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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Unanswered Questions
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Ha-ra scrolled through the system window. It was still stuck on ‘Now Loading’.
Skill reorganization, stat window readjustment.
It all sounded great. But when was this going to be finished? On top of that, there had been all that talk about causality.
The system window offered a simple explanation.
[The ‘Luck’ status entry is only activated in special cases.]
Luck was an entry treated as an unknown by most Hunters.
There were stories that Hunters with high luck stats acquired more dungeon byproducts than others, but it was still just unsubstantiated rumor.
Was it because they were all deactivated?
Ha-ra wondered, ‘Are they trying to balance things because S-ranks have such overpowered stats?’
But with the Constellation having fled, there was no one to answer her. Her conversation with Se-heon was also unlikely to progress.
So after concluding their series of discussions, the two set off again.
There wasn't much conversation. Both of them had a lot on their minds.
By the time they reached the Dong Seoul Bus Terminal, Se-heon finally spoke.
“Where do you live?”
“Oh, you can just drop me off anywhere. I'll get home on my own.”
At Ha-ra’s words, Se-heon glanced at the clock. It was past midnight. Public transportation had long since stopped running.
“I'll drop you off near your home.”
“Oh, I'm really fine. If you just drop me off anywhere in Gangnam…”
“What kind of man drops his girlfriend off ‘anywhere in Gangnam’ after midnight on the first day of their relationship?”
As soon as she heard that, Ha-ra's face turned beet red. But Se-heon’s expression remained indifferent.
Ha-ra hesitated before speaking.
“But you need to get home too, Mr. Yoon…”
“As if you know where I live. Going through Gangnam would be more of a hassle for me.”
“Oh…”
Ha-ra’s eyes widened.
“You don’t live in Gangnam?”
Se-heon scoffed.
Since Assemblyman Yoon's district was over there, people who knew of Se-heon's background often assumed he lived there too. Of course, it was possible.
But then again, isn't it more embarrassing for a man over thirty to be living with his parents? He didn't say such things out loud, however.
“My workplace is in Yeouido, isn't it?”
“Oh, then…”
“Which means my home is also in Yeouido.”
To be precise, it was an apartment near the broadcasting station.
Ha-ra, embarrassed, spoke again.
“Then, in Yeouido…”
“Do *you* live in Yeouido?”
“Well, no…”
In the end, Ha-ra lost. There was no way to win. There was nothing she could do when he insisted, “What kind of man doesn't even know where his girlfriend lives?”
*Right. We're dating now…* Ha-ra muttered to herself as she entered her home address into the car’s navigation system.
Yonggang-dong, Mapo-gu
Se-heon glanced at it and spoke.
“It'll be convenient for dates.”
The man spoke without any ulterior motive, yet Kang Ha-ra had no idea why she felt so embarrassed. *It's November, so why is it so hot?*
As she fanned herself out of embarrassment, Se-heon even opened the window on her side.
Being late, the residential alley was packed with parked cars. As a result, Se-heon couldn't find a spot and had to stop in the lane.
Just as she was about to quickly get out and thank him through the window, he stopped her.
“What time do you get off work tomorrow?”
“I’m not sure about that either… I don’t know if we’ll be training tomorrow or not. Why do you ask?”
“Training?”
*Ah, right. He wouldn't know…* Ha-ra explained that she was currently commuting to the Team K office and was in special training with Rae-young. But having seen how exhausted Rae-young was today, she couldn't be sure about tomorrow.
“So you’re commuting to Sangam-dong? Not the Mapo branch office?”
“Yes. But why?”
Se-heon let out a small sigh and shook his head.
“Let's have dinner together.”
Only then did Ha-ra mutter a small, “Whoa, right.” *We have to go on dates.*
*No, but you don't have to make that face. How many times in my life do you think I've been on a date?*
*Once? Twice? Wrong! I've never been on a single one!* …she kept those words to herself.
“I’ll… do my best…?”
But the words that did manage to escape her throat didn’t sound terribly intelligent either.
Se-heon chuckled.
“Yes, if that's something that can be solved by trying hard, then I'll do my best too. Well then.”
With a *vroom*, the car was gone in an instant. Ha-ra stared blankly at the rear of the sleek sedan as it disappeared down the alley.
＊ ＊ ＊
Chief Jeong and Kwon Wook were tied up at the Ulsan Branch Office until after midnight.
The Eonyang Dungeon had been a rare, stabilized dungeon that consistently produced magic stones, so the official in charge looked like he wanted to die.
“Why on earth did you do this to me…”
“Hey, it's not like we did it on purpose.”
“As if another dungeon bursting today wasn’t bad enough.”
Apparently, even though they had processed the magic stones, an E-rank dungeon had burst open in a coastal village, so the Eonyang branch office had been in chaos all day.
“Really? Wasn't it just that the magic stones' validity period had expired?”
“It's under investigation, so the results will be out soon. Please just hurry up and write your statements…”
Wary of the exhausted official, Chief Jeong hastily scribbled out a statement for the Ulsan Branch Office. This was after the Ulsan branch chief, who had been away in another province on family matters, heard the news and had thrown a fit over the phone.
- This is a huge national loss, do you hear me?! There's a limit to how you can block my career path!
He was famous for only ever looking out for himself, even back in his Hunter days, so it wasn't unexpected. Still, the fact that his words about blocking his career path were delivered with far more sincerity than his talk of national loss was truly bitter.
Finally, after they had finished writing their statements, the two were allowed to leave.
“Chief Jeong, did you bring your car?”
“No.”
“Gosh, we’ll have to take a taxi. I just got chewed out the other day for high transportation costs.”
Kwon Wook chuckled. Chief Jeong glanced at him and clicked her tongue.
“They haggle with an S-rank over travel expenses?”
“What are you talking about? They'll call you in and nag you to death if the taxi fare is off by even a single penny.”
As he spoke, Kwon Wook opened the window of a taxi that happened to be waiting in front of the Ulsan Branch Office and began to haggle over the price to Seoul.
“Well, if it isn't Mr. Kwon Wook. It's an honor. But it's a bit expensive to go all the way to Seoul…”
It seemed that driving to Seoul after midnight was a burden. The driver, while welcoming Kwon Wook, immediately quoted a higher price.
From behind, Chief Jeong quietly watched Kwon Wook’s back.
She hadn't thought much of it when she first went into the cave to find him. She had planned to ask him how long the shoot would take, chide him for staging something on this scale, and then maybe offer a word of praise for a job well done.
But when the crazed werewolf suddenly appeared with a crackling sound, Chief Jeong was struck speechless.
“Graaah!”
If Chief Jeong had been a fraction of a second slower, the werewolf would have clawed her. But with the reflexes befitting an A-rank Hunter, she ducked, and the werewolf howled as it used her as a springboard.
She was knocked to the ground by a kick from its hind leg, but she quickly came to her senses and scrambled back to her feet.
“Kwon Wook, you crazy bastard!”
The next moment, she heard Rae-young's voice. By the time she heard a *fwip*, it was already too late; she only caught a glimpse of Rae-young chasing the werewolf in the distance.
Chief Jeong turned back. Kwon Wook was standing there.
“Oops, we're in big trouble.”
“What happened?”
When Chief Jeong asked in alarm, Kwon Wook said, “Ah, I made a mistake,” as he picked up a fallen magic stone from the floor and shoved it into his pocket.
Chief Jeong was about to ask him, ‘What in the world—’ but realized it wasn't the time for such questions and turned to run toward the entrance, shouting, “What are you standing around for? Run!”
Things were too hectic then to notice, but looking back, there were some strange points.
Kwon Wook was an S-rank. Even his most famous piece of equipment, the Flame Ring, was capable of long-range attacks with an enormous range. He could have just incinerated the fleeing werewolf and ended it all in one go.
“Why did you do it, Wook?”
“Yes?”
Once in the taxi, Chief Jeong asked Kwon Wook, who had been staring outside.
“You had the Flame Ring. You could have just burned it.”
“Ah.”
Kwon Wook’s eyes widened, and then he smiled.
“Ah, about that, Chief. It’s not that I didn’t think of it. But did you know? The Flame Ring has a limited number of uses.”
“…It has a limit?”
The chief furrowed her brow. She glanced toward the front.
The taxi driver, who had been sneaking glances at them in the rearview mirror, quickly looked forward with a start.
But Kwon Wook seemed to pay the driver no mind as he chattered on.
“Turns out one of Ms. Ha-ra’s skills is reading an opponent’s specs. It shows their status, skills, and equipment. You can’t see everything if the grade is high, but…”
Chief Jeong gave him a look. Kwon Wook went, “Ah,” then shrugged his shoulders, as if to say, *what does it matter?* He continued to praise Ha-ra’s skill.
Of course, even without Kwon Wook's explanation, Chief Jeong was surprised. There were a few Hunters with skills that could glimpse an opponent's specs, but being able to check the usage count on equipment was an incredible ability.
“Even if she doesn’t become an S-rank, other teams would be lining up to recruit her with that skill. Don’t you think?”
“That’s true. Especially if it can read skills too…”
Chief Jeong was lost in thought when she suddenly realized her mistake. She hadn't noticed that Kwon Wook had blatantly changed the subject.
“Kwon Wook, are you changing the subject right now?”
“No, why would I change the subject? I have nothing to feel guilty about.”
Kwon Wook said smoothly. In response, Chief Jeong glared at him.
“It’s not like the Flame Ring only had one use left. And there were civ—the production crew outside.”
She had been about to say ‘civilians’ but quickly changed her words, conscious of the taxi driver. But Kwon Wook immediately shot back.
“And the members of Team K were there too. As was Ms. Ha-ra.”
“Their lives could have been in danger.”
“As long as everyone ended up safe, that's what matters.”
“Are you insane?”
Sensing the rising voices, the taxi driver quickly turned on the radio. He had realized this was not a conversation he should be hearing.
A trot song began to play, and the driver turned up the volume. *Through countless nights,* he even began to hum along with the song.
“Chief.”
Kwon Wook whispered lowly.
“You were the one who taught me that.”
“When did I ever?”
“That for the sake of the greater good, the sacrifice of a few is unavoidable.”
“And what was this ‘greater good’ you were trying to achieve?”
*Overwhelmed by the pain of my heart being gouged out, how much I cried.* The song flowed on.
Kwon Wook shrugged.
“Well, it's not that I was trying to do anything in particular. It just sort of happened, so it was hard for me to judge at the time. It's not like I intended for anyone to get hurt, either.”
“And you have the nerve to talk like that?”
“I’m sorry. I haven’t been sleeping well for a few days, so I guess I’m a bit on edge. I said something I shouldn’t have.”
With that, Kwon Wook clamped his mouth shut.
Chief Jeong rubbed her forehead. When Kwon Wook acted like this, it meant he wouldn't answer any more questions, no matter what she asked.
It was unsettling.
And infuriating.
She had said something like that once. But that was ten years ago… and if she hadn't, that punk probably would have ended his life in a closed psychiatric ward.
Her chest felt tight. In any case, it was a relief that no one got hurt. That was all she could think.
