CH 57

[A warped space has been detected in the 14th Room. There was S+ grade monster there and only if it was dealt with they can go back…]

I stared blankly at the TV screen. Ha Tae-heon’s interview video, who dressed neatly, was coming out.

As I expected, there was a warped space inside the gate and the news that an additional high-grade monster appeared became a big topic.

But the trouble I feel now is not only the gate.

“Haa…”

I clicked on an Internet article floating on the main site of the mobile phone screen.

「Ha Tae-heon of Roheon Guild, are you familiar with the popular A-rank mercenary? Unexpected friendship.」

From the title, it was speculative. I calmly scrolled down.

「SS-rank Ha Tae-heon, who recently took the position as the Deputy Master of the Roheon Guild, has revealed the relationship with an independent A-rank talented man, Han Yi-gyeol.

Ha Tae-heon, who went to clear the gate of Area D17, revealed the relationship he was hiding immediately after dealing with the S+ grade monster as a result of his participation as a mercenary.

When asked by a guild member about what kind of relationship he had, it was reported that they had known each other before Ha Tae-heon awakened.

After seeing the appearance of Han Yi-gyeol, who threw himself without hesitation to save Ha Tae-heon, who was almost seriously injured, there was speculation that they might have a special relationship.

On this news, netizens were interested in which guild Han Yi-gyeol, who is currently an independent, will go to.

Meanwhile, Ha Tae-heon is scheduled to appear in ‘First Hunting’, a specialized program for talented people.

[email protected]

Photo courtesy | Reporter Han Yoon-jong」

What? I think the article is a bit strange…

I also checked the comments.

「Pure sympathy (순공감순, kind of comments column in FB, here)

lias***

You wrote the article as well. What do you mean special… If people fall in front of you, do you throw them away? Do you have wind ability??

wlstj***

He has SS-rank in both hands ㅋㅋㅋ If it’s Rohan vs Requiem, isn’t it Requiem will win?? Wherever Buma is bibim with Gilma ㅋㅋ  (부마가 어딜 길마한테 비빔, dunno what is it…)

└ Ung~ I feel disgusted wherever he go~

└ What do you mean disgusting; you’re just being so mean, you’re jealous ㅉㅉ

└ It’s disgusting ㅇㅇ it’s like you’re not capable of anything, so you’re going through your personal network

└ He’s an A-rank, but he doesn’t have any skills ㅋㅋ is the commenter a C-rank?

dksr***

Ha Tae-heon appears in FirHun (퍼헌, First Hunting)?? He’s been doing a lot of interviews these days. I guess they’re rolling around in Roheon because it’s swollen. (부마됐다고 로헌에서 겁나 굴리나보네, forgive me…)

vdds***

The Bl— Guild is raging here and there to clean up the shit. What did that bastard do without an explanation article?

└ He went to play golf~^^

└ At that time, all the golfers who played golf with him should also have a new identity.

└ Aren’t the victims of Area C12 still protesting? Humanity shit legend ㄷㄷ (인성 씹레전드, not sure: “Toughness” or “Personalities chew legendary”, forgive me!)

└ Will they open? They are all children of a money-loving family. (뜨겠냐?, again)

asse***

Who is Han Yi-gyeol, this riot? You keep writing articles about people you don’t care about.

└ Are you interested?

└ I guess you don’t know what everyone else knows because you’re an outsider ㅋ」

“……”

I rubbed my forehead and turned off the phone screen.

There were only those around who were not controlled, such as Ha Tae-heon and Cheon Sa-yeon, so the number of annoying things had doubled.

“I’m back.”

While lying on the sofa contemplating how to solve this situation, Kim Woo-jin returned from going out.

“Where have you been?”

“I went grocery shopping.”

Kim Woo-jin lifted a bag with the logo of a nearby mart. It was quite large as it contained quite a lot.

After clearing the gate and returning to the Requiem Guild, I slept as if fainting after only treating my hands.

Kim Woo-jin, who was eager to make me the healthy food, seemed to rush to the mart like an arrow as soon as the morning dawned.

“It’s only been four days and I’ve lost some weight…”

“Do you know that you’ve lost weight? How hard have you been to come back exhausted?”

“No, that’s.”

“I saw the news, too. I heard you were dealing with an S+ grade monster.”

“……”

“That’s why I told you not to go, but you didn’t listen to others. And even you hurt your hand, too.”

“…stop it. I know.”

As I surrendered waving my hands, Kim Woo-jin pouted and went to the kitchen. It seemed like the nagging got worse as time went on.

“What are you going to do? I like everything you make because it’s delicious.”

Anyway, there is no reason to refuse if you give me something delicious. When I approached Kim Woo-jin, who was taking out the ingredients, with a soft smile, he slightly bowed his head and answered.

“I was going to make beef short rib soup (sogalbitang)… If there’s anything else you want to eat, I’ll make it for you.” (소갈비탕, the pic is below)

The frown and nagging figure disappeared, leaving only a shy face. What’s going on suddenly?

While looking at Kim Woo-jin, who exuded a strange atmosphere, someone knocked on the door.

“Yi-gyeol-ssi, I’m here~”

“Min Ah-rin-ssi.”

The owner of the cheerful voice was Min Ah-rin. She greeted me with a big smile as she opened the door and sighed when she found my hand wrapped in the bandages.

“I knew it. As expected, you got hurt.”

“Ah, this is…”

“I heard the news that you went to the gate, so I came just in case… Can I come in right away?”

“Sure.”

As Min Ah-rin entered the Lululala room (see the previous chap), Kim Woo-jin frowned as if displeased, but when he saw her treating my hand, he erased his dissatisfied expression.

“Fortunately, the wound is not as bad as the last time.”

“If you leave it alone, it will get better soon.”

“It’s inconvenient to live.”

It was. I took the bandages off, clenched and straightened my hands a couple of times.

“Thank you.”

“What is it? You’re preparing breakfast?”

Anticipation stood in Min Ah-rin’s round eyes.

“Would you like to eat together?”

It was Min Ah-rin, who deliberately took the time to treat me from this morning. Of course, I had to treat her a breakfast.

“Oh, good! What is the menu?”

“He said it’s beef rib soup.”

“Oh my God. It seems that Woo-jin-ssi made something delicious because Yi-gyeol-ssi worked hard.”

She’s quick-witted. So I headed to the kitchen with Min Ah-rin on my back.

“Is there anything I can help with? Chop the onion or something.”

“Never mind. Do you want to get hurt again?”

I asked because I had nothing to do while preparing, but he touched my pride. That’s ridiculous. Other than that, I’m confident that I can handle a knife well.

“Ya. I know how to do that.”

At those words, Kim Woo-jin handed me an onion and a knife with somewhat an uneasy expression. What is this? I proudly placed the onion on the cutting board and held the knife.

“Hey, Yi-gyeol-ssi…”

“Are you crazy? Why are you holding the knife like that?”

Min Ah-rin and Kim Woo-jin, who were watching, freaked out and grabbed my arm. What’s wrong with you?

“Isn’t this how you hold it?”

“Um, but that’s what you do when you stab a person, not an onion…”

“Put the knife horizontally and hold it!”

Ah, right. I coughed in vain and fixed the knife as Kim Woo-jin told me.

“Can I cut it now?”

“Oh. Cut it in half first.”

Cut it in half? I pondered for a moment and then raised my arm. If you hit it with this amount of force, it will cut off neatly.

“Crazy bastard!”

“Yi-gyeol-ssi, hand! Hand!”

Kim Woo-jin once again grabbed my arm. I found my hand on the onion just then at Min Ah-rin’s cry. I was just thinking about slicing the onion, so I hadn’t checked the position of my hand.

“Haha. I made a mistake.”

“You like making mistakes. Get out!”

“You’d better listen to Woo-jin-ssi this time.”

Kim Woo-jin kicked me out of the kitchen. Min Ah-rin asked me in a curious voice, after being kicked out without any excuses.

“I guess you’ve never cooked before, Yi-gyeol-ssi.”

“It just happened.”

I recalled memories of the past. When I was a teenager, I mostly stuffed my stomach with triangular kimbap or cup noodles, and after I started working, I always bought and ate them.

* * *

“You, wherever you go and cook, don’t hold a knife. Okay?”

After the beef short rib soup was completed, Kim Woo-jin started a new nagging while eating.

“That’s right. It could have been dangerous before.”

“You went to the gate and got hurt every time, but now you want to get hurt while cooking?”

“……”

I quietly shoved the rice into my mouth. From some time ago, when these two got together, they nagged a lot. It was difficult to even with one person, but there was no skill to defeat two people’s cooperative attacks.

Even though I ate nourishing food, I somehow withered and lay down on the sofa as usual, and Min Ah-rin left the room saying that she had work.

Kim Woo-jin was enjoying his leisurely time, eating the apples he cut, when a new message arrived on my cell phone.

「Kim Soo-hwan: Yi-gyeol-ssi! Did you go home well yesterday? This is Kim Soo-hwan!」

「Kim Soo-hwan: (Emoji)」

Kim Soo-hwan sent a picture of a cat waving its hand with a greeting. I replied with a grin.

「Han Yi-gyeol: Yes. I’m taking a rest after coming home safely.」

「Han Yi-gyeol: Did you enjoy the dinner party, Kim Soo-hwan-ssi?」

「Kim Soo-hwan: Of course^^ We ate beef.」

「Kim Soo-hwan: (Photo)」

「Kim Soo-hwan: Let’s go together next time~」

「Han Yi-gyeol: Sure.」

Soon after, Kim Soo-hwan sent a serial number and a link.

「Kim Soo-hwan: 53263」

「Kim Soo-hwan: (Link)」

「Kim Soo-hwan: This is the fan cafe link and invitation number. If you press the signup button and put that number in the invitation code, your signup will be completed within a day.」

Aha. This was what the invitation meant.

「Kim Soo-hwan: Once you have signed up, you can read the notice and follow the rules to be active^^」

「Kim Soo-hwan: If there is anything you don’t know, feel free to message me anytime!」

「Han Yi-gyeol: Thank you.」

I clicked the link without hesitation. Then, along with the title ‘SS-rank talented Ha Tae-heon fan cafe’, a picture of Ha Tae-heon’s profile appeared in a huge size.

“Wah.”

Ha Tae-heon’s face, seen through the white snowflakes, was admiringly so cool. They said he’d be better than most celebrities and I guess that the photographers were also following him around.

I barely found the sign-up button and wrote the serial number that Kim Soo-hwan gave me. It was hard to adapt because there were so many flashing things and there were words I couldn’t understand.

“What are you looking at, so serious?”

“Oh? Nothing.”

At Kim Woo-jin’s words, I quickly closed the phone screen and changed the topic.

“More than that, what happened to my request?”

It wasn’t a question I had high expectations for. Even if Kim Woo-jin didn’t get any information, I could fully understand it. It was only been a few days since I left it.

“I got it. If you want, I’ll bring it to you today.”

However, contrary to my expectation, Kim Woo-jin calmly replied that he succeeded. I became rather anxious at those words.

“…what, you didn’t you do something useless, did you?”

“I didn’t. What do you think I am?”

“It’s strange. If you were me, wouldn’t you be worried?”

“Worried?”

Kim Woo-jin’s eyes, which had been feisty, became soft slightly.

“You were worried?”

“Then don’t you?”

What I asked Kim Woo-jin for was detailed information about the gate progress and anomalies. Information beyond what was officially announced through the media by the management headquarters.

Such information was not easily obtainable as the state thoroughly managed the gates. So I was even more suspicious of Kim Woo-jin.

“Be honest. Did you make a deal with some weirdo?”

“I didn’t. Really. I know how to cover that much.”

Even when I asked again, Kim Woo-jin firmly shook his head.

“Stop doubting and start with the data. After seeing it, you can decide if it is worthwhile.”

“Hmm…”

I thought for a moment and then nodded. As Kim Woo-jin said, if the material had already been prepared, it would be better to receive it first.

“Okay. I’ll give them a call.”

Kim Woo-jin grabbed his cell phone and entered the room.

Seeing this, I sighed in a dreary mood. Is this really okay?