SSS-Class Hunter Goes On Vacation (4 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 7

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“Where are the other officers?”

“It’s more comfortable for both of us if we talk alone. If others are around, we’d have to speak more formally.”

“True, this is more comfortable.”

Yeon Ju gave a wry smile as she said that, then pulled over a chair, crossed her legs, and sat down.

Even though the Hunter society wasn’t overly obsessed with hierarchy, to an outsider unaware of their history, her demeanor might have seemed far too casual—almost disrespectful—toward her superior.

But Seung Hwan didn’t mind at all, and Yeon Ju wasn’t the slightest bit self-conscious either.

“What brings you here?”

“What do you mean, ‘what brings me’? You told me to investigate—Daphne.”

At the mention of “Daphne,” Seung Hwan gave a heavy nod.

He had retired around the same time as Yeon Ju to serve as backup support for active Hunters. They’d once been on the same team—

an elite squad, much like Su Ji’s current team ascending the Tower’s front lines, tasked with pioneering and publishing monster-clearing strategies to uplift national prestige.

Back then, it had been just a short while since the A.W. era—the generation following Wave—had begun.

Monster threat levels weren’t vastly different from today, but Hunters’ skill and knowledge were far more limited.

There was no detailed information about Hunters or Gates yet; everything had to be learned through trial and error.

Every step was incredibly difficult, and many promising talents were lost because of it.

That was how they lost Pheneios.

Pheneios had been a truly captivating and remarkable woman.

She was so cheerful and warm-hearted that, when naming herself and her partner as a couple, she took her Hunter name from a male deity in mythology. Everyone adored her.

She was compassionate, generous—and above all, absurdly talented.

Back then, every single Hunter was invaluable.

Pheneios had temporarily stepped away from field duty when she became pregnant, but once she recovered after giving birth, she inevitably returned to assist on the front lines.

At the time, the Tower had no save points—you always had to climb from the first floor anew each time. That mechanic wasn’t discovered until after Pheneios died.

Whenever passing through the Tower’s first floor, Pheneios would jokingly say,

〈If I die and you all survive, you’ll have to take care of my child.〉

Since the entire team always kept death in mind, they understood the weight of those words—but none of them could imagine Pheneios actually dying.

〈If you’re in a situation where you might die, we’ll all be dead already.〉

〈Exactly. Don’t talk nonsense like that.〉

For a while, peaceful days passed without incident… until the accident happened.

A fissure appeared in the Tower, and a monster—one that should never have emerged on Floor 30—devoured people in a horrifying disaster. Pheneios sacrificed her life to save everyone else.

Her loss was too great to be dismissed as just another casualty among many fallen comrades.

Just from Seung Hwan’s expression, Yeon Ju knew he was recalling a specific moment from the past.

“Su Ji will be fine. She’s the one who’s been living just like Pheneios—with Pheneios’s exact face… no, even more brilliantly.”

“Everything in this world happens for a reason.”

“I suppose… It’s about time Su Ji got worn out too.”

She sighed and pointed toward a poster visible through the glass wall directly opposite Seung Hwan’s room.

It was Su Ji’s lone, reluctant appearance in a promotional poster for the Hunter Response Team.

Her forehead was partially hidden by wing-shaped ornaments, and everything below her nose was concealed by armor—but her confident stance made her look strikingly like Pheneios.

Yeon Ju stared fixedly at the poster for a moment before finally voicing the reason she’d come to see Seung Hwan.

“Instead of getting lost in nostalgia, why don’t you listen to what I have to say? Daphne was swindled—badly.”

“…Swindled? What do you mean?”

A grim, dangerous glint flickered in Seung Hwan’s eyes, which had been clouded with melancholy.

Yeon Ju explained to him the details of the incident as she’d heard them from Saint.

Seung Hwan let out a disbelieving snort.

“Someone scammed an SSS-rank Hunter and fled overseas?”

“Well, technically it was an AAA-rank Hunter—but the counterparty was Saint.”

“Anybody with eyes in this country would know Saint and Daphne were Tower partners. Especially a merchant in this line of work dealing in such high-end goods.”

“Exactly. So doesn’t that seem suspicious to you?”

“…There’s someone behind this?”

Yeon Ju gave a light nod.

Where there was light in the Hunter world, there was also darkness.

Trending

While there were Hunters performing official duties, there were also many factions—starting from private security firms—who used their power for personal gain. Naturally, criminal organizations were among them.

“What’s their goal?”

“We’ll find out. For now, I’m thinking of catching the guy and… interrogating him thoroughly. Daphne won’t stand by while her teammates are endangered, but she’s still too soft-hearted. If this turns out to be more than just a simple fraud case, it’ll be faster if we investigate ourselves.”

Seung Hwan silently nodded.

“You said you heard this from Saint? I’ll contact her personally and look into it.”

“Thanks.”

Yeon Ju stood up briskly, as though her business was done—but Seung Hwan tapped the table in front of him first.

Instantly, a transparent glow erupted and formed a luminous projection of the world map.

Yeon Ju quietly observed several distinct red markers highlighted within the white radiance—regions predicted to experience Wave manifestations, tracked via spatial stability metrics.

She pointed to a yellow marker she’d never seen before, located near the Philippine Sea, not far from Korea.

“What’s this?”

“The Laurel.”

At Seung Hwan’s calm reply, Yeon Ju’s eyes widened.

“The Laurel has been detected?”

“Yes.”

The structure they commonly called “The Laurel” was the complete opposite of the national Towers that typically appeared—one per country.

National Towers were usually located in capital cities and could be challenged repeatedly, even if individual floors imposed time limits based on boss mechanics or gimmicks.

By conquering them, nations could glean hints about future monsters and secure benefits for their country—essentially, a collective effort requiring unified strength.

In contrast, The Laurel appeared at random intervals and random locations—and vanished exactly 24 hours after its emergence.

Said to be directly linked to the “Great Beings,” The Laurel manifested each time with entirely different properties:

enemies immune to armor-piercing damage, overwhelming DoT effects inflicting debilitating status conditions… in short, it was notoriously tricky and frustrating to clear.

However, any Hunter who reached its highest floor could obtain an item from the “Great Beings,” believed to be the entities governing The Laurel.

Because of these rare rewards, every Hunter longed to challenge it—and it was regarded as a mandatory destination for anyone wishing to test their true skill.

Moreover, its most alluring feature was this: failure in The Laurel didn’t result in death. Unlike regular Towers, it allowed risk-free attempts.

“It hasn’t shown up in a while.”

“Right. Has it really been twenty years?”

“Last time was the worst.”

“Indeed.”

Yeon Ju and Seung Hwan exchanged glances and nodded.

After the first Wave, humanity endured a prolonged period of transition—not just in Korea, but worldwide.

As one example, crime once ran rampant. Some Hunters, trained to fight monsters, couldn’t control their sudden power and rampaged like unbridled thunderstorms.

Countless Hunters flocked to that iteration of The Laurel—only for many to perish in utter chaos before anyone could claim its reward.

“What happened to that Japanese Hunter—the last one to claim The Laurel’s reward?”

“He’s in prison.”

Yeon Ju frowned sharply.

“Why wasn’t he killed? He was a monster.”

“Well, as a general rule, a nation handles its own criminals. I can’t say what they were thinking over there.”

Seung Hwan didn’t look pleased either.

The last person to obtain The Laurel’s reward had misused it for criminal purposes, triggering a truly nightmarish incident.

It became a stark reminder of what happens when a Hunter turns their blade against civilians—and thus, the serial killer “Ageha” frequently appeared in training materials:

a criminal who had brazenly walked the streets after slaughtering dozens, even hundreds, in an instant.

But now that The Laurel had reappeared, there was no guarantee such a disaster wouldn’t happen again.

Yeon Ju deliberately shifted the topic to shake off the heavy silence.

“But claiming The Laurel brings glory not just to the individual—it instantly elevates the nation’s standing and boosts morale. I think we should secure this one.”

“I agree. If Japan takes it again, we’ll have to endure their arrogance… I’d rather come out of retirement myself.”

Yeon Ju gave him an incredulous look.

“Don’t talk about coming out of retirement. Just remember to take your joint supplements.”

“Thanks a lot.”

“Yeah. What’s the point of having good friends, seriously? Sigh… If it were Daphne, something like The Laurel would be nothing.”

“Enough. Let’s just string those damn scammers up like dried pollack and present them.”

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“Still, we should inform her. She might be interested in The Laurel.”

“Don’t put the pressure on me.”

“Of course.”

Yeon Ju and Seung Hwan both let out a small sigh.

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