"By the way, I heard you were injured. Are you okay?"
Alec asked.
"Yes, I've fully recovered."
"That's a relief. My heart sinks whenever I hear you've been hurt. Honestly, it makes me more anxious than hearing about others getting injured. If even we feel this way, Hunter Kwon Jihan must have been terrified."
"That's why I live on meds."
Kwon Jihan shook a small pill container.
In truth, most hunters were on some kind of medication. Alec and Hwashim had been prescribed meds ever since their Awakening. The rare exceptions were Kwon Jihan, who only recently started taking meds despite constantly risking his life, and Soo Jaehee, who still wasn't taking any.
"I never thought Jihan Hyung would end up seeing a therapist and taking meds. Are you getting therapy regularly?"
"The therapy's already done. And no, I didn't expect it either."
"Is that what happens when I get older too?"
"It has nothing to do with age. It happens when you start fearing something."
"What are you afraid of, Hyung? Yoon Seo Hyung getting hurt?"
"Yeah."
Yoon Seo glanced at Kwon Jihan, who admitted it so easily. Jihan's face showed his usual indifferent yet cynical expression.
"If my Hyung didn't have healing resistance, it wouldn't be this terrifying."
"I heard the item production department is conducting research and experiments, trying to develop a potion no matter what. Have faith in them."
"That's a pretty thin lifeline."
"Hyung, I think the answer lies in treasure chests. Not long ago, Rainbow managed to pull an S-rank weapon from one. It sold for 30 billion won."
After the tutorial ended, naturally occurring items became more frequent. One significant change compared to before was that even non-Awakened people could now use some items. Previously, items required at least a faint amount of mana to use, but now they could be used with zero mana. Non-Awakened items were marked with a minus (-) in their rank.
Because of this, it wasn't uncommon to see civilians using small items on public transport, on the streets, or in parks. Most of these items were D~F rank and not very useful in daily life—like scattering flower petals in a 10 cm space or creating a rainbow. So, it didn't cause much disturbance.
However, when a high-rank offensive or defensive item for non-Awakened individuals appeared, it sold for a huge price, sometimes with an extra zero added to the cost compared to what was sold to Awakened individuals. For hunters, it was a win-win. They could sell the items at a high price and benefit financially, and no Awakened person would object to giving non-Awakened people one more means to protect themselves. As a result, guilds dedicated to farming non-Awakened items were popping up everywhere.
"Did you guys hear? Seokyoung is forming a treasure chest farming team too."
"They'd be fools not to. It's profitable. But where'd you hear that from?"
"I have my sources. Hehe."
"Tae Jaesik, the director."
Alec spoke confidently in a quiet tone.
"In any case, the farming team might find the exact potion Yoon Seo Hyung needs. Like a potion to remove abnormal status effects or one that provides resistance to resistances."
"Whatever it is, they need to find it quickly so Hunter Kwon Jihan can finally have some peace."
Yoon Seo agreed. In the past, he didn't have a negative view of his healing resistance. When he first developed it, it almost felt like a gift… He even thought of it as a mark left by the old Revengers, something he'd carry until the day he died. The idea of removing it never crossed his mind.
But not anymore.
Because Kwon Jihan was anxious.
If the healing resistance disappeared, it would ease much of Jihan's anxiety. Loving Kwon Jihan had made Yoon Seo care more about his own body, too.
Just then, Hwashim, having finished his uniform fitting, entered the waiting room. Though he must have known that Kwon Jihan and Yoon Seo were already there, he still paused when their eyes met.
"It's been a while."
"Yes. Did the uniform fit well?"
"It was fine. I prefer military attire, though…"
Hwashim neatly arranged his uniform in the cabinet and sat beside Alec. Alec lightly patted Hwashim on the shoulder, and Hwashim gave a small smile. It seemed the two had grown quite close during that time.
Peep.
Riceball, who had been playing with Soo Jaehee, flew over to Hwashim. Hwashim sighed.
"This bird keeps shoving its butt in my face every time it sees me. What does it want me to do?"
"You just need to pet it. You have fingers, don't you?"
"…"
Hwashim awkwardly began petting Riceball. Alec and Soo Jaehee chuckled. Though Hwashim's ears turned slightly red, he didn't stop petting. Riceball, seemingly dissatisfied with the clumsy touch, flapped its wings briefly before nudging the parts it wanted stroked against Hwashim's fingers. Soo Jaehee, finding it too adorable, was nearly in tears from laughter.
Hwashim asked Yoon Seo in a gruff tone for no reason.
"When are you going to take all your stuff? You're taking up an entire training room."
"My stuff?"
"Wow. I almost forgot. Yeah, now that you're here, take everything with you. The building's going to collapse at this rate."
"What are you talking about? What stuff?"
"Didn't your boyfriend tell you?"
"Ask your boyfriend, Hyung."
Yoon Seo looked at Kwon Jihan, who smiled sweetly.
"It feels amazing when people call me your boyfriend."
"…What's this about stuff?"
"The gifts people sent you. Normally, Seo Chaeyoon doesn't accept gifts, but you started receiving them right when you entered the last dungeon. I heard they've been piling up, so I was planning to stash them in the inventory today."
"Gifts…?"
"Let's go."
Kwon Jihan stood up, gesturing with his head, and Yoon Seo followed without resistance. The five S-rank hunters all moved together as if they were a single unit, heading towards the training room.
***
"…"
"Riceball could fly right into your mouth."
Kwon Jihan covered Yoon Seo's open mouth with his hand, but he couldn't hide the widening of Yoon Seo's eyes.
The training room was a massive 30-pyeong space (99 m²), and it was completely packed. The entire room was filled with gifts sent to Seo Chaeyoon from people all over the world….
Some were beautifully wrapped, while others had packaging that had nearly fallen apart during shipping. There were gifts as big as a person, and others as small as Riceball.
"If this isn't some kind of semi-religious thing, then what is…."
Soo Jaehee muttered, shaking his head in disbelief.
Kwon Jihan took advantage of Yoon Seo's dazed state and wrapped his arm around his waist.
"They've already inspected everything, so don't worry. We only accept gifts that can be turned into items, so we just have to store them in the inventory. Oh, and the food is stored separately, so let's pick it up on the way. Most of it is health food, which is always welcome."
"Why… are people sending me gifts?"
"Probably because they're grateful to you?"
Kwon Jihan took a letter attached to one of the gifts piled up in front of them and handed it to Yoon Seo. After Yoon Seo quickly read through it, he looked up, appearing more baffled than moved.
"Do other hunters get gifts too?"
"Of course. Our guild even has a team dedicated to handling hunter gifts. I get gifts, Soo Jaehee gets gifts, Alec and Hwashim get gifts too."
When Yoon Seo looked at Hwashim, he seemed a bit embarrassed but spoke up.
"Not as much as you, but I get gifts too. If they give, I can't refuse. Reading the letters gives me strength."
"That's true. I love the letters the most. Plus, I get a lot of pet food and toys for Chichi. You probably get a lot of gifts for pets too, even though Riceball is known to belong to Jihan. But it's basically yours."
Ignoring Soo Jaehee's flushed cheeks, Yoon Seo took in the training room. As Riceball was widely known as a bird, there were many boxes with pictures of birds. There was even an elaborately decorated birdcage. Since Riceball liked fancy things, he would likely enjoy playing in it, chirping in delight.
"There are also a lot of masks. Did Seo Chaeyoon wear something like this?"
Alec picked one up, a masquerade mask adorned with red flowers still in its plastic packaging. Then, Soo Jaehee brought over a mask shaped like a yellow crescent moon.
They sifted through the gifts, piled as high as Kwon Jihan's height in the 30-pyeong room, marveling at all the items.
"Wow, it never ends. This seems like twice the number of gifts Hong Euiyoon's received in his entire career."
Although Soo Jaehee hadn't meant it that way, Yoon Seo felt a twinge of guilt. While he had shed much of his sense of responsibility and obligation toward the weak, the guilt from his 10-year absence still lingered. This was because Yoon Seo believed the real victims of his disappearance were not ordinary people but awakened hunters.
"Is Hunter Hong Euiyoon… not popular?"
"Euiyoon Hyung is very popular. It's just that you're on a whole different level. In our guild, you and Jihan Hyung are on a completely different tier. Euiyoon Hyung, Yelena Nlona, Soobin Hyung, and I still get tons of gifts."
"Don't forget Amscent (dark scent). In Korea, A-rank Hunter Amscent is even more popular than us foreign S-ranks, right?"
Alec chuckled, and Soo Jaehee clapped his hands, saying, "Oh, right!"
"Kang Hyung is incredibly popular too. It's a different kind of national pride than with Seo Chaeyoon or Kwon Jihan. Watching him fight with his traditional Korean garb flying in the wind looks amazing in videos. His skill names are things like
Yoon Seo nodded. About a month ago, when Park Kang was handling the Overflow Dungeon, a new item had dropped. Yoon Seo knew this because while he and Kwon Jihan were investigating something related to 'Love in the Han River,' Park Kang had called. He wanted to offer the 'gat' item to Seo Chaeyoon, saying it was an excellent item. Kwon Jihan had taken the phone and declined on Yoon Seo's behalf, warning Park Kang not to call with such requests again.
Park Kang was an extreme Seo Chaeyoon fan.