Chapter 18 - Minjun, You’re Quite the Catch

The gate we were tackling today was in a busy shopping district. Gates appeared regardless of time or place, so they sometimes cropped up in areas like this. At least this one was a relatively low-ranked D-rank gate, and the risk of a gate break was low, so no one had been evacuated.

“Excuse me, are you Hunter Yoon Minjun?”

“Oh, yes. And your name is?”

“I’m Kim Junhwi. It doesn’t look like anyone else is here yet.”

Kim Junhwi, one of the raid party members, offered me a handshake and an easygoing smile. His face looked young enough that he might have only just become an adult, in striking contrast to his bulky muscles.

“Have you had lunch?”

“I grabbed something quick at a convenience store. How about you, Junhwi?”

“I had a hearty bowl of soup and rice. Won’t you get hungry?”

“I’ll be fine. I packed some emergency rations in my pocket dimension, too.”

We exchanged brief introductions and made small talk to ease the awkwardness. Before long, two young women and a man came walking toward us. They didn’t have “hunter” written on their faces, but all three somehow had the air of hunters.

“Is this the party for the Antman gate?”

“Yep.”

They were the other hunters joining the raid, as I’d thought.

“Sorry. We’re really late, aren’t we? Have you been waiting long?”

“No, we just got here ourselves.”

Once everyone had arrived, we introduced ourselves before entering the gate.

The three of them were D-rank, in their mid-to-late twenties, and their roles made for a decent balance. There was just one unusual thing.

“You three are all siblings?”

“Yes. Surprising, isn’t it?”

“It is! Wow, I didn’t know that could happen. It’s not common for all three siblings to awaken.”

Seo Yuhyeon, Seo Yura, and Seo Yuseon. Those three were siblings. I’d met all sorts of hunters while raiding gates, but I didn’t think I’d ever come across a case like theirs.

“Maybe it was fate, a gift from heaven.”

Seo Yuseon, the youngest of the three, gave Junhwi and me a sly smile. If Sia had seen that, she might have grumbled to herself, “Is that woman trying to hit on my Oppa?”

“But you’d think three hunter siblings would have made the news. Why don’t I remember seeing an article about you?”

He had a point. Now that Junhwi mentioned it, I found it strange too. If I were a reporter, I wouldn’t have passed up a story that interesting. Maybe I was imagining it, but something felt off.

“We did get interview requests, but we turned them all down. None of us likes that kind of attention.”

Yuhyeon answered smoothly, as though he’d heard the question many times before.

“Ah.”

“We can talk more inside if we get the chance. Let’s head in for now.”

“Sounds good.”

Before entering the gate, we carefully checked one another’s identities in case anything went wrong, then put on our gear. I also strapped the wearable camera Sia had specially made over my equipment and went in. Once all the preparations were complete, we began making our way through the gate. Perhaps because we didn’t encounter any monsters right away, everyone was still in good spirits and full of energy.

Not long after we left the starting point, Seo Yura, the middle sibling, came over to me.

“Minjun, where did you buy that gear?”

She’d seemed to be sneaking glances at me ever since I took it out and put it on. Apparently, it had caught her eye.

“I didn’t buy it. It was a gift.”

“A gift?”

“Yes. From my girlfriend.”

Maybe I imagined it, but the mood seemed to shift for a moment.

“Your girlfriend gave you all of this? Isn’t it expensive?”

“I’m not sure, but I imagine it is.”

“Wow... I wish I could wear gear like that.”

“Your girlfriend’s incredible.”

All four of them looked genuinely envious.

When you thought about it, a dragon had personally picked out every piece. Of course it was good gear. I’d been amazed when I saw what it could do. I’d have to thank Sia again the next time I saw her.

“Is your girlfriend the granddaughter of some conglomerate family or something? Or maybe a rising star in a major guild?”

“She could be a famous celebrity. Wow, Minjun, you’re quite the catch.”

“Oh, come on. Nothing like that.”

I couldn’t tell them the truth, so I brushed it off.

“What about that wearable camera?”

“Oh, this? My girlfriend gave me this too. She suggested I record the raid so we could watch it together later and look for things I could improve.”

Until a moment ago, Junhwi and I had been speaking formally to each other, but now he was calling me “hyung” with easy familiarity, making no effort to hide his envy. He seemed like the sort who made friends quickly.

The three siblings were much the same. Except they seemed more interested in the equipment Sia had given me than in Sia herself—though perhaps that was just my imagination. They appeared to be trying not to show it, but I could feel the two sisters repeatedly stealing glances at my gear while Yuhyeon led the way. They must have liked it a great deal.

‘I’m glad they like the gear Sia gave me... but they’re staring a little too openly.’

No matter how much they liked it, being stared at that intently made me uncomfortable. It was suspicious. And that brought back what they’d said before we entered the gate. Three hunter siblings ought to have turned up in an online article or on television at least once, regardless of their ranks or specialties. I felt bad for thinking it, but something about them bothered me.

In any case, we kept moving and chatting. Before long, a group of Mega Antmen came into view.

“Antmen spotted at eight o’clock.”

“Junhwi, let’s dive in together.”

“We’ll provide covering fire from here.”

As we quickly discussed the plan, I adjusted my grip on my sword for the coming fight.

‘This is the real thing.’

There was no one beside me to advise me on drawing out the sword’s power, but I couldn’t expect to rely on advice in the middle of a real fight anyway.

‘Domination. Will.’

Sia’s advice and Rokan’s teachings. I had to keep them all in mind, draw out as much of the sword’s power as I could, and somehow get a feel for using dragon speech.

Junhwi, our tank, charged in first. I joined him soon after and began swinging my sword.

SKREEE!

As the battle began in earnest, the Antmen’s screams rang out. I swung my sword with the will to dominate anyone I faced etched into my heart. At times with lofty composure, at times with fierce intensity.

“Wow. You’re killing it, hyung!”

At first, Junhwi had been fully occupied blocking the Antmen’s attacks, but he’d apparently found enough breathing room to strike up a conversation even though the fight wasn’t over.

“You’re doing great too, Junhwi.”

He grinned at my reply and worked even harder, running around to block attacks. Meanwhile, the three siblings actively supported us from the rear. Their heals and buffs, along with their ranged attacks, came through whenever we needed them. The Antmen didn’t simply stand there and take our assault, of course, but the gap in strength was so great that we finished the fight without taking much damage.

Afterward, we collected the loot and decided to catch our breath for a moment.

“I had my doubts, but they really were Antmen, hyung.”

We’d never agreed to address each other like brothers, yet Junhwi called me “hyung” again as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Come to think of it, he’d been doing that since shortly after we entered the gate.

“What?”

“You took them down so easily, I thought they were just ants.”

When I looked confused, Junhwi added the line with a mischievous grin.

“You’re exaggerating... but thanks.”

“Just talk to me casually, hyung.”

Whatever else you could say about him, this guy certainly knew how to get along with people.

“Hmm. How about after we finish the raid?”

“Oh, sure, if that’s more comfortable for you. All three of you are older than me too, so feel free to speak casually to me.”

Now Junhwi turned his attention to the Seo siblings, addressing them with the same warmth he’d shown me.

“We’ll do that after the raid too.”

“Of course.”

“Sorry, I need to step away for a moment.”

Maybe Junhwi’s chattiness was getting to Yuseon, or maybe she really did need to go. Either way, she excused herself.

“I’ll go with her,” Yura said, following her younger sister.

“Since we’re taking a break, I’ll use the bathroom too. I’ll be right back.”

Even Yuhyeon, the party leader, stepped away. With all three Seo siblings gone at once, Junhwi and I exchanged an awkward look.

“Junhwi.”

“Yes, hyung?”

“Did you notice anything strange about those three?”

With them conveniently out of earshot, I took the chance to whisper to him.

“Strange how?”

I told him what had been bothering me about the Seo siblings: I’d never heard of them despite how rare it was for three siblings to all be hunters, and they’d stared at my gear with a strangely open interest. On top of that, all three leaving at once gave me a bad feeling, though perhaps I was imagining it.

“I don’t know. I didn’t notice anything.”

Junhwi clearly didn’t see it the way I did. Was I being oversensitive? Reading too much into things that meant nothing?

‘I don’t think so.’

Even after he said that, I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling.

“...”

Perhaps it was too heavy a subject to bring up during a break, because things grew even more awkward. Continuing the conversation didn’t seem like a good idea. I’d spend the rest of the break swinging my sword and getting a feel for it.

* * *

In a thicket two or three hundred meters from Minjun, the two sisters checked that no one was looking their way, then began whispering.

“What do you think?”

“Ha. Fuck if I know. It’s going to be a real pain.”

They had left saying they needed to relieve themselves, but neither showed any sign of doing so. Their furtive gestures and hushed voices made them look like villains plotting something.

“When the hell is he coming? We don’t have much time.”

“How the fuck should I know? Maybe the bastard went for a smoke.”

“Ugh, that chain-smoking asshole. Couldn’t he wait a few minutes?”

Why were they waiting for their older brother when they’d said they were going to the bathroom? Besides, hadn’t they split up and gone in opposite directions?

“You two are the smokers, you chain-smoking idiots. I quit.”

Yuhyeon finally joined them and delivered his retort. His sisters glared at him as if they’d bitten into something foul.

“Yeah, and dogs have quit eating shit.”

“Smoking’s still a hundred times better than cheating on several people at once like you do.”

Yuhyeon raised his middle finger and growled, but the two women ignored him as though it were nothing.

“We don’t have time. Get to the point. Are we robbing them today or not?”

“Of course we are. That Kim Junhwi or whatever his name is doesn’t look like much, but Yoon Minjun’s worth the trouble. Looked like he was decked out head to toe in flashy gear.”

Yuseon looked like a hyena that had spotted a plump meal. Yura followed with a leering grin.

“He’s no rich young master. He’s a pretty little deer, more like. Bet that ‘girlfriend’ is some loaded older woman he’s managed to hook.”

They were posing as ordinary hunters, but in truth, all three were villains who had been wanted for weeks. They were wanted for the same crime: robbery and murder inside a gate.