SSS-Class Hunter is Going to Rest - Chapter 52



Only Noblemtl

Episode 52 Negotiation (1)
2024.06.04.

Suji, who had turned off the log flowing quickly in front of her eyes and even muted it, let out a frustrated sigh. She

had too many thoughts.

She stared at the seawater that came close to her eyes and then receded for a long time, then put her hand in the water.

The feeling of the water covering her white hand felt good.

“This too… … is all made up.”

If this is the case, where and how much is real and where and how much is fake?

Dungeons, gates, towers, monsters.

All of these are just set values.

Then, was the Earth where humans live also set up by some divine being?

She felt a familiar presence approaching her once again.

“Elaine?”

She asked without looking back, and he put something cold on her cheek.

She reached out and saw that it was a cool powdered sugar filled with ice.

“Oh, I won’t eat this… … .”

“I added honey. Since you didn’t eat anything while you were in the room, I thought it would help you feel better if you had this.”

Suzy blinked.

I don’t like millet powder because it’s gritty, but I like honey.

You really know my tastes from start to finish.

Suzy took the glass and suddenly turned around.

Saint and Peace were lost in thought, perhaps thinking about the ‘destruction’ she had told them about. Their faces were filled with worry, perhaps because they had a large family.

She raised her head and looked at Elaine’s face.

His cool, manly face, as beautiful as a carved statue, had no particular expression.

Suzy heard the sound of ice clinking from the millet powder in her hand and burst into laughter.

“Why are you laughing?”

The fact that he asked so calmly was the funniest.

“I told you that humanity would perish just now.”

“What… … I did.”

“But were you burning millet powder?”

“I guess you’re done talking.”

Elaine bent down from her standing position as if she was about to leave and sat down next to Suzy.

Then she looked out at the sea and said.

“Humans die someday.”

“That’s right.”

“In the flow of life and death that flows like that, there aren’t many moments when you get to be with someone precious. Burning millet powder isn’t a big deal.”

Soo-ji scratched her cheek.

Judging from her calm face, she probably didn’t mean it with any other intentions, and she was probably just saying that it was nice to be with her teammates. Why do I feel embarrassed for no reason?

“I’ll drink it well.”

She quickly poured the glass. She

enjoyed the unique, bitter yet sweet taste of millet powder going down her throat.

As he said, her stomach was a little full, so she felt a little better.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know what happened… … He asked me to climb the tower.”

“The owner of that ring?”

“Yes. It seems that he bet that humanity would survive without going extinct. What, are you kidding me?”

Just by the words that Soo-ji muttered while gritting her teeth, it seemed like he had guessed the general context.

Elaine also looked at the sea with a not-so-happy face and asked back.

“So. What do you want to do?”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

“Of course… … .”

Suzy opened her mouth, but the words didn’t come out easily.

Since she found out that the monster that killed her mother was still in the tower, she wanted to climb up and settle the matter. However, she also clearly didn’t want to be a plaything.

Before Elaine came, she had already decided in her resentment, but it was a question that wasn’t easy to answer right away.

“… … If I climb the tower, it’ll be a difficult journey. It’s easy to say, but if I have to become strong enough to stop a really ridiculous monster, how easy would that be? What about Elaine? Is it okay for me to go?”

Unlike her, he didn’t even think about it and quickly answered.

“I hope the team leader finds a happy path.”

Suzy let out a small laugh. She

had already expected that answer before she even asked.

It was always like this, so he.

‘Why?’

Why was she being so nice to him? Why do you do this for me?

It was a question I had never thought about.

It was just that Elaine and I were a perfect match from the beginning. We just fit together so well.

It was nice that she respected the order of precedence not only in battle but also in everyday life.

But that was Suzy’s perspective.

Why does Elaine always prioritize her like this?

The image of her calling me ‘Daphne’ flashed before my eyes.

If one of the two rewards I saw for the Laurel Tree was a vision of the future, what was the other?

Was that a vision of the future too?

“Why does Elaine call me Daphne?”

He turned his head, who had been sitting next to Suzy and staring blankly ahead. He had the same expression as usual, but he looked somewhat flustered.

There was a corner of him that was like a squirrel that had hidden an acorn and was caught eating it.

“… … Did I call you that?”

“No. I was just saying that. Oh, I don’t know. Now, it seems like not only people but also ‘great beings’ are arbitrarily putting their expectations on me, so I don’t know what to do… … I’m even more tired.”

“If the team leader wants to rest, you can rest a little more.”

“Yeah. I know that, but… … .”

Suzy took a deep breath. It was

originally said that the best fun was to leave the work in front of you behind and rest, but if you didn’t climb the tower right away, humanity would be extinct, so how could you play around freely?

It was a truly ridiculous threat.

I felt so bad that I took off my ring and muted my spear, but I thought that eventually I would have to listen to them.

“Everything is good… … Let’s really rest a little longer. I wanted to try water skiing or wakeboarding, flyboarding… … I wanted to read comics. This is ridiculous.”

As Suzy grumbled and crushed the sand under her feet, Elaine looked at her intently and said.

“How about negotiating?”

“Negotiation?”

“From what I’ve heard, it seems like the ‘Great Beings’ are more impatient and can’t stand it. It sounds like negotiation is possible within a reasonable range.”

“… … Negotiation.”

Suzy raised her head and looked at the numbers increasing in the notification window.

The muted status window was filled with over 300 notifications, as if she was planning to keep doing this until she put the ring back on.

“But what can I get from them?”

“I have to get something out of it, right? I’m already in a bad mood.”

“… … That’s true.”

Suzy put down her empty glass and took a moment to collect her thoughts.

What she needed right now was time.

Time to organize the absurd information that had suddenly been given and get some stability. She

had to accept that the countdown to the destruction of humanity had begun. It was driving her crazy.

After catching her breath several times, she opened her inventory again and took out the ring and put it on.

– Ha, finally.

“What’s finally?”

– What if he suddenly left after saying that?

“What can I do? We can’t talk forever.”

– I invited him to have this conversation, even though I had come all the way to the top as a service for blood loss.

The guy kept grumbling as if he didn’t like Suzy’s dull answer.

‘I couldn’t believe it, but it was really because of me that the 〈Laurel Tree〉 appeared.’

It seemed that he couldn’t give her a hidden item that she could talk about without going through any system.

‘This is really annoying.’

In the system they made, they were betting among themselves, so why should humans listen to their complaints?

“That’s none of my business, I can say whatever I want and hang up whenever I want.”

– Wait. Why are you so upset? You have to climb the tower anyway, and I gave you a hint.

“Hint? You mean the one where all the humans die?”

– Right.

“I’m grateful.”

Suji found herself sarcastically again, so she took a deep breath on purpose.

She had to calm down for now.

For the sake of the deal.

“But, I can’t climb the tower like this.”

– … … Why?

“If I was going to keep climbing, I wouldn’t have rested in the first place, right?”

– … … What’s the problem? There’s not much time left.

“That’s what I said. That’s what I said. I’m not a machine, so how can I keep running without resting? I could die while climbing. There are many things I haven’t done, so wouldn’t that be unfair?”

– What do you want ?

Suji smiled softly.

“You should have come out like this from the beginning.”

– No. I think you’re misunderstanding, but I can’t say I can listen to everything.

She figured there would be a loophole anyway.

There was no way there would be proper documentation for such a ridiculous bet by these lunatics.

Suzy swallowed hard and spoke slowly and soothingly.

“The point of the bet is that humanity has 10,000 days to prepare for the second wave after the first wave.”

– That’s right.

“But I need some time to prepare if I’m going to climb the tower again.”

– Why would I need that?

“Let’s say I’m an office worker. I’ve used up all my unused vacation days and am going to lie down to rest, but the CEO comes and says the company will go bankrupt if we don’t solve a new project. How would I feel motivated to go to work right away?”

She thought it was a perfect metaphor, but the guy answered bluntly as if he didn’t understand for the time being.

– Then what do you want me to do? Just give me some more time until my vacation days are over?

Suzy’s eyes sparkled.