Aggro Hunter 48

‘Wow, his personality is fucking nasty. He’s the one who stared first.’

Pyeonghwa grumbled silently and put on his seatbelt. As soon as he got home, he’d have to start by hacking the school website. Once he finished the task he was given, he absolutely wouldn’t get involved with him again. Pyeonghwa made a firm resolution and tightly gripped the handle attached to the front seat.

Screech! Squeak! The road back to the train station was downhill, making it even more treacherous. Pyeonghwa endured with all his might while glancing to the side. Do Dohae was sitting still with his arms crossed. Because of the hat and mask, he couldn’t see what expression he was making, but he still looked comfortable even without a seatbelt.

‘Tch, dirty and unfair world!’

Pyeonghwa pursed his lips. Even among Awakened, the difference in power was vast. And for good reason—Do Dohae’s Constellation was a top-tier Constellation also called the God of the Sun. Meanwhile, his own Constellation was a so-called ‘nobody’ whose similar name didn’t even come up when searching portal sites.

But he had the fraudulent ability called Aggro Points. If he dumped all his points into strength stats from now on, perhaps he could become stronger than Do Dohae within a year. Pyeonghwa giggled as he imagined making Do Dohae kneel.

Screech!

The bus that had been roughly traveling the unpaved road stopped in front of the train station. Pyeonghwa got off the bus hesitantly while watching Do Dohae, who got up first.

‘Surely I don’t have to take the train together too, right? Ha… Is it okay for a Hunter known to all citizens to go around like that? I should just rip off his mask…’

Because of his unrealistic body proportions, he exuded a celebrity-like aura even though everything was covered. Students from Jangmak University had been glancing at him since earlier, but the black hair visible under his hat prevented them from suspecting his identity.

If I just took off that mask, everyone would know he’s Do Dohae. Pyeonghwa followed behind him like a little tail, twitching his fingers.

“Mm? Honey, you’re here already?”

At that moment, a person wearing sunglasses who was smoking in front of the train station greeted Dohae. He was a slender, tall beauty.

To think he had a girlfriend. He’s doing everything. Does that woman know about Do Dohae’s trash-like personality? Pyeonghwa, who had been grumbling, looked at them with a crooked gaze.

“I told you not to wait outside.”

“Sorry, I felt stuffy. I was just going to smoke one cigarette~ But who’s that kid behind you?”

“What? Me? We have no relationship at all, you know? I was just passing by. Hyung-nim, noona, have a beautiful love!”

Pyeonghwa, who bent his waist in half like a folder to greet them, rushed into the train station as if someone was chasing him. Byun Taehui pressed the cigarette into a portable ashtray while giggling.

“Oh my, how cute. He told us to have a beautiful love.”

“Give me the car keys.”

“But honey, that friend dropped something, what could this be?”

Byun Taehui picked up a purple velvet case that had rolled out of Pyeonghwa’s pocket. It was a storage case for accessories.

Byun Taehui, who casually flipped back the case lid, blinked like someone who’d seen a ghost. Even checking twice and three times, it wasn’t a mistake.

“Is it an item?”

Inside the storage case was a ring with a diameter far too large to be called a ring, yet too ambiguous in size to be called a bracelet—it wouldn’t even fit on a newborn baby’s wrist.

It was a work of art that felt eerily mysterious. In the center of the ring was a gem the size of a thumbnail, which shimmered with a brilliant mix of blue, gold, and purple whenever it caught the light.

An unknown pattern was elaborately carved on the surface. Gem grains smaller than rice were densely embedded in the pattern, adding to the splendor.

Outwardly it seemed suspicious as an item, but the unique energy of items couldn’t be felt. Byun Taehui put the ring on his finger and used an appraisal skill.

The item information didn’t appear even with the skill. Convinced it was an ordinary accessory, Byun Taehui put it back in the case and spoke.

“At this level, it should be in a museum, right? Phew, thank goodness we picked it up. Don’t you think, honey?”

Even if it wasn’t an item, it seemed like a precious object that would fetch hundreds of billions. However, Byun Taehui, who was born with a gold spoon, shrugged as if not very interested.

The annual total revenue of the domestic Big 5 Hunter Guilds far exceeded that of decent major corporations. The first place among the Big 5 Guilds was the Dojeon Guild, which had the longest history. Byun Taehui’s father, Byun Sejung, was the Vice Guild Master of Dojeon Guild and was a wealthy person who ranked in the top 20 even in terms of personal wealth alone.

Byun Taehui thought that Dohae, who grew up in an even wealthier environment, wouldn’t be much different from him. Dohae entered the Do family holding his mother’s hand at the age of seven. From that time until now, everything Dohae wore, used, and ate was top-grade.

The board of directors of Dojeon Guild, that is, the elders of the Do family, were monitoring even Dohae’s account usage history. But that wasn’t to prevent him from spending money, but to control his gaze and footsteps. Materially speaking, Dohae was living a more comfortable life than anyone else.

“Go give it to that friend before the train leaves~”

Byun Taehui grabbed Dohae’s hand and placed the case on his palm. At that moment, a flock of pitch-black crows flew up from a nearby mountain with a flutter.

When Dohae didn’t move while holding the case, Byun Taehui thought he was annoyed at being given a bothersome task and giggled.

“I’ll go to the car first. I won’t close the car door hard, so don’t worry. Huhu!”

However, Dohae had a stronger attachment to his own things than material desire. The most common thing Byun Taehui heard while freeloading at his house for over half a year was ‘Don’t touch it.’ If he tried to borrow even socks once, Dohae would throw all kinds of tantrums.

The car was the same. He had no choice but to drive Byun Taehui around, but he absolutely wouldn’t hand over the car keys. There were also his own rules like gently opening and closing doors, shaking off shoes before getting in. Byun Taehui held the steering wheel for the first time on the day Pax did his first broadcast.

Why bother with such things? Just buy a new one… He couldn’t understand Dohae’s attachment to objects, but thinking about the problems in his upbringing made him feel sorry. Byun Taehui patted Dohae’s shoulder and turned toward the parking lot.

“…”

Dohae’s gaze, hidden under his hat, had been fixed on the ring case for a while now. Like a feline predator that had spotted its target, his pupils were widely dilated.

As soon as Byun Taehui disappeared from view, Dohae flipped back the case lid. The majestic and mysterious ring brightly illuminated his pitch-black eyes.

Byun Taehui’s thoughts were half right and half wrong. He’d just lived desperately hiding it, but Dohae was greedy by nature from birth. His attachment to his own things was strong, and even if it wasn’t his, his eyes instinctively flipped before objects that looked valuable.

These black eyes and hair that Byun Taehui thought were a wig and colored lenses were actually evidence of very ancient greed.

The Pitch-Black Constellation, Erebos.

Dohae’s first Constellation appeared in the form of a large crow. It was when a baby not even a year old tried to snatch his mother’s sparkling earring and tore her ear.

His mother cursed incomprehensibly and struck him with her hands. The baby didn’t cry even in pain and tightly gripped the earring without letting go. Then she brought a pillow and pressed it against the baby’s face. Soon she snatched the earring from the small hand that had lost strength and went outside. It didn’t take long for the baby’s faint breath to completely stop.

At that moment, a large crow flew in from outside the window and embraced the dead baby. The baby’s few strands of brown hair turned pitch black. The bruises and wounds all over his body healed as if washed clean, and his heart began to beat again. As the baby trembled and lifted his eyelids, instead of brown eyes, eyes holding pitch-black darkness were revealed.

The crow melted away into the baby’s shadow. The newborn baby, who knew nothing about what a contract was or what a Constellation was, burst into tears not because he’d died and come back to life, but because he was upset about having the earring taken away. Even after that, he faced death several times, but the Constellation’s power protected the baby’s life.

Hide. Don’t come out. Don’t get caught. Survival instinct regarded Erebos as a trump card. And Erebos was a Constellation skilled at hiding. His presence became faint as if he’d never existed in the first place. Even Do Jeongwang, the strongest Awakened in Korea, couldn’t notice the fact that there was a contracted Constellation.

Currently, the only person who knew Dohae had two Constellations was Do Haedo in the greenhouse. But Haedo would never open his mouth. The moment he opened his mouth, it would reveal that ‘that incident’ long ago was his own mistake…

‘I want it.’

Gulp. Dohae’s Adam’s apple moved greatly. Dohae gently stroked the surface with his fingertips as if savoring it. Beyond beautiful, it was an object that felt mysteriously alluring.

As if entranced, Dohae took the ring out of the case and put it on the middle finger of his left hand. The diameter was more than twice the size of his finger, so it was very loose, but it matched quite well with his own snow-white skin.