BRH 23

They need to ban these tablets altogether…. They only learn bad words.

“Goblins and whatnot…. I’m already too self-conscious to even go outside, what’s with this.”

The world is combing through everything to find Ha Do-heon. Of course, no one knows that the perverted magical girl is Ha Do-heon, but there are no perfect secrets in the world, and you shouldn’t be certain of anything.

Right now, lying low was good for him and for Moon Tae-yi. Whether you belong to a group or not, as long as you don’t act up, you’ll be average at worst. Until the gossip that made the world buzz dies down, Ha Do-heon just needs to lie low, be careful, and stay quiet.

Yeah, that’s good.

Ha Do-heon nodded to himself and rubbed Lime, who was snuggling into his arms, shouting a confident “fighting.”

But having regressed and lived four more months than in his previous life, it seemed the world was not on his side. His resolution was swept away by a rapid current before even a day had passed.

It was a gloomy day with drizzling rain from the morning. There are days like that. Days when your body feels stiff and droopy for no reason, and you want to ignore the alarm and sleep.

Thump, thump, thump, thump-!

“Hunter Ha Do-heon, are you there?”

That morning, strangers knocked on Ha Do-heon’s apartment door. Ha Do-heon, who had been wriggling in bed, opened his eyes, wiped his disheveled face, and staggered up to put on his pants and open the door.

And he faced four people.

What is this?

Before he could even ask, the man who knocked on the door pulled out a hunter’s license from his chest, and a low voice echoed through the sound of rain hitting the railing.

“We’re from the Hunter Management Bureau. Are you Hunter Ha Do-heon?”

“Yes, but… what’s going on?”

“The Hunter Management Bureau has requested Hunter Ha Do-heon to be summoned as a subject of investigation. Would you come with us?”

“Excuse me?”

“I’ll explain on the way.”

“What kind of explanation requires you to drag me away….”

“Guards, please take care of Hunter Ha Do-heon.”

“Hey, wait a minute?”

Two burly hunters grabbed Ha Do-heon’s arms. Do-heon quickly began to assess the situation. For a moment, his heart sank, thinking all his actions had been exposed, but looking at the situation calmly, it was strange.

If they knew the pervert was Ha Do-heon, the first thing they would have seen when the door opened would have been Moon Tae-yi. But this is….

“Alright, let’s go.”

Only two A-rank hunters at best. If they suspected Ha Do-heon of being an accomplice to an unregistered being, at least an S-rank should have come.

So why?

Do-heon suddenly remembered the Magic Stone villain who had come to his stall yesterday. He had shamelessly asked for 200,000 won for ten D-rank Magic Stones, so he had chased him away with a fly swatter, but did he report it after getting hit in the head?

‘Should I run?’

But if it turned out to be nothing, that would really screw things up. Let’s go for now. It wasn’t too late to go and hear why they came to get him and then decide.

‘But… even so.’

Ha Do-heon stared blankly at the receding front door. Even so, he couldn’t understand this situation where his arms were grabbed by a man over two meters tall, and his feet were dangling in the air.

He thought they would arrest him from the crack of dawn and lock him up without giving him a drop of water, but contrary to Ha Do-heon’s expectations, the Hunter Management Bureau was not such a brutal place yet(?).

Squeak-.

Do-heon surreptitiously rubbed the slippers provided by the Hunter Management Bureau against the floor. They were smooth without a speck of dust, as if they were brand new.

In the enclosed space, there was a cozy light-colored wooden table and two chairs. On the desk were a humidifier, tissues, pens, and the lighting that illuminated the interior softly without being too harsh.

The interior, which seemed far from the interrogation room Ha Do-heon knew, was, well, like a break room full of mixed coffee and snacks. One wall was made of glass, but it was completely black, as if you couldn’t see out from the inside.

Click-.

At that moment, a young man in his mid-20s opened the door and came in. The man was wearing a neat suit and carrying a laptop and a file. Unusually, the man was wearing an eye patch and a mask.

“Hello. I’m Hui-seong, a hunter affiliated with the Hunter Management Bureau. Are you Hunter Ha Do-heon?”

“Ah, yes.”

The man bowed politely, and Ha Do-heon half-rose from his seat and awkwardly greeted him.

Hui-seong.

The first Weird Cell infectee in Korea and a hunter who had been promoted in rank. Ha Do-heon knew a lot about Hui-seong. He couldn’t not know. He was also a member of his unit who had gone through thick and thin with him.

Perhaps because of the aftermath of thinking about Song Woo-yeop, the faces of the unit members were gradually coming to mind since that day. Among them, the people who remained most vivid were Song Woo-yeop and Hui-seong.

“Due to the urgency of the matter, it seems the Hunter Management Bureau staff committed a discourtesy in the process of summoning Ha Do-heon-ssi. I sincerely apologize on their behalf. However, citizens are currently terrified by the intruder incidents occurring in Korea. We ask for your cooperation as it is for the safety of the citizens.”

“If that’s the case, yes… I should understand. It’s not like I don’t know that.”

But why me…?

Ha Do-heon tightly clasped his hands under the table. Don’t be scared, don’t tremble. The moment you show it, your precious daily life is gone.

At that moment, someone who had been standing blankly on one side of the interrogation room moved. Both Ha Do-heon and Hui-seong flinched at the same time.

“Ah, don’t mind him and go about your business. Do-heon-ssi looked like his shoulders were cold.”

The man, no. Moon Tae-yi took off the jacket of the suit he was wearing and draped it over Ha Do-heon’s shoulders. In reality, it wasn’t just Ha Do-heon here.

Not long after Ha Do-heon arrived in the interrogation room, Moon Tae-yi appeared with people hanging all over him. They were all trying to stop him, grabbing his arms and legs, but Moon Tae-yi confidently entered the interrogation room, took a seat in the corner, and blew the people out one by one.

The outside, which had been making sounds like “Ugh,” “Ouch,” and “Cough!” became quiet, and he just stared silently at the shrinking Ha Do-heon. From then on, Do-heon, feeling guilty on his own, sat with a clenched mouth and lowered eyes, feeling like he was sitting on thorns.

Moon Tae-yi brushed back Do-heon’s disheveled hair as he sat uncomfortably and asked casually.

“Hunter Hui-seong, let’s ask something.”

“…Yes? Ah, please speak.”

“Which higher-up’s head did the idea of bringing someone here without properly dressing them come from? There’s no way the guidelines would be like this. If it was an order from Hunter Hui-seong, I might go a little wild too.”

“Guidelines, absolutely not. This matter is undeniably the fault of our Management Bureau. I believe there was a communication error in the process of issuing the order. We don’t forcibly take people like this-.”

“Right. It’s already ridiculous that incompetent guys who order people around with a nod are occupying the top positions in the Management Bureau as advisors, but how ridiculous would the country look if they forcibly brought someone in wearing only their pajamas and treated them like a criminal.”

“……”

“If I accidentally can’t distinguish between superiors and subordinates…. The people sitting at the top would come rushing down. Do you want to see that? Then go ahead.”

The atmosphere was unusual, and Ha Do-heon was already sitting on thorns, so he felt like he was suffocating. I’m going to pass out like this.

“Tae-yi-ssi… I’m okay. These pajamas, you see, even though they look like this, they’re also for exercise, haha. They’re well-ventilated and have great elasticity like this.”

Ha Do-heon quickly said to Moon Tae-yi, feeling sorry for Hui-seong’s flustered appearance. The fault of the group lies with the leader who gave the order, not with Hui-seong, who is merely in charge of management. So there was no need to let Hui-seong get on Moon Tae-yi’s bad side.

Moon Tae-yi, who had been brushing back his newly built hair, seemed to look at Ha Do-heon intently.

“It’s cute how hard you’re defending him… but I’m saying this as a warning so that this doesn’t happen again. There are some guys who only come to their senses when you bark a little.”

I can’t argue with that. Yes, Tae-yi-ssi is a hundred times right.

When Moon Tae-yi died in the previous life, Taerang Guild rapidly lost its power. As a result, the Hunter Management Bureau seized control of the hunter political world, where the balance of power had collapsed. It was openly said that politicians were lining up to give them power from behind, so the hunter industry had no choice but to be helplessly swayed.

Ha Do-heon had always thought. Every time he saw the hunters being swayed helplessly. Every time he saw us being sent off as pieces in a game of chess.

Would it have been different if Moon Tae-yi had been alive?

‘Of course, if that happens again, I can just destroy them all.’

There’s no need to go as far as Moon Tae-yi, if that kind of thing happens again? Then I’ll swat these guys with a fly swatter-!

“Do-heon-ssi.”

“…Yes?”

Ha Do-heon was startled for a moment and quickly raised his head. Moon Tae-yi was giving a bitter smile, asking what he was thinking about while leaving him behind.

“Shall we go for a drive after the investigation?”

…Why suddenly. Do-heon, unable to find the words to say, closed his mouth and lowered his eyes slightly. He could see the fluttering pajamas in his vision. His feet in slippers were bare.

“In this state?”

“Hmm… Someone said it was okay to be in this state.”

“……”

That’s right. Imagining himself hitting the past self who made that statement, Ha Do-heon scratched the back of his neck.