Translator: Vine
Translated At: Nyx Scans
Chapter: 71
"Today, hearing that a distinguished guest was visiting, I specially prepared Gundaeria."
Junhwan, who had approached unnoticed, smiled with a slightly proud face.
"You can make a hamburger as is, but it's also delicious if you pour milk into the mess tin, spread strawberry jam on the bread, tear it up, and eat it like cereal."
One of the guild members demonstrated.
Eunha turned her gaze back to the dining table.
Besides the mess tin containing simple hamburger ingredients, there were also hardtack, coffee mix, and other snacks that reminded Eunha of the old days.
"...Do you always eat like this?"
"As much as possible. This way, it feels more authentic, you know."
Minjoo, taking a large bite of his self-made hamburger, grinned.
Following that, a guild member wearing an apron from afar waved his hand enthusiastically.
"Let me know if you need more. Originally, it's two patties per person, but for Ms. Yura, I'll refill up to five specially."
"What? Where's the fairness in that?"
Junhwan, who had been quiet, suddenly shouted at his colleague.
His attitude was completely opposite to when he was dealing with Eunha.
Perhaps that was his true self.
"Of course. Is she just some F-Class concept hunter? She's the one who even at the Busan Jagalchi Market—"
"Hey."
Clang!
A spoon clattered sharply against the glass tabletop.
Instant silence.
In that silence, Minjoo slowly lifted his head.
"Hyung, let's not talk about unnecessary things while eating."
Smirk.
With a final smile, Minjoo picked up his spoon again.
Even after that, the subdued atmosphere didn't easily recover.
"..."
Glancing sideways, Eunha looked at Minjoo.
When their eyes met, Minjoo smiled sheepishly.
He even gave a slight thumbs-up.
Eunha didn't quite understand what that signal meant.
"W-well, since it's like this, how about we go for unlimited refills today?"
One of the guild members spoke up in a higher tone than usual, trying to change the atmosphere.
Only then did the frozen air thaw a little.
"Unliiiimited reeeefill? Absolutely not. Master ordered 42 figures just this week. We have to save. If you have a complaint, you can be in charge of cooking."
"Hey. Don't you know I'm in charge of supplies? If you act like this, I won't bring any 맛다시 (matdashi - seasoned red pepper paste) starting next week."
"What? That's so petty!"
They seemed to have no intention of stopping their bickering.
At the end of their argument, they even grabbed each other's collars or put each other in headlocks.
Eventually, even Junhwan joined in, creating a chaotic scene.
"Hey, shouldn't we stop them?"
Eunha, who had been watching quietly, spoke up slightly.
Minjoo, who had been munching on food, widened his eyes.
"Why? They're just playing."
"Playing, you say?"
"Yeah. It's a daily occurrence, so."
Minjoo shrugged as if it were no big deal.
Beside him, another guild member who had been quietly cutting his meat nodded as if in agreement.
"It might not be something you're used to, but our family is originally like this."
"Family, you say?"
As Eunha reacted to the unfamiliar word, the guild member, Suhyeon, smiled faintly and said.
"Yes. Family. We call each other family."
"Why specifically in English."
As Eunha muttered, Suhyeon glanced at Minjoo and then whispered in a voice soft enough for only Eunha to hear.
"Because he gets embarrassed."
"..."
"It's the same word anyway. Right?"
Suhyeon smiled silently.
Over her shoulder, Junhwan and his colleagues, still bickering, could be seen.
'Eunha, congratulations on becoming the raid leader!'
'I knew you'd make it.'
'When Eunha was appointed raid leader, that Yijun fellow, his eyes were practically bloodshot.'
'I-I never...!'
'Whew~ Youth, youth! Love blooming on the battlefield!'
'I said stop it!'
Wahahaha...
Joyful laughter came from somewhere.
It sounded as if it were coming from very far away, yet also very close.
Something she had forgotten for a very long time.
Ah.
She finally remembered.
This unfamiliar scene before her eyes, there was a time when it too was a 'daily occurrence' for her.
"..."
Eunha quietly lowered her gaze.
Minjoo, beside her, was staring intently at her, who hadn't moved her fork at all.
Then, suddenly standing up from his seat, Minjoo clapped his hands loudly.
"Alright, everyone quiet down!"
Pause.
Everyone stopped moving and focused on Minjoo's voice.
Minjoo cleared his throat, "Hmm, hmm," and then, thwack! pointed at Eunha.
"This Noona here is also our family starting today."
The eyes of all the guild members there widened.
Eunha too.
"Huh? Then is she joining our Corps too?"
"No. Not that, but she's just our family. If I say so, then it is so."
As if he had finished what he had to say, Minjoo sat down again.
Eunha's dark gaze urgently followed Minjoo.
"No, I..."
It was the moment Eunha parted her lips to say something.
"Alright then, a toast to our new family!"
As if they had never been arguing, the guild members all began to raise their glasses high.
Staring blankly at them with bewildered eyes, Junhwan resolutely placed a glass in Eunha's hand.
"Here, please raise your glass."
Eunha lowered her gaze to the glass half-forced into her hand.
Bright yellow orange juice, filled to the brim.
She lifted her gaze again to look ahead.
"Cheers—!"
Clink!
The cheerful sound of glasses clinking rang loudly in her ears.
Eunha, who had been frozen still, unable to take her eyes off them, finally, as if unable to resist, slowly raised her glass.
"..."
Could she be drunk on orange juice?
That couldn't be possible, yet, for a moment, she thought her reflection in the glass looked somewhat joyful.
It was a truly strange feeling, but—
"...Cheers."
—it didn't seem unpleasant at all.
Same time. Somewhere in Seoul.
"The pendant you brought last time has been a great help in my research. Thank you."
The master of Rose, Keum Roje, took out a box she had been carefully storing under her desk.
Thwack.
Opening the box lid, the 'Ocean's Tear', a spoil from the Busan Unknown Gate, emitted a blue luminescence.
"Thanks to this pendant, I've been able to save more people. You've really done a great thing."
Having said that, Roje hesitated for a moment, then glanced at Yoo Hwan.
"Was there nothing else, by any chance?"
Something else.
What Roje was referring to wasn't 'other spoils'.
Yoo Hwan nodded heavily.
"Nothing."
"...Right."
Roje's violet gaze shifted to the picture frame on her desk.
A wooden-framed picture, slightly larger than her palm, showed two happy people.
In the photo, Roje was embracing a girl who looked just like her.
Her only daughter, who went missing 8 years ago.
Roje's treasure, more precious than life itself.
If she were alive, she'd be around Minjoo's age by now.
The police still hadn't found any trace of her daughter, not even her clothes or belongings.
It was inevitable.
Her daughter had been swept into an Unknown Gate.
After that, Roje became obsessed with researching Unknown Gates, as if possessed.
She believed she would find her daughter someday, and that belief hadn't changed.
Roje gently stroked the surface of the picture frame, as if touching a newborn baby.
Her gaze deepened.
Yoo Hwan silently watched her profile, saying nothing until she spoke again.
Finally, Roje, withdrawing her hand from the picture frame, slowly parted her lips.
"...More importantly, following Busan, Pohang is now showing ominous signs. Look at this."
At Roje's gesture, a holographic monitor floated up above the desk.
Red flag icons were displayed at various locations on the map of Korea.
All of them were locations of Unknown Gates that had appeared over the past 20 years.
Including the most recent Busan Jagalchi Market Unknown Gate, the recorded number totaled five.
"According to the data collected so far, an Unknown Gate will open in Pohang soon. At the earliest, the day after tomorrow. At the latest, within three days."
"Are you certain?"
"Almost. I've relayed that to the Association as well."
"What did the Association say?"
"Same as always. They say they understand, but they still don't seem to fully trust my data."
Roje lowered her gaze, looking frustrated.
Beside her, Yoo Hwan spoke calmly.
"I trust you."
Roje lifted her head.
Yoo Hwan looked at Roje with an unwavering gaze.
As he always had.
"...Yes, thank you."
A smile finally returned to Roje's stiffly set lips.
"We don't have time to just sit around and wait for assistance. We need to move first. To minimize damage, it would be advisable to dispatch S-Class hunters like last time."
"In that case, I will."
"No, you can't."
Roje cut off Yoo Hwan's words firmly.
"Your Immortal already suffered significant losses from the Jagalchi Market Unknown Gate incident."
"..."
Yoo Hwan was frustrated but had no choice but to close his mouth.
Because Roje's words were true.
The combat personnel of Immortal deployed to the Unknown Gate were almost annihilated, and only three, including Sungyoon, had returned.
Even those three were still recovering their strength.
Proper combat would be impossible for at least the next two weeks.
"We can't expect anything from Wolf in the first place. And our Rose Guild, as you know, isn't suited for combat. In that case, what remains is—"
Their gazes met.
"...You're planning to entrust it to that kid?"
"That child is also S-Class."
"Hmm."
Yoo Hwan stroked his chin, looking somewhat unconvinced.
He wasn't looking down on or ignoring Trickster.
It was just that pushing a boy, still merely a teenager, into a precipice simply because he was S-Class went against his own principles.
Were there really no capable individuals in Korea?
Yoo Hwan, mentally reviewing his list of personnel, suddenly lifted his head.
A figure flashed through his mind like lightning.
"Roje, I have an idea."
"Tell me."
"Before that... actually, there's something I haven't told you yet. I need to convey that first."
Having said that, Yoo Hwan paused for a moment.
After a slight hesitation, he finally lifted his gaze to look at Roje.
"...Actually, I wasn't the one who obtained the Ocean's Tear. Not Do Sungyoon, not Heo Jaemin, nor anyone else from Immortal."
"What do you mean by that?"
"The Princess of Dark Flare."
Junhwan spoke heavily.
"Was an F-Class concept hunter contracted with Wolf."
"...What?"
Roje's face stiffened noticeably.
[Busan Jagalchi Market, Who is the Real 'Subjugator'?]
[Busan Jagalchi Market, Immortal's 'Monkey King' Refuses Press Conference. Growing Suspicions.]
['Saw a Hunter in a Black Dress' - Successive Eyewitness Testimonies. What is Her Identity?]
Countless internet articles she had seen but ignored flashed through her mind.
"You're kidding, right?"
Roje asked.
However, Yoo Hwan, with an expressionless face, neither confirmed nor denied it.
He merely stared blankly at the pendant glowing brilliantly inside the box.
"..."
Roje closed her mouth.
They had been friends for a long time.
Roje sensed that Yoo Hwan was telling the truth now.
After a short silence, Roje subtly shifted her posture.
"...So? Yoo Hwan, you're not seriously suggesting we entrust this matter to that hunter, are you?"
"She's worth taking a chance on. Absolutely."
"..."
Struck speechless, Roje stared blankly at Yoo Hwan.
A serious expression.
He by no means looked like he was joking.
That's why Roje couldn't help but be even more flabbergasted.
"Get a grip, Yoo Hwan. This could become a national-level disaster. Proposing an uncertain solution for such a critical matter is foolish."
"There's nothing more certain than my own eyes."
"I know. I know, but... we don't have much time until the next Unknown Gate appearance. If it's not S-Class, it's meaningless."
Roje sighed softly.
"First, we need to contact Corps. We need a hunter with a high 'success rate' right now. Looking for other options comes after that."
Roje's violet eyes flickered, shifting to the holographic monitor floating in the air.
Pohang City, Gyeongbuk.
Above it, an ominously bright red exclamation mark blinked.
