uncomfortable in that situation.”

The guy laughed good-naturedly.

Then he lightly patted his shoulder and said.

“Anyway, have you been well? I heard some rumors lately, pretty impressive stuff.”

Jihoon brought up the rumors with a refreshing smile.

However, it didn’t feel as uncomfortable as when it came from the other Hunter’s mouth earlier.

“I knew you’d accomplish something like that someday. You’re the guy who spent more time at the Training Ground than me, so it’s only natural.”

“….”

A clear expression with no dark ulterior motives whatsoever.

With his warm face and straightforward, good personality, he was quite popular during their Academy days.

‘I thought he’d at least ask something, but he really doesn’t seem curious about anything.’

Jihoon saw it simply as Jung Juhyeok’s efforts finally paying off, without a trace of suspicion in his expression.

Considering the behavior he showed at the Academy, it was entirely possible.

“You really trained like a madman, so it wouldn’t make sense if your grades didn’t improve after all that.”

“You weren’t far behind either.”

Academy stories shared with a classmate he met after a long time.

It hadn’t been long since graduation, but it already felt like old memories.

Perhaps that wasn’t just because of the time spent in the Training Room.

“Alright! Everyone gather up!”

The maintenance time passed as they chatted enjoyably like that.

“Time’s up already, let’s go.”

“Yeah.”

The two got up from their seats and walked toward the Gate.

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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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