Holy B-Class Life

#034

“…”

Dan Joo-hyuk took a step closer. Thinking he might try to absorb his skill, Yoon Pa-ran kept an eye on him while collecting magic stones.

He felt a bit self-loathing for wondering when Dan would try to kiss him. Whenever that happened, Yoon Pa-ran found comfort in the hard feel of the magic stones in his hand.

Moreover, it was fortunate they had prevented the break. When entering, he thought the surrounding control was too strict for a C-rank gate, but the gate entrance was already tinged red, indicating the break was truly imminent.

“Are you still far from done?”

When Yoon Pa-ran was momentarily lost in self-loathing, Dan Joo-hyuk started urging him impatiently.

Barely regaining his senses, Yoon Pa-ran said with a sigh in his voice,

“…Five left.”

No, I told you to go ahead.

He had said it several times already, but strangely, Dan seemed to ignore him. Around the third time he said it, Dan even reduced the workload, telling him to only collect magic stones and leave the other byproducts.

Since they were C-rank monsters, taking just the magic stones preserved about 60% of the income, so Yoon Pa-ran had no complaints. He just couldn’t understand why Dan was waiting for him if he was in such a hurry.

Wait. Come to think of it, if we’re collecting like this, wouldn’t it be better to finish everything and have a professional collection team come in later?

“Why are you carrying around such equipment?”

Just then, Dan Joo-hyuk sharply cut into Yoon Pa-ran’s idle thoughts.

Yoon Pa-ran frowned at the tone that was no different from picking a fight, but then looked down at his own hands. He had been using his main weapon, a longsword, finding it bothersome to take out collection equipment.

Hunters usually cherish their equipment like their lives. So Dan must have been curious seeing it used so roughly.

…It wasn’t that he was answering because he’d become generous due to the plump magic stone pouch.

Probably.

“It performs well.”

Even used like this, Yoon Pa-ran’s sword didn’t break. The blade didn’t get damaged either. Officially appraised, it was likely to continue this way unless facing an S-rank monster.

Yoon Pa-ran liked that he didn’t have to bother with maintaining the sword.

Though the curse on it is a bit, well, brutal.

[Cursed and Fallen Knight’s Sword A]

It contains an unbreakable faith.

*The item has been exposed to death energy for a long time.

*A curse is bestowed.

―The wielder of this sword shall meet death.

Glancing at his sword’s status window, Yoon Pa-ran shrugged.

No items had dropped so far while clearing this gate. It was probably because Dan Joo-hyuk’s rank was too high. Regular monsters don’t often drop items anyway.

To determine if something was an item and what its properties were, one had to touch it by hand. However, most curses on items often activated upon contact, like Yoon Pa-ran’s sword.

So, it was customary for the highest-ranked hunter to handle items without appraisal certificates first. This was also why every gate had a hunter one rank higher participating. Statistically, even killing a boss would only yield items one rank higher than the gate.

“So was your original hunter rank A?”

Dan Joo-hyuk, who had only been urging Yoon Pa-ran’s actions or cutting down monsters until now, suddenly asking questions was quite suspicious.

Yoon Pa-ran watched him warily, raising his guard slightly. He probably knew what curse was on his equipment and what its rank was, and was curious about it.

After some consideration, Yoon Pa-ran gave an answer that was neither a lie nor the truth.

“No.”

He knew he would appear quite unusual. But he had no intention of revealing exactly what status window he had to Dan Joo-hyuk.

“Is that so?”

Sensing something suspicious, Dan Joo-hyuk took another step closer.

Yoon Pa-ran, who reflexively tried to back away, forced himself to stand firm. He was afraid of being accused of lying if he avoided him unnecessarily.

However, for some reason, Dan Joo-hyuk wore a faint smile. Only then did Yoon Pa-ran start to think in a different direction.

Is it now?

Dan Joo-hyuk had already crashed his lips onto him several times at will. But today, oddly enough, he hadn’t mentioned anything about the skill. Despite dragging him here specifically because of that skill.

Anyway, because of that, Yoon Pa-ran had been on edge every time the distance between them shortened for the past few hours.

Just then, Dan Joo-hyuk suddenly reached out his hand towards Yoon Pa-ran.

It was a hand approaching at an odd angle to be considered an attack. It was also a slow movement, uncharacteristic of Dan Joo-hyuk, slow enough for Yoon Pa-ran to see its trajectory with his own eyes.

As soon as he realized the nuance, Yoon Pa-ran couldn’t hold back anymore and reflexively stepped back. However, in his confusion, he forgot about the pile of monster corpses stacked up to his height behind him.

“Ugh.”

As his back hit it, he almost lost his balance for a moment. Despite dodging quite quickly, Dan Joo-hyuk’s hand approached near Yoon Pa-ran’s cheek as if he had anticipated everything.

The clean hand, without a drop of blood despite having cut down countless monsters, lightly touched the edge of his cheek. Yoon Pa-ran flinched at that vivid sensation.

“Then is it a curse immunity skill?”

Dan Joo-hyuk asked again calmly, surely having noticed Yoon Pa-ran’s tension. The fingertip that had brushed his cheek quickly caressed one earlobe before disappearing in an instant.

Strangely, he felt heat rising in his face.

Is he mocking me?

Although it was true that he had overreacted, seeing Dan Joo-hyuk’s expression made Yoon Pa-ran’s blood boil. The corner of his mouth, raised slightly as if amused, definitely looked pleased.

With his hands too dirty, he just rubbed his cheek with his shoulder for now. It felt a bit better once the tickling sensation faded.

“Your answer?”

Wasn’t that just a random statement to tease me?

Yoon Pa-ran looked at him suspiciously while gathering his thoughts for an answer.

“If I had such a good skill, I would have worked as an appraiser.”

Due to the curses openly placed on items, a skill that allowed one to freely handle items was very useful. It was also rare, with few hunters possessing such a skill.

Therefore, the income of hunters working as appraisers was quite good. It was relatively safe too, as they usually just entered cleared gates to check items.

If he had worked like that, the orphanage director would probably have been happy. It would have eased her worries as well.

“Is that so…?”

Even though he had told the truth, Dan Joo-hyuk gave another ambiguous response.

It’s not a common skill, why ask about something like that? It was known that even Dan Joo-hyuk, an S-rank, didn’t have a curse immunity skill.

He must be quite suspicious of the equipment I’m holding.

Still, it’s not like Yoon Pa-ran had an obligation to reveal everything.

“Move.”

Dan Joo-hyuk had now positioned himself to block Yoon Pa-ran’s path. With monster corpses piled behind him, he was effectively trapped without room to move.

It wasn’t a pleasant sensation, so Yoon Pa-ran wanted to escape this situation immediately. Wasn’t it Dan Joo-hyuk who had been urging him to finish quickly from earlier?

But for some reason, Dan Joo-hyuk stood there firmly, not moving.

“…”

“…”

An incomprehensible gaze poured down on Yoon Pa-ran. The tension grew taut, wondering if he would suddenly pounce on him again.

Being a head taller than himself, it was uncomfortable to glare back at him without avoiding eye contact. Moreover, those glittering eyes that seemed to see right through him were honestly a bit scary.

Suddenly, he remembered that this was inside a gate where no one else was present.

…Shit, is this a dangerous situation?

Unable to relax his tension, Yoon Pa-ran gently tightened his grip on the sword he was holding. Even at a moment like this, Dan Joo-hyuk’s unnecessarily handsome face still wore a constant grinning smile.

Dan Joo-hyuk eventually slowly backed away.

Strangely, his throat felt dry. Probably from being too tense.

“…”

After that, Yoon Pa-ran silently moved only his hands.

As he had said earlier, there weren’t many magic stones left in this area, so he could soon straighten his back again.

“I’m done.”

Without answering, Dan Joo-hyuk swiftly turned his body and walked forward. His stride, moving ahead with large steps, was quite fast.

Seeing that, even the earlier silence could have been a wordless pressure to finish the work quickly. Thinking that way, his anger flared up again.

I told him to go ahead, so why is he acting like this? If he went ahead and knocked down all the monsters, couldn’t I just collect slowly while advancing? This being stuck together must be uncomfortable for Dan Joo-hyuk too.

As expected, it must be because of that skill transfer.

If time was the issue, it really would have been better for a professional collection team to come in later. Even now, the remaining corpse byproducts behind them would have to be processed by someone else.

Thinking about the curse immunity skill earlier made him ponder this again.

“If we’re doing this, wouldn’t it be better to have a professional collection team instead of me?”