Chapter 122

“Huh? What did you say?”

“Nothing. Never mind.”

Cho-i Hyeon laughed out loud at Taeyang Kang’s continuously insipid behavior. Taeyang Kang fixed his gaze on her face, then turned his head and headed towards the elevator. Since Cho-i also intended to take the elevator, she followed him. Taeyang Kang pressed the down button, and soon, he and Cho-i Hyeon got into the elevator.

“Are you planning to take that home?”

“Yes, then where else would I raise it but at home?”

“You don’t even know what to feed it.”

“Couldn’t I feed it raw meat?”

“Why raw meat?”

“People meat or raw meat, same difference.”

“……”

“What, why?”

Taeyang Kang didn’t answer further and got off the elevator, and Cho-i Hyeon followed him. Taeyang Kang seemed to be going to the hotel that Taehyeok Sa had told him about. Cho-i Hyeon was about to go home but smiled at his retreating back. Following him there wouldn’t be a bad idea, she thought.

“Hey!”

As Cho-i Hyeon instantly caught up and tapped him on the shoulder, he, who had been concentrating on something, was startled and looked back.

“Huh?”

And Cho-i Hyeon saw that the smartphone in his hand was displaying Huntred, and her eyes widened in surprise.

“What, so you really do use the internet.”

“…I don’t lie.”

“Heh. Let me see. What are you looking at?”

“No.”

Taeyang Kang hastily put his smartphone back in his pocket. Cho-i Hyeon was a little disappointed, but assuming it was nothing important, she held her juvenile monster and said to him,

“Are pets allowed in that hotel?”

“Probably.”

“Then let’s go together.”

“…Why should I?”

“Oh, come on, let’s go together. You’ll be bored alone, won’t you?”

For some reason, Taeyang Kang pondered for a long time, then eventually nodded his head. Cho-i Hyeon, regardless of whether he was okay with it, started walking alongside him with a look that said she had gotten permission. The juvenile monster in her arms was still trembling.

“What did you do to make it tremble so much?”

“I just gave it a shout, and it got scared.”

“Wasn’t that a skill to draw aggro?”

“Oh? You know a lot?”

“…I saw it on the internet.”

“What, you pretended not to be interested in me, but you actually were a little?”

“I just saw what was visible.”

“Well, I guess my articles might have even appeared overseas~”

“It’s not ‘a little’.”

“Oh, really?”

As Cho-i Hyeon stared at Taeyang Kang with wide eyes, Taeyang Kang subtly avoided her gaze. Cho-i found it funny and giggled, moving closer to him.

“Hey, you’re shy, aren’t you?”

“Me, when did I…”

“Now, right now, you.”

Cho-i Hyeon laughed and started walking right next to him. She could see Taeyang Kang’s shoulders tensing. It’s funny. She truly thought so. This guy is funny.

“So how are we going to get there?”

“We’ll walk.”

“Oh, are you a pedestrian?”

“Pedestri…?”

“Yes, of course~”

Cho-i Hyeon instantly pushed off the ground.

“Last one there buys dinner!”

“What?”

“Hahaha!”

Before Taeyang Kang could say anything, Cho-i Hyeon was already far away. Taeyang Kang hesitated, wondering whether to go along with this absurd bet, but seeing Cho-i Hyeon getting further and further away, he eventually pushed off the ground and started running. As an SS-Rank, he easily caught up with Cho-i Hyeon, who then frowned and moved right in front of him, presenting her monster.

“Bite!”

Snap! The juvenile monster, as if understanding the command to bite, thrust its head towards Taeyang Kang and bared its teeth. The moment Taeyang Kang recoiled, there was a snap! If he hadn’t dodged, he would have had his nose bitten, making him look ridiculous.

“Hahaha!”

And while Taeyang Kang briefly retreated, Cho-i Hyeon began to pull ahead a bit more. Taeyang Kang gritted his teeth, looked at her, and put strength into his thighs, leaping forward. The two jumped high, crossing between buildings as they continued their race.

“Wow! You’re taking this more seriously than I thought!”

“Shut up!”

“I never made any noise, did I? Did I?”

Cho-i Hyeon cackled and pushed off the ground, running forward. And right behind her, Taeyang Kang was close on her heels. Taeyang Kang and Cho-i Hyeon saw the Nanhwa Hotel in the distance and put more power into their steps. However, it seemed that stats were unavoidable, as SS-Rank Taeyang Kang began to pull ahead slightly. Cho-i Hyeon, her face all puffed up, finally ended up.

[Casting Sanity Paralysis!]

She shot forward in an instant. Taeyang Kang’s eyes widened as he looked at Cho-i Hyeon. The floor Cho-i Hyeon stepped on made a thud! sound and crumbled slightly, and she instantly arrived in front of the Nanhwa Hotel. She was only three steps away from Taeyang Kang.

“I won!”

Cho-i Hyeon shouted, holding up the juvenile monster in her arms. Taeyang Kang looked at her with a bewildered expression. But after arriving, she turned off her skill and looked at him with a beaming smile, as if asking what the problem was.

“Why?”

“How on earth…?”

“Ahaha, it’s just one of those things. Something you wouldn’t know.”

Cho-i Hyeon left the hotel staff, who were gaping after a person had suddenly fallen from the sky, and entered the hotel lobby. Taeyang Kang watched her back for a moment before following her.

“Mr. Taeyang Kang, your reservation has been confirmed.”

And as if Taehyeok Sa had already called, the front desk staff naturally handed him a key. Then they looked at Cho-i Hyeon and asked,

“I wasn’t informed you had a companion, so for meals…”

“Please give us some!”

“Understood. It’s scheduled to be delivered to your room at 7 PM, but if you have a preferred time, we can deliver it then.”

“That’s fine!”

“Confirmed. Have a pleasant stay.”

Taeyang Kang took the room key and headed for the elevator, with Cho-i Hyeon trotting behind him. Even though Cho-i Hyeon was holding a monster, the staff pretended not to see it and didn’t react at all. They said security was thorough, but this thorough?

Cho-i Hyeon giggled, finding the situation amusing, and said to Taeyang Kang,

“How long are you staying?”

“No plans.”

“Really? Then I’ll just sleep here for a day and leave?”

“What?”

“I said I’m sleeping here for a day.”

“No, you’re with a strange man…”

“Whoa, a strange man. That’s a word I haven’t heard in ages. Are you a Confucian boy?”

“Confucian, what?”

“Ahahaha.”

Cho-i Hyeon got into the elevator first, followed by Taeyang Kang, who placed the key below the elevator button and pressed the top floor button. The elevator quickly ascended to the top floor, and as soon as they got off, Cho-i Hyeon flung open the door to the room they saw.

“Don’t break it.”

Taeyang Kang opened it wide after using his key. Taeyang Kang, who seemed to have figured out Cho-i Hyeon in a short time, threw off his outer jacket onto a nearby sofa as soon as he entered the room.

“What do you mean by suddenly wanting to sleep here?”

“Well, since you’re staying somewhere nice, I thought I’d get to stay here too.”

“Are you always so boundary-less?”

“Boundaries? What boundaries?”

Cho-i Hyeon chuckled and entered one of the bedrooms. The juvenile monster in her arms naturally went with her. Taeyang Kang stared at her for a moment, then took out the smartphone he had put in his pocket earlier and went to the Huntred website.

[View My Posts] [Latest] [I want to drive monsters with Huntred too!]

Taeyang Kang glanced at Cho-i Hyeon’s situation while looking at the screen. Fortunately, she seemed engrossed in the bedroom and had no interest in this side. Taeyang Kang took a deep breath inwardly.

‘Is she crazy? Cho-i Hyeon and I in the same room?’

The bedrooms were separated, but they were still the same room. Taeyang Kang suppressed his thumping heart, clenching his teeth. If he let his guard down even a little, his devotion to her would surely spill out. Who was Taeyang Kang? He was the first to react when the entity named Cho-i Hyeon appeared in Huntred. He always posted ridiculous comments about wanting to do things with Cho-i Hyeon, but he was more genuinely devoted to Cho-i Hyeon than anyone else. That entity was SS-Rank Taeyang Kang. Due to his public image, he couldn’t express it outwardly, but thanks to Huntred being an anonymous site, he could freely express his desires for her anytime, anywhere.

‘I definitely can’t let her find out about this.’

Honestly, who would like that? No woman would want to be alone with a man who only posts weird messages on an anonymous site like “I want to clear a dungeon with Cho-i Hyeon” or “I want to herd monsters with Cho-i Hyeon.” Knowing this well, Taeyang Kang gritted his teeth and pretended to be unfazed in front of her.

‘More importantly, that juvenile monster is really annoying.’

Even trying to speak kindly, the juvenile monster was far from “cute.” Its transparent skin, through which all its blood vessels were visible, made it look like an axolotl, but the horns protruding in various directions were bizarre. It wasn’t that he couldn’t understand Cho-i Hyeon having such a juvenile monster by her side. In fact, there was nothing to understand or not understand.

‘Cho-i Hyeon always does peculiar things.’

Even if her sense of cuteness was different from others, he just let it be. However, he just thought that a cuter! and more adorable! mascot would suit Cho-i Hyeon better.

‘So I tried to get rid of it…’

Cho-i Hyeon resisted more fiercely than he expected. Who would have known she would block his icicle with her bare hands? He decided to let her have her way, but it was still a shame. It was like how you feel when your favorite idol wears an ugly outfit.

‘First, let’s focus. Focus.’

Taeyang Kang concentrated, then ambled towards Cho-i Hyeon, who hadn’t come out of the bedroom. Cho-i Hyeon had the juvenile monster on the bed and was teaching it something strange. She held out her hand to the juvenile monster and commanded,

“Bite!”

The monster immediately bit her finger with a snap.

“Isn’t it pointless if you do it with your own hand?”

“Then do you want to do it with your hand?”

“…Well.”

Taeyang Kang thought to himself,

‘I’d do anything to help you.’

And what came out of his mouth was this:

“Give it here.”