‘Shit, no, that’s not it.’
I nodded and quickly corrected myself.
“I’m kidding.”
“Jehyun.”
Yeah, that didn’t work.
Im Haekyung stared at with an expression that said quit spouting bullshit, then ran a hand back through their hair once.
“It doesn’t feel like you just said it for no reason. Can you explain what you ant?”
Sitting on the sofa, looking up at Im Haekyung, I thought for a mont.
‘They seem more annoyed than I expected.’
I did know that Im Haekyung and Song Hwayoung had been temporarily adopted into the sa house, but even so, I’d never thought the two of them were close. Even Song Hwayoung didn’t she avoid Im Haekyung?
Of course, that was one-sided avoidance, and Im Haekyung didn’t keep Song Hwayoung in check or think badly of her. And at the sa ti, it was proof that Song Hwayoung had sothing that made her dislike Im Haekyung one-sidedly.
‘Even though I already know what it is.’
Wasn’t this what Joo Seowon had brought a long ti ago?
Im Haekyung used a brainwashing Skill on people around them. Mostly people they t often—reporters, interviewers.
‘They used it a fuckton.’
The purpose was clear. It made people feel that Im Haekyung was “safe.” The instinctive revulsion a ntal-type Hunter gave off was bound ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) to be far more intense than the revulsion a physical-type Hunter gave off.
‘Obviously. Soone who sses with your mind is going to feel way more disgusting than soone who shoots fire in front of you.’
And among those “people around” Im Haekyung, Song Hwayoung—who’d been at a fairly close distance—had even had a significant portion of her mories ssed with. It was a question why Im Haekyung had gone as far as doing it to Song Hwayoung, but I judged there was no need to resolve it and didn’t bring it up.
But for them to show this kind of strange displeasure....
‘Does Im Haekyung think Song Hwayoung is inside their boundary?’
Well, if they had sibling affection, that might be the case. Family affection, whatever else it is, includes a basic attachnt relationship.
‘Logically, I get it.’
It’s just not the reaction I expected the Haeseong guild master to show.
Honestly, it was true that I threw the words out more hastily because I thought Im Haekyung would take it lightly. Partly because Im Haekyung had spoken with way too much certainty first, saying the SH Guild was going to collapse.
But if it had co to this, the best thing to do was deny it all the way.
‘I didn’t see that coming.’
I answered without hesitation.
“What explanation do I need?”
“I’m soone who can read nuance. Just now, because you spoke with so much certainty. That Guild Master Song is going to die?”
“Hm.”
“There’s no way it was a joke. A joke... it can’t be a joke, right? First of all, it’s not funny.”
Is that the problem?
When I just looked at Im Haekyung without answering, they quickly added,
“Of course I’m not telling you to tack on a funny joke here. I ant there’s no way that would be a joke.”
“Yes.”
“So, the explanation?”
I spun my head fast, trying to find an answer Im Haekyung would accept.
“You were the one who said first that the SH Guild was going to collapse.”
“I did.”
“Where did that co from, exactly?”
When I asked back, Im Haekyung answered readily.
“Guild Master Song was injured.”
“The articles corrected it and said it was minor.”
“You believe that?”
“Yes. It was Major Daily.”
When I replied without getting stuck, I could feel the gaze drilling into . Im Haekyung reached out, picked up so papers on the desk, and fluttered them.
“I brought the dical records.”
“Isn’t that illegal?”
I asked seriously, but Im Haekyung didn’t even pretend to listen.
“A lot of people are curious about Guild Master Song’s dical records.”
“In Korea?”
“There are people overseas who want to know, too. But, Jehyun. Did you really say it without knowing?”
The way Im Haekyung asked that, they already looked like they’d reached a conclusion no matter what I said.
“Just now, you asked like you were sure. Whatever you answer here is going to sound like an excuse.”
“I don’t know either. I can’t see the future.”
“There are Hunters with precognition Skills. Of course, there’s a decent margin of error. But you... you’re appraisal-type, so you wouldn’t be.”
“Yes.”
If it ever cos out that I scamd Joo Seowon and Do Yehyun by claiming I had a precognition Skill, that reaction will be sothing to see.
Im Haekyung cut off and stared at quietly.
“I don’t have a precognition Skill.”
“I know. I didn’t even consider that possibility in the first place.”
“Then what?”
So they were confident they didn’t have a precognition Skill, yet they were still asking.
I realized it the very next mont.
“Ah-ha....”
“Even if you don’t see the future, there are ways to be certain about the future.”
“Who do you think is going to kill Guild Master Song?”
“Surprisingly, high-grade Hunters have a lot of enemies.”
Was that sothing from experience?
If Im Haekyung had enemies, it probably wasn’t the kind of enemies made just because they were a high-grade Hunter.
“Why are you looking at like that?”
“No, I just had another thought for a mont.”
“.......”
“If we get back to the point, it’s not that.”
“Certain?”
“Yes, how... how do you easily kill an A-rank Hunter?”
“She’s injured.”
When they ca at like that, it was also true, so I had nothing to say.
Anyway, I shook my head at Im Haekyung’s words and said firmly.
“Soone might have decided to kill Guild Master Song. But I don’t know. As far as I know, there isn’t anyone who’s decided on that, either.”
“You?”
“?”
“No, Guild Master Song.”
What bullshit is this?
I narrowed my brows and looked at Im Haekyung. Im Haekyung added with a gentle smile.
“Guild Master Song has strong pride. Strong responsibility, too, right? If the guild collapses because of her mistake, the guilt would be considerable. Still... I don’t think it’s likely, but because you were so sure just now.”
“I wasn’t sure. I was asking.”
“You asked like you were sure.”
It feels like it’s worth arguing, but why does it feel like I’m dealing with such a tiring bastard?
Im Haekyung briefly showed a troubled look, then asked.
“Did Guild Master Song say anything to you?”
“She’s not the type to share information with all that well.”
“Really? Even though you’re an appraiser.”
“I’m involved with you, aren’t I? And Guild Master Song doesn’t really like you.”
“Oh, ?”
“Yes. You, Haekyung.”
When I shot back lightly, Im Haekyung finally laughed again.
“At this rate, later on you’ll drop honorifics with ....”
Dropping honorifics is possible even now. I just don’t particularly feel like it.
Im Haekyung touched around the corner of their mouth, thinking hard about sothing, then nodded.
“Alright.”
Is that it?
‘For how much they pressed , they’re backing off way more easily than I expected.’
Sure enough, Im Haekyung imdiately smiled and said,
“I’ll look into it separately.”
“.......”
“It’s not because I can’t trust you....”
“Yes.”
“Mm, it is, though.”
‘What the fuck?’
Whether I stared at them like they were ridiculous or not, Im Haekyung stood up and patted my shoulder.
“For now, first... got it, Jehyun.”
“Yes.”
“Will you go back today? I think I’m going to be busy.”
“Because you’re going to dig around?”
“Yes.”
I can’t tell if that’s honesty or nerve.
Anyway, I really had said everything I needed to. About the fiend rger, Im Haekyung said they’d keep their mouth shut, too.
I got up without any lingering attachnt. Right before I opened the door and left, Im Haekyung’s voice ca from behind .
“See you soon, Jehyun.”
“Yes.”
It probably wasn’t just a polite send-off. Im Haekyung had no reason to do that.
***
After that day, I naturally got my rank re-evaluated. Since Haeseong already had data on , the rank was corrected quickly through a simple questionnaire and procedure.
Of course, I inford the SH Guild of it too, but the reaction wasn’t all that huge.
‘Your rank got corrected? To what... B? Ah, well....’
‘Oh, really? Then your rank had been set way wrong before.... No wonder it felt weird.’
‘Did they say B is definitely asured right? Ah, you went all the way to Haeseong to do it?’
It was a peculiar reaction, but there was no reason to care, so I moved on quickly.
I was a bit worried about how Song Hwayoung would react, but maybe thankfully, Song Hwayoung didn’t even co near the SH building, using recuperation as an excuse.
And like it was so kind of natural procedure, an article ca out.
‘I didn’t particularly want this.’
News│ First rank correction case this year... a whopping F→B increase, lowered trust in awakened rank asurent devices
(Picture.jpg)
∆ This is an illustration depicting the scene of soone taking an awakened-person test.
ㅤOn the 10th, the first awakened rank correction case of the year was received. Ever since the awakened rank reporting system was made mandatory, the rank asurent error issue that cos up every ti has occurred again this ti. It’s a case corrected from F-rank to B-rank, no less.
ㅤThe subject of this rank correction is Hunter Seo Jehyun (25), and according to the testimony of Mr. Seo ○○, there had been sothing suspicious from the ti he received his initial rank. Hunter Seo added a speculative comnt, saying, “I always felt like my mana (Gate energy) was suppressed, and maybe because I entered dungeons so often, my mana finally ca out at my original rank.”
ㅤAs this is a case with an unusually large correction range, the issue of trust in awakened rank asurent devices is also being raised. Rank asurent errors occur about two to three tis every year, but it’s the first ti it has changed by this much. Accordingly, the public’s voice calling for the device’s credibility and inspection issues to be reviewed again has also grown louder.
ㅤanwhile, Hunter Seo currently belongs to the SH Guild, whose guild master is Hunter Song Hwayoung (36).
View follow-up article
I didn’t even scroll down to the comnts and turned off my phone screen. It was a case worth noting, but the world already had plenty of interesting things, so this would be forgotten quickly too.
‘Let’s do sothing else instead of wasting ti on this.’
***
Hunter/Dungeon | HOT list
[Notice] 『Notice Violation Notice』Excessive self-doxxing is prohibitedX
[Chatter] Did you see the rank correction Hunter photos this ti?
(Photo)
(Photo)
(Photo)
They say it was taken when he went to get his Hunter ID
No... no...
573 comnts
— He’s just fucking handso
— No but he’s kinda scary, like I couldn’t even talk to him in personㅋㅋㅋㅋ he is handso though
— But was it corrected from F to B in one go?? How is that possible?
└ Sounds like an error happened when he got his initial rank in the first place!
ㅤ└ Holy shit.. no but low-rank Hunters and high-rank Hunters have different risk levels, does that even make senseㅜ That’s why they made reporting mandatory in the first place;
ㅤ└ Yeah,, honestly it’s kind of too much
— Handso, but kinda... looks like he’ll have a lot of scandals
└ What is this now...
— I looked it up and they say he’s an appraiser? So he’s probably not a physical-type
└ I assud he was a body reinforcent-type Hunter because of his build...
ㅤ└ That’s prejudice, but honestly tooㅋㅋ
ㅤ└ No, judging like that just from physique is kinda... but yeah, I did think that too
ㅤ└ It’s really prejudice, but I also thought he was a body reinforcent-type Hunter!
ㅤㅤ└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㅤㅤ└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㅤㅤ└ Everyone thought thatㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
This ti the rank correction Hunter’s face dropped
(Photo)
Reposted
Comnts
— His face, holy fuck, I almost pissed myself
— Fuck, I almost pulled out cash to go buy bread at the convenience store
ㅤ└ Loser ass bitch, your trauma acting up?
ㅤㅤ└ Yeah;
— He’s fucking handso, holy shit
— This is insane ㄷㄷ...
— Fuck, I’m so jealous
— But why is B-rank a high-grade Hunter?
ㅤ└ Get out
ㅤㅤ└ No but I’m right. It’s not A or S-rank, since when is B a high-grade Hunter?
ㅤㅤㅤ└ I said I get it, so fuck off
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