Holy B-Class Life

#005

The psychological warfare between the two had been going on for years. Kim Shin-cheol thought that while Dan Joo-hyuk was something else, Hunter Yoon Pa-ran was also quite remarkable.

Fortunately, Dan Joo-hyuk’s temperament wasn’t like it used to be. Since around the time Yoon Pa-ran became active, Dan Joo-hyuk had become docile, as if he’d lost interest in everything in the world.

Recently, it seemed he didn’t even leave his house except for gate raids. If Dan Joo-hyuk hadn’t been in this languid state, there would have been bloodshed long ago.

There had actually been many precedents.

Of course, Kim Shin-cheol wasn’t pleased with Dan Joo-hyuk’s quiet state. It felt ominous, like he was a bomb that could go off at any time.

“What do you mean by ‘one round’?”

“He picked a fight again, didn’t he?”

So recently, his doubts had only grown. Even now, after responding dismissively, Dan Joo-hyuk was staring at Yoon Pa-ran again.

Just a moment ago, he had even leaked killing intent because he found people clinging to him annoying, but uniquely towards Hunter Yoon Pa-ran…

Especially, although Yoon Pa-ran was stained with blood, he didn’t seem injured. If there had been serious friction with Dan Joo-hyuk inside, it would have been difficult for him to be unharmed like that.

Due to the questions that had been building up recently, Kim Shin-cheol asked without thinking:

“Why do you keep acting weird towards Hunter Yoon Pa-ran?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why do you keep acting like a kid bullying someone they like?”

At Kim Shin-cheol’s words, Dan Joo-hyuk reflexively frowned deeply. Looking back at his friend, Kim Shin-cheol was grinning as if he found his own words ridiculous.

It wasn’t funny at all. This time, Dan Joo-hyuk unconsciously glanced at Yoon Pa-ran in the distance again.

He frowned again as he looked at that unnecessarily pale face and large eyes.

“Hunter Yoon Pa-ran isn’t even a woman, don’t make such gross comparisons.”

“I’m saying it because that’s exactly how you’re acting.”

“I don’t have a hobby of embracing men.”

For the first time in a while, he couldn’t help but laugh. It was true that he had lived quite dissolutely in search of stimulation, but he had never touched a man.

He had never even thought about it.

“Alright, alright. My mistake.”

Kim Shin-cheol shrugged and passed over some documents.

He was still dumbfounded, but on the other hand, he could understand Kim Shin-cheol. It was true that he had been watching Yoon Pa-ran lately.

Yoon Pa-ran was peculiar in many ways.

Ordinary humans are usually overwhelmed by Dan Joo-hyuk’s presence. The same was true for hunters. Due to the rank difference, they showed even more instinctive reactions.

Even Kim Shin-cheol, an A-rank hunter who had known him for a long time, instinctively shrank back in front of him.

Despite there being such a big difference between A-rank and B-rank that it could be called an evolution.

“…”

But Yoon Pa-ran was different.

Of course, Yoon Pa-ran was wary of him too. Sometimes he acted as if he was scared, but Dan Joo-hyuk found it a bit strange. It was irritating how hard he tried to maintain distance, as if he could read Dan Joo-hyuk’s mind.

What was funnier was that even when he seemed clearly scared, Yoon Pa-ran didn’t hesitate to bare his teeth. Sometimes it was amazing how he acted as if he had several lives.

It wasn’t just towards Dan Joo-hyuk that he bared his teeth. Even with those B-rank trash from earlier, when he could have just left them alone, Yoon Pa-ran always tried to argue right and wrong.

It was very characteristic of Yoon Pa-ran. Of course, it wasn’t simply because of this that he kept prodding him gently every time.

Clearly, it seemed like he was hiding something.

At first, he observed him because it was interesting how he acted so feisty despite the rank difference. But recently, he noticed something even stranger.

The power of Hunter Yoon Pa-ran’s skills was a bit odd.

If he had to make a comparison, it was like the probability of critical hits was strange.

“Why? Did you find any resources inside?”

Kim Shin-cheol asked curiously, as Dan Joo-hyuk seemed lost in thought while holding the documents.

“No.”

Only then did Dan Joo-hyuk roughly scan the documents.

Fighting alongside Hunter Yoon Pa-ran this time, he could tell for sure. That he was hiding some ability.

However, even he found it difficult to pinpoint exactly what it was. That meant the hunters who could recognize it on Earth could be counted on one hand.

He felt his curiosity stirred a bit by this high-difficulty puzzle he hadn’t seen in a while.

Maybe that’s what he was hoping for.

“What have you been up to lately? I hear you’re just staying at home.”

Kim Shin-cheol asked carefully as he waited for Dan Joo-hyuk to sign. With a somewhat pitying look.

This too was familiar, so Dan Joo-hyuk naturally let it slide.

“Same as always.”

Life was boring. Even his hunter life, which had started at fifteen and already spanned 16 years, had eventually become tiresome.

He only felt alive at the crossroads where life and death met. Sometimes even that was bothersome.

“Is that so? Oh, I got a call.”

Kim Shin-cheol looked down at the phone he was holding. At a glance, the name that popped up was his wife’s.

“Go ahead.”

“Alright. Oh, my parents said to come over for a meal when you have time.”

“Sure.”

“Okay. I’ll contact you later.”

Kim Shin-cheol gave him one more worried look before politely answering his phone with both hands.

“Yes, honey. Yes, yes, I’ll be home soon, I just have some things left to wrap up…”

Then he nodded goodbye to Dan Joo-hyuk and walked away. The sight of him smiling so brightly at his wife’s voice was a bit irritating.

That henpecked bastard.

Dan Joo-hyuk cursed inwardly as he ran his hand through his hair again. As he turned to leave, Yoon Pa-ran naturally came into view.

Yoon Pa-ran had been talking animatedly about something with someone from the Gate Management Office for quite a while.

He had glanced at Yoon Pa-ran several times under this tent. A hunter with keen senses should have noticed, but he showed no sign of realizing Dan Joo-hyuk’s gaze.

After observing him unintentionally for years, he could tell. That Yoon Pa-ran was quite insensitive to such gazes, even for a B-rank hunter.

It was also curious how he only looked at Dan Joo-hyuk when he went up and picked a fight.

‘Why do you keep acting like a kid bullying someone they like?’

Suddenly, Kim Shin-cheol’s casual remark came to mind.

“…What nonsense.”

Dan Joo-hyuk muttered as if dumbfounded. There was no way he’d ever be involved with Yoon Pa-ran like that.

His gaze fell on the pale face again. After observing Yoon Pa-ran like that for a while, Dan Joo-hyuk turned away.

The familiar sense of ennui seemed to hang heavily on his back.

❖ ❖ ❖

“Hah…”

Yoon Pa-ran moved his tired body. The dry autumn air brushed against his cheek where blood had dried.

As soon as the gate ended, he had given a detailed account of what happened to the person dispatched from the Management Office. Of course, he hadn’t tattled about his dissatisfaction with Dan Joo-hyuk’s decision.

Vanguard hunters received danger pay.

Fortunately, things seemed to be working out. When Yoon Pa-ran actively said he should receive at least part of the vanguard danger pay, the employee said he would report it to his superiors. Yoon Pa-ran thought he should at least get some money if the job was done.

He had taken a special taxi called by the gate temporary headquarters, but he still had to walk a bit to get to the studio apartment he had reserved. He regretted choosing a place just to shower and store equipment at times like this. He should have picked a place on the main street.

But he couldn’t go straight to the orphanage. At the very least, he had to wash off the rotten-smelling blood.

The equipment he was wearing was also very dangerous. To prevent the orphanage kids from touching it out of curiosity, he kept it in a separate storage place.

[Giving good luck to test-takers! ★A-rank monster desk/chair set★ On sale until the 25th]

As he turned into an alley, he saw a banner as big as an A-rank monster’s body. Having just come from killing A-rank monsters, he wondered what test-takers had to do with monsters, but he let it slide.

It was quite noisy as there was a fairly large market attached.

“Come on, come on. Selling mana stone fragments. We’re a trusted shop with direct deals with hunter guilds!”

“Beef is cheap today! Beef so good even monsters wouldn’t notice if two people ate it! First come, first served for five people! It’s not monster meat! Don’t misunderstand!”

Passing residents occasionally glanced at him. Most seemed surprised by his bloody, rough appearance, but they didn’t pick fights.

The hunter profession had long become familiar to people. Even in this dangerous world where gates appeared from time to time.

“Phew.”

After arriving at the studio apartment, he quickly checked for intruders. It was more of a habit than anything. No thief would bother breaking into a place used by a mere B-rank hunter.

This wasn’t Yoon Pa-ran’s home. The place he considered ‘home’ was elsewhere.

Yoon Pa-ran carelessly took off his equipment and dropped it on the floor before heading straight for the shower.

“Ah…”

As he was doused with clean water, he finally felt a bit better.

Internet superstition enthusiasts might not like it, but at times like this, he was glad he had many water-related skills. It really felt good to be in contact with water like this.

If he ever gets a big house in the future, he must make sure to build a swimming pool.

Yoon Pa-ran doesn’t know the details, but they say ranks only started appearing on people’s status windows after an event called the ‘Korean Wave’.

Even now the status window is very unfriendly, but before that, they fought monsters blindly without even rank indicators. It means D-rank hunters often recklessly entered A-rank gates and died pointlessly.

Anyway, after the Korean Wave, hunters were assigned ranks simultaneously with their awakening.

But Yoon Pa-ran’s status window was a bit different.

He had an extra line in his status window that others didn’t have.

[Yoon Pa-ran]

B-rank

(A-rank ■■■ ■■)