Not Quite Rest (9)
“Remember? I told you to be careful, didn’t I?”
“That was ages ago.”
“So you’re admitting it now?”
“I’m just saying, hypothetically.”
The words “stop seeing everything as some man–woman relationship and check your biased worldview” hovered at the back of my throat, but I didn’t bother saying them.
Because I did understand why Yiyul misunderstood.
He never saw me purifying Min Hajun.
He’d never experienced my purification skill himself either. If he couldn’t even recognize half my value, there was no way he’d understand why Min Hajun was so desperate to recruit me.
Thinking of Min Hajun’s reactions every time he experienced my purification…
He always looked amazed.
Even with just an E-rank purification skill, he reacted that much—so after I gained a huge amount of mana, it was on a whole different level. I’d proven myself inside a monster’s innards.
“Whatever, why am I even talking to you. Let’s go.”
“No, I’m telling you, I’m right. You saw those pervy eyes and you still say that?”
“Mm-hmm, yes, O great God of Dating, Yiyul. Go home, wash your feet, and sleep. We’re leaving early tomorrow morning.”
“This is driving me crazy…”
I ignored him, pressed the elevator button, and decided that the only thing improving from being around Yiyul was my ignore-everything skill.
He followed me, huffing, like I was really going to leave him behind and go up alone.
Late night. The moon hidden behind clouds. A man stood alone in a collapsing abandoned building. In his hand, a small blue crystal glimmered faintly, its light the only glow in the pitch-black darkness.
When the man tightened his gloved hand around the crystal, a vortex appeared before him. The fist-sized swirl grew larger, as though it was sucking in the darkness around it.
“Scree.”
A black beast rubbed its head against his shin. The man ignored it, gaze fixed ahead. Only when the vortex was large enough did he bend down and stroke the beast.
“Pipi, I told you to focus.”
His voice was gentle—almost affectionate.
He released the crystal. Its solid shape dissolved into tiny particles of light.
“See, that’s why weak ones don’t last long.”
The lights scattered in the air like crushed stars. Behind them, the vortex buzzed, ready to swallow even that small sparkle in one gulp.
“You really made this troublesome.”
Muttering, the man stepped into the vortex without hesitation—like he knew exactly where it led.
The vortex didn’t resist. It devoured him eagerly.
“Scree?”
Left behind, the beast let out a few whines, then reluctantly jumped in after him.
After a moment of darkness, the beast saw its beloved master standing before a shattered crystal, smiling sharply.
“You knew its value. Good eyes.”
The beast shook its head, repulsed by the smell of the sea. Shattered fragments—sharp as daggers, the length of a forearm—were scattered on the floor.
“Looks like we’ll have to move faster on this side too.”
He crushed one of the large shards beneath his heel.
Yiyul and I returned to Seoul safely. On the way back, I reminded Mom several times to be careful.
“Aren’t you tired?”
“No.”
Just like when we left, Yiyul didn’t take public transportation—he flew on his own. Spending hours in the sky sounded exhausting, but judging from his expression, taking the train was even worse.
“Here. Take this too.”
I held out a paper bag filled with side dishes.
“You can eat them in your main body too. It tastes different when you eat it directly.”
“…Thanks.”
He accepted without refusing. We planned to check on the twins later in the afternoon, so for now, we split up to unpack. We didn’t leave with much, but somehow we returned with our hands full.
There’s something I need to ask, too.
After parting from Yiyul, I contacted Min Hajun.
After putting the food in the fridge, I arrived early to check on the twins, and Yiyul—already there—greeted me.
“You’re here?”
“Why are you here so early?”
I had no right to say that, but he wasn’t acting like he’d just arrived. He was already sitting comfortably.
“Just… nothing else to do.”
“You put the food in the fridge, right?”
“Yeah. I’ll eat it tonight.”
He waved his hand dismissively, as if swatting a fly.
“Min Hajun’s coming later too.”
“You told him already?”
“I just said we needed a favor.”
We had reached a conclusion last night.
Both Yiyul and I had zero information-gathering ability. We had no leads.
At first, we could ignore that reality. Gathering mana kept us busy.
But eventually we hit the wall:
—no network,
—no intel,
—and nothing built from our hunter careers.
We were the definition of outsiders.
This was our last shot.
We’d hoped to find a clue.
But when nothing turned up, I suggested we ask Min Hajun.
Yiyul resisted for a long time, clinging to hopeless optimism:
―What makes him better than me?
―Social skills?
―I have people I can ask.
―You only talk to me.
―What if we use illegal channels…
―If that were possible, we’d have done it already. You know how sensitive the association is about hunter-related data.
―Then how can he do it?
―Min Hajun is literally a guild master. If he says the info is for clearing a gate, they’ll give him the list. If it’s restricted data, he can get it.
―Still…
Honestly, I was more exhausted from arguing with him than from traveling.
“Unnie! Oppa!”
The kids burst through the door after lunch. We’d only been gone two days, but they looked like they’d grown.
“Why didn’t you come yesterday?”
“We went to my mom’s.”
They nodded, saying going home is important, which was cute.
“You’re all early?”
Min Hajun entered right afterward.
Looked like he ate lunch with the kids.
“Yeah, there’s nothing to do at home.”
I copied Yiyul’s line exactly. It had felt strangely empty at home—nothing to do except shower.
“Oh, and thank you for the food. Your mom’s cooking was amazing.”
“Right? Glad it suited your taste.”
“But I’d still like to try your cooking sometime.”
I could barely fry an egg—why would he want that?
But if he helped us, I’d cook a full buffet.
“If there’s a chance, I’ll cook. Bring stomach medicine just in case.”
“Haha, I’ll look forward to it.”
After leading the twins to their room, he came closer.
“They really feel comfortable here. They walk around like it’s their own place.”
“You’re supervising them, right?”
“Yes. At this rate, they’ll be able to function as full-fledged hunters someday. I won’t send them into the field yet, though.”
After awakening, the twins registered as hunters legally. Normally, with such rare and essential detection ability, they’d be deployed immediately. But due to their situation, Transcendence was protecting them.
I heard there were some power struggles with the association about this.
The association wanted the twins’ detection ability badly. But the twins were firm—and their parents too—so the association backed down.
Min Hajun didn’t plan to send them into the field until they could make informed decisions. I agreed.
“Anyway, you said you needed a favor?”
“Yes. We’re not going to misuse the information. We just… really need it…”
“You don’t have to justify it. Just tell me.”
He cut off my rambling. Yiyul nodded beside me.
“We need a list of hunters with purification skills.”
“Same skill as yours?”
“Yes. With our limited info-gathering, we can’t do it.”
“Hmm…”
“Purification is rare, but the association should have records. We don’t need their rank or skill info—just how many are in Korea, or where they are.”
“That won’t be hard. I’ll request it officially through Transcendence. After what happened yesterday, the association should process it without issue.”
Relief washed over me.
He was the lifeline in our pitch-black situation.
“And if you come across anything unusual while clearing gates, could you tell us?”
“Unusual?”
“Yes. Something you don’t typically see in gates—like black contamination.”
I even gave a concrete example. He thought for a moment, then nodded.
“A list of purification hunters and any unusual findings. Not difficult.”
For us, that was the hardest part.
I’d rather fight a monster than gather intel.
“Thank you. You saved us.”
He smiled.
“Then want to join me for a gate later? One of my team members suddenly got busy.”
“Of course! Call me anytime.”
I stood up, full of enthusiasm.
“Oh, there’s only one open spot. Wind, could you stay here and continue training the twins?”
He addressed Yiyul kindly, as if genuinely considerate.
