Home/The F-class hunter wants to get a job again today/ch 8

Chapter 8

"Whew... I barely survived..."

I slumped down and immediately checked my status window.

· Strength: 9

· Agility: 10

· Stamina: 9

· Intelligence: 10

· Mana: 12

This time, my stats had increased by a whopping 5 points each. Probably because the shadow panther was a C-rank monster. My strength/agility/stamina total was now 28—meaning I'd finally surpassed F-rank Hunter levels. I let out a sigh of relief.

Seong Si-hyeon lightly tapped me.

"See? Your skills are improving, right?"

"Yes... thank you so much."

"Your tone sounds a bit dissatisfied?"

"I'm just tired. Can I sleep now?"

"No. You never know when monsters might show up."

He chuckled and tapped my cheek firmly. The way his eyes curved brightly was pretty—so pretty it actually made me angry. I glared at him, but it had no effect. He smiled proudly and ruffled my hair.

And so, I didn't get a single wink of sleep on my first day in the dungeon. Of course, Si-hyeon slept soundly. When morning came, he stretched and approached me.

"Not bad, right?"

Though I'd barely slept, his eyes were completely clear—not a trace of sleepiness. Maybe the number one ranker owed his position to his looks, not his skill. Even in the morning, his face wasn't puffy at all. After washing up at a nearby stream, he smiled at me, his eyes curving teasingly.

"As expected of my disciple—good instincts."

Seong Si-hyeon, perhaps feeling we'd grown closer, had become surprisingly talkative. In the novel's description, he was supposed to be quiet because he'd been betrayed so often during his Hunter life—but that was a lie. As we walked, he talked about all sorts of things, mostly insulting other Hunters.

Of course, over 90% of those insults were directed at Lee Seong-ho. Having been abused by him since childhood, it was only natural.

"Got it? Never get involved with that bastard."

"How could I even get involved with him? He's the guild master of Taesan Guild."

"You never know. If he finds out you're my disciple, he'll definitely target you."

Since when was I your disciple?

I shook my head and pushed aside tree branches. We'd walked this much—surely the dungeon boss should appear soon. But now, I didn't even see a trace of monsters. Si-hyeon started chattering again.

"And stay away from Park Do-hyun of Jangwoo Guild too."

"Huh? He's a good person, isn't he?"

"How would you know that?"

His beautiful eyes turned fierce for an instant. It felt like flames were flickering behind him. His aura was actually emanating, making it hard for me to breathe.

"Oh, no! He's famous in the media! For being nice!"

Of course, that was all a lie. I don't really watch the news.

In the novel, Park Do-hyun was Si-hyeon's comrade. While Si-hyeon was famous among the public for being handsome, having a bad personality, and being number one, Park Do-hyun was famous for being manly, handsome, and extremely kind. He would later rise to number two, but for now, he was a top-rank Hunter within the top ten.

"You don't seem to watch the news much."

"How would you know that!"

"You just have that kind of face."

"What kind of face is that, exactly!"

I frowned at Si-hyeon's ridiculous comment. He laughed and ruffled my hair again.

"Just so you know, that doesn't look threatening at all."

"Tch."

He started walking ahead again. After hesitating briefly, he spoke.

"You know, I feel comfortable with you."

"Huh?"

"Words just come out when I'm with you."

"I thought you were naturally talkative?"

"It's a bit embarrassing to say this myself, but... I'm the 'Ice Prince,' you know?"

That was the nickname the media had given him because he barely spoke during interviews. But hearing him say that himself—I couldn't help but laugh. I glanced at him and saw his ears were bright red.

"Pfft."

"...Hey. Don't laugh."

I tried to hold it in, but burst out laughing. The fact that he'd said that with his own mouth was just too funny.

"Hahaha. You just called yourself the 'Ice Prince'? 'Prince'?"

"...Ah. Say that one more time. I'll kill you."

"Why, Prince?"

He silently drew his sword and threatened me. The moment I saw his weapon, I shut my mouth. His blade was too sharp to argue with.

"Get ready."

"Huh?"

"The dungeon boss room."

I saw a massive tree that looked like the World Tree. It resembled a baobab, and embedded in it was a strange-shaped door.

That must be the entrance to the boss room.

I swallowed hard. I couldn't even imagine how formidable the boss of a dungeon this size would be. Seong Si-hyeon turned to me and firmly grabbed my forearm. The same person who'd been cracking jokes and badmouthing other Hunters moments ago now had serious, mission-driven eyes.

"Listen carefully, Han Yu-on."

"Okay."

I answered in a tense, stiff voice.

"We have to take down that boss—otherwise, more people outside will die."

Perhaps because he'd lost his family to monsters at a young age, his voice was unusually earnest, different from before.

"We need to destroy this dungeon. Other Hunters are probably busy collecting magic stones and loot from B-rank and C-rank monsters—they won't even think about taking down the boss. They don't know when a high-rank dungeon like this will appear again."

"..."

"Those bastards don't care about clearing the boss. The longer a dungeon stays open, the worse it is. So—"

"Stay by my side. Don't run. I'll handle everything."

A blue flame flickered in Si-hyeon's crimson eyes. I could see his conviction—to defeat that boss no matter what, so that others wouldn't die.

Why was he so desperate? Why had he died thousands of times, climbed the Tower thousands of times, and wished for the extinction of all dungeons? Why did he hate seeing people die so much?

His heart was too soft. And having read the novel he came from, I was also soft toward him—even if my own life was at stake.

"...Let's go. Let's move."

I calmly patted his shoulder and pulled the door handle to the boss room.

As the door closed behind us, pitch-black darkness flooded in, and a chilly wind brushed past my ears.

Whoosh—

A strange smell mixed with mud, grass, and the foul stench of beast wafted into my nose. As the boss room's lights slowly came on, the interior came into view. The walls were made of wood, and about ten meters away, an ogre sat dozing on a massive wooden throne.

The ogre held a club in one hand—about half its body size. One swing would send anyone straight to the afterlife.

Seong Si-hyeon gestured for me to be quiet, then silently drew his signature flaming sword from his inventory. He moved as if to strike the ogre's head clean off—but stopped, hesitating.

I looked at him in confusion. He smirked and quietly said to me:

"Give me a kiss."

"Huh?"

I thought I'd misheard him, so I dumbly repeated. He grinned and mouthed the words again.

That ogre seems A-rank. Even I can't handle it alone.

He was right. A-rank monsters were difficult even for ten Hunters in a raid. As strong as Si-hyeon was, taking it down alone would be tough. Besides, he'd gotten a massive hole in his stomach trying to solo the A-rank Centipede earlier.

To urge my hesitant self, he spoke again:

Gotta earn that 10 million won salary.

I sighed and approached him. A kiss is nothing, I thought. Besides, I didn't want Si-hyeon to get hurt either. If he got injured and couldn't protect me, no matter how much my stats improved, it would only be a matter of time before that ogre killed me.

He seemed delighted, a playful grin spreading across his face. Standing in front of me like a child waiting for a prize, he looked less like the number one ranker and more like a young boy.

Though he was actually younger than me, in moments like this, he wasn't Seong Si-hyeon the ranker—he was just the boy Seong Si-hyeon.

He stood there, much taller than me, and closed his eyes. His lips, waiting for a kiss, were slightly downturned—unlike his usual smirk. Seeing him like that, I suddenly felt an urge to tease him.

I carefully placed my hand on his cheek and stood on tiptoe, looking up at him. His red lips, slightly puckered. His straight, pretty nose. And the small beauty mark beside his drooping eye. From every angle, he was a painfully handsome man with a story—and he did have one.

When I just kept staring, he slowly opened his eyes. Crimson irises met mine, and I looked back at him in silence.

Just as his intense red pupils began to waver, I smirked mischievously, leaned in, and kissed him. I lightly sucked on his lower lip, then teasingly slipped my tongue into his mouth for a moment before pulling away. Startled, he touched his own lips with thick, calloused fingers.

Secretly delighted at surprising him, I chuckled to myself. Just then, a status window appeared with a ding— before my eyes.

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