SSS-Class Hunter Goes On Vacation (4 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 14

“Then instead, let’s do this. Five people is fine too.”

“What is it?”

“It’s called Code Rhyme—anyway, they say you can play it without cheating?”

“But I can see through the back of those cards. Is that allowed?”

“…No, never mind. Actually, I feel like a fool for lugging all this board game stuff here just to play with this group.”

It felt utterly strange to see Saint suddenly throw a tantrum and pretend to cry.

Perhaps reaching the pinnacle of excellence in this field was, in itself, a lonely thing.

Everyone admired them, yet no one truly understood them. Sometimes people even felt sheer terror toward heights they themselves could never reach.

Yeon Ju realized that the four people before her had grown up lonely even within the Academy for precisely this reason—especially since their enrollment periods at the Academy hadn’t overlapped at all.

Especially Su Ji.

It felt so wonderful to see Su Ji laughing brightly and finding joy in such ordinary things.

Yeon Ju stared blankly at them for a moment, then lifted her hand to subtly cover her eyes. She’d never truly grasped that saying about tears coming more easily with age—but suddenly, she thought she understood.

There was no one as silly as her.

Because Yeon Ju both taught students at the Academy and looked after Su Ji, even though she held an administrative role, other Hunters tended to welcome her quite warmly.

She blended seamlessly into the group and readily accepted their sudden, earnest commitment to “playing hard.”

Though she’d originally come to deliver a message, for some reason she didn’t want to spoil this cozy atmosphere by bringing up matters like “Laurel” or that cult-like organization.

She couldn’t even describe how pleasant it felt—despite being deep inside a dungeon where monsters could appear at any moment—to see not a single person tense up, everyone simply enjoying their game.

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“Me too? You too! Everyone finished writing, right? Things you absolutely must bring when going to the Tower! Drumroll please—I’ll go first!”

“Go ahead. I wrote down tons of stuff everyone’ll totally relate to.”

Saint read her list from behind a Tier-7 shield, ensuring no one could peek using X-ray vision.

“Beef jerky!”

“…What are you even doing?”

“What do you mean ‘what am I doing’? Peace! Seriously? Has anyone here not eaten the jerky I gave out in the Tower?”

“Me too? You too!” was a game where you scored points based on how many people wrote the same keyword as you. Saint grumbled after receiving zero relatability, and then Elaine quietly raised her hand to announce what she’d written.

“The Collar of the Fallen.”

Su Ji tilted her head, clearly puzzled, while Peace, Saint, and Creusa all jeered mockingly.

“Boo-hoo-hoo.”

“Boo-hoo!”

“What even is that?”

Saint asked accusingly.

“It just means the captain isn’t an object, so I wrote down something that represents the captain.”

“Exactly.”

“Elaine, do you even understand the game? You’re supposed to write something universally essential so you can get maximum relatability!”

“It *is* the most essential thing.”

At Elaine’s deadpan reply, everyone fell silent and exchanged glances.

“…What kind of logic is that? I’m weirdly convinced.”

“…Me too.”

“…Same here.”

“Oh, how embarrassing. What are you all doing?”

Su Ji flapped her hands and quickly moved on to the next keyword.

Time passed pleasantly, and until the game finally ended, hardly anyone shouted “Me too!” It seemed that while these Hunters somehow managed to cooperate, their ways of thinking shared little in common.

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After playing for quite a while, Yeon Ju suddenly looked up when her terminal rang, then quickly took Elaine and Peace with her to pick up their ordered food.

Even if tamers had tamed monsters to deliver meals, it was still tough for them to reach such a dangerous location—so someone had to go outside the gate to collect it in person.

Hot pizza, nasi goreng, sushi, tom yum goong, dim sum, Peking duck, lasagna, satay, kebab, curry, and more.

She half-apologized that she’d avoided ordering noodle dishes since they’re no good when packed, but no one complained upon seeing the feast Yeon Ju had brought.

Everyone swiftly cleared the game away and placed the piled-up food onto the table.

“Thanks for the meal!”

“Thank you, Auntie.”

“It’s just something I ordered—what’s with the thanks? But you’re all eating properly, right? Why are you all so thin?”

“I’ve actually gained a whole kilogram compared to when I used to run the Tower every day.”

Su Ji tried to protest, but Yeon Ju shook her head firmly, as if the notion were utterly absurd.

Su Ji and the other Hunters lived such sharply disciplined lives by nature that gaining weight was nearly impossible. Once one reached a certain level of mastery, their physique tended to stabilize and rarely changed after that.

Though Yeon Ju knew all this perfectly well, in her eyes Su Ji always seemed just too thin—and somehow fragile.

“Still, it makes me happy to see you all eating well.”

Watching everyone enjoy their food with genuine delight, Yeon Ju suddenly glanced around the surprisingly beautiful dungeon space.

“Now that I think of it, how did you find such a lovely place? I’ve run plenty of dungeons myself, but this is the first time I’ve seen somewhere this neat—with even the grass so carefully trimmed.”

“Oh, that. Our captain pulled out all the weeds.”

“See that huge pile of grass over there? That’s all the weeds Lady Daphne pulled and stacked up.”

Yeon Ju’s mouth fell open at Peace and Saint’s answers.

“Why would you do that?”

“Well… We started by thinking we’d make a little flower bed, but it sort of… got out of hand.”

Su Ji scratched her cheek sheepishly.

Even as she spoke, she felt embarrassed—it had clearly gone far beyond a mere flower bed and ended up covering a vast stretch of land.

“Was I overdoing it a bit?”

“A bit? Not even close…”

“At this rate, we could build an entire amusement park.”

At Saint’s comment, the other two teammates narrowed their eyes into triangles.

“Someone would actually have to be able to get here to build an amusement park.”

“And in these tough times, who even goes to amusement parks anymore? All the existing ones have shut down already.”

Su Ji pictured an amusement park in her mind.

Having been born in the 24th century, she’d only ever seen amusement parks in photographs or as partially ruined exhibits.

‘Now that I think about it, they actually looked kind of fun.’

Riding the attractions would probably be enjoyable, and for sights—well, couldn’t they just display items collected from dungeons?

Imagining something entirely different from the original purpose of amusement parks, she nodded to herself silently.

Thinking it might be fun to plan something like that someday.

“But then our captain ended up…”

While Su Ji was lost in thought, Saint started to say something, then quickly bit his tongue and glanced toward their captain.

“Huh? What is it?”

“Oh, nothing… It’s about the reward for that weed-pulling quest. I feel like I shouldn’t mention it myself. Is it okay if I do?”

Su Ji nodded.

To her, Yeon Ju was like a mother—far more so than her stepmother ever had been.

There was nothing to hide.

Once granted permission, Peace eagerly recounted the incident where Su Ji had muted the “Exalted Beings.”

“…Good heavens.”

Yeon Ju couldn’t stop her mouth from dropping open, completely incredulous from start to finish. Seeing Saint and Peace animatedly continue their tale in response to her reaction, Su Ji quietly stood up.

This conversation was clearly going to take a while.

She turned her head—and immediately met Elaine’s gaze.

As always, Elaine somehow sensed exactly when Su Ji needed him.

‘I’ll go sort out my emotions.’

Though she only mouthed the words, Elaine understood immediately and nodded.

Su Ji nodded back and turned away.

‘Once this story ends, maybe I’ll suggest planting flowers together in the garden. Or playing another game? Or maybe just reading comics together with the whole group—that wouldn’t be bad either. Ah, anything would be fun.’

She smiled to herself, imagining all sorts of scenes.

‘I’d better hurry back.’

With that, Su Ji stepped out through the dungeon’s gate.

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Since early morning, the internet had been buzzing with news about Daphne.

[Title: Dropping My Encounter with Daphne Today;

This happened today at 5:10 a.m.

My heart’s still pounding so hard I remember the exact time.

I was tying my sneakers near the Han River, about to exercise, when suddenly an emergency siren blared and my terminal vibrated; the alert showed Wave Level B;

I thought, “Shit, I’m screwed.” The location was exactly where I was—within a 1.5 km radius from under Seongsu Bridge?

I checked my watch—it was 5:10 sharp, and the Wave was supposed to start at 5:12. I’m just a nobody who hasn’t even passed Hunter certification, so I’ve got no useful traits to speak of.

It hit me instantly—I’d never survive even if I ran like hell.

I deeply regretted not listening to Mom when she told me this morning to skip exercising and just go back to sleep;

Anyway, I started sprinting for my life.

Has anyone here ever faced a Level B Wave? It gives you chills down your spine.

I’ll be right back from the bathroom—then I’ll finish my story.

└If you titled this “My Encounter with Daphne,” shouldn’t there at least be a “D” from Lady Daphne?

└This guy’s full of crap.

└Don’t you smell burning wood? Lady Daphne’s been MIA for ages.

└I checked—there really was a Level B Wave near Seongsu Bridge at 5:10 a.m. today.

└Whether it’s fake or not, it’s entertaining—just hurry up and finish the story.

└Can’t you use your terminal in the bathroom? You totally can. Hurry.

└Hurry~~~~~~~

└Wait, seriously? Did Lady Daphne actually show up?]