Holy B-Class Life

#028

The next day.

Thanks to quickly securing a security company, Yoon Pa-ran hurriedly applied to enter a gate. Normally it would have taken a few more days, but he was able to get assigned to a gate right away.

There were even multiple options. It really seemed like gates were appearing explosively.

After some consideration, Yoon Pa-ran chose a B-rank gate. There was an A-rank option and the manager subtly recommended it, but he had his own reasoning.

Although the security company had arrived, he wanted to reduce the time spent in gates for a while. Moreover, in this emergency situation, he calculated that Dan Joo-hyuk wouldn’t come down to B-rank gates.

However, he encountered Dan Joo-hyuk right in front of the B-rank gate.

“Why are you here?”

“That’s quite a welcoming face.”

And this was someone who should have gone to an S-rank gate just yesterday.

“You, no, why did you come to this gate?”

If that gate-loving guy was going to enter a different gate, Yoon Pa-ran had assumed it would naturally be an A-rank gate. If the Gate Management Office was thinking properly, that would be the most efficient assignment.

Yoon Pa-ran didn’t think Dan Joo-hyuk would have followed him to a gate like this. Rather, that’s why he was more worried.

Is the current situation really under control?

“Hunter Yoon Pa-ran.”

At that moment, Dan Joo-hyuk tilted his face and looked directly at him. He even took a big step closer.

Yoon Pa-ran tensed up at that rigid voice. They weren’t even close enough for this kind of conversation, yet he had said something unnecessary.

However, contrary to his concerns, Dan Joo-hyuk made an unexpected expression.

An annoying face, as if he found Yoon Pa-ran quite pitiful.

“Is it strange that I came to a gate?”

Even his tone was imitating that sentiment quite convincingly. Yoon Pa-ran, facing him, could see through it precisely. But the surrounding hunters apparently couldn’t.

Surprisingly, those watching the two converse started murmuring.

“Did he just ask Dan Joo-hyuk why he came to a gate?”

“Is it an after-effect of his injury?”

“…Didn’t that Yoon Pa-ran nearly die in an anomaly gate? What if he goes berserk inside?”

A vein popped on his forehead as he heard them start worrying about their own safety. Once again, he had fallen for Dan Joo-hyuk’s tricks, but he held back this time.

Thanks to the money Dan Joo-hyuk had deposited yesterday, he was able to immediately hire a quite decent security company.

It seemed to be payment for the lip contact on the day of the contract. The self-loathing was tremendous, but at a time when money was never enough no matter how much you had, he just overcame it with force of will.

Dan Joo-hyuk contacted him a few more times as if to explain that, but he hadn’t managed to reply. He had been running around without a moment’s rest trying to find a security company. Due to the recent system message, finding a security company was harder than defeating a boss monster.

But still…

“Damn it…”

Is it really okay for an S-rank hunter to be at a mere B-rank gate in this situation?

Am I the only sane one? Does no one else think?

“Well. After finishing this gate, I’ll go straight into an A-rank gate.”

Fortunately, Dan Joo-hyuk returned to his usual smiling face as he spoke.

Seeing him give a proper answer made Yoon Pa-ran even more irritated. It meant he had known exactly what Yoon Pa-ran meant from the beginning.

“Sigh…”

Still, Yoon Pa-ran took a deep breath, trying to swallow his anger.

Somehow. I got angry for nothing.

Feeling embarrassed, he just wanted to end the conversation. For some reason, the back of his neck felt a bit hot.

This is why it doesn’t help to worry unnecessarily for too long.

Anyway, it was good to know that the Gate Management Office had a proper plan. Yoon Pa-ran wanted to preserve his siblings’ daily lives as much as possible.

“Hmm. We have some time left.”

At that moment, Dan Joo-hyuk took another step closer and tilted his head.

Just then, an official from the Gate Management Office was gathering the hunters in a large group, so Yoon Pa-ran asked quizzically.

We have no time left at all, what fresh nonsense are you trying to say now?

“What?”

“Want to come to the car with me for a bit?”

Yoon Pa-ran, who had been blankly looking up at Dan Joo-hyuk without realizing it, soon frowned.

Just thinking about getting in a car alone with that guy made his face feel strangely hot.

“Are you crazy? Don’t even think about it.”

Half jumping up, Yoon Pa-ran immediately scowled. He even put on a fierce expression as if he would bite him right away.

There was already a lot of attention on them. He didn’t even want to imagine what kind of wild speculations would fly if he suddenly went to a car alone with Dan Joo-hyuk.

It was also sad that any speculation would probably be tamer than the reality.

“What are you doing! Come on!”

Yoon Pa-ran turned around sharply and strode towards the official. Dan Joo-hyuk, already the natural party leader, wasn’t coming, so the official’s pleading gaze felt like it would burn a hole in Yoon Pa-ran’s face.

It was an absurd proposal in many ways. As he walked, he realized that Dan Joo-hyuk had said it to mess with him again.

To play such tricks in this situation.

“…Alright.”

He heard a reply from behind but ignored it. Instead, he unconsciously counted the number of hunters gathered in front of the B-rank gate.

The numbers have decreased a lot.

Less than half of the regulated number of hunters were gathered in front of the gate. Moreover, except for Yoon Pa-ran and Dan Joo-hyuk, they were all D-rank.

The capable high-ranking hunters would be resting after entering the two S-rank gates that had appeared recently. The Gate Management Office’s strategy was to process gates quickly by putting in the maximum number of hunters.

Still, counting the numbers, it seemed they could barely manage to clear it. They had probably reduced the numbers as much as possible, trusting in Dan Joo-hyuk, the S-rank hunter.

This meant that Dan Joo-hyuk’s role inside the gate would be crucial.

As he finished counting, cold sweat naturally ran down his back. He belatedly wondered if he had been too blatant in ignoring that guy.

However, Yoon Pa-ran soon frowned again and swallowed his curses. Who told him to do such unnecessary things?

“Entering.”

Dan Joo-hyuk, who had somehow taken the lead at the gate, spoke briefly before going inside.

Watching his back, Yoon Pa-ran felt somewhat relieved. He loves gates so much, surely he won’t try to mess around.

However, contrary to that hope, that day’s gate was like hell.

All because of Dan Joo-hyuk, who was charging more fiercely than the monsters.

“Hah…”

By the time the gate was ending, Yoon Pa-ran had to grit his teeth and suspect. Could it be that he was getting revenge for what happened earlier?

❖ ❖ ❖

Several days passed after that.

Enough time had passed for the anger from the B-rank gate he had entered with Dan Joo-hyuk to be sufficiently diluted. Yoon Pa-ran had been truly busy these past few days.

“Whew…”

After dealing with the boss of a C-rank gate, Yoon Pa-ran wiped the sweat from his forehead. Even for a C-rank gate, the boss was never an easy opponent.

Especially this boss was a higher species that even used skills despite being C-rank. Usually, only A-rank or higher boss monsters showed off higher species abilities, so it was absurd.

Fortunately, it didn’t have a bad compatibility with Yoon Pa-ran’s water skills. He carefully intercepted and attacked the fireballs that the monster occasionally shot out.

No more monsters detected inside.

The status window also informed him that the boss monster had been completely neutralized and the gate conquest was over.

Yoon Pa-ran glanced at the hunters behind him and declared,

“We’ll take a short break and then start collecting byproducts and magic stones.”

Then, feeling awkward, he rubbed the tip of his nose a little.

Trying to be polite in his own way made him feel like a scale had grown on the tip of his tongue. Still, after acting as party leader several times, he had improved compared to the beginning.

For the first time since becoming a hunter, Yoon Pa-ran had been continuously taking on the role of party leader in recent gate entries.

“Damn, we survived!”

“Wow, was that a higher species? Crazy, why is a higher species appearing in a C-rank gate?”

The D-rank hunters all lay down on the ground and complained.

He had also been very frightened when the boss monster was shooting fireballs. But since they had finished well, he tried to act composed.

His sudden repeated assignment as party leader was the Gate Management Office’s decision. In fact, given Yoon Pa-ran’s rank and years of experience, it would have been normal for him to have party leader experience.

However, once Yoon Pa-ran had gained confidence in his skills to some extent, he used to only choose A-rank or higher gates. That was because it allowed him to earn the most money for the time invested. Since A-rank gates were usually led by A-rank or higher hunters, he had never had to be a party leader until now.

Recently, he had applied for C-rank in a fit of anger to avoid encountering Dan Joo-hyuk, but it had an unexpected effect. The Gate Management Office official had brightened up, saying they had found one more person capable of being a party leader, so he couldn’t withdraw.

Because of that, he had been incredibly busy in recent gates. It was very different from the times when he just had to fight in his assigned position.

I’m tired.

Rubbing his brow, Yoon Pa-ran sheathed his sword. The more he thought about it, being a party leader was too much hard labor for him. He disliked the complexity of having to think about attack formations and such.

Wouldn’t it be better to go to A-rank gates consecutively?

“Hah…”

Especially in this gate, the proportion of rookie hunters was too high. Already, except for himself, they were all D-rank hunters, so he had been constantly on edge.

Dan Joo-hyuk managed to do this well every time.

Yoon Pa-ran, who was considering Dan Joo-hyuk’s hardships just the tiniest bit, slowly ran his hand through his hair. After that B-rank gate where Dan Joo-hyuk had charged through like a madman, he hadn’t encountered him again.

In the meantime, Dan Joo-hyuk had tried to contact him several times. However, even that had been quiet for the past two days.

Probably given the situation, that guy must be working hard on conquering other high-rank gates too.