Chapter 22: Unyielding Bonds

When I was young, I watched a movie about a giant shark that devoured people. The sea turned red, but no bodies surfaced. Every bit, down to the smallest piece, was consumed.

Of course, I knew real sharks weren’t like that. Sharks were generally gentle and didn’t see humans as food. But shark-like “monsters”? That was another story entirely.

Monsters were violent and powerful enough to devour humans. And a “shark-type” monster? Facing something like that wasn’t something anyone could easily do.

‘What should I do…’

I knew Yoon Bora was strong, but I had no idea just how strong. If she was in charge of transporting the shark, she had to be quite powerful, right? The only things protecting me were her and the aquarium’s infrastructure.

“Bora.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think… the aquarium is strong enough to hold the shark?”

“Of course! It’s totally safe!”

…If she was that confident, what choice did I have but to believe her? Despite my unease, I couldn’t ruin her excitement.

“Alright, let’s go check it out.”

“Shall we?”

Yoon Bora grabbed my hand, and we walked through the aquarium. I stuck close by her side, just hoping she was stronger than the shark.

‘Is that it…?’

We arrived at the aquarium’s central area. Inside a cylindrical tank, a massive shark was swimming around, asserting its dominance over the space.

‘Whoa.’

I hid behind Yoon Bora, watching the shark. Why did it have metal parts on its body? Why was it so enormous? As I stared at it in confusion, the shark suddenly turned and charged straight toward me.

THUD!

“…!”

The shark slammed into the clear tank, its huge mouth wide open.

‘It’s… huge.’

Its gaping mouth was big enough to swallow me whole. Its teeth were impossibly sharp. The sense of danger was on a completely different level from the zombies in horror dungeons.

Feeling terrified, I tried to step back, but Yoon Bora grabbed my hand and pulled me closer to the tank.

“Harang, look! It’s coming toward us!”

“Bo-Bora, it’s trying to eat us!”

I tugged on Yoon Bora’s hand, but she didn’t budge. She was too focused on staring into the shark’s mouth.

“Look at its open mouth, Harang! Its teeth are incredibly sharp!”

THUD!

The shark rammed its head into the tank again, right where Yoon Bora was pointing.

“We’re… we’re going to get eaten…!”

The shark wasn’t trying to be cute; it was slamming its head against the tank, clearly intending to eat us. If the glass shattered, we’d be the first ones on the menu. Well, I might be the only one. Yoon Bora had a much higher chance of survival than I did.

“Harang, do you want to go in there? You can experience diving.”

“N-No! Please, save me.”

My body trembled uncontrollably. I thought a tear might have run down my cheek, but it was probably sweat.

“Harang…?”

‘Whimper…’

I shouldn’t have come here. All I could do was make a pitiful face in front of the shark’s gaping mouth. I wasn’t actually crying, though.

[That shark looks savage.]

[Honestly, even I’d be scared, LOL.]

[Yoon Bora must be an amazing Hunter. How is she not afraid?]

I nodded as I looked down at my tablet. Most people seemed to feel the same as me. Yoon Bora was just unusually fearless.

“Sorry, Harang. I didn’t realize you’d be scared of the shark…”

“I wasn’t scared at all. What are you talking about?”

She was treating me like a kid who was afraid of puppies, and my lips twisted into a frown. This wasn’t a puppy—this was a shark ten times my size!

“I just thought the shark was too cute. I can’t resist anything cute…”

“What are you talking about now?”

This time, I genuinely had to ask. What part of that enormous shark could possibly be considered cute? My tail was probably cuter.

‘So, Bora has an odd sense of taste too, huh.’

I’d seen people think monsters were cool, but cute? This was a first.

‘Could the reason she treats me so well be because… she thinks I look like a monster?’

My heart sank at the thought.

“Sorry, Harang.” She sounded sincere.

“…It’s fine, really. I wasn’t scared at all.”

Okay, maybe I was just a tiny bit scared.

‘Phew.’

I sighed inwardly and turned my gaze back to the tablet.

Grnukman donated 50,000 won!

[The shark looks awesome.]

‘Wow…’

I stared at the 50,000 won. Money was steadily coming in through the stream. And not just a little, either—it was a decent amount.

‘It’s not stable, but I’ve got income now.’

This meant I no longer had to rely on staying at Bora’s house. After all, I had moved into her place because of financial reasons. I couldn’t keep freeloading at her place forever.

“Bora.”

“Yeah?”

“Look at this.”

I showed Yoon Bora the tablet screen. People were donating in real-time—1,000 won, 2,000 won—within just a few hours, a decent amount had accumulated.

“I think I won’t need to stay at your place anymore. I’ll head back to my own house.”

“…?”

Yoon Bora froze in place, just like I had earlier in front of the shark.

“Bora?”

Feeling a little confused, I called her name.

“…Harang, I forgot to tell you something.”

“What is it?”

“The house you used to live in was demolished after a fire.”

“…?”

A fire? Out of nowhere? All my personal belongings were there. My computer, my computer…

Come to think of it, that was pretty much all I had. I awkwardly scratched the back of my head.

“Harang, I guess you’ll have to stay with me until you find another place, right?”

“Y-Yeah, but was anyone hurt in the fire?”

“No. Thankfully, no one was injured.”

As long as no one got hurt, that was what mattered most. A human life is worth far more than a house.

‘I should check out the place after today.’

It was still the house I lived in, so it felt like my responsibility to visit at least once. Plus, there might be issues with the deposit or compensation.

“Bora, I’ll head back first. I need to check on my house.”

“How do you plan to get there?”

“I’ll take the bus.”

“T-The thing is, there’s a bus strike today.”

“Huh?”

I vaguely remembered seeing buses running this morning, but maybe I was mistaken. I mean, Yoon Bora wasn’t the type to lie, so I must’ve gotten it wrong.

“Harang, just come back with me today. You don’t have any way to get there, right?”

“Maybe the subway or-”

“I’ll drive you there later. For now, let’s just head back to my place, okay?”

“O-Okay.”

Something about the urgency in her voice made it hard to refuse.

“H-Harang, I have to go now. I’ve got a dungeon raid this afternoon.”

Ah, so that’s why she was in such a rush.

“Got it. Be careful.”

“Okay!”

I waved at Yoon Bora as she hurried off, then glanced down at my tablet.

“Did you hear that? I’ve been staying at Bora’s place due to some personal issues, but apparently, my house burned down in the meantime. Looks like I’ll be staying at her place for a while longer.”

[Am I the only one who gets it?]

[I get it too lolol]

[Don’t fall for it again, you fool!]

[Shh!]

“…?”

What did I fall for?

Since I had no clue what the viewers were talking about, I decided to just say what I needed to.

“Anyway, it’s a relief no one got hurt.”

[The only one hurt here is Yoon Bora.]

[She just got seriously wounded on the inside.]

‘Why would Bora get hurt?’

These people were talking nonsense again.

Shaking my head, I started moving toward the first floor.

Kim Eunhyuk.

I needed to ask him for a number.

Above Jinhyang’s office, on the rooftop of the Huntress Building, where no one was usually allowed, Yoon Bora sat on the edge of the railing.

“Q-Quickly…”

With a sense of urgency, Yoon Bora pulled out her smartphone and called Raxy Bora.

The phone rang, and Raxy Bora picked up.

“Hello?”

“Raxy!”

“Huh?”

Raxy Bora’s voice sounded weak, as if she had just woken up, but that didn’t matter to Yoon Bora. There was something much more important at hand.

“You know where Harang used to live, right?”

“The one-room apartment?”

“Yeah! That one!”

Yoon Bora quickly nodded, her legs dangling and swinging fiercely from where she sat.

“Why are you asking about that place?”

“Buy it all up and demolish it!”

“What…?”

“Even if you have to offer double the market price, just do it quickly!”

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

Yoon Bora knew exactly what that silence meant.

Raxy Bora was probably trying to wrap her head around what in the world she was talking about.

But even that silence felt unbearably frustrating right now.

‘Raxy, please.’

Yoon Bora bit her nails, desperately hoping Raxy Bora would respond soon.

“…Bora, why do you want to demolish Harang’s house?”

“Raxy, listen carefully.”

“Okay.”

With a deep sigh, Yoon Bora began explaining one step at a time.

“You know Harang has been streaming, right?”

“Yeah.”

“People have been donating money to him on the stream.”

“So?”

“Harang said with that money, he could live on his own.”

Silence—

But this time, it wasn’t the same urgent pause. Raxy Bora had understood the situation.

“…We definitely need to get that place demolished.”

“As soon as possible.”

“Got it. I’ll call the lawyer.”

“Make sure to compensate the people who live there.”

“Of course.”

With that, Raxy Bora ended the call.

The speed of her response allowed Yoon Bora to breathe a sigh of relief.

Raxy Bora clearly understood the gravity of the situation.

‘You’re not going anywhere.’

Yoon Bora made a firm resolution to herself.

No matter what, she wouldn’t let Harang leave her, even if it meant tearing down his house.