Chapter 71

“Ahjussi, ahjussi, ahjussi!!”

As soon as I turned in the hallway, I met Yerim, who had just come out of the elevator . I had heard that she was going to a B-Rank dungeon attack, but it seemed like she had already finished . She must’ve washed at the maintenance room and came up, because she was wearing a short sleeves and shorts tracksuit and her hair was damp .

“So that’s the new monster you brought over!”

“Yeah, this is the Gold Gryphon, Blue . ”

“Cute! Can I trying hugging it?”

Peace hated it, but wouldn’t Blue be okay? And she was already sending a gaze filled with curiosity toward Yerim .

-Kkyaa!

When I held her out from where I was holding her in my arms, she flapped over to Yerim on her own . Yerim spread her arms open wide and pulled Blue over into a hug .

“S~o cute! And the fur is soft too! There’s a slight ice cream smell?”

Since it was right after eating through a huge container .

-Kkyaoo kkya!

“Peace had golden beans[1] but this one has pink beans? Look at the bottoms of the paws, I want to bite them! Blue~ . ”

Maybe she had understood she was getting affection, because Blue’s tail whirled like a fan . She was an eagle plus lion, but this guy was like a puppy who liked socializing .

“Truthfully, ahjussi’s naming sense is like an ahjussi’s . ”

“……What?”

“Putting aside Peace, what’s Chirpie and Blue? I head the unicorns were White and Black . They aren’t countryside dogs, so to think that it’s Whitey and Blackie[2] – it’s completely like an ahjussi . ”

“I-it’s intuitive, and they’re short and good, aren’t they?”

They were easy to understand and convenient things were the best… was thinking that way like an ahjussi? I mean, even considering before the regression, I was only thirty .

“But where are you going? To the training room?”

“To meet Hunter Association people . ”

“Ah, then I’ll go with you! These days you only go with Guild Leader! The one who’s supposed to protect ahjussi is me . ”

“You were busy going into dungeons . ”

And from now on, she would get even busier . Since she had to make her own S-Rank team . As expected, I should help out a bit .

I entrusted Blue to the Hunter on duty today, and then went down . When I met Yoohyun, I thought that this guy wasn’t doing any work at all compared to Yerim . At this guy’s level, going with me was like going on an outing, not going to an attack .

“Haven’t you not gone into a dungeon at all lately? You don’t have to manage S-Rank dungeons?”

If it was a low grade S-Rank dungeon that you had perfect attack information for, it was possible to attack with just an A-Rank team, but besides that, an S-Rank Hunter was necessary . The number of S-Rank dungeons that Haeyeon was managing was probably still small, but it wasn’t to the extent of being able to play around .

“I do have to go within ten days . ”

Yoohyun said, looking at me with worried eyes .

“Once I start attacking an S-Rank dungeon, I have to be gone for at least a week, so I was putting it off as much as possible . Me being… distant from hyung was also largely due to the S-Rank dungeon attack time . Since, once I go into a dungeon, I obviously can’t pay attention . ”

The length of an S-Rank dungeon attack was at minimum a week, in cases where there was attack information . If it was a first attack, it could get to over one month . If the characteristics match was bad, it could take fifteen days even if there was enough information .

Having to leave for that long of a time periodically was one of the biggest weak points of a guild that had an S-Rank Hunter as a guild leader . Since, not only the guild leader, but even the elite high rank Hunters had to leave their places empty . On top of that, contact wasn’t possible, and you couldn’t come out in the middle . Though later, if it was a giant guild, they had two or more S-Rank Hunters by default, so that weak point disappeared .

“Now there is me, so why don’t you quickly go, Yoohyun oppa . ”

Yerim said, clinging onto my arm .

“I will take good care of ahjussi . All this time, I have diligently gone into dungeons, so I can take a vacation for around ten days and stick close to him . While we are at it, do you want to look my skills, and do you want to go into a dungeon together? Or how about a escape room cafe? I have always wanted to go, but I couldn’t because it was expensive . ”

An escape room cafe . I haven’t been to one either .

“Yoohyun, have you ever gone?”

“…What is that?”

……Gosh, was that something a twenty-year-old should say? I felt like I could cry for him . Wasn’t it the height of when he should be playing around, well-informed about the trends?

“You come too . ”

“Ah, I was going to go with just ahjussi!”

“That guy said he hasn’t ever been either . ”

“……Okay . Since we’re not going to go just once . Then, since we’re going out anyways, should we go today?”

“If there’s nothing big, then let’s do that . ”

I nodded my head lightly and got into the car .

The place we arrived at after driving fast for a long time, wasn’t the Hunter Association, but the Awakening Center that still wasn’t open yet . Unlike the Association building, it was located in the outskirts of Seoul and would carry out the function of the Association in an emergency .

That building next to the round dome-shaped Awakening Center was the same as Hunter Association No . 2 . Specifically, the Awakening Center was stuck in belatedly . It was still thought of as just a new Hunter Association building by the public .

“I will go look for a cafe with good reviews!”

Yerim said, waving her arm to send us off .

When I looked at the new smooth exposed building, I felt a little unsettled inside . It was place I didn’t have good memories of . It was the opposite . The steps that hadn’t been stepped on much, were glossy . There was nothing in the surroundings . Not the fluttering banners, nor the gathered journalists .

It was quiet .

“What are you doing not going in?”

When I stopped and stood, Yoohyun turned to look at me suspiciously .

“I was just looking around . ”

I replied like it was nothing and walked on . It was place I didn’t want to come to again, but it didn’t feel that bad . It could’ve been thanks to it being disappeared matters, and it could’ve been because of the Fear Resistance .

“Anyways, I told you to be nice to Myeongwoo, but why did you go and pick a fight?”

I asked, going up the stairs . What were you going to do if he didn’t make you a weapon because of that?

“It wasn’t a fight; I was checking what he thought of hyung . Since there’s something hyung deceived him about . Just in case, if he seemed like he would resent hyung for that, I can’t just let it go . ”

“You replied well when I told you not to bother him . ”

“It’s dangerous because the skill is so good . ”

“Myeongwoo isn’t a guy who would do something like that, and I’m going to confess it to him first . ”

“If you happen to fall out, definitely tell me . Don’t hide it . ”

“……Ok . ”

Though I thought that he wouldn’t be hostile even if it was possible for us to become distant . Still, in the unlikely case we fell out, like Yoohyun said, he was a dangerous opponent .

It would probably be okay… but should I have been better to him?

We opened the door and went inside . Inside the building was also completely empty . The long desk still had plastic covering it . I wondered if they needed to call us over to here if it was like this . Why didn’t they just call us over to the close-by main Association building? Except for the guide standing in front of the entrance to the hallway a bit away, there wasn’t anybody . We joined him and went along the hallway .

“This is the center of the Awakening Center, the Awakening Room . ”

When we passed the long hallway, the guide spoke, stopping at the round lobby . Besides the entrance we came through, there were five doors in all directions . At that time, it looked cramped, but it was quite wide, seeing it now when it was completely empty .

Inside the Awakening Room was still incomplete . We went around, looking around, and then went toward the place where the Hunter Association Head and other high up people were waiting .

“The A-Rank, B-Rank Hunters whom Hunter Han Yoojin has sent, have safely Awakened . ”

The vice-head, who looked a little younger than the Association Head, said . Two Hunters’ profile data was placed in front of me .

While I was looking for special skill holders, I sent the A-Rank, B-Rank combat aptitude Unawakened People I found additionally, to the Association . It was to prove my skill and get the Awakening Center related cooperation .

Looking at the data, the A-Rank had gotten two of the three optimized skills, and the B-Rank had gotten all three . As expected, it was relatively easy for combat aptitudes to optimally Awaken .

“As you can see, five of the six skills you have told us of ahead of time, also safely appeared . As you have advised, we created situations that fit the abilities they were expected to have according to their skill names . One of Hunter Kang Donghoon’s B-Rank skills is regretful, but Hunter Han Yoojin’s Unawakened People status window checking skill’s ability was certainly authentic . ”

“Then, I suppose I can expect an affirmative answer . ”

Since I tossed you high rank Hunters, pay the price .

“If Hunter Han Yoojin safely Awakens special skills as well, even if we try not to, we can’t help but cooperate, right?”

This time, the Association Head spoke .

“No, it’s even welcome for a system to be made so that visitation to the Awakening Center can only be possible after receiving status window verification from Hunter Han Yoojin . What do you think of making something like an Unawakened Person aptitude checking center?”

“…I think that is a little excessive . ”

Were you thinking of working me to the bone?

“First of all, my ability cannot handle a large number . The skill rank is high, but my stat rank is low . In that situation, if you place a restriction saying that people have to receive my confirmation first, I will get the most criticis… that couldn’t possibly be your goal . ”

“Hahaha, would that be so?”

The Association Head waved his hands, but I didn’t trust him at all . I needed to have choices and it needed to be a private establishment, for me to receive less criticism even if I took in only one to two hundred per day .

“It’s because people who will hastily Awaken wrong are a waste . ”

“It is one’s own choice, so there is no choice but for it to be this way . It is not possible to take care of all people one by one . ”

If it was this much, I did as much as I could .

Besides trying to uselessly push more work onto me, the Association was cooperative . At the escape room cafe, I felt like I said to not break it about a hundred times . Was seeing Yerim and Blue superimposed a mistake of my eyes? Still, Yerim at least understood my words .

“Ahjussi, let’s come back together again! The two of us!”

Don’t make me laugh .

We returned to Haeyeon, and I went to the unicorns in the training room before going up to the dorm floor . Yerim said she wanted to see, so she trailed after me .

“Whitey, Blackie[3], hi~ . Which one is the girl?”

“The black one . ”

“So this one, how pretty . Come here . ”

Yerim, towards Blackie, no it was Black[4] . Anyways, she held her hand out toward the black baby unicorn . The unicorn raised her ears up straight, and then bit the held out hand .

“Ahaha, that tickles Blackie~ . ”

“You have to tell her not to bite . Or else it’ll become a habit . It might tickle for you, but an Unawakened Person’s fingers will get cut off . ”

“Oh . No! Blackie!”

-Puheung!

At Yerim’s light tap against her head, Blackie was startled and drew back . She searched the surroundings and then scuttled behind me, hiding . The white guy followed too .

“Kids! Where are you hiding? That ahjussi is weaker than my little finger!”

Little finger was too much . Though it was true I was weak .

After taking care of the unicorns’ food, I also took care of Blue . The Hunter I left that guy with said, ‘It seems you have many hardships,’ with eyes filled with sympathy . At that, it was a relief that there were no worries about money; if I had a poor household, I would have cried .

“Peace, Chirpie . How were you?”

-Kkiang!

-Chirp!

When Peace barked with a solemn posture, Blue flapped out of my arms . Our Blue, so it wasn’t like there wasn’t any learning effect .

I went to give Yerim the side dishes she asked for, took care of the kids, and even ate dinner, but for some reason, Myeongwoo didn’t appear . Even when Blue and Chirpie were sleeping and Peace was starting to nod off, I still didn’t hear any news .

‘And I can’t contact him either . ’

Maybe because it was a subspace, even cell phones didn’t have service in the Gold Forge, like when going into a dungeon . Unless Myeongwoo came out first, there was no way to contact him .

He was actually in the Forge, right? There were times when he did stay up during the night, but he came out every meal time to eat . Didn’t you have to eat properly if you were doing work that required strength? Why wasn’t he coming out?

I slept fitfully from worry, and then it was morning . Just when I took out Blue, who cried right on time like a rooster, and was wondering if I had to find a way to contact the subspace, finally Myeongwoo appeared .

“Hey! If you’re going to stay in the Forge for this long, then you should at least say something! I was worrying that something happened inside of there!”

“Sorry . ”

The mouth was saying sorry, but the face was widely smiling . Maybe because he had stayed up the night, it was dark underneath his eyes, but the expression at least was bright . Enough to be able to see right away that something good had happened .

“I couldn’t stop myself in the middle . ”

Saying that, Myeongwoo took something out from his inventory . It was a long spear that seemed about 2 meters in length . With a bluish chill lingering from the blade to the handle, it wasn’t a normal object .

“Is that possibly . ”

“Here . ”

When I took the spear that was held out, a simple item explanation window popped up,

[Parmini’s Ice Wood[5] Spear – S-Rank

A spear made by a skilled craftsman using an old Ice Tree branch . It carries a powerful chill . ]

It was an S-Rank weapon .

It was a ratio increase, so it didn’t raise my stats much, but a new skill appeared .

[Ice Attribute Reinforcement(S)]

Ice attribute reinforcement . That was also S-Rank . The one that came up when I used My Brat skill focused on Yerim was an A-Rank ice attribute reinforcement . To think it was an S-Rank attribute reinforcement .

……Would our Yerim have put away a lot of savings?

“So you finally made even an S-Rank weapon!”

When I sent him a gaze that was full of admiration, Myeonwoo shrugged his shoulders .

“Thankfully, I succeeded on my first attempt . Though I had to stay up the whole night . It’ll get a little easier starting from the second one . ”

“I didn’t know you would grow this fast . Like this, wouldn’t you immediately make an SS-Rank weapon, too?”

“That should be a little difficult . Apparently Ismual can only help with up to S-Rank weapons . Still, there’s one thing that I’m preparing . ”

As expected, SS-Rank equipment were difficult . Still, how far did he come? It was really impressive .

“Now there’s nothing more to delay . We should get your name known, too . ”

Originally, I suggested to debut as a blacksmith Hunter once he made an A-Rank weapon, but Myeongwoo had refused . Saying that he would put himself forward after he had made an S-Rank .

“Okay . Now I can confidently put myself forward . ”

Myeongwoo nodded his head, smiling . I smiled back, and then remembered something I had put off .

I should voluntarily tell him before it was too late .

“Myeongwoo . There’s something I need to say . ”

“What is it?”

“Truthfully, we didn’t know each other originally . It seems like I made a mistake . ”

I confessed, adding a justification .

“Really?”

Myeongwoo answered . And that was it . No, wait . Why was the reaction like this?

[1] she says ‘jelly’ as in the eng word transliterated, which is the krn/konglish slang term, but in eng, ppl call the bottom of cats’ feet ‘toe beans’ so…

[2] for the unicorns’ names, she used the eng words transliterated, as named so by yj, but here she uses the krn words, which are used to call a white animal, and to cutely call a black dog, respectively . The ‘blackie’ used here is a slightly diff pronounced word than what yj named the salamander (rip blackie) but they’re fundamentally the same words, with the exact same meanings .

[3] she says the two colors in krn and I added the ‘-ie’ bc it’s weird not to for names in eng . Unlike before in footnote [2], she doesn’t use the words that are used to describe a white/black animal, but the colors themselves, though they can be used to refer to things that are white/black as well

[4] ‘black’ is the eng word transliterated, as yj originally named these the eng words

[5] the word used here can mean either tree or wood, so the same word is used here and in the explanation, but I changed the tl according to what sounded more right in eng