LIGHTNOVELWORLD 67. Reunion (4)
“Now, this field here…”
Just as Shin-ju smirked and was about to elaborate while pointing at the gate, someone suddenly popped out.
“Hey, Cha Taeyang! Why are you so late? I came out on my precious day off, and…”
“I was just setting the mood, and who are you?!”
Shin-ju exploded in anger at the sudden interruption. A boy wearing the Seoul Training Center uniform flinched at the unexpected outburst.
Cha Taeyang stepped in front of the boy protectively.
“Unni, he’s someone I know.”
“Oh, really?”
“I-I’m Jo Sung-hyun, 10th batch of Seoul Training Center.”
“Ah, so you’re a junior? Hello, I’m Park Shin-ju from the 6th batch.”
At the word “junior,” Jo Sung-hyun straightened his back and saluted Shin-ju. Shin-ju, who had been casually looking him over, waved her hand dismissively.
“Shoo, I hate this kind of thing.”
“I-I’ve heard a lot about you…”
“It’s the ill-mannered Mr. Kim!”
The goblin, who had been excited since signing earlier, bounced up and landed on Jo Sung-hyun’s shoulder. It then moved around his body, from his head to his shoulders to his nose bridge, as if teasing him.
“Still as ill-mannered as ever! You should greet people first when you meet them!”
“What? You little bell, are you done talking?”
“Ill-mannered and dull Mr. Kim! I’m not a little bell, I’m—Eek! Taeyang, save me!”
“Jo Sung-hyun, just you dare touch Sori!”
The goblin screaming and running away, Jo Sung-hyun chasing the goblin, and Cha Taeyang chasing Jo Sung-hyun—the sudden chaotic chase scene was enough to make one’s soul leave their body.
I never expected to meet Jo Sung-hyun like this. I heard that Thursdays, when outsiders visit, are rest days for the entire training center… Did he perhaps contact Cha Taeyang separately? It seems their relationship is better than I thought.
As I watched the children with a fond expression, Shin-ju, who had approached without me noticing, rested her elbow on my shoulder.
“Hmm, seems like you know that kid too?”
“Cha Taeyang Hunter’s first field operation was with cadet Jo Sung-hyun, me, and Hunter Seo Young-woon. The four of us worked together.”
“That Cosmic Gate incident?”
“Ah, yes. That one.”
“Hooh, how’s his skill?”
When I answered that although he’s a bit short-tempered, he’s far above his peers as expected of a training center graduate, Shin-ju grinned like a snake.
“Now that’s good news to my ears.”
“Park Shin-ju. You stay put. Don’t think anything, don’t do anything. Got it?”
“I don’t want to.”
Shin-ju may seem rational at first glance, but she tends to act impulsively in strange ways, so caution is necessary.
Before I could grab Shin-ju due to an uneasy feeling, she quickly escaped and stopped the two who were still bickering.
“Hey, you little ones.”
“Shin-ju-unni?”
“Sunbae?”
“Aren’t you done playing house yet?”
Shin-ju dragged the children into a building set up in front of the gate. The goblin, left alone, rolled towards me.
“Why is that Mr. Kim acting like that?”
“I don’t know either.”
“Aren’t you friends? And yet you don’t know?”
“They say you can know ten fathoms deep in water, but not one fathom deep in a person’s mind.”
“What a profound answer! Mr. Kim, you’re quite wise despite your young age.”
I picked up the goblin praising me as if I were endearing and followed Shin-ju and the children. Shin-ju’s voice could be heard through the door marked “Waiting Room.”
“Hong Yun-jae! I heard you got married, your face looks brighter!”
“Haha, really? Everyone’s been saying that.”
Before I could fully open the door, the goblin jumped from my hand and rolled towards Cha Taeyang. It seemed to want to take Cha Taeyang’s side, who was already arguing with Jo Sung-hyun again.
“Come on in! This is Hong Yun-jae, my junior from the training center by one year. And this is Yun Gaho, my friend and Cha Taeyang Hunter’s mentor.”
“Hello, I’m Hong Yun-jae. I work as a gate manager in the exam room.”
“I’m Yun Gaho.”
A man, half-folded by Shin-ju’s arm around his shoulder despite being much taller than her, greeted us.
“You picked a good day to come. We haven’t had such a slow day in months. Your sunbaes are the last ones today.”
“No wonder it seemed empty. Can I do the explanation?”
“Of course.”
Shin-ju gestured for the arguing children to come over. Hong Yun-jae, standing next to her, put down the file he had been holding on the table.
“Now, kids. What was the name of this field again?”
“The Ninety-Nine Branch Cave!”
“That’s right. It’s the qualification exam site for the Seoul-Gyeonggi branch and a uniquely exceptional field in many ways. Among hunters, it’s also famous as the ‘Gate That Never Closes’.”
Cha Taeyang’s eyes widened in surprise at Shin-ju’s words.
It’s common knowledge even among children that a gate closes when the objective presented upon entering a field is achieved. But the Ninety-Nine Branch Cave was a bit different from other fields.
“The Ninety-Nine Branch Cave has no clear objective.”
“There are fields like that?”
“It’s the only exception in the whole world. It’s classified as a fixed field for now, but it’s actually quite different from others.”
As Shin-ju explained, Hong Yun-jae opened the first page of the file. A table of contents listing cave numbers and names from Cave 1 to 98 was written out.
“This field has ninety-eight sub-fields. Sixteen caves open randomly every day except Thursday.”
The goblin, perched on Cha Taeyang’s crown, jumped up and asked.
“Mr. Kim, I have a question!”
“You’re wondering why there are only ninety-eight caves despite the name?”
“Wow, how did you know? You’re a mystical Mr. Kim!”
“The reason is…”
As Shin-ju lowered her voice as if about to reveal a great secret, the goblin gulped.
“We don’t know either.”
“Eck, what’s that! That’s totally no fun!”
“No fun? Ahaha, where did you learn such words?”
Shin-ju burst into laughter at the unexpected word choice. The goblin proudly answered that it learned it from something called Telmegi.
“For the first few years, we searched this place thoroughly, thinking we might be able to close this field if we found the ninety-ninth cave. But it never appeared. So we gave up.”
Shin-ju slapped the file on the table with her palm.
“Now, back to the main point. If all the monsters in the rooms that open every day aren’t defeated, there’s what we call an ‘overflow’ where monsters spill out. It’s an extremely tricky field that only results in losses because the rewards are so stingy despite the difficulty.”
“Shin-ju-unni, does that mean nothing happens on Thursdays?”
“Good question! On Thursdays, you can choose and open any room you want.”
“So that’s why it’s used as an exam site!”
Shin-ju patted Cha Taeyang’s head as she continued her explanation.
“The caves range from A to E rank. You can choose which cave to enter based on the descriptions in this file. Ah, but nothing below B rank. According to exam regulations, you can’t choose a rank more than two levels below your own.”
Hong Yun-jae, who had been quietly observing Shin-ju, asked casually.
“You’ll be accompanying her, right sunbae?”
“Nope. He’ll be going in instead of me.”
“Huh? You mean me?”
Jo Sung-hyun, suddenly singled out without warning, jumped to his feet. I was equally surprised. When I turned to look at Shin-ju, she grinned pretending not to notice.
“Why are you so surprised? That’s what you came for, isn’t it?”
“Well, that’s true, but… What about you, sunbae?”
“I’m going to play with our Gaho.”
“What?”
Despite all eyes turning to her, Shin-ju remained composed. Instead, she brazenly smiled and handed the file over to Jo Sung-hyun.
“You guys decide for yourselves.”
“Unni, what’s an accompaniment?”
“Oh, sorry, sorry. I’ll explain.”
The limit for all caves in the Ninety-Nine Branch Cave is two people.
Exam takers can enter with an assistant to help them. If they want, they can go with a gate manager waiting at the exam site, but usually, they go with their mentor.
Cha Taeyang and I had planned to ask Shin-ju to take on that role because of our large rank difference.
‘And she says she’s going to play with me. This girl, surely…’
Shin-ju, who had told us to discuss and decide on a cave, came running towards me. I moved one step to the right to avoid her, but Shin-ju was persistent.
As Jo Sung-hyun began discussing with Cha Taeyang with a grin, Hong Yun-jae, with his hand on his forehead, approached Shin-ju who was clinging to my waist.
“Sunbae, please save me.”
“When did I say I was going to kill you?”
“Someone who’s neither the examinee Cha Taeyang Hunter nor the accompaniment is entering. This is grounds for a written reprimand.”
“I don’t think so. There’s nothing problematic about it according to the regulations.”
“Park Shin-ju.”
Shin-ju, who had been glibly reciting the relevant regulations, closed her mouth at my call. I removed her arms from my waist and met her eyes.
“What are you up to all of a sudden?”
“Don’t say such hurtful things like ‘up to something’.”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“Well, I just want to do a cozy field run with you after so long.”
“Didn’t I tell you not to act impulsively?”
I smacked Shin-ju on the head. Even though I hit her despite being a lower rank, it probably didn’t even tickle, but Shin-ju deliberately exaggerated her pain.
“This runaway train…”
Once Shin-ju starts being stubborn… it’s impossible to persuade her. Hong Yun-jae, who had initially firmly refused, eventually gave in to Shin-ju’s persistence and said she could do as she pleased.
“If the higher-ups say anything, just tell them it’s because of me. They’ll probably just accept it then?”
“I know nothing about this, really!”
“Our junior is so nice, so nice.”
I could imagine how Shin-ju must have behaved at the training center without even seeing it.
I was flustered at suddenly having to enter the field, but probably not as much as Hong Yun-jae, the manager of this place.
Seeing his face become haggard in such a short time, I sent him a halfhearted consolation.
And then his face darkened once more.
“Sunbae.”
“Hm?”
“Surely not all of your guild members are like this, right?”
“Hahah, they’re mostly like this!”
The children, who had opened the 49th page, smiled brightly and innocently.