Chapter 368 – Part 2 – Lunch Box

Kwak Min-cheol was in a good mood after receiving the butler’s report.

“Hehe, so Song Chi-hyeon left home and hasn’t returned?”

Normally he would have been curious about where that bastard had gone.

But Kwak Min-cheol just smiled contentedly.

That was because he had a good guess about where he might be.

“He’s probably with Kogo.”

Kwak Min-cheol had ordered Kogo to bring Song Chi-hyeon.

He had also instructed him to erase his memory if necessary.

“Since Song Chi-hyeon hasn’t come home, it seems Kogo handled the job properly.”

The plan was successful.

No, he just assumed it was successful.

He couldn’t be certain yet.

That was because he couldn’t get in touch with Kogo.

“What is that pretentious murder maniac bastard doing? If he succeeded, he should have contacted me, but he won’t even answer his phone.”

Whether he subdued Song Chi-hyeon, erased his memory, or killed him.

It would be one of those three.

Then shouldn’t he report by phone?

From the waiting side’s perspective, his insides were burning with impatience.

“Damn, frustrating bastard. Why are all the Great Heroes like this?”

Though he complained, it was only briefly.

Kwak Min-cheol soon believed without doubt that Kogo would come with good news.

“Which bastards should I eat today?”

Kwak Min-cheol hummed a tune and went down to the basement with an excited heart.

Creak-

When he opened the basement door, dozens of rooms were lined up.

Though he called them rooms, they were actually special alloy prisons made for hunters.

Prisons built for the purpose of confining traitors.

“This place looks good.”

Kwak Min-cheol put his card against the door.

Beep- Clang- Creeeeak-

As soon as the door opened, three hunters inside tried to rush out.

Thud- Thud-!

The hunters were pushed back and fell at Kwak Min-cheol’s kicks.

“Where are you trying to crawl out to, you insect bastards.”

“G-Great Hero?”

The hunters who had been trying to escape belatedly recognized Kwak Min-cheol and raised their voices.

“Great Hero! Please let us out!”

“We’re starving to death. We haven’t eaten for three days!”

“Honestly, we don’t understand why we, who committed no treason, have to be locked in an underground prison!”

The hunters had been moved here three days ago.

Sudden prison life.

They weren’t given food, let alone water.

Even if they were being treated as prisoners, they wanted to know the reason, but there was no explanation.

How frustrated they must be.

“We want to know the reason! Great Hero!”

“If I did something wrong, I’ll fix it.”

“We want to hear an explanation of what happened!”

The hunters shouted in unison.

They wanted to hear a reasonable explanation, but Kwak Min-cheol’s expression was not good.

“Ah, how fucking noisy.”

“……”

“You guys. When you see a Great Hero, shouldn’t you bow first? Young ones with no basic manners, damn.”

“Ah… S-sorry.”

“We got excited and didn’t think…”

“We were short-sighted.”

The hunters belatedly bowed their heads.

“We greet the Great Hero.”

Though they greeted according to etiquette, Kwak Min-cheol’s expression showed no signs of softening.

“This is like accepting worship while lying down, damn.”

“S-sorry.”

“If you’re sorry, all of you release your equipment. How dare you wear equipment in front of me?”

“Ah…”

“We’re deeply sorry again.”

The hunters’ equipment was released.

They returned to casual clothes.

They had been wearing it in case they needed to use force to escape.

The excited hunters finally calmed down.

“Great Hero. Now we want to hear it. What are our charges…”

“Charges?”

Kwak Min-cheol made an expression like everything in the world was bothersome.

“Why should I tell bastards who are about to die?”

“What?”

Suddenly Kwak Min-cheol’s hand pierced through the abdomen of a nearby hunter.

“Kuhehheok!”

Kwak Min-cheol threw the hunter aside and his fist struck the next hunter’s face.

Crack-!

The face was crushed and he died instantly.

Two people died in the blink of an eye.

Tremble tremble tremble-

The remaining one shook his body trembling.

“Damn, why should I bother explaining to bastards who are about to die?”

“Why, why…”

The hunter looked with eyes that couldn’t understand.

He belatedly tried to equip gear and respond, but.

Thud-!

Kwak Min-cheol’s fist was faster.

His head split and he died instantly.

“Tsk.”

Kwak Min-cheol brushed off the blood on his hands and then frowned.

Because his gaze was directed at empty air.

“You only give me this much stats? What trash…”

Kwak Min-cheol, who had been muttering, left the room as if nothing had happened.

He didn’t even glance at the corpses he had killed.

“I thought they were fully ripe. Should I have raised them more before eating them? Tsk.”

He just muttered incomprehensible words as he left the basement.

“Ah, cleaning up corpses is annoying. There’s no one appropriate to order around either.”

Kwak Min-cheol keenly felt Yang Baek-du’s absence.

Because cleaning up after himself had always been Yang Baek-du’s job.

“At least there’s someone who learned the business under Yang Baek-du, so things somehow keep rolling…”

But he didn’t trust that guy enough to assign him the job of cleaning up corpses.

“Song Chi-hyeon killing Yang Baek-du has made things troublesome in many ways.”

Kwak Min-cheol hoped Kogo would catch Song Chi-hyeon as soon as possible.

“Preferably alive.”

He would put him in the underground prison and starve him for a week.

Then after questioning his crimes, he would mangle him like pressed meat and kill him.

“Come to think of it, didn’t that guy have a capable subordinate?”

An incredible talent who raised his combat power from 20,000 to 250,000 in one month.

He coveted that guy.

“Now that Song Chi-hyeon is gone, if I tell him to come under me, he’ll have no choice but to come, right? Kuk kuk.”

What if he raised that guy showing tremendous growth and then devoured him?

Wouldn’t his stats increase to record levels?

An expectant smile hung on Kwak Min-cheol’s lips.

* * *

Heo Yoon-ji, who woke up from sleep, went to the living room.

A delicious smell was coming from the kitchen.

“What are you doing?”

“Oh, unni.”

Her younger sister Heo Sol-ji was making something from early morning.

“I asked what you’re doing.”

“Ah. I’m trying to pack a lunch box.”

“Lunch box?”

At the sudden talk of lunch boxes, Heo Yoon-ji’s eyes widened.

Then she smiled a crescent moon smile as if understanding.

“Aha, you’re dating someone?”

“Huh? N-no. It’s not like that.”

“Not like that, my foot. How did you start dating? Did you meet at school? I don’t know who it is, but you should have gotten permission from me first.”

“I said it’s not like that. Don’t jump to conclusions.”

“Then why are you packing a lunch box?”

“This… I’m packing it to give to Hunter Choi Seong-min.”

“Hunter Choi Seong-min?”

Heo Yoon-ji’s surprised expression immediately hardened.

“Are you dating that person?”

“W-what are you talking about, unni! I don’t have anyone I’m dating!”

“Then what’s that?”

“I’m packing it while going to see A-yeon anyway. As thanks for helping me before.”

“Didn’t you already thank him with a meal last time?”

“That was something unni did. I didn’t do anything for him myself…”

After learning the reason, Heo Yoon-ji snorted as if deflated.

“So that’s what it was. I wondered what it was about.”

Heo Yoon-ji, realizing it was a misunderstanding, returned to her room.

Then, suddenly remembering, she looked at her phone.

[Heo Yoon-ji: Hunter Choi Seong-min. Did you ask the Great Hero? What did he say? Did he say he’d talk to our Minister?]

[Heo Yoon-ji: Hunter, how did it go? I’m curious, so please reply.]

[Heo Yoon-ji: Hunter???]

These were the messages Heo Yoon-ji had sent to Choi Seong-min.

But there was no reply.

‘Why is there no reply? What is he doing that he won’t even read them?’

Looking at the numbers not disappearing next to the messages, he hadn’t even read them.

‘Did he drink and party all night yesterday because it was Friday?’

So he’s passed out until now and can’t even check?

She even thought that, but there was no way to know.

‘Someone is going crazy with curiosity about the results while someone else is ignoring messages and drinking…’

But there was no way to meet him either.

‘It’s the weekend today, so I won’t be able to see him at the association…’

Should she just wait desperately for a message like this?

Just when she was sighing.

She suddenly thought of her younger sister packing a lunch box.

Come to think of it, there wasn’t no way.

“Sol-ji.”

“Yeah?”

“Are you going to Hunter Choi Seong-min’s house?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll go too.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s go together. I have business too.”

The corners of Heo Yoon-ji’s mouth curved up.

* * *

A leisurely weekend morning.

Choi Seong-min’s younger sister approached him when he woke up in the morning.

“Oppa. Are you going hunting today too?”

“Yeah. If I do just a little more, I can raise my rank.”

“Ah… really? You’re already going up to A-rank?”

‘No, I’m becoming S-rank.’

Choi A-yeon thought Choi Seong-min was B-rank, but there was no need to correct her.

‘If I said I’m already becoming S-rank, she’d definitely be surprised.’

So he had no intention of telling anyone around him.

Anyway, they’d naturally find out next month.

Instead of answering, Choi Seong-min smiled meaningfully and asked back.

“You have something to tell me, don’t you?”

“Ah… you noticed?”

“What is it?”

“Well, you know that unni I saw before? The one who goes to the same school as me.”

“Heo Sol-ji?”

“Yeah. I’m supposed to meet with that unni today, and she said she wanted to properly express her gratitude to oppa and pack you a lunch box since she couldn’t do it properly before.”

“Lunch box?”

“Yeah. So since oppa has to go hunting today, I told her to come in the morning if she wanted to give it. Do you have time briefly in the morning?”

“Of course I do. What time did she say she’d come?”

“She said within 30 minutes.”

“I guess I’ll have to eat the lunch box instead of breakfast?”

If it had been a monetary gift, he would have thought nothing of it, but since it was a heartfelt gift, he couldn’t help but feel good.

After brushing his teeth, washing his face, washing his hair, and putting on outdoor clothes, 30 minutes had passed.

“Ah, hello!”

A female visitor with a shy face came.

And an unexpected visitor as well.

“Hello, Team Leader Choi.”

“Huh? Team Leader Heo came too?”

“I came too suddenly, didn’t I? Sorry. I couldn’t wait for a reply.”

“Reply? Ah…!”

Choi Seong-min finally remembered the message from Heo Yoon-ji.

He knew a message had come but was too busy to read it.

“If you had waited, I would have replied today.”

“I was too curious to wait. How did it go?”

“Ah, let’s go inside and talk first.”

Choi Seong-min let the two people into the house.

“Hello, mother.”

“Excuse me.”

When some young ladies came visiting in the morning, mother Jeong Hee-seon’s eyes widened and she asked.

“Who are they, Seong-min?”

“Ah, this is A-yeon’s classmate, and this is her older sister.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Heo Sol-ji.”

“Hello. I’m Heo Yoon-ji. Seong-min and I work at the same company, though in different departments.”

“Ah, really? Nice to meet you.”

Watching them greet each other, Choi Seong-min felt strange.

Because he could hear exactly what they were thinking.

-Is this Hunter Choi Seong-min’s mother? I hope she thinks well of me.

-Seong-min’s mother looks young. Did his father go to work?

Reading the sisters’ thoughts, Choi Seong-min was relieved.

He would have been disappointed if they had been badmouthing his mother inside.

Choi Seong-min unintentionally ended up reading his mother’s thoughts as well.

-One looks modest and one looks sharp. Both would be perfect as Seong-min’s bride.

“……”

To think of women she just met as potential brides.

It was truly bewildering thinking.

There was another bewildering thing.

“P-please take this.”

Heo Sol-ji held out the lunch box with a shy face.

-I hope the Hunter likes it.

Up to here, there was nothing bewildering.

But.

“A lunch box? Thank you. I’ll eat it well.”

As soon as Choi Seong-min received it, she bowed her head deeply.

Her face seemed to have turned red too.

-Wh-what should I do? My heart is pounding so much I’m going crazy!

-How will the Hunter see me? I hope he thinks I’m pretty…

“……”

Reading more of her thoughts, Heo Sol-ji liked him.

It seemed his intervention at school that time had looked cool to her.

‘Hmm… this is a bit bewildering.’

But Choi Seong-min wasn’t the only one who was bewildered.

“Team Leader, no, Seong-min. Tell me now. Did you ask Great Hero Song Chi-hyeon?”

“No.”

“What? Why not?”

“He suddenly became unreachable since yesterday.”

“What? The Great Hero?”

Song Chi-hyeon being unreachable.

Heo Yoon-ji’s face was colored with bewilderment.