Chapter 9

<>Old Friends Starting Today >

That slightly stooped man who looked like he’s been worn down by the vicissitudes of life had an acquisition failed skill that was no less than SS-Rank!

It was obvious just from looking at the name that it was a special skill related to production . Wow, even 5 years later, not even one person came out with an equipment production skill . To think that I would see that here .

Special skills were already normally rare, and after the Awakening Centers were made, they completely disappeared[1] . This was because the Awakening Center’s Awakening method was to battle in a virtual reality . Later, virtual realities for healer use were made, but that was it .

This was why Awakened People from the Awakening Center had 70% combat skills, and 29% healing skills . The remaining 1% were also mostly combat-assistance skills, and special skills were about one in a million .

‘Anyways, awesome! Seriously awesome!’

If I raise that person, there was that issue of having to say that damned keyword, but it was too much of as waste to give up . First, thinking we should introduce ourselves to each other, I was going to go chase after the man going the opposite direction .

Tap .

The scruff of my neck grabbed . That guy Sunghan, treating me like some puppy[2], lightly picked me up and pulled me away, and said in a displeased voice .

“You’re trying to go somewhere again . Without saying anything . ”

I had to report on this too? It felt like I was a 5-year-old who came out to buy groceries with his mom .

“It’s just… I thought I saw someone I know . I was going to go say hello . ”

So let me go . Sunghan let me go, telling me that I should tell him beforehand, and while that was happening, the SS skill acquisition failed man got that much further away .

No, wait up .

“Hey! Myeongwoo!”

I yelled hard . Yoo Myeongwoo, who was about the turn around the corner, stopped and turned his head .

I put on an extremely pleased expression and walked over to him in big strides .

“You’re Myeongwoo, right? Yoo Myeongwoo . It’s been so long!”

As I made a fuss and pretended I knew him, Yoo Myeongwoo was taken aback and searched my face . Of course, even if he looked, he wouldn’t know me . This was our very first meeting .

“Um… who were you . I’m sorry, but I can’t remember well……”

It’s okay . I don’t remember you either .

“You don’t remember? Han Yoojin, Yoojin . ”

“…Sorry . I really don’t remember . ”

“It’s been too long, so it makes sense . I wasn’t sure either . Have you been well all this time? Did you also Awaken?”

As I spoke, lightly hitting Yoo Myeongwoo’s shoulder, he put on a bashful expression .

“Yeah . F-Rank, though . ”

“Stats and skills both?”

“My skills are E… but not enough to go into a dungeon . I just came to get the subsidy at least . ”

A weak smile flickered across Yoo Myeongwoo’s face . Even just looking, it seemed like he was in tough circumstances .

“I’m FE too! But we still get Hunter licenses . It’s a lot better than FF . ”

I whispered the last part . At my words, Yoo Myeongwoo showed a slightly brighter smile .

“Since you’re FE, you must have requested a basics program?”

At my question, he shook his head .

“No . I didn’t . The training expenses are free but they said I had to pay boarding costs every week… The basics program doesn’t give out subsidies, and with my abilities, I don’t think I’ll be able to attack any dungeons, so I might as well use the time to job-hunt . ”

I thought of me before the regression . If it weren’t for my debts, I might have also given up and run around the job front unremarkably . Since going and attacking a dungeon with only E-Rank buff skills was a really stupid thing to do .

So I…… sold the Haeyeon Guild Leader and got party members . It was definitely a scam, and my reputation definitely hit rock bottom . Back then, rather than helping out, I cursed out Yoohyun a lot, saying I would turn him away .

Let’s self-reflect . I shouldn’t do that again… but rather, even now I was still constantly lying . This is okay because it’s to help us get along!

“Still, it’s a waste . Do you want to get training with me at my guild?”

“Hm? Your guild- . ”

“Han Yoojin-ssi . ”

Kim Sunghan, who was silently standing a bit apart from us, cut in with a frown . Yoo Myeongwoo, who had only just noticed him, shrunk his neck like a frightened turtle .

“Only guild members can receive rookie Hunter training . ”

“Ah[3], can’t you stick in just one little person[4] . And his personality is good . Kind and really good with his hands . ”

You’re like this because you don’t know, but this guy was really awesome . He was a completely genuine person, but I couldn’t explain .

“But- . ”

“Then I’ll ask Yoohyun, and if he says no, I’ll give up . ”

As soon as I took out my cell phone, Kim Sunghan was floored .

“He’s busy!”

“If he doesn’t pick up the phone, then later- . ”

[What is it? Did you finish the Awakened Person registration?]

Yoohyun picked up the phone after just two rings . It was fast .

“Yeah . I finished . I bought contracts too . But can you let my friend participate in Haeyeon Guild’s rookie Hunter training?”

[Friend? Besides that, let him receive Hunter training?]

“Wouldn’t receiving it be better? Just in case . ”

[Hmm . Okay . I’ll send out word . You’re coming right back, right?]

“Some guy completely shook down my house so where else would I go . ”

Yoohyun laughed . Don’t laugh, you brat . If you broke even one cup, I’ll file for compensation… or rather, I’ve already gotten a billion won .

“It’s fine, right?”

I looked up at Kim Sunghan after hanging up the phone . His unhappy expression was obvious but he didn’t say anything and stepped back a couple of steps .

“Say, Haeyeon Guild’s Guild Leader, how do you…”

“He’s my dongsaeng . ”

Yoo Myeongwoo’s eyes were full of awe and envy . Our Yoohyun is pretty impressive, huh, haha .

“If you complete the Guild, not Association, rookie training, it’s a lot easier to get party members . For F-Rank beginner dungeons, stats and skills are about the same so experience is the most important . What initial skills did you get?”

“Whetstone . It gives 2% more sharpness to weapons that have blades . ”

“So it’s a weapon buff skill . It’s definitely vague . Still, you can endure up to D-Rank with equipment . Should I lend you one?”

If you plastered C-Rank equipment on yourself, F-Ranks could go around E-Rank dungeons . I was also F-Rank, but I’ve been to even D-Rank dungeons . Though I was nearly killed by the Lauchtas .

But it’s hard to cover dungeons starting from C-Rank with just equipment .

“E-equipment…?”

Yoo Myeongwoo had an astonished expression . Well, for Hunter equipment, even F-Ranks went for hundreds of thousands of won . To depend on equipment, you had to wear one that was higher than your own rank, and then you could beat a dungeon as easy as breathing[5] .

For example, I spent several hundred millions to buy equipment .

It was obvious that readily lending something like that was shocking . I put on my kindest smile with all my might .

“I can’t go into dungeons often anyways . But isn’t it a waste to leave it unused? I’m just lending you something that’s idle so don’t worry about it . ”

“But… I don’t even remember you well……”

“You really don’t have to worry! And you’re a good guy . A really good guy . ”

He was a talent whose skill was so so good that it had two S’s . If Yoo Myeongwoo’s skills were discovered, then would a few equipment be a problem; if he waved a contract filled with all sorts of conditions, the whole world would come running .

“At least, I think you definitely have enough value to receive this kind of treatment, so just accept it . There’s nothing bad about it, right?”

“R-Really…”

It looked like Yoo Myeongwoo’s two eyes were squinting when,

Plop plop[6]

Large drops of tears[7] fell . Uh, oh[8]?

“Really, I… am someone with value?”

“T-that’s right . I do think that . ”

“Uhheuheuk-![9]”

Yoo Myeongwoo started to cry as if a swelling dam had burst . He wailed as he made hitching noises .

W-what do I do? Should I comfort him?

“…A lot must have built up all this time . ”

As I clumsily patted his stooped back, he let out a sob and suddenly pulled me over to hug me .

Hey, hey . Calm down a little . It was really embarrassing .

With a plop, a paper cup fell from a vending machine . Then coffee filled the cup . I took out the coffee and looked at Yoo Myeongwoo who was sipping coix seed tea .

His face was wretched .

Of course, both his eyes were blood-shot, and not just his face but even his nape was red with heat . His appearance, caked with tear tracks, looked like that of a begger who was completely beat up and chased out, but his expression looked a lot more refreshed .

“Have you calmed down a little now?”

Sitting on a bench next to the vending machine, he bashfully nodded his head . I took a sip of coffee as I sat down next to him on the bench . What use is there to be able to tell the difference between coffee bean varieties, vending machine coffee was the best .

“I won a lot of awards when I was young, remember?”

Yoo Myeongwoo opened his mouth, while looking at someone taking a walk behind the Association building . The weather was quite nice .

“Like you said, I was really good with my hands . ”

“Yeah, I know . The best . ”

If the talent was good enough to get a SS-Rank production skill, then it definitely was .

“But it’s useless for living . When I was young, people would say ‘you’re doing great’, but when my head got a little bigger, they’d say to stop playing around and study . And that I have to do well on tests, and go to a good college, and get a good job . There was no time for the talent I got praised for, and such . ”

He continued in a calm voice .

“If my family’s circumstances were better off, I might’ve been able to find a path using my talent . But there was no breathing room . I didn’t have a talent for studying, and after going to a so-so college, I just had a lot of debt . College branded[10], grades branded . After that, I found I didn’t have anywhere to go . ”

With his sigh, there was a bitter taste in my mouth .

I also knew it well, that . Even before Awakened People and Hunters appeared, the world also had ranks . They didn’t openly hand out S to F, but ranks were assigned as soon as you were born .

The so-called gold spoon and dirt spoon[11] . Just like Awakening stat ranks, you were different from the start .

Of course, there were people born into a poor family who made their own fortunes . But the majority stayed the same . Even if you tried, you wouldn’t be able to rise much and most had to stop .

‘Would initial skills be talents?’

If the circumstances don’t measure up, a talent doesn’t bloom in the end .

Like how everyone pushes you to study and divides you in ranks[12], the Awakening Center would also push you toward combat or healing and choose ranks . In the end, even SS-Rank skills like Yoo Myeongwoo’s in front of me would be buried and disappear .

As a Hunter, F-Rank, to society, F-Rank .

Ah, I want to crack open a bottle of soju[13]~ .

“It’s been a long time since my parents divorced, and I’m a useless bum . Do you know how I Awakened? I was trying to kill myself . ”

Yoo Myeongwoo giggled . It was more serious than I’d thought .

“I was cutting my wrist with a knife when I Awakened . Ah, I’ll get a million won . With that thought, I felt relieved . ”

A million won . It wasn’t a little, but it wasn’t a lot either . It was an amount that would disappear through living expenses in a couple of months if you didn’t have a decent job .

…I wonder what happened to the Yoo Myeongwoo before my regression . Only briefly happy after getting the million won, as an F-Rank with assistance skills that he couldn’t go around a dungeon properly with, just how much longer would he have survived?

“With the million won, I can eat properly for once . And… after that I didn’t really think of anything so I was just going to let things happen on its own . But you told me . ”

He said while crumpling the empty paper cup .

“That I have value . That I should continue living, that a path is set out for me, that I deserve a hand held out, that I have kind of value, so it’s okay . ”

…With that, he might cry again . I uselessly cleared my throat . I was just trying to hit jackpot but now I was starting to feel ashamed .

“I don’t act like that with just anyone . I was like that because you’re really a great guy . ”

“Thanks . Really . ”

Yoo Myeongwoo rubbed away tears that were starting to form again with his fist . The atmosphere was quite good . If it wasn’t now, another good opportunity might not appear .

Fine, let’s do this .

“Our lives were sort of miserable . Mine wasn’t smooth either . After my parents passed, trying to survive with my dongsaeng, I had to quit school . Still, my dongsaeng was lucky to Awaken as S-Rank, but I’m a lowly F-Rank . To tell you the truth, I was re~ally jealous of my dongsaeng . ”

As I was talking, I unconsciously bared my heart .

“Still . Other people sneer at you saying that you ruined your life . We don’t have to put ourselves down as well, right? It’s hard enough to live when you have confidence, if you’re timid then you get into trouble[14] . ”

If your mind becomes a mess because your life is a mess, you’ll fall lower than rock bottom . Just by throwing out my inferiority complex, my life changed a lot .

“Is there any need to break our necks looking up? Just live thinking ‘I’m actually amazing, others just don’t recognize it’ . And loving yourself . I love this amazing me!”

Rather than meaninglessly working hard for nothing[15], a mental victory is better . Smiling exaggeratedly, I looked at Yoo Myeongwoo .

“Yoo Myeongwoo, I love you too, my friend!”

That guy laughed and I laughed . A Messaged Window popped up .

[Awakened Person ‘Yoo Myeongwoo’ has been influenced by the keyword!]

[1] lit . ‘as if the seed has dried up’

[2] 개새끼, 개 = dog, 새끼 = (lit . ) offspring – but remember how it’s also an insult? Yeah, 개새끼 also means something like ‘son of a bitch’

[3] the actual sound is ‘ey-ee’ (or like the letter ‘a’) which is a sound you make when you’re (often playfully) refuting something . There’s no eng equivalent that I can think of, but the sound itself sounds like ‘ey’ which has a… different meaning in eng, so I just replaced it with something else

[4] the actual word means something like ‘someone who isn’t involved but keeps on inserting themselves’ but that’s a little awkward to put in so I just used a similar eng phrase ‘one little person’ . Ok I know they’re not that similar but I did my best .

[5] lit . “several hundreds to more than a thousand [times] lightly”

[6] ‘too-deuk’ in krn

[7] lit . ‘tears like chicken droppings’

[8] ‘uh-ra’ = a sound that’s used in situations like ‘what do we have here’/‘oh?’/‘huh?’

[9] crying noises

[10] in the old days, people who did something bad were branded somewhere obvious (I think on their face?) as punishment and to let other people know they are bad . He’s referring to that .

[11] gold spoon refers to what is called ‘silver spoon’ in eng (as in ‘born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth’) and you can guess what dirt spoon would mean, then

[12] in korea, at least up to my parents’ gen, idk about now, schools would rank their students according to their grades (as in, the best student is 1, 2nd best is 2, etc . )

[13] Korean rice wine/alcohol, though nowadays it’s also made with non-rice starches .

[14] lit . “roll in mud”

[15] lit . ‘digging the ground’