The SSS-Class Hunter’s Garden Log - Chapter 88

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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 88

You should have said that a little earlier.

Hana turned his head toward the portal again.

Beyond the blue rippling surface, the scenery of the snowy plains was clearly reflected.

On the snowy plains, strawberry seedlings with only green leaves sprouting were swaying slightly in the wind.

The fruits hadn’t even properly formed yet.

How long will it take for those to fully grow?

Completely unaware of Hana’s situation, the Snow Rabbits were rolling around excitedly near the strawberry patch.

Somehow that looked annoying. I take back what I said about being grateful earlier.

“Hmm.”

Hana fell into thought while organizing the rolled-up plastic sheets to one side.

What methods are there to grow strawberries quickly?

“Maybe I’ll find something if I search online?”

It seemed like he’d need to find his phone first thing after leaving here.

* * *

After Han Tae-ho stormed out saying he would turn his guild upside down.

An uncomfortable silence settled over the room again.

The sound of the door closing echoed a beat late.

Click.

“…”

Only Han Tae-ho had left.

Kang Hyeon, Kim Wuchan, and Taesan’s Vice-Guild Master remained.

Kang Hyeon leaned against the wall and shifted his gaze to Kim Wuchan.

Kim Wuchan also met his eyes without backing down.

“What.”

Kim Wuchan was the first to speak.

“Got something to say to me?”

“How did you end up trapped in the Gate?”

“How would I know? The Gate suddenly opened without warning and sucked me in.”

As if recalling that moment, Kim Wuchan’s expression hardened.

“And as soon as I entered the Gate, what? Some message about a bug in my abilities popped up. Thanks to that, I got hit good.”

Kim Wuchan poked at his chest where he’d been injured.

“Suddenly my arms and legs wouldn’t move, and the Boss Monster came charging at me. I was scared shitless.”

“A bug?”

“Yeah. It was my first time seeing something like that, so don’t ask me what it was. I don’t know anyway, so I can’t answer.”

Kim Wuchan spread his hand out, meaning not to ask pointless questions.

“If you’re gonna come rescue someone, do it a bit faster. I really thought I was gonna die.”

“How unfortunate. If there’s ever another occasion where I need to rescue you, I’ll try to be a little faster next time.”

“What, are you putting a curse on me to face mortal danger again?”

It was his consistently grumpy tone regardless of who he was talking to.

“Why do you keep staring? Got more questions left?”

But unlike Han Tae-ho, Kang Hyeon seemed unaffected by Kim Wuchan’s challenging attitude.

He simply began speaking in his usual dry tone.

“Your Vice-Guild Master said something interesting to me.”

“Something interesting?”

Kim Wuchan snapped back and glared at the Vice-Guild Master beside him.

Under that gaze, the Vice-Guild Master pretended not to notice.

Afraid of the scolding that would come from Kim Wuchan.

But Kim Wuchan just shot him a displeased look without bothering to make a fuss.

“Anyway. Couldn’t hold back and had to talk, huh?”

Then he continued as if he already knew.

“Well, I get the gist.”

Shrugging his shoulders lightly.

“You’re talking about ‘1’, right?”

Then Kang Hyeon’s posture changed very subtly.

His legs that had been leaning against the wall slowly straightened, and his leaning body tilted forward just a little.

“You know well.”

It sounded calm on the surface, but the undertone was clearly different from before.

Kim Wuchan didn’t miss that change.

“This is why I didn’t want to say anything until I was certain.”

Not speaking until now had been Kim Wuchan’s own consideration.

Kim Wuchan knew all too well how Seo Ganghyeon would move like a madman without regard for anything when it came to matters related to ‘1’.

He also knew that a single piece of uncertain information could make such a Seo Ganghyeon go berserk.

That’s why he had deliberately kept his mouth shut.

But.

Now that Kang Hyeon had already caught on, there was no point in hiding it anymore.

Besides, even against just Damian Park, Kim Wuchan had been defeated without being able to properly fight back.

There might be even worse beings than Damian Park.

Kang Hyeon’s power would be absolutely necessary for pursuing the Demon Worshippers going forward.

“I’m getting curious about what you’re thinking so hard about.”

“What am I thinking? I’m calculating how to lay all my cards on the table and beg you to be on my side.”

Kim Wuchan, who had openly revealed his true feelings, closed his mouth for a moment.

It was an attempt to choose his words more gently.

It wasn’t very effective though.

“It seems ‘1’ was working together with my uncle, that is, the Association Chairman.”

“…What?”

Kang Hyeon’s pupils trembled very slightly.

“They were pursuing the Demon Worshippers.”

Kang Hyeon opened his mouth.

But no words came out.

His mind was in chaos.

He had no idea. That his senior had been involved in such work.

“My uncle told me. The Gangnam Station Gate wasn’t naturally occurring either. Think about it, wasn’t it a bit strange?”

Kim Wuchan’s words sounded oddly distorted, like a slow-motion video.

“Why would a Gate that was being conquered smoothly suddenly explode? The Demon Worshippers, their faction was behind it.”

“Why.”

“What are you asking? You already know the answer too.”

Kim Wuchan answered while turning over and shaking out his empty water glass.

“‘1’ was that much of a threat to them. So they eliminated him.”

Strength entered Kang Hyeon’s hands. Enough for blue veins to bulge on the back of his hands.

“My uncle would know more details. But that old man won’t get up from his hospital bed. It’s frustrating for me too.”

“…”

“There. I’ve laid out everything I know. So what will you do now?”

Honestly speaking, Kang Hyeon wasn’t someone who lived placing great meaning on things like ‘world peace’.

The safety of civilians, the security of the nation.

Things that heroes would naturally consider important.

But he wasn’t altruistic enough to sacrifice his life for such things, nor was he someone who lived to be called a hero by others.

The only thing important to Kang Hyeon was one person – his senior.

‘I’m alive thanks to my senior.’

Kang Hyeon’s hands unconsciously clenched tighter.

Strength entered his fingertips, and his nails dug into the inside of his tightly clenched fist.

It had been like this for ten years.

On the way home after finishing the college entrance exam.

When a sudden outbreak occurred, the car flipped over, and he lost his parents in an instant.

It was his senior who grabbed his hand and lifted him up when he only wished to die.

He would probably never forget those small hands until the day he died.

‘If you’re not dead, you should live.’

It wasn’t elaborate words of comfort or encouragement, just a casual remark thrown out.

But those words made Kang Hyeon live and prevented him from falling to rock bottom.

He awakened to meet her, who was a Hunter, and rolled around desperately in the field for years to rise to the Central Branch where his senior was.

He finally managed to stand side by side with her, and with that memory, he had somehow kept breathing until now.

There was only one reason why Kang Hyeon was guarding this position.

Because his senior had said, ‘Since you have power anyway, wouldn’t it be good to protect others too?’

His senior probably meant it as a joke, but Kang Hyeon was protecting this country while leaning on that joke.

However.

That was only ‘because his senior wanted it.’

It wasn’t Kang Hyeon’s own purpose.

So the existence of the Demon Worshippers initially had no great meaning to Kang Hyeon either.

They were just targets to be dealt with, nothing more, nothing less.

If they had no connection to his senior’s disappearance, he probably would never have cared about them beyond that until the end.

But that wasn’t the case.

His senior’s disappearance was connected to those bastards.

From the moment he learned that fact, everything changed.

Kang Hyeon’s fist clenched even deeper.

His nails finally dug into his skin, forming droplets of blood.

“How about it, will you catch those Demon Worshippers with me?”

“I think I’ll have to.”

Haa.

Kang Hyeon, who let out a long breath, swept back his bangs.

“But I don’t think we can catch them alive without killing them. What should we do?”

* * *

Meanwhile, Hana, who came out of the portal, lightly exhaled and looked around.

“The sun has already set completely.”

Hana, who stepped into the living room that had become dark, immediately went to the sofa to look for his phone.

“Let’s see, it should be around here.”

Then he discovered his phone placed on the table instead of the sofa.

“Huh? Why is this here?”

He was quite frantic earlier, but he didn’t think he had put it on the table.

However, the puzzlement didn’t last particularly long.

“As long as I found it, that’s what matters.”

Thinking simply, Hana took his phone and left the living room.

Passing through the corridor and reaching the front of the space Kang Hyeon used, Hana knocked on the opaque glass door.

Since this mission was related to the Association Chairman, he judged that he should speak to Kang Hyeon right away.

“Seo Ganghyeon, are you inside?”

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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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