[ Older Sister’s Trouble… (1) ]
‘I’ve met all the domestic S-Class Hunters except for one now.’
I poured water into an expensive-looking coffee cup with a packet of instant coffee. Personally, I prefer paper cups, but reducing the use of disposables is the better option.
‘Why hasn’t the last one contacted me yet?’
MKC is probably not in a position to reach out, and according to Chief Song Taewon, Hanshin finds it difficult to approach me as well.
Is the last one, Yun Kyungsu of Sudam, in a similar situation? I’ve scattered some pretty tempting bait, but if the head of a domestic S-Class guild is this quiet, there must be a reason.
‘What should I do about Song Taewon?’
He seems like a good person, but from my position, he’s a tricky opponent. The brand of this coffee mix is unfamiliar, but it’s tasty. A bit sweet, though.
‘It would be a waste to let him die, but if he stays alive and well…’
He’ll be the biggest obstacle to Haeyeon swallowing up the Hunter Association. The starting point for the Association’s decline, which had the backing of the government, was none other than Song Taewon’s death.
With no S-Class Hunters around and dungeon difficulties rising, it was only natural for the Association to weaken. They had no choice but to reluctantly hand over the management of S-Class dungeons to the big guilds. Eventually, Sesung disappeared, and Haeyeon steadily absorbed the remaining space, devouring everything in its path.
‘That’s why Yuhyun was also suspected.’
Not long after Song Taewon’s death, Sesung abruptly left Korea, leading to rumors that it was Seong Hyunjae who killed him. However, Haeyeon also seemed suspicious based on the circumstances.
‘Song Taewon’s personality isn’t the type to settle for a compromise, and he would’ve continued clashing with the guilds.’
Should I try applying a keyword or something? But he’s a tough opponent to throw a joke at. If I say something poorly, he’ll come back with a response so serious that I won’t want to try again.
For now, I’ll wait and see since I still have some time.
I also need to get the key and gather my belongings, so I decided to head back to the Haeyeon Guild. Of course, before that, I had to erase the handprints on my neck. It’d be annoying if anyone noticed.
‘A mirror… Where’s the restroom again?’
I think I saw one near the lobby. I grabbed a potion and started heading to the lobby. At this hour, no one should be inside the building except for the breeding facility.
“Han Yujin?”
It was Kang Soyeong. She was holding a five-tier cat tower in one hand and five large shopping bags in the other. I had completely forgotten about her. Instinctively, I covered my neck, but—
Thud.
The cat tower fell, followed by the shopping bags, and in the blink of an eye, Kang Soyeong was right in front of me. She pushed my hand away from my neck and pulled out her phone.
“What happened? Where’s my Guild Leader and Yerim?”
“I sent them ahead.”
“I can understand about Yerim, but why would the Guild Leader leave?”
Kang Soyeong tilted her head and snapped a picture of me with her phone.
“Why are you taking a picture?”
“I need to file a complaint. And I have to report this to the Guild Leader.”
“It’s fine! Don’t call him! Nothing happened, seriously.”
“Nothing happened, and yet there are handprints on your neck?”
“Well, Chief Song Taewon was just worried about me, in his own way…”
Kang Soyeong’s expression grew more doubtful. Yeah, it does sound crazy even to me.
Anyway, I managed to persuade her not to say anything. I also got her to delete the photo. Even then, she gave me lukewarm stares as she escorted me back to my dorm room.
No one was home. The kids had been moved to the breeding facility, Peace had gone with that bastard Yuhyun, and Myungwoo was locked up in the forge.
It’s been a while since it’s been this quiet. It’s better to have someone around. Maybe that’s why people keep pets.
I wrote “Preparing for the move” on the whiteboard hanging in the living room. Myungwoo spent more than half of his day in the forge, and since cell phones didn’t get reception inside his subspace, we communicated through notes like this. He usually checked it once every hour or so.
‘Most of my stuff is still packed.’
With all the necessities already taken care of, there wasn’t much need to unpack. Once we moved, I’d sort through everything and throw out what wasn’t needed.
I packed all my belongings into boxes and brought them into the living room, cleared out the refrigerator with an icebox since it’s summer, and gathered the few extra things the kids had accumulated.
As I was doing that, Myungwoo showed up, radiating heat like he’d just come from working.
“You got everything packed?”
“Yeah, more or less. Now I just need to ask for help moving.”
“There’s no need.”
Myungwoo pulled out a string from his inventory. It looked like silver metal strands twisted together, and it began to extend, coiling around the boxes. Then, the string and the boxes floated into the air.
What in the world did he make this time?
“I’ll store this in the forge, and we can retrieve it once we arrive.”
“Oh, you can use it like that too.”
That’s a cheat skill. Wait, could this be used in a dungeon too? Like, storing people in the forge beforehand, or sending in more people than the allowed number by hiding low-stat healers inside and pulling them out only when it’s safe.
“Can you store people in there too?”
I asked Myungwoo as he came back out after storing the boxes.
“No, unfortunately, living things get automatically ejected when I’m not around.”
Damn, that’s disappointing. If Myungwoo could reach even stat A, he’d be incredibly useful, with healers and low-stat support being carried safely even into high-level dungeons.
Though, he’s busy enough just making items.
The mini portal key and the inner door key were with Kim Seonghan. With Yuhyun gone, Seonghan was essentially acting as the Guild Leader, being one of Haeyeon’s original members and its new S-Class Hunter.
After receiving the key, I went to Seok Gimyeong to process my resignation, only to be suddenly confronted by Yerim, her eyes blazing.
“Mister, you can’t do this! You promised you wouldn’t go anywhere else!”
Ah, that’s right. Seok Gimyeong was nodding behind her.
“It’s just the building next door. Are you done with class?”
“It’s break time. Even if it’s the building next door! Quitting makes it real—you’re actually leaving. Can’t you just stay? You said you wanted to keep the dorm room as a backup.”
“But is that really okay?”
“It’s fine.”
Seok Gimyeong quickly answered.
“You haven’t had any real duties as a regular employee anyway. Haeyeon has plenty of Hunter employees, and since you hold a Hunter license, there’s no clause against dual employment.”
“Keep your promise, Mister! At least until my contract ends!”
Yerim practically yelled, her eyes burning as if she’d grab me by the collar any moment now. With her acting like that, there wasn’t much I could do. A promise is a promise.
In the end, I kept my general staff contract with Haeyeon. In fact, thanks to Yerim’s insistence that I might suddenly bolt again, we extended it to three years. Not that it made much difference—it was just a matter of keeping my name on the roster.
Back at the breeding facility, I finally stepped into my new home. Although the master keys were still in the hands of the Guild Leaders, the system was set so that if someone tried to break the door or enter without a key, an alert would go off to each guild. I guess it’s like living in a multi-family building.
“This place is nice.”
They said it’s smaller than the first floor, but the first floor is ridiculously large. This place is still huge. Because of the flying monsters, the ceiling was double the normal height. There was even an open loft with a railing that looked perfect for Blue, who loves high places.
Aside from the living room for people, there was a separate area for monsters, almost like a small gym. For safety, there were no windows, but instead, an entire wall was made of a special glass screen that showed a live view of the rooftop garden outside. The other window-like screens worked the same way. Depending on the time and weather, the lighting adjusted to mimic natural light.
The kitchen was also divided into its own section, and as I requested, a sturdy door had been installed. This would solve the issue of Blue raiding the refrigerator.
-Screech! Screech!
Even though we’d just moved again, Blue showed no hesitation and was already excited, soaring up to the loft and letting out loud cries. Good thing I don’t have to worry about the noise.
-Chirp.
Chirp, who had gotten an ankle ring thanks to Comet, ran up to the screen showing the garden and sat down in front of it. It looked like the view suited him. I should take him outside tomorrow.
The baby dragon was still asleep, so I left its nest on the table.
“Myungwoo, you’ve already moved, right?”
I asked Myungwoo, who was helping me unpack.
Myungwoo’s new home was on the top floor of the building, a penthouse of sorts. While the building wasn’t tall, the place was incredibly luxurious. His new team, led by Park Hayan, also stayed there.
“Yeah. It’s really nice. But it’s so big that it feels empty living alone… Honestly, it’s a bit lonely.”
So that’s why he kept staying in the dorm.
“If you’re bored, feel free to drop by. Want a spare key?”
At my words, Myungwoo’s face lit up.
“Really? That’d be great! But isn’t the key only supposed to go to Guild Leaders?”
“I have a spare. And there’s no one else I’d give it to. You’re the most reliable, honestly.”
Yuhyun is the Guild Leader, so once he’s back from the dungeon, he’ll manage Haeyeon’s stuff on his own. I wonder if Yerim will complain when she finds out I gave a key to Myungwoo.
I gave Myungwoo both the mini portal key and the house key. He accepted the keys like they were treasures and stored them carefully in his inventory.
“Oh, by the way, do you have time to make me some mental power-increasing equipment? It’d be nice if it also had magic as a sub-stat. High-grade equipment that increases mental power is way too rare.”
“Of course, no problem. But why mental power after magic? What about your other stats?”
“The rest of my stats are fine with what I have now.”
It’s more than enough for training the kids. The young monsters only have about C-Grade stats anyway. But mental power and magic are needed for higher-tier skills, and I’ll likely be using them on S-Class targets. Who knows when I’ll need to use the teacher skill again, but to avoid collapsing, I need to boost those as much as possible. Also, higher mental power might reduce the side effects of fear resistance.
I considered testing out fear resistance, but the thought of my little brother stopped me. Having fear resistance made it manageable, but without it, I’d probably be too distracted and angry to focus. Not just because of Yuhyun, but Peace is still inexperienced. Seriously, that kid…
“Magic and mental power, got it. I’ll make it for you as soon as I finish my current project.”
“What are you working on?”
“That’s a secret for now.”
Myungwoo grinned mischievously. I remember it didn’t take him long to craft S-Class weapons, so could he already be working on SS-Class equipment?
Once the unpacking was mostly done, Myungwoo headed back to the forge. I have a feeling he’ll just end up coming back to my place instead of going to his own home.
And in the meantime, I received a text message on my phone.
[Hello, honey, I’m coming to Korea tomorrow :)]
It was Liette. She also sent what seemed to be the contact information for her brother. After grumbling about how Yuhyun wouldn’t let her contact me personally, she finally texted. I guess after personally giving me the translation item, it’s not like I could keep avoiding her. The breeding facility was complete, after all.
‘Looks like we might start getting visitors from overseas soon.’
Hopefully, we’ll get some S-Class Hunters who are good for using the keyword skill. Even though I was told I could take my time, I still want to hit 50 and be free as soon as possible.
Bang!
-Screech!
‘What the?!’
I woke up to a loud noise. I checked the time—it had just passed midnight. Chirp was sound asleep, so was it Blue? It’s unusual for him to be awake after sunset.
Thud!
Ah, hell. I hurried out and went up to the loft where Blue had made her nest. The young griffon was fast asleep, nestled between the shredded remains of a cushion. Her neatly folded wings rose and fell in rhythm with her breathing.
If it wasn’t Blue, then, could it be…?
-Screech!
Comet, maybe? Comet, who hadn’t woken up all day, was in the monster room, safely inside her glass enclosure. I headed down and turned on the light.
-Screech!
Flutter!
The young dragon, flapping about wildly, landed on my head, wrapping its tail around my ear. I hadn’t locked the enclosure, but I did close the door. Did she know how to open it?
“Comet!”
At my call, she slid down my neck and shoulders, latching onto my arm. She stared at me with eyes that were, surprisingly, very clear and alert. Much more so than during the day.
“You’re… nocturnal, huh?”
-Screech!
Great.
–TL Notes–
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