Hunters Keep Coming To My House - Chapter 97

Chapter 97

“Brother! I’ve taken care of everything here!”

Having turned the last remaining vampire into dust, Han Seung-hoo brushed off his hands and shouted to Kang Yoon-soo. 

He nodded in response, as he had just created a large protective barrier around the amusement park.

Floating in the air with <Flying>, Han Seung-hoo lightly landed beside him and opened his mouth again. 

“Have you confirmed where this vampire horde came from?”

“…Yeah. So, it’s so tough that I might die.”

“If it’s tough for you, it must have been quite far.”

Kang Yoon-soo lowered his head as if to say the distance was not the issue.

“It wasn’t about the distance. There was a warehouse near the amusement park with a packed gate.”

“…In that kind of place?”

“Yeah, there was a B-level gate just sitting there, and it surprised me. So, I pushed Tae-il in first and came out.”

Kang Yoon-soo shrugged his shoulders lightly as if it was no problem at all for Jung Tae-il to clear an A-level gate alone.

“Well, if it’s Jung Tae-il, he’ll come back alive. It should be a piece of cake for him.”

“At least show some concern.”

“…….”

“Well, even if it’s Tae-il, we still have to finish dealing with things here. Since there’s nothing near the abandoned factory, all the vampires that came out must have gathered here.”

“…That’s fortunate in a way.”

It was fortunate that the vampires didn’t spread elsewhere…

Han Seung-hoo furrowed his brow with a troubled expression.

Kang Yoon-soo, sensitive to mana, would have detected the location where the gate would open. It was unbelievable that he didn’t find a gate reaching saturation.

Furthermore, the location of the gate was suspicious.

The fact that the terrain features around the saturated gate was only outside the amusement park… It was not just a couple of things that didn’t add up for it to be a coincidence.

It would be easier to accept that someone intentionally orchestrated this.

Han Seung-hoo solidified his expression and spoke in a low voice.

“…Brother Yoon-soo.”

“Yeah?”

“This… it seems like someone deliberately caused it to explode, right? It doesn’t make sense that you didn’t know until the gate looked like this.”

“I think the same way. So, when I found the gate, I tried to detect who deliberately hid it by using mana, but… there was nothing suspicious.”

“…So, is it something that happened naturally?”

“Not exactly.”

Kang Yoon-soo replied firmly. Then he took something out of his pocket and showed it to Han Seung-hoo.

“…Brother, when did you start carrying around a doll?”

What Kang Yoon-soo took out of his pocket was nothing other than a small rabbit doll about the size of his palm. It was the kind of doll you often see in claw machines.

Seeing that, Han Seung-hoo looked at Kang Yoon-soo with an expression that seemed to say, ‘So this is how it turned out.’ Thanks to that, Kang Yoon-soo raised his eyebrows in bewilderment.

“…You’re not suggesting it’s mine, are you?”

“Well, considering it’s you, I thought you could easily carry it around…”

“Hey.”

“You love kids so much, Brother. I thought you had prepared it in advance. Besides, since we’re in an amusement park, you might have picked it up from the ground…”

Watching Han Seung-hoo shamelessly make excuses rather than actual excuses, Kang Yoon-soo sighed.

“…It was right in front of the gate.”

“…….”

“There’s no reason for a clean doll like this, without a speck of dust, to be in an abandoned warehouse with few people. Unless someone visited recently.”

“Not the amusement park warehouse?”

“I checked all of them. But that warehouse has been there since before the amusement park was built, and now it’s in a state with no owner.”

Kang Yoon-soo shrugged his shoulders lightly while fiddling with the doll. 

“Someone deliberately moved the gate to that warehouse.”

“Do you think that makes sense?”

“Do you think what happened to Yeon-oh makes sense?”

“…….”

“Oh, rather than that, where is Ms. Yeon-oh? If this was intentionally created, she is the most dangerous.”

Han Seung-hoo’s expression twisted terrifyingly. Kang Yoon-soo also became serious in response to that expression.

“Let’s find Yeon-oh first.”

“My sister should be over there.”

If she didn’t move far from where he separated from her.

As soon as Han Seung-hoo provided the location, the two of them ran towards the same place. Their speed was so fast that only a cool breeze lingered in the places they passed.

Soon, they could reach the place where Yeon-oh should be. However, no matter how much they looked around or sensed mana, they couldn’t find a trace. Thanks to that, the faces of Han Seung-hoo and Kang Yoon-soo became increasingly serious.

At that moment, they found something lying on the ground.

“…Brother, this.”

“…Well, this is a mess.”

What they found was something similar to the small rabbit doll that was in front of the gate.

* * *

Same time.

‘…I’ve been kidnapped out of the blue while I’m still alive.’

Darn it.

In a state of extreme confusion, having experienced kidnapping for the first time in my life, it seemed like I had already been lying on the ground feigning unconsciousness for at least 20 minutes since arriving at this unfamiliar place.

Though I was kidnapped so suddenly, I felt more unjust than scared or fearful. I had only helped a young girl, and now I found myself in this situation.

When did the world become so frightening? No, more importantly, who would assign such a task to a child?

Anyway.

Luckily, the kidnappers, who were currently having a conversation while I pretended to be unconscious right in front of them, didn’t seem to suspect that I had regained consciousness.

If I recall correctly, they were making noise about how someone could easily faint when experiencing this skill for the first time… I wondered what kind of messed-up skill it was. The moment I became curious, they mentioned me in their conversation.

Thanks to that, I listened intently to their conversation, maintaining a tense posture.

“Commander! When will the sister wake up?”

“Well, um… they say beautiful people sleep a lot.”

“Then, am I beautiful too? I sleep a lot too, you know.”

“No? You’re disqualified as a beauty because you haven’t slept until now.”

“Hah! Then, I’ll go to sleep now! Goodbye, Commander!”

Yeah, sleep well.

Along with the sound of bidding farewell to the young girl with a hushed voice, something fell to the ground.

Wondering what that sound was, I tried to open my eyes and look around.

But.

“Now, it’s time to wake up. There’s no need to pretend to be unconscious after the kid has left, right?”

I got caught from the beginning.

Even so, I maintained the act of feigning unconsciousness, fearing that if I opened my eyes and got up right away, I would look like someone scared by a single word.

Then, the low voice spoke again.

“Are you pretending to be unconscious because you’re embarrassed? Getting caught pretending to be unconscious isn’t as embarrassing as you think. I’ve tried it a few times, and at times like this, it’s better to respond appropriately rather than unnecessarily provoke the kidnappers.”

… Advising on the subject of kidnappers.

It was so absurd that I almost got up and said something.

‘…Even if you say that, I’ll stick to playing unconscious.’

Sure! I have my principles!

However, that resolution was short-lived.

“…If you want to be thrown like a cockroach, keep pretending to be unconscious.”

…I had no choice but to get up.

…Do I have a trauma about cockroaches? It wasn’t long ago that I took care of Mr. Roach, and now I won’t be able to meet him again just because of some kidnappers.

Feeling annoyed by the ridiculous situation, I stood up without looking at the faces of the kidnappers and started to dust off my clothes covered in dust. The kidnapper watching me chuckled.

Sure, laugh. I’ll use this time to prepare mentally.

Before I knew it, having dusted off my clothes, I took several deep breaths and lifted my head. Then, the kidnapper gradually came into view.

It was a gloomy-looking guy wearing a black hoodie that covered his eyes with bangs.

…For some reason, I felt a strange familiarity with that guy. When I was lost in my thoughts about where I might have seen him, the kidnapper spoke first.

“Hello, nice to see you again.”

He greeted me on the subject of kidnapping with a bright tone, and he had a knack for unsettling people.

…Again? Seriously, where do I recognize that face? But from where?

Several questions crossed my mind. Lately, I’ve met many new people, and their faces were passing by without leaving a clear impression.

Perhaps he got tired of waiting for me to figure it out, as the kidnapper gave me the answer.

“I asked you for directions near the Janwol Guild the other day. Remember?”

“…Ah!”

“Now it rings a bell? I went to deliberately get my face recognized, but it seemed like it was in vain. People tend to feel uncomfortable when they see me for the first time, so I thought it might be okay the second time.”

Well, how about that? Is it not as scary now?

…Is this really what kidnappers say?

It’s confusing beyond belief.