As Sa-yoon leisurely passed through the main gate in the lead, Geon-joo, who had been dazed, came to his senses at Jongsik’s urging and followed behind him.
“…Is it okay to go like this?”
“What is?”
“…Someone died.”
“In this field, is it anything new for people to die?”
Sa-yoon, who replied in a tone that was not only composed but also plain, swallowed a sigh as he looked at Geon-joo, who seemed unable to accept his words.
This is why newbies are inconvenient.
It was easy to coordinate with guys who had rolled around in the Hunter field a few times, but if there was a rookie who hadn’t been tainted by the field yet and had a firm, lousy sense of ethics, like now, it was often the case that communication didn’t work.
The strong live and the weak die—that’s how this field works. Sometimes people were scarier than monsters, so when you saw the strong, you had to save your own life. If you stuck your neck out like the security guards just now, you couldn’t complain even if your head was cut off.
Even the government rarely intervened, so it was a place that operated only by the unspoken rules among Hunters. Geon-joo, who was unaware of this and felt repulsed by Sa-yoon solely based on the fact that he had killed someone, was frustratingly unbelievable to Sa-yoon.
Of course, murder is a crime, but is this the time to talk about that after joining a criminal guild?
Calling up the quest window and checking the relationship that had changed to hostility and wariness, Sa-yoon looked at Jongsik. When he sent a gaze signaling him to explain, Jongsik nodded and placed a hand on Geon-joo’s shoulder.
“The boss usually kills people well, so get used to it.”
“…?”
That bastard?
Sa-yoon had sent a look telling him to explain well so that Geon-joo would understand what kind of place this field was, but Jongsik was somehow sugarcoating how messed up Sa-yoon’s personality was. Naturally, Geon-joo’s expression grew more and more rotten, and so did Sa-yoon’s.
“Still, it’s rare for him to catch and kill innocent people recklessly, and he kills them if they’re annoying like this time, so you should also be careful not to annoy the boss…”
“Hey, you blockhead!”
Smack.
Sa-yoon raised his hand and struck the back of Jongsik’s head. As the surprised man turned around with questioning eyes, Sa-yoon, feeling irritated, hit him two more times and frowned.
“I told you to explain what kind of place the Hunter field is, so what are you explaining? You’re annoying me, Jongsik. Are you annoying me, huh?”
It was a mistake to leave him alone, thinking he would handle it himself even though Sa-yoon knew he wasn’t very sensible. When Sa-yoon clenched his fist, ready to give him a good beating, Jongsik rubbed the slightly swollen back of his head and expressed his frustration.
“You told me to explain, boss!”
“Did I tell you to explain that? Forget it, it’s my fault for entrusting it to you.”
As Sa-yoon blatantly sighed heavily, Jongsik’s face grew increasingly sorrowful. Sa-yoon was about to hit him one more time but decided against it upon seeing his pitiful eyes. Instead, Sa-yoon pushed aside Jongsik, who seemed like he would impart twelve ways to avoid annoying him if left alone, and took his place.
The twenty-two-year-old rookie Hunter was staring at the beaten Jongsik with confused eyes. Sa-yoon snapped his fingers to draw Geon-joo’s attention.
“Since that guy can’t explain, let’s have a talk, pretty boy.”
“About what?”
“What else? It’s about having a conversation on what kind of place you set foot in.”
Placing an arm around the bewildered rookie’s shoulder, Sa-yoon lowered his voice.
“Among those who have worked as Hunters, there isn’t a single one who hasn’t killed a person, pretty boy. This isn’t as safe and tame a field as you think.”
“What do you mean?”
“Exactly as I said. It means there will come a day when your life is threatened by someone, whether it’s betrayal, an attack, or just running into a mentally ill person. Everyone experiences such a moment at least once, and to survive, you have to kill the other person. As your years of experience increase, such incidents will become commonplace.”
“…”
“You’re smart, aren’t you? Don’t tell me you really thought Hunters only hunt monsters?”
The moment you entered a gate, it was no different from setting foot in a lawless zone. Even if he was a rookie, he must have passed the beginner gate, so Geon-joo should also know that much common sense.
The most frequent occurrence in a beginner gate was using a teammate as bait in front of a monster and running away.
They struggle to survive that way because they still lack the ability to kill monsters. Most Hunters become official Hunters that way.
That’s the kind of place this is.
The Hunter field.
It’s not the strong and mysterious world that ordinary people think of, but a crude and cold world. Lenient to the strong and utterly cruel to the weak.
“Just look at the gates. If you ask how someone died, it can all be summarized by saying they were killed by a monster, so isn’t it perfect for killing a person and covering it up?”
Sa-yoon’s parents and the uncle who took him in consistently taught him morality and proper humanity, but Sa-yoon, who had rolled around in the Hunter field for several years and became a veteran, eventually came to believe in the theory of innate evil.
Human nature was originally evil, and within the gates where there was no morality or norms, it was perfect for people to shamelessly reveal their true nature. So a person who was a true teacher outside could become a ruthless murderer inside a gate, or a person with a strange perversion could become a mentally ill person.
“You may not understand now. You might wonder how someone can kill a person.”
“…”
“Once you enter a few more gates, you’ll realize. That it’s easier to swing a sword at a person than at a monster.”
Geon-joo maintained his silence. Since he had a confused expression without any rebuttal or denial, Sa-yoon willingly helped his pretty boy.
“Think about it, pretty boy. If suddenly some Hunter threatens your life, you’ll kill that Hunter too, won’t you? Will you just stand there and let yourself be stabbed?”
“…I understand what you’re saying, but what you did and the example just now are on a different level.”
“What’s different?”
“…What?”
“If I hadn’t killed that security guard, I might have been stabbed and killed by the blade he swung.”
“You don’t seem like the type to be that weak.”
“That kind of carelessness is the most dangerous.”
When Sa-yoon countered without backing down an inch, Geon-joo frowned. As he made an expression as if he couldn’t understand Sa-yoon, wiggling the corners of his eyes, Sa-yoon abruptly pulled Geon-joo’s arm towards himself with a whoosh.
The distance between their faces narrowed in an instant due to the rough force. Sa-yoon, who was close enough to feel Geon-joo’s breath, brought his face close to Geon-joo’s.
Strangely blue eyes and dull-colored eyes met. Staring intently at Geon-joo’s eyes that trembled slightly as if startled by the sudden situation, Sa-yoon spoke in a low voice.
“Let me give you a piece of advice, pretty boy. The stronger you are, the more cruel your hand should be. That way, those beneath you won’t expect any lousy sympathy and try to crawl up.”
“…”
“And they won’t even think of betraying you.”
Sa-yoon, who spoke as if chewing his words, paused for a moment before releasing Geon-joo. Even though he had only held him for a very short time, red hand marks were vividly imprinted on Geon-joo’s wrist.
It seemed the favorability he had guessed for fun would have dropped even further. Imagining the number -10 floating above Geon-joo’s head, Sa-yoon recalled why he had brought his pretty boy here and slowly wiped away the hand marks with his index finger.
“If you were planning to live cleanly forever, you shouldn’t have become a Hunter.”
“…”
“You should have just lived the way you were, ordinarily. If you jumped into this field to earn money yourself, you’ll have to adapt too, pretty boy.”
Because eventually, even if you say you don’t want to adapt, you’ll have to adapt anyway.
If he hadn’t set foot in this field from the beginning, that would be one thing, but now that he had started his life as a Hunter and caught Sa-yoon’s eye, all that was left was to be dyed in Sa-yoon’s color together. In that process, it didn’t matter how conscientious and altruistic Geon-joo was.
Even if he hated killing and wanted to return to being an ordinary person because he couldn’t adapt to this field.
What mattered to Sa-yoon was unlocking the “The Resister” Disposition, not catering to Geon-joo’s whims or comforting him. So whether he liked it or not, he had to stick by Sa-yoon’s side.
That was the life Sa-yoon had decided for Geon-joo. As he narrowed his eyes, he met the gaze of Geon-joo, who was looking down at him with suspicious eyes. Sa-yoon, who had been looking at the man whose eye level was one level higher than his despite his height, eventually chuckled.
“Well, you probably won’t understand even if I tell you now.”
Originally, people had the characteristic of only truly understanding something after experiencing it firsthand. As they say, seeing is believing, so it would be faster for him to experience it directly than for Sa-yoon to explain it a hundred times until his mouth hurt. Sa-yoon, who had unknowingly been exuding a strong aura, released Geon-joo’s arm that he had been stroking.
“And stop worrying about the security guard who died a moment ago. He’s not someone you should be so concerned about anyway.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Isn’t it obvious what kind of tendencies those who know either my face or my skills have? Should I tell you the common point of such guys, pretty boy?”
“…What is it?”
“They’re all shady guys.”
“…”
“They’ve committed crimes, whether it’s murder or illegal transactions. So if a criminal kills a felon, why are you so concerned? It’s going to be a muddy fight anyway.”
There was no need to waste sympathy unnecessarily. After patting Geon-joo’s shoulder as if comforting him, Sa-yoon moved his feet and delved deeper into the Yongho Guild, with Geon-joo following behind him. After taking a few steps, a warning sound rang throughout the building. It seemed the alarm triggered by the security guards’ radio contact earlier was finally going off.
Sensing the presence of a dozen people not far away, Sa-yoon entrusted the cleanup to Jongsik and moved inside. At the same time, the elite guild members of the Yongho Guild swarmed out from the opposite corridor, but as predicted from the sound of their footsteps, their skills were nothing special. As Sa-yoon moved his feet without paying attention, Geon-joo glanced at Jongsik behind him, perhaps concerned about the ongoing battle.
“Is it okay not to help him?”
“If he can’t handle that level on his own, he should step down from being a Night Rats executive.”
“…He must be quite trusted.”
“To some extent, since I’ve known him for a long time. Even though he looks like that, he’s an S-grade. There’s no way he’ll lose to a group with at most one or two A-grades.”
“Ah.”
“Even if Jongsik looks gentle, he’s a skilled member of the Night Rats, so whether you like it or not, now that you’ve joined the guild, watch and learn from him well.”
Still, there’s no one who handles work as cleanly as he does.
In the first place, if he didn’t have the skills, Sa-yoon wouldn’t have given him the executive position. Both the executive and secretary positions were obtained by Jongsik through his abilities and loyalty, so Sa-yoon, who had advised him, confirmed the Yongho Guild members rushing towards him.
Seeing that they sent guild members to handle the situation even after receiving the report of his arrival, it seemed Chunbok had gone insane for money.
“Kuhuk!”
Sa-yoon, who caught the neck of a guild member attempting an attack in midair, threw the struggling man at the remaining enemies. With a thud, some of the charging group fell over. Even though it made quite a loud noise, Sa-yoon, who didn’t turn his gaze towards them, subdued the rest of the Yongho Guild members in a similar manner.
It was even ambiguous to call it a brawl. He lightly handled the guild members with a few simple techniques without using skills or weapons, but it wasn’t a melee. As Sa-yoon was effortlessly dealing with the guild members, a word that suddenly flashed through his mind made him throw the guild member he had grabbed by the collar at Geon-joo.
“Khuk!”
Geon-joo stared at the guild member who fell at his feet with a thud, his eyes filled with surprise. Sa-yoon, looking at the rookie, lifted the corners of his mouth.
“I almost forgot. Right?”
“…?”
“What are you doing, pretty boy? You have to go through the initiation.”
Subdue him.
At the words added plainly, Geon-joo expressed his confusion.