The SSS-Class Hunter’s Garden Log - Chapter 79

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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 79

* * *

“…?”

Kang Hyeon’s hand, which had been unbuttoning his shirt, stopped.

His eyes narrowed as he looked down at his phone screen.

[I came to the Flower District and met Damian Park.]

Nothing more, nothing less. It was a message that conveyed just the situation without any unnecessary details.

But there was one name in it that was problematic.

“Damian Park?”

Kang Hyeon’s gaze fixed on the screen.

The Taesan Guild Master had not yet regained consciousness.

In the meantime, Kang Hyeon, who had been working with Taesan to continue investigating the Demon Worshippers, discovered that they had rooted themselves much deeper in Hunter society than expected.

It was impossible to gauge who was connected to whom based solely on the information that appeared on the surface.

Or how many people could be trusted.

“…Ha.”

Kang Hyeon let out a short breath and rebuttoned the shirt he had been unbuttoning.

His loosened appearance was tidied up again.

Damian Park.

That name stuck in his mind.

Although his identity hadn’t been clearly revealed, he could tell instinctively.

At least that man was—.

“Not normal.”

How could he just leave things be when she had met such a person?

Kang Hyeon could no longer deny it.

He was definitely concerned about Yun Hana.

Regardless of his senior. Just Yun Hana herself.

It was a realization that had become more certain after the Baekya’s Snowy Plains Gate incident.

Kang Hyeon clicked his tongue softly.

“Really. I can’t take my eyes off her.”

Kang Hyeon, who had shoved his phone into his pocket, started walking.

Toward the Flower District.

* * *

“Huh? Do you know about ‘1’?”

At Damian’s casual question, Hana answered without even turning her head.

“There probably isn’t a Hunter in South Korea who doesn’t know.”

Her tone was indifferent.

Hana dodged around Damian as she passed by.

Showing with her whole body that she had no intention of continuing the conversation.

Nevertheless, the sound of footsteps following behind showed no sign of stopping.

“Is that all?”

“Then what else should there be?”

“I wonder why you seem strangely similar to ‘1’, Hana? I’ve never met them directly, but somehow, I just get that feeling.”

Damian was spouting quite a variety of nonsense.

Saying she resembled ‘1’.

Wasn’t that level of delusion a disease?

And ‘1’ had been active without revealing their face, so what was he basing this on?

She didn’t even feel like responding.

Hana stopped in front of an accessory shop that seemed somewhat out of place in the Flower District.

The outdoor stall had various items, from keyrings to tassel decorations made by twisting and knotting threads.

Among them, a red tassel decoration particularly caught her eye.

It looked just like Kang Hyeon’s flames.

“Just this one, please.”

Hana somewhat impulsively purchased the tassel decoration.

Buying accessories hadn’t been part of her original plan.

Even during this, Damian, seemingly tireless, continued to talk to her.

“Then do you also know this? That Hunter Seo Ganghyeon had quite a special relationship with ‘1’.”

That was a story she already knew.

She had heard it from the Taesan Vice-Guild Leader.

So Hana didn’t react.

She simply put the tassel decoration wrapped in a paper bag into the inner pocket of her bag and quickened her pace slightly.

But Damian’s next nonsense was impossible to ignore.

“Hunter Seo Ganghyeon was at the scene when ‘1’ disappeared, wasn’t he? What was it again.”

Damian innocently tapped his chin.

“I heard he abandoned ‘1’ and escaped alone just before the Gate exploded?”

Thanks to that, Hana forgot she should ignore him and scrunched up her face completely.

This wasn’t the kind of thing she could just let slide.

And it was also a story she already knew about.

It seemed related to Kang Hyeon’s nightmare that she had seen through Lee Haechan’s ability.

But Damian’s words were wrong.

In that nightmare, Seo Ganghyeon hadn’t escaped from the Gate to save himself alone.

Rather, he had tried to save the person remaining inside the Gate.

He had desperately tried to go back into that hell.

‘Though I only just realized that the person inside that Gate was ‘1’.’

Strength entered Hana’s hand gripping her bag strap.

Damian continued the story without reading the mood.

“I heard that because of the guilt from surviving alone back then, he still rushes to every Gate that appears these days.”

Damian prodded Hana as if testing her.

“What do you think? From what you’ve seen beside him.”

Hana stopped walking. Then she turned around.

“Look, I don’t know what you’re curious about.”

Hana took a big step toward Damian.

“It’s a waste of time. I’m just an insignificant F-rank Hunter, you know? And one who awakened not too long ago at that.”

Hana put her hand firmly on her hip.

“And don’t badmouth someone when they’re not around. Seo Ganghyeon isn’t that kind of person.”

This wasn’t just because she had witnessed Kang Hyeon’s nightmare.

It was more because, in the short time she had known him, the Seo Ganghyeon that Hana had directly experienced wasn’t the type of person who would abandon others to save himself.

‘Now that I’ve said it, I’m even more annoyed.’

The irritation she had been suppressing began to rise.

As Hana was fuming with anger like that.

“…?”

Her hand suddenly felt lighter.

Hana looked at the bag she was holding, wondering what was wrong.

Then she saw another large hand gripping her bag besides her own.

Hana slowly raised her gaze following that hand.

The first thing that caught her eye was a firmly gripped forearm.

Next were shoulders that fit perfectly in a shirt.

After that, a sharp jawline entered her view.

And when she finally discovered familiar ash-gray eyes, a delighted expression clearly appeared on Hana’s face.

“Seo Ganghyeon!”

When his name was called, Kang Hyeon’s eyes curved gently.

“Being so enthusiastic about taking my side like this. I’m so grateful I don’t know what to do.”

Kang Hyeon acted uncharacteristically playful as he slung Hana’s bag over his shoulder.

Hana was momentarily speechless.

She realized that Kang Hyeon had heard everything she had just said.

Heat rushed all the way to the tips of her ears.

It wasn’t like she had said anything strange. But somehow it felt embarrassing.

So she changed the subject for no reason.

“Don’t tell me you came because of the message I sent?”

Kang Hyeon nodded.

“I was anxious you might cause another incident.”

Ugh.

Hana frowned.

“Anyone listening would think I only cause trouble.”

Kang Hyeon neither denied nor confirmed it. He just subtly avoided her gaze.

“What’s with that reaction?”

“I’m not good at saying empty words.”

Hana was so dumbfounded she started to argue back but hesitated.

There were a few things that hit close to home.

“It’s not like I ‘only’ cause trouble. I just cause trouble sometimes.”

* * *

Damian, who had been alternately watching Hana and Kang Hyeon bicker, crossed his arms.

“This is going to mess up the plan.”

Damian muttered quietly.

The reason he had been searching for Yun Hana in the first place was simple.

He wanted to confirm it directly.

Whether Yun Hana really had been conquering Gates all this time.

Or at least if she was related to it somehow.

And what Damian had said earlier wasn’t completely baseless nonsense either.

Yun Hana and ‘1’ were similar.

Not in physical aspects, but somewhere more fundamental.

The discomfort he felt the moment he first encountered Yun Hana was the evidence.

When he had watched ‘1’s conquest videos before, that same sense of rejection he felt through the screen was exactly what he felt from Yun Hana too.

It wasn’t a common sensation.

That’s why he wanted to confirm it even more.

Whether Yun Hana really was F-rank.

Whether she had any kind of relationship with the missing ‘1’.

So he had planned to create a situation where Yun Hana would have no choice but to fight directly, and observe her.

‘Of all times, Seo Ganghyeon had to show up now.’

The plan had gone awry.

Damian’s gaze turned toward the Gate core that was greedily devouring space between the greenhouses.

‘Then what do I do about that thing.’

In this situation, there would be no reason for Yun Hana to step forward directly.

Seo Ganghyeon would handle everything before that happened.

But he couldn’t exactly call back a Gate that was already opening,

and even at this very moment, the invisible vibrations were growing stronger.

Damian stared at the swaying greenhouse framework and snapped his fingers.

“Since it’s come to this, might as well try building some rapport.”

It was quite annoying that his plans had been disrupted twice already.

But since Yun Hana seemed to be particularly wary of him,

he thought it wouldn’t be bad to show her his good side.

Damian stretched one hand forward while pulling the other back, as if drawing a bowstring.

Almost simultaneously with that motion,

Beep!

An ear-splitting alarm sound echoed throughout the entire Flower District.

【SYSTEM】

【A Gate has appeared.】

【Time remaining until Outbreak: ’10 seconds’.】

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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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