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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: An Awkward Embrace
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For the sake of her skill, Ha-ra had to stay in contact with Se-heon. And they also had to avoid the monsters swarming the forest-type dungeon.
So, what could she do? The deliberation wasn't long. There were no other options to begin with.
“Are you sure you're receiving a stat boost?”
“Ah, yes.”
*Does he think I’m lying?* Ha-ra felt a little embarrassed. *Why would I lie about something like this in a situation like this?*
Reading her expression, Se-heon waved a hand.
“I didn't think you were lying.”
“Then…”
Se-heon spoke, looking awkward.
“I weigh over 80 kilograms.”
Only then did Ha-ra realize why Se-heon was so reluctant. She thought he was embarrassed about being held by a woman, but that wasn't it.
Se-heon was 187 centimeters tall. So tall, she had to crane her neck back just to look up at him. Moreover, despite his solid build, he didn't have an ounce of fat on him.
In comparison, Ha-ra was barely 160 centimeters, and that was rounding up. So, from Se-heon's perspective, his hesitation was understandable. Normally, Ha-ra wouldn't just be unable to lift him; she'd be crushed.
[The Constellation 'Cupid' chimes in enthusiastically. A perfect height difference.]
“Ugh, seriously, be quiet!”
Ha-ra snapped at the system window before she could stop herself. Se-heon, standing in front of her, was taken aback.
“…Yes?”
“Ah, no. The Constellation was talking nonsense…”
Muttering in embarrassment, Ha-ra pressed her lips together and opened her arms to Se-heon again.
Se-heon looked at her jaw, clenched so tight it wrinkled like a walnut, then at her slender arms, and let out a small sigh.
“I'm in your hands.”
Ha-ra walked right up to Se-heon and put her arms around his back.
“Leave it to m—”
But before Ha-ra could finish, Se-heon reached out and wrapped both his arms around her neck. As it turned out, in situations like this, Se-heon was a flexible and even cooperative person.
The result was that Ha-ra found herself tightly embraced by a grown man much larger than herself. It was bewildering. Because of the man's long, firm arms wrapped around her, the warmth of his body against the back of her neck.
Then, the smell of sweat from struggling in the dungeon all day, mixed with the faint scent of what must have been his cologne, washed over Ha-ra.
For Ha-ra, who had never been in a relationship, it was an overwhelmingly unfamiliar sensation.
“Ms. Kang Ha-ra?”
“Gah, yes!”
Se-heon called out again to Ha-ra, who was staring up at him blankly the moment he'd pulled her in. Ha-ra had answered with something like a scream, but he did his best to ignore it.
“May I shift my weight onto you now?”
Instead, he looked down at the face of the civil servant he held in his arms and asked. Her face was smudged with dirt from the dungeon, and besides a pair of old, horn-rimmed glasses that looked like she'd worn them for years, she was an ordinary woman with no particularly distinguishing features.
It looked as if she would topple over and be crushed by him the moment he put his weight on her, but she was still a Hunter. And according to her, a newly minted S-rank Hunter at that.
Yoon Se-heon was no fool. In South Korea, a handsome man can't not know he's handsome. People don't leave you alone from a young age. So, he immediately understood why this 'civil servant lady AKA savior of his life' was acting this way.
But he didn't want to react to it. In a situation where their lives were in constant danger, they couldn't afford to waste time being shy and embarrassed.
It seemed Ha-ra felt the same. Her surprise was brief; she quickly composed herself.
“Yes, yes! You can count on me!”
“Alright. In that case.”
*When was the last time he'd been held like this, by his father as a child?*
Assuming a posture he'd never taken in his life, Se-heon tensed his arms. When he lifted his legs, he unconsciously stiffened his body in anticipation. After all, if Se-heon put his full weight on someone, even a fairly strong man couldn't easily bear it.
But surprisingly, her soft shoulders held firm like stone.
“Ugh.”
He'd expected a loud grunt, a *Hnngh!* or something. But the woman only let out a small, tensionless sigh before lifting him up.
“Ta-da!”
Then she giggled.
“How is it? Feel secure?”
Strange. Se-heon stared blankly past the horn-rimmed glasses of the woman grinning at him.
Her hair was a mess, and beads of sweat dotted her forehead. Her eyesight must have been terrible; her eyes looked like buttonholes behind the thick lenses of her glasses, to put it nicely. Even her goofy grin was incredibly awkward.
And yet, for some reason, he felt at ease. It was like… he'd seen her somewhere before…
“Ms. Kang Ha-ra.”
Se-heon spoke without thinking.
“Yes! Let me know if you're uncomfortable anywhere!”
She was talking as if she were giving a ride on a bus, all while holding a man twice her size. Se-heon was so bemused by the discrepancy that he let out a chuckle before asking.
“Have we met somewhere before?”
The moment he said that, Ha-ra's grip loosened, and she dropped Se-heon's legs.
“Ah! I'm sorry!”
If Ha-ra had taken even a moment longer to come to her senses, Yoon Se-heon's life would have ended right then and there from a fatal fall.
Barely managing to hoist Se-heon up again, Ha-ra apologized several times, her face now cold and a stark contrast to her earlier smile.
Thanks to that, she was able to avoid answering his question about whether they had met before. For better or for worse.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Is there anywhere safe?”
Se-heon looked around. There wasn't much time left before sunset. He felt a sense of urgency. Forest-type dungeons turned into hell at night, so a cave or something similar would be ideal.
“There was a place I saw earlier…”
“Earlier, you mean when you flew up?”
“Yes.”
Even as she shot up into the sky, Ha-ra had taken in a rough layout of the entire dungeon.
The most conspicuous thing she saw was a single tree that stood out, even in the forest. A tree almost the size of Namsan Tower. At its peak, an enormous bird was curled up in its nest.
“That's probably the boss.”
“I see.”
“And I also saw something like a shelter.”
Usually, dungeons sometimes have places designated by the system as shelters. So-called safe zones.
Their appearance is random, but Hunters can see the boundaries very clearly. Inside, monsters can't harm Hunters. Of course, the reverse is also true.
“There was a small boundary glowing with a yellow light.”
No one knew why they existed. The system never explained, and humanity had to be content with just using the safe zones for dungeon clearing.
However, safe zones weren't foolproof. They sometimes disappeared due to unexplainable phenomena, and at other times, they were so small that only one person could barely stand inside.
Fortunately, the safe zone boundary Ha-ra had seen was quite large. Se-heon immediately nodded.
“Let's go there.”
“Okay.”
*Growl.* Just then, a loud noise rumbled from Ha-ra's stomach. Embarrassed, Ha-ra reflexively glanced at the face of the man she was carrying.
The man, having heard the same sound, naturally looked at her too, but he didn't laugh.
“You must be starving, and here I am making you use your strength.”
If anything, he looked apologetic.
“Oh, no. Not at all.”
Shaking her head, Ha-ra giggled again, free of tension.
“We train every year to prepare for situations where we might be isolated in a dungeon, so I'm fine.”
“I don't think training makes you get used to starving, though.”
“Haha.”
Ha-ra let out an awkward laugh in place of a reply.
“Anyway, it's impossible to take down a B-rank boss with my skills, but we do have the rabbit meat from earlier.”
She was referring to the meat from the carnivorous rabbit they had caught. At her suggestion of grilling it in the safe zone, Se-heon paused for a moment before speaking.
“It's a carnivorous rabbit, so it'll probably taste gamey…”
“Still, what can we do when we're hungry? It's better than starving.”
“How will we start a fire?”
“Don't worry about that either! I have a way!”
“…Ms. Kang Ha-ra, you seem to be a very well-prepared and rational person.”
The man's tone was as calm as when he hosted the news. So, Ha-ra, completely oblivious, just smiled brightly.
“Thank you!”
Se-heon, who had a weak stomach but was a professional at controlling his expression, forced a grin back at Ha-ra.
*'Monster meat.'*
Of course, he was grateful to be alive, but he'd rather not eat it if he could help it.
But in the very next moment, something happened that made them both forget all about monster meat.
“It's people!”
“Help us! Help us!”
Looking down, their eyes widened. Below them, children in school uniforms were jumping up and down, waving their hands frantically.
