The Way of Life for a Terminal S-Class Hunter - C42
$42
“We’ll get off in three more stops.”
“Are we going to try on hanbok too?”
“If you want, go ahead. We’re fine without it.”
Halo’s desire to travel didn’t seem to be a lie, as he had looked into quite a few things. Imagining Halo taking pictures in hanbok seemed like it might be a bit cool and cute.
“I think Woo-hyun would look gorgeous in hanbok.”
He seemed like a good person, albeit a bit tiring. His personality was too carefree to have any ulterior motives.
The bus moved quite slowly, perhaps because the driver was a relaxed person. Though one might expect complaints from busy people, surprisingly, those on the bus showed no signs of anger.
No, actually, I haven’t had many occasions to ride the bus since gaining my powers, so maybe it just feels that way?
Thinking about it, I realized it had been a long time since I last rode a bus. Lee-han didn’t seem much different, curling up in his seat with a slight frown on his forehead.
If it’s going to be like this, it might be more comfortable to stand. The three of us were taller than average, and sitting in the very back row, our heads hit the ceiling when the bus bumped. Just then, we arrived at a stop and an elderly person got on. With few people getting off and many getting on, the bus was suddenly full. I was discreetly looking for an opportunity to give up my seat to the elderly person, as I was going to stand up anyway.
“Please sit here.”
As I was about to get up to give my seat, the people next to me stood up simultaneously. Halo went a step further, supporting the elderly person who had come near and asking them to sit.
“Oh my, thank you. Handsome young man.”
“It’s nothing.”
Although all three of us stood up, strangely, no one sat in any seat except the one Halo had vacated. In the packed bus, occasional shutter sounds were heard directed at us, and the whispering voices colliding made it quite noisy.
Is this because of us? No, we just got on and there happened to be hunters, that’s all. I’m being self-conscious.
It was too much to think we were the reason the bus was crowded.
“We’ll get off in two stops.”
I whispered softly enough for only Halo and Lee-han to hear, and Halo nodded cheerfully. I glanced at my guild-exclusive communication device instead of my phone, which was still being repaired. It was still 11 o’clock.
There’s still some time left until my skill deactivates.
Since the lightning-like pain, the time for skill deactivation had returned to 7 PM, and the duration of pain remained about one minute. Since I had to be with these two all day today, I needed to excuse myself to the bathroom about 5 minutes before, saying I needed to go. I knew that abnormal states could be cleared using the Flame of Life, but because it reduced life force at a faster rate as a penalty, I didn’t want to use it unless in battle.
“Let’s get off, hyung.”
As I was making plans in my head, Lee-han tapped my shoulder. Coming out of the bus through the crowd of people, I felt relieved. Taking a deep breath in and out, Halo smiled slightly.
“You really don’t like crowded places, huh.”
“Aren’t you, Halo-ssi, uncomfortable being squeezed among people while traveling?”
It was essentially the same as asking why we had to use public transportation.
“It’s fine since we arrived on time thanks to it.”
On time? Was there something he wanted to see? Or is something really going to happen?
Perhaps because his carefree personality didn’t match his mysterious ability as a prophet, Halo was hard to pin down.
“So, are you satisfied now that we’re going in to sightsee?”
Lee-han seemed to want to get the tour over with quickly, as if it were a mission. However, Halo wasn’t as easy as expected.
“No! There’s still something missing.”
“Ah, hanbok.”
When I exclaimed as if in realization, Halo nodded happily. He seemed determined to wear hanbok. Like someone who had a specific reason to do so.
“Then, let’s go look for hanbok. Do you know where to go?”
“Yes. I remember seeing a place next to a restaurant I know.”
Lee-han answered my question with a resigned expression. And so, one set of light footsteps and two sets of heavy footsteps intertwined awkwardly.
Even at the rental shop, we expressed our reluctance, but Halo insisted with sparkling eyes that he really wanted us to wear them. In the end, we who had given up went towards Gyeongbokgung Palace wearing hanbok. We even ended up buying them with expensive money rather than renting. Still, the modernized hanbok was more comfortable than expected, so we didn’t have many complaints.
When I think of modernized hanbok, I only thought of what our Chinese characters teacher used to wear, but nowadays they come out pretty too.
Being with Halo, my thoughts drifted in an unproductive but leisurely direction. It wasn’t as bad as I thought.
“Oh, it’s exactly like what I saw in the travel guidebook.”
Halo didn’t exaggerate in his admiration, but he enjoyed examining every corner of the palace carefully. Seeing him like this, he really did seem to be someone who loved traveling. Moreover, he who seemed like he would keep chattering endlessly closed his mouth and walked slowly through the palace.
“That’s unexpected.”
“Indeed.”
Lee-han and I made eye contact, thinking the same thing. We had expected him to take pictures, move around quickly, and bounce around innocently, but the actual tour proceeded at a leisurely pace.
Perhaps because it was a weekday, there weren’t as many people as expected, and the sound of a microphone introducing the palace to tourists echoed softly. The wind was pleasantly cool, and the leaves rustled as if in a good mood.
Unbelievably, a corner of my heart felt at ease. It felt like we had entered into other people’s daily lives.
“It’s nice, isn’t it?”
Halo suddenly asked, having returned to our side at some point. His attitude of asking while being the one on the tour was brazen to the point of being confident.
“Yes, it’s not bad.”
I answered truthfully. Lee-han also mumbled beside me, “It’s not bad.”
“When was the last time you traveled?”
I wondered why he suddenly asked that. Trying to recall was even more challenging than thinking about when I last rode a bus. It was because I had to go further back into the past.
“I can’t remember.”
In truth, if I looked back at myself from that time, Seo-heon was always there, so I didn’t want to recall it.
“Traveling is a good thing, Woo-hyun-ssi.”
“I suppose so.”
Lee-han, who was sitting beside me, suddenly asked as well.
“Hyung, after this conquest is over, shall we go on a trip together?”
It was still an odd way of speaking, unclear whether he was using casual or polite speech.
“Sure.”
I hesitated for a moment, wondering if I’d be able to go. But in the end, I gave an answer. The atmosphere made it difficult to say no, and I felt that one trip might be okay. Halo looked at me and grinned.
Does he know something?
I was suspicious, but it was impossible for me to confirm.
Halo, who seemed like he would keep walking around, sat down first on a quiet bench and patted the space beside him. The sun was setting and it was getting dark around us.
“Sit here, well, Lee-han-ssi doesn’t have to sit if he doesn’t want to. Do as you please.”
It was a place with adequate lighting. It was amazing how such a quiet spot could exist in a place with so many tourists, but it was perfect for resting.
“I’m thirsty.”
“I’ll go buy you something to drink. Just a moment.”
I stood up abruptly at Halo’s muttering. I was looking for a moment to leave as the time for my skill deactivation was approaching.
“No, I’ll go.”
However, Lee-han, not knowing my intentions, insisted on stopping me and left instead.
I should pretend to make a phone call and go to a public restroom for a moment. I was anxiously checking the time internally, calculating when I could leave without seeming strange.
“Shall I tell you a secret?”
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
Before I could say I would leave first, Halo spoke up.
“It’s nothing grand, so just listen.”
The words “Then why did you ask?” tickled my throat again, but I swallowed them.
“The reason I’m picky about accepting requests is because I don’t particularly like voicing prophecies themselves.”
It was an unexpected topic of conversation. And truly, to my own surprise, I was curious about what he would say next. This was because he was known to be capricious and hedonistic, and he did seem to have those aspects.
“Then why did you participate in this job?”
“Foresight is short and can be thought of as a means for battle. It feels very different from prophecy.”
He trailed off, saying, “It’s hard for me to explain in words…”
“Think about it. What if you changed the future to save just one person? But because of that, 100 others die. What would you do?”
Silence fell. I noticed that what Halo was saying wasn’t just a hypothetical. The numbers might be different, but he had clearly experienced something similar.
“So, I carefully choose my jobs and don’t voice prophecies unless I judge it’s really necessary. Maybe I’ll drop hints, but that’s about it.”
I recalled the words he had spoken. Could there be hints somewhere in them too?