< Found It! (3) >

Low-grade D-Rank rock terrain dungeon.

The monsters that tended to appear here were mountain goats that moved along the cliffs. They were called Rock Goats, and their optimized initial skills were Jump Head-Butt and Trample.

The Seed-Leaf skill really was great. Though the rank was the lowest of my title skills, the frequency of use was the highest.

Of course there were skills that let you see another person’s information. But, you could only check those that were one level lower than your own stats, the skill’s rank. Compared to that, Seed-Leaf was a skill that let you check those at any stat or skill rank.

The primary purpose wasn’t to check Status Windows, and there were limits, but it depended on how you used it.

“Ahjussi, here!”

Yerim yelled proudly, pushing forward a goat frozen solid. No, I told you to go level up. Why were you bringing it over?

“I froze it well so you just have to cut it. It’s safe!”

“Saying he just has to cut it, do you think a spear would go through that chunk of ice?”

Yoohyun cut in, holding onto the horn of a goat burnt black. Then he smiled at me.

“It’s still breathing. The tough skin is mostly all burnt so the spear blade would probably go in smoothly.”

“I-I can freeze them a little too! Should I take off the skin for you?”

The poor goats. Frozen and roasted, it was chaos from both directions. I looked back at Yoo Myeongwoo whose expression was shrunken in to the point of digging into the ground and disappearing.

“You have to raise your level too. Hurry up and come.”

“M-me too?”

Myeongwoo looked behind me. Then he became like a frightened and withdrawn turtle. It was a half-dead goat, but was he still afraid?

Just in case, I looked back towards Yoohyun and Yerim, and they smiled at the same time. The mood was nice. The goat burnt completely black might seem a little unpleasant but he could just think of it as a whole roast that had its heat adjusted wrongly.

“Rather than me, you should get 10 levels first.”

I wasn’t in a hurry but Myeongwoo had to get 10 levels in this dungeon and then shut himself in and sharpen knives. I grabbed of the arm of the guy who wasn’t trying to move at all and pulled him over. It’s not scary, it’s okay.

“Think of it as stabbing something like a burnt steak. Or how about a frozen one? Doesn’t it look like frostbite?”

“I caught it to give to ahjussi, though.”

Yerim complained. Why were you nitpicking over something like that?

“Yerim.”

At the scolding call, Yerim pouted her lips.

“But.”

“No buts. I’ll tell you while I’m at it, but all three of you have to get along. Or at the very least, don’t fight, and become something like good coworkers.”

From a fire attribute to an ice attribute to even an equipment production. Just how well mixed was it? And if Kim Sunghan also became an S-Rank, they’d be all ready for battle. Later, all kinds of screwed up dungeons would pop up, so if they’d just cooperate and help out, then they’d really be on a roll.

If there was just one thing they were lacking, it was a healer. Even 5 years later, far from a stat-skill SS, there wasn’t even an AS, so it would be hard to find a rank like theirs. Somehow, for healers, stat ranks and skill ranks were inversely proportional. Was it because the average age was in the 50s?

Stat ranks tended to be better the younger and healthier you were. It wasn’t that there weren’t exceptions, but stat S-Ranks were mostly in their mid thirties and lower.

“Especially you, Yoohyun, don’t try to fight with a kid as much as five years younger than you. And you, Yerim, after contracting as an official Hunter, don’t forget that he is the guild leader and 3 years your sunbae.”

At my nagging, those two guys sighed at the same time.

“I wasn’t exactly trying to fight. It’s just because it’s unpleasant when she keeps on being involved with hyung.”

“Ahjussi is my guardian so that’s obvious. Why is that unpleasant?”

“People might say you are still young, but please be aware of your position. Didn’t the public relations team teach you? I’m not keeping my distance from hyung because I like it.”

“I’m paying attention in my own way.”

“If you were paying attention, would you have tried to drag hyung with you when you were going to the Association?”

“S-so we didn’t end up going together. I’m just not used to it yet, I’m working hard on it, okay?”

There they went again. Like fire and ice, the incompatibility was super obvious. Shouldn’t the public relations image be the opposite? Something like rivals.

“I told you to stop, both of you.”

“…Okay.”

“…Yes.”

No matter how I looked at it, the problem was bigger on Yoohyun’s side, rather than Yerim’s. That guy worried too excessively over me. I had to quickly grow Peace and take in one or two more monsters so that guy would also worry less.

“One is my younger brother, and the other is my guardee. But if you keep on fighting, how would I feel? At the very least, pretend to get along in front of me. As much as you do in front of the journalists.”

If they kept on pretending, it might become real too.

“If that’s what ahjussi wants, then I’ll do it. Pretending at least is easy.”

Yerim smiled beautifully and looked up at Yoohyun.

“If you’re ahjussi’s younger brother, then you can’t call me a stranger, so let’s get along from now on. I can call you oppa, right?”

…Were you really leaping suddenly to ‘oppa’? That guy Yoohyun also faced her with a warm smile. Both of them had good looks so it was nice to look at. Just the outside was nice.

“Of course. Then I’ll also speak casually from now on.”

“Yes, please do. Please take good care of me from now on, Yoohyun oppa.”

“Take good care of me too, Yerim.”

It was a scene where they were smiling pleasantly but it was obvious that they were sharpening their knives behind their backs. Geez[1], those guys. Just look at them stubbornly not avoiding each other’s gazes and fighting with their eyes.

It was a relief that there were only a few – if I had reeled in several while knowing nothing, I might’ve had to throw a ‘get along well’ campaign.

And our poor Myeongwoo was still hunched over. Then again, since both the S-Ranks were waging a war of nerves between the two of themselves, would an ordinary F-Rank be at ease[2]? Just hang on a bit longer. Joy will come at the end of suffering.

“You won’t have to see those guys for a long time after this so just bear with it for today. You just have to raise 10 levels.”

After that, he would have to take enough time, about half a year, to just sharpen knives, so even if he wanted to see them, he couldn’t. At my pat, Myeongwoo nodded his head. It might even be that it would make that guy more comfortable to do physical labor in a small room instead.

Even after that, the dungeon attack was smooth. Yoohyun didn’t have anything to say and Yerim also fluttered about.

When we got out of the winding valley, a large basin appeared. Hundreds of goats were roaming flocked together in groups on the green field. Beyond that, a huge black goat was standing proudly. Why didn’t you just stick an electric sign that said ‘I am the boss’?

Still, you had to be thankful if they made it obvious like that. If you were caught by a guy who would sometimes hide, it was super annoying.

“Hyung, you said that you’re at 9 levels, right?”

Yoohyun asked. After driving things toward Myeongwoo, I couldn’t get 10 levels yet. Yoo Myeongwoo had gotten 10 levels about 30 minutes ago and was discouraged because he didn’t get a skill.

I was wondering, but as expected, it seemed like the skill he should have gotten originally at 10 levels was replaced by Gold Forge’s Owner.

Since the reason why the skill that you get every 10 levels didn’t appear was usually because you didn’t prepare the conditions. You could get it later once you fulfill the conditions, or you could get nothing… It was about half luck.

“I don’t really need to get to 10 levels.”

“It’d be comfortable for you if you get at least one more skill. I’ll drag some over.”

“I will! I will do it!”

Yerim, who was completely used to using Hermes’ Sandals now, put herself forward confidently. Then, she leaped into the air in a moment. She was like a fish in water.

‘Would a skill not appear this time too?’

Before the regression, I didn’t get a new skill until 30 levels. It didn’t seem like there would be much of a difference this time around.

I wondered what exactly my optimized skills were.

I wanted to use the Seed-Leaf skill on myself. Just in case, I had tried using it while looking at a mirror, but a Status Window didn’t pop up. Not just Seed-Leaf, I wanted to get the growth buff too. Even if I said ‘I love me’ it probably wouldn’t work.

Anyways, to think that of the L-Rank skill titles I barely gained, one was something I had exactly no reason to use, and the other was something that only did good things for others. Person who made the system, do you perhaps dislike me? If not, you should make it easy to use – the weird effect was like that, the keyword was like that, it’s really nasty, and cheap-.

[Found it!]

…Excuse me?

A Message Window popped up?! W-wait a minute. Because I insulted them? Did they come find me because I insulted them? I mean, it wasn’t like I insulted the system one or two times so why would that happen. What was it? What was it?

Then another Message Window appeared in front of my eyes.

[Ack, I’m sorry!]

No, I’m the one who is sorry for insult… or no. Huh? A system operator chatting mistake?

Fuck, you just wait. Let’s just talk. You don’t have something like a keyboard window? Why a unilateral conversation-.

“Hyung!”

Yoohyun pulled me into his arms as if covering me, as he yelled. At nearly the same time, I shouted.

“Yerim, protect Myeongwoo!”

I didn’t know what was going on, but it was a danger signal. In other words, if that guy Myeongwoo was left alone, he would die.

Shortly, we heard shrieks from the herd of goats.

-Kehhhhk!

-Kiehhh!

The smell of burning meat. Maybe Yoohyun’s flame resistance had affected me too, because I didn’t feel any heat. Were Yerim and Myeongwoo safe? Seeing how the Last Repayment application window didn’t pop up, both of them were still alive.

“…Just what’s going on?”

Since I was in an embrace, I couldn’t see what the situation was. First of all, I knew that we had received a large-scale fire attribute attack. This dungeon, it was a low-grade D-Rank. So why was something using a wide-range attribute attack skill popping up? It wasn’t 5 years later when dungeons seesawed like a crazy bitch[3], it should be stable right now?

“It’s my first time seeing that kind of monster too.”

Yoohyun said in a low voice. Hey, let me see too. When I hit that guy’s shoulder, he loosened his arms.

“Be careful.”

I turned my body and looked toward the basin. The green grassland was burning red. The corpses of the burnt, burning goats were piled up like a mountain.

The original boss was impaled on a sharp golden beak.

The bird[4] covered up by the fire swung its beak, and tore into and swallowed the well roasted goat. As soon as I saw that characteristic beak, I knew.

‘2^nd rank bird-type. Gold Beak Maiya.’

It was a high-grade A-Rank dungeon boss monster. Bird-types were on the weaker side in terms of rank, so it wasn’t at the level of S-Rank. But why was that popping up here?

‘…It couldn’t be that the sorry was for that.’

A real system error? A bug? Tell the system operator to come out. Let’s just talk a little.

“You two, are you okay?”

After checking the monster, I turned my head and found Yerim and Myeongwoo. Thankfully, Yerim wasn’t late and seemed to have used Cold Sigh. With Yerim standing in front of Myeongwoo, I saw a darkened black mark in front of them.

“…We’re okay. But just what is that?”

“Very occasionally, monsters that don’t match the dungeon rank can pop up.”

Though at this period, it was extremely rare. And seeing how an escape gate didn’t appear even though the boss monster died, as expected, it seemed like that bird bastard had replaced it as the boss. It became annoying.

Outside, there must be a fuss around now. Since the dungeon that the Haeyeon Guild Leader and novice S-Rank went into changed to at least a B-Rank. One hour had already passed, so they couldn’t come help either.

“Hyung, take this.”

Yoohyun held out the Gate Stone towards me. Was this a reenactment of before my regression? Of course, compared to the Lauchtas, that damned lizard, the fire chicken was cute.

“I don’t need it. That’s weaker than you.”

Their attribute attacks wouldn’t work on each other, and S-Rank combat-aptitude Yoohyun was stronger in terms of physical attacks. It was annoying that it was a flight monster, but Yoohyun had Green[5] Willow Leaves so there wouldn’t be a problem.

Myeongwoo and I could just shove ourselves into a corner and be protected by Yerim.

At my words, Yoohyun had a doubtful expression.

“Do you know what kind of monster it is?”

“2^nd Rank bird-type Gold Beak Maiya. As you can see, it has a fire attribute and it’s a high-grade A-Rank dungeon boss rank. It has a habit of keeping on chasing its first target, so you don’t have to pull aggro too much. If you just do well, we could probably go out soon? And be careful of the beak attacks. The strength in its feet is relatively weak. Its skull is soft and its back and belly are the hardest. Maybe to protect its head, that region has the highest fire temperature, but it probably won’t affect you at all. It might look like it has one pair of wings but there is one pair of reserve wings hidden away, so instead of separating its wings by attacking them, it’s better to hit its head. As for me and Myeongwoo, Yerim can protect us. Finally, that beak is an extremely expensive material, so if possible, cut it off completely intact.”

Yoohyun had on a face like he couldn’t speak for moment.

“…Hyung, you really do seem to have become a little weird.”

“It’s not that I’m weird, just suspicious. Suk Simyeong said I was suspicious too? Even if you ask, it’s hard to explain, so let’s just let it go. You can’t?”

“It’s not that I can’t…”

“Anyways, I’m your hyung. That much hasn’t changed.”

Whether it was 5-years-earlier Han Yoojin or the current Han Yoojin, the truth that I was Han Yoohyun’s hyung was still the same. Yoohyun gave a small nod and then placed the Gate Stone in my hand.

“Still, hold onto this.”

It was too much of a death flag. Though would it be by a simple bird bastard throwing around fire?

“Please take good care of him.”[6]

Yoohyun said politely to Bak Yerim.

“Don’t worry.”

At this moment, both of them had sincere attitudes as if they had thrown out lingering grudges. I was needlessly feeling satisfied. It would be nice if they would cooperate and get along well.

After looking at me one more time, Yoohyun turned around.

It should be fine. If it was that guy 5 years later, it would be a wrap[7] at 10 minutes, no 5 minutes. Even now, if it was long, wouldn’t it take about 30 minutes? So I should set my heart at ease and cheer him on.

[1] ya I haven’t heard this one said in earnest since like, idk, high school, but I couldn’t think of any other soft/non-swear interjection/exclamation/whatever these are called, and using ‘oh dear’ was really stretching the limits of my belief.

[2] lit. ‘have remaining liver and gall’ from the expression ‘liver and gall shrivel/fall/become cold/melt’ that all mean ‘become frightened’

[3] lit. ‘crazy [the derogatory word for girl that byr’s uncle used for her in ch 19]’. I had previously thought (when tl-ing ch 19) that the derog word for girl isn’t that bad, but my dad later told me it’s very bad, which means that byr’s uncle really was calling his niece a bitch. I went back and fixed it but just fyi.

[4] actually, he uses a word that apparently means ‘abnormal and strange looking bird’ but that was too long, esp since he uses the word again when he’s talking about what type of monster it is. I’m just going to keep on using ‘bird’ bc there’s no general term for mythological birds in eng, only specific ones (i.e. phoenix, roc, etc.)

[5] I changed it to green bc it’s easier to use, esp in the next ch. It’s kind of a vague word that’s either blue or green depending on the context, and judging by the actual def in the krn dict, seems to be sth that more evokes emotions/states of being rather being a set color, but when describing plants it’s green

[6] this is that common polite phrase again, which doesn’t have a direct object, so I used ‘him’ bc a) he’s clearly talking abt yj not himself, but b) I didn’t think it would be ‘them’ (yj + mw) bc yh has yet to show a single shred of intrest/concern abt anyone other than yj. The phrase is p vague so it includes/is about the situation, but this was the one phrase I could think of, and it requires specifics/a direct object.

[7] lit. ‘cut’ as the in the eng word transliterated, so it probably means the ‘cut’ movie directors say, but using ‘cut’ in this context didn’t sound right, so…