Holy B-Class Life

#055

In response to Heo Sang-yeon’s question, Dan Joo-hyuk tapped his knee with his fingertips. After a moment’s pause, he finally spoke.

“Hunter Yoon Pa-ran can testify to the existence of that stone.”

“Ah, so that’s why you said there was evidence…”

At his affirmation, Heo Sang-yeon’s gaze turned back towards him. Yoon Pa-ran, who had been quietly observing, noticed the gaze and felt compelled to say something.

“I…”

“Is that all you found out?”

However, before he could finish speaking, Dan Joo-hyuk sharply interjected.

“Well… I do have a few more things to say. By the way, didn’t Hunter Dan report that the item disappeared after the status window appeared?”

“That’s right.”

Heo Sang-yeon’s gaze shifted back to Dan Joo-hyuk.

Yoon Pa-ran’s attention was also fully focused on Dan Joo-hyuk. He remained tense, ready to stop him if he started spouting nonsense.

“How exactly did the item disappear?”

However, when Heo Sang-yeon asked about the moment the item vanished, Yoon Pa-ran involuntarily swallowed.

Could it be that the item had a property that made it disappear when touched by a specific person?

And of all people, was it me?

“It just disappeared suddenly when I held it,” Dan Joo-hyuk said vaguely from the side, causing cold sweat to run down Yoon Pa-ran’s back.

“Is that so? Min-ji also said she didn’t feel any special energy from this stone…”

When Heo Sang-yeon mentioned that another S-rank hunter had examined the stone, Yoon Pa-ran secretly swallowed again. He barely managed to keep his legs from shaking.

“Dan Joo-hyuk, why don’t you take a look?”

“Well…”

At this suggestion, Yoon Pa-ran froze like a stone.

That day, there had been no change when Dan Joo-hyuk held the stone. If nothing unusual happened when he held it this time, would it be his turn next?

If the stone were to disintegrate in front of Heo Sang-yeon, it would be truly troublesome.

As he had constantly realized since coming to this house, Hunter Heo Sang-yeon was exactly as rumored. A person kind to everyone, unlike typical S-rank hunters. However, Yoon Pa-ran knew clearly that the power he was hiding wasn’t a small matter that could rely on someone’s generous heart.

He hadn’t expected the actual stone to be here. Perhaps he had gotten in too deep after all.

“Well, it might be good to check once,” Dan Joo-hyuk said, still looking calm as he reached for the box.

For a moment, Yoon Pa-ran thought it might be dangerous, but Dan Joo-hyuk’s actions showed no hesitation. Seeing this, Yoon Pa-ran unconsciously stopped himself from trying to prevent it.

The stone fragment they had discovered hadn’t caused any problems either. Moreover, Dan Joo-hyuk and Heo Sang-yeon seemed to be quite close. Perhaps this level of trust was why he acted this way.

Contrary to his worries, Dan Joo-hyuk’s expression remained unchanged as he lifted the smooth stone fragment.

On the other hand, Yoon Pa-ran’s face became seriously tense. The stone fragment emitted the same foul energy he had felt before, once it left the box.

No, perhaps it was even worse than before.

So, Dan Joo-hyuk’s next words were quite unexpected.

“The status window isn’t appearing.”

“Huh, really?”

“Yes.”

“…”

Heo Sang-yeon asked in surprise, as if wondering if he could feel this energy too. Yoon Pa-ran deliberately maintained a stiff expression, pretending not to know anything.

However, the strange energy felt so piercing that it was troubling. The uncomfortable, nauseating feeling persisted. A chilling sensation even clung to his back, as if he had been doused with cold water.

It seemed to be because the stone fragment was too close. Back then, the monster had been quite far away.

While managing his expression, Yoon Pa-ran slightly moved his body backward. He wanted to get even a little farther away without being noticed.

“Oh, then…”

When Heo Sang-yeon’s gaze finally turned to him, he felt dismayed.

Should he at least pretend to hold it? But the moment that thing touched his body, it would be difficult to maintain a calm facade.

For now, he put on a serious face, pretending to be worried about the item’s curse. While forcibly fixing his gaze on the stone in Dan Joo-hyuk’s hand, that’s when it happened.

“That won’t be necessary.”

Dan Joo-hyuk suddenly tossed what he was holding back into the box. With that careless gesture, the box’s lid closed in one go.

The chilling energy that had been choking him disappeared in an instant.

“I was the only one who touched the item that day too.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Yes.”

Dan Joo-hyuk calmly told a lie. Knowing he had to play along, Yoon Pa-ran couldn’t help but look at him with a surprised face.

Is he helping to hide my ability now?

He hadn’t expected him to go as far as lying to a close S-rank hunter. As Yoon Pa-ran wore a bewildered expression at his sudden kindness, Dan Joo-hyuk spoke in a sarcastic tone.

“If you’re not an S-rank and carelessly handle any item handed to you, you’re likely to die young, right?”

“That’s true… Hunter Yoon Pa-ran probably wouldn’t have touched the stone fragment he found back then without thinking, if he had any sense.”

“…”

That day, Yoon Pa-ran had thoughtlessly accepted the stone fragment Dan Joo-hyuk handed over. Despite not being an S-rank.

Furrowing his brow as he recalled this, Yoon Pa-ran thought to himself.

You hand it over and then criticize me for taking it.

It was clear that he had deliberately brought this up to condemn Yoon Pa-ran for his actions that day. Although irritation welled up, Yoon Pa-ran pushed it down hard.

Then, with a brazen face, he nodded seriously towards Heo Sang-yeon.

Despite Dan Joo-hyuk’s unpleasant words, Yoon Pa-ran couldn’t help but feel a slight relief at his actions.

“Damn, then what’s the difference?”

“Who knows.”

Heo Sang-yeon scratched his head while looking down at the box as if it was giving him a headache.

Despite Heo Sang-yeon’s serious demeanor, Dan Joo-hyuk maintained a leisurely expression. As if it had nothing to do with him.

“It’s probably just a similar-looking stone fragment.”

“Like the [Broken Blessing Fragments]?”

“Yes.”

The [Broken Blessing Fragments] needed to break item curses all had different shapes. Yet, they all displayed the same status window.

This contrasted with shield items, which all had the same shape. That’s why rummaging through plausible-looking stone fragments during gate expeditions was one of the hunters’ side jobs.

“But… I definitely felt really bad.”

“Maybe you just felt bad. I often do.”

Dan Joo-hyuk replied with a grin to Heo Sang-yeon, who was muttering seriously.

Well, he knew best about the guy whose mood swings several times a day. Since there was no need to hide this incident, Yoon Pa-ran kept nodding his head from the side.

“How did the monster mutate?”

“Uh… huh? Ah. I guess it didn’t… mutate. I killed it quickly as soon as it started rampaging because I had a bad feeling.”

While Yoon Pa-ran was nodding his head with his gaze on the table, Heo Sang-yeon stumbled over his words. Yoon Pa-ran raised his head wondering what was wrong, but nothing seemed amiss.

Just an intense discussion related to this incident was going back and forth.

“Be precise. You should have observed whether it was a mutation or not. Whether it evolved into a higher species or if there were any physical changes.”

“You’re right…”

It was a difficult topic to interject into. Perhaps that’s why Yoon Pa-ran’s gaze was drawn to the sunlight outside the window again.

He knew this wasn’t the time, but he couldn’t help but be distracted by the warm color of the sunlight.

“The gate we reported was closer to a boss monster going berserk. So if the boss monster in the gate Hunter Heo Sang-yeon entered mutated, we should probably consider it a different issue.”

“Hmm.”

At Dan Joo-hyuk’s leisurely voice, Yoon Pa-ran whipped his head around.

He thought to himself how well Dan Joo-hyuk used the somewhat awkward term “we.” Dan Joo-hyuk was smiling with his usual brazen face, as if he had some hidden intention.

“Yeah. That could be possible…”

For some reason, Heo Sang-yeon suddenly looked very tired. Judging by the strong smell of blood still coming from the equipment scattered on the floor, it seemed he had come out of the gate not long ago.

While observing him, Yoon Pa-ran carefully chose his words.

“Were there… no other hunters who felt something strange from the stone?”

As soon as he asked, Heo Sang-yeon’s gaze turned towards him. It was a somewhat peculiar look, so Yoon Pa-ran met his gaze without avoiding it.

Did I ask something wrong?

“Hmm… There was no one but me. That’s why I thought Hunter Dan might have something…”

However, that look in his eyes quickly faded. For some reason, Hunter Heo Sang-yeon’s gaze turned back to Dan Joo-hyuk.

That gaze seemed a bit sharp. Yoon Pa-ran thought something was odd, but he just nodded his head for now.

“…”

Then suddenly, a chill ran down his spine. As soon as he realized this sensation, he reflexively looked to the side.

Dan Joo-hyuk had suddenly become frighteningly quiet.