Translator: Vine
Translated At: Nyx Scans
Chapter: 88
She opened her eyes.
Still half-asleep, she fumbled around her pillow, and her hand touched the hard feel of a cellphone.
11:30 AM.
She had slept quite late.
Eunha, after checking the clock on her cellphone screen, slowly sat up.
On the floor, the dress she had worn to the party yesterday lay carelessly strewn.
If Jehwi saw it, he would nag her again.
Eunha got out of bed and picked up the clothes she had shed like a snake's skin.
After roughly tidying the room, she went out to the living room, where bright sunlight illuminated the entire space.
Eunha poured a glass of cold water, took it, and plumped down on the living room sofa.
'Unlike before, there are overflowing hunters in the modern era, so what reason is there to continue being a hunter to that extent?'
'You know, I hate the fact that someone like you is a hunter.'
"..."
Eunha, with an expressionless face, stared blankly at the glass cup in her hand.
Her gaze was so deeply downcast that it was impossible to tell what she was thinking.
The officetel, with only Eunha in it, was as quiet as an empty reading room.
In that silence, Eunha remained motionless for a long time, as if frozen.
Rrrr...
The cellphone on her lap began to ring.
It was a call from Jehwi.
Eunha placed the glass cup on the coffee table and answered the phone.
"Hello."
「Ah, Hunter-nim. Is it a good time to talk?」
"Go ahead."
「It's nothing major. I was just worried if anyone had visited your home or anything.」
"No one came. I was out for a bit yesterday too."
「That's a relief then... Huh? You went out yesterday?」
"Yes."
「Alone?」
"Yes."
「Why didn't you call me?」
Eunha, closing her mouth for a moment, blinked a couple of times.
If she told him outright that she went to a party invited by Maestro, it would cause another uproar.
Jehwi himself seemed to be quite pestered by reporters as it was, so she couldn't possibly bring up Maestro.
"I just took a short walk around the neighborhood. It's fine. Nothing particular happened."
「Really? Hmm... Anyway, it would be best to refrain from going out for the time being. Just like before, if you wait a little, another topic of conversation will emerge.」
「It was like that last time too, wasn't it?」
Jehwi added.
「Actually, not a single article about Hunter-nim came up today. At this rate, it seems it will quiet down again in about 2 or 3 weeks. I know it's frustrating, but please bear with it a little longer, Hunter-nim.」
Eunha reached for the glass she had placed on the table.
Beads of condensation had formed on the cold surface of the cup.
She caressed it with her finger and spoke indifferently.
"I'm fine, but I feel sorry for Manager-nim in many ways. It feels like I'm causing unnecessary trouble now that the contract is over."
「Huh? No, Hunter-nim. Don't say that. Haven't I, Park Jehwi, told you countless times that I'm prepared to devote my life for Hunter-nim.」
At his quite serious voice, Eunha let out a shallow laugh.
「Did you laugh? I'm serious, you know.」
"Yes, I understand."
Eunha, answering perfunctorily, brought the glass cup to her lips.
The sensation of cold water flowing down her throat felt good.
Over the receiver, ahem, Jehwi's clearing-throat sound was heard.
「Anyway, let's just think good thoughts. All we have to do is wait for things to calm down. Then, Hunter-nim, you'll be free. From now on, Hunter-nim, you just have to do whatever you want.」
"Whatever I want, you say..."
Eunha muttered softly.
Instead of saving her mother that day, she wanted to save people her present self could save.
That was what she wanted.
She had never thought about wanting anything else.
Eunha too had planned to look for that 'my life' her mother had spoken of once her contract with Siwoo ended.
But now that she was actually at a crossroads, she had no idea what to do.
Was there anything I could do besides defeating monsters?
「Yes. Whatever you want. Even without Hunter-nim, there are so many hunters in the world. There's no need for you to go out of your way to suffer. As Hunter-nim said, the contract is already over, isn't it?」
'Unlike before, there are overflowing hunters in the modern era, so what reason is there to continue being a hunter to that extent?'
"..."
Eunha closed her mouth without answering.
Jehwi, who couldn't possibly see Eunha's expression, continued speaking in a bright voice.
「Hunter-nim, what is the very first thing you want to do?」
"...I."
Her lips, which had been speaking, closed of their own accord.
Eunha, holding the phone to her ear, froze stiffly.
It felt as if she had been running straight ahead without looking back or sideways, only to suddenly reach a dead end.
「Anything is fine.」
"..."
「Hello? Hunter-nim?」
"..."
Silence.
Even over the receiver, Jehwi's bewilderment was conveyed.
「Uh... um... Was it too difficult a question? It's just, really, anything is fine. Something you like, right! Like a hobby.」
Something I like...
A cool breeze wafted in through the slightly open window.
Holding the phone to her ear, Eunha, as if drawn, cast her gaze out the window.
A tall building with a blue sign.
And behind it, a tranquil hill.
'From here, you should be able to see where Sunbae's mother is. Over there, do you see the hill behind that blue sign?'
Suddenly, a book came into the corner of her vision.
[Dog Grooming for Beginners - Basic Styling]
Towards it, carelessly strewn in the corner of the sofa, Eunha slowly reached out her hand.
And after caressing the stiff cover with her fingers, she parted her lips slightly.
"Puppies."
「Huh?」
Flutter—
Eunha, opening the book, added as if muttering.
"I, I like puppies."
Korean Hunter Association.
Nearly midnight, Association President Daeyoon gazed at the sleeping night view of Seoul through the glass window.
Tap, tap...
His fingers, which had been tapping the cold glass, suddenly stopped.
He recalled the white bird that had visited him last night.
A carrier pigeon.
A special bird trained by a specific Awakened to deliver messages.
「Within the next month, a massive gate will appear somewhere on the South Coast.」
The carrier pigeon had said so, flapping its wings.
Daeyoon paid more attention to the pendant around the bird's neck than to the content of the message.
A round pendant engraved with a wing pattern.
As someone involved in the hunter world, how could he not know?
Both the talking white bird and the brilliantly shining silver pendant were symbols of GIA.
He had heard rumors that they had visited Korea, but could it really be true?
If so, then the rumor that they had participated in the party hosted by the Korean Association a few days ago might also be...
"..."
Daeyoon approached his desk and looked over the list of invited guests from the last party.
A total of 121 people.
All of them had 'genuine' invitations.
Naturally, the invitations were designed to be difficult to forge.
'Of all years, to hold a masquerade party this year.'
If only they hadn't been wearing masks, he could have tried to recall the faces of the invited guests one by one, even by racking his memory.
Was it a coincidence that GIA visited Korea just in time for the party this year?
"...Ugh."
Letting go of the guest list, Daeyoon let out a groan and leaned back in his chair.
"What are you going to do?"
Someone suddenly spoke from the corner of the conference room.
It was Team Leader Kim Gwanghyun, who had been silently waiting for Daeyoon's instructions until now.
Daeyoon covered his eyes with the back of his hand and remained silent.
And he mulled over last night's 'warning' once more.
「I see a large tree.」
「A pure white tree. It cannot be felled by a sturdy axe, nor can it be burned by blazing flames.」
「The attribute is probably Holy (聖), and Wood (木).」
As prophecies usually are, his words were as puzzling as a riddle.
The last hint he gave was just one.
「Dark (暗) and Fire (火) attributes would be effective.」
Remember. Dark and Fire, darkness and flame.
With those words, the carrier pigeon flapped its wings and then, breaking apart like pixel fragments, scattered into the air.
As if to say, believe it or not, it left no trace.
"...There are over 2,000 islands on the South Coast alone, and we don't even know the exact date or coordinates. How on earth are we supposed to prepare in this situation."
Gwanghyun sighed deeply.
As it was, they were short on agents to deploy to Burst Gates, and with Trickster's injury, the upper echelons of the Korean hunter community were in a state of unease.
The silent Daeyoon took out a thick cigarette from the cigarette pack placed beside him.
Gwanghyun rushed over, lit his cigarette, and said.
"For now, I've commissioned the Hammer Guild to mass-produce equipment imbued with dark and fire attributes... but if their prophecy is wrong, it'll just end up in storage."
Gwanghyun seemed worried about the enormous budget spent on the commission.
Shoving the lighter into his pocket, he spoke with a suspicious tone.
"In the first place, is that GIA thing even a real organization?"
Though there were tens of millions of fans worldwide chanting about faceless heroes or living Avengers, how many of them had actually witnessed a GIA member?
There were only rumors of them appearing like comets at disaster sites and disappearing like the wind; no one had ever seen their true aliases until now.
"Couldn't someone have just played a prank?"
At Gwanghyun's doubtful attitude, Daeyoon took the cigarette from his lips and slowly began to speak.
"...You, do you remember the massive rift that occurred in Santorini, Greece, 11 years ago?"
"If it's that, isn't it the world's first SSS-Class gate? Of course, I remember."
It was such an enormous disaster that even now, 11 years later, Santorini Island was still designated as off-limits to civilians due to its aftermath.
"If GIA hadn't delivered the 'prophecy' back then, Santorini, no, Greece, would have disappeared from the world map."
"Huh?"
Gwanghyun blinked.
"Are you saying GIA went to Santorini back then?"
"Whether they went or not, I don't know. But exactly 3 weeks before the massive rift occurred, a white bird wearing a silver pendant reportedly visited their association."
"..."
"I heard it myself when I visited Santorini for a convention two years ago."
After that, European hunters reportedly called the prophecies delivered by GIA's white bird by the grandiose name 'Holy Word (聖言)'.
"Perhaps, among the GIA members, there is someone with precognitive (豫知) abilities."
How specific or fragmented the future they can see with that ability is unknown.
Daeyoon, tapping the cigarette ash into the ashtray a couple of times, spoke heavily.
"Team Leader Kim."
"Yes, President."
"Not long ago, I received a similar warning. You know that too, right?"
"..."
Gwanghyun closed his mouth.
Daeyoon, with the cigarette in his mouth, turned his gaze out the window with downcast eyes.
'President, an Unknown Gate will appear in Pohang.'
Doctor Plant.
She had warned so.
Daeyoon knew well how competent she was, and how long she had been researching Unknown Gates.
However, from Daeyoon's perspective, Roje's claim was closer to a conjecture than a prophecy.
Unknown Gates were not an area that could be researched in the first place.
In fact, there were countless precedents where Roje's conjectures had been wrong.
The gentle monarch of Rose.
The Nightingale of the hunter world.
Also,
'A pitiful woman who, in her grief over losing her daughter, continues to repeat meaningless research even now.'
Not a few in the Korean hunter community evaluated Roje that way.
To be honest, Daeyoon was also one of them.
'I understand your meaning, but... hmm.'
'No, President. This time, it's real.'
'...'
As the one at the top of the Association, Daeyoon was not in a position to be swayed by uncertain conjectures and rashly invest tens or hundreds of high-level personnel.
As it was, the Association was short on agents, and even at this moment, rifts of various sizes were forming all over the country.
'However.'
Daeyoon, puffing out cigarette smoke while looking at the glass window, crushed the burnt-out cigarette in the ashtray.
The cigarette butt only went out after charring the surface of the white ashtray black.
"As a result of ignoring Doctor Plant's warning, Trickster was injured. That kid is one of only six S-Classes in Korea..."
Daeyoon muttered lowly, staring at the extinguished cigarette butt.
"Normally, he's just a middle school boy."
"President..."
Gwanghyun's words trailed off.
Clouds slowly covered the moon.
Silence, along with darkness, descended upon the conference room where only the two of them were.
In that quiet, Daeyoon spoke heavily.
"I feel a great responsibility for that. As the President, can I repeat such foolishness twice? Isn't that right, Team Leader Kim?"
"...Yes."
Gwanghyun bowed his head shortly.
A smile appeared on Daeyoon's wrinkled eyes.
"Good. Summon Maestro... no, Doctor Plant. Tell her I know she's taking care of Trickster, but I need her research data. And a list of dark and fire attribute hunters."
The moon, brightly revealed again in the place where the clouds had passed.
Daeyoon gave his instructions in a voice that held not a hint of wavering.
"Prepare it as quickly as possible."
