Chapter 439 – You’ve Worked Hard (3)
To state the conclusion first, among the Awakened people currently here, only around twenty percent had obtained their Optimized skills perfectly. Most of them were combat-types, and since combat-type Awakened tended to have a relatively easier time obtaining Optimized skills, it wasn’t a particularly high ratio.
In the end, Dan Unbi and Bak Hayul’s noona did not seem to be the same person. Then who on earth was she? Could she really be a born S-rank who hadn’t been revealed yet? A born S-rank with the ability to nurture other people… saying it out loud, it really didn’t sound like a good fit.
‘To be honest, when it comes to taking care of others, Yoohyun… aside from me… well, he does look after Yerim a little.’
There was no chance of it, of course, but just in case, if my brother ever had a kid, it felt like it would honestly be better for me to raise it myself. Riette also made an effort in her own way, but she was far too violent. Sung Hyunjae at least had that sort of tendency, but with him it was only short-term amusement.
…If all three of them had kids, I’d probably end up taking them myself out of sheer frustration. Of course, the wife or husband might be a normal person. …But if they were normal, then why would they be with those three. Feeling increasingly troubled, I pulled Peace up onto my lap and stroked him.
“Recently, I’ve started wondering whether, if someone says they want to date Yoohyun, I should pack them lunches and go around opposing it.”
“Congratulations, ahjussi. You’ve finally peeled off one layer of your blind devotion.”
Yerim clapped her hands while pausing in the middle of eating a mooncake.
“There are probably still about nine hundred ninety-nine layers left, though.”
“Even so, Yoohyun is a little better than Riette, isn’t he?”
“Why? Riette unni gets along really well with Soyoung unni. She’s close with Hyuna unni too, and she has lots of friends.”
…Even if romantic marriage was hopeless, couldn’t friendship at least be managed somehow? Earlier she’d also gone out with Noah-ssi while getting along decently enough.
“Yerim, I can say you’re Yoohyun’s friend, right?”
“Uh… maybe something like pseudo-family-register-mates?”
“Family-register-mates?”
“If you think of it as something that swings back and forth between mortal enemies and best friends, that’s about right.”
“But if you’re best friends, that means really close friends. Thank you, Yerim.”
“…I’ll at least say we’re moderately close if other people ask.”
Why are you looking at me like that, as if I’m pathetic? Avoiding Yerim’s gaze, I looked over the list I’d received from the Martial Arts Alliance again.
“There was another A-rank Healer in China besides this elder. And comparatively young too.”
Still unawakened, maybe? At present, there were only two A-rank Healers in Korea. One was with Seseong, and the other had belonged to MKC, which had now collapsed. Since MKC had fallen, they obviously needed to move elsewhere, but neither Breaker nor Hanshin was willing to back down easily.
And then the Korean Hunter Association had tried to wedge itself in too, all slyly suggesting that, since things had turned out like this, the Healer should be jointly affiliated and sent to the Association instead. That had been annoying, but honestly, having one unaffiliated A-rank Healer wouldn’t be bad in itself.
“If Breaker gets an A-rank Healer, Ms. Hyuna would be overjoyed.”
“Of course she would. Why, are you thinking of yielding?”
“It’s always better to have more high-rank Healers, but first I need to meet this elder. The MKC Healer is younger, but depending on the situation, I can negotiate with Ms. Hyuna.”
Even among Healers, the kinds and ranks of skills varied. The qualification for being considered a Healer required three abilities—healing, detoxification, and解除—and the Healer rank was determined by the average rank of those skills. Since I could cover detoxification and解除, what Haeyeon really needed was the person with the highest healing-skill rank.
“Yerim, is there any Hunter you’re interested in?”
“They’d all speak Chinese, though. I borrowed this translation item from Hyuna unni. Even if I got my own, it’s not like my teammates and I would actually understand each other.”
That was a problem. Translation devices that weren’t items couldn’t be used inside dungeons. And it wasn’t as though translation items were common enough to hand out to A-rank Hunters.
“Once we get back, focus on team raids for a while.”
“Don’t worry. Oh, I still haven’t decided on the sea serpent’s name! Among Haerang, Sanho, Suri, Maru, Doran, and Parangi, which do you think— No, never mind.”
Yerim hurriedly waved her hands. My pride took a slight hit.
“Parang and Blue sound kind of similar.”
“It means waves, not the color blue.”
…I should’ve just kept my mouth shut. But still, if you heard it without context, didn’t it sound kind of the same? I quickly shifted the subject back to Hunters.
“There’s also a B-rank Healer where Yoohyun and Noah-ssi went. Should we bring that person too? It’s always better to have more Healers. Aren’t there any people with high-rank curse-support skills? It’d be convenient if we could eventually produce contracts directly.”
“But we already have Riette unni and Noah oppa.”
“I mean someone affiliated with Haeyeon. And curses have good prospects, too. They get used in all sorts of ways. Outside dungeons, there are interpreters and translation devices anyway, so even a foreigner wouldn’t be much of a problem. I want to bring this enhancement-support Hunter too. Where exactly is Guangzhou?”
“It is near Hong Kong.”
Eun Seseon said that as she entered through the round doorway.
“Are you truly not going to take a hot spring bath? It helps relieve fatigue and also eases pain.”
“Not right now. Honestly, I’m reluctant to go in by myself.”
How could I fully trust the Martial Arts Alliance? If Yerim, who had a teleportation skill, was beside me, then even if S-ranks swarmed me, escaping wouldn’t be difficult. Peace could come in with me, sure, but it still made me uneasy.
“Gunwang—”
“No, I really don’t know that kind of thing.”
What’s with all this king talk again.
“Do people from the Martial Arts Alliance just like quoting historical allusions?”
“To be precise, Chinese people do. Though I heard Leader Dan went a little overboard.”
Eun Seseon said apologetically.
“It is entirely understandable that you are wary. Even so, how about at least soaking your legs?”
That was tempting. Maybe because I’d overexerted myself at the end, the pain still throbbed on and off. And it wasn’t as though I could turn off Poison Resistance and take painkillers.
When I said I’d do it, Eun Seseon guided us to the back of the residence. Inside a space surrounded by high walls was a large open-air bath, almost like a pond. Stepping on the damp floor, Peace lifted one front paw and shook it disapprovingly.
—Kkiuung.
“Oh dear, the wetness doesn’t suit your royal taste.”
—Kkyaang.
“I’m telling you, Peace is really dramatic too.”
I rolled my pants up above my knees, wiped the moisture off a rock with a towel, spread the towel on it, and sat down. The instant I settled in, Peace promptly climbed onto my lap.
“This really is nice.”
The warmth made it feel like my fatigue was dissolving away. Sitting beside me, Yerim splashed the water around. Eun Seseon excused herself so we could rest comfortably. Above the open blue sky, clouds drifted slowly along. Somewhere, I could hear birdsong too.
“In the dungeon, I met myself.”
Yerim said that while rubbing the ring on her finger.
“Do you think I looked cool too, ahjussi?”
“Of course. You were famous, Yerim. Actually, most people don’t remember A-rank Hunters very well, you know. Even just counting S-ranks, there aren’t exactly only a few.”
Even people with a strong interest in Hunters usually mostly looked up S-rank Hunters. In Korea, there weren’t that many, but if you counted overseas too, it went into the hundreds. So even S-rank Hunters weren’t necessarily recognized if they weren’t famous, especially if they were from overseas. So for A-rank Hunters, what was there even to say.
TV mainly talked about S-rank Hunters too. The exposure was on a completely different level.
“But if you said Bak Yerim, hardly anyone didn’t know who you were. There was one incident that really made you famous.”
“What was it?”
Yerim asked, her eyes lighting up.
“The Snow Butterfly incident with Signal Group. I think it was right after you Awakened. Signal Group had been breeding butterflies from a dungeon for research. But then they suddenly reproduced explosively and came pouring out.”
They were dungeon creatures, but it was hard to call them monsters. The problem was that the powder from the butterflies made certain crops wither.
“At just that time, Yoohyun was clearing a dungeon. And Sung Hyunjae was overseas. The swarm had to be dealt with before it got out of Seoul, but aside from those two, there wasn’t anyone with an effective wide-area skill.”
They weren’t on the level of monsters, but pesticide didn’t work on them. They also possessed basic magic power, so they were far tougher than ordinary butterflies. The one who stepped up in that difficult situation was none other than Bak Yerim.
“So I froze them all?”
“Because there were so many, Sigh and Pale Rain alone wouldn’t have been enough. Instead, water trucks, fire trucks, and firefighting helicopters were mobilized. It was an incredible sight. Huge amounts of water were scattered down like rain, and cold spread through the soaked butterflies. White-frozen butterflies covered Seokchon Lake like snow.”
The other Hunters had also worked hard to lure the butterfly swarm toward the lake. After that, was that when dungeon flora and fauna management got tightened up? Or had it already started before then?
“That incident really boosted your recognition… though, well, getting famous didn’t bring only good things. You were young, and you didn’t really have a proper guardian, after all. Still, you firmly established your place in Korean Hunter society!”
“To the point that even you remember me, ahjussi?”
“Yeah. Ah, but……”
I hesitated before continuing.
“I think I must have met you before, Yerim. I’m sorry I don’t remember.”
“I heard.”
Yerim said it lightly.
“I am a little disappointed, but at the same time, I think I’m glad.”
“Huh? Yeah?”
“In the end, it means you came looking for me purely because of my ability, ahjussi. That actually reassured me a little.”
Blushing faintly, Yerim turned to look at me.
“It would’ve been nice if it was because we were already close, too, but… I don’t know. It feels like something I accomplished purely with my own strength. So even if someday you lose your memories again and everyone gets separated… I still feel like we’d be able to meet again like this. Like my place would never completely disappear, that kind of feeling.”
She muttered that it was hard to explain.
“It’s not that I don’t trust you, ahjussi! But, um… I’m happy right now, you know. I’m having fun too. Even so, sometimes I still feel worried, or anxious, or things like that. Even though nothing especially hard is happening.”
“That’s just how it is. How many people in the world have everything go perfectly well all the time? Sung Hyunjae used to act mean just because life bored him. And Riette seemed to care about Noah-ssi in her own way too… maybe.”
Though she definitely had looked annoyed when Diarma approached him.
“Soyoung unni also said it was hard thinking she might never get to meet her dragon again. Sometimes she couldn’t even sleep at night.”
“Seriously?”
“She even cried while clinging to Hyuna unni because the Guild Master said he’d only be able to get her a mid-rank dragon.”
“Even mid-rank dragons are rare. Their stats are high for their rank.”
“They can’t clear dungeons together, though.”
And on top of that, they were usually small, or like that eel from before, only dragon-type in name. Even Kkamdung had been far from the usual image of a dragon. Soyoung-ssi’s taste seemed to run more toward the big and rough type. She liked Noah-ssi too, of course, but if you really had to compare.
“Anyway, I feel a lot lighter now~”
Yerim said that while stretching both arms high above her head.
“I don’t know what kind of things will happen from now on. I’m sure I’ll have more worries and things to agonize over too. But I think it’ll still be okay.”
“Of course it’ll be okay. Still, if anything gets hard, tell me anytime, Yerim.”
“Yes!”
It would be nice if her life went smoothly from here on, but now that the world had changed, that was unlikely. And since Yerim’s dreams were so big, the obstacles in front of her would surely be bigger too. Once she became an adult and really started moving internationally, there would be nothing my hands could reach anymore.
It already made my chest feel hollow. But Yerim would definitely do well.
“My leg actually feels a bit better.”
“Really? Then later, when Han Yoohyun gets back, you should soak properly. Even now you could just go in wearing your clothes.”
“Yerim, take your hands off my back.”
“I wasn’t trying to push you. I was just going to lift-hug you and plop.”
“I still have to meet the Alliance Leader again, so I’ll pass.”
Now that I was certain she wasn’t Bak Hayul’s noona, I needed to talk with her again. Just in case, to make sure she didn’t end up crossing over to Chatterbox’s side. Then again, since she was protecting Hunters and ordinary people anyway, she didn’t seem likely to take the side of a Transcendent trying to destroy the world.
Japan was reassuring too, as long as Shishio was there. China would probably be all right too if the Martial Arts Alliance took control. As for the other countries inside the zone… did I really need to go to Russia once after all?
A golden dragon landed lightly on top of a building. Even from hundreds of meters away, its brilliant form would have stood out at a glance, but thanks to the stealth skill, nobody noticed it.
“Hunter Han Yoohyun, should I go in and scout?”
Noah, having returned to human form, asked Han Yoohyun, who stood beside him. Han Yoohyun gave a short shake of the head, then held out his fingertips. Wrapping around his finger, a red lizard appeared.
“There is only one S-rank Hunter here, correct. Please lure him out.”
The fire elemental dropped lightly onto the rooftop, then split into two, four, six. Then it disappeared as if seeping into the building.
Stepping up onto the rooftop railing, Noah surveyed the surroundings, then jumped down below. His figure vanished, and Han Yoohyun closed his eyes and focused his attention on the elemental’s movements. Sharing vision with an elemental was not easy. Unless he fully transferred his consciousness while leaving himself entirely defenseless, only relatively blurred sensations were transmitted back.
Even so, surveying the inside of the building wasn’t difficult.
Before long—
Kwaang!
An explosion burst from the building on the opposite side.
