[ Found It! (1) ]
After parting ways with Goblin, I headed to the infirmary where Seok Hayan was. On the way, I stopped by the convenience store on the first floor to buy a coffee with less sugar. Was it a get-well gift, or maybe a bribe?
Since she’s going to be a never-ending source of gold in the future, I have to treat her well.
“Is Seok Hayan here?”
In response to my question, the infirmary attendant pointed to a room. After signing the visitor’s log, I entered the room to find Seok Hayan lying in bed. She hasn’t woken up yet. I pulled a chair to the window and sat down.
The weather is nice again today. Soon, it’ll start getting really hot. This year, I can blast the air conditioning without worrying about the electricity bill. The company’s covering the electricity expenses—fantastic.
‘The summer from five years ago.’
Despite all that had happened, it hasn’t even been a full week since I returned to the past. I’ve been quite busy, haven’t I? All because of that incident where Yuhyun tried to confine me… No, actually, it’s because of the title.
‘Once the training ends, I really need to take it easy.’
I came back to live quietly, riding on the coattails of my talented little brother. How did things end up like this?
But when a big catch is right in front of you, you can’t help but cast your fishing rod. Especially when the chances of catching it are around 90% due to having such great equipment. How could you just sit back and watch?
Seeing something desirable makes you covet it. Giving up worldly desires before achieving enlightenment is impossible.
Still, I should be reasonable with my greed.
‘Let’s see, tomorrow we have a guild training session, right? I wonder if they’ll use real monsters here.’
The practical training during the association’s education involved people dressed up as monsters. Naturally, they didn’t give us real weapons. But a guild like Haeyeon would use real monsters and real weapons for training and even go into dungeons.
‘This will be the first dungeon raid after returning.’
Of course, they’ll probably assign well-equipped guardians for a low-level dungeon like F or E, so I won’t have much to do. Maybe A-rank Hunter Kim Jiyeon, who is likely designated as Yerim’s mentor, will tag along.
‘I can finally use my skills on Yerim and Myungwoo.’
Using the skills just before entering the dungeon yields the best efficiency, so I’ve been holding off until now. The problem is that the skill’s duration is only three days.
Yerim will likely keep leveling up by repeatedly entering dungeons with guild support, so that’s fine, but what about Myungwoo? It would be a waste to let two days go by, and one low-level dungeon probably won’t provide enough experience to acquire the skill.
‘I’d like to get him into another dungeon before the three days are up… Should I try to find one on my own? I could ask Kim Seonghan to help with the raid.’
“Grandpa, please grant this one wish.”
While I was lost in my thoughts, Seok Hayan woke up.
“Are you alright?”
“…Han Yujin?”
Seok Hayan sat up and squinted at me. Why is she squinting… Oh.
“Here are your glasses.”
She put on her glasses and gave a small smile.
“Thank you. I’m sorry you got caught up in Goblin’s prank because of me.”
“No, it’s Goblin’s fault.”
“I had prepared a Blue Flame Heart, but I didn’t expect it to appear so quickly. And it was scarier than I thought.”
Seok Hayan shivered slightly. It must have been quite a scare. I handed her the coffee. Her eyes narrowed with a smile behind the lenses.
“The Goblin has left.”
Probably. Honestly, it might still be around here somewhere.
Seok Hayan looked surprised at my words.
“Already?”
“Goblin, your fashion sense is awful. Blue clothes with a red mask? Are you a five-year-old coloring book?”
“Uh, excuse me?”
“No response, so I guess it’s really gone.”
If she was still around, with her personality, she would have said something in frustration. At the very least, she would’ve slapped the back of my head.
“Keep what I just said a secret from Goblin.”
I said seriously, and Seok Hayan chuckled softly.
“That’s a shame. I had a lot of questions. Hunters don’t like revealing their skills, especially special skills. Cases like Goblin’s are rare.”
That’s true. Even I am hiding mine.
“Instead, may I make you another proposal?”
“A proposal?”
She looked at me with anticipation.
“Would you join my research lab? Or cooperate with me?”
“It’s closer to cooperation. But it’s not cooperation between research labs. What I’m offering is information.”
“Information? About dungeons?”
“Yes.”
Seok Hayan had a look that said, “I thought so.”
“So, you have a special source for obtaining information. You knew too much for it to be just personal investigation.”
“You could say that.”
More accurately, it will be available soon.
“As we discussed in the training room, what we currently lack the most is data on dungeons. I will provide that to you, Ms. Seok Hayan.”
“That sounds good, this kind of collaboration. I was considering going abroad.”
“Let’s split the resulting shares 50:50. Do you need any investment?”
Though I’m broke now.
“No, not yet. The most expensive part is gathering data, after all. My heart is already racing, wondering what to research first.”
She spoke excitedly. What to research first, indeed.
“How about starting with the laws of dungeon creation?”
“The laws of dungeon creation?”
“Yes. It’s a field I’ve done some research in. It seems like there are certain rules to dungeon creation. You can even partially deduce information about the dungeon based on creation time, surrounding environment, and location.”
Hearing this, Seok Hayan’s eyes became more serious than ever.
“If that’s true, then it might even be possible to predict where and when dungeons will appear.”
“Uh, maybe?”
Even five years later, we couldn’t predict the time and location of dungeon creation.
Wait, was it really that we couldn’t? Or that we didn’t? Her words made me suspicious.
The American dungeon research institute that Seok Hayan belongs to will discover the laws of dungeon creation and earn tremendous royalty revenue three years from now. While the accuracy of the laws improved later, they never made new research achievements.
Based on that alone, it could be that they couldn’t.
‘Four years from now, the White House and major facilities will relocate.’
As the number of dungeons increased, their ranks went up, and the saturation speed accelerated, causing more damage. Right around that time. Of course, it makes sense to move to safer places during such times.
However, if my memory is correct, the major U.S. facilities never suffered from dungeon breaks even five years later.
‘It wasn’t that they couldn’t do it, nor that they didn’t. They hid it.’
No way. As unbelievable as it sounds, no way.
But if they did hide it, and then announced that they could predict dungeon creation only after rival nations were pushed to the brink…
They could gain far more benefits than if they had announced it during peacetime.
‘… I can’t believe they would do something so crazy. But then again, turning a profit from war or ignoring dungeon threats is no different.’
If half a year, or even just a year, had passed, they could have divided China. Russia’s situation wasn’t great, either. They’d gleefully resume their role as the world’s police, which they had briefly lost, by claiming to protect others from dungeons.
“Ms. Seok Hayan.”
“Yes?”
“I’ll help as much as I can, so please succeed in your research here in our country.”
“I’d be glad to if it’s possible.”
Would she be okay on her own? Should I recruit more researchers? Who are the renowned experts in dungeons? They’d need to have a strong sense of justice or high morals. Or at least be satisfied just doing research.
“Well then, I’ll contact you again next week. Let’s discuss the details then. Can you give me your contact information?”
“Ah, yes. Please give me yours, too.”
After exchanging contact information with her, I stepped outside.
My head felt a bit cluttered with this unexpected suspicion, but it’s not something that’s happened yet. I can change it.
With both Seok Hayan and Goblin, preparations were nearly complete, so there wasn’t much else to do.
‘Maybe I should put aside my greed for royalties.’
It’s not like I desperately need that money, so I might as well do some good for people. Even if those sneaky Americans get annoyed, I’ll just make the information freely available.
… No, I’ll only charge royalties to the arrogant developed nations. Especially Japan—I won’t feel guilty even if I charge them double.
On the second day of rookie hunter training.
Instead of Seok Hayan, another instructor led additional theory education, followed by practical training using real monsters at Haeyeon.
The opponent was a tooth mole caught in an F-rank dungeon. Yerim quickly dealt with it, while Myungwoo was trembling, on the verge of tears, and took an hour to finally stab it with a knife.
As for me, when I pretended to be weak, Yerim broke through the partition and froze the tooth mole. The problem was, she froze it so solid that it became even harder to kill. Slicing through a block of ice with a knife was a pain.
On the third day.
Goblin had yet to make an appearance, and finally, we were about to enter a dungeon. We headed to the raid preparation room early in the morning.
“The equipment you borrow must be returned after the dungeon raid. If lost or damaged, you will have to compensate. However, Hunter Park Yerim is exempt from compensation obligations.”
Said the preparation room staff. At the word ‘compensation,’ Myungwoo, who had been touching the displayed weapons, flinched and withdrew his hand. I really need to fix that timid personality of his. Well, once he gets the SS-rank skill, he’ll naturally become more confident. Just like how grabbing the wheel of a sports car makes you puff your chest out.
‘Should I finally use my “My Kid Is The Best” skill?’
I used the focused single-skill growth on Yerim, who was checking out a battle axe specially prepared for S-rank members. A message window soon appeared… appeared… why isn’t it appearing?
‘… Did the system malfunction?’
What’s going on? Should I try using it again? Just as I was about to, the message finally popped up.
[My Kid Is The Best (L) focused single-skill growth is applied to Park Yerim!
Unacquired optimal skills:
Pale Rain (S)
Frozen Earth (S)
Ice Resistance (A)
Magic Up (B)
Other recommended skills:
Ice Attribute Enhancement (A)
Flame Resistance (A)
Magic Up (A)
Agility Up (A)
Effective Cold Compress (B)
And more
Random skill selection available without restrictions]
… Excuse me, system developer? There’s a typo here. It should be “random” instead of “without restrictions.” And isn’t “random” redundant?
‘You aren’t writing the skill description in real-time, are you?’
If so, that might explain the lack of detail, but surely not. Still, the delay in the message and the typos make me feel strange. Could it really be a god? Or something else entirely?
Knowing wouldn’t change anything, though. Even in the past five years, and even after, countless people have studied what the system really is, but little was revealed. Considering it’s a formidable entity that changed the world as we know it, it’s not surprising that humans couldn’t find even a single hair.
Still, seeing typos makes it seem at least less than omnipotent. I’d love to inform those cultists who claim dungeons and awakeners are gifts from their gods.
‘Let’s finish using the skill.’
There were four optimal skills. I’m not sure how these differ from initial optimal skills, but with two S-rank options, there’s no need to ponder for long.
Pale Rain. This one seems better. I have a gut feeling that acquiring Ice Resistance first would make Frozen Earth better. Without skill descriptions, let’s play it safe.
Upon selecting Pale Rain, another message appeared.
[Conditions for Park Yerim to acquire Pale Rain (S):
Reach level 10 (Progress: 1/10)]
It seems that fulfilling the conditions will allow skill acquisition. The condition is quite simple.
Normally, one gains a new skill every ten levels, so this is basically a basic requirement.
Next, I used the skill on Myungwoo. Various random skills appeared, but there was only one SS-rank option, so there was no need to hesitate.
After selecting the Master of the Golden Forge skill, a message with the conditions popped up.
[Conditions for Yu Myungwoo to acquire Master of the Golden Forge (SS):
Reach level 10 (Progress: 1/10)
Sharpen 10,000 blades (Progress: 17/10,000)]
…At the end of hard work, there is light. Hang in there, Myungwoo.
–TL Notes–
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