A S-Class Hunter With Great Agility - Chapter 173

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 173: The Eve (1)

“Hmm, a talisman. It’s been a while since I’ve seen one of these. Your spiritual power is contained within it… If that’s the case, it might actually be effective.”

Heo Gil stroked his chin. Meanwhile, Hong I-jo stared intently at the talisman before speaking.

“I’ve used that before.”

“….”

“It works.”

The talisman I had given him when he was struggling with insomnia. I hadn’t known how he was doing, but it seemed to have been quite effective.

“I see. Of course, the amount of spiritual power contained within would be ridiculously small… but there’s nothing to lose.”

Whoosh.

I created several more talismans and distributed one to each of the Guild Leaders.

“Besides spiritual power, it also has the effect of increasing attack power by about this much. The usable duration is one minute.”

The Guild Leaders turned the yellow paper over in their hands, fascinated.

“How do you use it?”

“You attach it to the part you want to use for attacking, like weapons or fists.”

“Ooh…”

“Don’t use it for research. Keep it safe until the operation day.”

When Yeon Na-yeon’s eyes sparkled, I stopped her.

Making these also consumed a lot of mana. It wasn’t an infinitely flowing well.

“Good. Thanks. But shouldn’t you only give them to personnel participating in combat?”

“The bishops are meticulous bastards. We don’t know when or where we might encounter them. Talismans also have the meaning of protecting the body from evil things… There’s no harm in carrying them around.”

“True…”

Yoo-kyung nodded and received the talisman.

“Now we just need to decide who will go to the church, the final personnel. I’m out… Heo Gil, you’re not going either, right?”

“It would be better to leave it to the young ones.”

Heo Gil stepped back. Given his personality and from an ability standpoint, a commanding role from behind seemed more suitable.

He offered an additional opinion.

“I think Red Dog should be the one to enter. After all, the Goemin Sect is both a criminal organization and a terrorist group. It doesn’t make sense for Red Dog to be excluded from catching such people.”

“Yeah.”

“And Butterfly will be excluded since they need to use illusion skills from outside. The Goemin Sect’s churches are located in places with high foot traffic. We need to hide our appearance with illusion skills. If Butterfly participates in combat, there won’t be anyone to do that job.”

Hong I-jo agreed. Yeon Na-yeon also nodded at the additional discussion that followed.

“Making sure no one knows what’s happening… I’m confident in that. Leave it to me.”

‘So it’s decided then.’

Me, Lee Cheong-ryu, and Hong I-jo.

‘S-ranks are no different from human weapons. Having multiple people fighting in a narrow space isn’t efficient. They’ll just bump into each other… This is an appropriate number of personnel.’

Still, my role was important. Since I had taken a combat position instead of an S-rank, I needed to be able to provide that level of fighting power.

“Let’s stop here for today. Everyone, see you on the operation day. Try not to stay in dungeons for extended periods.”

With Heo Gil’s words, the meeting concluded. Now it really was soon.

“Hmm hmm. I wonder what will happen. Would it be wrong to say I’m looking forward to it?”

“Seriously, you’re not even a child… Stop riding that thing.”

Lee Cheong-ryu hummed while skating again. I shook my head disapprovingly.

“Lee Cheong-ryu.”

“Yeah?”

“…There’s one thing I’d like to ask of you.”

Seeing him like this made me wonder if this was right. I couldn’t trust him at all.

“What is it?”

But this was something only Lee Cheong-ryu could do. I hesitated a bit before finally bringing it up.

* * *

After the meeting ended.

“Haah—.”

My breath came out in white puffs. It was still cold winter.

“Mountain Lord. Can’t you just come inside?”

| I need to breathe the winter air directly with my body. You go prepare some refreshments. |

“Yes…”

I had no choice but to bundle up in more clothes. Even just performing the Divine Descent Ritual would be more effective than wearing padding.

Ding.

Just then, a notification sounded from my mobile phone.

It was Lee Cheong-ryu. So I really do have to fight alongside this guy.

‘What a painful reality…’

Rustle.

I pulled out a talisman from my sleeve. Would this really be effective?

If this method doesn’t work either….

‘I don’t even want to imagine it.’

Fighting an enemy I couldn’t even touch would be like a nightmare.

I hoped this method would work and quickened my steps toward home.

Ring ring—

[LCR]

I heard the bell sound.

‘Oh no. Now even phone calls.’

I pulled out my cold hand and barely managed to answer the phone.

“Yes, Lee Cheong-ryu.”

[I told you to fight on, but you didn’t respond—.]

“…It’s hard to type. Do you know how many degrees below zero it is right now?”

[Hmm, well? I’m not sure. I’m in Hawaii for a bit right now. Korea was too cold.]

“…You’re joking, right?”

[Haha!]

A refreshing laugh came through. It was hard to tell if he was joking or serious.

| Hand it over. I shall hold it. |

“Ah, thank you.”

My fingertips were red from the cold.

The Mountain Lord sitting on my head held the mobile phone for me instead, and I put my hands in my pockets.

“Do you have time to play around? Hong I-jo said he was increasing his training.”

[If I increase my training time here any more, I might die from overwork.]

“That makes sense. Anyway, I’m glad I’m not going alone with you.”

Lee Cheong-ryu and Hong I-jo. Either way, communication would be difficult.

Should I study how to talk to a 5-year-old child? Unnecessary worries came to mind.

“How is the favor I asked of you coming along? Is it possible?”

[Of course. There’s nothing impossible for me. I’m someone who could send you on a Hawaii trip right now, so what would be difficult about that?]

“That’s not necessary….”

At the end of the meeting. The favor I had asked Lee Cheong-ryu, and as expected, he reacted as if it were interesting.

— That’s an unusual request? Well, if it helps with the operation, I can do it. But the venue procurement process might be a bit complicated….

— That’s fine. I know someone. They’ll gladly lend it with just one phone call.

— Oh, really?

— Yes. Lee Cheong-ryu, you just need to time it well.

Something only Lee Cheong-ryu could do for me. He was a troublesome person, but I was grateful he was there.

[Anyway, don’t worry. That much is no problem! Just take care of your health until the operation starts. If what you guessed is true, nothing can be done without your participation.]

“I’ll keep that in mind. You should come back to Korea now too, Lee Cheong-ryu.”

[Ah, how did you know I’m really in Hawaii?]

“Just a feeling.”

Lee Cheong-ryu laughed as if amazed, then soon ended the call. How anticlimactic.

I got my mobile phone back from the Mountain Lord.

| …It will be an extremely difficult battle. Do you know this? |

“It will be. It’ll be extremely difficult. …But even so, I need to know. Sometimes I think this is my heavenly mandate.”

| Heavenly mandate…. |

The Mountain Lord muttered.

| I must return. |

“Pardon?”

| You are not the only one preparing for the coming heavenly mandate. |

“What do you mean….”

Whoosh.

With those words, the Mountain Lord disappeared like winter snow.

“…If you’re going to do that, at least perform a Divine Descent Ritual before leaving. Ah, it’s cold!”

I had no regrets. I would learn everything anyway, and even if the Mountain Lord told me directly, the fight with the Bishop was inevitable.

The order had just changed… this is my mission. That’s what I thought.

* * *

Time passed quickly. Less than a week remained until the operation began.

“Ugh, that was tough. I should start building up my stamina now…. I need to stay holed up at home for a while.”

I quickly finished the dungeon conquest that Yeon Na-yeon had handed over to me.

The place I went to today was A-rank, so the achievement rate and mana increase I gained were quite decent.

Heo Gil told me not to stay in dungeons if possible, but after confirming my still insufficient abilities, I couldn’t just sit still.

[Stats]

Mental Power | 200 Mana | 232/551

I wondered if I might even reach 600.

“As expected, once it passes 500, the increase rate slows down. I’ll have to be satisfied with this much.”

Still, there were quite a few satisfying points from this dungeon conquest.

Do you remember the regulation that A-rank dungeons and above cannot be conquered alone?

This time, without Baek Kyul and Choi Yu-il… I actually succeeded at !

‘I was lucky that there were many freelancers sitting idle since the dungeon listings coming through the Association had dried up.’

I still hadn’t fixed my hunt-and-peck typing, but even this was tremendous progress.

“Hm?”

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. I saw someone sitting pitifully in front of my home door.

Sniffle…

“Oh my.”

A platinum-haired young man trying hard to pretend otherwise while wiping away tears. It was Choi Yu-il.

“What are you doing here? Why are you crying?”

I naturally approached him and spoke. The guy who had been sitting with his knees drawn up was startled when he noticed me and jumped to his feet.

“Y-you…”

“What is it, why are you acting like that? What’s wrong with your face?”

Sniffling and unable to get words out – it didn’t seem like a trivial matter.

Why is a grown man crying! The weather’s cold enough as it is. At this rate, both he and I would get frostbite.

“Come inside first. Geez, this is driving me crazy.”

Since this happened so often, I wasn’t even surprised anymore. Did his sister kick him out again?

Whatever it was, at least now I could turn on the heater to keep things warm and make him some food, so that was fortunate.

* * *

“Here, drink this.”

Choi Yu-il took the barley tea I handed him.

Since he’d definitely burn himself if I gave him something hot, I made the barley tea lukewarm, and the guy drank it well.

“Sniff…”

Finally seeming to calm down a bit, Choi Yu-il roughly wiped away his tears.

“Did your sister kick you out? What kind of trouble did you cause this time?”

“No… I haven’t been causing much trouble lately.”

“Really? Hard to believe. If it’s true, that’s impressive.”

What wind brought this change…

I took a sip of barley tea and made a surprised expression.

“Then what’s bothering you? Did something happen?”

If a major incident had occurred at a large guild like Eden, I could have found out just by turning on the TV.

However, since I’d been constantly going in and out of dungeons and hadn’t kept up with the news… I asked, wondering if there was some news I didn’t know about.

“That’s not it either.”

The guy shook his head.

‘That’s a relief.’

Having another major incident occur when an operation was imminent would really be unwelcome.

Before long, Choi Yu-il opened his mouth.

“You…”

“…”

“Is there anything you’re hiding from me?”

Startled.

I dropped the arm I had been resting my chin on.

“…Wh-what?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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