Chapter 1101: Side Story – Reward for Trust (1)

The place Min Hyunyoung guided me to was a small cabin somewhere in the back mountains, a bit too cramped to be called a shooting range.

On the outside, it looked like just a small cabin built on a rock, but from the inside, opening a secret door led to a structure connected to a basement beneath the mountain.

Maybe it hadn’t been managed well, because the air wasn’t very good. There were no bugs, but quite a bit of dust had accumulated on the floor as well.

“I’m sorry. It’s my personal shooting range, but I haven’t been inside since two years ago.”

“It’s alright. Besides, I was the one who asked for this.”

“Still, I kept practicing sometimes even after retiring, thinking maybe my awakened ability would return someday, but in the end, it never did. Starting around two years ago, I pushed myself too hard and felt like my left arm would get strained, so I stopped. As you saw earlier, you know that if it falls off once, reattaching it is quite a task.”

Shooting is inherently a hunting method with a lot of recoil on the arms and shoulders. Of course, other methods aren’t any different, but…

Going a bit further inside, a spacious area appeared that could still be called a shooting range. There was only one shooting stall, but quite a few of her personal firearms were displayed.

“As a Recovery-type Hunter, you wouldn’t have asked me to come in just because you wanted to shoot a gun; you want to see me shoot, right?”

“That’s correct.”

“I can’t help it. If you truly find it hard to believe, I have no choice but to show you. Anyway, it’s only right that I repay you for fixing my body.”

“Thank you, Min Hyunyoung-ssi.”

“I need to check the equipment, so please wait a moment. Since I’m using it for the first time in two years, there’s a bit much to fix…”

Along with those words, Min Hyunyoung disassembled the firearms, using various tools to wipe the inside or apply oil.

Even though two years had passed since she last handled them, her hand movements in maintaining and assembling showed no hesitation at all.

“I’m ready. I’ll show you, so please step aside for a moment.”

“Yes, Min Hyunyoung-ssi.”

“However, if you see it directly and confirm that I have no abilities, you’ll have to leave then.”

“Of course.”

-Chul-keok.

“…Hoo.”

After loading, Min Hyunyoung lay down in front of the shooting stall with a shallow sigh, taking a shooting stance.

If her awakened ability returned here, it would probably become another hope for her too.

Not necessarily a life returning to being a Hunter, but she would realize that someone was seeing her as just a person.

Of course, this is only when the story unfolds well, and there’s also the possibility that the awakened ability won’t return.

In the first place, it was Min Hyunyoung’s theory that being recognized as a ‘woman’ determined the existence of her awakened ability.

…Still, I believe. I believe Min Hyunyoung is not like a monster but a definite person, and also a woman who can use her awakened ability.

-Ta-ahng!

“……”

-Pasak!

“…Huh?”

Along with the first shot, Min Hyunyoung’s bullet pierced through a wooden block placed there instead of a target.

It wasn’t just the level of power to pierce a wooden block. The moment it touched, it was seen shattering with a pasak sound.

And though it was brief, it seemed like I saw it. The sight of her symbol, blue energy, enveloping the bullet.

“Just now, from my perspective, it seemed like a proper ‘blue bullet’ was fired, is that correct?”

“……”

“Min Hyunyoung-ssi?”

“…The target seems a bit old, so the inside might have been rotten. I’ll switch it and try again.”

Min Hyunyoung went into the shooting stall, seeming to find it hard to believe readily, and replaced the target.

After carefully examining the fragments of the shattered wooden block and the bullet holes, she returned to her spot where a seemingly harder target was placed this time, and immediately continued shooting.

-Ta-ahng!

“……”

-Pagak!

“…Ah.”

This time too, in almost the same way as before, the second bullet pierced and shattered a square stone target. This time, the energy enveloping the bullet she fired caught my eye a bit more clearly.

Perhaps it was because she had gained a little faith in her awakened ability after the first shot. Compared to the first shot, the strengthened bullet destroyed the slightly harder target into even more numerous pieces.

“…No way.”

-Tadadak!

Now, without even asking my permission, Min Hyunyoung ran into the shooting stall, took out other targets, and displayed them.

Lining up monster hides, horns, wings, and such one by one, Min Hyunyoung quickly returned to her spot and continued firing consecutively.

-Ta-ahng! Ta-ahng! Ta-ah-ahng!

-Kwajik! Ppak! Pu-wook!

“…Ha, haha.”

Shattered hides, broken horns, pierced wings.

Considering that monster body parts aren’t pierced by ‘normal bullets’, the answer was clear.

“Your awakened ability seems to have returned.”

“…Thank you.”

It was a greeting of thanks filled with various meanings.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Realizing her awakened ability had returned, Min Hyunyoung and I returned home only after firing a few more bullets.

Wearing a face that seemed somehow relieved, she quietly muttered to me.

“Perhaps I was unnecessarily getting scared alone and running away.”

“What?”

“If just being believed by someone could bring back an awakened ability, I might have been able to live as a Hunter for at least a few more years. Jung No-eul, or Sung Chae-eun, I should have at least told those kids my true identity honestly.”

“Ah…”

“I was anxious with thoughts like, ‘What if I got found out, even just once?’ Of course, it’s still the same now, but still, if it were those friends, they might have seen me as a human too, just like Sung Taekyung-ssi.”

I don’t know much about the relationship between those three people, but if Min Hyunyoung says so, it’s probably highly likely.

For starters, Jung No-eul only has social anxiety but is fundamentally a good person, and Sung Chae-eun, being a Dragon Blood clan member herself, probably wouldn’t have cared much in the first place.

“Of course, even if she maintained her awakened ability like that, she probably couldn’t have been active for long. If she didn’t have a tight-lipped Recovery-type Hunter acquaintance, her left arm would probably have fallen off within half a year.”

“Now that I’m here, you can probably return as a Hunter anyway.”

“…That’s right. Returning as a Hunter is possible, for now, I suppose.”

“What do you mean by ‘is possible’?”

“I can feel that the awakened ability has returned itself, but it’s a slightly lacking sensation to say it has fully returned yet. If I had to say, it feels like only about 50% has returned.”

“Ah…”

Indeed. Even seeing it earlier in the underground shooting range, I did get that slight feeling.

The power of the bullets themselves certainly exceeded the category of normal bullets, but I couldn’t see the power from those days when the bullet’s trajectory was drawn with blue energy.

It was Min Hyunyoung, calmly confessing that although the awakened ability had returned, it was at an incomplete level.

“Of course, even with this ability, it would be enough to be around B-class to A-class Hunter level. It would be difficult to be active like in the past with Jung No-eul or Sung Chae-eun, but if Sung Taekyung-ssi wishes, I will consider returning to active duty positively. If it’s not my return that you wished for, but the revival of the Destruction Trio… that wish seems difficult to grant.”

“Just by Min Hyunyoung-ssi herself returning, it will be a great asset to our guild.”

“I’m grateful to hear you say that. After joining the guild, how should I pay the treatment fees?”

“Regarding the treatment limited to restoring Min Hyunyoung-ssi’s body, you don’t need to worry about the cost. Since I’ll be handling it anyway, you don’t need to worry about maintaining secrecy either.”

“…I can’t even return as an S-class Hunter, isn’t this treatment too good?”

“In the first place, our guild’s treatment fees aren’t that expensive. There isn’t no fee, but this is purely to prevent returning too often due to injuries, and in Min Hyunyoung-ssi’s case, where her body wears down just from being active, an exception should naturally be made.”

“…Is that so?”

“For now, discussing the detailed contract terms directly at the guild would be good. I also have a lot to tell you regarding our guild’s facilities and welfare.”

“Okay. What you said certainly seems right. Just because the awakened ability returned, there’s no need to get too excited and rush things.”

For now, this much should be enough.

Although I failed to revive the Destruction Trio, my goal, I at least prevented her, who was once a legend, from dying alone and lonely without anyone knowing.

By me believing in her, I instilled confidence and hope as a bonus, so coming all the way to Icheon today to meet her was ultimately a successful choice.

“It’s quite late. Would you like to stay for a meal? Even though I look like this, since I’ve lived alone for quite a while, I’m quite good at cooking.”

“If it’s not too much trouble, I’ll shamelessly accept your offer.”

“Thanks to Sung Taekyung-ssi, for the first time in a while, I’ll be able to eat face-to-face with a person, not on TV.”

A beaming smile from the joy of her awakened ability returning and meeting someone who would believe her as a person.

Even having dinner and going home would make it late, but still, if I could see that expression even a little, it was a sacrifice I could fully endure.

And there are still more things to talk about regarding the contract for Min Hyunyoung.

…Things like the ‘Guild Welfare’ talk, which every member of our guild must receive without exception.