You Will Be Blessed If You Do Good Deeds¿ - Chapter 20

At Han Jae-young's words, despair immediately clouded the faces of the people.

And that despair began to spread wildly, like oil meeting fire.
Until now, the kids who had quietly endured under Yoo Han-ulâs advice started bombarding Han Jae-young with questions all at once.
âWhat's going on here?â

âIsn't it a camera malfunction? There's no way Yoo Han-ul Hunter could fall so easily!â
âEven worse, we didnât even see how he got taken!â
âWasnât the camera broken?â

âMaybe something happened to Yoo Han-ul Hunter, should we go rescue him...?â
âShut up, you bunch of rookies.â
But the riot was quickly suppressed by Han Jae-youngâs overwhelming presence.

When he dropped the formal tone heâd been using so casually, all that remained was the cold, imposing figure of an S-rank Hunter.
No matter how much his abilities were restricted, even an S-rank Hunter's murderous intent was not something rookie Hunters could easily dismiss.
As the kids, who had rushed in full force, were overpowered and quickly quieted down, Han Jae-young spoke in a somewhat subdued voice.

âIf a monster with the ability to kidnap an S-rank Hunter in the blink of an eye had appeared, the problem wouldnât be just with the people in this building. The capital of South Korea would be destroyed in an instant.â
âTh-then...!â
âBut no such monster appeared on the camera. This dungeon break hasnât intensified, itâs just that Yoo Han-ul vanished on his own.â

Han Jae-youngâs finger pointed at the screen where Yoo Han-ul had disappeared.
âIn such cases, itâs possible that Yoo Han-ul fell into an unexpected trap inside the dungeon... or, although rare, a dimensional rift might have occurred and he got sucked into it.â
Lies.

Although occasionally a dimensional rift grows within a dungeon, there would have been signs beforehand.
Especially with a 2nd-tier dungeon break like this, where the dungeon manifests in the real world, the System would have warned us, and thereâs no way Yoo Han-ul, an S-rank Hunter, wouldnât have noticed it.
Moreover, before Yoo Han-ul suddenly disappeared from the camera, I felt a faint magical wave.
Mana flows like the air currents, and when magic is used, its trace naturally spreads out like a ripple.

That means the most likely explanation is that Yoo Han-ul was forcibly moved through a teleportation circle set up by an unknown enemy.
I tapped the cold monitor screen.
âDid they take Yoo Han-ul... to draw me out in front of the monster?â

Given Yoo Han-ulâs personality, if he were still around, I, a minor who had only recently awakened, wouldnât have to step in.
It looks like someone really significant has been targeting me since the last dungeon break and this incident...
âAt least Iâve got one clue now.â

Magic that forcibly moves others across space is more complicated than it seems.
Especially if it's not used on the spot but left behind as a trap, in the form of a magic circle. Such magic must leave traces of its caster.
If we survive here, weâll be able to use the magic circle left behind as a clue to figure out the enemyâs identity.

Of course, thatâs if we survive.
âHow do we proceed then?â
âHow can we rescue Yoo Han-ul Hunter?â

âWe donât have any solutions on our side. Weâll just have to wait for him to get out on his own. Most Hunters are prepared for situations like this, so we donât need to worry about Yoo Han-ul.â
Despite the negative speculations, I didnât contradict Han Jae-youngâs words.
Han Jae-young didnât seem to place much importance on his own words either.

He probably had his own thoughts, but he must have given a "plausible" excuse just to calm the kids down.
Anyway, itâs true that thereâs nothing we can do for the missing Yoo Han-ul with our current strength.

I briefly made eye contact with Han Jae-young.

He slightly shook his head.
He probably meant to tell me not to say anything, even if I wanted to contradict him.
âNot that I want to argue.â

Adding negative speculation about Yoo Han-ul's disappearance would only cause the rookie Hunters to panic. That would only make my life harder.
âSo, what should we do?â
âConsider Yoo Han-ul as lost and focus on clearing the dungeon with the rest of us. But since we canât take on this dungeon alone, in a case like this...â

âIn a case like this?â
âThe most rational thing is to wait for external support.â
It was a cold, rational statement.

Upon hearing those instructions, the rookie Hunters, who had been charging in, deflated and slumped their shoulders.
âWhatâs that supposed to mean...?â
âCanât we just deal with the Shadow Ghost ourselves?â

âThatâs right. We saw Yoo Han-ul handle it, so we should be able to...â
âYouâll die.â
Han Jae-young replied in a voice so cold it could freeze.

âDonât think of the Shadow Ghost as an easy monster. What you saw on the camera just now was a stunt only Yoo Han-ul could pull off.â
That was true.
Even if youâre a swordsman rather than a magician, simply relying on physical strength alone wonât get you far. To cut through objects with significant strength, swordsmanship requires physical enhancement through mana circulation.

Yet, in those circumstances, Yoo Han-ul managed to overcome the situation purely with his physical strength and combat instincts.
That was something only Yoo Han-ul could do.
So, since Han Jae-young was in charge right now, deciding to wait for external support was the most correct judgment from his perspective.

If we pushed those overenthusiastic rookie Hunters into facing the Shadow Ghost, maybe one or two might survive by luck, but most would either die or end up as crippled wrecks. Ordinary people with no proper battle training couldnât possibly defeat a monster of that level.
However, such an efficient and rational decision sounded like a death sentence to some.
âWhat about our A-young?â

A scream, like the city was about to be destroyed, echoed through the office.
âWhat about A-young?!â
In fact, even though we should have stopped the employee from screaming, afraid of attracting monsters, no one could bring themselves to do it. Everyone was overwhelmed by the anguish and tragedy in the voice of a mother who was about to lose her child.

In this situation, the only person who could ask such a question was the one other than Yoo Han-ul.
With everyoneâs eyes on him, Han Jae-young sighed.
Like someone calmly facing a natural disaster they had known would come.

Han Jae-young spoke.
âI canât go.â
â...â

The employee, who seemed on the verge of crying from exhaustion, stared at Han Jae-young with reddened eyes. It was clear she couldnât control her own emotions, though she knew what she was feeling was unreasonable.
âAs I said, I currently canât use my abilities. Iâm no different from an ordinary person.â
âStill... youâre a Hunter, arenât you! You have an obligation to rescue civilians!â

âIâm sorry.â
âThereâs a legal issue, isnât there? Iâll sue you, Iâll spread it to the media! An S-rank Hunter abandoned a child!â
âMy mandatory service period ended over 39 months ago.â

âAhhh, please! Help me! No, Iâll go myself!â

The employee, whose actions were restricted, struggled. The kids who had been holding her arms according to Yoo Han-ulâs instructions earlier pinned her down as she cried out.
âNo! Youâll die if you go!â

âMom! Teacher! Letâs just wait a little longer, okay?â
âRescue teams are on their way!â
âWait?! How are we supposed to wait?!â

The woman screamed in despair, staring at the screen.
The situation on the screen was far from good.
The two teachers were reaching their limit in trying to control the kids.

Though the camera was for surveillance and the sounds from the scene didnât come through, it was easy enough to tell that the kids were terrified, crying, or shaking in fear.
The kids had probably panicked when the shadow of the monster outside the door had appeared.
The teachers tried to regain control, but it was clear that managing the terrified kids was impossible, especially with two of them being complete ordinary civilians.

The problem was that, because of the kidsâ movements, the shadow of the monster in the hallway was slowly approaching the daycare.
The Shadow Ghost moves by sensing the life energy.
It looked like the teachers were trying to barricade the door with objects in the daycare, but even from that, it was obvious they were just ordinary people.

If we didnât act fast, a brutal scene would unfold beyond the camera.
The woman shouted in a voice full of desperation.
âGo rescue them, now!â

Even in the midst of the whirlwind of resentment, Han Jae-young remained calm.
It didnât look like a situation he could be accustomed to, but his expression almost seemed tired of it.
âIâm sorry. In this situation, immediate rescue is impossible.â

He spoke mechanically, like a machine repeating learned phrases.
Thud.
It was truly a death sentence.

When Han Jae-young declared it, tension filled the room. The woman, with bloodshot eyes, stared at the rookie Hunters holding her.
Knowing what her gaze carried, everyone hesitated and looked away.
Some, under the pressure of his authority, loosened their hold on her, while others, disgusted by the pleading, quietly retreated.

It was understandable.
In a situation where we couldnât even guarantee a successful rescue, it wasnât common for someone to risk their life for others.
In fact, even the rookie Hunters, although not as young as the kids on the camera, wore naive expressions when dealing with the woman.

âI... I canât. Even the S-rank Hunters canât do it, so how can I?â
âWeâre just rookie Hunters... like Han Jae-young Hunter said, we have to wait for support.â
âWeâre minors too. We should be protected by the staff, not the other way around.â

ââ¦You bastards!â
Despite the urgency, no one stepped forward, and the woman gritted her teeth.
âMore than 150 Hunters come and go through this office every day, and not one of them is willing to rescue a child! What use is a Hunter then?!â

âI understand how you feel.â
Han Jae-young still spoke in a businesslike tone, but with a somewhat sympathetic look in his eyes, he grabbed the employeeâs shoulder to restrain her.
âPlease calm down. The sun is about to set.â

âSo what?!â
âThe monsters will invade this way. If you donât quiet down...â
âWhat does that have to do with me?!â

The woman, her eyes filled with rage, glared at Han Jae-young and the rookie Hunters awkwardly standing in the office.
âIf youâre not going to save my child, then die!â
âEnough.â

I interrupted her, and all eyes turned to me.
âEnough. Iâll go.â