[ Cut Off (1) ]
After Seong Hyunjae left, I had a hard time comforting Noah, who was depressed because he thought he was useless. No matter how many times I told him that I was the one who brought him out and hired him, so it was my responsibility, his sulky expression didn’t ease. I kept explaining that it really was fine, that Noah’s value was immense, and that it was a beneficial deal for me, only then did he seem somewhat convinced.
In reality, I wasn’t at a loss at all. If anything, Seong Hyunjae backing down so easily left me feeling unsettled.
‘He’s an S-rank Hunter after all, and yet he just walked away like that?’
How outrageous could his demands possibly be? Still, nothing was forced. There was no concrete evidence, just a verbal agreement, and he even accepted when I said I’d refuse if it became too much to handle. The terms were still far too favorable for me.
‘He’s not someone who’d make a move unless it benefits him. What’s his plan? Could it really be goodwill?’
Just in case, I checked the status window of My Kid Is The Best skill, but Seong Hyunjae’s name wasn’t there.
‘Maybe I’m being too biased.’
I have no idea. I’ll figure it out once I see what he really wants.
The bigger issue is whether I should keep this from Yuhyun or come clean… Why am I even worrying about something like this? I am the older brother after all. I won’t hide it, but there’s no reason to report every little thing either.
I’ll just tell him if he asks.
There’s no way Yuhyun wouldn’t have heard that Seong Hyunjae had visited, but he didn’t contact me until the evening. I guess from afar, it just looked like he dropped off a flower basket, chatted a bit, and left quietly. It’d be weird to dig into that.
Instead, I got a call from the Hunter Association, pushing me to start producing special skill Awakeners. They also asked when I’d resume the non-Awakener screenings. While I had taken on the task myself, it annoyed me that they were so eager to get the crumbs for free.
If they had just managed the Awakening Center properly, I wouldn’t have had to step in at all.
‘If Song Taewon were still around, the Association would be the same. But I can’t exactly let him die, either.’
Wouldn’t it be better if Song Taewon just took over the Association? Why isn’t the country’s only S-rank Hunter the head of the Association anyway? It’s odd. Why doesn’t that man have any ambition for power? Maybe I should convince him to swallow up the Association, for the sake of the country.
On another note, Yerim told me she was heading into a dungeon and made me promise to hold on to Peace. After running a tough S-rank dungeon with Yuhyun, Peace’s stats were at S even in his smaller form now. With Noah on standby as well, I figured I no longer had to worry about my safety.
—Grrrrr…
Peace rubbed his entire body against my leg, from head to tail, while purring contentedly. It seemed he was quite pleased that Blue wasn’t around. I thought they’d gotten along better, but apparently not.
Blue had settled on the round pergola in the rooftop garden. As she grew bigger, she seemed to feel cramped not only in the house but also in the breeding facility, so she rarely came inside anymore. I was planning to build a griffon nest for her up there. Though she had made her own nest by gathering broken branches and cushions, it wasn’t sturdy enough to withstand wind and rain.
“It’d be convenient if you could shrink your body like Peace.”
Unlike Peace, who had been shrinking during his training period, it seemed Blue didn’t have the ability to revert to a younger form. Comet was also a dragon species, so I wondered if she, too, would want to go outside as she grew.
I uploaded a video of Blue, now much larger, acting cute on social media. Once fully grown, she’d likely want to expand her flight range, which was already concerning. Thanks to Yuhyun’s recent dungeon strategy success, the laws on monster breeding were expected to become more lenient soon. But there would still be plenty of people who’d be uneasy about a massive monster flying around the city.
Maybe I should make more TV appearances to show how gentle and tame our Blue is. There were plenty of requests for me to appear anyway.
‘If that doesn’t work, maybe I’ll just buy some land in a remote area and build a ranch or something.’
A beachside area wouldn’t be bad either.
I was already receiving requests from overseas to breed monsters, but I’d postponed them all for now. The monsters purchased by Haeyeon were also starting to arrive, but I hadn’t brought them over yet. The unicorns had already been registered by the keyword, so once Comet finished her initial training, I’d have to bring the new ones in.
“Chirp, do you want to eat some mana stones?”
—Peep!
Chirp, who had been plucking flowers one by one from the basket on the table, responded briefly. It was a no.
The more I observed, the more I thought Chirp must have split personalities or something. One liked mana stones and bounced around, peeping happily, while the other didn’t eat mana stones and was calm and curious. Personality differences were one thing, but why didn’t the calm Chirp eat mana stones?
Myungwoo appeared much later at night. With my Fear Resistance off, I could feel the slight oppressive heat seeping out of him. It wasn’t menacing, but it was like standing too close to a large, roaring fire. Without Fear Resistance, Ismuar might seem pretty terrifying.
“Are you alright? Are you resting properly?”
“I’m fine.”
Myungwoo said, scratching the back of his head. Though his words were casual, his face showed he couldn’t hide his fatigue. Even with his stats raised, it wasn’t sustainable to push himself like this day after day.
“What are you working on that’s so exhausting? No matter how good the item is, take care of yourself first.”
Clicking my tongue, I opened up the pile of herbal medicine and poured it into a cup for him.
“What I’m working on is more complicated than I thought. I didn’t expect it to take this long either.”
“How long has it been since you made an S-rank weapon, and you’re already trying for SS-rank? If it’s not going well, just work on something simpler to build up your skill and then come back to it.”
“I’ve already started, so I need to see it through.”
He smiled stubbornly, clearly not intending to back down. I had been hoping to go dungeon running with him to level up, but at this rate, it would be a while. I should’ve used My Kid Is The Best to help him improve his proficiency. It would’ve been useful.
“By the way, do you have any more of that bracelet?”
“The bracelet?”
Myungwoo took out five transparent marbles, each the size of a 100-won coin, from his inventory.
“These are just scraps left over after cutting.”
“Cutting? What did you cut?”
“I’ll tell you later. They’re similar to the bracelet from last time.”
I accepted two of them for now. Since they nullified damage, it’d be good for Myungwoo to keep some for emergencies too.
[Shard of Sharlos]
This time, the name was properly attached. Though there was no description of the effect.
“Sharlos? Is that the name of the material you cut?”
“Yeah, something like that. Anyway, I’m busy, so I’ll head out.”
Myungwoo downed the rest of his drink and disappeared as if he were running away. Suspicious, as always. Narrowing my eyes, I stared at the marble in my hand. It felt like I’d seen something similar somewhere before.
“…Whatever the material is, he managed to make an item like this out of the scraps.”
Then what in the world would the finished product be?
‘That Myungwoo guy…’
It’s almost scary. Of course, good items are always welcome, but isn’t he pushing himself too hard? He hasn’t even had the skill for that long, after all.
“Hey. Glad to see you’re doing well.”
The next afternoon, Moon Hyunah, fresh from her dungeon raid, dropped by. I was in the middle of training Blue indoors because she kept trying to mess with the people building her nest.
—Kyaaa!
“Oh, the griffon’s gotten a lot bigger. I need to get my hands on some monster babies soon. Thanks to you, there’s a monster shortage worldwide. They don’t even come up for auction anymore. The supply’s completely dried up!”
I found myself staring at her absentmindedly. What on earth was going on with her hair? She’d shaved about two-thirds of her right side clean, and the rest of her hair was dyed a striking reddish-brown, making it look even more drastic.
“Your hairstyle’s… changed a bit?”
“It got burned that day, remember? I decided to just go all out and cut it.”
Was it that badly burned? Moon Hyunah brushed her hair back with a casual smile.
“How’s it look? Does it suit me?”
“…It does suit you, but didn’t anyone try to stop you?”
“I got a lot of nagging! Especially from the older folks—they weren’t too happy about me showing up as a guild leader looking like this.”
She laughed cheerfully, clearly unbothered by any criticism. Still, it wasn’t the most appropriate look for public appearances. It was cool, though.
…Actually, it really suited her. Personally, I thought this was a better look. She looked awesome.
“Why are you staring like that? Have you fallen for me?”
“It’s worth staring at. And about the monster babies, if you can’t find any, I could try getting them for you on the condition that I look after them first. I’ve been turning down all the recent requests from overseas.”
“Really? Could you keep rejecting them for a while longer? That’d make it easier for me to get some. There are a few overseas guilds with a bunch of high-level monster babies.”
“I’ve been too busy to take on more anyway, so I’ll be turning them down for the time being. Sesung’s also expecting to find some monster babies in the A-rank dungeon they’ve just entered.”
At least the other two guilds had been quiet recently, which was a relief.
“Speaking of which, wasn’t the S-rank dungeon you just cleared a first-run? You must’ve found something good.”
Feigning ignorance, I asked casually. I was pretty sure they’d found the Tears of the White Whale, a consumable item that could grant skills to equipment. It wasn’t Moon Hyunah’s style, though—it was a skill of the ice element. The item had eventually been sold at an auction, causing a huge stir. It was originally won by a bidder overseas, but now, with Yerim around, I was itching to get my hands on it. It would be perfect for her SS-rank Earrings of the Mermaid Queen.
“Of course! We got an elixir!”
“…An elixir?”
“Oh, you probably don’t know much about it. It’s a super rare potion, like an extra life. I think only two have ever been found. This was the first one discovered in Korea.”
I know elixirs are rare… But why did one turn up now?
“What about other items? Like a skill-granting one, for example.”
“Skill-granting? If we’d found something like that, I’d already be bragging about it and using it. We did get an S-rank glove, but it’s not that impressive for its grade.”
…It really didn’t show up. Unlike Yuhyun, who had rushed in with just the two of them, Moon Hyunah’s team had taken their time, ensuring their strategy was just as it had been in my past life. The conditions should’ve been the same.
Confused, I pulled out my phone and checked the results of the recent dungeon raids from the past month. During that time, I had been too busy chasing brokers and trying to awaken, so I hadn’t kept up with dungeon information as closely as I used to. But the few major results I did recall matched up perfectly with my memory. The White Sanctus Shield from the U.S., the Lullaby Book from the Philippines, and the Wind’s Bow from India.
Every famous item and piece of equipment had been found, just like before. So why was Tears of the White Whale missing?
‘Is it because I’ve regressed? Or is there another reason?’
It’s more confusing because everything else is the same. If it’s just a coincidence, that’s one thing… Should I ask the system guys about this too?
After chatting a bit more about monster mounts, Moon Hyunah eventually left, and I sent Yuhyun a text.
[Going into an F-rank dungeon tomorrow or the day after. I’ll be with Peace. It’s not for leveling up.]
[For the system?]
He responded quickly.
[Yep.]
[I’m coming too.]
Isn’t he busy right now? Even if something goes wrong, I should be fine with just one more gate stone for Peace. Plus, I’ve got Myungwoo’s Shard of Sharlos.
Well, either way, I’ll finally get to keep my promise and check out his skill. Let’s just hope nothing happens this time.
Originally, I’d planned to bid on a suitable F-rank dungeon, but since Yuhyun was tagging along, we changed the destination to a Haeyeon-managed D-rank dungeon. If nothing out of the ordinary happens, F-rank and D-rank are pretty much the same at this point anyway.
‘I’m starting to get too used to all this.’
There are just too many S-ranks around me. It’s starting to skew my standards since I only deal with high-level hunters at the breeding facility. It used to be the opposite.
I managed to calm Chirp, who was desperate to come along, and carried only Peace with me as I headed to the parking lot. I felt bad about leaving Chirp behind, but what could I do? There’s no way I could bring along that soft, fluffy little thing without a single piece of equipment. Maybe I should ask Myungwoo if he could make some gear for Chirp. Once he finishes what he’s working on now, of course.
I almost felt sorry for the hunters who were so eager to contact Myungwoo. Some even took shifts guarding the breeding facility, but Myungwoo wasn’t stepping outside anytime soon.
When I reached the parking lot, Yuhyun was already waiting, leaning against the car. He turned toward me as I approached. He was just wearing a simple white summer shirt and comfortable pants, but it looked like something out of a fashion magazine. It wasn’t just the S-rank stats at work either—this guy had always been handsome, even before awakening. He must’ve been born with S-rank genes.
“You still look tired. Are you alright?”
“I didn’t get enough of a nap. But now that Blue’s staying in the garden, I’m fine.”
Once Comet grows, I’ll finally be free. Though who knows when another nocturnal monster will pop up.
We got into the car and set off toward the dungeon building. Look at Yuhyun not buckling his seatbelt. You’d think he’d know better. Shouldn’t the eldest be setting an example?
–TL Notes–
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