Chapter 20

"I've already lived as a hunter for 8 years now, so isn't it too late to find a dream at this point?"

"Jin Soram ssi, you're the same age as me. You said I was young, though."

That's because Han Tae-un was exactly twenty-six as he appeared, while Soram wasn't actually twenty-six. Hmm... In the gap of his words, Soram tapped on the keyboard. Meaningless letters were engraved.

"I didn't really have any future aspirations even as a student. If I had to say what my dream is now, it would be for my rabbit-like and bear-like team members to live long? Who is which is a secret."

Instead of answering, Tae-un stared straight ahead and stopped. With that, the conversation about the 'future' that Soram had nothing to say about ended.

"Is the work at the headquarters manageable?"

"Yes."

"Han Tae-un ssi, whose answers are mostly short and curt. You'll have to answer longer than now during the press conference."

"...Is that so?"

"I don't know if there will be a personal interview since you haven't been here long, but if your answers are that short, it's perfect for additional questions to pour in. The next day's newspaper title might have a huge article saying, 'New 1st-grade hunter, actually an AI created by the Rift Management Headquarters? Were words other than yes and no not inputted?'"

As Soram typed a few more words of the statement on the screen, Tae-un answered,

"Wouldn't it be better to be quiet than to drop a bomb?"

"..."

Soram abruptly raised his head from the screen and widened his eyes.

"Did you just pick a fight with me again? You called me a bomb, didn't you?"

"Not picking a fight."

As he said that, Tae-un turned his gaze to the side.

"Wow, why are you like this only to me while acting taciturn and putting on airs in front of others?"

"Isn't it because Jin Soram ssi keeps picking fights with me?"

"...Did you just, just pick a fight with me again?"

Is this Han Tae-un? The Han Tae-un whose image I couldn't see speaking more than five words a day? As Soram was about to put his hands on his waist and launch a counterattack against the fight-picking, the door to the team leader's office opened.

"Are you two fighting?"

"Huh? No. No. Study. We were just talking."

"Don't pick fights for no reason, Soram oppa. You saw yesterday that Tae-un oppa is strong. If you fight, you'll lose."

"...I'll win."

"It doesn't look like it at all."

Ayoung, who expressed her denial with her entire expression and gestures, closed the door to the team leader's office and went back in. Soram frowned and glared at Tae-un with dissatisfaction.

"Ayoung's studying was disturbed. This is all because of Han Tae-un ssi."

"How is it because of me...?"

Tae-un tried to refute but stopped and let out a short sigh.

"...I don't know the reason, but it's true that I speak a bit more freely in front of Jin Soram ssi. I've never thought about wanting to talk back to someone no matter what they say to me in my life."

He also had a slightly confused expression.

"Do you find it unpleasant?"

"It's not that I don't like it. I have no intention of fixing the way I speak either, so do as you please then."

Tae-un had an expression that showed he didn't even expect that much. Somehow, it felt like the image of a completely ruffian-like team leader had solidified in both Ayoung and Tae-un's minds. There was no excuse to make with the statement displayed in front of his eyes.

At this rate, the two of them definitely won't agree even if I forcefully give the order to enter the 3rd Great Rift's flood dungeon... Soram secretly swallowed his laughter. He thought it was rather fortunate, but as it passed his throat, he also felt a bitter taste.

How far can this life go?

Soram suddenly felt that feeling again. The feeling of lying blankly on the track, leaving a vast distance to run ahead. The track heated by the sunlight was hot, and gazes poured in from all directions, and the finish line was getting farther and farther away. Everywhere except his arms and legs, which could rest lying down, was uncomfortable. Even though he knew he had to go, he really didn't want to move.

"Don't you often hear advice to fix yourself, Jin Soram ssi? The director also said so."

Before falling into the helplessness that had come again, Tae-un threw a question with good timing. Soram made an "hmm" sound and rested his chin.

"...I also know that this is wrong, but sometimes..."

Soram covered the entire statement with a block and increased the font size to 11 points. The page, which was only half-filled, became 80% full. It was a trick that would be caught right away, but if he really couldn't do it and lay down saying he couldn't do it anymore, it would be enough for people to say, "That guy again" and move on.

"I think it's not bad."

Soram tilted his head to the side of the screen and rested his chin.

"Do you know how it feels to play a game that's already messed up?"

Already exhausted, he wasted the first few years without coming to his senses due to the aftereffects of repeating his life three times.

Putting aside the unresolved 4th Great Rift, to prepare for the 3rd Great Rift, he should have had the most solid hero image among anyone. So that everyone would have no choice but to follow him even if he changed the situation with high-handed orders. Assigning hunters to the exact positions from the status of the one and only hero in the Republic of Korea, controlling the citizens, desperately, and desperately...

It was already too late for that.

"So I did as I pleased. Anyway, I'm just doing it recklessly this time while thinking about the next round."

He tried things he hadn't done before, didn't hold back when he got angry, and devoted himself to things he had regretted. As if paying off the guilt from his previous life, he sometimes approached those around him with a harmless smile.

Sometimes he felt impatient, but he closed his eyes and turned a blind eye.

Tae-un stared intently at Soram, who had finished speaking. Soram, who couldn't read anything in Tae-un's expressionless face and black eyes, thought it was unfair whenever he made eye contact with him. Because Soram was the type to show quite a lot on his face if he didn't forcibly hide it.

"Why?"

"I thought about what Jin Soram ssi said..."

Tae-un's head tilted slightly to the side.

"Since you cursed at the chairman before entering the dungeon, it's already a ruined game, and regardless of that, there will continue to be dungeon dispatches in the future, right?"

"...Ahaha. That's right. Today it's a statement, but next time it could be a commendation."

Beep, beep, beep. The familiar sound was heard. It was a call from Soram's wrist. Soram got up from his seat.

"They're telling me to go when people won't notice. I'll be back."

"I'll go, so you finish writing the statement. Where is the location?"

"Aren't you going to leave work, Han Tae-un ssi?"

"No."

"..."

Tilting his head, Soram informed him of the location where the rift had occurred. Then Tae-un really took his outerwear and left the office.

"...What?"

Soram's eyebrows furrowed as he scratched his cheek. Of course, there could be plenty of changes in Tae-un's behavior according to Soram's changed attitude, but... his personality seemed quite different. Wasn't he someone who had no interest in his team members, just like himself before?

Tae-un really went and cleared the rift in Soram's place and returned. And a little later, just before 10 o'clock, Ayoung came out of the team leader's office with her workbook and pencil case.

"What? Why didn't both of you go?"

"Han Tae-un ssi said he'd buy you ice cream because he's impressed by your studying."

"...Really?"

Of course, it was instigation and fabrication, but before he could answer, Soram opened the door and left first. To Soram, Tae-un was still someone who deserved this level of mischief, no matter how much debt he had given him before the regression.

"Team 7, let's go home."

[Web Sent]

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Han*un

03/05 22:08

Baskin Robbins

12,000

* * *

On the last Wednesday of March, the lobby of the Rift Phenomenon Management Headquarters was chaotic from the morning. It was because of the reporters who had come to film the regular press conference.

They waited for the 5th floor of the Rift Management Headquarters building to open. It was originally a spacious experience hall, but whenever there was an event, they would temporarily remove the equipment and set up a stage, tables, and chairs to create a space for holding a conference.

The appearance on the stage was similar to any movie preview. In the center of the large stage was a long table, and in front of it were seats assigned for reporters. Behind the reporters were about ten round tables, which were the seats for the hunters. The hunters would sit there and come forward when called to answer questions from the reporters.

Looking at the overall appearance, it reminded one of a year-end entertainment awards ceremony at a glance.

However, the difference from an awards ceremony was that the floor was cold marble, not a red carpet. And the hunters, who were more sincere than anyone else about their identity as civil servants of the Republic of Korea, were wearing pitch-black suits even at this moment.

"The hunters are entering."

"Over there, start filming from Kim Ga-eul."

After the on-site camera staff took their seats, the hunters entered and sat at each table. As the entering hunters found their seats, the camera lenses eagerly followed them. However, the direction was blatantly biased towards one side. It was the direction where the Operations Bureau hunters were seated. On the other hand, there was little interest in the side where the hunters from the Reconnaissance Bureau, another field department, were seated.

The hunters of the Rift Phenomenon Management Headquarters basically belong to the field departments and are assigned to one of the two bureaus according to their abilities. The names of the two bureaus are the Operations Bureau and the Reconnaissance Bureau.

The Operations Bureau is literally the ones who go to the scene where hunters are needed and directly fight against rifts and dungeons. Only hunters with high awakening grades and combat power among the awakeners could be assigned to the Operations Bureau. The hero image that hunters possessed referred only to the Operations Bureau.

On the other hand, the Reconnaissance Bureau consists of hunters with relatively lacking combat abilities. They patrol various places, go to the scene where a rift occurrence is reported, and assess the scale. And depending on the situation, they contact nearby military and police or call the Operations Bureau. Assigning the hunters of the Operations Bureau to the right places was also their job.

As a result, there was bound to be a huge difference in recognition even among the same hunters. It was not unreasonable for the Reconnaissance Bureau to feel jealous of the Operations Bureau, where CF and broadcast appearance requests poured in when they solved a large dungeon. Instead, the Operations Bureau always faced the danger of losing their lives, which the Reconnaissance Bureau did not have.

"Oh, look, Jin Soram is here."