The SSS-Class Hunter’s Garden Log - Chapter 39

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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 39

“What kind of business.”

“Well, Hana hasn’t been coming to the guild at all since that last Gate incident. I was wondering if you two had some kind of awkward situation or something.”

“She’s not even an official guild member. Wouldn’t it be stranger if she came and went frequently?”

Though it was an indifferent response, Kang Hyeon’s mind was completely filled with images of Hana showing the same habits as ‘1’.

He knew for certain she wasn’t ‘1’, but the assumption of ‘what if’ kept rising up.

In three years, a person could change in any number of ways.

Personality, way of speaking.

Even appearance, for that matter.

So perhaps there wasn’t zero possibility that Yun Hana could be ‘1’?

But soon that thought hit a wall.

If Yun Hana were ‘1’, then why on earth would she pretend not to know him?

He couldn’t find an answer to that.

‘No, rather than pretending not to know, those were really the eyes of someone looking at a stranger.’

Hana’s unfamiliar gaze as she looked at him like someone meeting him for the first time came back clearly.

He needed to think rationally.

It made no sense to identify someone as the same person just because a few random habits overlapped.

Yet his instincts were somehow whispering not to ignore this intuition.

“Damn, am I not thinking straight because I can’t sleep?”

Kang Hyeon roughly ran his hand through his hair.

He needed sleep.

He needed to clear his head.

But when he closed his eyes, ‘1’ came to mind, and when he opened them, Yun Hana appeared.

In this state, his judgment was bound to be clouded.

For now, let’s return to the guild.

Kang Hyeon came to that conclusion.

Somehow he had a feeling that if he saw Yun Hana’s face, he would know what to do.

* * *

What awaited Kang Hyeon when he returned to the guild was a scene completely different from what he expected.

“Come on, look here. Lee Haechan. Try following what I say carefully. I am not pathetic! I am not useless!”

A clear voice rang through the lobby.

“I, I am not p-pathetic! I am not useless!”

Haechan awkwardly shouted along with flushed cheeks.

“Good! You did great!”

Yun Hana clapping and praising him.

And Choi Kwon standing beside them with crossed arms, grumbling.

It was completely chaotic.

“…Since when did my guild become a psychological counseling center?”

When Kang Hyeon’s voice was heard, all three people’s gazes turned simultaneously.

“Oh, hello, Guild Leader…!”

Haechan greeted him in a fairly clear voice, then quickly hid behind Hana’s back.

However, since he was about a head and a half taller than Hana, he wasn’t hidden at all.

Still, Haechan gripped Hana’s sleeve tightly and wouldn’t let go, as if she were some kind of lifeline.

Hana also spotted Kang Hyeon and almost looked pleased for a moment, then quickly composed her expression.

Hana whispered to Haechan in a small voice.

“You did well just now. How is it? The mushroom is effective, right?”

Haechan was in a state of having consumed oyster mushrooms.

The mushroom was definitely effective.

Enough for Haechan’s self-esteem, which had been digging into the ground until just moments ago, to barely poke its head above ground level?

Not knowing the full context, Kang Hyeon felt strangely on edge every time Hana whispered something to Haechan.

Kang Hyeon’s gaze moved to Haechan’s hand gripping Hana’s clothing.

An impulse to remove that hand surged up for no reason.

It was an emotion he had felt before.

Whenever Yun Hana was close to someone else, an inexplicable displeasure would rise up.

Kang Hyeon’s gaze moved back up to Hana.

‘What is this. Every time I take my eyes off her for a moment, she keeps showing up with something strange attached.’

Having belatedly heard the situation explained, Kang Hyeon let out a short breath like a sigh.

Then he detached Lee Haechan, who was still firmly gripping Hana’s sleeve, and naturally took the spot next to Hana himself.

As if that spot had originally been his place.

In Kang Hyeon’s hand were the oyster mushrooms that Hana had brought.

“So this is the new item.”

“Yes, it has the effect of absorbing the depression of the person who consumes it.”

However, while the mushroom had indeed absorbed Haechan’s depression, the effect was limited.

【SYSTEM】

【Depression absorption rate: 15%】

Confirming the system window sparkling before her eyes, Hana added an explanation.

“But it doesn’t absorb everything at once, so he’ll probably need to eat it several more times.”

Kang Hyeon, who had bent his upper body to match Hana’s height while listening to her words, nodded.

Kang Hyeon was also aware of Haechan’s depression and low self-esteem.

“Not a bad effect. Then let’s include this in the supply list from now on.”

“Sounds good. Did you hear that, Lee Haechan? You need to keep taking it regularly, okay?”

At Hana’s words, Haechan’s head shot up.

“I, I can’t just receive help for nothing.”

It was such a clear voice that it was hard to believe this was the same person who had been sobbing just moments ago.

Whether it was the mushroom’s effect, it seemed he had developed some stubbornness as his depression lightened slightly.

“Just like before… Since you’re helping me like this, please let me repay you somehow.”

“No, it’s fine. For Haechi Guild members, this is all provided anyway—”

“Th-then when you bring items like this, let me at least carry your luggage…!”

Hana scratched the back of her head.

“Ahaha, I can handle this by myself just fine.”

At Hana’s firm boundary-setting, Haechan’s shoulders gradually sank.

Every time he tried to speak, it felt like he was being blocked with a thud, thud.

Haechan moved his lips several times, thought for a moment, then added in a voice that had become timid again.

“Or could I help grow the mushrooms… that I’ll be eating?”

Hana blinked.

Haechan hurriedly continued.

“A-after all, you said I need to keep eating them!”

Please let me do at least that, Haechan added in a crawling voice.

“Hmm.”

“…Am I really useless after all?”

Since the depression he had barely lowered seemed to be creeping back up, Hana quickly shook her head.

“No, it’s not that. The garden isn’t that big, and I was wondering if there would be anything for you to help with, Haechan.”

“I, I can even plow the field with my ability…!”

Thin silver lines flowed out like threads from Haechan’s fingertips.

It was a stable light, different from when he had gone berserk.

Unlike before, the lines moved freely according to Haechan’s will.

Haechan wiggled one of the squirming silver lines to make it like a rake.

Then he extended it toward a flowerpot placed in the lobby and scraped the soil in the pot with a scratching sound.

At that sight, Hana let out a small exclamation of “Oh.”

This was actually quite interesting.

Hana unconsciously tapped her wrist three times lightly.

It was something she did whenever her thoughts wouldn’t organize themselves.

Completely unaware that Kang Hyeon was watching her hand movements intently, Hana was seriously calculating.

Whether Haechan would actually be helpful in tending the garden.

They were already short-handed with the increasing number of crops they were growing.

Hana’s eyes sparkled as she briefly imagined silver lines evenly tilling the soil.

“Then, would you like to come visit the garden once?”

“…! Yes!”

Haechan’s face brightened considerably.

And so Lee Haechan became voluntary ‘Worker No. 1’ of Hana’s garden.

Hana was nodding while inwardly cheering, when she suddenly felt a sharp gaze piercing the side of her head and looked up.

Kang Hyeon was staring at her.

His gaze was strangely persistent.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Well. I was thinking that if Lee Haechan is going to be coming and going from the garden, it might be better for me to head that way too.”

“Why would you, Seo Ganghyeon?”

“Did you forget? I thought we agreed to meet every two weeks?”

At those words, Hana’s posture tilted crookedly.

“You haven’t contacted me at all, so I thought that was off the table.”

“As if.”

Kang Hyeon laughed briefly. It was a low, dry laugh.

“From now on, we’ll be meeting regularly.”

There was a strangely definitive force behind those words.

Kang Hyeon recalled how Hana had been tapping her wrist just moments ago.

That too resembled a habit ‘1’ used to show when lost in thought.

At this point, he couldn’t just ignore it, could he?

One thing might be coincidence, but two habits overlapping already.

‘If I’m confused, I just need to observe more closely.’

That way, he’d reach some conclusion.

Whether Yun Hana was his senior or not.

It was a clear conclusion that made his previous worries seem pointless.

Kang Hyeon’s long eyes curved into crescents.

“Then let’s meet often from now on, 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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