The SSS-Class Hunter’s Garden Log - Chapter 28

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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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Chapter 28

It seemed his promise to return quickly wasn’t just empty words. I don’t know what he did or how he managed to come back so fast.

However, if there was something unusual, it was that unlike when he left, Choi Kwon looked absolutely terrible.

Judging by his dust-covered clothes, he looked like someone who had rolled around thoroughly on dirt ground somewhere.

“I got rejected from joining Haechi.”

“See? I told you it’s not that easy. But why are your clothes like this? Don’t tell me… Haechi did this to you?”

“No.”

Choi Kwon shrugged his shoulders while brushing off the dust.

“This was from my previous guild leader. He beat me up when I said I was quitting. But don’t worry.”

“…”

“Anyway, I’ve left my old guild, so I can keep applying to Haechi until they accept me.”

Choi Kwon clenched both fists, burning with fighting spirit.

Hana pressed his forehead as he watched this sight.

It seemed like he had brought a strange person into his home.

* * *

“Damn it! What the hell did that little girl feed me!”

As soon as the Association Chairman’s office door slammed shut, the Vice-Chairman’s loud voice burst out.

But as soon as he raised his voice, his lower abdomen tensed up, causing the Vice-Chairman’s mouth to quickly shut.

The Vice-Chairman clutched his stomach and frowned. The burning sensation in his stomach, as if it had been scorched by fire, still hadn’t subsided.

Watching his haggard appearance after just half a day, the Secretary pondered.

Should he correct the facts?

She didn’t feed it to you, you forcibly took it and ate it yourself, he thought.

But he didn’t put it into practice.

As they say, let sleeping dogs lie – if he brought it up, he’d obviously get kicked in the other shin this time.

Since the Secretary kept his mouth shut obediently, the Vice-Chairman, having vented his anger, gulped down cold water and sat quietly in his chair.

“Still, this whole thing feels unsettling.”

The Vice-Chairman irritably set down the empty glass.

The life energy detected at Gangnam Station Gate was just a simple error? Really?

The Vice-Chairman fumbled under his desk.

Then, finding a small groove his hand touched, he brought the ring on his index finger to it.

Click.

With the sound of the ring’s stone fitting into the groove, a small hidden space under the desk opened.

The Vice-Chairman took out a metal box from inside.

When he opened the box, seed-like objects were revealed.

These things emitting an ominous dark red light were Gate cores.

If planted anywhere, they could tear apart the order of that land and open Gates.

Among the multiple Gate cores, an empty core that emitted no light caught his eye.

The Vice-Chairman picked up that seed.

It was the core used to open Gangnam Station Gate three years ago.

“Right. Since I recovered the core that was at Gangnam Station Gate back then, it’s probably just needless worry.”

The Vice-Chairman swallowed dry saliva and examined the cores in the box once more.

“…Instead of having pointless thoughts, I should spread Gates more quickly. Before displeasing that person.”

The Vice-Chairman took out one Gate core and handed it to the Secretary.

The Secretary, as if accustomed to it, asked the standard question.

“Where shall we plant it this time?”

At the Secretary’s question, the Vice-Chairman tilted his head as if thinking for a moment, then snapped his fingers.

Since he was going to open a Gate anyway, he thought it would be nice to give Seo Ganghyeon, who was a thorn in his side, a blow.

“Plant it in Haechi Guild’s courtyard.”

“Haechi Guild?”

Quite surprised, the Secretary hesitated.

But that was the end of it.

Without any further questions, the Secretary soon left the room with an acknowledgment.

Left alone in the room, the Vice-Chairman leaned back in his chair.

But his mind wouldn’t settle down.

The recent increase in Gate appearance frequency was definitely his doing.

Artificially planting cores, adjusting positions, opening Gates – all of these things moved within his hands.

But Yangpyeong was different.

The Gates that occurred there were not through his hands.

Even though he hadn’t scattered cores, Gates were occurring one after another around Yangpyeong as if reacting to something.

There was definitely something there.

A being with energy strong enough to attract Gates.

“Hmm…”

As far as the Vice-Chairman knew, there was only one life form with such power.

‘1’.

As soon as that name came to mind, the Vice-Chairman quickly shook his head.

It was an absurd assumption.

Three years ago, there was no way ‘1’ could have survived that massive Gate rampage.

To eliminate any possible threat, hadn’t he even interfered to prevent ‘1’s skills from activating properly just before entering Gangnam Station Gate?

“But not being able to confirm the body really bothers me.”

Moreover, hadn’t ‘1’s access records appeared in the Hunter database?

Unable to settle his restless mind, the Vice-Chairman slowly straightened up.

That wasn’t the only thing bothering him.

When he moved the mouse, the computer screen turned on, showing a photo of a Hunter with a bag over his face.

“An unidentified Hunter capable of soloing a Boss Monster.”

Could it be…?

The Vice-Chairman examined the monitor carefully.

Though blurry, the build seemed somewhat similar to ‘1’s.

“It’s unlikely, but it wouldn’t hurt to check.”

The Vice-Chairman clicked the mouse to access ‘1’s personal information.

The number of people who had directly seen ‘1’s face could be counted on one hand.

Even most of them weren’t certain.

‘1’ always appeared while hiding his identity, often ignoring even the Association Chairman’s calls and disappearing after only clearing Gates.

Face-covering equipment, identity-obscuring skills, and movement methods that left no records.

Even within the Association, there were hardly any figures who could say they had actually encountered ‘1’.

Moreover, ‘1’s personal information was a file with exclusive access rights for the Association Chairman only.

So that even executives couldn’t access it.

But now was different.

The Association Chairman’s full authority had been temporarily delegated to him.

It was just as the personal file was opening on the computer screen.

Grumble.

Another loud noise rumbled from his lower abdomen.

“I thought it was getting better, but here it goes again!”

The Vice-Chairman frowned.

Unable to endure it any longer, he left the screen on and hurriedly got up from his seat, heading to the restroom.

While the Vice-Chairman was briefly away from his seat.

The tightly closed Association Chairman’s office door opened and someone slipped into the room like a shadow.

The figure silently approached the terminal, then moved toward the computer.

After clicking the mouse several times, it once again slipped out of the room silently like a ghost.

A moment later.

The Vice-Chairman, who returned to the Association Chairman’s office with a much paler face, froze solid while checking the personal file he had left open.

Because the screen was clean.

As if nothing had existed from the beginning.

On the white screen, only a blinking cursor was moving.

“What the hell is this? Where did all the file contents go!”

The file was gone.

“Which bastard did this!”

The Vice-Chairman, furious to the top of his head, was about to shout when he clutched his stomach again.

Once again, chaos was erupting in his belly.

The Vice-Chairman took a deep breath and gritted his teeth.

“Damn it!”

He turned around again and rushed to the restroom.

He shouldn’t have eaten those rice grains back then.

It seemed like everything started going wrong from the moment he ate the rice grains that F-rank Hunter had given him.

The Vice-Chairman, who had been grinding his teeth thinking of Hana and swearing to get back at him if they met again, soon turned pale and began rushing to the restroom once more.

“That F-rank Hunter. What kind of item was he carrying!”

* * *

And so a week quickly passed.

As the time approached for Hana’s first delivery, Ganghyeon quickened his steps toward the guild.

He had just completed the purchase of Gangnam Station Gate and was returning from the Association Headquarters.

The Association officials who heard Seo Ganghyeon’s report no longer showed any interest in Gangnam Station Gate.

To them, it was nothing more than a burden anyway.

Something that couldn’t be disposed of anywhere and only took up space.

So when Ganghyeon stepped forward to purchase the ownership of Gangnam Station Gate under Haechi Guild’s name, the Association’s reaction was extremely favorable.

The Association called out a high price as if they had been waiting for this, and Ganghyeon only frowned once before signing the contract as is.

After all, it wasn’t the first or second time the Association had made money off gates, and it was worth paying that price to keep his promise with Yun Hana while also searching for any possible traces of ‘1’.

As he stuffed the gate ownership transfer documents he had prepared into his bag, Yun Taegyeom grumbled beside him.

“Seriously, those Association people are no different from highway robbers. What’s with charging such an expensive price for a gate that’s nothing but an empty shell? It wasn’t this bad when the Association Chairman was still around.”

Regardless, Ganghyeon only pressed his brow firmly. A dull headache was washing over him.

It was due to the fatigue that had been accumulating recently.

For a few days after eating Yun Hana’s crops, he had been able to sleep without nightmares.

But that effect didn’t last long.

Because of the nightmares of that day three years ago that surfaced whenever he closed his eyes, his insomnia was getting worse day by day.

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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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