episode_0037

“82 sit-ups… passed.”

“100m run 19.4 seconds… Remeasurement.”

“Remeasurement 17.9 seconds… passed.”

Eunha lost a little bit of her sanity and everything with just one intention to become an E-class hunter.

The physical fitness test that followed was truly the most rewarding moment in Eunha’s life.

The pleasure of peeling off old dirt that has been stuck for three years.

“Whoa…! Whoa…! Haha…!”

There is such a saying.

No pain no gain.

I meant it literally. I’ve only been sick for a few days, but isn’t an E-class hunter just around the corner?

It hurts to the point of death, but I feel good.

Have I gone crazy?

When I did sit-ups, every time I stood up, I felt a stabbing pain in my chest and stomach.

Even though I felt my consciousness slipping away from time to time, I somehow made it through.

After all, it’s good because your body is light.

If I had known I wouldn’t die, I would have done this a long time ago.

“Whoa…! Whoa…!”

I somehow passed the 100m run, and it was the last of the E-level exams.

The long-awaited 3km run.

Those who take the Class D exam have additional practical training at the [Artificial Crack Field] after the physical fitness test, but for Eunha, this is the last test.

“Ha! Ha! Ha!”

I kicked the ground with light steps.

A 3km sprint without any pace control. [Self-recovery] This is an easy task for Eunha, who has some stamina remaining through the skill.

In the meantime, I always ran with a heavy heart after failing the previous exam… but now, I felt much more refreshed.

Excited. Excited. Excited.

A course I have run every month for three years.

The internal organs that were removed have already recovered. Condition is excellent.

Eunha, whose color returned to her face, moved her legs vigorously.

“Cheer up, Ji Bakryeong! Thank you for the directions! Be sure to pass!”

“You shouldn’t fall like last time.”

Other test takers pass by Eunha and offer good words.

Is this similar to the mentality of rooting for last place in a marathon? Thanks to this, I think I can run a little more.

Eunha smiled brightly, thanking them as they quickly moved away.

And, finally.

The painful basic physical fitness test has come to an end…

“Eunha, ran 3 km… 11 minutes and 3 seconds. Passed!… You really worked hard, Eunha…!”

“Huh…!”

Cheolpudeok!

Eunha rolled around on the dirt floor happily, hugging the test proctor who told her the results with a proud look on her face.

The supervisor was disgusted by the suit he brought from the dry cleaners yesterday, saying it was covered in dirt.

The untimely commotion caught everyone’s attention, and Eunha stood up, teasing the supervisor, who was blushing with embarrassment.

The strict supervisor who treated Eunha after she fell while running last month and scratched her palm.

It’s a little revenge for the times when I was nagging why my hands were so soft.

“Tsk, you threw away all your clothes…”

“That’s what happens if you nag a lot on a regular basis.”

“…Okay. Okay, so you can come to the company dinner this month. I’ll buy you beef to celebrate your promotion.”

If you’re friends with everyone, do you think things will fall out everywhere?

After all, good things are good things.

Eunha smiled brighter than ever and nodded.

June 1st.

After training in hell where I could never tell anyone,

A ten-year F-class hunter… Eunha was promoted to E-class.

It was my first step after three years as a hunter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Eunha. Just wait a moment.”

“why?”

A little later, after the physical fitness test is over.

Around the time when test takers of grade D or higher were heading to the association’s [Artificial Crack Center] for the next exam.

As Eunha was getting ready to go home, shaking off the dust from her sweats, the test invigilator, who had been pushed by her and rolled on the dirt floor, started talking to her.

A sharp-looking woman with a strict image that stands out thanks to her black horn-rimmed glasses.

She was frowning strangely, as if she was displeased with her mud-covered suit.

The supervisor quietly looked at Eunha’s face and clicked his tongue.

“Tsk, you’ve become so prettier in just one month. When did your breasts get so big again?”

“It worked because I tried so hard.”

“Enough bragging, I just got a call from the department. They want me to take a drug test?”

“Drug test?… Oh, that’s right.”

Eunha, who was about to ask what the supervisor meant, muttered as if something had occurred to her.

There is such a thing.

Just as in the police exam, a doping test is conducted after the physical fitness test, blood was collected in the ‘sample collection room’ for the Hunter Promotion Test after the practical test.

Up until now, Eunha had always failed practical exams, so she had no reason to do it, so she went home…

But it’s different now.

Isn’t he a prospective ‘E-class’ hunter who has overcome difficult odds?

A doping test is absolutely necessary to prove that you legitimately passed the test.

… … To be honest, I wonder if Eunha really needs to be tested.

Because of the [Self-Healing] skill, all changes return to their original state. Drugs are no exception.

Painkillers didn’t work, so she had to cut open her body and remove the internal organs while she was sober, so she couldn’t have been doping.

“Our supervisors, Eunha, know how hard you worked, but the rules are the rules… Do you know what I mean? Just think of it as a health checkup and get your blood drawn.”

“Of course. I’m used to donating blood.”

“…Ha, how come your voice has become prettier? What really happened in the past month? Can you tell me a little bit about it?”

Eunha gives a half-hearted smile as the supervisor looks down with envy at her chest as she pushes up her sweatpants.

This time, because I repeatedly removed and recovered internal organs and fat, I quietly avoided eye contact, wrapping one arm around my breasts, which were bigger than 10 days ago.

The supervisor also seemed not to have any intention of inquiring too deeply and prepared to leave immediately.

I have to supervise the remaining tests at the [artificial crack site].

“The doping test has to be done in the sample collection room. Do you know the location? If you don’t know, go with me.”

“I can go alone.”

“Okay… congratulations on becoming E-level, Eunha, you should definitely come to the [artificial rift site] later. It will be really amazing.”

After saying that he would contact me later when a date for the company dinner was set and to come eat the beef, the supervisor pushed up his horn-rimmed glasses and quickly left.

Until now, I thought he was just a strict person, but he is quite kind.

Is he really a good person?

He was a good person, but he was too FM.

I wish I were bald.

“Whoa… I have to go too.”

Eunha, who had been looking around at the guild scouts who were still in the stands and whispering among themselves, also left the practical test center with a light heart.

Guild scouts who discover talent at promotion testing centers… These are people who have nothing to do with the galaxy.

Not a single person has spoken to me in three years.

Because of this, Eunha decided to ignore them.

‘Did you say it was a sample collection room? Let’s finish cleaning the bathroom first.’

Eunha walked quickly through the association hallway and headed toward the employee-only restroom she had used earlier.

Before anyone comes, we must clean up the blood stains and trash and retrieve the carrier containing the [Black Book].

Judging by the fact that there hasn’t been much of a commotion yet, it seems like no one has come into the bathroom. If someone had witnessed that tragedy, there would have been an uproar long ago, calling it a murder case.

Still, if you leave it on for too long, it will be a nuisance to the person cleaning it, so try to clean it up quickly.

“……Eunha.”

“Wow. There was someone there.”

However, the moment I hurriedly returned to the bathroom and made eye contact with Ban Harin, who was scrubbing the blood-stained floor in a janitor’s uniform.

Eunha felt her head turn white and became frozen like ice.

Why are you here?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For some reason, I had a bad feeling ever since I saw a sign in front of the bathroom that said ‘Toilets under construction, no entry allowed’.

I entered the bathroom feeling anxious, and sure enough, it was different.

Isn’t the cleaner already cleaning the bloody partition and coming out from inside?

But the cleaner is Banharin.

A junior employee of a company that subcontracts to a mid-sized guild.

With her usual cold face, she took off her blood-stained cleaning apron and approached Eunha.

Ban Harin approaches without making a single sound, and in each hand is holding a volume-rate garbage bag containing a part of Eunha’s body.

“…I was working part-time cleaning. The association’s restrooms were quite dirty.”

“I can tell lies like that.”

“I’m sorry. Even though I look like this, I’m really embarrassed… Did you come back sooner than I expected?”

Ban Harin put the blood-covered apron and the pay-as-you-go garbage cart in a garbage cart that I don’t know where he got it from, and closed the cart lid to completely seal it to prevent any smell from escaping.

It is not a skill that has been done once or twice.

The inside of the partition, which had already been stained by Eunha, was sparkling without any stains. Even the fragrant scent of lavender lingered in the bathroom.

A perfect job that was a huge wake-up call for Eunha, who considered herself a cleaning veteran just because she had cleaned a few times recently.

If it weren’t for this situation, I would have been truly impressed.

‘I guess he’s not an ordinary office worker… after all. ‘I wonder if he’s from the special forces.’

Eunha looked at the black suitcase standing in the corner of the bathroom and opened her mouth.

“……Did you open that?”

“You mean the suitcase? I haven’t touched it yet because I was in a hurry to clean it. People can be sloppy too… If it weren’t for me, others would have already found out and there would have been an uproar. Of course the promotion exam would have been cancelled.”

“For that… thank you so much.”

“That’s all you need to know.”

Ban Harin approached Eunha like a ghost and caressed her body.

As if using a ‘skill’, she dyed her eyes golden and ‘observed’ Eunha’s body with bright yellow sparks flying.

Then, he frowns as if he saw something he shouldn’t have seen.

“Only a scar is already left… I never thought Eunha’s [Self-Healing] skill would be this effective… But I can see symptoms of multiple organ failure and embolism. You somehow didn’t die.”

“Is that so?… Um, I feel a little dizzy.”

Organ failure? Embolism?… really?

I’m not sure because I’ve been in so much pain over the past few days.

Am I sick now? It doesn’t feel right.

“…….”

Did he feel something from Eunha, who was casually rubbing the back of his neck?

Ban Harin, who was looking at Eunha with his usual expressionless face, suddenly approached without a sound…

I hugged Eunha’s body, which was dirty with dust.

“Ugh… Mr. Banharin?”

“sorry.”

For a moment, I was taken aback by the sudden skinship.

Eunha realized that Ban Ha-rin’s hand that was hugging her was shaking, and she kept her mouth shut.

Wow…

He hugs Eunha like a child having a nightmare.

Well, it’s Banharin who sealed the bathroom and even cleaned it. Would this be a natural reaction if one knew what Eunha had done to pass the promotion exam?

“I… didn’t see anything.”

As Eunha relaxed and calmly surrendered herself, Ban Harin buried her face in the back of Eunha’s neck, muttering in a low voice.

… … .

Banharin thought.

I thought that maybe the reason why Eunha did something like this… did something crazy like dig up her own body and lose weight just to become an E-class hunter… maybe it was because of me.

I know how hard she worked over the past three years.

I know how frustrated I was and how much I was laughed at by others.

Because I’m always watching.

‘Recently, the reason why Eunha had scars on her body…’

Banharin recalled.

Saw marks all over the body that were sloppily tried to hide with clothes.

A large hole near the carotid artery.

For the past 10 days, my complexion has looked strangely unwell…

‘I couldn’t find any traces of outsiders… so it must be traces of self-harm…’

It might be because of stress.

Because of the unbearable stress, I guess I was harming myself since I happen to have recovery skills.

(Haha… wait and see. I’ll pass somehow.)

The reality that does not change no matter how hard one tries drives people crazy.

So much so that he pulled out his internal organs to try push-ups.

How much it hurt. How painful it must have been.

Banharin didn’t know.

Because Eunha always accepted her jokes with a smile. I didn’t even consider how festering it would be inside.

(I am not able to help you with Eunha’s ‘E-Class Hunter Promotion Test in June’. I am truly sorry.)

And, the person who pushed Eunha down the cliff must have been her crush.

Because it made a person who secretly harmed himself out of despair at the unchanging reality have to face reality again.

“Eunha. If you have any trouble in the future, please let me know. I am confident that I can provide counseling and take care of your concerns.”

“Yes?… Yes…”

“And… I sincerely congratulate you on becoming an E-class hunter.”

Don’t ask me why I did this or if I’m okay or anything.

Ban Harin just hugged Eunha’s body tightly and felt her warmth.

‘… … Dirt gets in and my back itches. Should I ask Mr. Banharin to scratch it?’

Just like that, in Ban Harin’s mind, Eunha became ‘a pitiful human being who was so distressed that she often harmed herself secretly from others.’

She couldn’t do anything about the suddenly heavy atmosphere and just rolled her eyes here and there in Ban Harin’s arms.

No, now my internal organs have all recovered, so why am I like this?

I said it’s okay.

I want to quickly take a doping test and receive an E-class hunter certificate.

Eunha laughed as if she was having trouble.