S-Rank is My Side Character - Chapter 22

Kang Ihyeon

Hunter

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Date of Birth / October 24, 20XX

Occupation / Hunter (Main Category: Priest, Sub-Category: Holy Knight)

Affiliation / Seongcheon Guild

Ranking / Domestic 2nd, World 7th, Priest Class 1st

Education / St. Michael’s Boys High School

Physical Stats / 188cm, 80kg

Family / Father Kang Minho (died at age 38), Mother Jang Yujin (died at age 35), Aunt Kang Sujin

Special Notes / Color-possessing Hunter. Nicknamed ‘Golden Saint’

“No way… Is this kid a 4th generation chaebol? And he’s the guild master’s nephew right now…?”

Rude covered his mouth with his hand, staring at the computer screen with a look of disbelief.

An enormous amount of money, incomparable to that of small and medium-sized enterprises, was required to expand and maintain the size of the guild. The core of running a guild was said to be ‘not going bankrupt’.

From the beginning, among the four guilds that survived in South Korea, Seongcheon and Baekya were guilds raised by subsidiaries of large corporations.

Among them, Seongcheon was originally a subsidiary of a subsidiary of a large corporation, but it had grown much larger than the parent company and became independent. The extent of Ihyeon’s wealth as its successor was unimaginable.

[Come to think of it, the items he uses are quite expensive, the Lord of Chaos slowly recalls the past.]

‘He did seem to lack a sense of money.’

He readily lent out expensive items, and even if they were his own belongings, he didn’t care much if they were lost or broken, to the point where Rude had to scold him.

He thought it was because Ihyeon earned so much money that he didn’t know the value of it, but now it seemed he lacked a sense of money because he was born with a golden spoon.

“Then the guild master deliberately hired his nephew as an intern, wow, he’s really tough…”

[Given his personality, he would never just hand over Seongcheon, the Lord of Chaos nods his head.]

Of course, the guild master was so strict. Rude, having similar thoughts as the Lord of Chaos, scrolled down with the mouse.

“He’s even two years younger than me. He’s only twenty-three?”

[He even has the younger man attribute! He’s really trying hard to seduce our Nari, the Lord of Chaos crosses his arms.]

In the shared office used by Ihyeon and Rude, Rude, who had placed a latte on Ihyeon’s desk, widened his eyes and highlighted the year of birth in blue on the web page.

“No, but that’s not the issue…”

Rude sighed deeply again and highlighted the family relations section. His expression began to turn grim.

Hunter Kang Minho and Hunter Jang Yujin. The national heroes and the first guild master and vice-guild master of Seongcheon.

The two who closed the door to the East Sea Level 1 Gate in place of Kang Hana after her death and died. Then, isn’t it as if Kang Ihyeon’s parents died because of Nari’s mother?

Nari recalled once again the expression on Kang Ihyeon’s face when he first learned of her identity. What was his expression like then? She couldn’t remember.

“Ah, seriously… What is this… Argh, really!”

Rude, who had been groaning, wrapped his head and buried it on the desk. He rubbed his black hair against it and made a helpless expression. And a natural, fundamental question came to mind.

‘Why is he by my side?’

To him, Nari was no different from an enemy hunter who killed his parents, the daughter of Kang Hana. The human heart was cunning. Didn’t she herself harbor feelings of hatred towards Seongcheon, who did nothing to her mother and herself?

But what about Kang Ihyeon, who reached out to Nari? Did he really reach out without any emotions or calculations? Such doubts arose and Rude’s mind became confused again.

[Don’t think so heavily, your anxiety level is rising again, so be careful, the Lord of Chaos sighs.]

“I thought I found room to breathe.”

Just imagining that Kang Ihyeon was coaxing her to use her made Nari’s insides twist. She thought he was a savior, but what if his kindness was just a sweet drug?

The moment Rude lay face down with a serious expression, staring only at the floor, the door swung open.

“Rude! Are you here?!”

“Gasp!”

Startled, Rude trembled and looked ahead. Ihyeon, who had entered while making a phone call, sighed with relief as soon as he saw Rude.

Thinking that he might have been looking for him, Rude took out his cell phone from his trench coat and saw that Ihyeon’s missed calls were all over the standby screen.

“Sorry, you were looking for me.”

“Thank goodness. Are you hurt anywhere? Did you hear a lot of strange things? I’m sorry! I’m really sorry, Rude. I should have paid more attention.”

“What… What?”

Ihyeon approached Rude in big strides and half-knelt to match eye level. His bangs were half wet with sweat as if he had been running.

“…You’re avoiding me because of Hunter Min Jaewon, right? My former partner. The cafe part-timer told me. That he harassed you.”

“That, that? No… It’s okay…”

“Uncle Jaewon tends to hate evil inclinations a bit too much. He said he lost his son and daughter-in-law at the demons’ gate.”

“Uh-huh.”

Ihyeon closed his eyes tightly, lowered his gaze, then looked up again and spoke. It was as if he was blaming himself.

“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I should have thought carefully in advance and mediated well… But, I’ll make it clear to him that you and that are separate, Rude. Definitely! I’ll also talk to the guild master…”

“No, it’s really fine. He was quite gentlemanly.”

“…What?”

At Ihyeon’s puzzled expression, Rude shook his head as if it was really okay. He looked like it was genuinely fine.

“He’s gentlemanly enough. You know there aren’t many people who like me originally anyway.”

Rude shrugged his shoulders. He wasn’t using physical or verbal violence, and there was no attempt to completely bury him. It was as if he was chewing gum to the level of ‘getting angry’.

Of course. The main character had been constantly cursed at since 10 years ago, and the sub-character had been pushed around by the media in many ways, so he had developed a thick skin. It was a bittersweet gain in its own way.

Patting the shoulders of Ihyeon, who was looking at him worriedly, Rude desperately explained.

“I told you. That you’re special. I’ve been through that kind of thing a lot. But it’s quite limited, so I don’t care much. So don’t you worry either…”

“How can I not worry! Don’t say that. I’ll make sure that never comes up again. Never.”

“It’s okay! Now you’re here! Yeah! You’re here, right?! What are you worried about… Oh, no…?”

Rude awkwardly laughed and patted Kang Ihyeon’s shoulders. Then, Kang Ihyeon’s eyes, who had been making the most apologetic expression to Rude until a moment ago, gradually narrowed into a line.

‘This person isn’t usually like this, why is he suddenly acting this way?’

It was a sign that Ihyeon had noticed something suspicious.

Rude, startled by that sign, slightly turned his gaze away to avoid eye contact. Ihyeon tilted his head as if he had noticed something, then spoke.

“What’s going on?”

“Huh? No, nothing?”

“Why do you believe in me so much?”

“What? No? I originally believed in you?”

[Where did our Nari’s conscience go? The Lord of Chaos giggles.]

‘Shut up… Zum deuts b…’

Rude closed his eyes tightly at the mockery of the Left of Chaos.

After learning about Ihyeon’s background, when he actually faced him, he became more tense rather than doubting his kindness.

Thinking that his younger brother, who was two years younger than him, had hidden the story of his parents and endured all his misconduct for his sake, his face felt hot.

‘Do you actually hate me? Should I cut ties? No, I’ll just watch out a little more…’ Damn it, how can I act tactfully against a guy with max-level social skills…?’

In the meantime, Kang Ihyeon was still staring at him with a straight gaze.

Ihyeon suddenly shifted his gaze to the monitor, saw the window with his profile open, and asked.

“Why did you search my profile?”

“Uh uh uh? Oh oh oh nothing just? I just suddenly got curious about you? Curious about my one and only partner?”

“No way?”

Kang Ihyeon glanced at Rude. Something was suspicious. The person he knew wasn’t someone who wagged his tail like this.

When Ihyeon made eye contact, Rude looked away. When he moved his body to make eye contact again, this time he turned his head. There was something. Kang Ihyeon spoke with his eyes half open.

“What’s really going on?!”

“No, I’m telling you it’s really nothing! This is just!”

Rude muttered in a truly flustered tone. Just as Kang Ihyeon was putting his hands on his waist in a slightly firm attitude, a red notification message appeared in their sight. It was a message from the country.

[Hunter Administration Gyeonggi Branch Emergency Alert – Level 3 Erosion-type Sudden Gate appeared at OO High School in Seohyeon Station, Seongnam City. Hunters currently available for mobilization, please dispatch.] [This is the timeline separator]

“Oh, teacher~ Can’t we shorten class today? Really? Teacher~ Your grace is like the sky~ The more I look up, the higher it gets~”

“No.”

“Aw, teacher~ Now that the CSAT is over, shouldn’t we give some freedom to our students? We need to shorten classes for the whole school. Today. Right?”

A few dozen minutes before the Level 3 gate occurrence emergency alert came to Ihyeon and Rude. In the faculty room of an old public high school near Seohyeon Station.

A high school student wearing glasses was acting cute to a teacher who seemed to be his homeroom teacher. The teacher shook his head as if it was already a familiar occurrence and answered.

“Jaeyun, you’re not thinking of graduating? You know that if you’re absent or late saying the CSAT is over, you really can’t graduate because of attendance. You were late today too.”

When it seemed his opinion would not be accepted at all, the male student sighed, brushing his hair back.

“Sigh… No, it can’t be, teacher! We’re in danger! We all need to leave the school right now! The gate detector went off!”

The male student’s voice changed urgently from acting cute. The teacher, reading the anxious eyes behind his glasses, just smiled.

“That was a malfunction. Look, it’s fine now. It’s 11 o’clock now, so endure for just an hour~”

“Ah, seriously, teach!”

With that last biting sound, he was driven out of the faculty room as if pushed. The male high school student, who closed the faculty room door with a bang and sighed deeply, looked at the end of the corridor.

The east Maseok storage cabinet. He stared at it for a long time with a lollipop stuck in his mouth, then hung his head and sighed deeply.

“Ah, I really don’t know anymore either. Let it be. Argh!”

Smack!

With the sound of hitting something hard with his fist, the male high school student screamed and staggered. He rubbed the back of his head and gnashed his teeth as he looked up.

“No, this is too much. Hey, listen. Sigh… Okay… I got it! I’ll do it! I’m just saying, just saying!”

The male high school student, muttering, sighed deeply and headed upstairs, dragging his slippers.