The SSS-Class Hunter’s Garden Log - Chapter 4

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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 4

Hana filled a plastic bottle with lukewarm tap water and timidly poured it near the tomato stem.

However, she failed to control the amount, causing the water to overflow.

“Ah, sorry…!”

As she hurriedly tried to gather the scattered soil and accidentally touched a leaf, the tender leaf swayed helplessly.

“…Too weak. I’m really scared I might kill this thing.”

The very concept of ‘farming’ was foreign to Hana.

Thanks to that, she felt like she was being tested every single day.

“There! Now, tomato. Grow big and strong… huh?”

After finishing the cleanup, Hana clumsily stroked the tomato stem very, very gently.

But the moment her hand touched it, the stem snapped with a crisp sound.

The tomato stem, that precariously standing sprout, broke cleanly like a head being severed on a guillotine.

“Wh-why is this happening?”

Hana panicked and frantically waved both hands.

“I really didn’t touch it hard?”

She carefully tried to stand the stem back up, but it had the opposite effect.

The tomato plant completely collapsed with a thud.

The system window, which had been watching the disaster unfold in real time, popped up with a loud sound effect.

【SYSTEM】

【Tomato killer detected! Tomato killer detected!】

“No, no! This was really an accident!”

【SYSTEM】

【Skill acquired! Splitting crops in half with fingertips Lv.999!!】

The system window playfully teased Hana, but as always, it soon provided a solution as well.

【SYSTEM】

【Current crop growth status: Critical!】

【Recommended action: Supply growth-promoting organic matter】

【TIP! Bubble Puff excrement is good for tomato growth!】

【SYSTEM】

【A new mission has been assigned.】

【Objective: Collect 10kg of ‘Bubble Puff (F-rank)’ excrement】

【Reward: 13pt experience】

“…Bubble Puff?”

It was a monster she’d never heard of before.

Well, how many monsters could Hana know when she’d only awakened a little over a month ago?

But Hana’s expression brightened at the word ‘excrement.’

“Poop?”

For the past few days, for the sole reason that it was good for crops, she had been collecting monster excrement from various Gates.

Of course, they weren’t dangerous Gates – mostly F-rank Gates that matched Hana’s small and precious rank.

“Alright! Let’s go quickly!”

But when Hana reached near the Gate, she sighed.

Among the Hunters guarding the Gate entrance, a warning sign was posted as large as a door.

「Entry prohibited except for Association-registered Hunters. Unauthorized entry subject to punishment.」

“Right. I still haven’t registered yet.”

Unfortunately, when she had stopped by the community center and was about to register as a Hunter, an A-rank Gate burst open, causing her to miss her first registration opportunity.

After that, another A-rank Gate appeared consecutively near Yangpyeong.

Because of that, citing the risk of Gate rampage, all roads leading out of Yangpyeong had been blocked for several weeks now.

Still, they said the restrictions would be lifted tomorrow.

“Hunter registration. I’ll definitely do it this time.”

Hana made a firm resolution and quietly went around to the back of the entrance.

In any case, entry through the official route was currently impossible.

So would she give up?

No!

Hana had another method.

She skillfully rolled up her work pants and snapped her fingers.

【SYSTEM】

【Skill ‘Farming starts with gathering! – Opening side path for fertilizer collection Lv.1 (F-rank)’ activates.】

Shaaaaa──.

Light flashed, and a small crack opened in the air behind the bushes at the Hospital Backyard.

It was one of Hana’s few skills.

This skill had a rather unique function.

Instead of breaking through Gates head-on, it opened a small ‘side path’ on the outskirts.

If the portals that Hunters usually used were like giant doors, this was like a secret door at the level of a dog hole hidden in the fence next to a vegetable garden.

Hana gathered her sack, shovel, and boots and squeezed her body through that crack.

Though it wasn’t stylish, it was optimal for gathering.

At that moment.

Above that side path that no one could see.

New text sparkled over the faintly remaining skill effect.

【SYSTEM】

【Skill ‘Gate Open Lv.∞ (SSS-rank) – User’s unique skill’ is being converted to match the user’s current state.】

How much time had passed after that?

“Aaaah… so heavy!”

Hana emerged from the Gate struggling to carry two large sacks in her arms.

Sweat was dripping profusely, but her face was clear and satisfied.

“This is all for the tomato.”

And it was also for Yun Hana herself.

Just like right now.

Hana looked contentedly at the system window floating above her head.

【SYSTEM】

【Mission complete!】

【Reward 13pt experience distributed】

【Current experience: 20pt】

Then she slightly furrowed her brow.

“I’ve been curious about this… what is this experience? What do I use it for?”

* * *

“Ugh, senior…”

Seo Ganghyeon, curled up carelessly on the leather sofa, groaned while frowning.

His hand clutching the worn blanket trembled.

His angular shoulders heaved, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

His breathing flowed out rough and fast.

In his dream, Seo Ganghyeon was still trapped in that day.

Three years ago, Gangnam Station Gate.

In that nightmare.

The rampaging Gate, the air stained red, the piercing screams.

And the voice that had tried so hard to speak playfully.

“Junior, don’t you trust me?”

“…!”

Seo Ganghyeon bolted upright, gasping for breath.

His black hair, damp with cold sweat, stuck to his forehead.

His jaw was clenched tight, and his lips trembled beneath his sharp nose bridge.

Unsteadily trembling pupils and roughly exhaled breath.

The dark shadows cast over his bloodless face stirred a strange protective instinct.

“…Damn it, that dream again.”

Seo Ganghyeon irritably rubbed his face roughly.

He was sick of it. This nightmare that came whenever he closed his eyes.

‘If I stay still, I feel like I’ll go crazy.’

Seo Ganghyeon took a sip of water and began packing his equipment bag as if accustomed to it.

“Hey, don’t tell me you’re going out again?”

The door burst open and Taegyeom entered.

He looked over Kang Hyeon’s haggard appearance and frowned.

“I thought things had been quiet lately, so why are you like this again?”

“…”

“If you enter a Gate in this state, something will happen. You’re in a condition where you could collapse at any moment, you know?”

Kang Hyeon didn’t respond. Only his hands tightening the buckles hesitated for a moment.

Yun Taegyeom grabbed the water cup in frustration and drank it down.

“Do you still think that incident was because of you?”

Yun Taegyeom’s voice lowered.

“How many times do I have to tell you. ‘1’ didn’t die because you couldn’t save them.”

Grind.

A menacing sound flowed from Kang Hyeon’s molars.

“I could have saved them.”

“You were barely A-rank back then. It wasn’t a situation where you could do anything. Even though you awakened later—”

“Yeah, that damn awakening. If I had just done it a little sooner, I could have saved my senior.”

Veins stood out on Kang Hyeon’s nape, hidden by his black turtleneck.

Kang Hyeon, who had been merely an A-rank Hunter, re-awakened to SS-rank when the Gangnam Station Gate went berserk.

To be precise, at the exact moment when ‘1’s connection disappeared from the Hunter database.

“That’s just pointless guilt. What happened to ‘1’ is unfortunate, but that was their own choice.”

Sigh.

Seo Ganghyeon tilted his head back.

‘Pointless guilt, he says. If he knew what that person meant to me, he couldn’t say such things.’

Self-mockery hung at the corner of Kang Hyeon’s lips.

* * *

30 minutes later, Yangpyeong North Gate.

Beyond the red access control line, an emergency response team composed of A-rank Hunters had finished preparations and was waiting to enter.

Their faces were uniformly hardened with tension.

“This Gate is A-rank or higher. It’s not going to explode like the Gangnam Station Gate three years ago, is it?”

“When is Hunter Seo Ganghyeon coming? Why do all the S-rank Hunters have to be in other regions at a time like this?”

Fear spread like a contagious disease.

Fortunately, before the cornered fear could spread into panic, hopeful news arrived.

“Hunter Seo Ganghyeon has arrived!”

As soon as Kang Hyeon arrived, sighs of relief burst out from everywhere.

‘We’re saved.’ Such murmurs could also be heard.

His presence alone seemed to change the atmosphere.

The tension and fear visibly eased, and the scene quickly switched to maintenance mode.

The Gate was in a state just before expansion.

The energy waves that had been writhing and vibrating like a heartbeat now seemed to be rushing toward an explosion.

However,

“…It stopped?”

The energy that had surged to just before going berserk began to subside in an instant.

Kang Hyeon narrowed his eyes and approached the Gate.

There was only one case where this happened.

When the ‘core’ that maintained it from inside the Gate—that is, the boss monster—had been defeated.

He immediately asked the Supporter guarding the entrance.

“Did someone perhaps enter first?”

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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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