Holy B-Class Life

#007

“There was a missed call.”

“Yes. We’re currently seeing signs of an imminent gate break. We contacted you because we urgently need to dispatch hunters.”

“Break…? Where’s the gate located?”

At the mention of a break, Yoon Pa-ran frowned and asked about the gate’s location first.

Last time, a gate near the orphanage unexpectedly burst open, allowing monsters to escape. They ran rampant through the neighborhood. Since it was a secret that he was taking such good care of the orphanage, he had to volunteer desperately for the cleanup.

Volunteering for the cleanup was the best option, as it provided real-time satellite tracking of the monsters’ locations. At the time, Yoon Pa-ran was extremely worried that his younger siblings might fall victim to the blind monsters.

“It’s an A-grade gate in Gumun-dong.”

“An A-grade gate is at risk of breaking…?”

However, this time the gate was quite far from the orphanage. If that was the case, there seemed to be no need to take the lead like last time…

By the way, gate management seemed a bit lacking recently. It wasn’t a common occurrence for such a high-level gate to burst.

“Ah, this gate wasn’t originally supposed to break. Sigh… That’s why we’re in an emergency situation now. Please help us, Hunter Yoon Pa-ran.”

“We just came out of an A-grade gate yesterday…”

“This time, there will be a generous additional payment!”

At the urgent words of the civil servant, Yoon Pa-ran wrinkled his nose and fell into thought.

Usually, gates on the verge of breaking like this weren’t profitable. Monster corpses had a tendency to decay over time even without being attacked.

This meant that the longer a gate had been around, the fewer usable by-products there were. A shortage of monster by-products, the main source of income for hunters, was a significant financial blow.

In any case, this characteristic of monsters played a crucial role in humanity’s survival.

In the early days, they were barely able to prevent breaks, let alone conquer gates. Fortunately, due to the characteristic of gradually rotting and crumbling, the monsters that poured out couldn’t roam the outside world indefinitely.

Whether they burrowed into the ground or hid in the mountains, the monsters would eventually cease moving and collapse. With hunters also gradually awakening, humanity managed to survive this unprecedented phenomenon without going extinct.

“How long has it been since the signs appeared?”

“Since dawn today.”

After pondering, Yoon Pa-ran made up his mind.

From what he heard, the scale of the additional payment was quite large. Moreover, since the gate was showing signs of breaking abnormally quickly, there was still hope for usable by-products from the monsters inside.

“Send me the address.”

“Ah, we’ll send a car for you.”

Earlier, Joo-hee had mentioned in passing a bag with some character drawn on it. She was absolutely thrilled about how cute it was, even though it looked uglier than a monster and was merely interesting to him.

Given Joo-hee’s personality, she probably wasn’t asking for one. But the way she spoke as if envious of her friend who had one left a strong impression.

Min-woong would also be starting elementary school in a few months. These days, kids apparently need tablet PCs charged with magic stones as essential items. It would be good to earn a bit more money, as there would be many expenses coming up.

“I’ll find my way there myself.”

“Yes! Thank you, Hunter Yoon Pa-ran!”

Yoon Pa-ran declined the car because he didn’t want to expose the orphanage’s address. The civil servant from the management office, seemingly in a hurry to gather hunters, didn’t insist and quickly ended the call.

Yoon Pa-ran stretched again, long and hard.

Thinking about his younger siblings seemed to disperse even the little fatigue that remained into thin air.

❖ ❖ ❖

After leaving a brief message for the director about going to the gate, Yoon Pa-ran headed straight to his studio apartment.

He casually donned his cursed equipment, which would cause great trouble if it fell into the hands of ordinary people, and hurried to the main street. If he had decided to go anyway, it was better to cooperate quickly.

It was then, as he reached the place leading to the main street.

There were people standing at the street corner, shouting irritating things.

“Believe in God!”

“Gates are God’s punishment~! To achieve immortality in the face of the coming apocalypse, you must awaken!”

“Brothers, join us in asceticism to achieve the dream of becoming immortals!”

Even at a glance, the nonsense was fresh. A quick look at the signboards they had set up revealed they were some kind of cult called the Gate Religion.

The government had recently issued a warning about them, but the government usually sent out useless notices to hunters, so he hadn’t paid much attention. However, seeing them actually active like this was suddenly annoying.

This place was too close to the orphanage. Yoon Pa-ran’s younger siblings also used this road to go to school.

Frowning, Yoon Pa-ran quickly assessed the three cult members. The surroundings were still dim, but it was approaching the time when people would start heading to work. The cult members kept approaching and talking to people hurrying down the street.

Almost everyone ignored them, not even giving them a glance as they passed by. Nevertheless, the three cult members maintained their smiling faces. It was a bright smile that contrasted starkly with the gloomy background of dawn.

Then, one of them blocked the path of a child walking by and held out a flyer. The child was wearing a school uniform, probably on an early morning commute to school.

“Child, believe in God.”

Yoon Pa-ran reflexively moved towards them. He was heading in that direction anyway.

Naturally, the cult member and the child ended up blocking Yoon Pa-ran’s path.

“Move.”

When Yoon Pa-ran appeared, the two seemed startled. As he frowned and looked at them alternately, the child in the school uniform flinched and quickly went on their way.

The cult member, on the other hand, for some reason brightened up even more. The skinny middle-aged man turned his body towards Yoon Pa-ran. The mole on his cheek twitched along with his bright smile.

“Oh my, Hunter. God…”

“Get lost.”

Yoon Pa-ran easily ignored him and continued walking. There happened to be a taxi waiting on the street, so he immediately hailed it.

“You’re heading to a gate, Hunter?”

When he stated his destination, the taxi driver chatted amiably. Nodding vaguely, Yoon Pa-ran looked out the window and saw the cult members still clinging to passersby, telling them to believe in God.

The driver quickly turned on the emergency light for hunters and set off. This light indicated that the hunter inside was urgently moving for gate-related business, giving them the right to travel on the road quickly, second only to ambulances.

What should I do about those cult members?

Yoon Pa-ran frowned deeply, pondering seriously, but couldn’t come up with a good solution. Perhaps educated people would quickly come up with solutions for this kind of thing.

He picked up his phone and searched for “how to get rid of cults,” “if I kill cult members,” “illegal cults in the neighborhood,” and so on, but no notable methods stood out.

If you don’t know what to do, you have to solve it with your body.

Following what he had learned throughout his life, Yoon Pa-ran came to a conclusion. For now, he’d have to accompany the children on their way to school for a while.

Despite it being rush hour, the taxi moved quickly. As they approached the address Yoon Pa-ran had given, the entire road was blocked off.

The police, after checking the taxi’s emergency light and Yoon Pa-ran’s equipment, let the taxi pass through smoothly. Thanks to this, they arrived at the gate on time.

Even before getting out, the red light of the gate was visible through the window.

Normal gates emitted a blue light. However, gates on the verge of breaking changed to red, as if kindly giving a warning.

Seeing the ominously flickering light of the gate, tension settled on Yoon Pa-ran’s face.

He got out of the car, tightening the strings of tension. As he was about to take out his phone to call the gate manager to announce his arrival, he heard another familiar voice from beside him.

“Hunter Yoon Pa-ran is here too.”

“…”

He slowly turned his head to the side. He had been staring at the gate since before getting out, but it was ridiculous that he only now noticed such a big guy.

As their eyes met, Dan Joo-hyuk was smiling broadly again. Then, as if he had been waiting, he approached Yoon Pa-ran.

Yoon Pa-ran’s already tense body tightened even more at the man’s attitude.

Why does this bastard keep trying to talk to me?

Before Dan Joo-hyuk could get closer, Yoon Pa-ran naturally moved towards the gate. As the uncomfortable distance between them increased slightly, he felt he could breathe easier.

“Why don’t you accept my greeting?”

Dan Joo-hyuk seemed intent on accompanying him all the way to the gate, sticking close by his side.

“Because I’m not doing well.”

Sharp words automatically came out. It was even more so because the fatigue from yesterday’s gate expedition hadn’t fully dissipated yet.

In reality, all Dan Joo-hyuk had done today was greet him.

However, just yesterday, he had struggled hard at the gate because of that guy. Above all, the problem was Dan Joo-hyuk’s gaze when they met.

Today, he was looking at him like that right from the start. What kind of trouble was he trying to cause now?

“Tired from just visiting a gate yesterday… Looks like you’re the type to collapse quickly after using a few skills.”

Sure enough, Dan Joo-hyuk opened his mouth without hiding his mockery.