How to Seduce S-Class Hunters with Bungeoppang - Chapter 57

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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 57
I’d dismissed it as ridiculous gossip and erased it from my mind.
So why did Se-ah’s words suddenly bring back what I’d heard then?
“…It seems you know something about this too, Shop Owner.”
“That’s not it.”
Se-ah leaned her body closer toward me.
“I can tell just by looking at your expression. There’s something bothering you, isn’t there? Isn’t that right?”
I shook my head, deliberately ignoring the desperate light in her eyes.
“Honestly, I can’t believe it. Killing someone in front of everyone to see? Why would Hunter Lee Hyun-woo do such a thing?”
“He didn’t make a mistake! There are other witnesses!”
“…Other witnesses?”
She nodded earnestly.
“There are other victims who suffered at his hands during the Incheon Gate incident. They haven’t come forward due to fear of the media… but I’m certain they’ll speak up if we ask for their help.”
“Wait. The Incheon Gate incident?”
“You’d know about it, wouldn’t you? It was the worst incident in history.”
Se-ah’s voice trembled slightly with moisture.
“We had only a week left until our wedding back then. We were supposed to go on our honeymoon to Bali. I can’t tell you how happy we were.”
Fat tears rolled down Se-ah’s cheeks. She roughly wiped her face with her sleeve, her shoulders trembling as she cried out.
“But just because he was in a bad mood! Is it okay to kill someone like that? What wrong did that good person commit! Sob, sob….”
Se-ah descended from her chair and slowly knelt before me.
“…Please, just help me once, Shop Owner. I’m begging you.”
I couldn’t tell if the help she was asking for meant not reporting her, or revealing what I knew, or perhaps even helping her seek revenge against Hunter Lee Hyun-woo.
My knuckles turned white as I gripped my apron. I couldn’t discern what was truth and what was lies. My mind was in complete turmoil.
“…First, Se-ah, please get up.”
As I helped her to her feet myself, a faint flush of color returned to her face. She seemed to think I’d been moved by her words.
“I don’t think Se-ah is lying. But… I’m still confused right now.”
I carefully grasped her shoulders with trembling hands.
“One day. Just one more day to think about it. You can give me that much time, can’t you?”
“Of course. I understand your confusion.”
I told her I’d hold onto her phone just in case until tomorrow. She hesitated but soon nodded.
“…I suppose I have to accept that. Then I’ll see you tomorrow. Please think carefully about what I’ve told you.”
The moment Se-ah disappeared outside the shop, Ari came rushing at me.
“Unnie! You’re really going to believe everything that person said? It’s obvious she’s lying!”
“…Ari, do you really think Hunter Lee Hyun-woo didn’t kill Se-ah’s fiancé?”
Shock spread across Ari’s face at my words.
“…You know. Even though Hunter is scary, he’s not someone who’d kill an ordinary person without reason.”
Even Ari, who called everyone “unnie” and “oppa” on first meeting with friendly familiarity, still used formal speech only with Hunter Lee Hyun-woo. Even Ari, who feared him so much, insisted on his innocence.
“I also think Hunter Lee Hyun-woo isn’t that kind of person.”
“Then why did you just…!”
“Just because I want to believe something doesn’t make it the truth.”
‘…Se-ah’s words about seeking revenge were genuine.’
I knew well the gleam in the eyes of someone who had lost a precious person. She truly desired vengeance for her fiancé’s death.
Then could it be as she claimed?
‘…That couldn’t possibly be true.’
At least the Lee Hyun-woo I knew was not that kind of person. I clenched my fists and spoke quietly.
“Fine. I need to uncover the truth about that day as Yoon Se-ah described it.”
“…The truth? How?”
I sent the curious Ari away under the pretense that it was getting late. After tidying up the shop and returning to my lodging, I immediately opened my laptop and logged into Jeoseung-i.com.
Ha-nyang’s tail swayed slowly with interest.
“Oho, so that’s the method you came up with, meow?”
The method I’d found was the ‘Potion of Truth’ sold on Jeoseung-i.com. It was an item I’d discovered by chance while browsing before—supposedly, if you drank this potion and fell asleep, it would show you the truth you desired.
The price was 10,000 points. For a single-use item, it was an outrageously expensive price.
“…I’ll have no choice but to take out a loan.”
I dug through the past logs in my status window and found ‘Afterlife Capital’.
Running short on points? ‘Afterlife Capital’ is here to help!
Loans up to 100,000 points available!
(Repayment period: Until death)
>Get a loan immediately
With trembling hands, I applied for a 10,000 point loan. An approval notification appeared the instant I submitted it.
For some reason, I let out a small sigh, feeling oddly unsettled. At least the repayment period was generous.
‘Surely they don’t mean I have to repay it with my death, right?’
Shaking my head at the ominous thought, I pushed the worry aside. A loan just needs to be repaid! And if I diligently completed commissions, I might be able to pay it back faster than expected.
“For now, let me focus on uncovering the truth.”
After taking a deep breath, I pressed the ‘Purchase’ button. In a single second, the borrowed points dissolved into the air, but I felt no regret.
Soon, a small vial filled with an enigmatic violet liquid rested in my hand.
“You’re going to drink it yourself, meow?”
“Of course. I want to confirm the truth with my own eyes.”
“You’re that concerned about the fiancé of this human named Yoon Se-ah, meow?”
I shook my head. There was something more important than her fiancé’s death that I needed to verify.
“That’s not it. The Incheon Gate incident is actually very important to me as well.”
I slowly uncorked the vial. A sharp, concentrated scent rose up—like grape wine condensed tenfold.
“Ha-nyang, if anything happens, you need to wake me up, understood?”
“Don’t worry, meow.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and gulped down the potion. A sticky, cloying sweetness coated my throat, threatening to numb my tongue.
‘Ugh, I’m going to be sick….’
My stomach churned as if I were heavily intoxicated. As the sensation of my insides turning threatened to overwhelm me, I tried to scramble up from my seat, but consciousness slipped away like a blown fuse.
* * *
‘Ugh, everything’s spinning….’
When I opened my eyes again, I saw a familiar neighborhood lined with shops.
A neighborhood bakery at the intersection. The piano academy above it. Among the people passing through this peaceful street, I could detect no trace of fear.
‘…Has the Gate not ruptured yet?’
I tried to move forward, but my legs, now translucent, refused to budge as if they were rooted to the ground. Unable to do anything else, I was just surveying my surroundings when it happened.
“KYAAAAAAAA!!!!”
A piercing scream tore through the dreary sky as an enormous Gate materialized like a hole punched through reality. It was massive enough to swallow entire buildings whole.
Urgent voices erupted from all directions.
“A Gate? Out of nowhere? There was no warning!”
“Ahhh! Honey! Look over there!”
“Mom, Mom! I’m here!”
People scattered in panic, their movements appearing as if I were watching fast-forwarded footage. Soon they began fleeing in the opposite direction from where the Gate had opened.
‘Where is Se-ah? Where could she be?’
But no matter how hard I searched, Se-ah was nowhere to be found. Just as I was forcing my immobile legs to move—
‘…Ah.’
I lifted my head, and my vision suddenly shifted. The buildings that had been intact moments before were now devastated, flames erupting from every direction. Faced with that horrific scene, I instinctively held my breath.
“H-Hunters? When are they coming!”
“I don’t know! My phone won’t work… Ahhh! W-What is that!”
―Grrrrr….
―Grrack!
Wolf-like monsters with three heads twisted their neck joints grotesquely as they prowled across the shattered asphalt.
“R-Run!!”
Panicked people rushed past me, and in that moment, I caught sight of a man and woman who had fallen to the ground.
“C-Cough, cough! Honey, go first!”
“What are you saying! Get up, now. We have to go together!”
‘…Mom, Dad.’
It was my Parents. Hearing their voices after so long, I forgot to breathe and simply stared at them.
The Incheon Gate Incident.
An A-rank catastrophic Gate that had occurred during a period of standoff between the government and the Management Bureau. It was one of the worst Gate disasters, claiming countless lives due to inadequate initial response.
‘My Parents died in that Gate accident.’
On the day the Gate ruptured, I had been at the Sea with friends. Thanks to that, I survived, but in exchange, I could never witness my Parents’ final moments.
Unable to tear my eyes away, I watched the two people I had longed to see running through the flames.
Unlike before when my vision had been fixed as if rooted to the ground, now it moved naturally, following them.
“Psst! There’s a monster over there too. Let’s escape toward the back.”
“I’ll lead the way. Follow me.”
“You’re so dependable, honey!”
My Parents held each other’s hands tightly as they hurried through the shattered Alley.
Then my Father spotted a monster the size of a building standing on the Main Street and pulled my Mother forcefully. After exchanging a glance, they both slipped into a nearby Mansion with a partially collapsed wall.
An old Mansion with low pine trees planted around it. It was the place where they would meet their terrible end.
The moment I realized this, I threw myself in front of them.
‘Not here! It’s dangerous!!’
But no matter how desperately I tried to block their path, there was nothing I could do.
‘Mom!! Dad!!! Can’t you hear me?!’
Oblivious to the truth, they passed through me and entered the mansion. Only then did I realize that the truth serum intended to show me my parents’ death.

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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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