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Join the Server‘Why doesn’t this guy realize that’s the problem?’
Dokyeom let out a sigh as he walked past Baek Jiuwn towards the table where food was being laid out.
“Stop worrying about useless things. If something happens, just think about saving yourself first. I don’t have the strength to save even you.”
“What? Hey, hyung, wait a minute. You’re really going to ditch me like that? That sounds like you’re abandoning me. Look at this guy. Like I’d throw myself into danger to save you. No matter what, I’m surviving on my own!”
‘Yeah, please take care of yourself then.’
Sighing again, Dokyeom picked up his spoon and scooped a heaping mound of rice from the bowl in front of him. Baek Jiuwn quickly sat beside him, chattering away like a dam had burst, but when Dokyeom picked up his spoon with a suspicious look, he immediately shut his mouth.
Across the table, Dali sat with his back to the table, playing with a Rubik’s cube. The brief silence didn’t last long.
“Oh, just eat already. The assembly time is almost here! As if I came here to hear anything good!”
Amid the grumbling, Dokyeom quickly shoveled in his rice. ‘Yeah, filling my stomach comes first, assembly or not.’
***
The night in Shanghai devoured the city with terrifying force. The sky, once so clear, had long since turned pitch black, like ink spilled, the color of the deep sea.
The time was 8 PM.
The gate, swollen like a volcano about to erupt, was located in a national park in Shanghai’s Huangpu District.
A quiet river flowed through the surrounding downtown area. The blocked-off streets were so deserted and dreary they reminded one of an autumn night.
In that silent nightscape, a grand European-style building stood majestically. The gate seemed to crouch beneath the building’s arcade.
“Why are there so many hunters?”
Baek Jiuwn scanned the plaza and muttered.
Though the streets were empty, the barricaded plaza was practically full of hunters. Warning tape had already been strung around the plaza, and Shanghai’s police and hunters had taken full control of the area.
The sheer number of personnel was enormous. At a rough glance, there were about a hundred.
Among them, the participating hunters were 22 from the Shanghai Association and 30 from the Sahyeon Guild. Actually, the Sahyeon Guild was one person short of the planned number.
Everyone was showing discomfort because of this.
“What the… No matter what, shouldn’t the guys on the same floor have woken him up and brought him along?”
Someone muttered, and all the hunters frowned. ‘Why take it out on us when he should have woken him up himself?’ Everyone silently complained, but Dokyeom let out a hollow laugh.
And no wonder.
“The one who didn’t come is Yisaein?”
The missing person was Yisaein, an AA-rank.
Whether to be amazed at the Sahyeon Guild’s negligence of management, or to laugh at Taeseongyeon’s attitude that seemed unconcerned about Yisaein’s absence, the more he saw, the stranger it got.
Of all people, the core combatant Yisaein.
With about two hours left until the gate break, Dokyeom was just wondering if he should go get her when someone walked out from among the Chinese hunters and spoke.
“It looks like the Sahyeon Guild is missing one person. Is that alright?”
The man, well past his thirties, narrowed his shadowed eyes with concern. It was Wang Rong, the director of the Shanghai Association who had greeted the Sahyeon Guild hunters at the airport.
Taeseongyeon, who had been staring up at the pitch-black sky, turned to look at Wang Rong and readily opened his mouth.
“She’s a hunter with great capacity, so we often can’t keep up with her. But… hmm, I think I need to discipline her this time.”
“Haha, is that so? I’ve heard many rumors about her, and I’ve often heard she’s unrestrained. But if even you, Representative Taeseongyeon, say that, then she must indeed be a hunter with great capacity.”
‘Ah.’
Only then, seeing Taeseongyeon’s unaffected face, did he realize: Taeseongyeon had deliberately not called Yisaein here.
Wang Rong’s narrowed eyes half-opened, and his gaze suddenly landed on Dokyeom. With an apparently suspicious look, he rumbled darkly before speaking.
“By the way… I see that Han Dokyeom, an E-rank hunter, is also participating in this operation. Even though it’s an A-rank gate… In my personal opinion, isn’t it a bit too much? Haha, well, I’m sure you have your reasons.”
How should he describe that subtle gaze? It was uneasy and dark, clearly low-grade at a glance.
Baek Jiuwn, who had been looking at Wang Rong with a sullen face, seemed to feel the same. A small mutter was heard.
“Talking like I’m E-rank. They put on the pressure for everyone to go in without exception, and then this? Isn’t he a blockhead? Like a nest of vipers.”
Baek Jiuwn clicked his tongue and then, as if he couldn’t stand the sight anymore, turned his head away. His gaze landed on Dali, who was standing still beside Dokyeom.
“I don’t know why I’m looking at that guy’s face when I could be looking at our Dali. Ah, our Dali.”
As if he had never been grumbling, Baek Jiuwn melted like a roasted rice cake. He squatted in front of Dali, pulled a few candies from his pocket, and thrust them out. But Dali’s reaction was quite different from what Baek Jiuwn expected.
Beep-
Dali shook his head and refused the candies.
“Huh… Dali, you used to like candies. Want something else?”
Dali shook his head again. With his movements, the black necklace around his neck clinked and rattled. At best it was a necklace; at worst, a dog collar. Dokyeom inwardly clicked his tongue. He had told them to make something decent, but they bought a dog tag and engraved Dokyeom’s name and phone number on the back as the guardian’s information.
At this point, he wondered if it was intentional.
“And you, this bastard. Is Dali a dog? What is this?”
“You’re at it again, hyung. I worked hard to choose and make it, and now you’re scolding me. Ah, forget it. I thought it was the prettiest. Why are you arguing over taste?”
The face that had been grumbling at Dokyeom softened contentedly when looking at Dali, then turned worried again. Dali’s eyes, refusing food, looked quite gloomy.
Yet his gentle eyes held more strength than usual, like a wild animal whose instincts had awakened. Seeing that, Dokyeom called Dali softly.
“Dali.”
Beep-
The child quickly looked up at Dokyeom. Dokyeom, who had been gently stroking Dali’s head, crouched in front of him, took his small hand, and used [Sympathy (b)] as if whispering.
A dense forest stretching toward the sky. In that lush forest, Dokyeom caught an unforgettable scent. The smell of nature. Maybe it was the smell of Dali’s hometown.
As he gently stroked behind Dali’s ears, Dali soon purred and burrowed into his arms. Beom Yeonhu, watching this, scratched the back of his neck with a look that said he had a lot to say, then sighed.
His face was slightly frowned, as if he wasn’t keen on it.
Understandably so. The hunters around were glaring so hotly.
Dokyeom patted Dali’s head and scanned the presence of the hunters milling about. Some were watching Beom Yeonhu, some were watching Agon, and some were watching Dokyeom.
They quickly exchanged glances among themselves. But before he could decipher them, someone blocked Dokyeom’s path.
“Hunter Han Dokyeom.”
The man was built so large that a dark shadow fell over Dokyeom. The person who approached with audible footsteps was a hunter wearing the Sahyeon Guild’s combat uniform.
A quick look showed a familiar face. An A-rank hunter. One with considerable seniority in the Sahyeon Guild, and he remembered that this hunter had excellent achievements.
This was already the fourth hunter to approach him. He knew these meetings were ordered by Taeseongyeon.
Soon, the man lowered his combat mask and spoke.
“I’m Jeong Ilun, assigned as the leader of the search team. Have you received all the morning briefing items?”
It was clearly a formal greeting. Yet there was no trace of a smile on his face, and none of the usual laxity of veteran hunters. Instead, he seemed to have business.
Along with the previous hunters, this one seemed to be as fast as Han Yuseong.
His attitude reminded Dokyeom of tightly laced combat boots; his body looked as solid as a rock. Not a single breath was off, but his presence was raw and sharp, as if all his senses were open, which oddly caught Dokyeom’s eye.
“First, take this. The representative told me to give it to you.”
What the hunter handed over was a smartwatch. On the black screen, a waveform repeatedly drew a mountain and disappeared. It was an electrocardiogram device indicating someone’s vital signs. Yet the amplitude of the waveform was not very large.
This was probably Han Yuseong’s vital sign monitor. And originally, this device should have been with Taeseongyeon.
“Thank you.”
“I’ll fasten it for you.”
The smartwatch was quickly strapped onto Dokyeom’s wrist. When he swiped his hand across the black LCD screen of the tightly fastened device, a single curve filled the empty screen.
A heart rate of 35 beats per minute.
A normal rate should be above 60. At this level, Han Yuseong was approaching a state of suspended animation. If it dropped below 20, even an A-rank hunter would not survive.
The adventure continues! If you loved this chapter, The Boy Who Bit Moma's Leaf is a must-read. Click here to start!
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