Hunter Kindergarten, Dolphin Class! - Chapter 109

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 109

 

Under the short-sleeved shirt with round buttons, a brown apron wrapped only around the lower half flutters gently.

 

Add to that the neatly combed hair and the name tag reading [Nabi] attached to the shirt.

 

Anyone could see this was the perfect appearance of an employee.

 

Seeing Nabi transformed into an employee of Myoryeongdang, I immediately grabbed the back of my neck.

 

‘Damn it.’

 

Right, honestly… the anxiety that had overwhelmed me the moment I realized Nabi had disappeared didn’t last very long.

 

Instead, as soon as I was left alone, the thought that immediately came to mind was… ‘Couldn’t I just run away like this?’

 

It was a promise I had made out of necessity to survive in the first place.

 

Things like becoming friends, or staying together even after death.

 

Constantly having to please them, sharing daily life, and being unable to relax even for a moment, worried they might cause trouble.

 

…However.

 

At the same time, I had become accustomed to all that ‘inevitability.’

 

Now I had reached the point where I would miss it if it were gone.

 

‘I must be crazy too.’

 

I couldn’t deny it.

 

That I was unknowingly depending on Nabi, and that despite all the hardships, I was laughing much more than before.

 

With that thought, my body had started moving on its own.

 

That’s why I had come all the way here to find Nabi.

 

‘Sigh…’

 

Moreover, aside from the affection that had developed.

 

I didn’t think Nabi wouldn’t be able to find me even if I ran away.

 

‘What kind of being is that thing anyway.’

 

I still couldn’t guess Nabi’s true identity, but as someone who had lived with them, I couldn’t help but know they were an existence that transcended common sense.

 

‘Therefore, it would be safer for my well-being in many ways if I came to find them nicely myself.’

 

I suppressed a sigh and looked at Nabi.

 

I held out my palm toward Nabi, who was smiling brightly and offering me a snack bag.

 

While saying.

 

“Let’s go home.”

 

“…”

 

“You’ve already eaten a lot of snacks here, right? But you know what? You get tired of eating only the same thing. We should go out and try new things too. Don’t you think?”

 

The hand holding the bag hesitated for a moment… then finally grabbed my hand firmly.

 

Nabi looked up at me and said.

 

“Right! I want to go home!”

 

That’s right.

 

I lifted up Nabi, who had thrown the bag and tongs to the floor.

 

“Team Leader, I found my younger brother. Let’s go now.”

 

“…Yes, that’s quite fortunate.”

 

I turned around, taking Lee Gyeon with me as he awkwardly watched our family reunion.

 

Just as we were about to leave the shop…

 

Someone quickly burst out from the hidden kitchen space behind the counter.

 

-Bang!

 

At the same time, the shop door that had been half-open slammed shut with a loud noise.

 

…The atmosphere changed instantly.

 

The interior of the shop, which had felt warm and cozy just moments before, turned cold and sunken as if it had lost its color.

 

A chill began circulating in the surrounding air, and frost started forming on the shop’s wallpaper.

 

Before I knew it, Lee Gyeon was standing in front of Nabi and me, blocking our way.

 

Through my partially obscured view, I could see the opponent who had burst out from the kitchen space.

 

“…!”

 

An opponent in human form with pure white hair reminiscent of an angel and skin as transparent as white jade.

 

However, I knew immediately.

 

‘It’s not human.’

 

Beneath the pure white hair, the bright red glowing eyes and the pair of horns embedded like branches on its head could not be called human.

 

Lee Gyeon whispered to me without turning around.

 

“It seems to be a lower-class demon.”

 

“Is it a monster?”

 

“It’s a different species. They’re occasionally found in A-grade or higher dungeons… There’s no difficulty in dealing with them, but the fact that they’re intelligent beings and have somewhat cunning nature is concerning. And most importantly, we can’t communicate with them.”

 

“What exactly do you mean by not being able to communicate?”

 

“Demons only communicate in their own language that humans cannot understand.”

 

“…”

 

“Don’t provoke it. There’s a high possibility that it has set up some kind of trap inside the shop.”

 

At those words, I looked around inside the shop.

 

There didn’t seem to be any particular traps or devices visible.

 

‘Though it could be something I don’t know how to see…’

 

I asked Lee Gyeon.

 

“Is there a way to quietly escape from this place?”

 

“Assuming there are demons like this in every shop outside… It would be best to eliminate only the demon in this shop and then quickly escape the dungeon.”

 

As expected, that’s the only way.

 

“But if we use that method… we’ll have to give up searching for the missing persons.”

 

“Yes… But that’s not something for you to worry about, Teacher. First, you and your younger sibling should focus on safely getting out of this place.”

 

Hmm, right… I’ve grasped the situation.

 

This time I asked Nabi.

 

“Why did you keep staying here?”

 

No matter how I think about it, he’s not the type to quietly pretend to be an employee here just because a demon is holding him captive…

 

And sure enough.

 

“He keeps giving me snacks! Since hyung would come if I waited anyway, I stayed for a bit!”

 

“…Is that so.”

 

“Yeah!”

 

‘So he wasn’t being held captive by force.’

 

Right. Then my curiosity is resolved too…

 

I gently pushed Lee Gyeon’s shoulder, which was blocking my view with his back, and stepped forward.

 

I felt Lee Gyeon urgently grab my shoulder.

 

‘Status Window’

 

 

Again.

 

This is the second time after Ellumis.

 

It’s an intelligent being, but ‘Lower Open Source’ has been activated.

 

It seemed like the Status Window had been identifying and presenting opponents to me at some point.

 

‘Thanks to this, I understand to some extent now.’

 

‘Lower Open Source’ is indeed a Taming Ability.

 

However, it seems to activate only for ‘targets below standards’ as determined by the ‘Status Window’.

 

‘At first I thought those below standards were non-intelligent beings… but now I see that wasn’t the case.’

 

And this ability cannot use Taming Ability beyond ‘conversation’ without the opponent’s consent.

 

‘With Ellumis, I didn’t pay attention because there was no need to use the ability beyond conversation…’

 

 

‘It failed again this time.’

 

Anyway, it activates not only on ‘animals’ but also on ‘entities’ within dungeons… To use the ability without consent, do I need to raise my awakening grade after all?

 

‘…Is that even something that can be raised?’

 

This was another fact I learned after unintentionally gaining insight into my ability through Baek Cheonhyeong in the underground parking garage.

 

“Teacher, it’s dangerous! Quickly get behind me…!”

 

The grip of the hand that grabbed my shoulder as if to shake me from my reverie brought me back to my senses.

 

“I’m fine.”

 

I brushed off his hand and stood facing the Demon Tribe directly.

 

I couldn’t use my Tamer Ability anymore, but at least ‘conversation’ should work…

 

 

‘Let me hear what kind of circumstances they’re babbling about in their own language.’

 

***

 

It was confusing.

 

…Na Hwi-yeon, who had dramatically found his younger brother, was now trying to fight the Demon Tribe who had (probably) kidnapped his younger brother!

 

Faced with his firm attitude, Lee Gyeon could only stand there like a faithful wife waiting for her husband’s return, unable to properly stop him.

 

Teacher was ‘really’ fighting.

 

Even having a verbal argument with the Demon Tribe.

 

‘There’s no way… they can communicate?’

 

With dazed eyes, Lee Gyeon alternately watched the two species pointing fingers at each other and fighting.

 

“No, why did you take the child without permission?”

 

Is this a dream?

 

“Ha… Really, he provided labor in exchange for unauthorized consumption. From what the child said, it seems he worked here for several days. He worked inside the Dungeon, but basing work hours on outside the Dungeon standards is crossing the line.”

 

Na Hwi-yeon calmly listened to and even responded to the Demon Tribe’s language, which sounded like alien language to Lee Gyeon’s ears.

 

“Rather, shouldn’t you be the one paying us compensation? How much could this tiny child have eaten in snacks?”

 

Just listening to the conversation content… it was no different from a customer filing a complaint at a shop and a shop owner trying not to back down.

 

“This doesn’t make sense… Oh really? You say it was a legitimate reason to provide labor as an employee? My goodness, from what I’m hearing, it sounds like you threatened him and wouldn’t let him go home!”

 

“…”

 

Clearly, Na Hwi-yeon was the victim.

 

‘This side is the victim.’

 

“You, this isn’t your first time doing this, is it? Now I see, you’re probably doing the same thing with the other shops around here, luring innocent children. I can tell without even looking~”

 

…Is he being unreasonable?

 

No, he’s the victim.

 

But… why does the Demon Tribe look pitiful?

 

“I don’t need to hear anything else, let us go. Before I completely destroy this whole place.”

 

Seeing Na Hwi-yeon threatening the Demon Tribe, Lee Gyeon finally couldn’t stand it and intervened between the two.

 

“First, both of you please calm down…”

 

He had no idea what he was doing right now.

 

“Team Leader, stay out of this. All the guys in this Shopping District are in cahoots. There’s even a separate Demon Tribe that specifically kidnaps only children and sells them here.”

 

The full story that Na Hwi-yeon revealed after somewhat grasping the situation from his verbal argument with the Demon Tribe was this…

 

Using some unknown method, a Demon Tribe lured and kidnapped children from outside the Dungeon and supplied them to this Shopping Street as if releasing them.

 

Innocent children fell for the temptation of toys or snacks and instead of paying the price, had their lives mortgaged as employees… A terrible route.

 

“It doesn’t seem like the Demon Tribe are selling things to humans in the first place.”

 

It was something only cunning Demon Tribe would do.

 

However, apart from thinking it was terrible, my thoughts remained unchanged.

 

I wanted to kill them all indiscriminately and save the children…

 

‘No matter how weak the combat power of lower-class Demon Tribe is, facing multiple of them while having someone to protect isn’t easy.’

 

Moreover, extracting the children held captive in each shop one by one was nearly impossible in the current situation.

 

Lee Gyeon decided to use his Awakening Ability instead of the giant pencil he had abandoned midway, feeling like he was getting in the way.

 

A quiet Blade Wind began to blow from his hands…

 

‘First, I’ll help Teacher and Younger Sibling escape, then immediately join up with the Team Members and…’

 

“Nabi, bring the bag!”

 

“Here! Here!”

 

Just then.

 

Na Hwi-yeon took out something from the yellow bag that suddenly appeared.

 

And without hesitation, he shot what he had taken out toward the Demon Tribe.

 

Lee Gyeon only managed to grasp the situation after several seconds had passed.

 

Red blood was flowing from the demon’s chest.

 

Meanwhile, what Na Hwi-yeon held in his hand was a gun.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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