BRH 18

Someone called him from behind. Park Woo-seok, who was miserably filling his stomach while leaning against the wall, answered without turning around.

“I’m not buying. Just go away.”

Park Woo-seok waved his hand in a tone that suggested he was incredibly annoyed. However, the other person didn’t give up. Tap, tap. How persistent this cultist was; instead of going away as asked, they even tapped Park Woo-seok’s shoulder.

“Ah, I said just go away.”

Park Woo-seok irritably twitched his shoulder. He hadn’t even finished the bread he was nibbling on while crouching. A man’s face, wearing a mask, suddenly appeared over Park Woo-seok’s shoulder.

“Excuse me, are you by any chance a Hunter from the Hunter Management Bureau?”

“Seriously, can’t you just, huh? Can’t you just leave? I am affiliated with the Hunter Management Bureau, but I’m just a lackey with nothing to shake down. Really.”

“So, you’re admitting you’re a Hunter affiliated with the Hunter Management Bureau.”

“Uh-huh… Could it be, no way? Wow! You’ve come to be inspected voluntarily!”

When a person is sleep-deprived and cornered for days, miraculous logic can unfold. Park Woo-seok quickly got up and grabbed the man’s hand. The man, who had meticulously covered his face with a mask and hat, had only his eyes barely visible under the brim. It was when his sharp eyes, which seemed devoid of emotion, seemed to momentarily curve.

“I have something to ask. Is there anyone with a higher rank around here? A team leader or something like that.”

“Why are you looking for our Team leader…?”

“There’s a suspected Unregistered Being.”

“Oh, then I could… No, the rank measuring device is in Team leader’s hands! Ah, just a moment. I’ll contact Team leader right away…”

As Park Woo-seok was about to take out his pager from his pocket, the man smiled and shook his head.

“Just tell me the location, and I’ll go.”

“The location… Ah, Team leader is probably having a meal behind the memorial hall right now.”

“Thank you. Ah, please continue with your dinner.”

The man, who even politely bowed, left the alley and ran onto the road. Park Woo-seok, staring blankly at the place where the man had disappeared, slapped his own cheek hard. It hurts? Then I didn’t see it wrong?

A fluttering outfit mixed with yellow and red. Tights clinging to his legs. The man was a head taller than him, but for some reason, he looked much smaller.

It was a very peculiar outfit. He had a pretty figure for a man, but… Thinking that far, Park Woo-seok quickly snapped out of it and immediately chased away the thought he had. After shaking his head violently and slapping his cheeks a couple more times, Park Woo-seok finally looked back at the entrance of the alley with a reddened face.

Unlike before, a clicking sound escaped from his mouth.

“Seriously… Why is he wearing those kinds of clothes when he looks normal? Is he a magical girl or something? Seriously… The world is ending.”

The man finished the remaining milk, cleaned up his spot, and left the alley. But by then, his superior had already been caught by Ha Do-heon’s grasp on the back of his neck and was being dragged into a secluded abandoned building.

And here, Ha Do-heon overlooked one thing-.

That what Ren gave him wasn’t a typical ‘transformation’ potion, but a ‘transformation + hallucination’ potion!

To add another point, Ren was definitely not the type to give Ha Do-heon a normal product with a pure heart. Therefore, the ‘hallucination’ only applied to Ha Do-heon.

So… it meant that only in Ha Do-heon’s eyes did his appearance look ‘normal’. In reality, the changed appearance was only visible to others.

Ha Do-heon had no idea. That his appearance was the cosplay outfit of the main character from a children’s cartoon that Ren enjoyed watching whenever he was bored.

He absolutely shouldn’t know. He shouldn’t know no matter what. That way, Ha Do-heon wouldn’t die of embarrassment, and Ren wouldn’t be caught by Ha Do-heon and have his cheeks stretched like a measuring tape after bursting into laughter.

However, there were already dozens of witnesses on the street, and decisively… Ha Do-heon had met someone he should never have met.

“Kidnapping, interrogation, threats… You have refined hobbies, unlike what I see. I want to see who you are.”

“…….”

“Can you take off your hat?”

A languidly ringing voice. In contrast, his eyes, which seemed weary, were cold. He lowered his eyes, showing signs of boredom several times, as if waiting for the other person’s words. When there was no answer, the man habitually smiled with his eyes.

A different light flashed in his eyes, which were filled with laughter. It was like the eyes of a beast looking at meat before hunting a criminal.

Ha Do-heon secretly squeezed his eyes shut. He had assumed the worst-case scenario, but this development was completely outside that range. He hadn’t anticipated it at all.

That’s because,

“You’re asking for it… I gave you a chance, but you refused. Okay… Since you seem to be a first-timer, I won’t kill you.”

He never dreamed he would meet Moon Tae-yi here!

I’m screwed.

A cold sweat trickled down Ha Do-heon’s spine.

***

As soon as Do-heon left the house, he saw a back alley in a busy street. He quickly moved to find the Hunters he had scouted in advance and approached a Hunter who was having a meal in the alley.

After receiving the Team leader’s location from him, Ha Do-heon headed behind the memorial hall. As soon as he realized there was no one around, he grabbed the man by the back of his neck.

After that, he dragged him to a nearby abandoned building and gently sat him on a chair.

“Ugh?”

The Hunter, who had lost his mind due to the sudden kidnapping, finally came to his senses as if awakening after sitting on the old chair. But all he could do was flap around because Ha Do-heon had tied his hands and feet with rope.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll just have a conversation and release you right away.”

“Y-you! What are you doing right now? Do you not know who I am? You can tell just by looking. I’m a Hunter affiliated with the Hunter Management Bureau, can’t you see my uniform?!”

“Ah, of course, I can see it. But there’s something I want to ask quietly.”

“Wh-what! Are you crazy? You’re kidnapping someone out of the blue and now…!”

Leaving the man shouting with veins popping out of his neck, Ha Do-heon looked around. He found something suitable and dragged it over. It was a pile of concrete that had collapsed and been left abandoned on one side of the abandoned building.

“Hey, do you think you’ll be safe if this gets out?! Untie me right now. It’s not too late. Untie this and come with me to the Hunter Management Bureau-!”

Thud-!

Ha Do-heon scanned the pile of concrete, then clenched his fist and lightly struck it. At the same time, a loud noise rang out, and the concrete turned to powder and scattered. It wasn’t destroyed, it literally turned to ash.

“…….”

“…….”

The Hunter’s face, who had been flapping around like a cutlass fish with his hands and feet tied, turned pale. He stared with wide eyes as if he had seen something that shouldn’t exist in the world.

Is he… going to hit me with that fist? I may be an A-rank, but if I get hit by that, I’m done for? There are times when it’s easier to see and feel because I’m an A-rank.

If I get hit by that fist, I’ll die. I won’t even be able to make a peep and I’ll be rowing a boat and crossing the River Styx. The man quickly started to think.

That guy is crazy. You can tell just by looking at what he’s wearing. Yellow, red skirt. Tights. Is he crazy? He had never seen a Hunter with proper common sense wearing that kind of outfit.

“…….”

“Mr. Officer, what did you say?”

“…Haha… Me? What did I say? Ah! There’s no need to go to the Hunter Management Bureau… Let’s resolve it here. Oh… What are you curious about that you came to find me?”

The Hunter quickly stuck his butt to the chair and sat with his knees neatly together. And he asked with a friendly smile and the utmost politeness. Ha Do-heon dragged another pile over, sat on it, and stared at the man.

“The Hunter Management Bureau is looking for someone these days, right? Or should I say, a Hunter.”

“…That’s right.”

“You guys keep looking for people who aren’t even related, why is that? You investigated a D-rank Hunter last time, and you were monitoring a B-rank Hunter a while ago.”

“Haha… Well, you see, a Team leader who manages rookies like me… I wouldn’t know the intimate circumstances of the higher-ups. I just do it because they tell me to. It’s not like we’re monitoring people because there’s some great meaning behind it.”

Ha Do-heon stared at the man for a while, then tapped his knee with his fingertips. What should I do? I don’t intend to use violence from the start, and I want to resolve it through conversation if possible, but who would divulge confidential information to a stranger they’ve never met?

While Ha Do-heon was lost in thought, the man tied to the chair was sweating profusely, unable to find a place to put his eyes.

In the end, the man squeezed his eyes shut. Ugh, don’t spread your legs, don’t spread your legs! I can see both your balls!

The man’s neck turned red as he turned his head away. Ha Do-heon put his arm on his knee, rested his chin, and looked at the man. He felt the gaze glancing at his legs and lowered his eyes to look at his lower body.

Why do you keep glancing?

Do-heon sees ordinary jeans wrapped around his legs in a stylish way. Neat black jeans. There aren’t even any scratches or tears.

The man, who had been turning his head away, slyly opened his eyes and looked at Ha Do-heon, and their eyes met. Ha Do-heon, seeing the man’s red neck as he gasped and lowered his head completely, whispered in a low voice.

“Lime.”

As he blinked, a strange creature popped out of Ha Do-heon’s eyes.

“Let’s transform into a Bleeding heart.”

Lime, who had been wriggling in Ha Do-heon’s palm, grinned with its mouth wide open. The creature’s body fell to the floor with a splat and stretched out like thorns, surrounding the area. As dry branches covered the surroundings, the Hunter tied to the chair screamed and thrashed.

Flowers the size of human faces bloomed on each branch.

It was a bizarre flower with a unique spotted pattern with 26 petals and 56 stamens.

Bleeding heart. Or also called Zibaekhwa. It’s not a flower that grows on Earth, and to borrow Ren’s words, it was a poisonous plant from the world where Lime was born.