How to Seduce S-Class Hunters with Bungeoppang - Chapter 24
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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 24
The status window flickered insistently, urging me to meet the talented individual it had recommended. An employee at the Gate, no less. Surely such a person would have a high Hunter rank?
‘Though I’m not sure if a high-rank Hunter would actually work as staff at my shop….’
After a moment’s deliberation, I called Lee Hyun-woo. First, I’d meet this talent and make my own judgment.
When I told him I needed to enter the Gate immediately, he looked bewildered but turned his car around and came straight to my home.
“You really came.”
“I promised to accompany you. I reported to the Director and received a temporary access permit.”
I’d secretly hoped he’d refuse, claiming he was busy, so I clicked my tongue in disappointment.
He surveyed my home slowly, his expression unreadable.
“…Your home is quite cozy.”
“I apologize for how small it is.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for. This is simply the kind of home that exists.”
His earnest words left me speechless. Did he really just criticize my home for being small?
Seriously. Did he think finding a place this size in Seoul was easy? I’m paying decent rent for this, you know.
Muttering quietly to myself, I checked my Inventory to ensure my offensive items were properly equipped, then stood up.
“Shall we head out if you’re ready?”
“The Management Bureau must approve portal entry first.”
The Management Bureau needs to approve it?
If that were necessary, how could I have been sneaking in and out of the Gate without the Management Bureau knowing all this time?
I laughed at him openly and flashed a confident smile.
“I have my own methods.”
“Surely you don’t mean spatial teleportation….”
“Careful! Asking too many questions will get you hurt.”
I waved my hand dismissively and looked toward Ha-nyang.
“Ha-nyang, come here. You need to go in with me.”
Ha-nyang, sprawled lazily across the bed, swished her front paws. She was saying she couldn’t be bothered and wanted me to leave her behind.
Normally she always accompanied me into the Gate, but with Lee Hyun-woo here, she’d apparently decided she didn’t need to tag along.
“You’re really not coming?”
“Meow—”
Too lazy to give a proper answer, Ha-nyang rolled over beside me with an odd little sound.
“How am I supposed to enter the Gate without you, huh?”
“You can enter without me just fine. If you want to go in with that human, just maintain physical contact and press the entry button.”
The fact that she was explaining in such detail for once showed just how much she couldn’t be bothered with the Gate today.
Ugh, that lazy cat.
“Fine. We’ll go and come back just the two of us. Shall we go?”
I extended my hand, and he carefully placed his own over it, his expression hesitant.
I felt the rough, calloused palm of someone accustomed to wielding a blade.
“But the Management Bureau hasn’t even approved this, so how are you planning to—”
“Let’s go right now!”
I grasped his hand firmly and clicked the ‘Enter’ button on the system window.
My vision suddenly darkened and the ground beneath my feet vanished. Ugh, the dizziness was overwhelming. In that instant, someone wrapped their arms firmly around my shoulders.
Once the nauseating sensation passed, I carefully opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was Lee Hyun-woo Hunter’s chest right in front of my face.
“Eek—! What are you doing!”
Startled, I shoved him hard. Of course, an S-Rank Hunter’s solid physique wouldn’t budge from my strength.
“So we really did enter the Gate.”
“I told you we’d move immediately… Ugh, could you please loosen your grip? I can’t breathe.”
“Ah…!”
I ended up pounding his firm forearm with my fists. Only then did he release the pressure from his arms.
“Phew, I thought I was going to suffocate. Why did you suddenly grab me like that?”
“My apologies. I didn’t realize it was a dangerous situation.”
His words apologized, but his expression showed no remorse whatsoever. His usual expressionless face remained unchanged, except his ears had turned slightly red…
‘Wait? His ears are red?’
I rubbed my eyes and looked again. His ears were definitely flushed crimson.
Could he actually be embarrassed right now?
As I stared blankly at him, he averted his gaze from mine. He swept his large hand across his face and quickly scanned the surroundings.
“We should check the area first.”
“Y-yes, checking the area sounds good….”
Feeling awkward for no reason, I scratched the back of my neck and looked around.
But something felt different from last time. The Gate had been quite dark before, yet today it was bright enough to see without a lantern.
‘…There are torches lit?’
Looking closer, torches were burning along the cave walls. They couldn’t have ignited naturally—was someone here?
“Hunter… there’s….”
“Shh. There’s someone besides us.”
Before I could even finish speaking, Lee Hyun-woo Hunter pulled me into a corner and concealed us.
Not long after, I heard a young girl’s voice.
“-so you should do it!”
Peeking my head out, I saw a child clinging to someone’s arm, protesting about something.
Her voice was thin and high, as if she hadn’t finished puberty yet. The girl, who appeared to be around fifteen, looked far too young to be entering a Gate.
When the man whose arm she was holding irritably shook her off, the child couldn’t resist the momentum and tumbled to the stone floor.
Seeing her fall onto the hard ground, my body instinctively lurched forward. Lee Hyun-woo Hunter held me back firmly.
“Let’s observe the situation first.”
“…But,”
“It won’t take long.”
He was right. Without knowing what was happening or who these people were, rushing out would be reckless. I watched the situation anxiously.
“Damn it! This guy’s really frustrating.”
“Brother, just bear with it. Why did you bring her again anyway?”
“If my share gets cut because of you, you’re responsible for it.”
The Rough-Looking Man raised his hand threateningly as if he might strike the child at any moment. The people around him half-heartedly tried to stop him while muttering complaints.
‘Are they not on the same team?’
Most of them wore combat uniforms in dark navy with white accents. But the child lying in the corner wore only a single faded, worn windbreaker.
“You said you’d give me Magic Stones if I just played bait well.”
A skeletal child glared at the man with eyes burning with resentment.
“Ha, you little brat? I didn’t say I wouldn’t give them? I’ll distribute them after we’re done!”
“You said that last time too, and you never gave them!”
As the child raised her voice, the man beside her hastily clamped his hand over her mouth.
“Hey, are you trying to get yourself killed? Don’t you know sound echoes in Cave Gates?”
“Mmph—! Ugh!”
“Ha, this kid’s really hopeless….”
I bit my lip.
The child was what they called a ‘Gate bait’—brought along to distract monsters by exploiting their instinct to target the weak first.
‘I’d heard rumors about this, but…’
I’d heard that after it was exposed in the media once before, it all supposedly stopped. But listening to this conversation, it was obvious they were using a child as bait.
“This is annoying—can’t we just dispose of her here?”
“Ha, maybe we should. We’ve collected enough Magic Stones anyway….”
“She was going to die to monsters anyway, so dying by your hand would be an honor.”
The eyes of the men surrounding the child gleamed dangerously.
I couldn’t hold back anymore. I frantically pulled out the gun from my Inventory and rushed toward them.
“Nobody move!”
…Did I sound too much like a police officer?
I felt embarrassed at the words that tumbled out unbidden, but the people’s reaction was strange.
“Huh, huh-ack! This can’t be real!”
“Ugh, ugh-huh….”
“Please, spare us!”
The menacing atmosphere from moments before vanished, and they began whimpering like puppies standing before a tiger.
‘…Is this gun really that terrifying?’
I tilted my head, looking at the small gun in my hand. They’d said it had considerable firepower, but it looked rather cute.
But then I realized what they were truly afraid of wasn’t the gun—it was the person behind me.
“Why are you holding a gun when I’m here?”
Lee Hyun-woo appeared slowly from behind me, smiling faintly as he looked at me holding the gun.
I lowered the gun in embarrassment and scratched my cheek.
“You’re right. With Hunter Lee Hyun-woo here… I didn’t need to.”
“Still, you were quite brave. Though the ‘nobody move’ part was a bit much.”
“Don’t tease me.”
While we conversed casually, the men who had been backing away cautiously began to flee.
But I wasn’t alarmed. After all, an S-Rank Hunter stood beside me.
“I’ll have a word with them and be right back.”
He gave me a light greeting and turned toward the direction they’d fled. A small cloud of dust rose in his wake as he vanished in an instant.
“It’s definitely reassuring to have someone like this along.”
I trusted that Hunter Lee Hyun-woo would have a conversation with them in his own way.
“Are you alright? Can you stand?”
So what I needed to do right now wasn’t chase after those who’d fled—it was look after the child who’d fallen.
A translucent window flickered above the head of the child watching me with guarded eyes.
Name: Shin A-ri
Grade: A+
Finally found it
The perfect talent Master was looking for!
Fortunately, the child right in front of me—not those worthless cowards who’d run away—was the A-Rank talent I’d been searching for.
“I’m Jung Ha-neul. I run a small shop in front of the Management Bureau.”
I offered my hand to the child with the most benevolent smile I could muster. First, I needed to win her favor.
“And?”
…What?
The child glanced at my outstretched hand, then got to her feet on her own. She brushed dust from her windbreaker with rough movements and looked at me as she spoke.
“Why are you suddenly butting in?”
“…You looked like you were in danger, so I wanted to help,”
“Those people ran away. What are you going to do if I don’t get my magic stone?”
I stood there, mouth agape, staring at the child before me. Her bright eyes blazed with venom as she glared at me. I squeezed my eyes shut.
An A+ talent, they said. The perfect talent I was looking for, they said! Character wasn’t supposed to be part of that?
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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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