The SSS-Class Hunter’s Garden Log - Chapter 38

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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 38

 

…Was that a bit out of the blue?

 

But I couldn’t help getting angry just watching it.

 

The story I heard from Choi Kwon at the Gate came to mind.

 

About how Haechan had left Jeokwol under bad circumstances.

 

It wasn’t like he deliberately exposed someone’s weakness, but to corner a person like this just because of one ability trait.

 

It was unspeakably petty.

 

Of course, the fact that the guy harassing Haechan was the same person who’d been causing trouble at the Hunter Exchange made it even more disgusting to watch.

 

“Yes. But you absolutely can’t share these with weird people like that. Never. Got it?”

 

Anyway, while the Jeokwol Guild members were left speechless with disbelief, Hana took Haechan’s hand and led him toward her.

 

“Let’s go, us.”

 

“Uh, uhh. Yes…!”

 

Haechan’s bangs fluttered in the wind as he moved along, almost being dragged.

 

The eyes that were finally revealed were sparkling to an almost overwhelming degree.

 

Choi Kwon also quickly positioned himself on Haechan’s other side, glaring at the Jeokwol Guild members.

 

Regardless of that, Haechan, clutching the box to his chest, kept glancing at Hana from beside her.

 

Like someone who had just seen a hero.

 

* * *

 

And so the three of them entered the Haechi Guild building.

 

Standing in front of the information desk in the lobby, Hana readjusted her grip on the box she was carrying.

 

It was the delivery box left over after giving some to Haechan.

 

“What? Seo Ganghyeon isn’t here?”

 

At Hana’s question, the reception staff member nodded.

 

“The guild leader went straight to Busan for a Gate raid as soon as he returned from the Sindorim Station Gate. He’s scheduled to return today, but we don’t have an exact time yet….”

 

Sindorim Station and now Busan.

 

Here one moment, there the next – he was like Hong Gildong himself.

 

A guy who couldn’t even sleep properly was going all the way to Busan to raid a Gate. Did he think he was some kind of universal problem solver?

 

Seo Ganghyeon was known for his toughness, so it hadn’t been an issue until now, but at this rate, wouldn’t he really collapse?

 

But suddenly, she heard a sniffling sound from beside her.

 

The culprit was Haechan.

 

Looking over, she saw Haechan with tears streaming down his face.

 

“Why, why are you crying?”

 

In her confusion, Hana’s voice rose for a moment.

 

Haechan clutched the box tightly and stammered out his words.

 

“Thank you for… helping me. It’s the first time anyone has stood up for me….”

 

Then Haechan held the box he was carrying back out to Hana.

 

“This, this is… you just lent it to me, right? I don’t deserve to receive—.”

 

“No.”

 

Hana shook her head firmly.

 

“I gave it to you. Really.”

 

Haechan’s eyes grew even redder.

 

“Hic, hiccup. You’re really giving it to me? Why? Everyone almost got in danger because of me…, and just before in the Gate too…!”

 

Haechan’s tears, which had been falling drop by drop, began streaming down steadily.

 

Then Choi Kwon grabbed Hana’s arm in alarm and shook it.

 

“Benefactor, why are you making him cry!”

 

“What did I do…!”

 

Haechan was now sobbing with his shoulders shaking.

 

“In the Gate, I’m sorry, *sob*, I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to recreate nightmares on purpose. You must have been uncomfortable.”

 

His crying was so pitiful that passersby looked suspiciously at Choi Kwon and Hana.

 

Looking like they were clearly the ones who made him cry, Kwon and Hana frantically tried to comfort Haechan.

 

“It’s okay! I’m not weak enough to sulk just because my nightmare about losing hair got exposed, you know?”

 

“I’m fine too! For some reason, Lee Haechan’s ability didn’t work on me. So I wasn’t uncomfortable at all. Don’t worry.”

 

But instead of the Haechan they were trying to comfort, Choi Kwon suddenly latched onto Hana’s words.

 

“What, benefactor. Why didn’t the ability work on you?”

 

“I don’t know the details either.”

 

“It’s not that it didn’t work, but that you don’t have nightmares at all, right? Like your head is too clear or something—.”

 

The moment Hana’s eyes narrowed, Choi Kwon shut his mouth.

 

So basically, he just said in a roundabout way that my brain is completely empty, didn’t he?

 

Really now.

 

But Choi Kwon’s words being annoying was only momentary.

 

But thinking about it, it might not be completely nonsensical.

 

If her memories were completely gone, wouldn’t there be nothing to call a ‘nightmare’ in the first place?

 

So maybe that’s why the ability didn’t work.

 

Hana found herself nodding without realizing it.

 

At that moment.

 

“It didn’t… work? My ability?”

 

Lee Haechan’s face came into view as he quietly raised his head.

 

Oops.

 

Hana, who had been lost in thought, quickly returned to reality.

 

Hana crumpled up her stray thoughts like paper and shoved them into a corner of her mind as she answered.

 

“Um, yes.”

 

It would have been awkward if he asked her to explain why.

 

It seemed like too much to go into a long story about memory loss and such.

 

But fortunately, that wasn’t what Haechan was interested in.

 

“Then… you weren’t uncomfortable because of me?”

 

It was a face that was completely hunched up, asking while reading the room.

 

Haechan seemed to care most about whether Hana and Choi Kwon hated him. Heartbreakingly so.

 

How much must the Jeokwol Guild members have tormented him for him to be like this?

 

She couldn’t help but sigh.

 

Having been at the Yangpyeong branch, Choi Kwon had no contact with Lee Haechan, who mainly worked in Seoul.

 

Perhaps because of that, he too seemed to have a troubled expression, as if he didn’t know the Jeokwol Guild members’ misconduct was this severe.

 

Hana gave Haechan the answer he most wanted to hear for now.

 

With the intention of boosting his self-esteem first.

 

“That’s right. I wasn’t uncomfortable, not at all.”

 

His face seemed to brighten a bit at Hana’s confident answer, then returned to normal.

 

“I’m pa, pathetic, aren’t I? Claiming to be S-rank but can’t even properly control my ability. Timid and just, just frustrating.”

 

Haechan picked at the skin beside his fingernails and hung his head.

 

The torn skin swelled up red.

 

“I understand. That, that’s probably why the guild leader excluded me, me from the Gate raid….”

 

His shoulders curled in more as he finished speaking.

 

His self-esteem had broken through the floor and gone underground.

 

At this rate, he really seemed ready to dig into the ground.

 

Hana rolled her eyes around.

 

How could she break this mood?

 

Then a light bulb went off in her head.

 

“Ah! That’s right!”

 

Hana rummaged through the box she had given to Haechan and found the oyster mushrooms.

 

She had brought them after seeing the effect of absorbing the user’s depression, though she was skeptical about whether they’d be useful.

 

Now there was a perfect test subject right in front of her.

 

Hana suddenly held the mushroom out in front of Haechan.

 

“Stop crying and would you like to try eating this?”

 

“Su, suddenly?”

 

Hana nodded with sparkling big eyes.

 

“Yes. If you eat it, you might feel a bit better. There shouldn’t be any side effects. …Probably?”

 

At the word ‘probably’ added at the end, Haechan stared intently at the mushroom with slightly suspicious eyes.

 

“It, it’ll make me feel better…?”

 

* * *

 

At that moment.

 

Kang Hyeon had finished conquering the Busan Gate and was standing in front of the Gate exit.

 

As the Gate’s rift completely closed, the air shook violently once.

 

Then air mixed with the smell of blood, ash powder, and hot magical power remnants came rushing in.

 

Taekyeom, who had been waiting, approached Kang Hyeon as he looked at the rippling Gate exit while taking off his gloves stained with monster blood.

 

“The guild contacted us, someone’s looking for you?”

 

“Who.”

 

“Yun Hana.”

 

Kang Hyeon’s hands stopped as he was taking off his gloves.

 

“But it seems there was some commotion near the building between Hana and the Crimson Moon Guild side.”

 

“Crimson Moon Guild?”

 

“Yeah. It looks like not just Hana, but Hunter Choi Kwon and Lee Haechan got involved too.”

 

Kang Hyeon lazily rubbed the tip of his eyebrow with his long fingers.

 

“Why are those Crimson Moon bastards near my guild.”

 

“You know it too, lately the Crimson Moon Guild leader has been glaring with bloodshot eyes since he lost two of his hunters to our guild. He probably came to get some revenge.”

 

Revenge.

 

At that single word, Kang Hyeon’s facial muscles instantly hardened.

 

His gracefully curved lips settled into a cold line.

 

“So what about Yun Hana. She didn’t get hurt or anything, right?”

 

The blood-stained gloves crumpled quietly in Kang Hyeon’s hands.

 

“Don’t worry. It seems like everything passed by safely without incident.”

 

Taekyeom answered dutifully while looking at Kang Hyeon with curiosity.

 

It was new to see this guy, who always wore the same expression like a mask, actually frowning.

 

Taekyeom, who noticed that Kang Hyeon particularly reacted to matters concerning Hana, subtly probed him.

 

“But did something happen between you and Yun Hana?”

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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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