How to Seduce S-Class Hunters with Bungeoppang - Chapter 94

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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 94】
I hastily threw on an outer coat, and we headed to the Management Bureau. The lobby was quieter than usual, well past the evening rush hour.
‘A criminal suddenly went berserk? What on earth is happening?’
As we rode the elevator up, I nervously fidgeted with the item hanging around my neck.
“Are you alright?”
Hyun-woo, noticing my anxiety, asked with concern in his eyes. I forced a smile and nodded.
“…I’m just feeling uneasy about something.”
The criminals who had caused the rampage were the same people who had falsely accused my shop of causing someone’s death through our food, and had forcibly confined me in an interrogation room. I’d heard they were arrested at the scene and were now locked in solitary cells undergoing interrogation….
The door opened, and the Secretary Director who had been waiting guided us to the Director’s Office.
“You can go right in.”
As we stepped inside, the Director, buried beneath towering stacks of documents on her desk, slowly lifted her head.
“Lee Hyun-woo. Ah, Ha-neul has come as well.”
Her face looked gaunt compared to when I’d last seen her. Noticing my concerned gaze, the Director shook her head while washing her face with her hands.
“My face is a mess, isn’t it? I’ve barely slept because of the incidents that have erupted recently.”
The Director gave a bitter smile and guided us to the sofa. The moment we sat down, she got straight to the point.
“Starting with the investigator impersonation case… the situation is becoming extremely troublesome.”
“What exactly has happened?”
At Hyun-woo’s question, the Director let out a deep sigh.
“All three arrested criminals experienced mana runaway.”
“Mana runaway? Is that even possible?”
Mana runaway—a phenomenon that occurred when an awakened person forcibly used an item of a much higher grade than their mana capacity, or used a skill beyond their limits. I’d heard it happened frequently in the early days when awakened people first appeared, but now it was rare since people knew their own mana limits.
“This is our first case like this too. It’s not easy to cause a runaway outside of a Gate.”
The Director lowered her head with a troubled expression. The criminals had experienced the runaway less than two hours after being served dinner. The moment Hyun-woo heard this, he frowned.
“Is there no possibility that poison was mixed into the meal?”
“…We’re keeping that possibility open. However, we couldn’t find any meaningful evidence from their bodies. We haven’t identified any substance capable of causing mana runaway.”
In other words, it was difficult to establish a connection between the meal and the mana runaway.
“There is something else you should see regarding this matter.”
The Director turned the laptop on the table toward us. The screen showed one of the criminals being interrogated. The man, with a gaunt face, nervously bounced his leg and muttered.
-There’s no way an F-rank Hunter could make something like that. He must have done something terrible. Everyone would die if they ate that food. Why won’t you believe me….
“Ha, what is this.”
The moment I saw the video, I let out a hollow laugh. The man in the footage was constantly slandering my shop while claiming his innocence.
“It’s from the final interrogation. There are claims that they are truly innocent people, and that extreme stress from this situation caused them to experience mana runaway.”
I carefully posed a question.
“Could it be… that Park Sung-chul is the one making such claims?”
The Director remained silent but did not deny it.
‘So he’s trying to connect everything back to my shop being at fault?’
I leaned back against the sofa, pressing my throbbing head.
“Were there any other unusual findings?”
“Some suspect side effects from a mental-type skill. The interrogator was a mental-type Hunter. But there are inconsistencies with that theory too.”
According to the interrogator’s statement, the mental-type skill didn’t seem to work well. They would confess, but it felt like they were making things up as they went.
“That’s why a new Interrogator was scheduled to be deployed starting today. An Interrogator with a truth-detection skill,” she explained.
“The moment a new Interrogator was decided to arrive, they triggered a mana rampage… Quite the coincidence, wouldn’t you say?”
“I suspect they possessed mental resistance-type skills. We couldn’t determine the specifics since skills are personal information, but that’s my assessment.”
It seemed the perpetrators hadn’t accounted for the new Interrogator in their plans. Faced with the prospect of their carefully guarded secrets being exposed, they’d triggered the rampage—whether intentionally or not.
‘…This doesn’t feel right.’
The slander directed at my shop, which I’d thought had finally subsided beneath the surface, was rising again. Sure enough, the Director spoke to me with careful deliberation.
“With three Awakened dying from this unprecedented rampage, an investigation will be launched. And when that happens… no matter what, Ha-neul’s shop will inevitably be mentioned again.”
She offered a bitter smile and averted her gaze.
“Between the recent illegal item incident and everything else… I’m sorry for continuously showing you the darker side of the Hunter community.”
“No, please. These were all unforeseen accidents.”
Who could have predicted a sudden mana rampage in a place that wasn’t even a Gate? Still, the bitter taste lingered. I had no desire to face those suspicious glances directed at my shop again.
‘Why do they keep suspecting an F-rank Hunter for crafting items? It’s not like I chose to awaken as F-rank in the first place….’
Wait. I’m not F-rank anymore, am I?
Lost in my bitter musings, I suddenly lifted my head at the thought that had struck me. If they distrusted items made by an F-rank, what about items crafted by an SS-rank?
This was the perfect moment to reveal my re-awakening. I turned to the Director and slowly opened my mouth.
“Director, there’s something I need to tell you.”
* * *
The next morning. Hunter Management Bureau Seoul Headquarters Press Conference Hall. Reporters summoned on such short notice gathered with bewildered expressions, murmuring among themselves.
“What kind of announcement warrants calling the press so suddenly? And on a Saturday morning, no less?”
“I heard a criminal being interrogated at the Bureau triggered a rampage… Could it be about that?”
“They wouldn’t call foreign press for that. There’s something bigger. Something major.”
When the appointed time arrived, lights illuminated the podium. The Director, standing atop it, slowly surveyed the assembled journalists.
“Good morning. Thank you all for attending despite your busy schedules.”
The Director’s clear voice carried through the microphone, resonating across the entire hall.
“The reason we’ve convened this gathering is to make a major announcement that will open a new chapter in South Korea’s Hunter community.”
“What is this announcement?”
“There’s been a rumor that a Hunter under investigation by the Bureau recently took their own life. Is that true?”
Rather than answering the reporters’ questions, the Director turned his gaze toward where I stood.
“I think it’s better for the person involved to speak directly. Ha-neul, please come up.”
With my fists clenched, I walked forward confidently and ascended the podium. Countless camera lenses turned toward me.
“Wait, who is that…?”
“Isn’t that the Taiyaki Shop owner?”
“An F-rank Crafter Hunter? Why is she here?”
My unexpected appearance sparked even more murmuring among the reporters. I swallowed my trembling breath and slowly began to speak.
“Hello, I’m Jung Ha-neul.”
The reporters stared at me with confusion.
“I have recently undergone a re-awakening. And my new rank is….”
At my signal, the awakening assessment results examined by the Bureau appeared on the large screen. While the detailed figures were obscured, the rank displayed at the top was crystal clear.
[Name: Jung Ha-neul / Rank: SS]
“SS-rank.”
The press conference hall erupted into chaos at the unexpected announcement, the air crackling with disbelief.
“SS-rank? That’s impossible!”
“Isn’t S-rank the highest classification?”
“But the awakening assessment form clearly stated….”
I turned my head and saw Park Sung-chul, the Vice Director, frozen with wide eyes. He clearly hadn’t anticipated a press conference with this content.
‘The Director recently replaced all his close associates. It seems his information network has been cut off.’
But the press conference I had prepared wasn’t finished yet. Now came the real bombshell.
“And I possess,”
I met the reporters’ gazes directly and spoke with crystalline clarity.
“A skill capable of healing the awakening side effects that plague Hunters.”
In that instant, every person in the hall fell silent, their mouths hanging open in stunned disbelief.

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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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