SSS-Class Hunter is Going to Rest - Chapter 68



Only Noblemtl

Episode 68: Wave Continuation (3)
2024.06.09.

“Thank you for your hard work, Daphne!”

“Thank you for your hard work!”

‘… … Ugh.’

It felt strange to receive such a polite greeting even though there were people who were much older than her and had gray hair.

However, the embarrassment was short-lived.

She looked at the civil servants standing in front of her and fixed her gaze on the man who seemed to be in charge.

It was a face she had never seen before.

In other words, he was someone with skills below S-class.

Su-ji knew all the people in the top 10, and Saint, who was AAA-class, was in the top 10 of hunters in Korea.

Judging from the level of the civil servants gathered here, would she have been able to withstand the S-class wave if she hadn’t come here now? That question arose.

No matter how many helicopters there were, it was useless.

Modern firearms wouldn’t work.

In the end, she had to block them with the hunters in front of her.

It wouldn’t have been easy to deal with monsters above S-class with just the people gathered here. Even if it was possible, the damage would have been enormous.

‘… … I might have volunteered to come, so the rest of the staff was diverted elsewhere. But I’m still so anxious.’

She hesitated for a moment, wondering whether or not to step forward. There was something she absolutely had to say in such a situation where she was in the spotlight.

Suzy hesitated for a while and looked at the sword she was holding in her hand.

The face of the blacksmith grandmother who had told her to come back alive floated before her eyes. This

wasn’t something she was only going to do to survive.

Everyone, including herself, had to improve a step further in order to increase everyone’s survival rate.

Suzy gathered her resolve once more and spoke earnestly and forcefully.

“First of all, I’d like to say that it’s an honor to be here with you on the scene. I always have respect for those who work as civil servants.”

Her humble words caused pride to flash across the civil servants’ faces.

Suzy cleared her throat for a moment, buying time before finally getting back to the main topic.

“That’s why I’m even more sorry to be saying this, but… … . From now on, even if a S-class or higher wave occurs, there’s no guarantee that I’ll be dispatched to the scene. The people here have to take care of it.”

The cold words that she blurted out suddenly dampened the festive atmosphere. It felt so real.

She had grown so accustomed to being expected that she couldn’t stand seeing the disappointed expressions on people’s faces. She felt like she would naturally step up and take responsibility for everything in the future.

‘I wish Elaine was by my side.’

I had that thought without realizing it.

It seemed like she had been relying on me all this time. I had been so attached to him that I had only separated from him for a moment, but I had never thought I would feel this regretful.

She licked her lips with her tongue.

‘If Elaine was by my side, I would have told her to finish what I had to say and leave quickly. Elaine doesn’t care about these kinds of looks.’

Even though she was so kind and gentle to Suzy, she couldn’t help but laugh when she thought of Elaine’s face, who was so indifferent to everyone but her teammates.

It was strange.

Just thinking about someone who wasn’t actually there made her feel different.

Thinking about his face gave her the courage to continue talking.

Suji decided to steel herself and opened her mouth again.

“You’re the ones who went to the S-class wave, right? The ones here now. So… … I have no doubt that you’re all great people. Of course, you must have worked really hard to get here. But has anyone ever climbed the Tower of the Sage?”

The number of people who readily raised their hands to her question was much smaller than expected.

There must have been over fifty civil servants here, but only eight raised their hands.

It wasn’t unexpected.

Rather, it was the reason she had asked the question.

There was a typical civil servant training course.

Those who graduated from the academy with excellent grades would receive training in dungeons managed by the state. They would improve their abilities through safe dungeons with perfectly understood patterns.

Even if it wasn’t that course, people generally didn’t go to the tower.

The reason they were reluctant to go to even the lowest floors was because the tower’s rewards weren’t as great as the dungeon rewards unless they received the initial reward, and each floor had too many dangerous elements.

The same goes for the ‘crack’ that Soo-ji so desperately wanted to meet. It’s very hard to see it even once in a lifetime, but once you encounter it, there’s a high chance that you’ll be in great danger, so it was something that Hunter Academy emphasized to students to be careful about.

She nodded and continued speaking.

“There are probably many who didn’t climb because there was no need to. However, it’s important to directly encounter S-class monsters and learn their patterns.”

There was no answer, but Suzy mustered up her courage and said,

“Come. If there are people who want to go to the tower themselves, our team can guide you to the floor where S-class monsters appear.”

Everyone’s eyes widened at her words.

The word tower was already synonymous with fear.

Even those who raised their hands saying they had been to the tower had only explored the area not far from the 50th floor, the Save Zone.

However, if Team Daphne were to lead them, it was a different story.

“Why are you going that far?”

A young-looking civil servant standing near Suzy suddenly raised his hand and asked.

Suzy pulled her lips together and smiled.

From her perspective, it wasn’t ‘why would you go that far’, but simply that she had finally found someone who would go that far.

Up until now, she had been safely escorting people who asked her to climb the tower with her, up to a point where it didn’t require much effort by her standards. She

thought that was the way to do it for everyone.

However, since the difficulty of the wave increased in an instant, she had finally come to realize that there were important people.

Perhaps it was her mistake to not think about raising people.

Of course, she could deal with it through a program run by the country. However, she thought that climbing the tower was more important. She

had a plan to train personnel for not only the ordinary wave but also the second wave.

“You are all very valuable talents that we cannot afford to lose. Everyone, don’t rest on your laurels. You need to become even more skilled in order to protect the people you love. I will do my best to do that as well.”

She was not used to speaking in front of people, and her face seemed to flush as she spoke.

“I’ve spoken too long. Anyway, that’s all I wanted to say. Thank you for listening.”

She couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being presumptuous, but she managed to finish her speech.

An awkward silence flowed.

For some reason, I couldn’t meet people’s eyes, so I just looked down at the floor, when suddenly a small applause sounded.

Clap, clap.

Clap

, clap clap clap.

And that small applause grew louder and louder.

A middle-aged man who seemed to be the representative approached her, took off his hat, and saluted.

“Hunter name, Yeti. SSS-rank Hunter, Daphne-sama. I know you have no reason to care about us. You truly are a person of extraordinary talent.”

“No.”

“I will diligently learn until Daphne-sama becomes annoyed.”

As Yeti spoke, numerous hunters simultaneously saluted.

It must have been a sign that they all shared the same goal.

My heart was touched.

Suji was glad that the story she had tried so hard to tell wasn’t just a meddling.

It was a world where everyone had to live for themselves, but it seemed like a good experience for her to try to do the same for herself, just as there were people who had reached out to her first.

“Well, then, I’ll take my leave.”

Suzy saluted and whistled before getting on the unicorn’s back and leaving the wave scene. She

had to go to Jeju Island in a short time, so she had to pass through many gates, and she was exhausted from fighting monsters, but she still felt more energetic than before she came.

She contacted Yeonju on her way to headquarters.

“Auntie. What happened to the other wave points?”

– It seems that Nature has completely recovered, and some of the civil servants have been injured, but they seem to be closing safely. They said it’s in the final stages.

Suzy nodded reassuredly.

However, Yeonju continued in a not-so-bright voice.

– But there was a problem on Elaine’s side.

“… … Elaine?”

Her heart beat anxiously.

It wasn’t that difficult of a task for Elaine to deal with.

There’s no such thing as 100% certainty, so it wouldn’t be strange if something happened while going to an area where there were civilians and taking care of them.

“What’s wrong? Should I go there?”

– No, they said the wave was resolved. It’s being finished. However, Elaine is currently being transported to the hospital.

As Suzy hurriedly grabbed the reins that had been placed on the unicorn’s mane, the unicorn turned around as if it had read her mind.

She would be faster than the officials could transport her.

Suddenly, he remembered how he hesitated to leave her.

‘Was he not feeling well? Did he not know that and take on the mission?’

All sorts of thoughts came to mind.