Holy B-Class Life

#103

“Hunter Yoon Pa-ran, you’re still fighting well,” Park Jung-hoon chimed in again. Yoon Pa-ran, able to continue the conversation naturally, turned his body completely, putting his back to Dan Joo-hyuk. He was worried Park Jung-hoon might notice his awkward reaction.

While Yoon Pa-ran was taking a moment to gather his thoughts before responding, Park Jung-hoon hurriedly continued for some reason.

“Unlike a B-rank, ah, I don’t mean to disrespect B-ranks. It’s just that your skills are exceptional…!”

His rather flustered attitude was puzzling.

Anyway, the content of his words was unusual. Yoon Pa-ran, who had actually spent all day trying to hide his skills, inwardly winced.

For now, he tried to respond casually, pretending to be at ease.

“Thank you.”

But then he found himself at a loss for words again. He wanted to say “you fought well too,” but honestly, Park Jung-hoon’s condition today had been quite poor.

As he remembered, Park Jung-hoon had seemed more skilled before. Yoon Pa-ran wondered if he was still feeling the effects of his injury, though not enough to suspect aftereffects.

“Hmm.”

“Haha. I’m not quite what I used to be.”

“Hmm…”

“It’s alright. I know you helped me twice earlier, Hunter Yoon Pa-ran.”

Indeed, Yoon Pa-ran had blocked attacks aimed at Park Jung-hoon twice today. From the first encounter, Park Jung-hoon often failed to attack properly at crucial moments. There were occasional signs that seemed to be effects of his injury.

In the end, Yoon Pa-ran, left with nothing particular to say, just nodded silently.

After a brief silence, Park Jung-hoon stared blankly at the wall and spoke again with a bitter expression.

“…Among those who survived and experienced injury aftereffects back then, I’m the only one who returned as a hunter.”

It had been a little over two months since the A-rank anomaly gate appeared in Gumun-dong.

From Park Jung-hoon’s words, it seemed he had returned to gate duty today, which was quite a long break for a hunter. Even with severe injuries, hunters recovered much faster than ordinary people thanks to heal skills and potions.

“Everyone else said they just couldn’t do it anymore. They were promising hunters with bright futures ahead of them, it’s a shame.”

Yoon Pa-ran, who had been quietly listening, rolled his eyes. He had just realized the biggest problem with this operation.

He didn’t have the natural ability to casually probe for information.

“That’s too bad.”

“Even so, it took too long to return. The injury aftereffects were so severe…”

“You’ve been through a lot.”

As Yoon Pa-ran tried his best to show agreement, Park Jung-hoon slowly raised his head.

Then, with a gentle smile, he said,

“I heard Hunter Yoon Pa-ran was unaffected. That’s really fortunate.”

“……”

For a moment, Yoon Pa-ran was at a loss for words.

Honestly, after surviving the anomaly gate, too many things had happened. Because of this, Yoon Pa-ran hadn’t paid attention to the condition of the other hunters who had survived with him.

Partly because he wasn’t close to anyone, but hearing this made him feel awkward. Especially since Park Jung-hoon had encouraged Yoon Pa-ran in his own way during that anomaly gate incident.

Finally, Yoon Pa-ran, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck, carefully asked,

“Are you okay where you were injured?”

“I believe I’ve overcome it now. But the Gate Management Office seems skeptical.”

It was exactly as Heo Sang-yeon had said. Especially since Park Jung-hoon was a survivor of the anomaly gate, he would have been under more scrutiny.

Their seizure symptoms must have been so severe that even Yoon Pa-ran, who had no symptoms, was examined several times.

“Was your condition very serious?”

“…For a while, I was terrified of nightfall. The symptoms worsened when the sun went down. Negative thoughts kept creeping in… It’s not exactly a pleasant experience to talk about.”

When Yoon Pa-ran asked without thinking, Park Jung-hoon answered with a dark expression.

Seeing his gaze drop to the floor again, Yoon Pa-ran quickly apologized.

“I’m sorry.”

Dan Joo-hyuk had been watching this interaction between Yoon Pa-ran and Park Jung-hoon from his earlier position, missing nothing.

“……”

The two had been engaged in quite a friendly conversation for a while now. Yoon Pa-ran, who would only tell Dan Joo-hyuk to stop talking when he approached, had been talking for so long.

Park Jung-hoon’s presence greatly irritated Dan Joo-hyuk.

Even during the Gumun-dong anomaly gate incident, Park Jung-hoon had shown obvious interest in Yoon Pa-ran. It was clear that he couldn’t take his eyes off Yoon Pa-ran even in life-or-death situations.

Both then and now, Yoon Pa-ran probably hadn’t noticed it. But from Dan Joo-hyuk’s perspective, Park Jung-hoon’s personal interest was quite bothersome.

Looking at him with such obviously longing eyes, how dense can he be?

“Actually, I wanted to contact you earlier, but you seemed busy.”

“I was.”

Even from a distance, their voices were clearly audible. Yoon Pa-ran was nodding earnestly at Park Jung-hoon’s unnecessary words. His light brown hair swayed gently with the movement.

Dan Joo-hyuk, who had been intently observing this, let out a soft sigh. It was puzzling to see Yoon Pa-ran listening to someone else’s words for so long, unlike his usual self.

Could it be that Yoon Pa-ran is also interested in Park Jung-hoon?

“……”

At this sudden thought, Dan Joo-hyuk’s expression hardened for a moment.

Come to think of it, Yoon Pa-ran had said earlier that he was concerned about Park Jung-hoon.

“When the system notice appeared, I was really surprised. Hunter Yoon Pa-ran…”

As Park Jung-hoon continued rambling, he lowered his gaze to the floor. When Dan Joo-hyuk noticed Park Jung-hoon’s eyes moving towards Yoon Pa-ran’s white ankles, he suddenly felt a surge of displeasure.

The item Yoon Pa-ran was wearing wasn’t particularly unusual in design, but his ankles were more visible than those of others. This was because it was originally a tunic set that included pants.

Dan Joo-hyuk’s eyes narrowed as his mood soured. When he saw Park Jung-hoon’s cheeks slightly redden while looking at Yoon Pa-ran’s ankles, he couldn’t stand still any longer.

Dan Joo-hyuk peeled himself off the wall and said firmly as he returned to the attack formation,

“Let’s move out. The next rest will be at the safe zone.”

Maybe it was because of the volcanic terrain, but the thirst was extreme.

❖ ❖ ❖

After focusing his consciousness on the monster before him, Yoon Pa-ran shook his hand forcefully.

A stream of water that formed above his head then struck the body of the last standing monster.

Crack!

With a final cry, the monster collapsed. These monsters, resembling dwarves made of lava, were smaller than other A-rank monsters but quite tricky to deal with.

Soon, the body of the now non-functional monster began to gradually harden like stone. The intense heat it had been emitting, which made it difficult to approach while it was moving, slowly cooled down.

“Quickly extract the magic stones!”

“Damn, I got burned. Potion!”

The hunters, without a moment’s rest, busily collected the magic stones before the monster’s corpse hardened further.

This was the troublesome part about monsters in volcanic terrain. However, the quality of the magic stones extracted this way was far superior to those from other gates, fetching high prices.

We’ll make quite a profit this time too.

Yoon Pa-ran moved around busily, pouring water on the hands of burned hunters. If there were any monsters not yet fully hardened and still like lava, he sprayed water on those as well.

It was fortunate that there was much to do in a gate with fire attributes and lava.

“Alright, let’s take a break now!”

“Phew… It’s so hot, I need to take off my plate armor for a bit.”

“Ask the water attribute users to pour some water on us.”

“It’s a bit better inside the safe zone. Let’s hurry in.”

Eventually, the attack team entered the safe zone. Following the path inside the crater, winding upwards, they inevitably came across broken statues midway.

The two statues were not facing the direction of the incoming attack team but were placed side by side against the wall. The wall between these statues was concave, creating a small, rounded space.

For some unknown reason, the air inside this safe zone was somewhat cooler than outside. It was still hot, but at least it didn’t feel like their lungs were burning.

It was literally a small safe zone within a volcano.

Yoon Pa-ran, who entered the safe zone almost last, plopped down in a secluded corner. Although his body had remained dry throughout, he was quite tired from the prolonged battle.

For some reason, Dan Joo-hyuk hadn’t ordered another rest until this safe zone appeared. He had originally said he would give time to inspect the gate interior at intervals, so perhaps he had discovered something different.

“Phew……”

Anyway, it was time to eat.

With a face that screamed annoyance, Yoon Pa-ran rummaged through his belongings.

“……”

Dan Joo-hyuk watched from afar as Yoon Pa-ran took out his food.

“Ugh. This is why I don’t enter gates with you.”

To be precise, he had been doing this since before Yoon Pa-ran slowly entered the safe zone. Kim Sin-cheol, who had approached to eat together, kept complaining beside him, but Dan Joo-hyuk’s gaze remained fixed on Yoon Pa-ran.

Yoon Pa-ran took out the cheapest combat ration and listlessly stirred it like a child fussy about food. He looked like he had no intention of eating it with any enjoyment.

Right. I’ve only seen him nibbling like that every time, but he ate that steak I made very well.

“……”

The image of Yoon Pa-ran eating with his cheeks bulging kept flashing through Dan Joo-hyuk’s mind. When they entered gates just the two of them, he hadn’t realized it because they didn’t spend much time inside.

It was a newfound observation, but once it caught his eye, he couldn’t ignore it anymore.

Isn’t it because he brought such poor excuse for food in the first place?

“Hey, hey…! Leave the man alone while he’s eating!”

As soon as this thought crossed his mind, Dan Joo-hyuk abruptly stood up.