Holy B-Class Life

#032

“So you mean I should eliminate the gates as quickly as possible. Alone.”

While organizing his thoughts, Dan Joo-hyuk rested his chin on his hand, feigning boredom.

As he let on that he understood the situation, Minister Byeon brightened and added:

“Of course, it will be difficult and tedious work, but couldn’t you manage it for a while? We’ll provide everything you need!”

Once his thoughts were sorted out, Dan Joo-hyuk smiled slyly.

“Alright.”

“Please, reconsider once mo… Huh?”

“Let’s do it.”

The more he thought about it, the less he understood why he should be so affected by a single contact from Yoon Pa-ran. Wasn’t his purpose clear from the beginning?

If Yoon Pa-ran was using the gates as an excuse to avoid him, he just needed to drag him out into the open.

With an undeniable justification, no less.

“Are, are you serious?”

“But you’ll need to assign me one hunter. C-rank or lower is fine. I don’t intend to waste other byproducts, let alone magic stones.”

“Of course, we’ll assign one! We can even assign more if needed. We could even send in a dedicated collection team…”

Minister Byeon responded enthusiastically to the subtly inserted main point. When he started to ramble on with unnecessary suggestions, Dan Joo-hyuk cut him off firmly.

“One is enough.”

While having a dedicated collection team would be convenient, that wasn’t Dan Joo-hyuk’s intention.

He was planning to keep Yoon Pa-ran close and make him do odd jobs for the time being.

“Is that so? If it’s just one person, you’d need at least a B… rank or higher, hmm…”

Minister Byeon’s eyes rolled continuously, as if calculating Dan Joo-hyuk’s intentions. Since it was a time when high-ranking hunters were scarce, he seemed to hope for someone below B-rank, looking particularly cautious when expressing this wish.

Despite noticing this, Dan Joo-hyuk calmly said:

“Please assign Hunter Yoon Pa-ran to me.”

“Hunter… Yoon Pa-ran?”

Dan Joo-hyuk casually mentioned Yoon Pa-ran’s name to the minister who was contemplating personnel selection.

For a moment, he mulled over Yoon Pa-ran’s name with a bewildered expression. Then, he quickly accepted Dan Joo-hyuk’s proposal.

“Alright. Um, if it’s okay, ahem, would you be able to start from today?”

Dan Joo-hyuk smiled brightly as things were finally going his way.

“Sure.”

He intended to properly research that skill Yoon Pa-ran possessed.

The thought of uncovering every detail of that secret made him feel unusually excited.

❖ ❖ ❖

Three hours later.

After seeing the shocking message, Yoon Pa-ran went straight to find Dan Joo-hyuk, fuming.

“Hey, what do you mean you’re going to block gate entry again?”

The guy had just dropped a coordinate and then gone silent. Searching for where it was, it turned out to be near the Special Administrative Security Department building.

“If you don’t want to be banned from entering again, come see me right away :)”

Not having been able to stop by the orphanage or his studio apartment, he looked a mess. His head throbbed even more from rushing to process the paperwork for the gate he had just cleared.

“It’s been a while.”

Dan Joo-hyuk greeted the disheveled Yoon Pa-ran with a calm face. The dark basement parking lot of the Special Administrative Security Department building was quiet, without a single car.

His nonchalant expression made Yoon Pa-ran’s blood boil even more.

“Yeah! What’s with this nonsense when I’m so damn busy! Are you crazy?”

Already exhausted from the gate, his words came out harshly.

But Dan Joo-hyuk neither got angry nor tilted his head as he asked. Today, more than ever, his smiling face seemed almost mask-like.

“What have you been doing all this time?”

“What? I’ve been going to gates. I told you.”

“Why didn’t you reply?”

“You must have been busy with gates too.”

“There’s no way any hunter could be busier than me, so I wonder why Hunter Yoon Pa-ran didn’t reply… I’m really curious.”

“…”

He couldn’t retort to Dan Joo-hyuk’s last statement. After all, he probably wasn’t busier than Dan Joo-hyuk.

But Yoon Pa-ran couldn’t hide his confusion. Was he saying he should have kept texting him even when there was nothing to say?

“Well, do I have to keep replying when I have nothing to say to you?”

“…”

Dan Joo-hyuk just stared at him with the same smiling face.

His sudden silence made Yoon Pa-ran shift his eyes around. The aura he was emitting seemed a bit stronger than before…

Did I say something wrong?

“Who knows.”

In the end, Dan Joo-hyuk only returned an incomprehensible answer.

Scratching his cheek, Yoon Pa-ran added after some consideration. It felt strange, as if he kept feeling the need to make excuses.

“Well… It’s going to be like that for a while.”

“Why?”

“Well, you know, the system notice came out. We have to solve it somehow. You’ll be busy too, right?”

It was Yoon Pa-ran’s attempt at a roundabout expression, meaning to stop pointless things like texting.

Even though they weren’t close and Dan Joo-hyuk was a gate-obsessed pervert, Yoon Pa-ran had some faith. At least, he thought he had the will to work together to solve this urgent situation.

It soon became clear that this was all a big misunderstanding.

“What does the world becoming dangerous have to do with me?”

Dan Joo-hyuk asked so nonchalantly.

He still had a faintly smiling face. Yet, there wasn’t even a hint of playfulness in his words.

This might be his imagination, but Yoon Pa-ran could sense a very slight hint of genuine curiosity. Anyway, realizing this was Dan Joo-hyuk’s true feelings, Yoon Pa-ran unconsciously gaped.

… What the hell is wrong with this bastard?

Of course, it’s not like Yoon Pa-ran had any great sense of responsibility either. He had no intention of demanding that from Dan Joo-hyuk, not even a tiny bit.

Anyway, Yoon Pa-ran was still planning to keep struggling. To do whatever he could in the given situation.

Honestly, it seemed more difficult to act as if it was completely someone else’s problem like Dan Joo-hyuk did.

“Are you opening your mouth to ask me to stick a tongue in it?”

Dan Joo-hyuk approached Yoon Pa-ran with a smile, his eyes creasing. The distance closed quickly, as if his legs were tangled.

Yoon Pa-ran recoiled in disgust at his perverted words.

“Hmm…”

As he backed away, Dan Joo-hyuk’s eyes narrowed slightly. Noticing this, Yoon Pa-ran raised his guard.

There he goes with those eyes again.

Just as he was about to take another step back unconsciously, Dan Joo-hyuk, instead of approaching, smiled and moved towards the passenger seat.

“Be patient for a bit. We’ll do it inside today.”

“What? Do what? Why?”

Today, Dan Joo-hyuk seemed firmly determined to only talk nonsense.

Stumbling over his words in confusion at the strange nuance he clearly felt, Dan Joo-hyuk’s smile deepened.

“Your way of speaking has become a lot like a dog barking while we haven’t seen each other.”

“Fuck…”

Who’s the one talking nonsense here?

While Yoon Pa-ran irritably rubbed his face with his bare hands, Dan Joo-hyuk opened the passenger door.

Wondering why he was suddenly being so annoyingly courteous, Yoon Pa-ran looked up to see him silently gesturing towards the seat.

“Get in.”

So much for courtesy.

Seeing his piercing gaze, it seemed like he might brandish a knife if Yoon Pa-ran refused to get in. It was a strange reaction, considering he hadn’t even said he would run away.

Not that he could run away in the first place.

“Sigh…”

Due to the peculiar pressure, Yoon Pa-ran obediently moved his feet.

The gaze that followed him until he planted his bottom in the passenger seat was a bit scary.

“Where are we going?”

After kindly closing the door for him, Dan Joo-hyuk soon set the car in motion. His smooth actions suggested he had a destination in mind.

Though it wasn’t a difficult question, Dan Joo-hyuk silently tapped the steering wheel with his fingertips for a while.

Eventually, a voice much calmer than before flowed out.

“The gate generation rate has dropped a bit, but it’s still in a state of oversaturation.”

Yoon Pa-ran frowned at his sudden mention of gate-related matters.

However, he kept quiet for now, as it was rare to hear from someone closest to confidential information.

“So there are starting to be small gaps in the gate processing rate. If this continues, breakouts will probably occur within a month.”

“Damn…”

The Gate Management Office had clearly said everything was being handled well.

But even if there were problems, such information wouldn’t have reached Yoon Pa-ran anyway. His face became serious as he heard that the hopeful outlook he had tried to believe wasn’t true.

“So for the time being, high-ranking hunters will quickly process low-level gates that are on the verge of breaking out. Since we’re short on manpower anyway, if we’re going to do a time attack, it’s better to overwhelm with rank.”

I see.

Yoon Pa-ran unconsciously nodded and focused on Dan Joo-hyuk’s words.

Perhaps this was why the Special Administrative Security Department had decided to process S-rank gates quickly. To allow high-ranking hunters who should be tied up there to move freely.

But as he listened, he couldn’t help but wonder.

Why was he telling him this confidential information?

“I’ve also been assigned some low-level gates.”

“Really?”

Even though he was called a gate freak, he was still S-rank, so entering low-level gates probably wouldn’t be to his liking. Yoon Pa-ran’s brow unfurrowed a bit at Dan Joo-hyuk’s attitude of following the Gate Management Office’s instructions quite well.

It seemed like pretty solid behavior for someone who had just asked what it had to do with him.

Of course, questions still remained. He thought Dan Joo-hyuk had come looking for him again because of the contract, but if it was a low-level gate he had to enter, it didn’t make sense.

Would there be a situation where he lacked enough power to need Sacred Energy?

Just as he was thinking this, Dan Joo-hyuk said:

“Hunter Yoon Pa-ran, you’ll be processing those low-level gates with me from now on.”