How to Seduce S-Class Hunters with Bungeoppang - Chapter 37

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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 37】
If hell existed, I was certain it would look like this. I wiped the sweat streaming down my forehead with the back of my hand.
“One red bean and one cream pastry, please!”
“Coming right up!”
I opened the mold to reveal perfectly golden fish-shaped pastries. Using tongs, I extracted them one by one and arranged them on the shelf to cool and crisp.
—Whirr, whirr.
My precious item, “Quick Wrap,” stood beside the shelf wearing floral arm sleeves, working diligently.
But having a packaging item didn’t mean I could rest.
“One red bean and two cream for me.”
“The cream ones will take a moment!”
Of course the cream pastries had run out. I poured batter into the mold and squeezed generous dollops of yellow cream filling inside.
I glanced sideways at the impossibly long queue snaking through the shop. My eyes nearly welled with tears.
“Shop Owner! I’d like to order too!”
“Are the mackerel pastries available for takeout?”
“I dropped the paper cup! Could I get a new one?”
Ari was equally frazzled, threading fish cakes onto skewers while attending to customers. The only one maintaining composure was our plump cat, Ha-nyang.
I swallowed a sigh internally. The reservation system truly was a blessing.
My determination to operate walk-in service today without reservations shattered within an hour of opening.
In the end, I had no choice but to shout.
“We’re switching back to reservations only! Please write your names in order!”
Once I instructed everyone except those already inside to add their names to the reservation list, the crowded masses gradually began to thin out.
“Never again… I will never accept walk-in orders again.”
“That was the right call. This really isn’t sustainable.”
Ari nodded vigorously, her face drained of all vitality. She muttered that she’d never threaded fish cakes onto skewers so frantically before, then slowly collapsed onto the floor.
“I think I’m dying…”
I handed Ari a cold bottle of water. If she hadn’t come in today, I would have had to manage everything alone. I might have caught another fever.
“Ari, I’m truly happy to have you here. I mean it.”
“Out of nowhere?”
“I’ve always been grateful, but today especially so.”
Ari burst into hearty laughter at my words. After a brief rest, we got back up and resumed working like machines.
“The blessing of food truly knows no bounds, meow.”
While we were practically dying, Ha-nyang simply hummed contentedly while baking bread.
Fortunately, after that, customers arrived at a manageable pace.
“Mmm! This is the real deal. No matter what else I eat, nothing compares. Shop Owner, you absolutely cannot get sick again.”
The customer who’d bitten into the pastry gave me a thumbs up repeatedly. The ring earrings dangling from her ears swayed with her movements.
“Oh! So you’re living in the dormitory now?”
“Probably. I haven’t signed the official contract yet, but it looks like I will.”
Word had apparently spread that I was living in the dormitory—several customers who came by seemed to know about it. One customer nodded and grumbled.
“But isn’t the dormitory here too cramped? It’s convenient being close, but it seems like it would be uncomfortable.”
“Cramped? It’s incredibly spacious! My previous place was only 50 square feet.”
“Only 5.5 square meters?”
A half-eaten cream-filled pastry tumbled to the ground with a soft thud. “No, my pastry!” I shook my head as I watched the Customer gaze mournfully at the fallen treat.
‘So that’s why there were vacant rooms in the Dormitory.’
When Lee Hyun-woo had offered to assign me a better room, I’d wondered if that was even possible given how many Hunters already lived there. But it seemed Hunters simply didn’t prefer Dormitory accommodations.
That evening, I met with Lee Hyun-woo to draft the contract and shared what I’d heard at the Shop. He nodded in understanding.
“Awakened individuals tend to be sensitive about their personal space. They simply don’t prefer the Dormitory format itself.”
He explained that most Hunters became sensitive to others’ presence after Awakening, and cramped, densely-packed accommodations like a Dormitory would be the worst nightmare for such sensitive individuals.
“That’s why most Hunters live in detached houses in the Outskirts. The Dormitory is really only used when there’s an urgent need.”
“Ah, now that you mention it, Lia also said her senses had become so sharp that she suffered from insomnia, didn’t she?”
She’d been overjoyed after eating the cream pastry and sleeping deeply for the first time in ages. Her bright, grateful face came vividly to mind.
“So you must also live in the Outskirts, Lee Hyun-woo?”
“No. I live in the Dormitory.”
“Really? Why?”
“Why, you ask? What do you mean?”
He’d just said with his own mouth that Hunters’ senses became sharp and they could feel everyone’s presence!
I spoke to him as he tilted his head with an innocent expression.
“Doesn’t living in the Dormitory feel uncomfortable? Wouldn’t you sense other people’s presence even more keenly?”
“Ah… it’s fine.”
He spoke indifferently while watching the elevator’s ascending floor indicator.
“If I don’t sleep, then there’s nothing to worry about.”
He doesn’t sleep? What kind of strange thing was that to say?
“Pardon? What do you mean by—”
-Ding.
Before I could even ask what he meant, the Elevator doors slid open smoothly. The Secretary I’d seen before gave us a light bow.
“Lee Hyun-woo, Jung Ha-neul. Identity confirmed. Please proceed inside.”
“Thank you.”
The massive glass doors opened silently. The Director, whose distinctive short bob cut ended cleanly below her ears, looked up from her documents.
‘…Her presence is no joke.’
Even from a distance, I could feel her aura. I swallowed nervously.
“Ah! I’ve been waiting for you. Please, have a seat.”
The moment I sat on the sofa, the Director asked about my condition. Fortunately, my body aches had mostly subsided, and the wound on my neck had healed considerably.
“It’s unfortunate that it wasn’t an injury from a Gate, so healing skills won’t work on it.”
“Still, the Management Bureau’s medicine is excellent, and it’s healing rapidly. Thank you for your concern.”
The Management Bureau had provided an ointment, and remarkably, it healed much faster than ordinary hospital medicine. I’d heard it was a medical item crafted by a Crafter-class Hunter.
It was an item that responded to mana, and it seemed to work even with my meager mana reserves. In a few more days, it would likely heal without leaving a scar. I offered my thanks again.
“You don’t need to thank me. Lee Hyun-woo took care of it.”
“It’s only natural that I should.”
So Lee Hyun-woo had done that. He really was thoughtful, even when trying not to show it.
“Well then, shall we get down to business?”
The Director clapped her hands lightly to refocus everyone’s attention.
“The reason I called you in today, Hunter, is to formally propose that you become a Hunter affiliated with our Management Bureau.”
“A f-formal Hunter, you say?”
I stammered at the unexpected proposal. Anticipating my reaction, the Director let out a hearty laugh and slid a stack of documents across the table.
“According to our internal regulations, F-rank awakeners cannot be registered as Management Bureau Hunters, but we’d like to make Jung Ha-neul an exception! We place high value on your unique crafting ability and its remarkable effects—something no other awakener possesses.”
The Director took a sip of tea to wet her throat, then pushed the documents on the table toward me.
“This is a special employment contract. Since this is the first case of its kind within the Management Bureau, I drafted it personally. Please read it over.”
I carefully picked up the documents. They contained the terms of my contract as a Hunter affiliated with the Hunter Management Bureau, along with a list of provided benefits.
‘No time limit on dormitory residence? Guaranteed Gate access? And I’ll actually receive a salary once I’m affiliated with the Management Bureau?’
The annual salary listed in the contract was staggering. I counted the zeros and held my breath.
“If there’s anything else you need, please let me know. I’ll support you to the fullest extent of my authority.”
“…Is there perhaps something you’re hoping to get from me?”
The conditions were so favorable that suspicion began to creep in. At my words, the Director tilted her head back and burst into laughter. She certainly laughed often.
“Aha! I appreciate your quick intuition. Of course, we do have our hopes as well.”
“Is it perhaps that you want actual management rights over our shop…?”
“Not at all. I simply hope that Jung Ha-neul will continue selling through our Management Bureau going forward.”
The Director smiled, as if that was truly all she desired.
“From now on, you’ll receive numerous proposals. Some will ask you to relocate overseas, others may request that you sell only to select few.”
And looking at me, she spoke in a firm yet gentle voice.
“I simply wish for Jung Ha-neul to remain affiliated with our Management Bureau. For all of us. It’s a simple request, but perhaps the most difficult one to grant.”
The Director shrugged as if that truly was the entirety of her conditions.
‘Besides, I can’t relocate overseas anytime soon for my parents’ sake. And I was never interested in selling to only select few in the first place.’
Without hesitation, I picked up the pen and signed the contract. At my decisive action, the Director smiled with satisfaction.
“You made the right choice.”
The Director carefully placed my employment contract into a document folder. With this, I officially became a Hunter affiliated with the Hunter Management Bureau.
The Director extended her right hand to me for a handshake. I smiled and took her hand.
“I look forward to working with you, Hunter Ha-neul. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need anything.”
“Thank you for taking care of me.”
The Director handed the documents to her secretary and clasped her hands together as she looked at me.
“Excellent. Now then, shall we catch the perpetrator who dared to lay hands on one of our valued Management Bureau Hunters?”
The moment I sent the documents proving my affiliation to the Police Department, the investigation authority for the case was transferred to the Hunter Management Bureau. Just then, the Secretary Director approached us with a file folder.
“Director, here are the investigation records the police have compiled so far.”
“That was faster than expected. Thank you.”
The Director gave a light nod and took the file folder. But her expression as she reviewed the investigation records was far from ordinary.
“…This has become quite problematic.”
I accepted the report the Director handed to me. The first page listed the perpetrators’ personal information, with their current status noted at the bottom.
However,
“…All of them are dead?”

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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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