VSP 8

The call ended, and Sejun put the slightly warm phone on his stomach and lay there for a while.

For some reason, he lost the mood to read manga. Just a moment ago it had been really fun.

During the calls with his parents or right after, the system usually did not talk to him much, so the surroundings stayed quiet for a while.

It was so quiet that he thought maybe he should play some new age music. He had bought an expensive audio system before but hardly used it… While he was thinking that, a notification sound, driring, came from his phone.

Is it mom…? He picked up the phone that was still warm, but soon realized it was not.

It was Ryu Sehyun.

Sejun jumped up from his seat. Finally, Ryu Sehyun had finished his deliberation and decided on the first raid teams.

And Sejun secretly had his own belief.

“Ha.”

Even so, he was nervous. Before checking the message, Sejun took a deep breath, and the system cut in.

[Why are you nervous like a student waiting for exam results? You never even took the college entrance exam.]

“How can I not be nervous? Sehyun-hyung is seriously incredibly fair. What if I end up in the same team as Lee Dohun?”

[This is a world where the author longs for you two to be tied together, so you don’t have to worry too much.]

“Right?”

Lucky Love Mode or whatever was also created in this world just to tie Sejun and Cha Dogyeong together. In a place like this, it would naturally make him connect with Cha Dogyeong. The author wanted that! For a natural storyline, of course they would give him that much benefit!

Feeling reassured, Sejun immediately checked the message.

There were three teams.

Two two-person teams, and one three-person team. Sejun’s name was not in the two-person teams.

The problem was that in those two-person teams, in other words the four names listed, not only were Sejun’s and Cha Dogyeong’s names missing, but Lee Dohun’s name was missing too.

Sejun’s trembling eyes moved to the last team.

“Team 3: Cha Dogyeong, Lee Dohun, Seo Sejun.”

“Ah.”

Sejun let out a dying groan and could not say anything else.

[Aigo, oh no.]

The system muttered like it felt pity, but Sejun did not hear it.

He had thought that since the author, who was no different from a god of this world, wanted Seo Sejun and Cha Dogyeong to be together, naturally they would be placed in the same team.

Of course, it was not wrong. It had happened. But Lee Dohun was in the middle.

Of all people, Lee Dohun.

That brute who was desperate to tear Sejun apart!

It felt like making a wish to the monkey’s paw saying, “I want to be in the same raid team as Cha Dogyeong!” and the wish came true, but with a bad aftertaste.

“Why is he included?!”

[I don’t know either.]

He shouted at the system in frustration, but the system sounded indifferent.

[Anyway, you are in the same team as Hunter Cha Dogyeong.]

It only gave him that kind of answer.

Of course, just having Dohun in the team without thinking about anything else would already be tiring, but the real problem was Sejun’s damn mission that forced him to get entangled with Cha Dogyeong.

He had to sleep with Cha Dogyeong. Sleep with Cha Dogyeong! The sub-mission was to flirt with Cha Dogyeong!

Even if Lucky Love Mode or whatever helped, how could he do anything with Lee Dohun stuck between them?

Was he supposed to flirt with Cha Dogyeong right in front of Dohun? More likely Dohun and Dogyeong would leave Sejun aside and roam the dungeon just the two of them.

“Ah.”

Seeing the future already, Sejun collapsed back down with a tired face. His vision felt dark.

•••

Cha Dogyeong, the only EX-rank hunter not just in Korea but in the entire world.

With just one wave of his hand it looked like he could split the sky, the sea, the land, and he might feel like a living nuclear weapon. The media often described him that way. But in his own thoughts, Cha Dogyeong was just an ordinary person.

Of course, if he wanted to, he could do those things. But without a reason, there was no need, so he did not do them. That was Cha Dogyeong, the EX-rank hunter.

Some people vaguely imagined that Cha Dogyeong did not even ride cars, that he flew around, that he could teleport. But he quite enjoyed driving. That was why his silver MaXbach was heading toward Anyang, where an A-rank dungeon had appeared.

[The location is Anyang Sports Complex. Civilians have been evacuated, and entry is under control.]

Dogyeong’s system stated a few facts in a dry tone, and Dogyeong nodded.

[The hunters raiding together today are Hunter Lee Dohun and Hunter Seo Sejun.]

“……Hm.”

He did prefer raiding alone, but since at least two people had to enter, and this was a simultaneous raid proposed by no one other than Ryu Sehyun, it could not be avoided.

In truth, Dogyeong did not care who the other hunters were. Whether S-rank or F-rank, as long as they could protect themselves, it was all the same to him.

But Seo Sejun, huh.

At a red light, Dogyeong tapped the steering wheel a few times while he waited.

In truth, Dogyeong did not have much of a grudge against Sejun. He knew Sejun always looked at him with annoyance and burned up with one-sided rivalry, but it never affected Dogyeong in any real way.

If he had to describe his feelings toward Sejun, it was just that every time he saw him, he thought he looked like a chihuahua that barked well.

If it were anyone else, he would have simply ignored that much. But Sejun had a strange knack for irritating people, so Dogyeong always ended up reacting one way or another, and that was the problem.

For Dogyeong, who usually had little interest in what others did, that part was surprising.

Aside from that, Dogyeong had no interest in Sejun.

The things Sejun did to try to interfere with him were usually ineffective, like Team RoX’s antics, or backfired on him, which almost made it entertaining to watch.

So even though he raised his voice and argued with him every time they met, Dogyeong did not truly hate Sejun.

Of course, if asked whether he liked him, absolutely not. If he had to choose between like and dislike, the scale tilted slightly toward dislike, that was all.

But Lee Dohun was different.

He genuinely hated Sejun. He hated even being grouped with him as an S-rank hunter. He openly showed his dislike whenever he was forced to work with him like today. If they ran into each other by chance, he looked desperate to rip Sejun apart.

Even people who did not like Sejun much sometimes felt sympathy when they saw him getting chewed out by Dohun.

Dogyeong, of course, did not care one way or the other. Thinking like that while driving, he arrived in Anyang quickly.

Even though there was nothing to see yet, people loitering near the activated dungeon recognized Dogyeong’s car and shouted, “It’s Cha Dogyeong!” But Dogyeong did not give any reaction and just headed straight toward the stadium.

After parking and getting out of the car, Dogyeong saw a white PoXsche. He recognized it easily since he had seen it often. Plate number 7879, that was Seo Sejun’s car.

Nearby was another car that seemed to belong to Dohun. Parked a good distance away, as if to prove their relationship.

“Hunter Cha Dogyeong, welcome.”

An Hunter Association staff member who had been managing the dungeon greeted him. Dogyeong nodded back slightly.

It had been decades since the first dungeon incidents, and humanity no longer feared their existence. It was like being caught in a sudden rain without an umbrella: “Ah, again?” or “Ah, why near my house?” That kind of complaining was all that remained.

Some people gave Dogyeong the credit and praised him with thumbs-up, but he felt nothing in particular about that.

Either way, now dungeons were predicted in advance by professional hunters before activation, and the system was organized to the point where hunters were already waiting even before the dungeon actually opened.

Even now, many Association staff moved busily around the area, and police were blocking civilians from entering.

“When is the dungeon expected to open?”

“About twenty minutes left. The other two have already arrived.”

Dogyeong nodded and followed the staff toward the middle of the stadium where the dungeon entrance had appeared. Soon he saw the two people.

Seo Sejun and Lee Dohun.

True to their poor relationship, they already looked like they were arguing.

Sejun was fairly tall, but Dohun was one of the most physically imposing among S-rank, and his height was much greater.

So the sight of Sejun trying to confront Dohun only reminded Dogyeong of the barking chihuahua he had imagined earlier while driving.

“They started fighting as soon as they arrived.”

The staff explained in a casual tone, like it was routine. Dogyeong did not react at all. It really was routine, and he had no interest in whether those two fought or not.

It was while he thought that and drew closer to the two of them.

Slap!

“Oh”

“……”

The staff, watching the familiar fight as he approached, was startled and opened his mouth wide. Dogyeong’s eyebrow twitched at the scene too.

Dohun, who had been waving his hand like swatting away a fly, suddenly lost his temper and smacked Sejun’s face directly as Sejun came closer. It was an unpleasant incident.