The SSS-Class Hunter’s Garden Log - Chapter 55

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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 55

“Kwon, you’re looking for that first?”

“Of course! It’s a matter involving my precious hair!”

Choi Kwon snorted and rummaged around between the crops, then discovered a rice seedling pot peeking out from between the green leaves.

“Found it!”

Kwon hugged the pot with a moved expression.

“It’s alive…”

Kang Hyeon approached Haechan and Tae-gyeom, who burst into laughter at Choi Kwon’s appearance.

“Hyung. So how’s the situation outside?”

Tae-gyeom chuckled.

“How do you think? That Vice-Chairman bastard is throwing a complete fit and causing a huge scene.”

Just then, Hana, who had finished his call with the Hospital Director, cautiously joined them.

“The hospital staff won’t get hurt, will they? The Hospital Director says everything’s fine, but I’m still worried.”

Kang Hyeon lightly shook his head.

“Don’t worry. No matter how much of a Vice-Chairman he is, unless he’s completely lost his mind, he can’t touch ordinary people who aren’t even Hunters.”

Not to be outdone, Tae-gyeom chimed in from the side.

“Kang Hyeon’s right. At most, he’ll just scream a few times in the garden and then leave.”

But Haechan still looked restless.

“Are, are you sure it’ll be okay? If the Vi-Vice-Chairman makes an issue out of this-.”

“What are you all talking about so seriously? What could the Vice-Chairman possibly make an issue of?”

Choi Kwon, who had approached while holding his rice seedling pot, snorted.

“Wasn’t he the one who barged into someone else’s garden without permission? And would he even imagine that the missing crops are inside a Gate?”

Choi Kwon was right.

This incident was the Vice-Chairman crossing the line.

Hana’s crops were officially contracted items with Haechi Guild, so even the Vice-Chairman had no grounds to make an issue of them going missing.

Rather, Haechi or Hana could raise issues with the Association for camping out in the garden without permission.

Just as the atmosphere was starting to settle, a sturdy arm suddenly appeared.

“Here.”

Along with Han Tae-ho’s low, thick voice, a thick bundle of documents was handed to Kang Hyeon.

“These are materials related to the Vice-Chairman’s illegal item distribution activities.”

Choi Kwon and Haechan both flinched simultaneously.

“Ga, geez!”

“Wh-when did you get there?!”

The two instinctively huddled together and moved away from Han Tae-ho.

“…I’ve been here the whole time.”

Choi Kwon and Haechan held onto each other while staring with wide, wary eyes.

Han Tae-ho looked down and then up again, as if he had something to feel guilty about.

Haechan and Kwon looked more than awkward—they looked uncomfortable.

It couldn’t be easy to face someone who used to be the leader of the guild they left.

“I heard something about being on the same side or something like that, but still, this is a bit much. Ugh.”

Choi Kwon especially didn’t hide his discomfort and expressed it openly.

When he left Red Moon, the memory of getting thoroughly beaten by Han Tae-ho after throwing a fit was still vivid for Choi Kwon.

When their eyes met, Choi Kwon instinctively raised his arms defensively.

“What, what! Are you going to hit me again! And all those muscles are just for show anyway!”

At Choi Kwon’s provocation, veins bulged near Han Tae-ho’s temples.

But unexpectedly, Han Tae-ho was the first to bow his head.

“I apologize for what happened back then.”

The air suddenly became quiet as if time had stopped.

Choi Kwon’s eyes widened.

“What did you say?”

“Even though you were throwing a fit, it’s true that I responded emotionally. I’m sorry.”

Han Tae-ho also bowed his head to Lee Haechan.

“You too.”

Haechan flinched.

“…Yes?”

“I knew there were unfair things happening while you were at Red Moon. As the Guild Leader, it was my responsibility to mediate, and I failed.”

Haechan’s lips trembled slightly after receiving the apology.

His expression showed he couldn’t readily respond.

Choi Kwon looked back and forth between Haechan and Han Tae-ho, then scratched his nose.

This kind of situation felt very unfamiliar.

Honestly, getting beaten back then was partly his own fault too.

He had gotten beaten up after knocking over all of Han Tae-ho’s newly bought beloved protein while throwing a fit about leaving the guild.

“Ah, whatever. Fine, I get it, I get it.”

Choi Kwon waved his hand dismissively.

On the other hand, Haechan still hesitated.

“…I, well…”

Haechan eventually trailed off and avoided eye contact.

The wounds in his heart ran too deep for him to brush it off as coolly as Choi Kwon.

Han Tae-ho seemed to understand this and couldn’t add anything more to Haechan’s reaction.

A strangely awkward atmosphere flowed through the Gate.

Then Hana squeezed between them.

“Should we eat first and then talk? It’s almost lunchtime already.”

Hana offered freshly roasted, steaming hot potatoes and mushrooms.

Everyone who received one in their hands blinked blankly.

Han Tae-ho, who was also hesitating, took a potato and asked.

“But how did you roast these?”

“Like that?”

Hana shrugged at Han Tae-ho’s question and pointed behind him.

There, they could see Kang Hyeon wielding a sword wreathed in flames at a distance.

Everyone’s gaze turned in that direction at once.

The great Seo Ganghyeon using his skill to roast potatoes.

Everyone seemed to be thinking the same thing.

Kang Hyeon silently shook his sword to extinguish the flames.

“Enough chatting. Eat before they get cold.”

When Kang Hyeon spoke briefly, no one could object.

Besides, the aroma rising from the potatoes and mushrooms was the real problem.

The smell of fresh potatoes roasted over fire immediately after being dug from the soil.

Steam rose from the fluffy flesh revealed through cracks in the potato skin, and the slightly charred mushrooms gave off a savory aroma.

Without anyone taking the lead, everyone gradually moved to sit down.

Han Tae-ho, who had been standing awkwardly, Choi Kwon, who had been watching with crossed arms, and Haechan, who had been hesitating.

Eventually, they naturally formed a circle.

Han Tae-ho was the first to bite into a potato.

He roughly peeled the skin with his large hands and took a bite, causing white steam to rise.

Han Tae-ho, who was chewing the potato, spoke quickly with a serious expression.

“This is sweeter than I expected…! It’s as good as the meat we had before! The effects too!”

Han Tae-ho seemed busy checking the effects of the potatoes and mushrooms displayed in his system window.

He was too distracted to notice the charcoal smudges on his mouth like a mustache.

Seeing his ridiculous appearance, Choi Kwon and Haechan had to hold back their laughter.

Though wariness still lingered in Haechan’s gaze, at least for this moment, they weren’t standing with their backs to each other.

They were sitting in the same space, sharing potatoes.

Right now, this distance seemed just about sufficient.

Hana glanced repeatedly at Haechan’s noticeably brighter expression as he took a big bite of potato.

It was a moment when a small peace settled inside the Gate.

As everyone filled their stomachs with potato crumbs stuck to the corners of their mouths, attention turned to the documents Han Tae-ho had brought.

“So. These are the corruptions the Vice-Chairman has committed all this time?”

Kang Hyeon flipped through the documents with quick hands.

Hana also peeked his head out beside him and roughly skimmed through the papers.

“Wow. He really did quite a lot.”

Hana frowned with an “ugh” sound.

Even from just a sideways glance, the benefits the Vice-Chairman had been pocketing behind the scenes were not just one or two.

Not only had he illegally monopolized item distribution, but there were detailed records of him trading coordinates of unauthorized Gates and pocketing magic stones from there to resell.

Some even had copies of contract documents attached.

Han Tae-ho seemed inwardly proud of the documents he had organized, puffing out his broad shoulders even wider.

Of course, his momentum quickly deflated when Kang Hyeon scolded him that Han Tae-ho had also participated in this illegal distribution.

After patting the shoulders of the thoroughly dejected Han Tae-ho, Hana, who had stuck close to Kang Hyeon’s side to look at the documents together, opened his mouth slightly.

“Huh? But what’s this?”

The same symbol was stamped on every document the Vice-Chairman had used for transactions.

A crack drawn diagonally inside a broken circle.

It was a pattern that seemed to symbolize the fissure of a Gate.

“It doesn’t seem to be the Association’s official mark.”

Kang Hyeon also narrowed his eyes.

But putting their heads together wouldn’t immediately provide an answer to this kind of question.

Hana eventually put the documents back down.

What the symbol meant was a problem for later.

The immediate problem at hand was how to deal with that person.

“By the way, what are you going to do? This person is really vicious, you know? He even tried to steal my garden as he pleased.”

When Hana got slightly angry, the corners of Kang Hyeon’s mouth rose minutely.

Kang Hyeon silently skimmed through the documents for a moment before opening his mouth very briefly.

“What else. If you commit a crime, you have to be punished.”

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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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