Chapter 165: The Next Day (2)
“The Crimson Sand Island dungeon is well-suited for the young lady.”
Seong Hyunjae spoke as he tore the crust off a slice of bread with unnecessarily elegant movements. Despite being a picky eater who refused to eat crusts, this man was the leader of the number-one Hunter guild in the country.
Sitting across from him, demonstrating equally refined chopstick skills, was a tall and handsome young man—my younger brother, the soon-to-be guild leader of the second-ranked guild. It felt a bit embarrassing to openly praise my little brother, but it was an objective fact. He’s almost frustratingly perfect.
In short, the words exchanged here carried the weight to potentially influence national matters. And as a bonus, I was part of the conversation too.
“If she’s ready for it, of course.”
“She wouldn’t have any trouble clearing a dungeon that Choi Seokwon managed. It’s just a matter of assembling the right team.”
Yuhyun spoke with confidence. Regardless of the situation, he was still a guild leader. Look at him standing up for Yerim. Not that Yerim needed anyone to defend her—she’s more than capable on her own. If the dungeon’s environment matched her abilities, she’d outperform that bastard Choi Seokwon any day.
Yuhyun scrolled through the screen of his smartphone with his finger. He’d asked Seok Gimyung to send over data so he could discuss MKC-related matters with Seong Hyunjae while he was here. These sorts of things needed to be dealt with quickly to extract the most benefit.
With Haeyeon and Sesung being the only guilds currently capable of handling S-rank dungeons, any agreements made between the two would essentially wrap things up. In the past, the Hunter Association might have made a grab for a share, but now they wouldn’t dare.
“Hyung, is there anything you’re interested in?”
“Not particularly… Oh, maybe something for Noah.”
I couldn’t keep having Noah act as a glorified security guard. Of course, if he didn’t want to delve into dungeons, I wouldn’t force him, but I should at least ask if he’d like to form a team. If he did, we’d need to secure a few dungeon management rights for him.
“Do you know of any A-rank dungeons that would be good for poison users? Something Noah could clear solo would be nice. If he forms a team, we’d need to get poison resistance equipment too.”
“You don’t need to look after someone who used to be a guild leader.”
Yuhyun sounded indifferent. I suppose he was right—Noah was experienced enough as a Hunter that I didn’t need to micromanage. Still, I couldn’t help but see him as a bit young. He’s younger than my brother, and I can’t seem to forget the image of him looking like he was on the verge of tears.
“If not Noah, then who else would I take care of? Yuhyun, make sure you recruit a healer. Guild Leader Seong has generously agreed to let us have one.”
Yuhyun cast a suspicious glance at Seong Hyunjae.
“Hyung, you didn’t promise him anything in return, did you?”
“No, I didn’t. He felt bad about not showing his face yesterday and about trespassing in someone else’s house, so he agreed to it. Isn’t that right?”
“If that’s what Han Yujin wants to believe, I won’t argue.”
“In gratitude, I’ll even serve you a drink. We have milk and orange juice, but coffee is self-serve because I can’t be bothered.”
Seong Hyunjae chose orange juice, and I graciously poured it for him with plenty of “hospitality.” The conversation then shifted to which Hunters to recruit. Seong Hyunjae wasn’t interested in many Hunters, mainly because Sesung didn’t particularly need more personnel at the moment. Haeyeon, on the other hand, had the biggest gaps to fill.
“If we’re talking about supplementary roles, this side is better. Choi Seokwon’s main team was unnecessarily complicated, but his sub-team was more well-rounded.”
“I’ve heard similar rumors.”
Seong Hyunjae offered his advice like a magnanimous benefactor, and Yuhyun accepted it without much resistance. While it was a good thing, I couldn’t help feeling a slight twinge of jealousy. It must be nice to be so perfect at everything.
The finalized recruitment list was sent to Seok Gimyung. Looks like Seok Gimyung would be busy with his actual job for a while.
“I suppose I’ll need to visit the Hunter Association because of yesterday’s events. Should I go to the Awakener Management Office instead?”
I fed Belare meat mixed with magic stone powder as I spoke. It was about time I received a message from them.
“Chief Song has gone home for the day, so you’d be fine visiting tomorrow.”
“He went home? That’s unexpected but good news.”
I had assumed he’d stay at his desk until everything was resolved. I had even been considering going over to help him finish up quickly, but hearing that he went home was a surprise.
“I personally escorted him. I also offered to help with breakfast and grocery shopping, but he declined.”
“Don’t go bothering someone who’s already exhausted.”
The idea of the two of them grocery shopping together was so awkward it made me cringe. Where would they even have breakfast? I bet Song Taewon has a strict budget cap on meals. The more I think about it, the more incompatible those two seem. At my comment, Seong Hyunjae made a mock expression of indignation.
“Why is it that people refuse to believe in my good intentions? I even told him that if he overworked himself, I’d bring a chair to his desk and help him organize his paperwork.”
“Looks like Chief Song will get a good rest for today.”
He definitely won’t show up at work today. That’s a relief. Watching my brother clear the table with satisfaction, I suddenly spoke up.
“Haeyeon hasn’t started expanding overseas yet, right?”
“Yeah, we’ve just set up some auction routes.”
That wouldn’t be too different from other guilds, aside from Sesung. I turned my gaze to Seong Hyunjae, who was sipping his orange juice.
“Do you have any ties to Japan?”
“I don’t focus on it much, but I do have some connections there.”
“I’ve taken a liking to a dungeon in Japan, so I’d appreciate your cooperation.”
It was a stamina potion ingredient dungeon, and its strategy phase was nearing completion. I needed to snatch it up before anyone noticed.
In the afternoon, Haeyeon informed me that the S-rank dungeon raid had been successfully completed. Since Yuhyun was supposedly participating in the raid, I shared my stealth skill with him and headed to the dungeon site.
Near the dungeon building, a handful of Association staff and a small group of reporters loitered around. Even for S-rank dungeon raids, unless something exceptional happened, only Association staff would usually show up for confirmation. This time, however, a few reporters had gathered, likely because it was Yerim’s first S-rank raid.
Using the stealth skill, Yuhyun and I bypassed them and entered the building. Thankfully, it seemed Yerim, Peace, and the other Hunters had avoided any major injuries. The moment I spotted Yerim and Peace standing unharmed near the gate, I let out a sigh of relief.
“Mister!”
— Kkiang!
Yerim shouted cheerfully when she saw me, and Peace, reverting to his fluid form, bounded over in excited hops. Overwhelmed with joy, Peace rubbed his entire body against my leg until I picked him up in my arms. Come to think of it, this was the first time we’d been apart for so long. My previous dungeon raid with Yuhyun had ended much faster than usual.
“There, there, Peace. Did you miss Daddy a lot?”
— Kuuuung.
Peace whimpered in a sorrowful tone, flattening his ears completely. His tail wagged so hard it looked like it might fall off. I missed him just as much. Holding him again after so long, I felt an immediate sense of comfort. He was soft, warm, and… wait, did Yerim give him a bath? He was surprisingly clean for someone who had just been in a dungeon.
“Ah, Han Yuhyun! …Guild Leader!”
Yerim’s eyes narrowed sharply as she yelled upon spotting Yuhyun, who had just deactivated his stealth skill.
“You scammer! You tricked me and left on your own!”
…Scammer?
“Didn’t you decide who’d go out based on rock-paper-scissors?”
“That’s true, but Han Yuhyun even included Peace in the game!”
“Peace?”
“Yes! He said, ‘Let’s include Peace too. He’ll only be able to throw out paper because that’s all he can do,’ so I figured scissors would at least get me a draw or a win, and I chose scissors!”
Yerim, looking like an angry lion, glared fiercely at Yuhyun.
“But that jerk threw rock and then claimed Peace wasn’t an official participant! And to be fair, Peace didn’t actually play rock-paper-scissors—he just stared at us—so I guess it wasn’t entirely wrong to call it a forfeit. But still! I should’ve known Peace can’t actually play rock-paper-scissors. I’m an idiot for falling for it, but it’s still unfair. You scammer!”
Yerim’s loud complaints made the Haeyeon guild Hunters quietly retreat to the corners of the room. Her blue shawl fluttered like wings every time she stomped her feet in frustration.
“…Yuhyun?”
My brother looked at me with a shameless expression, as if he didn’t understand what he’d done wrong.
“I told the truth.”
Well, technically, he wasn’t lying about using rock-paper-scissors to decide. After scolding Yuhyun and telling him not to trick people next time, I comforted Yerim. She eventually calmed down after I sided with her, saying Yuhyun was in the wrong.
“Oh, before I forget—put that shawl in your inventory. It’s stolen goods. Was it useful?”
“Useful? It was amazing!”
Yerim shot a glare at Yuhyun but gave me a bright smile. The way her expressions flipped so quickly was almost comical.
“It boosts water attribute strength, has an evasion skill, and even assists with flying. It makes flying faster and dodging attacks while airborne so much easier!”
As expected, it was a good fit for Yerim, who had low defense. Rather than wearing equipment with mediocre defense, focusing on speed and evasion was much better for her.
“You should’ve seen me taking down the boss, Mister. The boss was near a river, so I knocked it into the water, froze it solid, and then shattered it into pieces!”
She proudly recounted her feat, explaining that the monster was weak to cold attributes, so she quickly finished it off on her own using a frost buff. Since Yuhyun had left early on, she’d effectively led the S-rank team herself. She’d done a great job—I couldn’t help but feel proud.
“Did you get along well with Peace? And the other team members?”
“I couldn’t fight alongside Peace since our attributes didn’t match, but wow, he was fast! I really want a monster mount like Peace! I thought I didn’t need one since I have a flying skill, but it makes such a big difference. It also helps conserve stamina and mana.”
I really wanted to raise a monster mount for Yerim, but finding one suitable for her wouldn’t be easy. It would need to have cold resistance, flight capabilities, and be able to function underwater… Did such a monster even exist? My kid’s skills were so outstanding that it was a problem in itself. If worst came to worst, I’d have to get her two separate mounts—one for flight and one for underwater activities.
“Are you okay, Mister? The guild leader left, so it couldn’t have been smooth sailing for you.”
“There were quite a few issues, but as you can see, I’m fine.”
I figured it’d be better to explain the situation with Choi Seokwon later. Why were S-ranks dropping like flies lately? It must be unnerving for the younger S-rank Hunters. Though, to be fair, my brother and I had been the ones to take them down. Still, all of this could’ve been avoided if they hadn’t signed those strange contracts in the first place.
“Should I just dye this thing?”
Yerim asked as she waved the shawl she was about to put away in her inventory.
“Huh? Dye it?”
“Yes. It’s just fabric, so if I change its color, no one would recognize it. It’d be a waste not to use it since dungeons pop up from time to time.”
It was true that if the color changed, it would be hard to recognize at first glance. The shawl didn’t have any distinctive patterns or designs either.
“I don’t know if it’ll take dye, but let’s give it a try. What color do you want?”
“Anything but red. Should we go with black since it’s easy to dye?”
“Isn’t that too dull?”
“It doesn’t show dirt, so it’s perfect.”
Her practical reasoning made me feel oddly sympathetic. She was too young to be worrying about stains and practicality over personal preference.
“Just pick a color you like. Anyway, S-rank equipment doesn’t get dirty easily.”
I wasn’t sure if there were dyes specifically developed for equipment like this. I’d have to look into it.
When I mentioned that reporters were waiting outside, Yerim conjured up a droplet of water to wash her face. Then she pulled out a comb and mirror, saying they were a gift from Hyunah and started tidying her hair.
“I want to change clothes too.”
“If you look too clean and put together, people might criticize you. Especially since this is your first S-rank dungeon raid. It’s better to look like you’ve been through a bit of a rough time.”
“Oh, really?”
Yerim immediately tousled her hair a little to give it a slightly messy look. High-ranking Hunters who earned a lot of money could come across poorly if they made dungeon raids look too easy. While someone like Yuhyun, Seong Hyunjae, or Moon Hyunah might be asked to show a composed, confident image to reassure the public, Yerim was still a rookie and quite young. Adding a narrative of hard work and growth to her image would benefit her in many ways.
If her public image was well-managed now, even if she made a mistake in the future, people would be more likely to overlook it, thinking, Well, the kid’s been working so hard; anyone can mess up.
I advised her to keep the interview short, to show signs of fatigue but maintain a bright demeanor. After giving her some tips on what to say, we headed outside. I was worried there might be some reporters who’d ask inappropriate questions or latch onto her, but thankfully, everything went smoothly. Well, she was an S-rank awakener, after all. No one would dare pull something reckless right in front of her. People like that only target those they see as easy prey.
Yuhyun also managed to convincingly act as though he’d just finished the dungeon raid. Now, it was time to return Hunter Kim Minui to his original self. Hmm, I couldn’t just change him back without any explanation.
–TL Notes–
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