Chapter 175 (1/2)

Chapter 175 – Black Market Fifteenth Shopping (2)

At dinner time, Mustafa was welcomed to the team under Franz’s lead.

“Now then, let’s all give the newly invited Mustafa a welcoming applause.”

Mustafa held a glass filled with apple juice at the crowded table. He looked at Sungjin and the other Chosen Ones as he said,

“For hunters to be able to gather like this and have dinner together… What a remarkable sight…”

“It’s been a while since you were last able to talk to others like this, right? You’ll get used to it soon.”

“Indeed. It was a good decision to come to this gathering between the ‘One who Chooses’ and the ‘Chosen Ones’.”

Mustafa briefly looked around before he added,

“I have a large family. At home, we would always sit together at a huge table like this as we shared our meals, so I was not used to dining alone. However, after coming here… I had to eat by myself for a while… Because of this, every time during dinner I could not help but think of my family.”

The mood became a touch gloomier once the topic of his family was brought up. Perhaps he realized this, as Mustafa immediately changed the subject.

“However, it is great to be able to eat a meal with others like this again. Let us gather our strengths and finish these accursed raids so that we may save those we love.”

“Indeed.”

“Yeah!”

At first, Mustafa was a bit solemn as he kept his guard up, but soon he relaxed and began to get along with the other hunters. He had acted the same with the previous final ten people as well. It was something that made Sungjin a little relieved. Throughout the meal, there was a buzz of excitement in the air from gaining a new comrade. After some time had passed, Sungjin surreptitiously got up from his seat. When he did so, Serin and a few other hunters looked at Sungjin with a questioning gaze. Sungjin waved his hand as he said,

“Ah. Restroom. Be right back.”

Soon, the hunters turned their attention back towards their various eating utensils. Sungjin moved towards the back and entered the restroom. He locked the door, just in case another person wanted to come in, before taking out the star-shaped accessory that he had picked up today from his vest.

The reason that Sungjin chose to use an item that let him see the future at this time when everyone was having dinner was simple: if he was having the meal with the same members during tomorrow’s dinner, then it meant that tomorrow’s raid would have been safely completed as well.

“Starlight.”

The shining star-shaped accessory gave off an even brighter light for an instant; it was a brilliant radiance that was almost blinding. When the light filled up the restroom in which Sungjin stood, the future began to unfold before him.

Franz shouted as he held up a glass filled with orange juice,

‘In this moment, a new ally has joined us. Let’s give him our blessings. Congratulations!’

Sungjin tilted his head in confusion,

‘What? This… Isn’t this what happened just a moment ago?’

However, the person being welcomed was a different person.

‘Thank you for the warm reception.’

It was a young man with a katana equipped on both sides of his waist.

‘I am truly moved to be reunited with my master, as well as find teammates on top of that.’

A familiar face. It was the young man he had met at Greysoul Cemetery, the swordsman Hiroaki. Sungjin felt joyous, but decided to figure out the situation first.

‘This is… Something that is happening tomorrow?’

He could see Mustafa clapping his hands on the side. Therefore, what he was seeing now was not what had happened today. Sungjin glanced at the other hunters. Serin, Nada, Franz, Mahadas, and Baltren were all energetically smiling as they applauded.

‘Good. If it’s like this, then… Nothing should have happened.’

Afterwards, dinner proceeded with a slightly spirited atmosphere, similar to today’s dinner. Sungjin observed the proceedings in a relaxed mood. After a while, the surroundings suddenly began to grow darker, before turning pitch black like at Darker than Black. Alarmed, Sungjin wondered to himself,

‘What’s happening?’

Sungjin was back inside the restroom the next moment. He then gazed at the star-shaped accessory in his hands.

‘So it shows you about… 3 minutes of the future…’

This number was not exact, but a rough estimate. Sungjin placed the star inside his vest and unlocked the door to the restroom before stepping out. However, Baltren was standing in front of the door with a strange look. He slightly opened his mouth before staring at Sungjin as if there was something out of the norm.

“Uh…”

Was his act of looking into the future discovered? Sungjin asked him,

“Wh… What, Baltren?”

Baltren replied,

“No, it’s just… When you said that you were going to the restroom… For some reason, I also felt the need to use it, so I was going to wait for you to come out… But you unlocked the door and came out right after locking it… I just thought it was strange.”

Sungjin tilted his head.

“I did?”

“Yes.”