31 Chapter 30 (2/2)
”Keep up the good work.”
Song Chi-Yeol performed a slight nod to the policemen and continued on. Jin-Woo followed right behind him.
The employee from the Association was waiting in front of the Gate. It was a young woman wearing a round-rimmed pair of glasses.
She approached the two men after spotting them from a distance.
”Song Chi-Yeol Hunter-nim! Uh? How did you get here, Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim? You weren't answering your phone until now.”
Song Chi-Yeol replied instead.
”We were in the same location, and came here together after you guys called me.”
”Ahh, is that so? I thought that Seong Hin-Woo Hunter-nim was avoiding answering our calls again.”
The Association employee chuckled and cracked a joke.
Well, that indeed had been true in the past.
A long time ago, Jin-Woo got injured badly during a raid, and he grew fearful of going to dungeons, which led to him switching off his phone for a while.
In the end, he had to return to raiding dungeons, since not answering the call three times in a row meant he'd be chased out from the Association.
Recalling his past, Jin-Woo could only smile in bitterness.
”Oh, right. Other Hunters are waiting for you. Why don't you two head over there and greet them?”
There were other Hunters who had arrived earlier where the Association employee was pointing at.
Well, there were only two other Hunters there, however. The number of those willing to come had decreased sharply after that 'huge incident'. Jin-Woo heard from Song Chi-Yeol on their way here that, besides those who died, many other Hunters decided to quit this life from the shock of that underground temple incident.
'One of them happens to be Miss Ju-Hui....'
Jin-Woo took a look around, but he couldn't see her.
When Jin-Woo and Song Chi-Yeol approached closer, the two Hunters awkwardly averted their gazes.
Jin-Woo narrowed his eyes.
'But, of course.'
These two happened to be Kim Sang-Sik, who ran off trying to save only himself, and the other male Hunter who had discarded the injured Jin-Woo.
Of course, they would find it rather awkward to face him.
”Uhm, excuse me, Mister Seong....”
Kim Sang-Sik was thinking of at least greeting the youth, but when he was subjected to Jin-Woo's cold glare, he eventually shifted his gaze away.
”....”
Kim Sang-Sik shut his mouth, studied the mood for a bit, before shuffling further away from there. He stopped at a bit of distance away and sneaked a glance at Jin-Woo, before he tilted his head in confusion.
'Is he really the Seong Jin-Woo that I know? I mean, his eyes are as fierce as a monster, man. Like a real monster....'
Kim Sang-Sik shuddered deeply. As he thought, his arm was covered in goosebumps.
Jin-Woo withdrew his glare filled with hostilities.
Thankfully, quite unlike Yu Jin-Ho, Kim Sang-Sik was quick on the uptake. After locking eyes once, he didn't even try to come near Jin-Woo's vicinity.
He sincerely hoped that this arrangement would remain for the rest of the raid.
”Mister Seong.”
Song Chi-Yeol, standing next to Jin-Woo, shifted his gaze in a direction and smiled gently.
”There she is.”
Jin-Woo also turned his head in the direction Song Chi-Yeol was looking at. But, before he had the chance to completely turn around to look....
”Mister Jin-Woo!!”
Something rather soft suddenly hugged him tightly.
”Miss Ju-Hui??”
While Jin-Woo was getting flustered, Ju-Hui was too busy making sure he was fine with a tearful face.
”Are you alright? You are not hurt anywhere, right? Uh, your leg?! Mister Jin-Woo, how come your leg is....?”
Ju-Hui's eyes went extra round as she alternated her gaze between his face and his leg.
There was a bit of difference in how extreme it was, but nevertheless, her reaction was more or less the same with Song Chi-Yeol's.
”Oh, that....”
Just as Jin-Woo was about to reply....
”How steamy, eh! It's steamy, I say!!”
Both the gazes of Jin-Woo and Ju-Hui shifted over in the direction of that voice.
From afar, an unknown man was whistling loudly at them.
More importantly, though, he was wearing the blue-coloured prison overall.
'Is there a film shoot going on around nearby or something?'
While Jin-Woo was tilting his head in confusion, a man wearing a business suit climbed down from the front seat of a certain minivan.
He then threw out a measured warning at the prison overall guy.
”Shut your mouth.”
The prison overall guy pretended to not know anything by staring at the distance. However, he quickly threw an oily wink at Ju-Hui when the business suit looked back inside the van.
Immediately, Jin-Woo's expression crumpled.
Two more people climbed out of the van right away.
Both of them were men. And particularly worthy of note was the fact that they all wore prison overalls and had been cuffed as well.
The business suit led the three prison overalls towards the Association's employee. And she welcomed him with a bright expression.
”You've finally arrived.”
”Please forgive us for our tardiness. There was traffic on the road.”
The business suit then proceeded to sign on each of the documents the Association employee presented to him.
In the meantime, the employee called for the Hunters to gather around.
”These folks are the 'replacement' convicts who will participate in the raid alongside you, Hunters.”
And so, the expressions of the Hunters hardened considerably.
Kim Sang-Sik was the first to step forward.
”What? 'Replacement' convicts?! Are you telling us to go on a raid along with a bunch of criminals?!”
Hunters who had committed crimes had two choices.
Either spend their allotted time behind the bars, or cooperate with the Association and reduce their sentences.
Most chose the latter option, and they were referred to as the 'replacement' convicts.
The Association employee repeatedly lowered her head.
”I'm really sorry about this. It's only because the number of Hunters active in our district has declined so much that the Association has no choice but to do this. However, they will be accompanied by a Hunter from the Monitoring Division, so you don't have to worry too much.”
Kim Sang-Sik asked, still full of suspicion.
”A Hunter from the Monitoring Division, you say?”