How to Seduce S-Class Hunters with Bungeoppang - Chapter 48
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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 48
The D-rank Gate had surged two entire ranks to B-rank. This meant one thing: the monsters lurking within were far more formidable than the Hunters deployed to clear it.
The teams sent in were Field Team 5, where Ju-hee served, and Field Team 6. Though Field Team 5 had one B-rank Hunter among them, one person alone would struggle to face all the Gate’s monsters.
“Lia! We should go too, shouldn’t we?”
“Of course we should.”
The remaining reservations were nearly finished. I hurriedly apologized to the last customers, locked up the Shop, and we rushed straight to the Scene. The area around the Gate was already packed shoulder-to-shoulder with people.
“My child is still inside the Gate! What’s happening?”
“When will the Support Team arrive?”
“Is there no way to know what’s happening inside the Gate?”
Families of the Hunters deployed to the Gate, reporters, and anxious citizens—Management Bureau personnel erected cordons to hold back the crowd.
“Please don’t come any closer! It’s dangerous!”
“The Gate’s wavelength is extremely unstable right now! Fall back!”
Shortly after, a black sedan carrying the Support Team arrived. Hastily assembled from medical personnel and high-rank Hunters, the Support Team included familiar faces—Lee Hyun-woo and Lia.
The Support Team slipped past the reporters’ camera flashes and quickly entered the Gate. In that moment, prayers and sobs echoed from various points across the Scene.
“That’s the guy from before, meow.”
At Ha-nyang’s words, I turned to see Gong Ju-won. He’d arrived at some point and was urgently asking his Bodyguard about something near the front.
“Joo Won, are you alright?”
“…Shop Owner, you’ve come.”
His expression softened slightly upon seeing me.
“Of course I had to come. It’s about Ju-hee. What’s the situation inside the Gate?”
“All the Hunters’ body cameras went dark. The Support Team has entered, so… we can only hope they hold on until then.”
His hands trembled faintly. The tips of his fingers, pressed against his forehead, had gone deathly pale.
“I haven’t even had a proper conversation with Ju-hee yet. If something happens to her, I don’t know what I’d….”
I said nothing, simply patting his trembling shoulder gently. I prayed—desperately—that Ju-hee and all the Hunters who’d entered would return safely.
How long we waited in that agonizing tension, I couldn’t say. The Portal rippled, and figures began emerging from within.
“It’s Lia!”
The first to emerge was Lia, supporting another Hunter who clutched at their side.
Other team members followed in succession. Some limped out on their own, others were carried on stretchers. All were covered in wounds, but mercifully, none appeared to be in mortal danger. Finally, Lee Hyun-woo emerged from the Gate as well.
“All personnel from Field Team 5 and Field Team 6 have been accounted for!”
When confirmation came that all the original members had safely exited the Gate, a tremendous cheer erupted from the crowd.
“Lia, there’s Ju-hee!”
Ju-hee sat collapsed on the ground, her complexion ashen, though fortunately she appeared to have no serious injuries. When she saw us, her eyes met ours for a moment before she bit her lip hard and sharply turned her head away.
“Thank goodness….”
Joo Won’s legs gave out beneath him in relief, and he stumbled slightly.
That was when it happened.
―Screeeech!
The Gate’s Portal convulsed again, and through the gap that hadn’t fully closed, an enormous bat burst forth. It dove directly toward Ju-hee, who was resting.
“Ju-hee!!!”
Before I could even fully comprehend the situation, Joo Won threw himself toward her. He wrapped her in his embrace, spun around, and squeezed his eyes shut—the motion seeming to unfold in slow motion.
“No, this can’t happen!!!!”
There was no way he, an F-rank Hunter like myself, could withstand a monster’s assault. I couldn’t bear to watch and turned away.
But what reached my ears wasn’t a scream—it was a cheer.
“Whoa, whoooooa!!”
When I opened my eyes, Lee Hyun-woo stood gripping an enormous sword. Before him, a massive bat split in half fluttered its wings intermittently.
“Is everyone all right?”
Lee Hyun-woo quickly surveyed the surroundings, apparently concluding that something had gone wrong during the normal clear. Once Ju-hee grasped the situation, she grabbed Joo Won by the collar and shook him roughly.
“Are you insane? You’ve never even fought a monster before, and you shield me like that? Do you actually want to die!?”
Ju-hee’s voice trembled as she glared at Joo Won, breathing heavily. He laughed weakly.
“…Ju-hee, I wasn’t late this time, was I?”
“What?”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left you alone like that. You must have been so scared.”
Joo Won wasn’t apologizing just for today. He was apologizing for that day during the high school field trip when the Gate had ruptured before our eyes.
Ju-hee seemed to realize this, and sorrow settled across her face. She tried not to cry, tensing her eyes, but eventually a single tear rolled down her cheek.
“You idiot, why did you take so long? I waited for you so long….”
Ju-hee poured out her sorrow as if she’d returned to that day in her first year of high school. Joo Won patted her trembling back, repeating only that he was sorry.
“We have an injured person here! Medical team, provide support immediately!”
“Check that the perimeter doesn’t shift!”
Around the two people quietly holding each other, the scene remained chaotic. Yet within it, only they seemed serene, sharing the sorrow of all the time they’d spent apart.
* * *
After that day, the relationship between Joo Won and Ju-hee changed 180 degrees. Or rather, could I really call it a change?
“Ugh! Didn’t I tell you I hate spicy food?”
“Ju-hee, you can’t be picky. And this is supposedly the best item.”
“Pfft, my true nature is being a red bean bun! You don’t know anything.”
“Fine, let’s just eat what we reserved.”
Listening to their conversation ringing loudly through the shop, I smiled awkwardly.
‘They’ve definitely gotten closer….’
Should I call this getting closer? Aren’t they just bickering? Still, this was far better than the thin-ice atmosphere from before.
“So that stalker was actually Ju-hee’s real older brother. That’s surprising.”
“Right? Still, I’m glad it worked out.”
I heard later that the two of them had talked all night on the day the Gate accident occurred. They’d resolved a lot of the misunderstandings and sorrows that had accumulated between them.
Thanks to that, Joo Won’s request that I’d forgotten about was also completed. Apparently it hadn’t been marked as failed yet. I was so shocked when I woke up and found it had been completed.
‘It does feel like I got away with something a bit….’
But if the result is good, that’s what matters, right? I hummed as I stirred my tteokbokki.
“Jung Ha-neul. I need to talk to you for a moment.”
Just then, Ju-hee, who had been bickering with Joo Won, approached me and called out curtly.
I handed my tteokbokki to Ari beside me and followed Ju-hee to the back of the shop.
“What’s wrong? Calling me out so suddenly.”
“Well….”
Ju-hee hesitated, tapping the floor with the tip of her boot, unsure what to say. After her lips had been moving silently for a while, she finally murmured something quietly.
“…said.”
“What? I couldn’t hear you—it was too quiet. What did you say?”
“Thank you so much!!!”
Ju-hee’s face flushed crimson as she shouted at the top of her lungs. I suppressed the urge to tease her and shook my head.
“It’s nothing. I didn’t do much.”
“…I know you put in a lot of effort in the middle of all this. And, well, I’m a little grateful that you listened to my story all the way through that day.”
Ju-hee trailed off and suddenly thrust something into my hands—a silvery gun slightly larger than my palm. It gleamed with a titanium alloy sheen, and the grip was wrapped in black rubber.
“What is this?”
“You’ve been practicing with weapons lately, right? I don’t understand why an F-rank would need this, but… I went out of my way to find it for you.”
The weight of the gun felt substantial in my hand. When I checked the item description, it actually had an ‘auto-aim’ function.
‘Auto-aim? This is incredible!’
Genuinely delighted by this unexpected gift, I nodded earnestly.
“Thank you. The Trainer Teacher actually mentioned that I should probably graduate from my current gun soon. I can use this for practice from now on.”
“Hmph, whatever you say…”
Ju-hee grumbled with a sullen expression, then abruptly turned and left. She still couldn’t be honest about her feelings.
‘But that’s what makes Ju-hee charming.’
That evening, lying in bed with Ha-nyang, I accessed the Quest Board. Sure enough, a notification was blinking, urging me to claim my reward.
[Quest List]
-Quest: *Urgent* I want to reconcile with my younger sibling. (Reward: 700P+???)
【Claim Reward】
“I wonder what the reward will be?”
“Something you truly need will appear, meow.”
Something I truly need? Like winning the lottery?
With a racing heart, I clicked ‘Claim Reward,’ and the text that had been ‘???’ began to shimmer and transform.
Finally, the reward was revealed:
“…Branch 2 Opening License?”
A sudden proposal to open Branch 2.
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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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