Chapter 15: 15

The skills’ powers were classified into two categories .

Firstly, the most basic requirement of a skill was its magic level . The second was its ability .

Thus, regardless of how high the skill level was, if the ability was meager, one would not be able to use it to its fullest potential . In this regard, it wasn’t a bad idea to make use of this trial to raise Su-hyeun’s skill ability .

As he watched the surrounding monsters’ corpses burn, he let out a breath of exhaustion .

“Huu—”

The Flame skill’s ability had increased .

It was the same with the Provocation skill . There was nothing better than real battles to increase a skill’s ability .

Su-hyeun clicked his tongue as he watched the corpses lying on the ground .

“It’s not here . ”

The 10th floor .

Regardless of how difficult it was, the trial would not arrange monsters that were impossible for awakeners to deal with . It would be surprising to see monsters of a higher caliber than the Predatory Snake .

“Well, if a tougher monster than the Predatory Snake appears, the mission would not be valid . ”

The Predatory Snake’s territory created a deterrence to other monsters . If there were stronger monsters, the village would have been destroyed much earlier .

“This should be enough . ”

He had sufficient corpses to feed the snakelets . The rest were hunted to increase Su-hyeun’s skill’s proficiency . Su-hyeun brought out the six young men who were supposed to feed the snakelets .

“A-all of these…”

“Did you catch all of these?”

The six young men looked wearily at Su-hyeun .

There were countless bodies . Most of them were black as if they had been burnt to death .

“Drag those bodies there onto the cart . They should sustain the snakes for a few days . ”

“Yes, yes!”

“Um… What will our benefactor like to do? Will you be returning with us immediately?”

Benefactor? Su-hyeun’s eyes narrowed at the awkward, burdensome title .

“I’ll catch up in a while . ”

“Why don’t you leave with us?”

“That’s right . Let’s go together . Mealtime is already over, too…”

It seemed that they were worried that Su-hyeun might disappear without a trace .

Even though Su-hyeun was an awkward and unfamiliar person at first, he was now the only person they could rely on .

Su-hyeun was aware of their worries . But before that, he had something he needed to do .

“The snakelets take time to mark their territory . No matter how fed and bloated they are, it’s going to take around a month . ”

“S-so… In the coming month…”

The young men’s faces turned pale at Su-hyeun’s words .

Su-hyeun’s words meant that in the following month, the village would be unsafe from the monsters outside . They didn’t know it, but it was part of the trial that Su-hyeun was given .

“I’ll protect the village for the next month . ”

“…What?” asked one of the men .

“Personally, by the benefactor?” asked another .

“But why…”

It should have been a happy matter, but they could not bring themselves to feel that way . The question of why came naturally .

Why was it that Su-hyeun wanted to help them like this? It was an overly one-sided relationship . And if you were no fool, you would know that one-sided good deeds without reason were not something you could easily come across .

However, such doubts from the young men did not matter to Su-hyeun . No matter how they saw him, Su-hyeun would only take one action .

“Anyway, I will catch all the monsters around the village, so don’t worry . Just return to the village . I will also return before the sun sets . ”

The young men had no choice but to nod their heads, leaving Su-hyeun at that spot .

After a moment of rest, Su-hyeun wandered around the village and began calling for monsters .

Just like that, all day long, Su-hyeun caught the monsters again and again .

Act 8

Time passed quickly .

Luckily, the village was recognized as a safe zone, so Su-hyeun was able to come and go between the real world and the village . Occasionally, Su-hyeun would return to the real world to contact Shin Su-yeong and then return to the village to repeat his hunts .

The villagers’ attitude towards Su-hyeun had also changed . At first, their gazes towards Su-hyeun were full of suspicion . They thought he might be approaching the village with an ulterior motive . However, their suspicions cleared up as time passed .

Perhaps, just like what Su-hyeun had said, they could see that the snakelets were becoming tamer . The snakelets grew day by day . The young men had begun to train them in various ways according to Su-hyeun’s words .

Late one night, Su-hyeun finished his hunt and returned to the village . His skill’s proficiency was progressing steadily .

[Accomplishment: 65%]

Su-hyeun was satisfied after checking his accomplishments .

As the snakelets grew, his accomplishment percentage increased . That steady rise in accomplishment was also proof that Su-hyeun was on the right track .

Flop—

Su-hyeun returned to his shabby tent house and laid down on the hard floor . He was exhausted .

After fighting monsters all day long, his body felt drained of strength . Recently, it felt as if he had gone back to the past .

This place was very similar to the world he lived in: a destroyed world, anxious people, the black, dead sky and earth .

It was swarming with monsters outside the village . It might have been set up as such to match the stage of the 10th floor, as there were no monsters above a certain level .

Just as Su-hyeun was about to close his eyes, he heard some rustling .

He felt a presence outside the tent house . It was a very small presence .

Dragging his tired body, Su-hyeun stood up from his spot . He walked towards the door and saw a familiar face outside .

“Kid . ”

“Hic . ”

It was the same six or seven-year-old kid that he saw a few days back . The child who came to find Su-hyeun seemed so afraid that she covered herself behind the tree in the distance .

Looking at the child who was half-covered, Su-hyeun said with a small smile, “I can see you . Are you looking for me?”

“…Yes . ”

The child was cute . Su-hyeun continued talking, holding back his laughter that was threatening to burst because of the child’s reaction .

“Since you are looking for me, could you come nearer? If you stand so far away, Uncle would not be able to hear you . ”

“I’m not a kid! I’m Mellie!”

Upset by being called a kid, the child cried out .

She was an interesting child . With seemingly no thoughts of going closer, Mellie kept her distance while stealing glances at Su-hyeun . He waited until the girl came closer .

Mellie approached Su-hyeun slowly after making eye contact several times .

“Here . ”

After moments of fidgeting, Mellie came near and held out her hand towards Su-hyeun . In her palm was a small piece of bread slightly smaller than a fist .

“What could this be?” Su-hyeun asked . “Is this for me?”

“Yes . ”

“Why?”

“I’m just thankful . ”

“Thankful?”

“I heard that you were protecting our village . Thank you for protecting our village . ”

It seemed like rumors had spread throughout the village .

“Did you know that? Actually, the village chief was a horrible person . I knew that…but…”

“How did you know that?”

“My elder brother was taken away by the village chief . And he did not come back . ”

Su-hyeun’s heart sank at Mellie’s answer . This young child was aware of everything . She was aware of the sadness of losing her brother and was holding onto the grief .

That was why while the others called the village chief a hero, Mellie seemed unable to do so . Mellie looked up at Su-hyeun with shining eyes and continued speaking .

“Well, they said that you are our village’s hero . The other uncles said that . ”

“…Hero?”

“Yes . So, I will give you this . Take it . ”

Rumble, rumble—

As she passed over the bread, a sound of hunger could be heard from Mellie’s stomach . Without batting an eye, Mellie held out the bread to Su-hyeun, hurrying him to take it . Something inside of him choked up .

Why was this young child given such a difficult task as starvation? What was it that made this young child unable to express her hunger?

He closed his eyes . Anger flared up .

He was not a hero . He had already felt that fact, bone-deep, in his past life . However, in this young child’s eyes, his unremarkable self seemed like a real hero .

Su-hyeun opened his eyes . He looked at Mellie’s eyes again .

“No, Uncle is…”

Would it be right to say this?

Was it right to destroy this child’s fantasies and hopes that were instilled in these words? There was a moment of hesitation .

“Mellie! You can’t do that! I’m sorry, so sorry . ”

Mellie’s mother appeared and swept her up in her arms . The woman might not have even known what she is sorry for . Knowing this, Su-hyeun hurriedly waved his hands .

“No, it’s fine . I was bored and had fun because of Mellie . ”

“That’s right! Mom, you don’t even know . ”

“Mellie!”

As if asking her to please be quiet, Mellie’s mother placed a finger to her lips . She bowed her head to Su-hyeun once again .

“No . I should have been keeping an eye on her…she has no manners…”

“It’s fine . Really . ”

The woman had a look of relief after studying Su-hyeun’s expression . Luckily, Su-hyeun had not shown any displeasure .

“Uncle, are you not going to eat this?”

Mellie once again held out the piece of crumbly and slightly dusted bread towards Su-hyeun . The girl’s mother started nagging at Mellie again, but Su-hyeun laughed lightly and accepted the bread .

“Since Mellie gave me a present, I’ll have to repay her, right?”

The crumbly, small bread returned as a piece of soft and warm bread .

Mellie’s face brightened as she saw a piece of large bread emerge from Su-hyeun’s pouch . “Wow!”

Mellie laughed excitedly . Her mother looked troubled once again . She looked between Mellie and Su-hyeun, unable to do anything .

“Mellie, you are really… I’m sorry . You do not have to eat that…”

Before the woman ended her words, Su-hyeun put the bread in his mouth and ate it . “It’s delicious . ”

In fact, it wasn’t even chewable . But…

“Really, it was delicious . ”

Those were sincere words .

It was tough to swallow that dry and tough piece of bread without water . It tasted nothing like food .

He would not forget the bread he ate that day for the rest of his life — it was, indeed, that gratifying .