F-Rank Secretly Becomes Stronger - Chapter 39

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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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39

“You’ll come tomorrow too, right?”

“Yeah, I have to come.”

Evening after finishing training.

Early in the morning, after sparring with the Association President due to the Gate issue, he went to Sui’s Guild for training and worked hard moving his body until sunset.

“I’m asking this out of the blue, but… is it really okay for me to come this often when I’m not even a Guild member?”

“It’s fine since I got permission for everything.”

“…Right, you did.”

He already knew from what he’d heard that permission had been obtained, but as an outsider, it was inevitable to feel somewhat concerned about it.

No matter how good he was at putting on a thick face, using the facilities this frequently was starting to make him feel a bit self-conscious, but since she spoke about it so casually, he let it slide.

‘Well, as long as I can use the facilities, it’s fine.’

It wasn’t like the environment was so poor that he couldn’t use it due to lack of facilities anyway.

He was just using one of the spare training grounds, so it wasn’t like he was causing any trouble either.

‘Since I got permission, there shouldn’t be any problems.’

The Guild Staff he frequently encountered also told him to use it comfortably, so he should just use it comfortably as they said.

“Then see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, see you from the morning tomorrow.”

“Got it.”

Sui emphasized the part about from the morning.

Leaving her behind, he walked in the opposite direction at the fork in the road downtown.

Like that, he walked along the road toward the bus stop.

A road lined with several cars.

Looking at them, he fell into thought for a moment.

‘Should I buy a car?’

Now he was in a situation where he had financial leeway.

He also had a license he’d obtained in advance at Hunter Academy, so there would be no problem.

‘If I buy a car, what kind would be good?’

Jung Juhyeok, whose knowledge about cars could be considered nonexistent.

He slowly looked around at the cars passing by on the street that he hadn’t paid much attention to before.

‘That one’s too small… A sedan would be better than a compact car, right?’

Even while sitting at the bus stop, his attention was focused on looking at cars.

As he looked at them one by one, he suddenly spotted a car in the distance that caught his eye.

‘That one would be too expensive. It looks like a foreign car just by looking at it.’

A foreign car brand that even he, who didn’t know much about cars, could recognize.

As expected of a famous brand car, it had an eye-catching color that he found himself staring at without realizing it.

That car didn’t go far before stopping in front of the bus stop, right in front of Jung Juhyeok.

Then the window quietly rolled down and he made eye contact with the man inside.

“Hello, Hunter Juhyeok.”

“….”

Suddenly, someone in the back seat of an expensive-looking foreign car stopped in front of him, called his name, and greeted him.

At this rather unrealistic scene, he was momentarily speechless and stayed quiet, so the man continued speaking.

“I’d like to have a brief conversation, would that be possible?”

“When I don’t even know who you are?”

“Oh my, I was late with my introduction.”

He put his hand inside his jacket.

Contrary to the expectation that he would naturally pull out a business card, what came out was a small handgun with a silencer attached.

Bang―!

He pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Jung Juhyeok didn’t move.

The direction the gun barrel was pointed was toward a trash can far away from Jung Juhyeok.

The hole that pierced through the trash can proved it was a real gun.

“This is the kind of person I am.”

“…Hah.”

A weapon that couldn’t be possessed unless you were a Hunter or someone with a firearms license.

Someone who carried that and shot it casually on the street like it was nothing.

There was only one place that would pull such stunts.

“What business does an illegal hunter organization have with me?”

“It’s not illegal. Formally speaking, we’re a proper business entity.”

A business entity.

They probably had some front company that looked perfectly fine on the surface while conducting all sorts of dirty business behind the scenes.

It was absurd how they brazenly called themselves a business entity despite that.

“So, what brings you here?”

“It’s a bit awkward to talk with the window open like this.”

With those words, the car’s back door automatically opened.

The man slipped inside and made room as he spoke.

“Would you like to get in?”

“….”

An illegal hunter organization that had pinpointed his exact location.

If he didn’t comply quietly, they might pull out whatever contingency plan they had prepared.

‘I never expected even these flies to swarm around… And it’s dangerous since Mother opened the bakery today of all days.’

A quick decision.

Without answering, Juhyeok quietly got into the car and settled into the plush seat.

The door closed afterward and the car began moving quietly.

“I’m glad you followed along so obediently.”

“Let’s not drag this out.”

He didn’t like lengthy preambles.

It was a waste of time to beat around the bush when everyone already knew what they knew.

Juhyeok turned his head toward the ponytailed man and asked.

“What’s your purpose for coming here?”

His voice tone had lowered.

The man laughed as if exasperated by his dry, emotionless way of speaking.

“Well now… I’m wondering if showing the gun was pointless.”

The atmosphere had become quite stiff due to his flashy entrance.

Not liking the current mood, he continued with a grin.

“It’s scouting. Our industry is always in desperate need of talent.”

With those words, his hand moved toward his chest.

This time he smoothly pulled out a business card instead of a gun and held it out.

It contained the cute company name “Hyeonho Candy” and the name “Branch Manager Jang Yeonho.”

“Candy?”

“Yes, a company that makes sweet candies and jellies for good children’s mouths.”

It was quite cute for a business entity used as a smokescreen by an illegal hunter organization.

The business card was covered with teddy bears and candies, making him wonder what the hell this was supposed to be.

As Juhyeok examined the business card intently, Jang Yeonho spoke.

“Conversely, we show bad adults a righteous bitter taste.”

“….”

A righteous bitter taste.

Did they perhaps file lawsuits against abusive parents on behalf of bullied children?

If that were the kind of business they ran, it would deserve applause, but someone who casually fired guns on the street probably didn’t dispense justice through legal means.

“Hunter Juhyeok has encountered quite a few bad adults, haven’t you?”

“I’ve seen many. There’s one right in front of me now.”

An adult who had recklessly put a young hunter in his car at a bus stop.

Anyone could see he had plenty of qualifications to be counted among bad adults.

“Haha, you have an amusing sense of humor.”

Yeonho laughed off the moderate sarcasm.

He smoothly held out his cell phone to show him.

“Would you take a look at this?”

He looked at the photo in the cell phone Yeonho handed him.

A young boy wearing a rather dirty white t-shirt.

Sunken cheeks.

Dark circles deeply settled under his eyes.

Unlike an ordinary child, traces of hardship were clearly visible.

“This is my old photo. As you can see, I was skin and bones, right? I grew up barely eating anything…”

“….”

It wasn’t just the level of barely eating.

The boy in the photo looked like he could collapse at any moment.

Looking at him now, his eyes definitely resembled those of the grown man.

“There was a research laboratory that gathered orphans and drove them into extreme conditions daily to awaken them as Hunters. I was one of the orphans in that laboratory.”

“One day they’d lock us in a room with beasts after starving us for three full meals, another day they’d lock us in a sauna without a single drop of water…”

He began smoothly recounting his past with his eyes closed.

He still looked at Juhyeok with not a trace of his smile fading and asked.

“Quite cruel, isn’t it?”

“It’s cruel.”

“That’s right. It’s cruel.”

He put away his cell phone and continued the conversation.

“There are too many wicked adults in this world who do such things.”

His fingers tap on his folded knees.

“There are also wicked adults who turn a blind eye and overlook such problems.”

Bystanders.

He calls them wicked adults and doesn’t let it slide.

The corners of his mouth still curved in an arc.

“Our purpose is to give those wicked adults a bitter taste.”

“….”

So they’re saying they have their own sense of justice and purpose for their actions?

He hadn’t particularly asked, but hearing this made him curious about one thing.

“What does that have to do with me that you came looking for me like this?”

I understand that you hate wicked adults.

But what does that have to do with him, who isn’t even an orphan and grew up under proper parents, that they’d shoot guns and drag him into a car?

“We judged that Hunter Juhyeok would have similar thoughts to ours.”

“In what way?”

“Well…”

He pretended to think for a moment, then quickly answered.

“Because Hunter Juhyeok has a story that would likely give you quite a lot of complaints about the world?”

Saying this, he mimicked a slightly sad voice.

“Just thinking about how hard a time you must have had at the Academy brings tears to my eyes.”

“So you’re saying that since I was a poor student, I must be twisted somewhere.”

“It’s a reasonable complaint.”

After saying that, Yeonho paused his breathing for a moment.

After the intentional silence, tension built up before he spoke again.

“Isn’t that why you don’t join a Guild?”

“….”

Ah, so that’s what it was about in the end.

His poor grades during his Academy days.

His subsequent behavior of not joining a Guild and moving alone.

Apparently, seeing this, the Illegal Hunter Organization here judged him as a promising criminal candidate.

‘Ha, because I don’t join a Guild, all sorts of strange things keep getting tangled up.’

If it weren’t for the mark, he would have joined a Guild right away.

Even though he knows he shouldn’t blame the Training Room, he finds himself grumbling anyway.

Juhyeok let out a big sigh inwardly and said.

“I think there’s been quite a deep misunderstanding, but I’m not someone who views the world so cynically.”

A model Hunter who has never broken the law and has no intention of doing so in the future.

He’s never even had a strong desire to commit crimes in his heart.

“I don’t have a story that would make me deeply hate someone like you do.”

Juhyeok picked up his cell phone, turned on the screen, and showed it in front of him.

Evidence that he hadn’t recorded the conversation.

Showing him this, he spoke as gently as possible, as if trying to persuade him.

“So let’s bury today’s incident as a mutual misunderstanding and go our separate ways.”

He had no intention whatsoever of reporting this and getting involved in troublesome matters.

At his proposal to quietly let it slide, the man showed no sign of confusion and answered with a grin.

“Even if you’re not a human similar to us, the scout offer still stands. No matter how many talented people we have, it’s never enough.”

“Even if the scout offer still stands, my feelings haven’t changed.”

“So it seems.”

With those words, the car stopped.

“For now, that is.”

Then the back door opened, and Mother’s bakery could be seen across the crosswalk.

Juhyeok was about to leave silently, thinking it was fortunate that things had ended on good terms.

“Just in case, let me say this.”

Then something suddenly occurred to him, and instead of closing the car door, he opened it wide again and spoke.

“If you touch anyone around me, I’ll kill all of you, whether you’re Candy or whatever.”

Seeing that they even knew the bakery’s location, there was no telling what they might do later.

After leaving this clear warning, the man stared at Juhyeok in a daze for a moment, then burst into loud laughter before answering.

“Says someone who’s never even killed a person.”

“Working as a Hunter, I’ll probably end up killing someone eventually.”

In fact, they say the same thing during Academy training.

There might be people who attack from within the party for money, so if you continue your Hunter career, you might end up killing someone someday.

“I don’t want to kill outside, so be careful.”

I wanted it to at least be because of something that happened inside the Gate.

A voice filled with resolve.

To this, Yeonho paused for a moment before answering.

“…I’ll keep that in mind.”

The door closed automatically with a smooth sound.

The car quietly left the bakery behind and disappeared into the distance.

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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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