Chapter 45: The Letter That Changed Everything

Yoo Hee-ro immediately snatched the letter. Lee Hye-rin, startled by how quickly it was taken from her hands, offered up the box as well without protest. She couldn’t bring herself to say anything—not when Yoo Hee-ro’s face was overflowing with emotion.

“……”

Hye-rin quietly stepped back.

[To Yoo Hee-ro
It’s a little embarrassing to suddenly write you a letter like this, but I couldn’t just send things without saying anything, so I wrote a few lines.]

The extremely Sung Ji-woo-like first sentence made Yoo Hee-ro laugh.

[It must’ve been about a year now. I wonder if you’ve been using the pendant I gave you. I made the activation condition a bit tricky… Well, personally, I think it’s better if you didn’t use it at all. You didn’t lose it, right?]

“There’s no way.”

There was no one listening, but Yoo Hee-ro still answered out loud.

[I sent a few things that might be useful. They should work even better than the one I gave you at first.]

He wanted to tell him how many lives that pendant had saved. Sung Ji-woo would definitely be shocked, insisting it made no sense. He was confident in his own skills, yet strangely humble in odd places.

Further down, some words had been scribbled out with a pen. Curious, Yoo Hee-ro looked closer. The erased words were: “Don’t get hurt.”

“…Why did you erase that…”

But the very next sentence made the reason obvious.

[Not getting hurt in a gate is impossible. Just… be careful. You’re good—too good—so you’ll attract leech-like parasites. Don’t bother with them. If you try to accept all of that, you’ll be the one who gets exhausted, you know? I mean… after everything I did raising you…. In situations like that, it’s fine—swear at them if you have to.]

Yoo Hee-ro’s expression darkened. How many parasites had clung to Sung Ji-woo over the years? Even thinking of Yoo Ho-bin alone was enough.

If Sung Ji-woo had entered the gate—if he had met Yoo Ho-bin—just imagining it made him grateful that Sung Ji-woo never stepped into the gates at all. He was spared from witnessing such filth.

And even if Sung Ji-woo had come into the gate, Yoo Hee-ro would have cut down every last bug before they could even approach him.

He regretted that the words were running out, but curiosity defeated everything else, and he quickly moved to the next lines.

[Honestly, I think you could probably clear an X-Rank Gate with ease. You’ll probably say that’s nonsense, but I really believe you’ll become an incredible Hunter. Clear the X-Rank Gate (don’t forget to remove the core carefully!) and become a world-class hero. Maybe even rank #1 in the world.]

Feeling the weight of Sung Ji-woo’s faith in him always filled Yoo Hee-ro with overwhelming warmth.

[I said I’d write just a few lines, but I rambled too much.]

He could almost see Sung Ji-woo scratching his cheek, embarrassed. The image made Yoo Hee-ro want to run out of the gate and see him immediately.

[Anyway, good luck with the rest of your time there. If you ever have time, let’s meet. Bye.]

The letter ended with Sung Ji-woo’s typical mix of indifference and gentleness. Yoo Hee-ro stared at the period at the end.

The longing rose with the disappointment. He carefully folded the letter back and slipped it into the envelope. Unlike the neat handwriting inside, his name on the envelope was scribbled messily.

He had written Yoo Hee-ro’s name carelessly—yet every word to him was written so prettily and carefully.

“So… all of this is your fault,” Yoo Hee-ro whispered.

He pressed a soft kiss over Sung Ji-woo’s hastily scribbled name. Clearing the X-Rank Gate and becoming world rank #1—as Sung Ji-woo mentioned—seemed like the perfect engagement gift for him.

This must be what people meant by “giving someone their flower shoes.”

With that foolish thought, Yoo Hee-ro turned around. His softened expression faded back into its usual unreadable calm. In that flat tone, he addressed Lee Hye-rin.

“I’ll go to the next dungeon too.”

“What? Really? You suddenly changed your mind?”

Hye-rin wiped her mouth after downing an entire bottle of water.

“Yes. It seems like that’s what hyung wants.”

“…Really?”

What on earth did Sung Ji-woo write in that letter? Hye-rin scowled but nodded.

“Well, it’s great if you’re going.”

“Let’s rest for a day and then go.”

“…Yes.”

He wanted to clear the X-Rank Gate immediately and end everything, but since he agreed to travel with the three of them, he had no choice but to compromise. It wasn’t a loss—the three were useful.

But more importantly, Sung Ji-woo seemed to be sending them supplies from time to time. If he stayed with them, he might hear Sung Ji-woo’s news more often.

Thus, for the first time in months, Yoo Hee-ro decided to rest.

****************

Several months later — After sending the first supply package to Yoo Hee-ro

“What are you doing?”

Gam Joo-an entered the general store and asked the question instead of greeting. Sung Ji-woo was sitting behind the counter, writing something diligently.

“Sending some supplies to a junior.”

Skipping the greeting as well, Sung Ji-woo answered plainly.

“Oh, the person you mentioned before? Didn’t you send something already?”

“I did. It’s nothing big, but I thought it might help.”

Even though he knew Yoo Hee-ro was incredible, he still felt like he had left a child near a river unattended. Their relationship should’ve ended after graduation, yet human bonds weren’t that easily cut.

“Gates are chaotic these days. He’s okay, right?”

“There’s still no forced recall order… And well, the Hunter Association wouldn’t want to lose half the country’s Hunters, so they’ll figure things out.”

The news lately was filled with dangerous gate anomalies—gates mutating like the one from their high school days, gates closing suddenly, or opening abruptly.

Open gates were manageable. Closed gates had to be forcibly reopened, which was complicated. A special Hunter Engineering unit had been formed because of it. None of this had happened in his previous life.

Sung Ji-woo could ignore it—he had left the Hunter world—but guilt still gnawed at him. Maybe the timeline changed because he went back in time. And he felt guilty for encouraging Yoo Hee-ro to become a hero.

Just think of it as a nosy senior’s goodwill. Aren’t we… kind of close?

With that self-comforting thought, he finished the letter. He had mentioned clearing X-Rank Gates and reaching rank #1 before, but realistically… his words held no real power. He only wrote them to encourage Yoo Hee-ro. In a battlefield like that, overconfidence was better than fear. Thinking of Yoo Ho-bin and Park Joon-soo swaggering around shamelessly, half of success really did come from momentum.

Thinking about them again made his stomach churn. He quickly forced the thought away. Once he opened this shop, he had decided to cut those memories completely out of his life.

“Want some coffee? Oh, it’s out. There’s iced tea, though…”

He folded the letter, shoved it into an envelope, and scribbled his own name on it. When he pretended to finally acknowledge the customer in front of him, Gam Joo-an shook his head.

“No, I already brought drinks.”

He lifted a drink carrier from the café nearby.

“…Joo-an.”

Sung Ji-woo spoke seriously. Lately, Gam Joo-an came to the store so often that customers mistook him for an employee.

“Is the guild… that boring?”

“…Yes.”

The Knockers Guild had been sending out members frequently to build achievements, leaving Gam Joo-an alone in the empty guildhall. Sung Ji-woo knew very well how lonely guarding an empty shop felt. Joo-an hesitated, then asked:

“Even if your friends come back… you’ll still hang out with me, right?”

Sung Ji-woo couldn’t reject those pleading eyes. There were no other members his age in the guild. Even though they were four years apart, Joo-an seemed grateful for even that.

Even my cat doesn’t beg to play with me this desperately…

Sung Ji-woo said gently:

“Hang out? No—you can come whenever you want.”

Joo-an’s face lit up instantly.

“Right? And… I can be friends with your friends too, right?”

My friends. He must’ve thought Sung Ji-woo was close with Lee Hye-rin and Shin Yoon-jae. But in reality, Sung Ji-woo wasn’t close to them at all.

They only teamed up during their third-year practical exam. That was the full extent of their connection. He couldn’t bring himself to admit that they might not even meet again after their return.

“You’ll probably become friends with them more easily than with me.”

With Joo-an’s considerate and friendly personality, he could make friends with anyone. Joo-an beamed.

“Thanks for saying that… They’re really amazing people.”

“…Amazing? You know them?”

There should’ve been no reason for Joo-an to know those three. But he nodded enthusiastically.

“Of course. Your junior—the one this letter is for—is amazing too. No—he’s especially amazing.”

“…What?”

Still confused, Sung Ji-woo watched as Joo-an unlocked his phone and searched something. After a moment, he held out the screen.

On it were several familiar names.

Why on earth are they showing up here…?