Holy B-Class Life

#026

She was one of the women he had already shared a bed with several times. Had she entered the same gate earlier? He noticed her tying her disheveled hair up high at the back.

She did have a fairly useful skill.

That’s why until now, whenever she asked, he never refused to mingle bodies with her. Tracing his memory, he realized she was also the last person he had been intimate with.

Right. Today, maybe if he loosely exercised his hips, sleep might come.

“…”

Even while thinking this, Dan Joo-hyuk somehow couldn’t open his mouth. An uneasy feeling persisted, as if a monster’s hard bone was caught on the tip of his sword.

Strangely, he didn’t feel much like it.

Although he had recently started staying cooped up at home, he had never rejected such an overt advance before. Even for an A-rank hunter, approaching him must be quite difficult, so he tended to appreciate the effort.

Certainly that was the case, but this was strange.

“Maybe next time.”

Anyway, there was no point in considering it when he wasn’t in the mood. Flashing a habitual smile, Dan Joo-hyuk turned back towards his car.

It seemed he was quite irritated that his plan to use Yoon Pa-ran’s skill had been disrupted.

Come to think of it, I wonder if Hunter Yoon Pa-ran entered a gate too?

With this sudden thought, Dan Joo-hyuk took out his phone. Though he had pulled strings to prolong the gate entry ban, it wouldn’t have held up in this situation.

“…”

Sure enough, one of the officials he had pressured had sent him a pleading message. Saying they had no choice but to lift Yoon Pa-ran’s entry restriction too.

Just yesterday, the number of gates that had appeared was twice the usual amount. They couldn’t afford to keep a capable B-rank hunter like Yoon Pa-ran idle.

If so, did he enter a gate right away?

Where are you?

Curious, Dan Joo-hyuk sent a simple message to Yoon Pa-ran.

He didn’t expect much, but surprisingly, a reply came immediately.

What do you want to know for?

The curt words seemed to ring in his ears. Dan Joo-hyuk, who had unconsciously stopped in his tracks, stared intently at his phone.

A faint smile he hadn’t realized was there hung on his lips.

❖ ❖ ❖

Two hours before Dan Joo-hyuk came out of the S-rank gate.

“You understand, right? What do you do if a strange person talks to you?”

“No! I won’t listen!”

“And if someone still follows you?”

“Our brother is a hunter!”

“Our oppa is a hunter!”

In front of the school gate where Ju-hee attended, Yoon Pa-ran carefully instructed his siblings. Min-woong, who was still too young for school but insisted on following his brother, also shouted energetically beside them.

“Good. Have a nice day.”

“Okay!”

After Yoon Pa-ran patted her head once, Ju-hee quickly entered through the school gate. Soon she met a friend and started chattering away.

It seemed like just yesterday she was saying she didn’t want to go to school and wanted to stay by her oppa’s side.

Moved by Ju-hee’s resolute attitude of not even looking back, Yoon Pa-ran rubbed his face. Only when he saw Min-woong clumsily imitating him did he quickly pick the child up in his arms.

“Let’s go home.”

“Okay.”

Two days ago, after the system notification appeared, he wasn’t sure how he had managed to return to the orphanage.

The children were crying, their noses red from shock. The director was comforting them with a pale face.

Fortunately, gates weren’t popping up like mushrooms as Yoon Pa-ran had worried. According to the official announcement from the Special Administrative Safety Department, they would only occur about twice as often as before.

If that’s the case, they should be able to handle it somehow. Korea’s Special Administrative Safety Department was quite strong in these crisis situations.

In some countries, riots had already broken out as if the world was ending. However, despite the continuous stream of distressing news, many children went to school today.

From the beginning, Korea was one of the few countries that handled gates well. Trusting this, Yoon Pa-ran sent Ju-hee to school. He still wanted to cling to daily life. Probably everyone felt similarly.

I should really save more money and dig a bomb shelter under the orphanage.

“Brother, can we buy snacks?”

“Sure. Let’s buy some snacks on the way.”

At Min-woong’s words, Yoon Pa-ran finally started walking.

Shortly after the system notification appeared, the expected text message had arrived on his phone.

Hunter Yoon Pa-ran, you are now able to enter gates. Please send us the list of gates you want, and we will process it immediately.

—Gate Management Office

It was a time when every hunter was needed. Dan Joo-hyuk’s meddling probably couldn’t continue either. Maybe Dan Joo-hyuk had withdrawn his mischief on his own, knowing the seriousness of the situation.

Should I consider this fortunate?

Sighs kept filling his throat, but he swallowed them down forcefully. He didn’t want Min-woong, who had smiled brightly yesterday saying he saw the status window, to feel anxious.

“…”

On the way back, Yoon Pa-ran passed by the main road where he had caught a taxi before. The cultists he had been worried about were gone.

He had been accompanying the children on their way to school, fearing those guys might harm them, but there had been no trace of them since yesterday. Even cult believers must be scared of the system notification, he thought lightly as he passed by. Anyway, it’s good if they’ve left this neighborhood.

After buying plenty of snacks, Yoon Pa-ran returned to the orphanage. However, as he got closer to the orphanage, Yoon Pa-ran’s face subtly hardened.

Why do I sense so much activity from the director’s office?

He sent Min-woong upstairs, patting his bottom and telling him to share the snacks with his friends. Only then did Yoon Pa-ran deliberately nonchalantly fling open the door of the director’s office.

“Director, I’m back.”

“Ah, Pa-ran…”

Men were crowded on the sofa that was placed in the director’s office for show. As if that wasn’t enough, there was even a guy standing near the door as if to block the exit.

Knowing this full well, Yoon Pa-ran opened the door with moderate force. The guy who had been standing arrogantly in front was pushed back significantly.

“Why are you standing dangerously in front of the door?”

“Uh… What strength…”

The uninvited guests couldn’t hide their bewildered expressions at his sudden appearance.

Regardless, Yoon Pa-ran calmly entered the director’s office and stood beside Yoon Seul. Then he glanced down at the contents of the document she was holding.

“Did you come with this proposal again without even properly checking the land value? Did you drop your conscience in a gate?”

They were the guys who had contacted them recently, asking to sell the land. However, Yoon Pa-ran keenly observed their faces.

They’re not the same ones who came two years ago.

However, the documents they presented were surprisingly identical. Although they hadn’t made such an overt show of force back then, it was obvious these guys were related.

Since we’re not inclined to move, they’re using a different strategy.

It wasn’t a good sign.

Yoon Pa-ran’s expression turned cold at the fact that they dared to barge into the orphanage like this.

“Ahem. If non-related parties could please leave the room…”

The middle-aged man who seemed to be in charge opened his mouth with a fake cough. Judging by his clothes and arrogant attitude, he appeared to be a high-ranking official.

Naturally ignoring this, Yoon Pa-ran slowly moved his gaze. As if trying to engrave the faces of these intruders in his memory, one by one.

Then he didn’t hide his furiously angry demeanor.

“What kind of behavior is this, coming to an orphanage full of children? Are you trying to threaten us?”

The uninvited guests in the director’s office all turned pale at the aura he was emitting.

The middle-aged man who had taken the lead gritted his teeth and asked,

“Who are you to…”

“Me? I’m our mom’s son.”

“…”

At this clear declaration of relation, the middle-aged man’s face crumpled. When his gaze met Yoon Pa-ran’s directly, he quickly turned his head as if he had encountered a monster.

“Get out of our house now. Quickly, before you scare the children.”

Feeling he had made a sufficient show of force, Yoon Pa-ran withdrew his killing intent. It was sometimes troublesome to deal with civilians as a hunter, so it was better to be careful.

However, despite being told to leave, the middle-aged man opened his mouth while sweating profusely.

“But you need to express your intention to sell…”

“Hey.”

Finding it absurd, Yoon Pa-ran didn’t hide his sneer.

Why is he acting like someone who left an item on deposit?

“Have we ever said even once that we’re selling this land?”

“Not yet…”

“If we said no, you should understand that it means no. Do you enjoy getting handcuffed for doing perverted things because you can’t properly understand when someone says no?”

At the scathing tone, the middle-aged man’s face turned red.

He must be feeling upset that this young punk has been speaking informally from the start. However, Yoon Pa-ran was equally irritated by the man’s attitude.

“Ahem. If we bring a higher offer…”

“We’re not selling.”

“Why…”

“Because we like this neighborhood.”

It wasn’t even funny. If these guys had come from the start offering a fair price, the director would have seriously considered it.

There’s a limit to how much you can treat people like fools.

“Or do you have something else in mind?”

This wasn’t even a conversation worth entertaining for so long in the first place. Unless they were going to force them to stamp the documents like thugs.

As Yoon Pa-ran glared with a cold sneer on his lips, the middle-aged man started fake coughing again. Then, one of the people who had been quietly standing beside him whispered in his ear. Holding a file of documents, he seemed to be some kind of secretary.

Though it was clearly audible to Yoon Pa-ran.

“You know, didn’t the elder say there was a B-rank hunter attached? It seems to be this person.”

“Ah.”

It was well known that hunters had good hearing. Perhaps that’s why the two kept glancing nervously at Yoon Pa-ran.

By the way, ‘the elder’?

“So you’re a hunter. You should have said so earlier.”

Finally, the middle-aged man took out a business card from his pocket and smiled brightly. Not the slimy expression he had been showing in front of the director earlier.

The whole series of movements looked like an unfunny farce. Yoon Pa-ran, puzzled by the situation, frowned and asked.

Really, sincerely, out of curiosity.

“Why?”

“Well…”

“Why should I tell you I’m a hunter? Who are you?”