“I’ve already reported it.”
Kim Isang shook his head as he spoke.
His expression looked somewhat uncomfortable, but Hyejin nodded for now.
“I’ve also passed on the relevant information and requested an investigation. Normally, the Hunter Management Headquarters doesn’t come out to investigate inside the dungeon much, but as soon as they heard what I had to say, they said they’d look into it at least.”
As she listened to that, Hyejin recalled the strange incident she’d experienced a few days ago. She decided to tell Isang what she’d seen as well.
“Um, a few days ago, I saw some hunters fighting right in front of the convenience store. It wasn’t just a simple argument — they almost killed their own comrade. Fortunately, our Suho stopped them, so nothing major happened.”
“Our Suho? What? When did you two get so close?”
Eunwoo, who had been listening quietly, frowned as he looked back and forth between Hyejin and Suho.
Suho gently turned Eunwoo’s face toward Isang and said softly,
“She’s just calling me that because I’m a part-timer. Don’t misunderstand. The manager is naturally kind to everyone.”
“Ha, come on, even so, something feels off? I don’t like it!”
“That hunter was under the influence of drugs. That’s why he attacked his comrade.”
Ignoring Eunwoo’s complaints, Suho added. Upon hearing that, Isang let out a long sigh.
“Hoo. This doesn’t seem like an ordinary matter.”
Hyejin grew even more anxious at Isang’s words. She’d thought that as long as she ran the convenience store well inside the dungeon, everything would be fine, but the situation inside the dungeon was getting worse and worse.
Clearly, this wasn’t the image of a dungeon she’d had in mind when she was an ordinary F-rank hunter.
The thought that she might end up in danger someday crossed her mind, along with one question.
Why Blake Guild, of all places?
When she’d first heard the name Blake Guild, Hyejin had thought it sounded incredibly cool. On top of that, it was the guild that recruited the most skilled hunters in Korea.
She’d only thought it was impressive… but that guild kept getting involved in bad incidents.
Hyejin suddenly thought of Hunter Jeon Yurim.
Yurim, who had visited the convenience store a few days ago, was also from Blake Guild.
Since Hunter Yurim was someone with considerable influence within the guild, wouldn’t she know something about this incident?
Her guild members kept being found as corpses, so her mind must be complicated, and maybe that’s why she came a few days ago to investigate something?
That’s what Hyejin thought.
Of course, on that day, she had looked like she came to scout out the convenience store or something.
“Maybe Hunter Yurim, who’s practically the next guild master of Blake Guild, knows something about this?”
At Hyejin’s words, Suho and Isang burst out laughing at the same time, as if it were absurd.
Not understanding the meaning of their laughter, Hyejin tilted her head, and Suho said,
“Not just knowing something — she might be the cause of this incident, Hunter Yurim?”
“Huh?”
“I told you before, Manager, the reason I left Blake Guild.”
Ah, Hyejin let out a small sigh-like breath. She’d completely forgotten the story Suho had told her before.
“You suspected Hunter Yurim of feeding people strange drugs back then. Ah…! If it’s a large amount of white pills, then could it be!”
Suho nodded briefly in agreement with Hyejin’s words.
“My suspicions are gradually turning into convictions.”
“That’s interesting. I also happened to run into Hunter Jeon Yurim once before, and I felt a strong murderous intent from her. After this incident happened, I kept thinking she must be involved in it.”
Hyejin couldn’t believe it. To think that Yurim might really be doing something strange to the hunters.
On behalf of Hyejin, who was too shocked to close her mouth, Suho briefly explained the story about Blake Guild that he’d told her before.
Everyone there shook their heads as if it were unbelievable, but only Isang looked like he knew something.
“We don’t know the identity of the drug yet, but it doesn’t seem like an ordinary supplement.”
“How can we get that woman investigated? That’s the only worry. There are so many circumstantial evidences, yet we have to just watch her brazenly roaming the dungeon.”
Suho said, suppressing his anger.
“It’ll probably be hard to summon Hunter Jeon Yurim for an investigation. Like Hunter Lee Suho said, it’s only circumstantial evidence, and she’s at the center of power right now. The vice guild master of Blake Guild, the most influential one. I doubt the Hunter Management Headquarters would take the risk of making an enemy of Blake Guild by summoning her.”
Isang was a realistic person, and Suho couldn’t deny his words either.
The table had been lively just a moment ago, but now it was enveloped in heavy silence.
So Hyejin decided to tell only them. The story she’d heard when she visited the crafting company with Asha.
“Speaking of evidence, it reminds me. When I went to the SS-rank crafting company with Asha, I heard that their new product, a gun, was stolen.”
“Stolen?”
“From that place famous for its ironclad security?”
Following Eunwoo’s words, Suho added urgently as well.
“Yes. They said it disappeared after a Blake Guild member visited. So they requested the Hunter Management Headquarters to investigate, and they’re currently looking into the case.”
“As expected. Everything happening now is connected to Blake Guild.”
As Isang narrowed his eyes and spoke, Hyejin nodded unconsciously.
After a brief silence, Isang lifted his head and stared at the convenience store entrance — specifically, the job advertisement — for a while before asking Hyejin,
“That job ad, can I apply too?”
“Huh?”
When Hyejin asked back with a surprised face, Isang replied,
“There will probably be more unfortunate incidents happening, and I need to soothe the poor wronged souls, and I have to keep suppressing this murderous intent I keep feeling. Working at the convenience store would make it easier for me to do my job.”
“You’re applying suddenly for that reason?”
When Hyejin still asked with a surprised face, Isang smiled naturally.
“You’re hiring a weekend part-timer anyway, and on weekends, I think I can work very comfortably. There’s no rule that says I have to deal with dead wronged souls every day, right? I want to work here and keep an eye on the inside of the dungeon.”
They’d been seriously discussing the incidents happening inside the dungeon, and then suddenly he says he wants to do weekend part-time work.
Hyejin was speechless for a moment.
This guy is really impulsive… Applying for part-time work so suddenly? Wait, if this guy joins, that means another SS-rank hunter at this convenience store?
Hyejin clenched her fists tightly.
She really wanted to prevent that at all costs.
“Do I need to submit a resume right now?”
“Ah, a resume would be good if you have one, but, well, you see…”
Hyejin found the current situation extremely awkward.
The new part-timer she’d imagined was a hunter between C-rank and F-rank. But this time, another SS-rank hunter was applying to work part-time.
She hadn’t written any special conditions in the job ad. But on the other hand, it felt unfair.
She hadn’t expected high-rank hunters to want to work at a mere convenience store unless they had clear motives or were really unique people like Suho, Eunwoo, or Seojun!
She even regretted not putting a rank restriction, but she thought it wouldn’t have made a difference even if she had.
If someone came and said they wanted to work part-time at the convenience store, she planned to interview them anyway.
She thought it would be rude to the other person to reject them before the interview or say the position was already filled.
But still, this isn’t right…
Hoo, Cha Hyejin, stay calm!
“For now, if you bring your resume next time you come.”
“I have a resume I wrote before. I wrote it to get a job at a national agency after becoming an SS-rank hunter. I always carry it with me.”
A national agency?
Like the Hunter Management Headquarters? Hyejin thought with a dazed face.
After the dungeon gates burst open, most hunters joined guilds as hunters, formed parties, and made money by fighting monsters inside dungeons.
But for those who preferred safe jobs, the profession of a special-grade civil servant that only hunters could do was also attractive.
In the current first-grade disaster situation, the government was actively employing hunters.
If you became a civil servant, even if you died in a dungeon, you’d receive a medal of honor, and your bereaved family would get living allowances. Such benefits increased year by year.
If you got married, marriage allowance; if a child was born, childcare allowance; priority subscription rights for luxury apartments, and hefty bonuses for applying.
There was a time when I wanted to be a civil servant too. Of course, even now.
Among all that, what Hyejin coveted the most was the subscription rights to enter a luxury apartment.
She was living separately from her father now, but Hyejin’s goal was to live with her father in a nice apartment.
That was her reason for wanting to become a high-rank hunter.
Moreover, getting a job at a national agency was essentially becoming a civil servant, which had more merits than joining a typical small or medium-sized company.
That’s why she was trying to hold out for one year somehow, but the reality of working with SS-rank hunters was indeed a bit burdensome.
They probably didn’t know, but high-rank hunters had an unapproachable aura.
Something like an intimidating presence.
That’s why she couldn’t speak casually to them, her part-timers. Even though they were in their twenties like her.
Of course, there was a few years’ age difference, but the rank difference was even greater, so to Hyejin, they seemed like people living in a completely different world. Because of that, it was hard to get close beyond a certain line.
Anyway, since it was a manager and part-timer relationship, she didn’t expect much, but it was true that it wasn’t comfortable.
After thinking various things, Hyejin asked Isang, who had been waiting quietly,
“But why didn’t you get a job at a national agency? Did the conditions not match… From what I know, SS-rank hunters get especially good treatment.”
Then Isang smiled bitterly, as if recalling the past, and answered,
“I wanted to join too, but they didn’t want to work with someone like me.”