CH 27

▶ Episode 27. Kidnapping (1)

‘Perhaps, he can’t speak because he’s threatened…?! No, that’s not it.’

He would be terrified if it were a threat, but that wasn’t the case.

As a former demon king, I knew exactly what that feeling was. 

‘Then it seems to be something else. Hmm…’

The next morning.

Dad came to see me before work.

Dad seemed to be disappointed because my Mom had disappeared, but he smiled at me.

“Our Heesun, it seems that you are in a very good mood. Did you meet your friends yesterday?”

“Yes. And I’m seeing my Dad right now.”

It was a bit embarrassing, but I thought it was a good thing to say.

Dad’s face was shining bright like last night.

“Did you have breakfast?”

“No, not yet.”

“Then let’s eat together. I’ll make you a cabbage sandwich. I’m not good at cooking, but I’m good at making it.”

“A cabbage sandwich?”

“Sandwich stuffed with cabbage and egg. I make it every Sunday and eat it with my mom.”

“…I see.” 

Something felt slightly different.

“What’s the matter?”

“Nahyun used to do this for me in the past too. So…Even Dad sometimes eats it.”

Dad stared in the direction of Mom’s room with a vague look.

I didn’t know what to say, so I quietly made a cabbage sandwich and set it down in front of Dad. 

“Yeah. I used to eat cabbage sandwiches like this….” 

“…Here, have some tomato juice too.”

“Yeah. We drank tomato juice together just like this….” 

“….” 

I looked toward Mom’s room and whispered.

“It would be nice if you two got married.”

Dad’s face lit up even brighter than last night.

It was brilliant!

‘Certainly, you still have feelings for Mom.’

It was true love when I think about it again!

But I had no choice but to say this.

“But please don’t get married just because of me.” 

“….”

“I want my mom and dad to love each other and get married. If you’re getting married because of me, I’m against it. I don’t think you should marry someone you don’t want because of your children.”

“Heesun, I… It’s not an unwanted marriage…” 

Dad had a thoughtful look on his face.

Then, he washed his face dry.

“Whoo… Yeah, what you said is right, you’re right. And…this is not the time to think about marriage. There’s a lot of work to be done before that…we found out that we misunderstood each other, but that doesn’t mean that emotions are easily solved. And… I also have a problem with my father.” 

“Dad’s father?” 

“Yeah. I think he knows about our Heesun. I got my sister’s help and got it out of my way, but he’s probably going to come. Be careful.”

“Yes, I will. Dad, Kyungae said that yesterday.”

I talked about the idea of telling people that Mom and Dad broke up because they both misunderstood each other, which was caused by Dad’s father.

“If you do this, Mom and Dad will become victims, so wouldn’t it be okay?” 

“Yeah. That’s a good opinion. But my father is no ordinary person. We don’t know what will he do. I’ll have to think about it for a while.”

“Yes.” 

“Yoon Kyungae…That friend definitely has a sense. I’ve seen her activities online, and she’s good at moving public opinion. She know the world of Hunter very well.”

“I heard she’s really good at it, too. I don’t know much because I rarely use the Internet.” 

“I see. She worked at the Jewel Guild part-time. Will she keep doing that?”

“She said she wouldn’t go to college, but enter the Jewel Guild as an employee.” 

“It seems like a good talent, but it’s a bit disappointing. It would be nice to work in the Department of Ability.” 

“Do you want to scout her? Shall we talk?” 

“No. Don’t talk to her. The two twins will not stand still.”

“Oh, are you on bad terms with Kyungae’s sisters?” 

“No, that’s not it. However, I have taken several people from the Jewel guild unintentionally. So the two twins suffered a bit while running the guild. I’m sure they’ll be offended if I even scout their little sisters.” 

“I see.” 

“Yoon Boae, the older twin sister, is an A Class Hunter and the best and most talented wizard in all of Korea. She’s also good at analyzing magic. Now that you’re going to be a Hunter, you’d better learn magic from Hunter Yoon Boae. If her education is not enough, then let’s look for overseas wizards.”

‘I don’t think I need to learn.’

First, I nodded my head. 

“Have you decided on a guild?”

“Not yet.”

“If it’s our Heesun, the terms of the contract will always be the best, so it’ll be almost the same. It’s good to consider other aspects before choosing.”

“Yesterday Uncle Kim Changho explained to me, but I didn’t understand. But Dad, you don’t recommend the Beomho guild, is it because you don’t get along with the Summoner guild leader?”

“We’re not on bad terms. It’s good. It’s very, very good….” 

Why did Dad have cloudy eyes? 

“Minister of the Department of Ability shouldn’t recommend a specific guild to new Hunters. That’s why I didn’t mention it.”

After saying that, Dad took out his cell phone and showed me a guild’s homepage.

The Jewel Guild.

“….”

“Dad worked as a Hunter for a long time and is a man. So, now that you’re a hunter, I’m not sure what my daughter finds discomforting. The Jewel Guild takes good care of rookie hunters and actively protects and helps female hunters. Both twins are people you can trust too. And if your friend, Yoon Kyungae, works there, our Heesun would be more comfortable too.”

“Then shall I choose there?” 

“Make your decision after visiting the guild headquarters. Take a tour of the facility, and meet other guild employees.”

“Yes.” 

“I’ll set up an appointment for a tour. How about tomorrow afternoon? Dad has time then.” 

“Tomorrow, fine. But can a Minister of the Department of Ability accompany the new hunter’s guild tour?”

“No. But still, it’s okay. I’ll do it tomorrow afternoon.”

“….”

“Tell Nahyun too. Usually, the entire family goes on field trips.”

“Yes.” 

“Hmm. Other than Yoon Kyungae…are there any of your friends who know Hunter well or are good at online work like Yoon Kyungae?” 

“As far as I know, no. Shinhee is a huge fan of Dad, but it seems like she’s not particularly active and is just looking around.”

Dad nodded with regret.

“But weren’t you uncomfortable yesterday? So did Shinhee, and the kids looked at you with incredibly hot eyes.”

“It’s all right. I’m used to it.”

Come to think of it, he probably didn’t mind the attention because he was so famous.

“You are very close with your friends.”

“Yes.”

“Who are you closest to?”

“It’s Baek Youngsoon, who is called Bbangsoonie.”

“I see.”

“But he’s been a bit strange lately.”

“Strange?”

“Yes. I think he’s hiding something, but he didn’t tell me.”

“….” 

“I’m worried. It looks like something serious has happened….” 

Dad hesitated for a moment, then nodded his head as if he had made up his mind.

“Heesun-ah, you’re SSS∞ Class, but you don’t belong to the guild yet, so you haven’t officially registered with the government. So there’s no secret authorization. But under the authority of the Minister of the Department of Ability, I will now give you the second level of confidentiality.” 

The sudden remark made me tilt my head.

Dad smiled and said, “You’re cute.”

“Baek Youngsoon is also a Hunter. This year’s ability test turned out to be A-class.”

“Yes?!”

“But the code name and skill are dangerous, so I set them up as a top secret. We are still debating what to do next. Baek Youngsoon is not supposed to say anything until he makes a decision. Even Baek Youngsoon’s parents don’t know.”

“Huh… Ah, a dangerous class, is it bad?!”

“I can’t say anything bad. The code name is the phone, and the skill can handle anything related to the phone.”

“…He’s been obsessed with his cell phone ever since. I guess that’s why he got that code name and skill.”

It’s weird and a little funny. 

“But why is it dangerous?”

“Because he can do whatever he wants with the information in his cell phone. For example, you can change the balance of your account at will through the banking app. You can erase any trace of it. He also has the ability to explode cell phones. When a cell phone explodes, it usually happens by accident, but it can be used as an assassination. If we did something wrong, the probability of him being used for crime is very high.”

“Ah…” 

“Of course, Baek Youngsoon has a good character. But criminals might take Baek Youngsoon’s family hostage and force him to commit crimes. The World Hunter Union exists, but it may not be able to prevent such crimes because it usually punishes them after they occur.”

“Hmm, it’s definitely dangerous.”

“Right. But that doesn’t mean we can keep it a secret forever. Baek Youngsoon also has the right to be active. We are preventing information leakage as much as possible, but the public is curious about the A Class Hunter…and there’s a saying in Hunter’s world.”

“Which one?”

“There are no secrets about grades and skills. It’s bound to be known somehow. Better to make an official announcement before anything goes wrong. However, this code name and skill are the first in the world, so I’m worried. In the meantime, things continued to happen.”

Certainly, several incidents were blown up.

“There is also a problem with the SS Class Hunter.”

Dad looked at me for some reason and said with a clear look of disapproval.

‘Do you hate that SS Class Hunter? But why are you looking at me?’

“Because that Hunter is also a very unusual case.”

The phone rang in Dad’s arms.

“Wait. This notification rings when an important event occurs. What’s going on?”

Dad took out his cell phone.

His eyes, which had been looking at me warmly until just now, froze as soon as he saw the screen.

For a moment, I got goosebumps.

I had a bad feeling that something bad was going to happen.

“What happened?”

“Heesun-ah, listen calmly.”

“Yes? Yes.” 

“Baek Youngsoon has been kidnapped.”

+ Chapter 6. Kidnapping

“…Yes?” 

“It is said that Baek Youngsoon didn’t leave his house even though it was time for school, so the hunter who was watching over him went to his house. There is no trace of Baek Youngsoon as well as his parents. Seeing that they kidnapped his family, it seems like they knew Baek Youngsoon’s skill and took him, Heesun-ah?”

Dad’s face turned pale as if he had been crushed by the powerful aura I gave off without knowing it.

However, he didn’t escape.

He reached out and held me gently as if he was wrapping around my shoulder.

He stared at me with eyes full of worry, not fear.

“It’ll be fine.”

He spoke softly as if to comfort me.

“We planted tracking magic not only for Baek Youngsoon but also for his parents with Baek Youngsoon’s consent just in case. Hunter with tracking skills is already chasing him, so we’ll find him. It hasn’t been long since he was kidnapped, and he has several protective artifacts, so it won’t be a big deal. Don’t worry too much.” 

I closed my eyes and opened them.

The energy I had been exhaling for a moment was gone.

Only then did Dad look a little relieved and lightly stroke my hair before standing up.

“Wait a little. I’ll let you know as soon as the news comes in.”

“I want to go too.”