Chapter 40: Something Unknown (14)

11-14 minutes 17.08.2023

“…”

Seeing that Jiho was being serious, Yiwon surrendered. At the same time, the violent mana that had filled the room settled back down again.

“Fine. I’ll behave. Good, right?”

“…Right.”

Yiwon approached the table and sat down naturally, as if nothing had happened. Then he smiled brightly at Kyung Hyun, who he had just been picking a fight with. 

“Hi, Kyung Hyun.”

“Ah, hi.”

Kyung Hyun answered unconsciously. It’s a relief Kyung Hyun, who has a good personality, doesn’t seem too offended by Yiwon, despite it not being the most pleasant of situations.

Jiho ordered the food. Although he hadn’t moved any of the furniture himself, the stress of moving had exhausted him. He wanted to eat dinner with his friends in peace, not pick a fight.

Still, Yiwon conversed smoothly after Jiho warned him once. Even though Yiwon’s smile felt out-of-place since it was more like one aimed at a business partner than at a friend, it was better than fighting. 

It seemed that Kyung Hyun, who works for the Hunter Association, was quite busy. With the decreasing accuracy rate of the fissure prediction device and the appearance of a humanlike monster, it was emergency after emergency. 

“How were you able to come out when you’re so busy?”

“They let me go when I said I was going to meet you. So that the HA will look good in front of you.”

Kyung Hyun revealed truthfully, as if there was nothing to hide. Kyung Hyun, who, though awakened, is only an F-rank and not much different from an ordinary person, was a little tipsy. 

“Those bastards at the HA… they used to look down on you, Jiho, you know… those a**holes. That’s why they’re scared now. In case you run away like Kang Tae Joo1 did. Joo Yiwon’s a headache as it is…”

Kyung Hyun suddenly closed his mouth in a hurry. His eyes, which had widened out of shock, met Yiwon’s. Yiwon was smiling, but Kyung Hyun was so startled that he began to hiccup. 

Jiho poured him a glass of water and laughed awkwardly.

“I know what you’re talking about. It was hard to clean up after him when he suddenly returned from Australia, right?”

“Y-yeah. So you knew.”

Tap. Yiwon lightly tapped the table with his finger. Even though it was only a slight movement, their eyes were instantly drawn to it because of the mana interlaced into the movement. Joo Yiwon’s gaze towards Son Kyung Hyun, who had just misspoke, was cold.

“Kyung Hyun-ah. You should be careful when you speak.”

“R-right. Sorry. I must be drunk.”

Despite Yiwon’s cold voice, Kyung Hyun agreed easily and gulped down the cold water hurriedly. Jiho looked at this scene with displeasure.

If one were to actually pick faults here, wasn’t it Yiwon’s fault for returning to Korea from Australia on his own? Of course, Jiho’s grateful Yiwon returned since he would’ve died if he hadn’t. But the problem is that Yiwon could’ve easily gone back to Australia after helping him.

Jiho doesn’t understand why Yiwon acts so extremely sometimes. It feels like Yiwon sees Jiho as a weak human that can die at even the smallest thing.

Instead of scolding Yiwon, Jiho smiled warmly at Kyung Hyun.

“It’s fine, as long as you don’t make that mistake next time. I heard a bit about it since it has to do with our guild…. And I understand HA’s position.”

Jiho carefully checked Kyung Hyun’s reaction. If Kyung Hyun knew Jiho had been attacked by a monster, he wouldn’t be able to be this calm.

Because Jiho fainted often since he was young, not only Yiwon, but his other friends too, were a little extreme when it came to Jiho’s physical state.

The news that Jiho had been attacked had been kept under wraps in case it made things more complicated. It seems that Kyung Hyun, who isn’t that high up in rank, doesn’t know about it yet.

“And why would I leave this country? Chungram’s right here.”

Jiho shrugged.

Shin Jiho had originally been raised with the intention of not getting involved in the family’s business. But after becoming the first awakened one and gaining everyone’s attention, Shin Jiho’s name had become tied to Chungram.

A high-ranking hunter moving completely outside of the country is a sensitive issue because it has a direct correlation with the nation and its people’s safety. In fact, S-rank hunter Kang Tae Joo, who currently lives and works overseas, is hated even more than Jiho is.

It might be different if Chungram were to shut all of its businesses in Korea down. But because there’s no chance of that ever happening, Jiho will never leave Korea.

“I want to immigrate.”

“What?”

Jiho and Kyung Hyun were so shocked that they spoke at the same time. Upon receiving the two surprised looks, Yiwon shrugged as if it was obvious.

“Same-sex marriage isn’t legal in Korea. If I’m going to marry Jiho, I have to move to a country that allows it.”

“… Why are you trying to marry me without my permission?”

Dumbfounded, Jiho threw back bluntly. Kyung Hyun laughed out loud.

“You guys still play around like that.”

“We’re not playing. Can’t you see he’s mocking me?”

“You said the exact same thing in the past too.”

To a person who hasn’t been personally victimized by this, it must seem funny, as Kyung Hyun looked merely entertained. In the end, Jiho, too, burst into laughter.

“Min Jae said we should set a date to meet up as a group once. After all, it’s been a while since all of us have gathered, right?”

“It has…”

From middle school to high school, Shin Jiho and Joo Yiwon, along with Son Kyung Hyun, often hung out as a group of six with Kim Min Jae, Shin Woo Jin, and Cha Dong Hyuk.

After the fissures appeared, the five of them in particular often came by the hospital to see Jiho while he was unconscious. Above all else, the five of them stayed firmly by Jiho’s side even when he was under fire for supposedly tampering with his rank.

They’re precious friends.

But because they’re all so busy, it’s hard to meet up at one place all at once. 

To be exact, although the five of them have met often, it was hard to include Joo Yiwon.

When Jiho glanced over at Yiwon, Yiwon smiled as if he had been waiting.

“If you guys decide on a date, I’ll try to free my schedule. Let’s meet.”

“Really? Will it be alright?”

“As long as it’s just for dinner, not all day.”

“That’s perfect.”

Kyung Hyun excitedly sent a message to the group chat. Since it’s hard to set a date immediately, they decided to set one slowly and changed the topic to something else.

Like friends who haven’t seen each other in a while, they talked about all sorts of things. Small things like the baseball team Kyung Hyun is rooting for, Min Jae’s new girlfriend, the newly released movie, or the food they ate today.

Because all three of them are awakened ones, the topics of their conversation even naturally slipped into ones about awakened ones and hunters, as well as dungeons.

While they were still talking excitedly, Yiwon’s terminal rang urgently. Upon checking the screen, Yiwon frowned and got up from his seat.

“Wait. I’ll be back after I take this.”

“Eung, go ahead.”

Yiwon opened the door and left. He must’ve teleported because a small wave of mana could be felt before his presence disappeared.

Jiho checked his surroundings once before leaning over the table.

“Kyung Hyun, Kyung Hyun.”

“Hm?”

“I actually have something to ask you…”

“Something to ask me?”

“Yeah.”

Jiho looked around once more before lowering his voice.

“Have you ever heard of Ipeulis?”

“Ipeulis? What’s that?”

Jiho hadn’t had high hopes, but it seemed that Kyung Hyun had really never heard of it before.

In truth, asking about Ipeulis was one of the reasons he wanted to meet Kyung Hyun today. That’s also why he tried so hard to pull Joo Yiwon off of him.

Though it would’ve been faster to ask through a call or text message…

Jiho couldn’t find a single thing about Ipeulis from his side. If the reason he had a hard time finding any information about them is because the word “Ipeulis” is banned…

Thinking that way, Jiho doesn’t want to leave a trace in a place others can listen in on or look at. That’s why he wanted to ask face-to-face.

But the result betrayed his hopes. Instead of showing his disappointment, Jiho smiled, as if it didn’t matter.

“I don’t really know either… I just wanted to know if you knew anything about it, whether that be an awakened one, dungeon, item, or skill.”

Kyung Hyun frowned and went quiet.

Jiho had thought Kyung Hyun might know something about it since he works for the Hunter Association and has a lot of interest in awakened ones, but… it seems that he had been excited for no reason.

“It’s fine if you don’t know. It’s not that important…”

“No, wait.”

Kyung Hyun cut off Jiho’s words. Then he clutched his forehead with an uncertain expression on his face.

“I feel like I’ve heard of it somewhere.”

“Really?”

Jiho instantly brightened. As he did so, Kyung Hyun hurriedly waved his hands.

“No, but I’m not certain, so…”

“That’s fine. If you figure something out, let me know.”

“But why are you looking for that? It doesn’t seem like the word is the only thing you know.”

“Hm… It’s because…”

Jiho hesitated to answer Kyung Hyun’s question. In order to answer truthfully, there are too many things to explain.

Because in a situation where he was supposed to die, he survived thanks to an unknown skill named [Ipeulis’s Protection], but he doesn’t know what it is so he’s trying to figure it out?

Jiho doesn’t want to explain too much about the situation, and it’s also too early to tell people that he can see a system.

It’s not that he doesn’t trust Son Kyung Hyun. He just doesn’t want to tell anyone about this ability until he himself learns a bit about it.

Seeing that Jiho couldn’t answer easily, Kyung Hyun waved his hand.

“No, no. I shouldn’t have asked. If it’s hard to answer, you don’t have to tell me.”

“Yeah, sorry. If I get the chance, I’ll tell you later.”

“Alright. Give me a few days. I’ll try to find things that are at least somewhat similar to Ipeulis.”

“Kyung Hyun-ah… Thank you.”

Jiho tightly clasped Kyung Hyun’s hand that was on top of the table as a show of his gratitude. Friends are truly the best. Thinking that, Jiho smiled happily, but a forceful hand suddenly butt in and pulled Jiho’s hand off.

It was Joo Yiwon.

Since Yiwon had even used a teleportation skill, Jiho thought he would take a while, but Yiwon returned quickly. Yiwon, who stepped in suddenly, glared at Kyung Hyun with fierce eyes. 

“Didn’t I tell you not to cling to other’s boyfriends?”

“Joo Yiwon.”

Jiho warned Yiwon with a low voice, but Yiwon persistently moved Jiho’s hand from the top of the table to its original position before taking his own hand off. When Jiho glared at him, Yiwon finally donned a pitiful look on his face.

“Yeah, yeah.”

“You guys really didn’t change a bit.”

Instead of looking uncomfortable, Kyung Hyun laughed as if he found it funny. Thanks to that, the atmosphere eased.

After sending Kyung Hyun off by taxi, Jiho walked back home with Yiwon.

Unlike how he usually teases Jiho all the time, Yiwon was walking expressionlessly in silence. 

Yiwon’s steps were fast as he walked past Jiho.

Jiho stared at the back that’s much wider than his is now.