FTE 004

Fortunately, another guy from the agency came and recognized Hyeongmin. He was also talkative despite his large frame, so they seemed to be well-matched. I moved as far back into the corner as possible.

“Ah, shit.”

It wasn’t even nine o’clock yet, but my first partner of the year turned out like this. It didn’t start well. I constantly fidgeted with the rosary on my wrist, the Buddhist prayer beads, and a gold thread bracelet that I received somewhere while eating Mashed Potato chips.

However, it shouldn’t have been like this. Instead of eating, I should’ve just left this place.

“Can I sit here?”

The person had already pulled out a chair and sat down when he asked. It was Chae Won-u.

His tone was unique, so I could recognize it just by hearing his voice.

“Did you sleep well?”

I wanted to tell him a blatant lie that ‘yes’, but Chae Won-u spoke first. Last night, Chae Won-u didn’t return to the room.

“Yes, somehow.”

“You slept well even though I wasn’t here?”

“What do you mean? I’m sleepy.”

“Weren’t you supposed to stay up all night worrying about your partner?”

To my astonishment, I started coughing violently. Chae Won-u watched me blankly without doing anything, not even giving me water. Just as I thought I might burst from holding back laughter, I picked up an empty cup to get some water when…

“Oh.” Chae Won-u touched my cup. Instantaneously, a small whirlpool formed at the bottom of the cup, quickly filling it with clear water.

“Drink it. It’s tested as grade 1 water.”

First… First things first, let’s solve what is at stake here. After emptying the cup of water, I could finally ask:

“Uh, can I ask you a few questions?”

“Go ahead.”

“It says your rank is A, but is that correct?”

“Nope. My rank is unclassified. It will likely turn out to be S.”

Haaa… Those sneaky bastards from the Hunter Association! How dare they deceive their own citizens like this? I recalled numerous confidentiality clauses, various rank-based locks, and internet activities constantly monitored in real-time. It was mind-boggling how my suspicions about manipulating hunter ranks were now confirmed.

“Is it really appropriate to assign someone like me, a freelance guide, to work with such individuals?”

“I’m not sure.”

“…Then what do you know about guiding partners?”

“Nothing.”

Chae Won-u stirred his salad before lowering his head to nibble on smoked duck. His neatly styled hair was visible from above. Despite having screws loose, he had a handsome appearance. Only the shell remained intact while everything else fell apart inside.

“Who’s your previous Guide?”

This job urgently needed succession, but there were confidentiality issues, so I understood the gap in knowledge. However, today it was truly urgent. With desperation, I asked, leaning forward and gripping the edge of the table tightly, pleading with my eyes for just one or two words of their name. But Chae Won-u smiled brightly as he slurped his soup.

“Nope. It’s my first time here.”

He wasn’t going to tell me anything. Maybe this situation was like stepping in dog shit for me.

***

The first dungeon break occurred in Chile. Initially, people thought it was an earthquake, as they were common along the Pacific Rim. However, instead of the ground splitting open horizontally like during a quake, it collapsed downward repeatedly until suddenly erupting upward and forming something akin to a cave. The problem was that this “cave” was too large to be called such, and what emerged from it weren’t ordinary bats but monstrous bat-like creatures.

Chile is a long country spanning both northern and southern latitudes. One theory suggests that on the day the dungeon appeared in central Chile, the world’s first hunter awakened in a small village at its southernmost tip. This remains unconfirmed because the presumed hunter died shortly after due to another dungeon break, and chaos had engulfed the entire planet around the same time.

Disasters didn’t come one after another over time. Instead, uninvited guests simultaneously swarmed across the globe. In my case, it happened when I was in a small city of Gyeonggi-do where redevelopment had just begun and there was high demand for construction workers. Amidst loud disaster alerts sounding from everyone’s cell phones, I encountered a monstrous bat-like creature blotting out the sky above me.

That feels like ages ago now. As each year, month, and day becomes more precious to me, those six years seem even longer than they actually were.

“Can you access that file?”

During this extended period, I frequented the Hunter Association as if it were my second home. Consequently, I made many acquaintances, bonded with some, and won their favor due to my charming personality and good looks. In other words, I have plenty of connections to gather information.

However, everything changed with Chae Won-u.

“Your security clearance isn’t high enough.”

“Eyy~ What do you mean? I am his partner?”

“It still doesn’t matter. Look, Baekgyeom-ssi.”

I had bought Jimin coffee several times already, but she turned her monitor around to show me a message about restricted information. It was true that there were notifications regarding confidential data on the screen.

“I’m sorry I can’t help you here. Here.” She returned my registration card as she spoke these words. The phrase ‘here’ encompassed many things such as how someone who was your friend yesterday could become your boss today, or how a colleague from the day before might disappear, and also indicated that this information was classified. In this case, it wasn’t referring to Chae Won-u’s rank but rather the classification level of the information.

I smiled as I received back my ID card. It was always good to be courteous no matter where you were. You never knew who you might meet somewhere down the line.

“Ah, someone from the Public Relations Department has been looking for Baekgyeom-ssi since last month.”

“For me?”

“Yes. They asked if you wanted to shoot another promotional video.”

“Don’t those need to be done with a partner?”

While some hunters had to remain hidden due to their top-secret status, others could be exposed widely. This group mainly consisted of people who either possessed outstanding looks or mediocre abilities. Last year, I partnered up with an esper hovering between B and A rank, which led to us being featured together in one such promotional video. The response? Naturally, it went viral. As more attention came my way, my partner’s attitude towards me drastically shifted like flipping his hand over. For the remaining month of our contract, we argued without missing a single day.

“That is true… but why don’t you just join the Hunter Association? The benefits here are good… It isn’t bad at all!”

“Our agency also has decent pay even if our representative is a bit stingy with money.”

“Still…”

“You have to take the test anyway. I am a stubborn fellow, Jimin-ssi.”

I scratched my head as I turned around. From behind me, I heard her mutter something about the Special Union before she stopped talking. She remembered the conditions of joining the Special Union. One essential condition was having three years of activity with a partner and their recommendation letter. Firstly, I would fail on the requirement of ‘three years’. Moreover, the good treatment offered by the Hunter Association only applied to hunters, not guides like myself. As a guide, there was inherent job insecurity depending on one’s compatibility rating.

Moreover, there were many people out there who couldn’t be registered with the Hunter Association and needed to be stabilized. If I became a public servant, then I wouldn’t be able to do any side jobs. Considering my substantial secondary income, it was absolutely unthinkable for me to become a civil servant.

I climbed three steps at a time towards the non-existent ‘F’ floor. As I did so, I recalled the screen Jimin showed me earlier. It only contained the text of Chae Won-u’s name and his affiliation with the Hunter Class. The screen was shown for a very short period of time but I remembered it clearly. Chae Won-u was officially affiliated with the Hunter Class, yet neither his team nor assigned floor number was written down.

“It’s creepy.”

I stopped to check which floor I was on. It was already the 6th floor. I hadn’t been thinking as I climbed up the stairs. The 6th floor had a break room. Feeling lucky, I entered it.

I swiped my ID card at the vending machine – the kind you could top up with cash or card – and made my rounds. By the time I was done, I’d bought enough snacks to fill a whole round table. Such extravagance was only possible thanks to the generous support funds.

‘As they say, a well-fed ghost is a happy ghost.’

Seunggyu would always smirk and say this whenever I came to the Hunter Association. That’s how much they prioritized providing for even their outsourced personnel. Gotta have that rice-power, after all. Where else in the world would eating be considered this crucial? 

I tore open a bag of chips and, at the same time, ripped open all the biscuit sticks, scattering them like french fries. Then, I cracked open a cola.

“Ugh, it’s a Zero.” 

The artificial sweetener had a weak yet hollow sweetness to it. Realizing I’d made a mistake, I shrugged it off. Next, I opened a bottle of iced tea and popped three almond-flavored Pocky sticks into my mouth.

“You have a sweet tooth?”

I almost choked. Chae Won-u, appearing out of thin air behind me, snagged a Pepero stick from my stash and popped it into his mouth without asking. 

Up close, Chae Won-u was even more beautiful. He wasn’t delicately built – actually, looking at him from this close, he seemed quite sturdy – but somehow, he still gave off that fragile air. 

Staring at his dazzlingly handsome face, I clicked my tongue, thinking he was born in the wrong generation. If only we had been born in a different time, both of us, we could’ve been celebrities. Instead, here we were, killing monsters and risking our lives every day.

“Where’d you come from?” 

“Hey, you know you like to take naps.” 

“The supply room?”

“Technically, yeah, but they also store the vending machine restock here. I take naps and snacks whenever I get sleepy.”

“Really?”

My eyes lit up with interest. Chae Won-u, still radiating sleepiness, plopped down next to me, pulling his chair so close our knees almost touched. I didn’t realize we were close enough to be in each other’s personal space like this.