Chapter 18

[18] Minjun, You’ve Got Game!

The gate we would be raiding today was in a busy commercial district.

Since gates appeared regardless of time or place, they occasionally popped up in bustling areas like this one.

Fortunately, it was a relatively low-ranked D-rank gate with little risk of a gate break, so the public hadn’t needed to evacuate.

“Excuse me. Are you Hunter Yoon Minjun?”

“Oh, yes. And your name is?”

“I’m Kim Junhwi. Looks like the others aren’t here yet.”

Kim Junhwi, one of the raid party members, offered me a handshake with an amiable smile.

He had such a youthful face that he looked barely old enough to be an adult, which made his contrastingly bulky muscles all the more striking.

“Have you had lunch?”

“I grabbed something quick at a convenience store. What about you, Junhwi?”

“I had a nice, filling bowl of rice soup. Won’t you get hungry?”

“I’ll be fine. I’ve packed some emergency rations in my subspace, too.”

After our brief introductions, we chatted about this and that to break the ice. Before long, two young women and a man approached us.

It wasn’t as though they had “hunter” written on their foreheads, but all three had a certain air about them.

“Are you the party for the Antman gate?”

Sure enough, they were the other hunters joining the raid.

“Sorry. We’re rather late, aren’t we? Have you been waiting long?”

“Not at all. We just got here ourselves.”

Once everyone had gathered, we briefly introduced ourselves before entering the gate.

All three were D-rank hunters in their mid-to-late twenties, and our roles made for a well-balanced party.

There was just one unusual thing about them.

“You’re all siblings?”

“Yes. Surprising, isn’t it?”

“Definitely! Wow, I guess it really does happen. It’s not every day that all three siblings awaken.”

Seo Yuhyeon, Seo Yura, and Seo Yuseon.

The three of them were siblings.

I’d naturally encountered all sorts of hunters while raiding gates, but I didn’t think I’d ever seen a case like theirs.

“I suppose you could call it a destiny bestowed by the heavens.”

Seo Yuseon, the youngest of the three, gave Junhwi and me a sly smile.

If Sia had seen that, she might have grumbled to herself, “Is that woman trying to seduce my boyfriend?”

“But three hunter siblings seem like something that would make the news. How come I don’t remember seeing an article about you?”

Good point.

Now that Junhwi mentioned it, I found it odd, too.

If I were a reporter, I wouldn’t have passed up such an interesting story.

Maybe it was just my imagination, but something bothered me.

“We did receive interview requests, but we turned them all down. None of us really enjoys that sort of attention.”

Seo Yuhyeon answered smoothly, as though he had heard the question many times before.

“Oh, I see.”

“We can talk more inside the gate if we have time. Shall we head in?”

“Sounds good.”

Before entering, we carefully checked one another’s identities as a precaution, then put on our equipment.

I also attached Sia’s specially made wearable camera over my gear before stepping through the gate.

With all our preparations complete, we began exploring in earnest.

Since we didn’t encounter any monsters right away, everyone was still cheerful and full of energy.

But not long after we left the starting point, Seo Yura, the middle sibling, approached me.

“Minjun, where did you buy that equipment?”

I’d thought she had been glancing my way ever since I took out my equipment and put it on. Apparently, my gear had attracted quite a bit of attention.

“I didn’t buy it. It was a gift.”

“A gift?”

“Yes. From my girlfriend.”

Maybe I imagined it, but the atmosphere seemed to shift slightly.

“Your girlfriend gave you all of that? Isn’t that equipment expensive?”

“I’m not sure myself, but I imagine it is.”

“Wow... I wish I could wear gear like that.”

“Your girlfriend sounds amazing.”

All four of them seemed sincerely envious.

When you thought about it, these were pieces of equipment handpicked by an actual dragon. Of course they were good.

Even I had been shocked by their effects.

I should thank Sia again the next time I saw her.

“Is your girlfriend an heiress to some business empire? Or maybe a rising star in a major guild?”

“Maybe she’s a famous celebrity. Wow, Minjun. You’ve got game.”

“Oh, it’s nothing like that.”

Since I couldn’t tell them the truth, I casually brushed it off.

“What about that wearable camera?”

“Oh, this? My girlfriend gave me this, too. She asked me to record the raid so we could watch it together afterward and look for anything I need to improve.”

Although we had been speaking quite formally until just a moment ago, Junhwi had already started calling me “bro,” making no effort to hide his envy.

He seemed like a pretty sociable guy.

The three hunter siblings seemed much the same.

However, perhaps it was my imagination, but they appeared more interested in the equipment Sia had given me than in Sia herself.

They seemed to be trying to hide it, but I could feel the two sisters repeatedly sneaking glances at my gear. Only Yuhyeon, who was leading the way, wasn’t doing it.

They must have really liked what I was wearing.

‘It’s nice that they appreciate the gear Sia gave me... but they’re being awfully obvious.’

No matter how much they liked it, being stared at like this made me uncomfortable.

Something was suspicious.

That thought brought back the conversation we’d had before entering the gate.

Three hunter siblings should have appeared in an online article or on television at least once, regardless of their ranks or classes.

I felt bad for doubting them, but something didn’t sit right.

Anyway...

As we continued walking and chatting, a group of Mega Antmen soon came into view.

“Antmen spotted at eight o’clock.”

“Junhwi, let’s charge in together.”

“We’ll provide covering fire from here.”

As we briefly discussed our strategy, I adjusted my grip on my sword, ready for battle.

‘Time to put it into practice.’

There was no one beside me to advise me on drawing out the sword’s power, but I couldn’t expect to receive guidance and assistance even in the middle of a real fight.

‘Domination and will. Those are the key words.’

Sia’s advice and Rokan’s teachings.

I needed to keep all of it in mind, draw out as much of the sword’s power as possible, and somehow discover what using Dragon Speech felt like.

Junhwi, our tank, charged in first. I joined him moments later and began swinging my sword.

Kieeeee!

As the battle began in earnest, the Antmen’s shrieks filled the air.

I swung my sword with the determination to dominate anyone who stood before me etched into my heart.

Sometimes with lofty composure, sometimes with ferocity.

“Man, you’re killing it, bro!”

At first, Junhwi had been occupied with blocking the Antmen’s attacks, but he must have found some breathing room. He casually struck up a conversation before the fight was even over.

“You too, Junhwi.”

He grinned at my reply, then darted around even more energetically, blocking attacks. Meanwhile, the three siblings actively supported us from the rear.

Their healing, buffs, and ranged attacks all came at just the right moments.

Naturally, the Antmen didn’t simply take our attacks without fighting back. But the difference in strength was so great that we finished the battle without sustaining any serious damage.

Once the fight was over, we collected the loot and decided to catch our breath.

“I had my doubts, but I guess they really are Antmen, bro.”

We hadn’t agreed to be particularly familiar with each other, yet Junhwi once again called me “bro” as naturally as could be.

Come to think of it, he’d been doing that almost since we entered the gate.

“Sorry?”

“You were killing them so easily, I thought they might just be regular ants.”

When I looked puzzled, Junhwi added the explanation with a straight face.

“Oh, you’re exaggerating... but thank you.”

“Come on, bro. No need to be so formal with me.”

Whatever else he might be, this guy certainly knew how to get along with people.

“Hmm. Would you mind if we waited until after the raid?”

“Oh, sure. Whatever makes you comfortable. You three are all older than me, too, so feel free to talk casually.”

This time, Junhwi turned his attention to the Seo siblings.

He struck up a conversation with them just as warmly as he had with me.

“We’ll wait until after the raid, too.”

“Sure, no problem.”

“Sorry, but I need to step away for a moment.”

Whether Junhwi’s chattiness was getting a little overwhelming or she genuinely needed to go, Yuseon excused herself.

“I’ll go with you.”

Yura followed her younger sister.

“Since we’re taking a break anyway, I’ll use the bathroom, too. I’ll be right back.”

Then even Yuhyeon, our party leader, left.

With all three Seo siblings gone at once, Junhwi and I exchanged awkward looks.

“Junhwi.”

“Yes, bro?”

“Have you noticed anything strange about those three?”

Since they were all away, I took the opportunity to whisper to him.

“Strange? Like what?”

I told Junhwi what had been bothering me about the Seo siblings.

For starters, I’d never heard of them despite how rare it was for three siblings to all become hunters. Then there was the way they had been staring so openly at my equipment.

And maybe I was imagining things, but all three of them leaving at once gave me a bad feeling, too.

“I don’t know. I didn’t really notice anything.”

Junhwi apparently didn’t share my concerns.

Was I being overly sensitive? Was I reading too much into things that meant nothing?

‘I don’t think so.’

Even though Junhwi hadn’t noticed anything, I couldn’t shake that uneasy feeling.

“...”

Perhaps it had been too heavy a topic to bring up during a break, because the atmosphere grew even more awkward.

Continuing the conversation didn’t seem like a good idea.

I might as well spend the rest of the break swinging my sword and getting a better feel for it.

***

In a patch of bushes two or three hundred meters away from Minjun...

After making sure no one was watching, the two sisters lowered their voices and whispered.

“What do you think?”

“Hell if I know. Looks like it’ll be fucking tough.”

They had supposedly left to relieve themselves, but neither showed any sign of doing so.

Their gestures were furtive and cautious, their voices hushed.

They looked exactly like villains plotting something.

“When the hell is he getting here? We don’t have much time.”

“Fuck if I know. Is that bastard having a smoke?”

“Ugh, that fucking chimney. He couldn’t hold off for a few minutes?”

If they had only come to use the bathroom, why were they waiting for their older brother?

Hadn’t they headed in opposite directions, too?

“You’re the smokers, you damn chimneys. I quit.”

Yuhyeon finally joined them, and the two sisters glared at him as though they had bitten into something foul.

“Sure. And a dog will stop eating shit.”

“Smoking’s still a hundred times better than cheating on a bunch of women at once like you do.”

Yuhyeon raised his middle finger and growled at them, but the women ignored him as though it were nothing.

“We don’t have time, so get to the point. Are we robbing them today or not?”

“Of course we are. Kim Junhwi, or whatever his name is, doesn’t look like much, but that Yoon Minjun bastard’s a gold mine. Looks like he’s decked out head to toe in fancy gear.”

Yuseon looked like a hyena that had spotted a plump meal. Beside her, Yura gave a lewd laugh.

“Maybe he’s a pretty boy being kept, not some rich young master. Bet he hooked himself a rich older sucker, not a girlfriend.”

Though they had disguised themselves as ordinary hunters, the three were actually villains who had been wanted for the past few weeks.

They were all wanted for the same crime.

Robbery and murder inside gates.