Chapter 146

I didn’t comb the whole city for it; I just searched for a restaurant with private rooms and went to the first one that popped up, and the food was actually pretty decent.

Im Haekyung acted like he had a lot of complaints at first, but once he got his “free pass on emotions,” he quietly started eating. Maybe he was managing his image, because he even added a soft “thank you” every time to the staff explaining each course.

‘Crazy bastard.’

Whether Sung Uijae hated sharing a table with Im Haekyung or he just didn’t understand my consideration, he kept fidgeting in front of his food, taking little jabs at it.

“Not eating?”

Curious what the hell he thought he was doing at the table, I asked, and Sung Uijae openly furrowed his brow and set down his utensils.

“...If I’m not misunderstanding the conversation, didn’t our talk get cut off in the middle?”

I stared at him and put the last piece of steak in my mouth. He raised an eyebrow and met my eyes head-on. It was the face of a man full of complaints, no matter who looked at it.

After I finished chewing and swallowed, I offered a straightforward apology.

“Sorry. My brain doesn’t work when I’m hungry.”

“...So, you feel a little full now?”

They give out portions like tasting spoons—why would I be full? Even if I stole the meals of the two S-ranks sitting across from me, I doubted I’d be full, but I answered roughly.

“I can manage.”

“Huh.”

At my answer, he just snorted without a proper retort.

‘Well, it’s not exactly delightful.’

Im Haekyung, too, slowly emptied his plate and turned his full attention this way. There was a certain amount of interest in his eyes.

‘Hmm.’

What Uijae wanted explained wasn’t just the Hunter Market that Im Haekyung runs.

‘It’s closer to demanding an explanation for why I went out of my way to create this situation.’

Why did I set this up knowing both he and Im Haekyung would be pissed?

I’d summed it up as “efficiency,” but there were more granular reasons inside that.

First off, meeting an S-rank one-on-one was a big risk in itself. In this state, I wouldn’t even want to see the soft-hearted Kwon Taehan alone; much less set up separate one-on-one appointments with S-rank hunters infamous for having a shit personality and hope nothing happened.

At least with Im Haekyung, he’s currently cooperative with me and has an outward social standing that provides minimum cover, but that wasn’t the case with Sung Uijae.

‘And I don’t know his intent.’

As for why Im Haekyung wanted to get close to me... well, given time, it’s gradually become visible.

‘It’s fun.’

He runs the #1 guild in the country, he himself is S-rank, and just the info he knows through various channels is overwhelming—so how fun must it be to face something his own head can’t make sense of?

If I were him, whether it was doing background digs or using Mental Domination, I’d see it through to the end... which is to say it’s common-sense inferrable. The goal is to hit dopamine and curiosity at the same time.

Then what about Sung Uijae? Is he also here to chase dopamine?

‘No.’

If he were the impulsive type who wanted to fill his dopamine meter, he would’ve come looking at least once while I was ignoring his messages. And in the original work, too... separate from the fact that his personality’s not great, he wasn’t some psychopath.

But that didn’t mean he wasn’t dangerous.

He’s the guy who exposed the beast in my palm at our first meeting and figured out my emotion skill was busted.

Other than Do Yehyun, he’s the only one who knows my secret—and the fact I can’t control him made it worse. Plus, the way he kept tossing me useless messages seeking a meeting... yeah, dedication and obsession were overflowing on both sides.

‘What’s the intent?’

The intent he stated was “I want to get close”... but sorry, I at least have the intelligence not to take that kind of bullshit at face value.

‘Then is it that a beast-fusion hunter piques his interest?’

But if so, he wouldn’t only know about me. That doesn’t explain why he’s pestering me specifically.

And for someone who supposedly coveted beasts, his actions didn’t show he was all that ardent about them. When I checked out the sightings just in case, everything was crap like this:

[Chatter] Sightings of Sung Uijae blowing up on SNS

(photo)

(photo)

(photo)

lmao

Looks like Sung Uijae really just wanders around Korea all day after coming here

71 comments

– Huh? lol this is killing me isn’t he ever going back to Australia? That YouT*ber thing was ridiculous ㅠㅠ his lukewarm reaction had me dying lolol

– lmfaooooooooooooo

– What do you even do in Korea lolololol

– When he first came people were raging about “he’s stirring up Gate drama, domestic Gate pie gets stolen, chaos, restrict S-ranks’ entry/exit,” but what he’s actually done in Korea: got caught by a YouTber while doing a convenience-store mukbang, got photographed wandering some f**ing no-name tourist spots no Korean ever goes to, went to a BBQ joint alone and did a food-challenge. That’s it.

└ I’m dying

└ lololololololololololol

└ Please stop I’m literally dying laughing

└ Uijae, Korea tastes sweet, right? Come back, we’ll treat you well lol

– He’s not even ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) a Korean hunter anymore so stop sucking him off, it never ends

└ ?

└ What are you talking about?

└ This place was never only about domestic hunters—no idea why people are only harsh to him lol

It was the first and last post I saw; I didn’t bother searching more. You can see the pattern from one—why read more?

In the end, combining info my own way, the purpose I derived looked like this:

‘Escape?’

He himself said it: if he goes back to Australia, all kinds of people will come looking for him.

‘Is that a positive offer, though?’

Whatever else, there had to be a reason an S-rank hunter—who can overwhelm most hunters—specifically bought an item that nullifies skill activation.

‘In the original he used it on Im Haekyung... but that was the “Uijae move” at the time; there’s got to be some other intent.’

Of course, it was only conjecture, and there was also the chance he’s just a friendless dweeb who decided to stick around Korea.

But wanting to go into a shady hidden night market? That implies a purpose of its own.

I watched him quietly, sorted my thoughts, and opened my mouth at an easy pace.

“First...”

“......”

“I’ll start by apologizing. I’m sorry.”

“...?”

He froze like someone who’d just heard something he never expected. I wiped the moisture from my hands and continued calmly.

“It might’ve been urgent for you, but I think I ignored your messages too one-sidedly.”

“...Why are you apologizing?”

“Because people who do something wrong should apologize.”

Even saying something utterly common-sensical, his face stayed puzzled.

“Common sense... By that logic, shouldn’t you first say you’ll actually read my messages?”

“At any rate, I’m sure there are various complaints about me calling you both together this time.”

“Huh... and if I have complaints?”

Instead of making a promise I couldn’t keep, I ignored his line and, though he looked like he had a lot to say, he shut his mouth to listen. I thought briefly about how to phrase it, then just gave the short conclusion.

“Bear with it.”

“What?”

In an instant, a faint anger colored his face. I lifted the corners of my mouth lightly and moved on to the actual “explanation.”

“This—”

“Hunter Sung.”

“......”

“To be frank, meeting you one-on-one is burdensome in several ways.”

I mean, who in their right mind wants to meet an S-rank hunter alone?

I tapped the table lightly as I went on.

“Well, I can guess about half of what you’re suspecting. But strictly speaking, I’m a low-rank hunter... an empath who doesn’t get physically involved.”

“You?”

“Sure. Or did you think I was an S-rank hunter or something?”

“......”

“If we meet one-on-one, how am I supposed to know what will happen to me personally? And your recent moves aren’t exactly normal either.”

I deliberately clenched and opened my gloved right hand and subtly showed him my palm. After confirming his gaze pinned itself to it, I continued naturally.

“I get that you’re in a foreign country and don’t have friends... but I personally have a chronic condition where I can’t get chummy with high-rank hunters. For people we’ve only met once, you message a hell of a lot, don’t you think?”

He answered by meeting my eyes again. What he was thinking... who knows.

“So what’s the conclusion? You brought the Haeseong guild master to keep me in check?”

Mm, that’s accurate.

I kept silent to mean “yes.”

If I confirmed I was on good terms with Im Haekyung, then even if he later felt like killing me, he’d at least think twice.

In short, I brought a neighborhood big brother because I was afraid of getting my face rearranged.

Reading my intent from my silence, he let out a disbelieving laugh.

“Look... I have no intention of harming you.”

“Yeah, but I can’t fully believe that.”

“I thought it’d be good to maintain a moderate friendship.”

“If that’s the case, I’m fine with that too.”

But people’s malice isn’t that easy to read.

I looked at him quietly and smiled.

“I’m trying to make a good impression on you, Hunter Sung.”

Honestly, I’m opening up the night market entrance for him by cutting a deal with Im Haekyung without getting anything from Uijae separately... how is that not a favor?

***

After we finished eating, we headed to the night market. I hadn’t meant “today” right away, but Im Haekyung, who’d been listening to our conversation with interest, suggested we go immediately.

Me? If the lord of the night market says go, I can’t argue. And since Uijae was docile too, everything moved swiftly.

“Get in.”

After we split from the restaurant and roughly agreed to meet at the night market, I jerked my chin and had him get in my car. We parted from Im Haekyung, who’d brought his own car, with the plan to meet in front of the market.

As we drove, he spoke in a slightly disgruntled voice.

“Hey, Hunter Seo. Am I scary to you?”

“Of course.”

“You don’t look the slightest bit that way.”

What are you saying? An S-rank hunter fixates on you like this—who wouldn’t be scared? I held back a snort, turned into an empty alley, and pulled over at the curb.

Screech—the tires gave a light drag, and he asked in a flat voice,

“What are you doing?”

“Oh, we were going to get there too fast.”

He seemed to be misunderstanding, but bringing Im Haekyung along didn’t mean I didn’t want to talk to him. If anything, it was the opposite.

I grinned and turned my eyes his way.

“Let’s talk. There’s a lot to say.”

“......”

“Honestly, I set this up to talk with you, Hunter Sung. You figured that much out, right?”