NOVEL WEB #031
#031
“Hmm.”
It was the first time he had looked over his past records all at once. Dan Joo-hyuk seemed to communicate in a truly crazy manner.
At first, Yoon Pa-ran had replied thinking there might be something important. But Dan Joo-hyuk didn’t respond much, perhaps because he was in a gate.
So afterwards, he just glanced at the messages without much thought. He figured if it was necessary, Dan Joo-hyuk would call.
“Ah.”
Yoon Pa-ran let out a short sound while examining the records. He realized just now that he had even skipped over some messages, thinking they were old ones.
He carefully checked the dates again, but in any case, it had been quiet for the past two days.
Well, there hadn’t been an event as big as the system message that just appeared to all of humanity. No matter how crazy Dan Joo-hyuk was for excitement, he probably wouldn’t try to satisfy his curiosity or solve this right now.
Surely he’s not that crazy.
Just as Yoon Pa-ran thought this and was about to put his phone back in his pocket, a strangely ticklish vibration buzzed in his hand.
“I’m out of the gate.”
“…”
It was Dan Joo-hyuk who had contacted him, as if he had been waiting.
The different text looked oddly out of place compared to the previous messages.
“If you don’t want to be banned from entering again, come see me right away :)”
“This crazy…”
And it seemed that he was indeed crazier than Yoon Pa-ran had expected.
❖ ❖ ❖
Three hours before Yoon Pa-ran received the text message.
Dan Joo-hyuk was having a private meeting with Byeon Woo-jang, the Minister of the Special Administrative Safety Department.
“Hunter Dan. Have you had any inconveniences lately?”
The Special Administrative Safety Department, often abbreviated as the Special Department, was the higher authority over the Gate Management Office. Although the Gate Management Office had strong independence, major policy decisions were made here.
The minister of this department, Byeon Woo-jang, spoke kindly with his plump, pale chin wobbling. Despite being over 50 years old, he had a face free of worries, as if blessed with good fortune.
And he was one of the people Dan Joo-hyuk found annoying to deal with.
“Well…”
“It seems there’s nothing particularly inconvenient! That’s great!”
“…”
Incredibly, such remarks from the minister were always genuinely sincere.
No matter how sharp the words thrown at him, that chuckling face never changed. It was so bad that even during the minister’s confirmation hearing for the Special Administrative Safety Department, his brazen reactions became a hot topic on the internet.
“But why do you look so unhappy?”
As the minister carefully observed him, Dan Joo-hyuk just returned a smile. If the minister hadn’t chased him all the way to the gate he was about to enter today, he wouldn’t have had this private meeting at all.
Suddenly, a feeling of emptiness came over him, constricting his breath. With his motivation gone, even breathing became a conscious effort.
Dan Joo-hyuk’s gaze briefly turned to his mobile phone.
“…”
Looking unhappy, he says. Well, certainly Dan Joo-hyuk wasn’t in a good mood right now.
It was because of none other than Yoon Pa-ran.
On the day of their last encounter at the B-rank gate, Dan Joo-hyuk had heard that Yoon Pa-ran had gone there and intervened.
When he asked where, Yoon Pa-ran replied that it was none of his business, and after that, he couldn’t contact Yoon Pa-ran at all.
Even after depositing the promised money, it was the same. Was he planning to incur a penalty as soon as they made a contract?
It was quite an impulsive act. But when questions arose, his body moved on its own. Since it was common for him to whimsically intervene in all sorts of gates, there was no difficulty.
But when he actually went, there was only bewilderment on Yoon Pa-ran’s face, as if wondering why he was there. It was as if Dan Joo-hyuk’s contact held no weight at all.
His mood twisted in an instant.
Why did he feel that way? It’s not like he expected Yoon Pa-ran to welcome him.
He provoked Yoon Pa-ran by suggesting they go by car, and even increased the progression speed of the gate insanely. Still, his mood didn’t improve easily.
Even so, he thought normal days would follow after that. However, Yoon Pa-ran kept defying Dan Joo-hyuk’s expectations.
“What are you doing?”
“Gate”
No matter how many times he asked, Yoon Pa-ran was too busy wandering through gates.
It seems the last gate he cleared was quite frustrating. Still, he didn’t expect him to go to a C-rank gate. That money ghost made such a choice surprisingly well.
Well, it was like Yoon Pa-ran to not think of using the contract even if he was short on money.
The problem was that at some point, he stopped replying altogether.
‘…’
He knew he could contact him in other ways, but a strange stubbornness arose. He was irritated by Yoon Pa-ran’s attitude of acting this way right after making a contract.
Worried that Yoon Pa-ran might die recklessly in a gate, he did a simple background check. He thought it might be an excessive measure, but he had already impulsively given the order.
‘Here are the materials about the security company you mentioned.’
Inadvertently receiving updates on his recent activities, Dan Joo-hyuk thought that Yoon Pa-ran was truly living in the epitome of inefficiency.
He used most of the money Dan Joo-hyuk had sent to hire a security company, as if he had buried magic stones under the orphanage. He even went around personally to check the credibility of the companies.
He also spent a lot of time with the children at the orphanage. In photos taken from afar, he always had a child tucked under his arm, without fail.
Just when it seemed he was finally alone, he immediately entered a gate. Recently, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he entered gates the most after Dan Joo-hyuk himself.
It was to the point where it looked like he was throwing himself into gates like a moth to avoid Dan Joo-hyuk.
Maybe, that really could be the case.
The day he made that judgment, that fact indeed bothered him a bit.
Then suddenly, he became aware that his stubbornness was a bit of a childish act.
So Dan Joo-hyuk just called. He already knew that Yoon Pa-ran was at the orphanage anyway.
‘Oh, why.’
‘…’
‘Oh? Min-woong! Watch your head!’
‘…’
However, the call that had just connected was abruptly cut off along with an urgent voice.
At this point, he could only laugh dryly.
He didn’t expect to be ignored to this extent.
It wasn’t clear if this was Yoon Pa-ran’s blatant attempt to avoid him. If that were the case, the contract might have bound his actions.
Of course, if that were true, it would be an even more ridiculous situation. It would mean this was the result of Yoon Pa-ran sincerely judging it as an unavoidable circumstance.
Dan Joo-hyuk covered his mouth with his hand, feeling a strange sense of defeat seeping in. The rough texture of his lips touched his fingertips, a result of the dry laugh he let out due to his embarrassment.
“Um… Could you perhaps lower your aura a bit? It’s suffocating.”
At that moment, he noticed Minister Byeon’s pale blue face trembling in fear.
“Ah.”
Dan Joo-hyuk, forcibly bringing his mind back to reality, responded half-heartedly. Then, with an even deeper smile, he said,
“Bear with it.”
“That’s too much…”
As he emerged from his thoughts, a languid feeling of suffocation embraced Dan Joo-hyuk as if it had been waiting.
He crossed his legs and leaned back against the chair.
“So. What’s your business?”
“Well, there have been so many requests from the departments below, you see. There’s something I urgently want to ask of Hunter Dan.”
Having worked at the Gate Management Office for a long time, Minister Byeon was the most communicative with the Gate Management Office among all previous ministers. Of course, despite this, his current words were clearly a face-saving excuse for being pushed to come directly with a very dirty request.
However, that was Minister Byeon’s only but strongest advantage.
It made Dan Joo-hyuk listen, at least.
“…”
This Special Administrative Safety Department minister’s office had relatively new furnishings compared to its history.
That’s because Dan Joo-hyuk had personally burned everything down before Minister Byeon took office.
“Go ahead and speak.”
He replied, twisting his lips as he recalled the acrid smell.
The fingertips gathered on his knee suddenly felt hot.
“As Hunter Dan knows, the rate of new gate generation is fortunately showing a downward trend.”
It was true, albeit slightly. It was better than anticipating a doubling of gates every day.
However, that didn’t mean it was hopeful. As the situation prolonged, gate processing was gradually becoming strained.
“According to the Gate Management Office’s calculations, if we can just eliminate a large number of low-rank gates within two weeks, there’s hope.”
“And so?”
“So, ahem, an proposal has come up suggesting that a small, elite group of high-ranking hunters quickly and swiftly process lower gates… what do you think?”
The explanation was long-winded, but it essentially meant working tirelessly for two weeks. And on low-rank gates at that.
Even though he was known for not being picky about gates, it was an outrageous proposal. They probably didn’t even try proposing this to other S-rank hunters.
He suddenly realized why Minister Byeon, despite sweating profusely, wasn’t running away. The realization of how trivial the matter was compared to his expectations made him lose spirit.
A system announcement, huh.
Is that such a big deal?
It was interesting, sure. But it wasn’t something Dan Joo-hyuk needed to step up and solve.
People are all destined to die anyway. The world was already structured that way, yet people were making such a fuss.
Even if the end came with all gates bursting open at once, Dan Joo-hyuk wouldn’t care. He’d just kill monsters as much as he could until he naturally died.
Struggling to prevent that was a bothersome act.
“I beg you, Hunter Dan. We really don’t have many personnel we can count as an elite few.”
At that moment, one of Minister Byeon’s words caught his ear. A small, elite group.
Suddenly, an interesting thought occurred to Dan Joo-hyuk.