The Gardener in a Hunter World - Chapter 23

Yoo Ji-Ha was sitting on a spacious sofa where he could roll around with Beom.

He had just received a call from HyeJin’s manager, Jin SooHee, and had just been picked up and brought to the mansion.

‘I understand now why you gave me 1 billion.’

According to SooHee, HyeJin was motivated to see the possibility that SeungHyuk was alive.

When she came home, she decided right away.

But Yoo Ji-Ha could not receive the money.

‘That’s not my money.’

Soon, HyeJin, who had changed into comfortable clothes, and SooHee, dressed in a suit, came out to the drawing room.

“You came. Thank you.”

Yoo Ji-Ha and Beom got up and sat down at the same time, stumbling.

SooHee handed him a cup of coffee and HyeJin sat down on the sofa across from him.

“Well… What should I say? It’s a lot of money.”

When Yoo Ji-Ha parted his lips, HyeJin waved her hand saying it was nothing.

“One billion is nothing. It’s enough just to see your potential… Rather, I thought it was not enough. Drink some coffee.”

Slurping.

‘Ugh, bitter.’

It must have been a great quality coffee, but it did not suit the taste of Yoo Ji-Ha.

He likes sweet drinks.

Perhaps seeing his wrinkled expression, SooHee got up and made a cup of sweet coffee.

Only then did Yoo Ji-Ha’s expression became more comfortable, and HyeJin put a smile on her lips.

He is a strange person in many ways.

“So… Aren’t you going to take it?”

“It’s definitely not the money I’m going to receive, but I decided to donate it because giving it back was a bit awkward. It doesn’t matter because you gave it to me, right?”

“It doesn’t matter. Where are you planning to donate?”

“Hunter Academy. It’s not much, but I’m putting it in.”

‘As far as I know you couldn’t afford it that much.’

HyeJin admired the altruistic heart of Yoo Ji-Ha a little.

His circumstances may have improved a bit now, but in the past, his wallet would have been in bad shape, but he would still give it up and donate it.

She thought, even if she gave this person 10 billion or 100 billion won, a similar answer would come out.

She made up her mind.

“Then we do this. I will donate an additional 1 billion to Hunter Academy in the name of Mr. Ji-Ha.”

“No, you don’t have to.”

“It’s okay. I am doing this because I want to.”

SooHee, who was feeding Beom with cut fruits, noticed that HyeJin was quite excited.

Is it because she found Han SeungHyuk’s artifacts?

A very small chance that he is alive… That must have given HyeJin hope.

Anyway, when she, who was no different than her younger sister, is happy, SooHee felt relieved as well.

HyeJin said to Soohee.

“Unnie, take 1 billion won from Ji-Ha-ssi and donate a total of 2 billion won to Hunter Academy.”

“Yes, I got it. Can the target audience be appropriately selected?”

“It doesn’t really matter, but, if possible, someone with a difficult situation… Right?”

nod nod.

As Yoo Ji-Ha agreed, SooHee took out her phone.

“Of course, it is. Leave it to me.”

Meanwhile, HyeJin looked at Beom with a funny expression as he swallowed the fruit SooHee had cut.

He did not refuse to let SooHee touch his paws from time to time, perhaps because she was perceived as a person who gave delicious food.

After all, a bribe must be paid to touch.

When SooHee took the tray and left, Beom, probably full, climbed up on Yoo Ji-Ha lap, curled up and groaned.

I’m envious, I’m really envious.

Didn’t he say no when he first comes in.

As if the deposit was complete, Yoo Ji-Ha sighed slightly.

He doesn’t know how much was in the original account, but most of his fortune was probably gone.

“Sigh, I’m relieved now.”

“Yoo Ji-Ha-ssi.”

HyeJin sat next to him and held his hand.

Even though he was a man, his hands were long and soft.

He was taken aback by the sudden contact, but he did not deny that he knew her true intentions.

“Thank you very much. Thanks to Yoo Ji-Ha-ssi, I… How should I say this? I think I saw a ray of light. I’m not sure yet, but I have a feeling I’ll see him again someday.”

“Perhaps, you will definitely see him again.”

HyeJin smiled slightly and let go of his hand.

“Are we friends now?”

“Um, ah… Well, you could say we’re friends.”

Not yet, but she wasn’t disappointed.

“If you need anything, just tell me. You are welcome to come here and play anytime.”

“Oh, then…”

Yoo Ji-Ha decided to ask a question at this time.

It’s about a myth class monster.

There is a story that he vaguely knows about its existence, but the information that high-level hunters have is different.

“Can I know a little bit about myth-level monsters? It’s interesting to see a monster called Theradrone on TV.”

“It’s on Mirwiki in Hunternet so I can show you.”

When she says she can show it means not say it.

After SooHee brought her laptop, she backed away, and HyeJin accessed Hunternet and entered Mirwiki.

When he clicked on the Myth class monster column, a list appeared.

‘Even Earthworm was a myth-grade monster?’

How the hell did the forest in that dream come to be?

Theradrone has already been confirmed, and several names have not been seen so far.

The strange thing is that there is no content.

“Is it empty with only the name and classification?”

“Because MirWiki is not ours. When the first dungeon was opened, it appeared together with Hunternet, but strangely, the names were updated. But there is no content. Everything was empty.

He clicked on the Theradrone, but nothing happened.

Yoo Ji-Ha was disappointed.

Still, he thought there would be great information around the secret bulletin board on Hunternet.

After reading his expression, HyeJin brought up a different story.

“This is a story handed down only to Single Numbers… It didn’t say can’t to say it, so it’ll be fine.”

“Uh… Excuse me, but HyeJin-ssi, you are not a single number, right?”

“Right now, it is like that. As I entered any dungeon, my points dropped.”

By clearing the dungeon, Hunternet points increase.

The ranking is calculated based on the points, but in the case of HyeJin, the point was lower compared to other rankers because she went to dungeons with low difficulty.

She crossed her fingers and put it on her knees.

“Back in the beginning… There are people who first awakened other than the current Single Numbers, right?”

“Yes. Awakened people who have shown tremendous power.”

“The descendants of those nine Awakened are the current single Numbers.”

Up to this point, Yoo Ji-Ha knew.

What’s important is next.

HyeJin cleared her throat with cold coffee and made a shocking remark.

“There is a saying that the current single Numbers has inherited the abilities of their ancestors and has been more powerful. That’s wrong. The power of Single Numbers, including myself, is not as good as that of our ancestors. It’s not that I lacked ability, it’s that the existence that lent power has disappeared.”

“If they lent you power, do you make a contract with them?”

“Yes. My parents and the Awakened at the time called the beings demigod. In English, it was called Demigod1… It is said that the Awakened who borrowed their power were able to exert tremendous power.”

“Half god, Demigod… I don’t know what it is, but it sounds amazing.”

Is it an illusion to somehow overlap with the existence in the book, the God of Nature and the God of Wilds?

HyeJin said while covering her laptop as if she didn’t care.

“What I have said so far is just a speculation, not definitive information. Little was known about the battle records of that time.”

“It was only 10 years ago, but it is strange that there are no battle records.”

“That means that the situation was serious at the time. I don’t know well, but it must have been terrible.”

The Seoul of the present has little resemblance to the Seoul of the past.

This is because the city has been blown away by the great war against monsters.

At that time, South Korea’s military power was enough to mark the top 10 in the world, so it was able to project a tremendous amount of firepower.

Despite this, it is said that they did not completely finish the fleeing extinction-grade monsters.

‘Maybe the awakened of each country made a contract with the demigod and killed the extinction level monsters.’

Yoo Ji-Ha sighed and rubbed Beom’s neck.

He remembered why this guy came to him.

Perhaps, during the Great War, he lost his strength by fighting monsters of extinction grade and returned to his juvenile body.

‘Then my role is… What he wants from me is…’

Yoo Ji-Ha looked down at Beom, who was groaning and sleeping soundly.

Later, when he becomes fully grown, he may be contracting with someone to lend his power.

Yoo Ji-Ha’s role is to be a forest manager and a demigod caretaker.

‘Is that what you want from me?’

The tree in the dream shone brightly, but Yoo Ji-Ha did not notice it.

 

***

 

A strange rumor circulated among ranker hunters these days.

It was rumored that HyeJin was suddenly crazy.

It’s surprising to see a person who has been only going to and from dungeons, house and shops with a cold face for years suddenly attends a social gathering.

She even greeted them first and smiled, giving the impression that the person itself has changed.

Someone posted on the free bulletin board on Hunternet.

 

Hyun SeungAh: Did HyeJin have a boyfriend?

└Park SeongHo: What man… Let’s not speak rudely. You know that HyeJin only has one person.

└Hyun SeungAh: No, I was really shocked. She smiled softly and said hello, at first, I thought I was crazy. What would you think if HyeJin treated you like that?

└Park SeongHo: …did she eat something wrong?

└Cha HwaYeon: HyeJin has a man? She can’t do that… No one is good enough, she’s a kid who only looks at her oppa.

└Bae KangMin: Well, you are secretly mocking HyeJin.

└Cha HwaYeon: You have to speak right.

└Park SeongHo: Now, I’ve heard some stories from my wife, it seems like they’re chattering that she had hope for something. What hope? Does anyone know?

└Cha HwaYeon: If you know that, what are you doing here?

└Park SeongHo: Anyway…

 

The flow of comments flowed to HyeJin must have acted because she ate something wrong.

Normally that would make them feel bad, but she’s a different star.

However, someone who knew her situation well appeared. It was SooHee.

 

└Jin SooHee: I feel uncomfortable talking about HyeJin carelessly.

└Hyun SeungAh: No, I’m not insulting her, I’m just curious, so I said it.

└Cha HwaYeon: Hunters are talking to each other, so don’t bother.

└Jin SooHee: I am also a hunter.

└Cha HwaYeon: Who doesn’t know that only patterns are Hunters? Before that person registered, you were at the bottom.

└Park SeongHo: No, why do you want to fight again? HwaYeon, let’s stop here.

└Jin SooHee: In a dungeon, she found an artifact that SeungHyuk used in the past. Because of that, so please don’t tell others that she has a man.

 

After that, SooHee didn’t comment again, and other hunters felt awkward.

 

└Hyun SeungAh: Ah… It’s driving me crazy. I can’t even remove a comment. I don’t know, I should have just called.

└Bae KangMin: But wouldn’t it be bad news if she found an artifact that SeungHyuk was using? I don’t know why she’s happy it.

└Park SeongHo: She must have found a reason for that near the artifact. Like traces of healing wounds.

└Bae KangMin: If that’s true… But where did she find it? Did she enter the dungeon yesterday?

 

HwaYeon pursed her lips and looked away from the screen.

Originally, she didn’t mean to say that, but there was a side that she couldn’t help it.

But she had no intention of apologizing to Jin SooHee.

Instead, HwaYeon gave instructions to CheolHeon.

 

—Let’s find out where and who HyeJin went into the dungeon.

 

After a while, CheolHeon typed.

 

—I have already checked. She entered the Category 3 dungeon opened two days ago… There is a record of entering again with the latecomers after clearing.

—She went in with the latecomers? What is she doing?

—I don’t know that, but you know that big cat from the general store, right?

—If it’s a general store cat, Yoo Ji-Ha?

—It would be strange to think that this was a coincidence. Why do these things only happen around him? Sometimes dungeon twist and different dimension appear but…

—He’s hiding something. I should have called 2 billion at that time.

—If it was Yoo Ji-Ha, who I saw, he would have refused 10 billion won without changing his expression.

—No way. Can he say no to 100 billion?

—Isn’t that much money a burden for us too? Well, there’s nothing we can do.

—That’s what I’m saying.

—Anyway, if he has special abilities, it wouldn’t be bad to be close to him.

—How do you get along? He says he hates money, and he only reads books every day. Do you want me to introduce him to a lady?

—I don’t think he’ll like it very much… So, he’s a troublesome guy. It’s not like there’s no other way, so I’ll look for it.

 

There the conversation was cut off.

HwaYeon was able to find the objects believed to be SeungHyuk’s artifact only after digging through Hunternet’s battle reports for a long time.

Broken armor and a sword broken in half…

Her face distorted.

She thought she barely forgot.

HwaYeon covered her face with her palms, stealing something hazy.

“Sigh…”

A long sigh filled the empty office.

And when Yoo Ji-Ha entered in his dream, he saw a large tree.

‘Why do you look a little weak.’

A fruit hanging from a tree suffering from dehydration caught his attention.