WOSCH 09

Chapter – 09

“Oh! There’s some grass over there.”

I spotted some grass glowing bluish-silver and hurried over to it.

Yes! Nineteen. I could finally see the finish line.

“You’re the first person I’ve seen who pulls grass instead of magic stones from a gate.”

“Ahaha, really? Well… nobody’s interested in grass.”

Hunter Lee Hyun-woo shook his head.

“Everything except magic stones loses its form and disappears once it leaves the gate. That’s why analyzing the environment inside gates is said to be so difficult.”

“It disappears?”

The grass I had worked so hard to collect would be okay… right?

I looked at Hanyang, who was nestled in my arms, and he said indifferently,

“Don’t worry, nyang. The materials you collected won’t disappear.”

“…What exactly is that talking cat?”

“Uh, he’s someone who helps me? Something like that.”

Apparently curious, Hunter Lee Hyun-woo reached out to poke the cat with his finger, only to have Hanyang hiss and bite his hand.

“I’ve heard that there are beings who occasionally help Awakeners, but I’ve never seen one in this form before.”

“What’s wrong with me, nyang!”

“Our Hanyang is only a little fat! If you look closely, he’s an incredibly handsome cat, you know?!”

Hunter Lee Hyun-woo spoke with an incredulous expression.

“I heard that such beings are normally invisible to ordinary people. That’s why I mentioned it. I wasn’t talking about its appearance.”

“Oh, so that’s what you meant….”

I had thought he was criticizing our cat for being fat, so I had felt a little offended for nothing.

Wouldn’t it have been better if he had explained it properly from the beginning so there wouldn’t be any confusion?

I grumbled inwardly as I swept my hair behind my ear.

‘Come to think of it, the grass is harder to find than I expected.’

Until a little while ago, I could spot it easily after walking only a short distance, but now it took quite a while just to find a single one.

Wondering if I was missing some as I walked, I looked around carefully, practically straining my eyes, but all I could see was barren ground.

“…Would you like me to give this back to you?”

“It’s fine.”

The longer this went on, the more sorry I felt about taking his combat uniform and wearing it.

He must be really hot even if he didn’t say anything… Was he regretting giving it to me?

I sneakily glanced up at his face.

‘Wow. He isn’t even sweating.’

His face was so fresh and dry that it looked as if he were standing alone under an air conditioner.

Did S-ranks not feel the heat very much? That was completely unfair.

Besides, the more I looked at him, the more unreal his face seemed. How could such a small face fit such perfectly arranged eyes, nose, and mouth?

“Is there something you wanted to say?”

“Ah, uh, no!”

I was staring blankly at his face when, without warning, he suddenly turned his head and looked directly at me.

Startled, I shook my head vigorously, only for my foot to catch on something.

And then I stumbled—

‘Aaaaaah, I’m falling…!’

“Are you all right?”

“Ah….”

Fortunately, Hunter Lee Hyun-woo caught me before I fell, saving me from the embarrassing fate of rolling around on the ground.

However, his face had suddenly come extremely close to mine, so I had no choice but to squeeze my eyes shut.

“I-I’m fine!”

I pushed him away and marched forward energetically.

Hanyang, completely oblivious to the situation, spoke to me.

“Why is your face so red, nyang?”

“Jeong Hanyang! Please, shh! Quiet!”

“Oh. Are you hot?”

“…A-a little? Haha!”

I fanned my heated face with my hand. Whew, the gate really was hot.

After walking continuously, I started feeling a little hungry, so I took a snack out of my inventory.

I was about to take a bite when I noticed Hunter Lee Hyun-woo beside me.

Oh, right…. I had brought some bungeoppang too.

“Would you like some bungeoppang?”

When I offered him the bungeoppang I had taken out of my inventory, he hesitated before carefully accepting it.

‘He refused it last time, but he isn’t this time.’

“…I’m sorry about last time.”

Even an apology?

My eyes widened at words I never expected to hear from him.

“There are cases where people disguise poison in food and send it as a gift. At the time, I was sensitive because I was worried that might have been the case.”

“Wait, poison?”

He stared into the distance for a moment, as though recalling the past.

“After tracking down the recent incident, we discovered that the culprit was someone who had lost their younger sibling to a gate. He screamed that he had lost his sibling because I, as an S-rank, hadn’t stepped in.”

Apparently, the culprit had packaged food containing poison as a gift, saying that he wanted Hunter Lee Hyun-woo to experience the same pain he had suffered.

How could someone be so unreasonable?! No matter how sad he was, there were lines you shouldn’t cross.

“But what happened then has nothing to do with this item. I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t even know something like that had happened. But I would never do anything like that!”

“I know. You’re the type whose intentions are obvious from your face if you were to try something like that.”

Did my face really give me away that easily?

He gave me a sly smile, as if he had said it just to tease me, and lightly bit into the bungeoppang.

I wondered what bungeoppang tasted like to an S-rank.

With a strangely nervous feeling, I watched the bungeoppang disappear into his mouth.

“…So this is what it’s like.”

He savored it quietly, then made a subtle expression.

What was that expression supposed to mean?

“Isn’t it delicious?”

“Hmm… My tongue feels slightly tingly. I suppose that must be the sweetness.”

His tongue felt tingly?

Did that mean it was delicious or not?

He scratched his cheek awkwardly.

“…It’s been so long since I’ve experienced what taste is that I’m not sure.”

“How long has it been?”

“Since I awakened, so… more than ten years.”

More than ten years.

That meant he had lived for over ten years without knowing what things tasted like, and this was the first time he had experienced taste again.

“It doesn’t mean it tastes bad. It’s just… strange to be able to taste something.”

I could understand why he seemed unfamiliar with the bungeoppang even though he was eating it.

For him, the sense of taste was something he had experienced such a very long time ago.

“…It must have been really hard for you all this time.”

“It’s fine. I’ve gotten used to it now.”

He spoke calmly. His tone made it sound as though being unable to taste anything no longer bothered him at all.

He clenched and unclenched his fists several times before murmuring,

“Everything changed after I awakened. I could feel the heartbeat of every living creature, and one day, an uncontrollable killing intent surged up inside me. There were times when I lost all sensation throughout my entire body.”

“…Something like that happened?”

“Compared to these side effects, not being able to taste was a very minor problem.”

He gave a bitter smile and said that even these distorted senses eventually became something he could adapt to.

Only then did I truly realize that he was the only S-rank in the country.

‘The greater the power, the more severe the side effects….’

I found him incredible for having fought those side effects alone for such a long time.

I deliberately spoke in a bright voice.

“I happen to be making some special bungeoppang. I’m sure it’ll help you too, Hunter.”

“I hope so.”

“Come visit my shop sometime. I’ll make you some bungeoppang.”

He nodded.

If the special effect of the ‘Solsol Grass’ unlocked this time, perhaps it might have an effect on him as well.

When he came to visit later, I should give him some as a gift.

“…They’ve finally appeared.”

Shing.

He drew the sword from his waist.

I couldn’t see anything.

As I looked around, a cloud of dust rose in the distance.

‘Could all of that be monsters?’

—Kueeeek!

—Kuek, kweee!

—Kwieek! Kwik!

Centipedes that were disgusting enough when there was only one of them were now swarming toward us in a massive horde.

Hunter Lee Hyun-woo stepped in front of me as though to protect me.

“Stay here. I’ll take care of them and be right back.”

Before I even had a chance to answer, Hunter Lee Hyun-woo kicked off the ground and leaped forward, disappearing into the middle of the centipedes.

“H-Hunter Lee Hyun-woo!”

Even though I knew he was an S-rank, my body instinctively flinched.

As I anxiously watched the battle taking place in the distance, Hanyang nudged me.

“The grass you’re looking for is here, nyang.”

“Wait, that’s not important right now. Hunter Lee Hyun-woo is in the middle of all those centipedes… huh?”

I had only glanced at Hanyang for a moment before looking back up, but the ear-piercing cries of the centipedes had already disappeared.

‘No way. Is it already over?’

As the dust slowly settled, I saw Hunter Lee Hyun-woo walking toward me with a completely calm expression.

He returned without even a single strand of hair out of place and looked around.

“Are you all right?”

“Wow….”

I stood there with my mouth hanging open before clapping my hands.

He had finished so quickly that the amount of time he had spent fighting felt shorter than the time he had told me to wait.

So this was the power of an S-rank.

“Oh! Come to think of it, I found the last piece of grass too!”

I ran to the location Hanyang had pointed out and plucked the final Solsol Grass.

Finally, twenty!

At that moment, a system window appeared with a ding.

Material Collection Status

• Solsol Grass (20/20) Complete!

Returning to the designated location.

Hold on tight!

Hold on tight?

Hold on to what?

Before I even had time to think about it, my vision wavered, and the ground beneath my feet suddenly gave way.

“Wait…!”

The last thing I saw before returning was Hunter Lee Hyun-woo reaching his hand out toward me.