NOVEL NEXT 10.
10.
As Jian was disinfecting and cleaning the coffee machine, Sehun grabbed a dishcloth from the counter and scurried over to the tables.
Jian smiled warmly at the sight of Sehun standing on tiptoes to wipe the tables. His attempt to help was both adorable and pitiful.
When Jian lived with his aunt’s family, he couldn’t sit still either. His aunt would give him chores at all hours, but even when she didn’t, he would find something to do on his own.
He feared being thrown out of the house if he didn’t. His aunt often threatened to get rid of him, and in his young mind, he was terrified she might actually kick him out in the middle of the night.
Jian’s eyes narrowed as he sensed that Sehun might be feeling similar emotions to what he had felt back then.
After washing, drying, and placing the last cup on the shelf, Jian approached Sehun and gently took the dishcloth from his hands.
“You don’t have to help.”
As long as the child grew up healthy, that was enough. Jian worried that this incident might make Sehun constantly try to do something to help.
“But still…”
Sehun mumbled, clasping his hands together. His upturned eyes were full of anxiety.
“This is my job. You’re still young, Sehun. A child’s job is to eat well, play well, and sleep well.”
If Jian’s parents were still alive, he probably would have lived such a life too. Though he didn’t have many memories of his parents, he was certain they had loved him very much.
“…I’m not a little child.”
Sehun said, his eyes intense. It seemed Jian had unknowingly hurt the child’s pride.
Come to think of it, many customers today had asked if Sehun was five years old. Each time, though Sehun didn’t answer, he showed his discomfort by biting his lips.
Jian realized that being called a little child might be offensive to a ten-year-old. Remembering this newly learned information, Jian agreed.
“Okay. Let’s say you’re a child then.”
“…”
The child’s eyes seemed to intensify further, but Jian purposely ignored it. Even if Sehun disagreed, to Jian’s eyes, Sehun was clearly a young child who needed adult protection.
“Shall we go home then, young sir?”
When Jian extended his right hand with a playful smile, Sehun bit his lower lip in dissatisfaction but took the hand.
Holding Sehun’s hand, Jian turned off all the lights in the cafe one last time. When he opened the door, the cool night air felt pleasant.
He tilted his head back to look at the night sky. A bright crescent moon was stuck in the middle of the pitch-black background. But there was no time to indulge in the scenery.
There was still much to do at home. First, he needed to bathe Sehun, dress him in pajamas, and put him to bed. Then he had to finish organizing the delivered items he had ordered.
After that, he planned to go to a nearby F-grade dungeon to practice his skills.
The phone of Lee Jian, whom Jian had possessed, already had ‘Huntermon’ installed, an app that could only be used after hunter authentication. He had already booked a solo play in a suitable dungeon through the app.
Even for the lowest grade dungeon, the usage fee for three hours was nearly 1 million won. His hand had trembled while making the payment, so he absolutely had to get his money’s worth.
As he was organizing his to-do list in his head and walking towards the stairs to the second floor after closing the cafe door, he felt a gaze from somewhere. Jian whipped his head around.
The alley between the buildings across from the cafe seemed suspicious. But no matter how much he stared, he couldn’t see any movement.
“What’s wrong?”
Sehun asked, swinging their joined hands, finding it strange that Jian had suddenly stopped.
“It’s nothing.”
Thinking he must be oversensitive, Jian dismissed it and disappeared up to the second floor with Sehun.
After they disappeared, part of the shadows cast in the previously empty alley rippled. A moment later, a rough-looking man popped out of the shadows.
He rubbed his sweaty nape and muttered in a small voice.
“As I thought, my guess was right…”
The source of the gaze Jian had felt was Kim Soochul, who had fled the cafe after being severely dealt with by Jian.
After fleeing the cafe, Soochul had gone to a hunter community site to inquire about the cafe owner.
The cafe had opened about a year ago in front of a popular dungeon and initially attracted hunters’ attention.
The problem was that rumors spread that while there were people who visited once due to the coffee that tasted like dishwater and the unfriendly attitude of the owner, there was no one who visited twice.
Then, a notice appeared in front of the store offering a 10% discount for showing a hunter ID, and after that, both the coffee taste and the owner completely changed, slowly gaining word-of-mouth popularity.
However, there were no rumors anywhere suggesting that the owner might be a hunter.
The number of hunters drastically decreased from A-rank up. Even Soochul, a B-rank hunter, was generally well-treated wherever he went, but he would be sidelined if an A-rank hunter appeared.
If that cafe owner was an A-rank hunter, rumors should have spread, but no one knew. Well, if he was an A-rank hunter, he should be running a guild or clearing dungeons, not operating a small cafe in front of a dungeon.
An A-rank dungeon could earn billions of won in a day, so how could he make money selling coffee at just 10,000 won per cup?
Moreover, the owner didn’t seem to be the type to flaunt his power, so it seemed that unless someone had keen senses like him, they wouldn’t have noticed his true identity.
His trembling gaze fell on a half-burnt piece of parchment. Today, Soochul had hidden in the alley with an item containing an Insight skill to identify the cafe owner’s true identity.
He didn’t have the courage to enter the cafe, so he waited for the owner to come out. The item’s usage condition required being within 30 meters of the target without any obstacles.
Most people thought he had tank skills due to his fierce appearance and bulky build, but his skills were closer to those of an assassin.
Especially his Stealth skill was among the top five in South Korea among hunters of the same rank.
And when he used the item earlier, the system window only told him one thing:
The Insight skill was supposed to reveal the target’s hunter rank. It was only impossible when the target’s rank was higher than his own or when they were using a Smokescreen skill.
Soochul was convinced that the cafe owner was an A-rank hunter hiding his power. Information about A-rank hunters quickly flashed through his mind.
The officially known number of A-rank hunters was around 300. Most of them were actively running guilds.
The cafe owner’s appearance was around twenty years old at most. If he was twenty, he would be the same age as Soochul.
In this era, there were nearly 10 million hunters in South Korea alone. In fact, E-rank and F-rank were close to ordinary people, and higher-ranked hunters didn’t even consider them as fellow hunters, but the number of hunters was indeed large.
S-rank hunters could be counted on one hand, so A-rank hunters were the most active.
About 300 out of 10 million. Being awakened as an A-rank hunter was as lucky as winning the lottery dozens of times in a row due to its rarity.
“They say the higher the rank, the more eccentric they are…”
Even on the hunter community, there were occasional posts about meeting hidden masters.
There were stories of people like the cafe owner, who lived hidden lives with ordinary jobs despite being A-rank hunters, revealing their power at crucial moments and playing the hero. There were tales ranging from nearly killing someone who picked a fight based on appearances to getting carried through a dungeon after a chance encounter.
For ordinary hunters, A-rank hunters were objects of admiration, awe, and envy, so stories related to them were hot topics in the community.
Soochul sighed in relief as he stroked his still-intact neck. He had nearly seen hell if he had acted more rashly without knowing better.
‘I should let others know too.’
He took out his phone, brushing off the now-ashen parchment from his hand. Then he opened the community page he visited daily and clicked on the anonymous board.
Tap, tap, tap.
In the quiet alley, only the sound of Soochul busily tapping on his phone screen echoed. Focused on writing his post, he failed to notice the eyes watching him.
* * *
“The house has turned into a pigsty…”
Upon entering the house, Jian saw that the living room was even messier than when he had left for the cafe.
He thought he had tidied up somewhat while unpacking the delivery boxes and bags, but that was clearly a misconception.
Shocked, Jian let go of Sehun’s hand and started organizing things. Meanwhile, Sehun went to the living room window, placed both hands on the windowsill, and looked outside.