How to Seduce S-Class Hunters with Bungeoppang - Chapter 76
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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 76】
Up close, he was a grimy young hunter barely twenty, his dirt-caked hoodie pulled low over his head. With a desperate expression, he reached out toward Lee Hyun-woo as if pleading for help. But then—
“I’d prefer you didn’t come any closer.”
Lee Hyun-woo’s blade gleamed dangerously beneath the boy’s chin. Even in a safe-ranked Gate, it was difficult to trust a hunter who appeared out of nowhere.
“Ha-neul, move behind me.”
Once he confirmed we’d retreated behind him, he asked coldly.
“When we entered, there were no other applicants registered to use this Gate.”
“N-no, I didn’t enter through this Gate! My team and I were doing physical training when suddenly a crack opened in the ground and swallowed us whole….”
The boy’s voice trailed off as memories of what lay inside the Gate surfaced, his face growing hollow. When Lee Hyun-woo tightened his grip on his sword’s hilt impatiently, the boy’s eyes widened with terror as he whispered.
“It was Arachne’s habitat. And there was even a mother that had recently given birth….”
“Bad luck.”
Lee Hyun-woo clicked his tongue lightly at those words. Monsters that had recently birthed were extremely sensitive. Moreover, Arachne was a high-tier monster—so well-known that even a civilian like me had heard of it. Unprepared hunters suddenly dropped into such a situation would have had little chance of survival.
‘Arachne must have deliberately opened that crack to stockpile food for her offspring. Which means the other team members are already….’
The boy, sensing our heavy silence, frantically waved his hands.
“They’re still alive!! I saw them wrapped up in spider silk! Arachne prefers live prey, right? So she wouldn’t have killed them immediately! Right?”
The boy pleaded desperately for our agreement. Lee Hyun-woo exhaled a low sigh and lowered his blade.
“That behavior pattern exists, but I can’t guarantee it.”
“Ugh, no… I told them to hold on, that I’d come back for them! They have to be alive. Please….”
Consumed by terror, the boy broke into sobs, tears and snot streaming down his face. His face was marked with scratches from intense struggle, and his eyes were swollen and red from crying.
“Hic… my teammates are all captured, and I… I ran away alone like a coward….”
I felt his fear and self-recrimination, and somehow it reminded me of the moment I lost my parents. I reached out and gently tapped Lee Hyun-woo’s shoulder.
“Um, Hunter. Just in case… wouldn’t it be better to check the situation?”
Lee Hyun-woo considered my words for a moment, then nodded.
“I’ll go alone to be safe. If Arachne really appears, it would be dangerous for you, Ha-neul.”
He was right. As an F-Rank, I’d be useless in combat. But I didn’t want to go home without knowing what was happening. I carefully grabbed his sleeve.
“I wasn’t planning to follow all the way to where the monster is. Just to the nearest safe area possible…. Is that too much to ask?”
“But there are almost no safe places in a Gate—”
“I’ll wait quietly. Okay?”
Faced with my earnest gaze, Lee Hyun-woo finally raised both hands in surrender.
“Fine, I understand. Let me request support from the Management Bureau first, then we’ll move immediately.”
* * *
“It won’t be easy.”
Lee Hyun-woo shook his head after finishing the support request. Since we didn’t know the location of the Gate where Arachne was, dispatching a support team immediately would be difficult.
“We’ll need to move first and transmit our location via Hunter Watch.”
The trapped team members couldn’t call for support themselves, and the boy’s Hunter Watch was already destroyed and shattered from his escape. We decided to enter the Gate first without waiting for the support team.
“Lead the way.”
The boy nodded and pushed through the bushes ahead. To prepare for any contingency, Ha-nyang and I walked in the middle while Lee Hyun-woo followed at the rear, monitoring the situation.
“This is where I came out.”
The boy pointed to a spot behind the bushes at the Forest Edge. There, a crimson rift shimmered like heat haze.
“Huh? The entrance seems much smaller than when I escaped….”
“It’s a Rift forcibly connected to the outside. If it judges there’s no prey nearby, it will close.”
Lee Hyun-woo examined the Rift carefully before turning back to me.
“I can definitely sense a powerful magical response from inside. It could be dangerous, so I’ll go in first to scout ahead.”
At Lee Hyun-woo’s words, the young hunter hastily raised his hand.
“I, I want to come with you!”
“You’ll only get in the way of combat. Stay here and wait.”
Then he pressed a sharp dagger into my hand. Why was he giving me this…?
“If things go south, just stab with it. If that doesn’t work, you can even throw the gun you’re carrying. The item itself has an auto-targeting function, so it should be easy to hit your intended target.”
I could feel the young hunter beside me looking back and forth between me and the dagger in my hand in shock. After entrusting me to Ha-nyang one last time, Lee Hyun-woo leaped into the Rift.
“…You’re not actually going to stab me, right?”
“Only if you do something strange.”
The young hunter nodded glumly. He seemed worried about his teammates inside. I sat down hard on the ground and asked him a question.
“By the way, what’s your name?”
“Oh, I’m Seo Han-gyeol. I’m D-Rank.”
He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, saying he’d just turned twenty.
“Actually, I’ve only been awakened for six months. I’ve only received training and have no real combat experience, so my seniors have helped me a lot. I started physical training because of that too… I never imagined something like this would happen.”
Han-gyeol sniffled and wiped beneath his nose with his sleeve.
‘Just turned twenty. He really is young.’
I could vividly imagine how panicked Han-gyeol must have been when he fell through the Rift into the Gate. That’s probably why his teammates wanted to save him first.
“Don’t worry too much. Lee Hyun-woo is an S-Rank Hunter. He’ll handle all the monsters and safely rescue your teammates.”
He nodded quietly.
“…I’m really glad I met you and the others.”
Han-gyeol managed a small smile, seeming a bit calmer now.
As I sat near the Rift entrance waiting for Lee Hyun-woo, something happened.
“Oh no! It’s not working! The Rift is getting smaller!”
The Rift, which hadn’t been very large to begin with, had now shrunk to a size where only one person could barely squeeze through by bending down. Han-gyeol nervously bit at his fingernails.
“What if it closes completely?”
I had no knowledge to offer an easy answer. I couldn’t tell whether I should enter through the narrowing gap or continue waiting here.
At that moment, Ha-nyang leaped out from my arms.
“Waiting around isn’t this one’s style.”
“Ha-nyang, wait!”
Before I could stop him, Ha-nyang slipped through the Rift and vanished. I hurriedly followed Ha-nyang into the Rift entrance.
‘Ugh, what a rotten stench.’
The moment I entered, an unpleasant smell hit me. Surprisingly, the interior was quite warm—perhaps the creature had chosen a well-insulated place to raise its young.
Looking around, I saw a narrow, dark Cave covered entirely in sticky, opaque webbing.
“Sister, please stay behind me. I’ll protect you.”
Han-gyeol, who had followed me in, blocked my path with trembling arms. I thought our combat strength might be roughly similar, but I didn’t voice that thought.
“I shouldn’t have come in. This place reeks of filth.”
Ha-nyang complained and leaped onto my shoulder. I quickly warned Ha-nyang.
“Don’t talk so loudly! This place is dangerous.”
“Hmph, danger? Look ahead,” Ha-nyang said.
At Ha-nyang’s words, I lifted my head and gazed deeper into the cave. A massive Arachne lay sprawled on its back, belly exposed.
“…What?”
Another one lay beyond it. Two more beside that. As I ventured further inward, the number of Arachnes collapsed in grotesque positions multiplied. And at the end of it all,
“…Ha-neul Hunter?”
Lee Hyun-woo stood there, sword in hand. Behind him lay an Arachne twice the size of any I’d seen before, severed and 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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