Edited By: Sebas Tian
Who was Herhim?
He was like a living legend within the hunter world.
Mikhail, the Phoenix user, was currently the most famous hunter, but Herhim was the most famous before them.
At the hunter training school, Herhim's name was mentioned during history class.
Even though it's been a while since he retired from attacking the portals, as a veteran, he played an important role.
And he was right in front of Hyun-Soo.
"Say hi, Hyun-Soo. This is Mr. Herhim. I'm sure you already know him without me explaining, right?"
"Of course. It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Herhim."
"Mr. Herhim. This is Kim Hyun-Soo and he's a member of the clan. This is Hyuna and she's Hyun-Soo's younger sister."
"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Kim. And lady."
The man that had a mix of grey and blonde hair greeted them.
He was pretty old, but because he was a hunter, he looked a lot younger.
Herhim agreed to join Kim Yoo-Na and the others temporarily.
"I heard what happened. Your clan was the first one to clear the colorful portal, right?"
"Yes, and I've passed along the information to some of the groups."
"Making a decision for something like that isn't easy, but you did well. It's more important to look ahead than look at the benefits that's in front of you."
"Yes. Oh yeah, Hyun-Soo had the most important role when we attacked the portal."
"Oh~ I knew someone was involved when I read the report. With a probability of hundreds of thousands to one, I was curious about the one who was able to find the correct answer."
Herhim's blue eyes were filled with curiosity as he looked at Hyun-Soo.
Hyun-Soo felt himself straightening his back.
Herhim's eyes looked like they could see into one's soul and after looking at Hyun-Soo, he started laughing.
"Meeting a talented person is always fun. When you have the chance, please visit my place. I have high-quality wine, so we can all drink some. It's very rare for Yoo-Na to compliment someone like this. As you know, Yoo-Na gets embarrassed very easily."
"Mr. Herhim! What are you talking about?!"
"Haha. See what I mean? She's not like the girls that you see these days."
To Hyun-Soo, she seemed more shocked than embarrassed because of what Herhim said.
But for Herhim, he must've felt that she was feeble and reserved, despite the fact that she was able to take down monsters while swinging her fiery hands.
"I'm sorry that I interrupted your meal. The conversation went on longer than I expected. Please come visit when you have the time. You come too, Yoo-Na."
When Herhim left, Kim Yoo-Na smiled.
"What a relief. We were lucky."
"Lucky?"
"Yes, Mr. Herhim is a regular here. I didn't purposely plan this, but we coincidentally met. That's good. It really does seem like luck is on your side."
Kim Yoo-Na quietly explained that the brief meeting with Mr. Herhim will benefit him in the future.
She also added that if they purposely went to go meet him, others will notice, so making this meeting look coincidental was the best way to meet him.
What she's trying to say is.
She said she didn't plan for this, but she actually did.
With the intent of introducing Hyun-Soo to the famous, Herhim.
If that wasn't the case, then there was no need for her to make this situation seem like a coincidence since she already knew Herhim.
'Is this…her way of paying me back?'
Up until now, Hyun-Soo refused everything that Kim Yoo-Ana offered.
He would accept them if they were small, but the things that she offered were too much and burdening, so he refused…
'…Despite that, she prepared this.'
Whenever he refused, she would always say "Let's talk again later," but he didn't think it would turn out like this.
Hyun-Soo's assumption must've been correct because Kim Yoo-Na had a bright smile on her face.
"Mr. Herhim is a pretty picky person, but he must've liked you. It's a relief."
"Why are you doing all of this for me?"
He was curious.
Is there a person alive that would go this far when the recipient refused to accept it?
These days, you have to look out to yourself.
So Kim Yoo-Na could've used Hyun-Soo's refusal as a reason to keep those rewards to herself.
Hyun-Soo said he was okay and no one would say anything bad to Kim Yoo-Na about it anyways.
But she didn't do that.
She bought him clothes, took him to a high-class restaurant and introduced him to a legend in the hunter world.
When she asked him to follow her, that's when her repayment started.
Hyun-Soo looked at the clothes that he was wearing and the food that he enjoyed eating.
And then he turned to Kim Yoo-Na.
"Hyuna…"
Kim Yoo-Na looked away awkwardly.
It looked like her ears turned red.
It could be because of the reddish light.
"She said you'll feel too burdened if I gave you a yacht or land and recommended buying you food."
Hyun-Soo looked at Hyuna with a "Really?" look.
But Hyuna was making weird expressions, so he couldn't really read her.
Hyuna probably told Kim Yoo-Na that all she had to do was buy him food.
But who knew that the conversation would turn out like this.
Hyuna was surprised by how much Kim Yoo-Na spent.
"But, I don't think this is enough…and since you would be burdened by monetary items, I thought about what I could do. Are you…mad?"
Kim Yoo-Na carefully glanced at Hyun-Soo.
After hearing that, Hyun-Soo felt like he was the bad guy.
All of this happened because he refused her offers.
"No. I'm thankful. The food was great and it was surprising to see the person that I've read about in books."
"That's a relief."
Hyuna watched the two and mumbled after letting out a sigh.
"I expected it, but I guess he really doesn't understand…"
"About what?"
Even though she mumbled it, it was loud enough for a high-ranking hunter to hear it.
When Hyun-Soo asked, Hyuna shook her head and said it was nothing.
"Um, it's nothing. It's something you shouldn't hear."
"Hey, rookie! I heard you went out with the leader."
"Was it a date?"
"If you say yes, I'll kill you."
"All she did was buy me food."
Even though they were smiling, their eyes looked deadly, so Hyun-Soo quickly told them the truth.
When Hyun-Soo denied it, the members looked like they suddenly lost their energy.
All but one of them.
One of them had a bright smile on their face.
"Hey, pay up already."
When Eugene spoke, everyone took out money with an unsatisfied expression and handed it to Eugene.
"Did you guys make a bet?"
"Don't worry about it. They're always like that."
But Eugene said this bet was pretty fun and laughed while waving the money.
Eugene made fun of them because even though they made a bet that it was a date, they were secretly hoping that it wasn't.
"Here's your share."
"My share…?"
Eugene grabbed half of his earnings and gave it to Hyun-Soo.
The members that lost money were depressed for a moment, but felt good when Hyun-Soo confirmed that it wasn't a date and after talking amongst themselves, they walked outside.
"They're really excited."
These days, everyone seemed pretty happy.
He felt the same when Kim Yoo-Na dragged him out and he turned into Cinderella.
The reason.
"We finally took that elder's land! Hahaha!"
The fight went on for a long time and they finally won.
'I think they're happier about making them miserable than taking the actual land.'
As long as they're happy.
Because of this happy atmosphere, the members felt joy even in the smallest things.
And making a bet about Hyun-Soo's outing was part of it.
"Let's go make some money."
"Right. We need to build an airstrip and a control tower."
They had more than enough to build a control tower, but they asked Kim Yoo-Na if they had any requests.
Like a skilled trainer, Kim Yoo-Na calmed them down by saying that she would go get one if they behave.
The joyful atmosphere was maintained for a few days.
And it looked like it would stay that way for a while.
But one day.
While training in the center room, one of the hunters spoke as if they thought about something.
"Oh, I heard we'll be getting the reward for the last request soon. I heard it from the data processing room before coming here, so the news is pretty new. It's possible that we got it already. It'll be a short break before the next request, so why not go somewhere with your sister?"
They recommended that Hyun-Soo rest when he had the chance.
But the person that recommended it trained really hard, so what they said wasn't credible.
That wasn't the important part.
There was something else that caught Hyun-Soo's attention.
'Reward?'
After the training, Hyun-Soo immediately headed back to the dorm.
When receiving money, one must be pious and make sure their body and soul are calm.
"Whew……."
After taking a deep breath, Hyun-Soo checked his bank account.
And then.
"……Oh!"
He almost stopped breathing.
Hyun-Soo completed the request regarding the colorful portal.
It wasn't a hunt where they simply took down a monster and obtained Energy Stones.
So he thought that his share was going to be different from before, but…
'How many zeroes are there?'
It was a large amount.
They must've given the clan a bonus for completing the request and to pay back for the expenses, so the clan probably got a lot more than what was originally offered.
But still, he should've been given a warning for an amount like this.
"What…do I do with this?"
People say that you suddenly lose grip of reality when you obtain a large amount of money.
Hyun-Soo thought about one thing after coming back to his senses.
His parents.
When he looked at the clock, he noticed that it was morning in Korea.
– Ring.
Even though it was an international call, Hyun-Soo didn't mind since he had a lot of money.
Click!
– "Hello?"
"Mom?"
– "Hyun-Soo? Is that you, Hyun-Soo?"
"Yes, it's me. How are you?"
– "We're doing just fine. What about you? Are you okay? You're not doing anything dangerous, right?"
It's been a while since his mother heard Hyun-Soo's voice, so she was really happy.
Since so many things happened when he came, he wasn't able to call often, so he felt a bit bad about that.
Hyun-Soo's mother asked about his well-being, his life within the clan and if he was getting along with the other members.
Even though Hyuna called often and told his mother the things that happened, she was probably still worried.
After answering her questions, she must've felt relieved because she asked why he called.
– "Is something the matter? Why did you call?"