Chapter 283

Chapter 283

Gio was the kind of person who, if he said he’d do it, did it.

“Hunter Seo Seohui.”

“Ah, Hunter Seo Gio.”

After that, he visited Justitia a total of 21 more times.

“You don’t have to come like this every time.”

All within a period of less than a month.

“At this point, it feels like you’re a Justitia guild member, Hunter.”

“I couldn’t help coming because it seems you’re still hungry.”

“Just what on earth are you looking at when you always say that...”

“You can’t avoid my eyes.”

At first they were surprised, flustered, or burdened, but Hunter Seo Gio’s affability was terrifying. In less than a month, he became close with every single member of Justitia.

Literally “every” member.

“Hunter Seo Gio?”

“It’s been a while, Hunter Kang Eunsung. I brought a lunchbox.”

“It already smells delicious.”

Kang Eunsung, who at first had kept his distance thinking, ‘What on earth is this guy doing,’ was no different. Watching the vice guild master naturally accept his share of the lunchbox and disappear without a trace, Seo Seohui let out an awkward laugh.

“He doesn’t even try to stop it anymore.”

“I did the hazard inspection on the first floor.”

“I’m the guild master, so I heard that too, of course. But still, at this rate, if one day Hunter Seo Gio puts poison in the lunchbox, it feels like we’d collapse without being able to do anything...”

“I believe that won’t happen.”

“Then, as much as you believe us, we’ll have to keep security even more thoroughly.”

Seo Seohui gave a small chuckle.

‘It’s really fortunate he doesn’t take offense.’

Hunter Seo Gio always visited quietly, and vanished quietly. He was more proactive than anyone about the essential security checks. Thanks to that, even Justitia’s guild members who had felt awkward at first had regained their peace.

Usually, in that process, there were many hunters who felt, “This is unpleasant,” or “This is rude.” They called it being treated shabbily. But Hunter Seo Gio showed not the slightest sign of that, even while visiting so often.

‘Even though he isn’t human.’

Seo Seohui maintained a faint smile.

“...Thank you for always packing me a lunchbox. Honestly, it’s gotten a little troublesome—I might become a pig soon. You balance the nutrition so well that my digestion is fine, but...”

“But it seems you’re still hungry.”

“That’s what I’m saying—I don’t know what you’re looking at to say that.”

Even though she said that, once she opened the lunchbox lid, the story changed.

“It’s tteokgalbi.”

“It’s tteokgalbi with pine nuts.”

“How do you even know I like tteokgalbi?”

“I happen to know quite a lot about Hunter Seo Seohui.”

“Why does it smell so good...”

This time the menu was tteokgalbi, grilled pen shell scallop, and assorted side dishes. The white rice was so intact that you could feel each grain, and the texture was blissful.

It seemed like pot-cooked rice—she hadn’t even chewed much before a savory sweetness rose quickly. He always packed a generous amount, so every time she tried to eat a little less, but...

“...”

Seo Seohui gave up and accepted the violence of gourmet food.

‘Then I can just increase my training time.’

Right. That’s all there was to it.

“...It’s delicious.”

“Isn’t it?”

“To be honest, it hurts my pride a bit.”

“I was taught you don’t put up your pride in front of food.”

“Well, it’s true pride is useless in front of a meal, but, ha...”

“You can exercise.”

“That’s true.”

It just felt a bit empty.

‘So my self-control was only this much.’

She’d thought she didn’t enjoy gourmet food, but before Hunter Seo Gio’s shocking touch, everything was useless. He knew her tastes so well and planned such a harmonious, balanced menu that no matter how much she ate, she didn’t get tired of it.

‘Kang Eunsung’s situation looks similar too.’

He really eats with such gusto.

‘Today his looks Western again—looks greasy.’

Kang Eunsung had returned to his secretary’s seat and was going to war with his lunchbox. He’d been like that since about a week ago. It was because Hunter Seo Gio, after asking about his preferred diet, had started packing even Kang Eunsung’s share.

Seeing the already half-emptied lunchbox, Seo Seohui laughed awkwardly.

“Isn’t it hard for you to pack lunch like this every time?”

“I feel like I say this every time I come, but I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t take away my joy.”

“What is this, I’m getting déjà vu... seriously, what is it...”

It felt like elderly folks in their later years finding joy in looking after their grandchildren.

“By any chance, your age this year...?”

“Is it important?”

“It isn’t.”

It was a 상대 where practically there was no meaning in counting a “real” age. Seo Seohui accepted it quickly and finished her lunch. The tomato pickles piled in the small side-dish compartment whetted her appetite.

She could strongly taste the scent of maesil, while a sharp alcohol made its presence known and then vanished cleanly. Once her mouth refreshed, it demanded greasy meat and chewy seafood again.

“...”

Seo Seohui couldn’t help thinking.

‘I wish he’d sell this.’

Doesn’t he want to open a side-dish shop?

“...You’ve said it’s not troublesome, but I still don’t know if it’s really all right.”

He gave a light shrug.

Seo Seohui, too, was someone who knew well about the origin and mystery. As someone said to have played a part in making Earth’s system, there was no way he wouldn’t know. That only made it harder not to worry.

“...”

After pondering briefly, he opened his mouth.

“I believe you are acting within a line that does not burden Hunter Seo Gio.”

Seo Seohui knew Hunter “Seo Gio” was an existence of the origin, and Seo Gio knew that Seo Seohui knew. Even so, this was the first time she had said something like this directly. She didn’t want to provoke an existence of the origin that wished to appear as if it were human.

But over the past few days, she had felt it. This being had no such “rules.” And he was a “person” who embraced and affirmed every gaze. Riding on a feeling that was hard to call certainty and just as hard to call trust, Seo Seohui said,

“On the other hand, I also know you’re not the kind of person to do something that would harm me. Still, how should I put it...”

“Even so, are you worried about me?”

“I’m not an expert in this field, so I don’t know what question I should even ask.”

As expected, there was no disadvantage to showing you knew. Seo Seohui gave a light laugh and continued.

“Mm, isn’t the price... not lacking? It feels like you’re giving, but not receiving anything back.”

There are very rare mysteries that can only give and still be fine. But even those only look that way—there is clearly an exchange in reality. For mysterious beings, balance was important.

‘So, as much as I receive like this, Hunter Seo Gio must be receiving something too. If not, perhaps he’ll receive it in the future. But taking a price like that without prior notice doesn’t match Hunter Seo Gio’s character...’

That was why she worried, and more than that, she was simply curious.

“What are you receiving from me?”

“You do not need to give Hunter Seo Seohui anything.”

“Then... are you receiving it from around me?”

“No, I am paying it.”

“...”

That was a surprising story.

“...Was that even possible?”

“Since I am packing you a lunchbox, of course it is possible.”

“No, that’s not what I meant... it’s true, but...”

“Ah-ha, I understand what you are worried about.”

Seo Gio, who had been doing nothing but watching Seo Seohui eat, said with a smile.

“In return for working hard before, I received a good gift from a friend.”

“...That’s a sentence I want to analyze and ask about piece by piece. In return for working hard? A friend? A good gift?”

“Thanks to that, I could pack you a lunchbox without worry. Do you see the stamp impressed on the lunchbox container?”

“Ah, yes. It’s the pattern I’ve seen every time you brought a lunchbox.”

“The stamp that made that pattern is this stamp.”

In Hunter Seo Gio’s hand, before she knew it, there was a seal.

‘Since when was he holding that?’

It was astonishing that she hadn’t noticed.

Holding back her impressions, Seo Seohui stared at the seal. A harmless shape that looked like it could barely press wax at most. If anything was distinctive, it was that it was transparent, as though made from a mineral similar to marble.

As she watched quietly, Hunter Seo Gio set the stamp on the table and asked,

“Would you like to confirm it by using a skill?”

“...It’s not my specialty, though...”

Even as she said that, Seo Seohui blinked.

Reward: Seal

It was a short, simple explanation.

“...Was this a seal you received as a system reward?”

“Yes, that is correct. I have been using it usefully since I first received it.”

“I can’t read anything beyond that.”

“Is that so?”

“As I said, it’s not my specialty.”

Among the Symbols of Eternity, he was the one most distant from mystery.

Next was the Association President, Dan Haera, and then another guild master, Jung Haewoon. Jung Haewoon, in particular, had deep knowledge of mysteries like this, as he did a lot of work connected to the origin.

“Mm...”

Seo Seohui gave an embarrassed smile.

“Thank you for allowing it, but it’s difficult for me to read.”

“It is a pity. I wished we could share the same view.”

“Then could you allow me even a little of your view, Hunter Seo Gio?”

“Of course. Because it is Seo Seohui’s request.”

Reward: Seal_“Mercy and Harmonization”

“...It says the seal’s other name is ‘Mercy and Harmonization.’”

Hold the small pillar and pay the price

“And it says to pay the price.”

Seo Seohui looked at Hunter Seo Gio, who was still smiling as before.

“Are you paying the price I should pay, Hunter Seo Gio?”

“To be honest, I was a little surprised. I didn’t know you would be able to read that far.”

“Does that mean it isn’t Hunter Seo Gio’s intention?”

“It seems my friend played a prank.”

“Now I understand who the ‘friend’ you mentioned is.”

A hollow laugh escaped.

“It was the system.”

It seemed the relationship before her was an existence closer to the origin than she had imagined.

“...”

A wraith tangled up with the system.

‘Ah, of course...’

Or perhaps truly.

Suddenly, Seo Seohui felt her stomach churn. The assumption that kept coming no matter how she tried not to think about it left her a bit out of sorts.

She forced herself to smile. And thankfully, she was very good at smiling.

“...If I read something like this, how can I eat with peace of mind, Hunter Seo Gio? May I ask what price you paid to pack this lunchbox?”

“I think that I have already paid all the price.”

“What does that mean? You’ve already paid all the price?”

“I do not know either.”

“But...”

It was a difficult story.

“Then how do you know whether you paid the price or not?”

“There must be something I have to give, but I gave nothing. Even so, I brought a lunchbox like today. So doesn’t that mean the price has already been paid?”

The being who was once human smiled.

“I do not think it is something you must know deeply.”

“You could suffer greatly later. If it’s not a price already paid, but a debt you have to repay in the future—especially someone like you, Hunter Seo Gio... wouldn’t the blow be big?”

“If you live simply, the world looks beautiful.”

“So you’ll look at the world beautifully? That’s wonderful.”

It felt like she couldn’t press any further.

‘...He’s a difficult person to read.’

Gio truly had no lingering attachment, no regret, no obsession.

‘He really accepts everything as it is.’

He had noticed the existence of a price, but had no deeper interest or curiosity beyond that. Since it wasn’t worth keeping in his eyes or reviewing in his brain, he simply let it flow past. And because of that, even Seo Seohui, who wasn’t the party involved, couldn’t know.

‘Is this a reaction only possible because he isn’t human?’

For some reason, she didn’t think so. Even when Gio was alive, he surely wasn’t a normal person. Without any proper basis, Seo Seohui thought that and smiled.

“I’m starting to wonder if I’m being a nuisance.”

“Do you think it is a nuisance when parents set out a meal for you?”

“Ah, now we’re up to parents too? Oh my...”

She had no idea how much she had been indebted.

In the end, Seo Seohui couldn’t hold back and asked.

“What do I owe?”

“You all played with me.”

“Ah, that...”

A blunt voice.

“...”

For a moment, it felt as though the world became quiet.

When she raised her head to look at Gio, she saw a calm face that was hard to call an expression. It was somehow chilly and gloomy, yet the gaze that stared at her—almost arrogantly so—was straight and true.

Suddenly, she thought that it might be a face “we” knew.

“So I liked it.”

His eyes lowered into a narrow slit, to the point it was hard to call it a smile.

“It was fun, too.”

“...Hunter Seo Gio?”

“I am here.”

On his face, a familiar smile had been drawn before she knew it.

“I was always here.”

“...”

Yet even so, she thought, ‘It’s unfamiliar.’

Even though it was surely a smile Seo Seohui knew well, it still was. She wanted to see that face from a moment ago again, the one that couldn’t be called warm. It was a faint impulse she couldn’t explain to herself.

“So please, do not worry, and accept my goodwill.”

“...Because that makes you happiest?”

“You know well. As expected of Hunter Seo Seohui.”

“As before... you may treat me that way. Truly.”

“I seem to have forgotten, but I am the type who is quite shy.”

“You don’t look like that at all.”

“Do we not all need time?”

“...”

A little late, she nodded.

“...That could be.”

Seo Seohui ate the rest of her rice.

“It’s still... warm.”

“Because I brought it in a container filled with the power of the sun.”

“The people of the collector were desperate to lock you up in the gallery, Hunter Seo Gio, and now I finally understand why. I think even I would have confined you.”

“Everyone seems to say such interesting things.”

“I’m worried you might truly be taken somewhere. Have you ever thought that your goodwill is too lavish?”

“If I want to, and I can, is there truly a reason I must not?”

“That’s truly a clear logic.”

She couldn’t win.

“What would you like me to call you, Hunter Seo Gio?”

“It seems fine if you call me as you do now.”

“You pack me such delicious lunch, so I ought to treat you as special, properly.”

“If that is the price Hunter Seo Seohui thought of...”

The dead person asked for her opinion.

“How about ‘Teacher’?”

“...Mm, that seems good.”

Teacher.

‘...What a pity.’

A teacher like a parent.

It must have been a joyful time, but she still couldn’t remember it.

* * *

“...”

It seems like she’s accepting it with a slightly different feeling, but.

‘...If it’s fun, it doesn’t matter.’

Gio’s ultimate positive mindset shone today as well.

It seemed like she had understood the context in a similar way, so it would probably be fine. Of course. Even if two or so things about the truth of the past were wrong, it wouldn’t make the world end or anything.

Gio nodded to himself.

‘Ta-da.’

He should probably ask Visabel whether he had any formal adoption plans.

(To be continued in the next chapter)