NOVEL NEXT #037
#037
[News headlines and forum posts omitted for brevity]
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It had already been a week since Yoon Pa-ran started clearing gates with just Dan Joo-hyuk.
“Hah…”
Today, as usual, Yoon Pa-ran collapsed in the safe zone with a haggard face after entering a D-rank gate with him. The grassland terrain made the rustling of leaves audible.
Whenever he transferred the Sacred Energy, he felt strangely exhausted. His worn-out body wouldn’t listen to him, making it difficult to even sit up.
It seemed that passing on such an extraordinary skill to another person was quite taxing. Well, even originally, using it too much would cause noticeable fatigue.
“Ugh…”
Since he was already sprawled on the ground, Yoon Pa-ran decided to lie down comfortably, using the bag of magic stones as a pillow. Dan Joo-hyuk would handle all the monsters anyway, and this was a safe zone.
It was the first time he had laid down so casually inside a gate. Staring blankly at the lavender sky felt strange. The grass scent unique to grasslands seemed oddly peaceful, which felt absurd.
He couldn’t believe how the past week had gone by.
The security company Yoon Pa-ran hired was run by a retired hunter. Although those who awaken as hunters remain hunters until death, some still chose to retire like this.
It wasn’t really a profession one could do for long. Cases like Dan Joo-hyuk, who had been a hunter for so long, were actually rare and unusual.
Due to this system announcement, quite a few retired hunters seemed to be receiving calls from the Gate Management Office. The security company’s president tipped him off that there were quite a few pleas to clear even low-rank gates again.
In any case, the security company was worth the high price. Several people who had offered to buy the land came again while Yoon Pa-ran was away.
Lim Hyun-sung, who had given his business card before, visited the orphanage this time with just one secretary. Yoon Pa-ran thought he might have been conscious of him being a hunter. Even then, he was stopped by the security.
However, what was unexpected came after. Perhaps harboring resentment for not being able to enter, Lim Hyun-sung came back with a group of thugs.
It happened while Yoon Pa-ran was inside a gate. Fortunately, the security company managed to fend off the aggressively intruding men well. Although no children were hurt, the situation was serious enough for the police to be called.
Yoon Pa-ran felt some doubt about President Lim Hyun-sung, who had maintained a lackadaisical attitude all along. He wondered why such an extreme measure was taken just for being blocked once.
Well, those circumstances weren’t really his business. The important thing was that everyone was safe.
Lim Hyun-sung fled, and Yoon Pa-ran just felt it was extremely fortunate that he had hired the security company.
Yoon Pa-ran had to hear about all these incidents while clearing several gates a day.
The fortunate thing was that there were no financial problems. Dan Joo-hyuk gave all the income from the byproducts of the gates they cleared to Yoon Pa-ran.
Although he made the annoying remark that he didn’t need low-rank magic stones, it was still a big help. In Yoon Pa-ran’s mind, Dan Joo-hyuk was upgraded to ‘a bastard, but a bastard who pays well’.
Of course, that didn’t mean he lowered his guard that he had re-established.
“I’m back.”
“…”
As if knowing Yoon Pa-ran was cursing him, Dan Joo-hyuk suddenly appeared.
With black blood dripping from his greatsword and a bright smile on his face, he looked like a psycho serial killer, but surprisingly, even this had become familiar.
“I’ve figured out how to use the energy in smaller increments. Now I can kill D-rank monsters using just the right amount of energy.”
“Oh… I see.”
“When using this energy, it seems the monster’s weak point expands by about 1 cm in radius. Did you know that?”
“Well…”
Over the past week, Dan had been researching methods that Yoon Pa-ran could never have imagined. It was amazing how efficiently he used the energy he sucked from Yoon Pa-ran’s mouth.
At first, since it was related to his own skill, Yoon Pa-ran listened attentively. However, as the research became increasingly unnecessary and unusable for Yoon Pa-ran, he lost interest.
But if he ignored Dan’s words, Dan would torment him in various ways until he answered. Was he possessed by the ghost of a monster that died without hearing a response?
Picky bastard.
Storing curses inwardly, Yoon Pa-ran habitually gathered an answer. Regardless of whether Yoon Pa-ran answered halfheartedly or not, Dan Joo-hyuk approached without hesitation.
Coming close, he plopped down next to Yoon Pa-ran.
Then, as if it were natural, he leaned down and pressed his lips against Yoon Pa-ran’s.
“…”
Yoon Pa-ran, who had reflexively opened his mouth, suddenly furrowed his brow. His dulled vigilance suddenly jumped up as if reminding him not to forget it.
Wasn’t he accepting Dan’s lip-crashing too naturally?
“What’s wrong?”
Feeling Yoon Pa-ran flinch, Dan Joo-hyuk separated their lips and looked down at him.
Having been lying on the grass as if on a leisurely picnic, the view of Dan Joo-hyuk from below felt a bit strange. Yoon Pa-ran’s gaze fixed on Dan’s handsome face, smiling broadly.
Feeling uncomfortable, Yoon Pa-ran completely frowned.
Ah, shit. How embarrassing.
He didn’t want to share this self-loathing he had just felt. So instead, Yoon Pa-ran grumbled what he had been thinking earlier.
“Take it easy. Do you know how dizzy it is to transfer the skill?”
“Ah, that.”
Unexpectedly, Dan Joo-hyuk smiled a bit ambiguously and drawled his words.
He also looked somewhat embarrassed.
“When using skill transfer, the other person tends to react like that.”
“What?”
At those words, Yoon Pa-ran unconsciously sat up abruptly.
Dan Joo-hyuk calmly recited with the same strange expression.
“Usually they fall asleep right away so they don’t notice, but Hunter Yoon Pa-ran endures it well…”
It seems I’ve heard too much unnecessary information.
Suddenly, he was reminded of the scandalous rumors associated with Dan. He also realized that this wasn’t the first time Dan Joo-hyuk had used such skill transfers.
In fact, it was strange that he only realized this now. There’s no way he would have left such an interesting skill unused.
As these thoughts flowed, Yoon Pa-ran gently furrowed his brow.
Why do I feel bad? Right. It was all because of Dan Joo-hyuk, and he suddenly felt the time he spent worrying if it was because of his own skill was wasted.
“What? So it was your fault.”
“I suppose so.”
No wonder he felt unusually dizzy. As expected, even his skill was just like him. How unfair that Dan Joo-hyuk gets the benefits while he suffers the side effects.
Isn’t this bad for my health?
He should get a hunter’s health checkup later. He couldn’t keep doing this if it was damaging his body.
“Is it very difficult?”
Just then, Dan Joo-hyuk moved closer and placed his hand on Yoon Pa-ran’s cheek. In his other hand, he still held the greatsword dripping with monster blood.
You bastard, as if you’d go easy on me even if I said it was difficult.