Chapter 69

Changshin Villa, Unit 301.

Morning sunlight streamed through the bedroom window in the small one-bedroom apartment.

Yoon-Hee, who had been sleeping soundly, slowly opened her eyes. The chirping of sparrows probably stirred her.

She sat up, her face still groggy with sleep.

“

Mm

...” As she rubbed her eyes after waking up, she was slightly flustered to find that the usual sight of the living room wasn’t there.

She then spotted Do-Jun sleeping on the large bed, gasped, and sighed as she recalled what had happened the day before.

“Right... We all decided to sleep together starting last night.”

Yong-Yong and Karsiel were sleeping curled up atop Do-Jun.

“Mmm...

Hehehe

.” Yong-Yong was drooling as he giggled, seemingly in a pleasant dream.

Seeing Yong-Yong’s happy face, Yoon-Hee couldn’t help but smile.

She then turned her gaze towards Do-Jun’s face and murmured, “He’s sleeping so peacefully.”

Yoon-Hee suddenly glanced around surreptitiously and waved her hand in front of Do-Jun’s face. Seeing no reaction, she surmised he was deeply asleep.

He wasn’t objectively considered extremely handsome by most people’s standards, but for some reason, he seemed more attractive to Yoon-Hee than anyone else.

It was probably because he had done so much for her.

“I want to take a closer look.” Yoon-Hee’s face reddened for a moment, realizing that she had unknowingly spoken her thoughts aloud.

After confirming that Do-Jun, Yong-Yong, and Karsiel were still sleeping, she took a deep breath and leaned closer to his face. As the distance between their faces narrowed to less than ten centimeters, Do-Jun opened his eyes.

He stared directly at Yoon-Hee, who was so close that he could feel her breath, and muttered in a dry tone, “What are you doing?”

Startled, Yoon-Hee quickly pulled back, frantically waving her hands, coming up with the best excuse she could think of. “

Ahhh

! T-this is... There was a mosquito! Yes, I was just trying to get it off you!”

What a lie!

In truth, Do-Jun had already been awake and had even heard Yoon-Hee mumble to herself. But he chose not to bring it up.

He sat up and ruffled his hair, making a point of yawning loudly to spare her the embarrassment.

“Thanks. But you don’t need to do that next time,” he said to Yoon-Hee, who still seemed embarrassed.

“G-got it...”

“So, did you have it last night?”

“Have what?” Yoon-Hee asked, puzzled.

“Nightmares.”

Yoon-Hee jogged her memory at his words, trying to remember if she’d had any dreams. Realizing she had slept peacefully without any dreams, she smiled and shook her head.

“That’s a relief. Looks like the new bed was worth it.”

“Yes. Thanks to you, Father...

Ah

!” Yoon-Hee suddenly yelped, grabbing the alarm clock on the bedside table.

It was already 8:20 AM.

She tapped the clock with her face nearly on the verge of tears. “Why didn’t this thing go off...?”

Even if she started getting ready now, she’d definitely be late. She wasn’t too worried for herself, but Do-Jun was another matter.

Wondering how she could possibly miss the alarm just because she was sleeping next to Do-Jun, Yoon-Hee rushed out of bed and ran into the living room.

She opened the fridge, poured a glass of milk, and brought it back to Do-Jun.

“H-here, drink this for now. I’ll get your work clothes ready,” she said in a rushed tone.

“W-what’s going on...? Why the rush?” Do-Jun asked, puzzled.

“What do you mean, why? It’s already well past eight.”

“But it’s Sunday.”

“You’re going to be la...

Huh?

”

Do-Jun showed her his smartphone screen, which displayed Sunday. Seeing this, Yoon-Hee let out a sigh of relief.

“Thanks for the milk, though.”

He chugged the milk on the spot, then carefully moved the sleeping Yong-Yong and Karsiel from between his legs to the side and got out of bed.

“What would you like for breakfast?” Yoon-Hee asked him.

“

Hmm

. I don’t really have anything in mind.”

“Then I’ll make some mini sandwiches, something easy to eat.”

Before Do-Jun could finish saying it was okay, Yoon-Hee was already headed to the kitchen, humming a tune.

***

⌜On Wednesday, April 10th, at 10 AM, the Hunter’s Bureau Headquarters will release the updated rankings for S-rank Hunters. Based on data from the past year’s Fissure hunts, Bureau Chief Jung Young-Chul will reassess the top thirty rankings, considering individual contributions... Additionally, Chief Jung mentioned there would be an important announcement, drawing even more attention...⌟

Do-Jun nibbled on the sandwich Yoon-Hee had made while watching the morning news on the TV as he sat on the sofa.

He then got up to grab his SpacePad and activated the Fissure Management System, which contained the data he had compiled over the past month about the Core’s Tutorial Zone.

I don’t really want to drop this off myself; should I just send it over by email?

But then he shook his head. They’d probably have lots of questions and would ask him to explain everything anyway.

Do-Jun decided to call Young-Chul. As the call connected, he heard Yong-Chul’s voice on the other end.

—Y-yes, Supervisor Lee.

“Sorry to call so early. I have something to discuss. Would it be possible for you to come to my apar—”

Do-Jun paused abruptly. He initially thought of inviting the Bureau Chief over, but he remembered he wasn’t the only one living here.

He also didn’t want Yoon-Hee to learn about his trips to the Core, so he decided to find another meeting location.

—Shall I come to your place?

Young-Chul asked because of the pause.

“No, I’ll send you an address. Could you come there instead? If that’s okay with your schedule, of course.”

—I have plenty of free time, so don’t worry.

Haha

.”

“Alright then, please check your messages for the address. I’ll see you later.”

Do-Jun hung up and sent the address for their upcoming meeting.

[1490-30, Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, XX Café]

***

The meeting place was a chain café located at the intersection near Seoul High School in Seocho-gu.

Do-Jun walked through the door and headed to a corner table where Young-Chul sat, taking a seat across from him.

Looking slightly nervous, Young-Chul stood up and bowed. “Thank you for your call, Supervisor Lee.”

“You don’t have to be so formal... Please, have a seat.”

“I apologize.”

“N-no, there’s no need to apologize...” Do-Jun said.

Young-Chul chuckled awkwardly as he sat down and looked at Do-Jun, dressed casually in black slacks and a knit sweater.

“Seeing you outside your work clothes, you look like a regular university student,” Young-Chul commented.

“Well, I guess a lot of twenty-six-year-olds in Korea do still attend university.”

“To be honest, I’d even like to introduce you to my daughter.

Haha

.”

Do-Jun merely chuckled at the comment and moved on, pulling out his SpacePad. He launched the Fissure Management System app and showed Young-Chul the data on the Core’s Tutorial Zone, which had yet to be made public, as he hadn’t submitted the report.

“What...what is this?” Young-Chul asked.

“Please take a look.”

Young-Chul carefully took the SpacePad, and his eyes widened as he read the contents. He looked at Do-Jun in disbelief before turning his attention back to the SpacePad, scrolling through the data with a swipe of his fingers.

“Are... are you saying you went to the Core alone, Supervisor Lee? We thought you just secured the entry tokens to the Tutorial Zone for us and then stepped back...”

In fact, discussions with Behemoth Guild were already underway, and a Dive was planned for the week after next.

To be honest, Young-Chul had considered asking for Do-Jun’s help but knew it would be shameless, so he had kept quiet. He never would have guessed that Do-Jun would bring the data to him instead.

“I’ve cleared the Tutorial Zone once, so it will take a month for it to be reset. Until then, no one else can enter, so please inform Behemoth of this. Also, I need the SpacePad for work, so I’ll email you the data separately.”

“Thank you so much. I don’t know how we could ever repay you...”

“I’ll tell you how later. And please give me a heads-up before Behemoth heads to the Core.”

Young-Chul was on the verge of tears. That’s how grateful he was for Do-Jun’s help. Since meeting Do-Jun, everything has been going smoothly.

“By the way, I saw the news this morning that the Hunter’s Bureau is making an important announcement next Wednesday. What’s that about?”

“Well...” Young-Chul looked as if he couldn’t say the reason, but when Do-Jun clicked his tongue and turned away, he fidgeted in his seat and spoke with a pale face.

“This has to be just between us, Supervisor Lee.”

“Of course. My lips are very tight.”

Young-Chul glanced around before leaning in and whispering into Do-Jun’s ear, “We plan to introduce a new SS-rank above S-rank. And Hunter Kang-Hyun will be the first to hold that rank... Other than that, there’s nothing particularly noteworthy.”

Young-Chul returned to his seat while Do-Jun muttered indifferently, “That’s it?”

***

Monday, 5 PM, Seoul City Hall.

Hyuk-Soo propped his chin with his left hand and scrolled through news articles with his right, quickly skimming the headlines. He habitually checked for any unusual news related to Fissures or monsters every day, but suddenly, his fingers froze.

“W-what is this...?”

[A-rank Fissure suspected near the Muakbong Neighborhood Park area... Dark Elf monsters detected]

Not wanting to believe what he had just read, Hyuk-Soo double-checked the article’s headline. But even upon reading it several times over, the headline remained unchanged.

He swallowed dryly and clicked on the article, which was accompanied by several ad pop-ups.

The content underneath the ads was simple.

At approximately 4:14 PM today, a Fissure with a wave reading of 800 was detected near a park close to an apartment complex in Hawangsimni-dong. The Hunter’s Bureau monitored the situation, but eventually, the entrance to the Fissure opened. A few staff members from the Bureau had been stationed around the A-rank Great Fissure that appeared in Muakbong Neighborhood Park, and several Hunters of A or B rank had entered the Fissure.

“That’s right in front of my place...” Hyuk-Soo muttered, agitated.

Do-Jun pulled a chair over and approached Hyuk-Soo. “Something wrong, Senior?”

“Yes... And it’s a pretty big one.”

“A big one?”

Hyuk-Soo turned the monitor to show the article to Do-Jun, then sighed, rubbing his face with his hands.

Do-Jun skimmed through the article and commented, “That’s near your apartment, Senior...”

Hyuk-Soo nodded with a distressed expression. “I still have ten more years of mortgage to pay off...”

The emergence of a Fissure inevitably led to a drop in nearby property values. The biggest issue was the decreased sense of security and the influx of people hunting in the Fissure, which brought noise and disturbances.

“So, if they defeat the boss monster and close the Fissure, that should help, right?” Do-Jun asked.

“That would be better, but... the problem is that it’s an A-rank Great Fissure. It’s not likely to close that easily. And though it’s a small chance, it could be one of those Fissures that stay even after its boss is defeated.”

Do-Jun thought about suggesting that Hyuk-Soo ask the Mejai Guild for assistance in the raid but soon dismissed the idea. The Fissure fell under the jurisdiction of the Hunter’s Bureau, not the Seoul City Hall’s. Also, since the Mejai Guild consisted of A-rank Hunters, it would be difficult for Hyuk-Soo to ask for such a favor.

The door to the Fissure Management Division office opened at that moment, and Ye-Ji walked in briskly.

“I’m back, Mr. Administrator.”

Do-Jun naturally turned to face her and called out, “Ye-Ji.”

“Yes?” she answered as she tilted her head in confusion.

After glancing at his wristwatch, Do-Jun said, “Would you like to do some overtime work today?”

“Pardon...?”