WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Oblivious
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving as a B-Rank Hunter ◈
Chapter 36
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* * *
Yoon Jiseong. Samgyeong Group's heir two generations removed.
As a child, Yoon Jiseong had been diagnosed with an incurable disease and told he would never live to see twenty. Naturally, Samgyeong's ruling family used every means at their disposal to save the family's third-generation only son.
Some of the world's most renowned doctors and researchers gathered in Korea to save one boy, pouring tens and hundreds of billions of won into research as though it were water.
The third-generation only son of one of the country's leading conglomerates. A sickly appearance. A child who remained composed and considerate of others despite his young age.
Yet perhaps because, despite all that, Yoon Jiseong's story still seemed to be heading toward death, he received tremendous interest and affection from many people.
However, as Yoon Jiseong grew older, hope gradually faded.
He spent more time lying down than awake, and his frail but handsome features eventually became those of the dead.
Just when people within Samgyeong Group began to wonder whether they should prepare for the end, the completely unforeseen Odin Shock struck.
Exactly what material, artifact, or other thing from a dungeon had saved him was not well known.
Some claimed a universal cure had come out of a dungeon, while others claimed they had put Yoon Jiseong into a dungeon to strengthen his body. In other words, they had made Yoon Jiseong into a hunter.
There were even rumors that an AI enhanced with Vanaskelium had completely analyzed his body and illness, then made a treatment that only Yoon Jiseong could use.
Whatever the truth was, Yoon Jiseong survived. Though walking remained difficult enough that he had to use a cane even in his twenties, he had shattered the death sentence that said he would never pass twenty and risen to his feet.
He even seemed to have made that cane into a symbol connecting his past self to his present self. Though he could have fitted himself with cutting-edge prosthetic legs if he wished, he always used a cane and walked on his own two feet.
That Yoon Jiseong was leaning on a cane as he looked at Dohyeon and Park Tae-eun.
“Park Kangseok is dead, isn't he?”
“...”
Both Dohyeon and Park Tae-eun recognized Yoon Jiseong's face. Even with only basic social media use, it was impossible not to know his story. His background, story, and recovery had made him someone beyond an ordinary fourth-generation chaebol scion.
While Park Tae-eun froze, Dohyeon quickly surveyed the surroundings. Yoon Jiseong was Samgyeong's heir. He was the heir two generations removed, but still one of Samgyeong's most important figures.
Naturally, despite appearances, he would be surrounded by security personnel.
His guess was right. In the factory's dark shadows, he saw gleams crouching in hiding. More precisely, they were faint reflections from lenses.
Lenses from electro-optical equipment. They were probably bodyguards armed with advanced equipment, like the A-rank hunter he had fought earlier.
In truth, they could have hidden even those reflections if they wanted. So the fact that Dohyeon could see them was a warning of sorts. We are watching. Do not do anything rash.
“Mr. Kang Dohyeon. Park Tae-eun.”
Dohyeon's gaze returned to Yoon Jiseong. As his eyes met Dohyeon's, Yoon Jiseong slowly bowed.
“I apologize to both of you. I arrived far too late.”
“...”
Dohyeon, who had just forced himself tense again, and Park Tae-eun, who had been frozen stiff, both blinked at the sudden apology.
Whether the two were surprised or not, Yoon Jiseong bowed deeply. Only after slowly straightening up did he speak again.
“Park Kangseok was my bodyguard. He tried to harm Park Tae-eun because he believed that if I learned about Park Tae-eun, I would fire him. And he was right.”
Leaning on a cane, Yoon Jiseong limped closer. Then he took out a small paper card, a business card, from his pocket and held it out.
“I am deeply sorry that someone you had longed for as family betrayed you in this way, Park Tae-eun. My outdated way of handling matters put you in danger.
“From now on, I will conduct more thorough and rigorous screening during the hiring process for security team personnel. This is my business card.”
“...?”
The hand holding out the card was so natural that Park Tae-eun naturally accepted it. Yoon Jiseong continued with an apologetic smile.
“Please contact the number on that card anytime. Whether you need help settling in Korea or wish to return to your homeland, I will help you however I can.
“Something as small as this cannot fully heal the hurt caused by betrayal from family and the threat of death, but please let me help.”
“Y-yes...”
Yoon Jiseong's gaze shifted from Park Tae-eun to Dohyeon.
Clear, distinct eyes met a dark and dull gaze.
Yoon Jiseong smiled a little more clearly.
“It is remarkable, Mr. Kang Dohyeon. This may be a little inappropriate here, but I still have to ask. Park Kangseok was clearly fully armed with headquarters' most advanced combat equipment. How did you survive?”
“...How do you know my name?”
Yoon Jiseong's smile became more distinct at Dohyeon's question instead of an answer.
“The vehicle. That car is registered under your name, Mr. Kang Dohyeon.”
Dohyeon's gaze flicked toward his half-destroyed used car. The used car had been wrecked in the shootout between the A-rank hunter and those who might have been assassins or gangsters.
“What I am curious about, though, is how Mr. Kang Dohyeon became involved in Park Tae-eun's affairs. I do not know every detail, but it does not appear that you and Park Tae-eun have any particular relationship.”
A relationship. That was right. Dohyeon had no relationship with Park Tae-eun. At most, they were a convenience-store clerk and a customer.
Then why had he stepped in? Why had he risked his life fighting Park Kangseok? To explain that, he would have to talk about the girl next door whom he had failed to save today, and before that, the Yang siblings he had saved.
Beyond that, he would have to explain Dohyeon's entire life and past. After all, everything in that past had shaped Dohyeon's choice now.
So instead of explaining all of that, Dohyeon answered briefly.
“None of your business.”
“Hmm. Well... if that's what you say...”
Despite Dohyeon's blunt attitude, Yoon Jiseong did not lose the interest in his eyes. At a glance, he almost seemed to hold fondness as well.
Nodding, he took another business card from his pocket and offered it to Dohyeon.
“I would not normally do this for an employee of another company, but please take it. Do not think of it as an attempt to poach you.”
“...An employee of another company? Me?”
As Dohyeon frowned at the card and Yoon Jiseong's words, Yoon Jiseong tilted his head as well.
“The moment headquarters' management-system AI learned about you, a warning came from Cartain Energy. It said not to carelessly investigate or harm one of their employees.
“You may not know this, but the management and security AI systems of different companies are closely connected, keeping one another in check.”
Cartain Energy. A foreign company that had recently been trying to enter Korea. Dohyeon had met people from that company before. Three in a dungeon, and one in reality.
Yoo Ahyeon, was it? She had talked about working together, and she apparently still had not given up.
Perhaps having guessed the situation from Dohyeon's expression, Yoon Jiseong's expression brightened a little.
“...Exclusive contracts for field personnel, hunters, are more complicated than one might expect and do not come easily.
“So they sometimes try to put hunters they have not secured yet into their system and manage them. It seems Cartain is pushing itself to enter Korea.”
He held the business card out to Dohyeon again.
“Please take it. There is work that needs a hunter like you.”
“...I only enter dungeons.”
“Of course, it concerns a dungeon. I only glanced at it, so I could not confirm properly, but you have over ten years of hunting experience.
“There is work that requires exactly that kind of experience and instinctive sense for dungeons. It is a dungeon that even three A-rank hunters have entered without making it back out.
“No, to be exact, not a single hunter who entered has returned. And it has been nearly three months since the dungeon gate opened.”
“...”
A dungeon from which no one, including A-rank hunters, had returned. A dungeon gate that remained open even after three months.
A dungeon that had not been deciphered.
The moment he heard that, a faint light flickered in Dohyeon's dull eyes. It was a clear light that seemed to leak out from within them. A distinct light, unlike the yellow gleam from before.
“...No one?”
“No one who went inside. It is a dungeon that not only headquarters but other companies are beginning to wonder whether they should give up on.”
“...”
After thinking for a moment, Dohyeon accepted the business card Yoon Jiseong held out. Yoon Jiseong nodded.
“I apologize once again for everything that happened today. To both of you. You need not worry about the police or the cleanup here.
“I will handle it all. Please both get some rest, and contact me whenever it is convenient. I will help with anything.”
After finishing what he had to say, Yoon Jiseong turned away. He climbed into a flying vehicle and left the factory. Once he was gone, the presences and watching gazes around him vanished as well.
Before long, only Dohyeon and Park Tae-eun remained on the factory grounds.
“...It feels like I had a dream.”
“If it was a dream, it was a nightmare.”
Dohyeon went to the damaged vehicle and rummaged through the passenger seat. Fortunately, his phone was still fine aside from a slightly cracked screen.
As he looked through the phone, Dohyeon muttered to himself.
They say to leave the cleanup to them. They should have at least sent us home first before saying that shit. Corporate bastards are all untrustworthy.
[...Then should you not have asked them to send you home while they were still here?]
Why would I trust those people? Dohyeon answered the Valkyrie's whisper, then pressed the call button. After a brief signal, a familiar voice followed.
[Hey, Dohyeon. What's going on?]
“Yes, hyung. Please send a car.”
[A car? Why a car all of a sudden? Where are you?]
As he listened to Lee Seongbaek's voice, Dohyeon looked up at the sky. The dark sky remained as dull as ever.
“An outlying factory. Where nothing but the corpses of those assholes are left...”
* * *
Irina Sørensen stood straight with her arms crossed against the railing of a tall building's rooftop.
Her gaze was fixed on somewhere distant, very distant. A place dozens of kilometers beyond this city, where a berserker and an unseen Valkyrie would be.
Originally, her goal had been to meet that warrior and identify him. She had not gone there simply to exchange names. That was not why she had used her power to help him regain his reason, either.
But in the end, they only exchanged names before she had to leave as if fleeing.
An intense gaze and pressure that seemed capable of cutting every thread in the skein she had cultivated came crashing down on her.
It had come from the Valkyrie standing behind that man.
Even Irina Sørensen could not guess what thoughts lay within the Valkyrie's gaze, which had been like a green sun.
Was it anger that her undertaking had been interrupted? Or did she think a witch had appeared to steal away her warrior?
Irina recalled the man who had transformed into a monster that she could not tell was a wolf or a bear. The only thing Irina had done with her power then was awaken the man's reason within that monster.
Reason and impulse. Consciousness and instinct. She had only glimpsed it briefly, but a storm-like chaos and conflict had been raging inside him.
And the Valkyrie standing behind him was clearly fanning that conflict between reason and instinct.
Was it a scheme of the dungeons, Yggdrasil, and Odin? Yet the Valkyrie Irina had seen was clearly a different being from them. Even so, she wore the mask of Norse mythology because...
Lost in deep thought, Irina soon let out a deep sigh. Then she took a smartphone from her pocket.
Holding the phone in one hand, she raised the index finger of her other hand and operated the screen slowly, her face tightly furrowed.
Soon, the voice she wanted came from the phone.
[Yes, Master. What is it?]
“Is the work in New York finished?”
[No, not yet. There are traces of that Odin impostor here too. We found the followers, but they set up their hideout in reality rather than inside a dungeon, so it is taking a little time.]
“I see. Come straight to Korea as soon as you are finished.”
[Ah! Did you meet that man? And see the Valkyrie? What did they turn out to be?]
Irina sighed again.
“I saw them... If we could understand everything just by looking, why would we train in seiðr...?”
As she listened to her disciple's voice on the phone, Irina looked out over the city's night.
A black, dark sky. Beneath that sky, where not a single star twinkled, stood a city adorned in dull light.
A city where only a few flying vehicles drifted through the air, while every possibility and emotion seemed to be dying beneath cold concrete and lights.
It seemed she would have to remain in this city for quite some time.
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