Hero Hunter is on Parental Leave C44

Chapter 44

“Jaehee… he’ll be okay, right…?”

“Of course he will be. I’m involved in Jaehee’s life too, so don’t worry so much.”

This didn’t feel like skirting around the surface—it felt like a proper, honest conversation. Iheun was by his side, and by Jaehee’s. Doctor Richmond and Bertrand had responded positively as well. So it was time to set his worries aside.

Using an ice skill, Iheun formed a cold towel and gently pressed it to Yeongung’s swollen eyes. Yeongung didn’t even realize how naturally their bodies had drawn close again as he brought up the past.

“If Jaehee was born from a crack… then it must’ve been that day, right? You and me…”

Now that Iheun had spoken honestly about Club Python, Lee Rubin, and his past partners, Yeongung wanted to know how Iheun had felt about them back then—about Yeongung himself. What had that man felt, at the time? Now that they were finally being honest, it felt like they could talk about it.

“You bastard, you remember, right? Back then—how sick of each other we got inside that gate.”

A day impossible to forget. Yeongung had been trapped in the Labyrinth of Avarice with Won Iheun.

“Gaaah…! Get away, fuck…! Go away…!”

“S-sob… I wanted to save them. I really did… I wanted to save everyone…”

The Tako Guild was struggling to clear one of the most mentally devastating types of gates: a psychic-type gate. Trapped inside a labyrinth gate, the team members had been poisoned by hallucinogenic pollen released by the garden plants, causing them to see things that weren’t real.

Even a rank-one guild couldn’t save every life. Casualties always existed—only fewer than in other guilds.

The trauma experienced on site had a profound effect on a hunter’s mental health. Some hunters treated gate clearing like a game, but others—like police officers or firefighters—carried a strong sense of duty. Most of the Tako Guild fell into the latter category.

In the team members’ eyes, the civilians they failed to save and the comrades who had died fighting beside them now appeared as zombies.

Smack—smack!

Yeongung slapped a subordinate who stood frozen in terror.

“Snap out of it! Fuck, they’re already dead! They’re not real!”

“Vice Guildmaster…”

“Yeah, it’s me. Can you see reality now?”

Seeing clarity return to the man’s pupils, Yeongung tore his own shirt and shoved it into his hands.

“Cover your nose with this. Put on goggles from your item pack too. Don’t let the pollen get into your airways as much as possible! Got it!?”

“Yes—yes!”

Covering his own nose with the scarf he’d been wearing, Yeongung checked on the other team members. One of them was trying to drive a dagger into his own throat.

He shot mana out like a spiderweb, knocking weapons away from those attempting suicide. When they saw their empty hands, the failed suicide attempts only deepened their despair.

“Ahh…! I don’t deserve to live…!”

“Fuck, it never ends. Of all things, it had to be a psychic gate.”

The gate had opened above a dome stadium where a sports match had been underway, trapping tens of thousands of civilians below. Indiscriminate attacks were impossible, and if monsters spilled out of the gate, a massive disaster would follow.

With no way forward or back, the Association decided to rely on the Tako Guild. With every second counting, Won Iheun and Yeongung led all available guild members in Seoul into the gate immediately.

That was the mistake.

Among those deployed, there were no mages or elementalists capable of countering psychic effects. If it had been any other type of monster, things would have been far easier.

To make matters worse, the Association had concealed the fact that it was a psychic gate.

“Tsk. I’ve let things slide for too long.”

In the past, Yeongung had suffered countless injustices after falling out of favor with those in power. But now, as an absolute being, no one dared interfere with his actions.

“They’ll look wronged and say they genuinely didn’t know if I go beat them up later.”

As Yeongung worked frantically to save the guild members, determined to reestablish discipline, the concentration of pollen grew thicker. Purple dust clouded their vision like mountain fog.

That was when, from the opposite side, a man said to be blessed by the system itself walked forward, burning the garden maze with one hand.

Won Iheun intended to incinerate the very garden producing the hallucinogenic pollen. Though it was called a garden, it spanned an enormous stretch of land—but under his power, the murky air gradually cleared.

The plants, moving like living organisms, recoiled from the flames. Then, changing their survival strategy, they targeted the weakest beings instead.

“Hwanja, cover your eyes and nose like Vice Guildmaster Yeongung. You’ll break free of the hallucinations.”

“Jincheol, like this?”

Thud—!

The hallucination changed form, appearing as a fellow hunter deployed alongside them—and drove a sharp spear into his back.

Yeongung caught Jincheol as he collapsed and cast a healing skill on the wound.

“This won’t end like this. If we don’t destroy the core, it’s endless.”

“…Things will only keep getting worse.”

“Additional personnel will arrive within twenty minutes, real time.”

Twenty minutes was short in the real world—but time flowed differently inside a gate. At present, only the leaders were unaffected by the pollen. Yeongung worried whether the team could hold out until mages and elementalists arrived.

After a moment’s thought, Yeongung reshaped his spiderweb-like mana into individual prisons, isolating each team member one by one. It required an enormous amount of mana, which was why he’d saved it as a last resort.

“It’s a stopgap, but we have no choice. Should’ve done this sooner.”

Then Yeongung turned to Iheun and grinned.

“Shall we fight poison with poison?”

He looked liberated, like someone who had finally removed the sandbags tied around his ankles during training. He’d never thought of the team as a burden—but there were times when their presence limited his abilities.

With just Won Iheun and himself, he could release his skills freely.

And Yeongung enjoyed fighting as a pair with Iheun. Even in bed, he’d never been able to be fully honest with his feelings—but when they fought together, he could face him without lies, as a comrade. Yeongung’s clear eyes sparkled with anticipation.

{Would you like to use a buff?}

Yeongung tapped the YES button on the blue status window.

“Yes. Let’s go.”

Caster: Yeongung

Applied Buff Skill: Venom of the Hates-Reality Dragon

Adjusted Rank: S → SSS+

Time Limit: 60 minutes

“Sometimes I wonder about the system’s mental state. ‘Hates-Reality Dragon’? Sounds exactly like something office workers would say.”

“Well, it may have learned by observing and mimicking humans.”

Standing beside Iheun, Yeongung stole a glance at the man’s profile and suddenly proposed a bet.

“You bastard. Want to make a wager with me? Whoever destroys the gate core first gets a wish granted. What do you say?”

“You do remember I’m a Searcher, right?”

“Not who finds it faster—who destroys it faster wins.”

Iheun stared at Yeongung’s confident, guileless face, then accepted.

“Very well. I accept.”

Seeing how readily he agreed, Yeongung snorted.

“Don’t regret it.”

“That’ll be your line, Hunter Yeongung.”

“Damn, now I’m suddenly scared. What kind of wish are you planning? Let’s keep it ethical—no weird shit, okay?”

“Well. By my standards, it’s not weird at all. Whether you think so is another matter.”

Iheun’s ambiguous reply made Yeongung briefly regret opening his mouth.

Sssss.

The garden emitted a sinister sound as the maze reconfigured itself. Iheun watched the shifting structure with mild amusement—the core, visible as if marked by a GPS, was impossible to miss.

{The Hates-Reality Dragon’s venom fang injects toxic spores into the garden maze.}

“Bastard! Poison’s spreading. Stick close to me!”

Iheun, who had been moving rapidly from afar, instantly teleported in front of Yeongung. Not only did he stick close—he scooped Yeongung under one arm and took off into the air.

Embarrassed, Yeongung shouted, his face burning red.

“A-are you insane!? Put me down! I have dignity as an absolute being!”

“Your face looks like a cherry tomato right now.”

{Dragon’s Blessing has been applied within the caster’s domain.}

At SSS+ rank, the dragon’s venom caused instant death even on contact. Toxic spores spread through the garden at catastrophic speed—except within the blessing’s range.

{The garden, paralyzed by toxins, temporarily ceases its transformation.}

The maze, which had slithered like a snake, froze. Reaching a specific point, Iheun gently set Yeongung down—ripe and red like a tomato.

Still grumbling about being treated like baggage, Yeongung looked at the cave before them.

“This it? The core location the maze was hiding?”

At Iheun’s nod, Yeongung clapped as he entered the cave.

“As expected of a dragon! Clean and simple.”

{The dragon is enraged that it was used for something as trivial as a maze, reaffirming why it despises reality.}

“You haven’t been summoned in ages and you won’t even do this much? Come on—don’t freeload.”

{The enraged dragon threatens to withdraw its blessing.}

“Let’s at least use the full sixty minutes. If a decent gem drops, I’ll give it to you.”

{At the mention of gems, the dragon’s eyes sparkle.}