GM Ch38

“Those pests keep contacting me asking me to give out your information. The grassland dungeon raid ended quickly. Everyone was very interested in our baby chick.”

“Ah…”

“So I told them I’m working out of the office, and I’ve turned off my cell phone now. I’m telling you, don’t fall for it if some dude tries to lure you. No matter how good the money is, your life will be difficult.”

The warning Soohyuk gave to Team 1 hunters before entering the grassland dungeon also applied to Minjun. Anyway, Minjun, who was in some ways entangled with Soohyuk now, had no intention of changing guilds.

“Yes, I know that.”

“Why are you acting so obediently? You should take this opportunity to ask for more things. Your value is high.”

“It’s okay. I’m fine as I am. I have received a lot, asking for more would be really greedy.”

Minjun thought this was enough. The dormitory was clean and spacious, delicious food was free, and the down payment was almost at an A-class level. In addition, there were many bonuses, and he had received a lot of expensive equipment from Soohyuk.

“Having too little greed is not a good thing.”

“Then just take care of next year’s salary.”

Soohyuk clicked his tongue at Minjun’s lukewarm reaction. Minjun was the only person with a buff skill that increased hunter’s abilities by 55% every eleven hours, but he himself didn’t know his own worth.

Above all, because of the combination of his fate, Minjun was holding his leash. If he refused to do something, there was nothing Soohyuk could do about it. Even if Minjun asked him to give up an expensive sports car or a luxurious mansion, Soohyuk had to listen.

However, Minjun didn’t seem to have any intention of doing such things. There was a lukewarm response to both the money and the items. He actually liked the guild’s in-house cafeteria more.

Maybe it’s because he was still young.

He was now only twenty years old. On top of that, he had lost his memory, so he had no idea what the world was like.

Soohyuk, who was thinking about Minjun’s situation, felt his little conscience reveal itself again. The act itself was something he enjoyed so much that his heart was pricked at times like this.

Soohyuk, who had put aside his bloated conscience, agreed with Seongwon that Minjun was less greedy than the average person. And he decided to keep an eye on Minjun so that he didn’t get deceived. No matter how much money Soohyuk gave Minjun, if a fraudster caught up to him, he would quickly become penniless.

“If you have any questions about contracts or anything like that, always ask me, Seongwon, or the guild lawyer. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Speak up if you are threatened. I can solve almost anything.”

“Alright.”

Soohyuk was satisfied as Minjun obediently nodded his head.

“Oh, right. Did you see the banner announcing the opening of the Kim Minjun Hunter Memorial Hall?

“Yes. I saw.”

“Would you like to go to the opening ceremony with me later? I’m the director of that organisation. Let’s go and take a picture. Formally introduce yourself to the other guild leaders.”

“Uh… It’s okay. I don’t like being the center of attention. I just want to lay low.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

Kim Minjun, who had no intention of going to Kim Minjun Memorial Hall, flatly refused. The thought of meeting other S-class hunters was also too much.

“Do you know anything about Hunter Kim Minjun?”

“I’ve only seen some documentaries, but I heard the guild leader say that he admires him.”

“Uh-huh. I’m a fan. Hunter Kim Minjun is my benefactor.”

“… Fan? A benefactor?”

Minjun looked at Soohyuk at the unexpected answer. He was smiling brightly while driving.

“I was there when Hydra appeared. At Apgujeong. If it weren’t for hunter Kim Minjun, I would have died. I think I was interviewed in a documentary.”

“Yes. I saw.”

“He is my hero, but he is also everyone’s hero. So I wish that Hunter Kim Minjun will be remembered forever.”

Soohyuk said sincerely, without a hint of falsehood. A hero should be remembered forever, not forgotten.

When Soohyuk was in the fourth grade of elementary school, he was involved in a car accident and was trapped in a burning car. He was so scared that he was going to die like this, but a hyung, dressed in a school uniform, appeared like a hero and broke his window to save him.

He disappeared without Soohyuk even having a chance to say thank you, so all he remembered was his face. His parents searched for his benefactor, but were never able to find out who it was.

His second meeting was at Gangbyeonbuk-ro. Soohyuk recognized at a glance that the man who was hitting the monsters pouring out of the gate with his bare hands was the hyung who saved him six years ago. Soohyuk couldn’t take his eyes off the man who was blocking his path, covered in monster blood and flesh.

He learned that his name was Kim Minjun from watching the news. One of only five S-class hunters in Korea, he became Soohyuk’s benefactor and idol.

Soohyuk wanted to become a hunter like him someday. He wanted to help people like hunter Kim Minjun. He lived as a model student for all three years of high school, and even after entering college. However, when he failed to awaken even after more than half a year had passed since his 20th birthday, he became sullen.

The day of the second cataclysm, Hydra, appeared. Hydra appeared in front of Soohyuk, who was having a daytime drinking with his friends. Flames, ice, water, poison, lightning, etc. poured out from the ten heads, and the street instantly turned into hell.

Soohyuk looked up at Hydra as he helped the people who were screaming and running away. It was times like this, he thought angrily, that he should have awakened as a hunter.

It was then. Something that looked like a comet struck Hydra directly with its long shiny tail. A huge roar was heard several times, as if the world was collapsing. And as the space became distorted, Hydra was sucked into it.

The people who realized what the peaceful silence meant let out a belated cheer. Soohyuk was overcome with a hot feeling of exaltation and shouted that he would survive no matter what.

At that moment he awoke as a hunter, and as an S-class at that.

He defeated all the monsters that appeared along with Hydra and returned home with a happy heart, but then, when he heard the news of Kim Minjun’s disappearance.

He was devastated to hear the news that the comet that directly hit Hydra was none other than hunter Kim Minjun.

He waited for days and days, but there was no news of Hunter Kim Minjun’s return. Everyone said he must have died with Hydra.

From then on, Soohyuk did everything he had to ensure that people would forever remember hunter Kim Minjun’s sacrifice. He created a memorial organization and poured money into it. There was a park named after him, a statue, a documentary, a scholarship program, and a medal of honor.

He did everything he wanted to do with the full support of other S-class hunters. Some people said he was overdoing it, but Soohyuk didn’t care.

He would do anything for his idol and hero.

“Oh, I see.”

Soohyuk didn’t think too much of it when Minjun answered in a strangely trembling voice. Usually, everyone who heard his story reacted this way.

He couldn’t even imagine that Minjun was touched in his own way, and that he was vowing to himself for the millionth time not to reveal his identity even if he died.

“Our hunter Kim Minjun donated a lot without other people knowing. I figured it all out too. People shouldn’t do good things secretly. You have to say it out loud so everyone else can see it.”

Soohyuk, who was teaching the truth about the world to a young hunter with no memory, did not realize until the end that Minjun, sitting next to him, was about to die of embarrassment.

***

The summer workshop was a place where hunters with crafting skills gathered. Large and small props and furniture made of wood, leather, and metal were made using by-products from the dungeon.

Because he liked all the items on display in the two-story workshop, Minjun experienced impulse buying and overspending for the first time in his life. It was even more so because Soohyuk was beside him, encouraging him to buy it. Minjun, who had hypnotized himself into thinking that he could retire and live as a natural person, complied without hesitation.

The shopping itself didn’t take long. So he didn’t refuse Soohyuk’s offer to go eat something sweet.

The place Soohyuk recommended where the pancakes were delicious was a large cafe in the southern end of Seoul. And there, Minjun encountered an unexpected person.

“Uh? Hunter Kim Minjun?”

After ordering, Minjun, who received the pager and sat down in a suitable seat, turned his head towards the place where he heard the sound. A man he had never seen before was looking this way. Then, Minjun instantly recognized the man as Choi Euiseong. Choi Euiseong also seemed to be using an item that interfered with cognition.

“We meet again.”

“Hello.”

Euiseong smiled brightly and welcomed Minjun, who started by saying hello.

“Who are you? Ah? How come you here?”

“What? I was wondering who this is and it turned out to be Yoon June. This cafe is my regular go-to, you know.”

Soohyuk and Euiseong, who were wearing items that hindered recognition, realized who the other person was only after hearing each other’s voices. The two S-class hunters who ran into each other by chance appeared calm on the outside, but the tension quickly escalated.

And C-class Minjun, who was caught between the S-class, was keenly aware of that. Since he was once an S-class, he knew very well that they were now instinctively wary of each other.

While Minjun clicked his tongue, the first person to open his mouth was Choi Euiseong. He smiled brightly and welcomed the two people.

“I was wondering what to do when our Yoon June turned off his cell phone. I met you here. That too, with Hunter Kim Minjun. Have a seat here.”

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