Chapter 50
< A Date First of All (1) >
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“Uh…… um . ”
Maybe he had cried the entire time because the rims of his eyes were red . With his complexion being pale and him looking like he had no strength, he seemed like a paper doll that had fallen into water and was carelessly fished out and dried .
This guy looked more severe than me, who was kidnapped .
“…Are you okay?”
Though normally, I should be the one being asked if I was okay .
As soon as I spoke, huge droplets[1] of tears started to drop from Myeongwoo . Now, was pulling me over into his embrace next? Well, it seemed like he worried a lot, so I should calmly receive it . And there was a lot of free food I had gotten from him too .
But, Yoo Myeongwoo just cried without a sound and didn’t come towards me . Why was he like this? Was the shock too big? Did that guy, instead of me, need to be sent to the hospital?
“……I’m okay, though . I’m fine . I’m not even hurt anywhere . ”
I don’t know what to do, so just say something . Should I put Peace down and pull him over into my embrace first? I was the victim, though .
“……There was nothing I could do . ”
Finally, Myeongwoo opened his mouth .
“I, really… nothing at all……”
The voice that was forcefully squeezed out was stained with guilt .
It wasn’t that I didn’t understand . The person who had saved him several times already, had met with danger, but he had to stay cooped up in a room corner .
But .
“But that’s not your fault . You must have been unable to move and was confined somewhere . ”
Yoo Myeongwoo wasn’t a normal employee, much less a guild member . He was still employed by me . So, if a sensitive problem occurred within the guild like this matter, naturally his actions could only have been restricted .
Or rather, it would be a relief if it had ended with house arrest . There was the possibility of receiving suspicion and being investigated .
“You’re in the position of being an outsider to a certain point, so the problem might’ve gotten bigger if you had tried to put yourself forward . So don’t worry . ”
“But I……”
He swallowed his words and chewed on his lips, before wiping away his tears . That guy raised the head that was lowered, and smiled .
“Sorry . You should be tired but I acted all annoying . Hurry and come in . ”
“No, it’s okay…”
Your reaction was more worrying . What was it? I would have let it pass with ‘he’s the same as ever’ if he had clung to me and bawled . The atmosphere like he had organized things and made a decision and resolved his heart all by himself, was uncomfortable .
“It’s really okay . In the first place, it’s a problem that the guilds that contracted to protect me should figure out . ”
I said again, taking off my shoes and coming in . Myeongwoo halfheartedly nodded and asked if I wanted to eat something light . I was thinking of sleeping early, but I hadn’t eaten lunch or dinner, so it would be good to fill my stomach up at little . And I had to feed Peace dinner too .
-Geureureung
Peace, who had jumped onto the bed, turned around in circles . It seemed like he was feeling better after eating .
“You shouldn’t go up without even washing your paws . Come here . ”
I picked up Peace and went to the bathroom attached the bedroom . When I did, he whined and pretended to be pitiful .
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“Since you went outside, you have to wash . Inside the cage wasn’t clean either . ”
-Kkooeuoong
“Okay, okay . Let’s just take a simple shower . ”
Maybe because he was part of the cat family and was flame attribute, he really didn’t like washing . After coaxing him and showering together, and washing and even drying his fur, I became tired even with the higher stats . The psychological reason was probably bigger than the physical, but I wondered if I would die from overwork from looking after five when my stats return to normal .
“Let’s sleep now . ”
When I turned off the lights and closed my eyes, I opened them again only a bit later . In the middle of the dark, I saw Peace hunched over and stuck right next to me . The red fur along with the mixed in golden hairs were more clearly visible than normal . So my vision had gotten slightly better too .
I looked at him for a bit, and then took out a glass bottle from my inventory . The red stone inside the bottle emitted a faint light .
‘Still, all of them are S-Ranks and planned to be S-Ranks . ’
Yoo Myeongwoo was stat F-Rank, but he wouldn’t need to attack dungeons, so he would be safe . If he just got the skill, he would get protected almost as much as I was .
I didn’t have to worry too much about the remaining four . Of all the S-Rank Hunters in the world, even 5 years later when the level of difficulty rose, there weren’t any who had died in an attack, except for exactly one . …If you considered Yoohyun as well, then it was two . Anyways, it meant that if they didn’t do anything in particular, they wouldn’t die .
The death rate for Rank Hunters was also extremely low . Low rank Hunters, well, there were many and many died, and for mid rank Hunters, surprisingly, B-Ranks had a higher death rate than C-Ranks . It was because unlike C-Ranks, B-Ranks also went into high rank dungeon attacks .
‘For my mental health at least, it should be better to only apply the keyword to possible S-Ranks, at minimum Ranks . ’
High rank familiars would be well taken care of, as much as they were valuable .
If it really didn’t work out, I should turn off the poison resistance and borrow the strength of modern medical science . Before the regression, when I was just constantly drinking, suddenly people appeared and dragged me to a hospital and I got treated for alcoholism, but they did it really well .
‘……Could that possibly have been Yoohyun’s doing?’
At that time, I wasn’t normal so I didn’t think much, but it really was weird that people unlocked the main entrance and came in, just because I had fallen into alcohol for about a week . The quality of the facility and counselling was really good too . The counselor had told me that if it got tough, to contact them anytime, and even gave me their business card . I wondered if that person was working even now .
Anyways, if it was possible, it would be great if the Last Repayment skill had no reason to be invoked again . And it was all too much of a waste to end just with 7 days .
I put the glass bottle into my inventory and closed my eyes again .
The next day, I spent all of it inside my house . Peace didn’t really want to go outside too, and Myeongwoo also didn’t go to sharpen knives, and made snacks for me . I didn’t know he also had a talent for baking . I had a hard time stopping myself from automatically saying I wanted us to live together forever .
In the afternoon, Yoohyun visited with a key technician . Saying that they had thoroughly searched the entire building, but couldn’t find the inventory sealing bracelet .
That was because I had it . I should’ve put it somewhere, but I had forgotten, and had come back just bringing it over .
“And Hunter Bak Yerim was caught in a stats drop curse for contract violation . ”
I was touching the wrist that had the bracelet, when Yoohyun said something confusing .
“What? Contract violation?”
Uh… then again, it was a contract that had entrusted my guarding to her, so it would be called a violation .
Hearing about it, the time when the curse appeared wasn’t right after the kidnapping, but a little bit after . I thought it might have been when I was being beaten up .
Since I put in a vague condition like ‘guard’, it seemed like it based it on violence above a certain amount being applied to the guarding target . Since, when I was kidnapped, besides being grabbed, there wasn’t much else . And passing out was because of using up mana .
“For the Association, hyung can just contact them to say it wasn’t a contract violation, and for the curse, the related curse skill holder can lift it . The problem is that Hunter Bak Yerim is refusing it . ”
“Huh, why?”
“She said it was true that she couldn’t uphold the contract and that she would pay the cost . ”
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Yerim, that guy[2], really, being stubborn over something pointless .
“I’ll talk to her about it . ”
“I’ll leave it to you . Since she listens well to hyung . ”
She didn’t listen well to that extent .
“Ah, wait . ”
I grabbed Yoohyun, who had finished his business and was about to leave . That guy turned to look at me .
“So, gate stones . Do you happen to have any left?”
They were precious even 5 years later, so asking for one when they were even more precious now, made my face hot . But I really needed one .
Right now, my state was close to an Rank combat Hunter . In other words, I could attack a low rank dungeon by myself .
Of course, my real goal wasn’t the dungeon attack, but the contact from the person who made the system .
If I used the most out Lizard Stuck on the Wall, it wouldn’t be hard to secretly go outside . If I bought an F-Rank dungeon exclusive entrance pass, the secret would be guaranteed too .
But, it was a problem because something like a system error could happen and a monster outside of the rank could appear again .
‘I could interact with the person who made the system in front of the dungeon entrance, and use Wall Lizard and come out straight away, in such a case, but I can’t know if contact will come before the entrance closes . ’
I wanted to take one gate stone to prepare for possible danger . If I really couldn’t, I could wait during the time before the entrance closes and just leave if there is no contact, but then it would be a waste of money and the chance . The application of Last Repayment also had just 6 days left now .
“Why? It wouldn’t be to go into a dungeon?”
That little brother frowned right away .
“Well, I can’t just not go in at all . I want to go in my spare time and go up at least 30 levels . I might just get something like a defense skill . ”
Of course, I didn’t have anything like that . What exactly was my aptitude? Did I not have something like an aptitude because I was just a normal and easy ordinary person A?
“But there’s this matter too, and also that bird appearing last time . No matter what, it’s uneasy . Of course, I know it’s precious, but……”
Ah crap, the more I talked, the more it felt pathetic . Should I just buy a few exclusive bids, and go in and out of them a lot? Was there a penalty if you bought exclusive bids and came out without doing an attack? I had never wasted money like that, or even thought of doing so, so I couldn’t remember .
“…Specifically getting up to 30 levels isn’t bad . The 10 level skill was S-Rank and among the initial skills, one was Rank, so the probability of a skill with a high rank coming out is high . ”
Yoohyun wasn’t inclined to it, but nodded his head .
“Instead, I’ll choose the dungeon to attack and the team you’ll do it with . That’s okay, right?”
“I have to get your help anyways; I can’t attack even an F-Rank by myself . ”
When I chattered on, Yoohyun took out a gate stone . My conscience was pricked . Still, you couldn’t do something stupid when you were a stat F-Rank .
“You have reserves, right?”
If it was just this one, then it would be better to not take it .
“I do . In the first place, it’s something that doesn’t need to be used . Since me using a gate stone would be the same as meaning I’ve lost most of the main attack team . It would be better than me dying as well, but the guild would probably look miserable?”
He was saying something brutal while smiling . Like that guy said, it was something that was a hundred times better not to use . I nodded my head to agree and put the gate stone in my inventory .
I should look for F-Rank dungeons where exclusive bids were possible and that were located as close as possible .
“Peace, we should go out today . Hm?”
If it was normal, he would have whined about going out first, but Peace didn’t seem inclined at all to go out today as well . He wouldn’t have known the situation too well because he was asleep, but the aftereffects were excessive .
I thought it wouldn’t be good to leave him like this, so I purposefully held him and went out . It would be good if we could go outdoors instead of to the basement training room .
I went toward the elevator while coaxing Peace, who was fluttering his tail in dissatisfaction . Today, the person who would be entrusted with my guard was .
‘Huh? That face is…’
It was a face I remembered . A beautiful fairy-like woman with gorgeous blond hair and deep blue eyes that were close to navy . She came towards me and smiled brightly .
“Hello! I am Seseong’s Kang Soyoung!”
Seseong’s Rank Hunter Kang Soyoung . She wasn’t of Korean descent, but was a British person who was recruited by the Seseong Guild Leader and also had Korean citizenship . Limited to B-Rank and higher Hunters, even dual citizenship was permitted without conditions .
She was a talented Hunter who stood out enough for Sung Hyunjae to personally bring over, and her age was 19 years, and…
‘She was in a scandal with Yoohyun . ’
It wasn’t decided that they were dating, but quite a lot of rumors circulated . That young lady could possibly become my sister-in-law[3] .
Seeing her for real, she was even prettier . There was still a little hint of youth, so she was cute as well . Her expression was bright and lovable .
“Hello, I am Han Yoojin . Please take care of me for today . ”
“I would like to request that of you!”
Yeah, cute . Her personality seemed good too . Hearing the cheerful voice, I automatically smiled .
“So this child must be Peace . He is even cuter than when I saw him on TV!”
Kang Soyoung said in a bouncy tone . Our Peace was indeed cute . As expected, she was a great young lady .
“You will be going to the training room, correct?”
“Yes . ”
Pressing the elevator button, she tossed a look with a sparkling light in her eyes . It was a little embarrassing because it was an expression like she was a fan seeing a celebrity .
“I was really alarmed when I heard the news . It is really a relief that you are safe . ”
“Thank you for worrying . ”
“I was being sincere . Really . Han Yoojin-nim is my only hope . ”
“Hope?”
What hope? Kang Soyoung boarded the elevator and energetically nodded her head .
“Actually, I have one SS-Rank skill . ”
She said softly, lowering her volume . An SS-Rank skill? I hadn’t heard that Kang Soyoung had such a thing . I wanted to try using the Seed-Leaf skill, but right now, her gaze was piercing into me, so I couldn’t . Let’s try it later secretly .
“If it is alright, could I hear what kind of skill it is?”
“That is right… Han Yoojin-nim would come to know it anyways . ”
Kang Soyoung’s voice became more and more soft . Continuing, I heard a whisper .
“It is Dragon Rider . ”
Ah… It was worth me being her hope . Really .
The monsters that were the most difficult to tame were exactly dragon types . On top of that, Kang Soyoung was an Rank Hunter, so finding a dragon type familiar that matched her rank would be like plucking a star from the sky . Since it was hard starting from finding a dragon type familiar, they couldn’t be used as expendables, and she would’ve had to consider it as just not having the SS-Rank skill .
“You must have gone through many hardships . ”
Kang Soyoung nodded with an eager expression .
“Yes . I cannot explain the specifics, but it is a really, really good skill . But only if I have a dragon type familiar that matches my rank . But how could I find… a dragon type familiar, and at least a high rank or higher at that……”
She stopped speaking and even tears glimmered in her eyes . That a combat Hunter couldn’t use an SS-Rank skill, how frustrating would that have been?
“Still, if it is a dragon type, it would be hard to find them as a baby monster . ”
Even if I could raise familiars, you couldn’t make something out of nothing . There needed to be a baby of a high rank monster, to raise it .
“Please do not worry! There is a place among the S-Rank dungeons under Seseong’s jurisdiction, where a dragon’s nest appears sometimes . Though, they only appear as eggs, and it being impossible to make them hatch is a problem, but this time, I decided to firmly prepare and wait until it naturally hatches . ”
“……You must have many hardships ahead . ”
“Still, if I do well, I could get a highest rank baby monster . It is worth suffering for . ”
Then again, it was as good as dragon type . If she could only just get it, it would become the best familiar . In addition, if it was combined with Kang Soyoung’s apparently impressive SS-Rank skill… she would only be called an Rank, but outshine S-Ranks .
Ah, I wanted to introduce my brother . They should already know each other’s faces at least . Couldn’t they meet a little faster than before the regression? Even if they didn’t formally date, they should’ve had goodwill for each other at least, for the scandal to break out .
We arrived at the training room in an amicable atmosphere . But Peace didn’t even think about coming down from my arms . When I loosened my arms, he crawled up to my shoulders and stuck close .
“This……”
“It seems like Peace’s shock over being kidnapped was big…”
Kang Soyoung said, with an expression filled with worry .
“He was sleeping the whole time, but it seems like he felt something . It would be good if I could refresh his mood, but we cannot go outside . ”
“Ah, then what do you think of going over to our guild building? We have a roof garden . It is large and well decorated!”
“A roof garden?”
It was alluring, but the problem was that Yoohyun probably wouldn’t let us go out .
“It is regretful, but with the kidnapping matter, it seems it will be hard to go out right now . ”
At my words, Kang Soyoung thrust her chest out confidently .
“Please do not worry . I will supplement with more people to perfectly guard you . And right now, Guild Leader is at the guild . It is safer than anywhere!”
Um, suddenly, I didn’t want to go .
[1] lit . ‘chicken poop-like’
[2] yes, I’m using ‘guy’ as a gender neutral term
[3] this isn’t really necessary, but fun fact, the word for ‘sister-in-law’ here is specifically ‘one’s younger brother’s wife, when one is male’