Chapter 44

“I don’t know where you heard the rumor and came from, but this is my personal matter. You can listen and refuse. It’s an unreasonable request. Asking me to risk my neck for my lingering feelings, isn’t that something I can’t do?”

“My job is to handle someone’s personal matters.”

“Are you saying you’ll resolve an old man’s lingering feelings? Huh…”

He looked into the void with a complicated expression.

Seeing his blurred eyes, it seemed like he was reminiscing about the past.

I quietly leaned back in my chair and waited for him to return from the past to the present.

“…Sorry. It seems… the happy times are still stuck in my head.”

“No problem. I can wait this much.”

I glanced at Mina and Seolhwa sitting in the corner of the hospital and spoke again.

“I heard that sometimes when you drink, you talk about the past.”

“…Humans are creatures terribly swayed by nostalgia. They look to the future but turn their eyes to the past, trying to forget but end up seeing the past again.”

With his words filled with regret, I guessed the old man was about to talk seriously about the request.

“Now I’m just a quack, but I was once a promising doctor. I graduated top of my class from medical school and lived a life envied by others as an elite. I had a good family too…

…until the war came.”

War.

The atmosphere sank like ships submerged in the deep sea at the weight of that word.

“It was a few years after I opened my private clinic. My hospital was in a safe zone, so I continued to treat refugees with various supports. My son also helped, albeit weakly.”

“I see.”

Son… huh.

He had a faint smile on his lips, as if recalling happy times.

“Then one day, I was dispatched to a dangerous area at the military’s request. It was practically coercion. I had to leave my family behind, holding back tears. The tragedy happened… not long after.”

Tragedy… huh.

He shuddered as if he didn’t want to recall it, clutching his face.

“If it’s hard to talk about, you don’t have to go into details.”

“No. It’s a matter of resolving my useless lingering feelings, how can I not explain the circumstances…”

As he strongly expressed his opinion, I had no choice but to nod. After all, listening to the client’s ramblings is part of my job.

Handling everything means listening to all the circumstances.

“A bombing fell on the area where my hospital was.”

Bombing.

Bombing, huh.

It’s dark.

“The area where my hospital was became a hellhole. And it became a no-entry zone. The biochemical virus the commies used back then spread around. It’s all gone now…

But it’s still too far to go. Yes, very far… far indeed…”

His voice, filled with lingering feelings, drifted and scattered in the hospital.

“Ah…”

I wasn’t entirely unaware of the virus. In the original work, it caused the emergence of monstrous creatures.

The wild dogs I encountered when I first came to the swamp area were also byproducts of that biochemical terror.

A setting that seems like it’s from a game, but unfortunately, this world isn’t a game.

So, I could vaguely understand that person’s pain.

“It seems there’s something you want to find in that hospital.”

“That’s right.”

“What is it?”

“If my memory serves me right, there was a family photo in my clinic. I’d like you to bring that. The faces of my wife and son are fading now…”

“You don’t have the photo?”

“The phone that had the photo is completely broken and doesn’t work anymore.”

Ah…

Well. It’s been over 10 years since the war ended, so the phone couldn’t have lasted. And it’s not like computers are common in this era, so transferring it would have been nearly impossible.

Can’t expect photo printing either.

“I’ll take the request. What’s the location?”

“It’s in Namyangju. The exact address was… Dasanjigeum-ro 163beon-angil…”

“I’m not sure if I can find it with the old address.”

“Wait a moment.”

He rummaged through the desk drawer and pulled out an old map.

Looking closely, it seemed like an old pamphlet you’d get at a rest stop.

Where did he get something like that.

“Take this. I marked the location of my hospital, so it should help.”

“Got it. And the payment…”

“I have quite a bit saved from my hospital work. I’ll pay generously.”

“Understood.”

“And be careful. Who knows what’s there.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“If it’s too dangerous, you can come back. I don’t want to see a young person lose their life over my lingering feelings.”

I nodded and got up, turning my back.

“I’ll be back soon, so just wait.”

“Alright.”

“Mina, Seolhwa, let’s go.”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

——————————-

“Mina, Seolhwa. Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

“Yep.”

The two nodded at my words and shouldered their bags.

This request required both of them to move with me.

It wasn’t to teach them the hunter’s job.

It’s just that this request was a long-term assignment.

Me being away from the swamp area for a long time means Mina and Seolhwa are at high risk.

Since I’ve wiped out two factions belonging to the Vipers in the swamp area, the Vipers must have started serious groundwork to take me out.

So, leaving Mina and Seolhwa behind wasn’t really an option.

A day or half a day might be fine, but over a week is too risky.

The Vipers are definitely going to make a move.

Both of them lack the ability to protect themselves, so the Vipers wouldn’t hesitate.

So… I planned to take them this time.

Even if I left them at a hotel, there’s no guarantee it’s safe.

Was wiping out two factions too much?

The other factions have started to be wary of me too.

I heard from a reliable source that the remaining three factions have started to see me as an enemy.

…I might have to take out another faction soon to make sure they don’t even think about it.

Not sure if it’s possible though.

“Make sure you have your weapons, and like I said before, don’t get separated. I don’t have the ability to rescue someone far away.”

Seolhwa, whose ability is specialized in enhancing physical abilities, is one thing, but Mina, who has almost no combat skills, would be in trouble the moment she’s separated from me.

“It’s my first time going to the Gray Forest…”

“Don’t be too nervous. Most places have been scouted, and the dangerous elements have been cleared. It should be fine.”

Just a bit worried about the outlaws and beasts in the Gray Forest.

Especially since the steel balls from the last request are all broken and hard to use.

I got a temporary weapon, but…

Will this work.

I fiddled with the small metal pieces while wearing the leather gloves I bought at the market.

Sharp metal pieces.

With gloves, attaching them to my fists is no problem, and throwing them has more lethality than steel balls.

Sharp metal pieces, once embedded, won’t just end with a simple hit.

And if I find something usable, I plan to keep picking it up along the way.

The advantage of my ability is that I can add lethality to anything throwable.

“Oppa, look at this-!”

“Don’t swing that pipe around.”

Seolhwa was happily swinging a pipe like a baseball bat.

She seemed happy to have a weapon.

Seeing her swing it like that, I’m not sure if it was a good idea or not.

Anyway, she was so skinny at first.

She’s gotten chubby from all the meat.

And stronger too.

All thanks to her ability.

“I’m not sure if I can shoot well…”

“…It’s fine. You probably won’t need to shoot much.”

I awkwardly patted Mina’s shoulder as she fiddled with the holster containing the precious pistol.

Mina looked up at me with a reassured face.

“Boss, you’ll protect me, right?”

“Of course.”

That’s my responsibility and duty as the boss.

“Hehe…”

“Oppa, when are we going?”

“We should leave now.”

I shouldered the bag packed with a week’s worth of food and various tools.

The start of the first long-term request.