WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ I Returned as a God ◈

Chapter 35: A New Encounter (2)

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I couldn't think of anything I'd done wrong.

I left Song Eunyoung to her work and spoke to the staff member approaching me.

"Table for one?"

"Yes, right this way please."

The staff member led me to a fairly open spot, and I sat alone.

Back then I'd been too flustered to try anything, but not this time.

This time I was actually going to try talking to Song Eunyoung properly.

Choi Suhyun hadn't seemed against it either.

He'd even handed me his card and told me to go talk things out with her.

Though I did get chewed out a bit after he caught me using it for personal stuff.

I brought food to my plate and started eating.

Song Eunyoung was in charge of the central hall where I was sitting.

I raised my hand asking for water several times, but Song Eunyoung acted like she didn't see me at all.

What's her deal?

Eventually, a different staff member came over and poured the water.

I propped my arm on the table and watched Song Eunyoung.

She dodged my gaze and glanced around the room.

Right then, another customer nearby raised a hand looking for staff.

The moment Song Eunyoung turned to head toward the customer, a kid suddenly darted out of nowhere.

The kid collided with Song Eunyoung.

The plate in the kid's hands tipped over.

Crash.

Along with the sound of glass shattering, the food on the plate spilled onto a coat hanging over a nearby chair.

A brief, dead silence fell over the buffet.

"Waaaah!"

"Oh my god! Minjun!"

The coat's owner, apparently the kid's mom, jumped up in a hurry and tried to calm the child down.

That looked deliberate.

Unlike Song Eunyoung, who'd had a blind spot, I'd been standing near the entrance and had a clear view of the kid's whole path.

Song Eunyoung was Unaffiliated and D-Rank, but she was still an awakened person.

At minimum, her reflexes and stamina had to be better than an average person's.

Judging from how she'd handled the orc, her physical abilities were at least as good as, if not better than, other hunters at her rank. Definitely not lacking.

The kid had been holding the plate, waiting on purpose for a staff member to walk by.

In fact, Song Eunyoung had dodged the kid and even caught the plate.

It was the kid who'd panicked and knocked the plate forward too late, tripping over on their own.

Even someone like her probably never expected a kid to pull something like that on purpose.

Honestly, even I was a little shocked.

They really do say kids these days are scary.

A kid who looked like they hadn't even started elementary school had already learned to pull stunts like this.

Well, considering the parent acting like that, what else would the kid learn? Sure enough, the parent holding the crying child started laying into Song Eunyoung.

"Where were you even looking just now?"

"I'm very sorry."

"Sorry's all you've got? What if my kid got hurt, huh?"

"Waaaaah!!"

"Don't cry, Minjun. God, do you have any idea how much this coat cost? Are you out of your mind? Get me the manager!"

"I'm sorry. I should have been more careful, but the child suddenly ran out in front of me..."

"What? Are you accusing my kid right now? The nerve of this... How dare a hotel employee accuse a customer? What kind of training does this hotel even give its staff! Forget it, get the manager out here!"

The situation kept escalating.

Song Eunyoung frowned like she'd just gotten unlucky and said something into a radio.

"Ugh, my god. What are you going to do about this coat? You couldn't afford this working your whole life, you know that?"

"I'm sorry. We'll take full responsibility for the dry cleaning."

"Oh, look at this. Look. It's completely stained. You think dry cleaning is going to fix this? What did you even spill on it to make a stain like that?"

I quietly got up from my seat and stepped between the woman and Song Eunyoung.

"Yeah, you're right. Dry cleaning's probably not gonna save that one."

The white coat had a pretty spectacular sauce stain on it.

"And who are you?"

"Just a customer who lost his appetite listening to you yap. And here you were, ignoring your kid completely from the moment you walked in, too busy chatting away with each other. No wonder a little kid's already pulling self-harm scams."

I gently brushed away Song Eunyoung's hand as she reached toward me.

The manager and some higher-ups had arrived right on cue, and Song Eunyoung stepped back a few paces to explain the situation to them.

"What did you just say to my wife? This little punk still wet behind the ears has lost his damn mind."

The man who'd been sitting quietly stood up.

His cologne was so strong it made me wince.

"You know who I am?"

"Should I care who you are?"

Who even is this guy?

I'm not joking, I genuinely had no idea.

And honestly, his face wasn't exactly one that made me want to find out.

After finishing her conversation with the higher-ups, Song Eunyoung came over again to try to hold me back. I whispered to her.

"Noona, who's that guy?"

"When did I ever let you call me noona?"

"Come on, I obviously look younger."

If you actually did the math, I was older, but whatever.

For now, my ID listed my age as early twenties.

"Are you seriously saying I look old right now? Ugh. He's a department manager in the domestic guild division at the Central Hunter Association."

Domestic guild division, what is that. There really is a department for everything.

Judging by Song Eunyoung's reaction, it seemed like a fairly high-ranking department.

Song Eunyoung tried to smooth things over with me.

"I don't know what you're up to, but you're getting in the way."

Song Eunyoung genuinely looked annoyed.

The mood here really was pretty different from what I'd imagined.

I'd wanted to show up looking cool and pull off some rich-heir move, like, this coat's that expensive? Name your price! But there was absolutely no atmosphere for that here.

"Ugh, do you people even know who's keeping you safe enough to live like this? And you dare lecture us about training over our own kid? Get on your knees and apologize right now!"

"Ma'am, with all due respect, this gentleman is also a guest... We'll make sure your coat gets properly cleaned."

"Who cares about the coat right now? This little brat with no manners! Tsk, what kind of home training did you even get. What does your father even do for a..."

Wow, this guy's got some lungs on him too.

The moment I'd heard Song Eunyoung mention the Hunter Association, I'd quietly pulled out my phone and dialed a number.

It connected on the third try.

I held the phone screen out toward the man.

"You think this is some kind of joke right now?"

"My friend works at the Association too, you know."

"Who's your friend?"

"Choi Suhyun."

At my answer, the man's eyes narrowed.

Right then, Choi Suhyun's voice came through the speaker.

"Hey! Kang Hangyeol, you crazy bastard! Didn't I tell you I was in a meeting? If this isn't important, I swear I'll dunk your head in the Han River and turn you into salted fish paste! You think I've got that much time to spare? If you're calling, say something!"

Wow, look at that temper.

I practically shoved the phone into the man's hands.

He hesitated, then took the call.

"Hello?"

"Hello my ass. Who is this?"

"Um, are you really Manager Choi?"

"I said, who are you."

"This is Oh Taeseung, director of the domestic guild division. Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't realize you were a friend of Manager Choi's..."

He turned his back quickly and bowed his head as he took the call.

Same rank on paper, but he was acting like he was talking to a superior no matter how you looked at it.

The guy was practically folding himself in half like an old flip phone.

Not entirely unexpected.

Just from how Choi Suhyun had covered up the whole double dungeon incident for me, talked to people above him, and gotten reports revised, it was clear he held a pretty unique position within the Association.

Well, why would an S-Rank hunter waste his time doing something as thankless as government work otherwise.

Even Unaffiliated, Choi Suhyun was still an S-Rank hunter.

Being affiliated with the Association meant, on paper at least, that he was someone working for the country.

A moment later, the man finished his call and came back.

"He said to take the call. And, ahem, I really am sorry about all this."

"Honey, what's wrong?"

"Quiet! What kind of upbringing does this kid have, running into an employee like that?"

"What? Have you ever once helped me with the childcare when I was drowning in it alone? Is this my fault?"

"Alright, alright. Let's just go. Calm the kid down, quick."

The man grabbed his wife and hurried off.

The staff offered compensation, but he firmly refused.

I quietly brought the phone back to my ear.

Choi Suhyun's sigh came through from the other end.

"What the hell are you even doing out there? And who was that guy?"

"It's nothing."

"Call me one more time over something like this and see what happens. Hanging up."

I stuck the phone, now dead, back in my pocket and shrugged my shoulders.

"Noona, you know you owe me now, right?"

"When do you get off work?"

"Wait an hour."

"Got it. There's a cafe in the lobby, I'll be there."

Song Eunyoung nodded, saying she understood.

I stepped outside the buffet restaurant.

I ordered coffee and sat back against the plush sofa.

Dimensional conquest rate: 3%

Layer 2: Somehow managed to survive, it looks like. Seems he entered Layer 2 alone. No matter how I look at it, this doesn't seem like a difficulty meant for solo play. After accepting him as a follower, I gave him a weapon and taught him some basic combat. But is this really okay?

Layer 3: Asked him how he cleared Layer 2, and apparently he set the forest on fire to buy time... Seems pretty quick-witted. Layer 3 isn't too hard compared to Layer 2, but the fact that he has to kill a person makes me uneasy.

"Is this a diary or something."

It seems to write something like this every time I clear a floor, but I definitely never intended to write any of it myself.

Kind of creepy how accurately it's got my own thoughts down.

I closed the status window, drank the coffee, and ate the green tea tiramisu.

I took up the whole long sofa by myself and sat there blankly, letting time pass.

Not quite an hour later, Song Eunyoung came over in casual clothes.

She wore a white shirt with a deep beige-toned suit.

Well-fitted trousers, plain enamel shoes, hair loosely let down past her shoulders, and a small face that stood out remarkably well.

At the buffet she'd looked like your average hotelier staff member, but seeing her like this gave off a completely different impression.

Though come to think of it, she'd been in a suit last time too, and this time she was dressed in something close to a suit again.

"Guess you like suits."

"Huh? I mean, they're just comfortable, aren't they?"

"Those heels don't really look like fighting shoes to me."

"I told you, I've got no reason to fight."

"Come on, I saw you plant a knee straight into an orc's face. That wasn't a one time thing, no way... mmph..."

Song Eunyoung leaned in and clamped a hand over my mouth.

She's got more bite than she looks.

"Should we go talk outside?"

"E rmph oo aveh oo eeh mm..."

"You're coming, right?"

Just let me go outside already! Outside!

Song Eunyoung dragged me out of the hotel.

Being afternoon, Gangnam Station had plenty of people around.

Well, Gangnam Station's never once been empty.

"Where do you want to go?"

"Anywhere's fine."

My whole goal here was to bring Eunyoung noona in.

As long as we could talk, it didn't matter where. Eunyoung noona pulled out her phone.

It had a flashy phone case dangling with fake jewels.

"Yeah? Then I'm picking."

Song Eunyoung pointed down a side street.

It was a brunch cafe tucked in an alley a bit away from the station.

High ceilings, wood-finished design, decorated here and there with fresh and artificial flowers.

Song Eunyoung led me to the seat furthest in the back.

"You drink coffee?"

Song Eunyoung raised her hand to call the staff over.

She ordered an avocado salmon salad, an ice cream waffle, an Americano, and a caffe latte.

"The brunch and coffee here are pretty good."

"I see."

I wasn't sure about the avocado salmon salad, but the ice cream waffle was definitely good.

The cold ice cream against the freshly baked waffle's warmth, the soft texture of the waffle, it was fantastic... wait, no, that's not the point!

Why did this suddenly turn into something that looked like a date!

I took a sip of my Americano and got to the point.

"Noona, you thinking about becoming a Hunter for real? Actually, why aren't you active as one at all?"

At the question that came out of nowhere, Song Eunyoung's mouth fell open in disbelief.

"Do you not have a middle gear or something?"

Footnotes:

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