Chapter 71
< Blacksmith’s Debut (1) >
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“Ahjussi, ahjussi, ahjussi!!”
As soon as I turned in the hallway, I met Yerim, who had just come out of the elevator . I had heard that she was going to a B-Rank dungeon attack, but it seemed like she had already finished . She must’ve washed at the maintenance room and came up, because she was wearing a short sleeves and shorts tracksuit and her hair was damp .
“So that’s the new monster you brought over!”
“Yeah, this is the Gold Gryphon, Blue . ”
“Cute! Can I trying hugging it?”
Peace hated it, but wouldn’t Blue be okay? And she was already sending a gaze filled with curiosity toward Yerim .
-Kkyaa!
When I held her out from where I was holding her in my arms, she flapped over to Yerim on her own . Yerim spread her arms open wide and pulled Blue over into a hug .
“S~o cute! And the fur is soft too! There’s a slight ice cream smell?”
Since it was right after eating through a huge container .
-Kkyaoo kkya!
“Peace had golden beans[1] but this one has pink beans? Look at the bottoms of the paws, I want to bite them! Blue~ . ”
Maybe she had understood she was getting affection, because Blue’s tail whirled like a fan . She was an eagle plus lion, but this guy was like a puppy who liked socializing .
“Truthfully, ahjussi’s naming sense is like an ahjussi’s . ”
“……What?”
“Putting aside Peace, what’s Chirpie and Blue? I head the unicorns were White and Black . They aren’t countryside dogs, so to think that it’s Whitey and Blackie[2] – it’s completely like an ahjussi . ”
“I-it’s intuitive, and they’re short and good, aren’t they?”
They were easy to understand and convenient things were the best… was thinking that way like an ahjussi? I mean, even considering before the regression, I was only thirty .
“But where are you going? To the training room?”
“To meet Hunter Association people . ”
“Ah, then I’ll go with you! These days you only go with Guild Leader! The one who’s supposed to protect ahjussi is me . ”
“You were busy going into dungeons . ”
And from now on, she would get even busier . Since she had to make her own S-Rank team . As expected, I should help out a bit .
I entrusted Blue to the Hunter on duty today, and then went down . When I met Yoohyun, I thought that this guy wasn’t doing any work at all compared to Yerim . At this guy’s level, going with me was like going on an outing, not going to an attack .
“Haven’t you not gone into a dungeon at all lately? You don’t have to manage S-Rank dungeons?”
If it was a low grade S-Rank dungeon that you had perfect attack information for, it was possible to attack with just an Rank team, but besides that, an S-Rank Hunter was necessary . The number of S-Rank dungeons that Haeyeon was managing was probably still small, but it wasn’t to the extent of being able to play around .
“I do have to go within ten days . ”
Yoohyun said, looking at me with worried eyes .
“Once I start attacking an S-Rank dungeon, I have to be gone for at least a week, so I was putting it off as much as possible . Me being… distant from hyung was also largely due to the S-Rank dungeon attack time . Since, once I go into a dungeon, I obviously can’t pay attention . ”
The length of an S-Rank dungeon attack was at minimum a week, in cases where there was attack information . If it was a first attack, it could get to over one month . If the characteristics match was bad, it could take fifteen days even if there was enough information .
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Having to leave for that long of a time periodically was one of the biggest weak points of a guild that had an S-Rank Hunter as a guild leader . Since, not only the guild leader, but even the elite high rank Hunters had to leave their places empty . On top of that, contact wasn’t possible, and you couldn’t come out in the middle . Though later, if it was a giant guild, they had two or more S-Rank Hunters by default, so that weak point disappeared .
“Now there is me, so why don’t you quickly go, Yoohyun oppa . ”
Yerim said, clinging onto my arm .
“I will take good care of ahjussi . All this time, I have diligently gone into dungeons, so I can take a vacation for around ten days and stick close to him . While we are at it, do you want to look my skills, and do you want to go into a dungeon together? Or how about a escape room cafe? I have always wanted to go, but I couldn’t because it was expensive . ”
An escape room cafe . I haven’t been to one either .
“Yoohyun, have you ever gone?”
“…What is that?”
……Gosh, was that something a twenty-year-old should say? I felt like I could cry for him . Wasn’t it the height of when he should be playing around, well-informed about the trends?
“You come too . ”
“Ah, I was going to go with just ahjussi!”
“That guy said he hasn’t ever been either . ”
“……Okay . Since we’re not going to go just once . Then, since we’re going out anyways, should we go today?”
“If there’s nothing big, then let’s do that . ”
I nodded my head lightly and got into the car .
The place we arrived at after driving fast for a long time, wasn’t the Hunter Association, but the Awakening Center that still wasn’t open yet . Unlike the Association building, it was located in the outskirts of Seoul and would carry out the function of the Association in an emergency .
That building next to the round dome-shaped Awakening Center was the same as Hunter Association No . 2 . Specifically, the Awakening Center was stuck in belatedly . It was still thought of as just a new Hunter Association building by the public .
“I will go look for a cafe with good reviews!”
Yerim said, waving her arm to send us off .
When I looked at the new smooth exposed building, I felt a little unsettled inside . It was place I didn’t have good memories of . It was the opposite . The steps that hadn’t been stepped on much, were glossy . There was nothing in the surroundings . Not the fluttering banners, nor the gathered journalists .
It was quiet .
“What are you doing not going in?”
When I stopped and stood, Yoohyun turned to look at me suspiciously .
“I was just looking around . ”
I replied like it was nothing and walked on . It was place I didn’t want to come to again, but it didn’t feel that bad . It could’ve been thanks to it being disappeared matters, and it could’ve been because of the Fear Resistance .
“Anyways, I told you to be nice to Myeongwoo, but why did you go and pick a fight?”
I asked, going up the stairs . What were you going to do if he didn’t make you a weapon because of that?
“It wasn’t a fight; I was checking what he thought of hyung . Since there’s something hyung deceived him about . Just in case, if he seemed like he would resent hyung for that, I can’t just let it go . ”
“You replied well when I told you not to bother him . ”
“It’s dangerous because the skill is so good . ”
“Myeongwoo isn’t a guy who would do something like that, and I’m going to confess it to him first . ”
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“If you happen to fall out, definitely tell me . Don’t hide it . ”
“……Ok . ”
Though I thought that he wouldn’t be hostile even if it was possible for us to become distant . Still, in the unlikely case we fell out, like Yoohyun said, he was a dangerous opponent .
It would probably be okay… but should I have been better to him?
We opened the door and went inside . Inside the building was also completely empty . The long desk still had plastic covering it . I wondered if they needed to call us over to here if it was like this . Why didn’t they just call us over to the close-by main Association building? Except for the guide standing in front of the entrance to the hallway a bit away, there wasn’t anybody . We joined him and went along the hallway .
“This is the center of the Awakening Center, the Awakening Room . ”
When we passed the long hallway, the guide spoke, stopping at the round lobby . Besides the entrance we came through, there were five doors in all directions . At that time, it looked cramped, but it was quite wide, seeing it now when it was completely empty .
Inside the Awakening Room was still incomplete . We went around, looking around, and then went toward the place where the Hunter Association Head and other high up people were waiting .
“The Rank, B-Rank Hunters whom Hunter Han Yoojin has sent, have safely Awakened . ”
The vice-head, who looked a little younger than the Association Head, said . Two Hunters’ profile data was placed in front of me .
While I was looking for special skill holders, I sent the Rank, B-Rank combat aptitude Unawakened People I found additionally, to the Association . It was to prove my skill and get the Awakening Center related cooperation .
Looking at the data, the Rank had gotten two of the three optimized skills, and the B-Rank had gotten all three . As expected, it was relatively easy for combat aptitudes to optimally Awaken .
“As you can see, five of the six skills you have told us of ahead of time, also safely appeared . As you have advised, we created situations that fit the abilities they were expected to have according to their skill names . One of Hunter Kang Donghoon’s B-Rank skills is regretful, but Hunter Han Yoojin’s Unawakened People status window checking skill’s ability was certainly authentic . ”
“Then, I suppose I can expect an affirmative answer . ”
Since I tossed you high rank Hunters, pay the price .
“If Hunter Han Yoojin safely Awakens special skills as well, even if we try not to, we can’t help but cooperate, right?”
This time, the Association Head spoke .
“No, it’s even welcome for a system to be made so that visitation to the Awakening Center can only be possible after receiving status window verification from Hunter Han Yoojin . What do you think of making something like an Unawakened Person aptitude checking center?”
“…I think that is a little excessive . ”
Were you thinking of working me to the bone?
“First of all, my ability cannot handle a large number . The skill rank is high, but my stat rank is low . In that situation, if you place a restriction saying that people have to receive my confirmation first, I will get the most criticis… that couldn’t possibly be your goal . ”
“Hahaha, would that be so?”
The Association Head waved his hands, but I didn’t trust him at all . I needed to have choices and it needed to be a private establishment, for me to receive less criticism even if I took in only one to two hundred per day .
“It’s because people who will hastily Awaken wrong are a waste . ”
“It is one’s own choice, so there is no choice but for it to be this way . It is not possible to take care of all people one by one . ”
If it was this much, I did as much as I could .
Besides trying to uselessly push more work onto me, the Association was cooperative . At the escape room cafe, I felt like I said to not break it about a hundred times . Was seeing Yerim and Blue superimposed a mistake of my eyes? Still, Yerim at least understood my words .
“Ahjussi, let’s come back together again! The two of us!”
Don’t make me laugh .
We returned to Haeyeon, and I went to the unicorns in the training room before going up to the dorm floor . Yerim said she wanted to see, so she trailed after me .
“Whitey, Blackie[3], hi~ . Which one is the girl?”
“The black one . ”
“So this one, how pretty . Come here . ”
Yerim, towards Blackie, no it was Black[4] . Anyways, she held her hand out toward the black baby unicorn . The unicorn raised her ears up straight, and then bit the held out hand .
“Ahaha, that tickles Blackie~ . ”
“You have to tell her not to bite . Or else it’ll become a habit . It might tickle for you, but an Unawakened Person’s fingers will get cut off . ”
“Oh . No! Blackie!”
-Puheung!
At Yerim’s light tap against her head, Blackie was startled and drew back . She searched the surroundings and then scuttled behind me, hiding . The white guy followed too .
“Kids! Where are you hiding? That ahjussi is weaker than my little finger!”
Little finger was too much . Though it was true I was weak .
After taking care of the unicorns’ food, I also took care of Blue . The Hunter I left that guy with said, ‘It seems you have many hardships,’ with eyes filled with sympathy . At that, it was a relief that there were no worries about money; if I had a poor household, I would have cried .
“Peace, Chirpie . How were you?”
-Kkiang!
-Chirp!
When Peace barked with a solemn posture, Blue flapped out of my arms . Our Blue, so it wasn’t like there wasn’t any learning effect .
I went to give Yerim the side dishes she asked for, took care of the kids, and even ate dinner, but for some reason, Myeongwoo didn’t appear . Even when Blue and Chirpie were sleeping and Peace was starting to nod off, I still didn’t hear any news .
‘And I can’t contact him either . ’
Maybe because it was a subspace, even cell phones didn’t have service in the Gold Forge, like when going into a dungeon . Unless Myeongwoo came out first, there was no way to contact him .
He was actually in the Forge, right? There were times when he did stay up during the night, but he came out every meal time to eat . Didn’t you have to eat properly if you were doing work that required strength? Why wasn’t he coming out?
I slept fitfully from worry, and then it was morning . Just when I took out Blue, who cried right on time like a rooster, and was wondering if I had to find a way to contact the subspace, finally Myeongwoo appeared .
“Hey! If you’re going to stay in the Forge for this long, then you should at least say something! I was worrying that something happened inside of there!”
“Sorry . ”
The mouth was saying sorry, but the face was widely smiling . Maybe because he had stayed up the night, it was dark underneath his eyes, but the expression at least was bright . Enough to be able to see right away that something good had happened .
“I couldn’t stop myself in the middle . ”
Saying that, Myeongwoo took something out from his inventory . It was a long spear that seemed about 2 meters in length . With a bluish chill lingering from the blade to the handle, it wasn’t a normal object .
“Is that possibly . ”
“Here . ”
When I took the spear that was held out, a simple item explanation window popped up,
[Parmini’s Ice Wood[5] Spear – S-Rank
A spear made by a skilled craftsman using an old Ice Tree branch . It carries a powerful chill . ]
It was an S-Rank weapon .
It was a ratio increase, so it didn’t raise my stats much, but a new skill appeared .
[Ice Attribute Reinforcement(S)]
Ice attribute reinforcement . That was also S-Rank . The one that came up when I used My Brat skill focused on Yerim was an Rank ice attribute reinforcement . To think it was an S-Rank attribute reinforcement .
……Would our Yerim have put away a lot of savings?
“So you finally made even an S-Rank weapon!”
When I sent him a gaze that was full of admiration, Myeonwoo shrugged his shoulders .
“Thankfully, I succeeded on my first attempt . Though I had to stay up the whole night . It’ll get a little easier starting from the second one . ”
“I didn’t know you would grow this fast . Like this, wouldn’t you immediately make an SS-Rank weapon, too?”
“That should be a little difficult . Apparently Ismual can only help with up to S-Rank weapons . Still, there’s one thing that I’m preparing . ”
As expected, SS-Rank equipment were difficult . Still, how far did he come? It was really impressive .
“Now there’s nothing more to delay . We should get your name known, too . ”
Originally, I suggested to debut as a blacksmith Hunter once he made an Rank weapon, but Myeongwoo had refused . Saying that he would put himself forward after he had made an S-Rank .
“Okay . Now I can confidently put myself forward . ”
Myeongwoo nodded his head, smiling . I smiled back, and then remembered something I had put off .
I should voluntarily tell him before it was too late .
“Myeongwoo . There’s something I need to say . ”
“What is it?”
“Truthfully, we didn’t know each other originally . It seems like I made a mistake . ”
I confessed, adding a justification .
“Really?”
Myeongwoo answered . And that was it . No, wait . Why was the reaction like this?
[1] she says ‘jelly’ as in the eng word transliterated, which is the krn/konglish slang term, but in eng, ppl call the bottom of cats’ feet ‘toe beans’ so…
[2] for the unicorns’ names, she used the eng words transliterated, as named so by yj, but here she uses the krn words, which are used to call a white animal, and to cutely call a black dog, respectively . The ‘blackie’ used here is a slightly diff pronounced word than what yj named the salamander (rip blackie) but they’re fundamentally the same words, with the exact same meanings .
[3] she says the two colors in krn and I added the ‘-ie’ bc it’s weird not to for names in eng . Unlike before in footnote [2], she doesn’t use the words that are used to describe a white/black animal, but the colors themselves, though they can be used to refer to things that are white/black as well
[4] ‘black’ is the eng word transliterated, as yj originally named these the eng words
[5] the word used here can mean either tree or wood, so the same word is used here and in the explanation, but I changed the tl according to what sounded more right in eng