A S-Class Hunter With Great Agility - Chapter 22

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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 22: Eden Guild (1)

 

The sun had completely set. I escaped from the Dungeon Break site. Jung Su-jin helped with the final cleanup, and Jung Su-hyuk received a call from Eden and moved to another dungeon.

Even if I stayed at the scene, there was nothing I could do until today’s mana recovered, so I had already decided to go rest.

 

Stumble.

 

My steps wavered slightly.

 

“Haah—.”

 

I finally arrived in front of my home. The flickering street lamp disturbed my mind.

I only now realized that my mental strength stat had also been considerably depleted.

 

‘My feelings are quite complicated.’

 

Fighting while facing trauma wasn’t an easy task.

Does defeating monsters overcome trauma?

 

‘Grandfather won’t come back.’

 

As long as that’s true, it will never be overcome.

I’ll just continue living trapped in the past. Whether I have power or not, whether I’m weak or strong.

The fact that no one is by my side remains unchanged.

 

* * *

 

I changed out of my clothes that reeked with dust and orc blood, and washed my body.

 

‘It feels like I’m coming here after a long time.’

 

After coming out of the bathroom, I suddenly had that impression.

All sorts of ritual implements that would obviously gather dust now, and the Buddhist painting hanging on the wall.

I passed by the place where I used to sit as naturally as eating meals and headed to the small room.

 

Click.

 

The small room with the floor mat wasn’t very spacious, and the furniture inside had an old-fashioned feel.

Originally, Grandfather and I lived here together.

But since three years ago, I’ve been alone the whole time.

 

“Phew… I’m tired.”

 

I finally sat my now somewhat cleaner body down in the small room.

Then I took out a white pouch from my chest. I opened the pouch and checked the one additional magic stone inside.

A mysteriously purple C-grade magic stone was glowing inside the pouch. It was from the boss monster.

 

“I should at least take this much.”

 

‘Have you ever seen a shaman forget their payment?’

 

That would never happen. If you don’t receive payment, you lose divine favor.

The magic stones from the other orcs were being used for disaster relief, so I had no choice but to take only this one. Still, it looks expensive with its lustrous glow.

I smiled suspiciously.

 

“Ahem.”

 

Soon I pulled the pouch closed and put it inside the drawer on one side.

All of it is daily bread. Ah, is this a Bible verse? Anyway.

 

“Status window.”

 

And I called up the status window.

 

 

‘The question marks still won’t change.’

 

The mana amount had increased quite a bit. The number 272. It was a figure more than 30 points higher than Yu-kyung’s stats, who was an S-rank Hunter specializing in magic.

Yet it still wasn’t enough…

 

‘The greater the power, the higher the place I must reach.’

 

Both Spirit Summoning and Divine Descent Ritual were skills with infinite ways to utilize them. Since their attributes weren’t fixed, they were suitable for any type of combat, and their power was tremendous too.

But because of that, they seemed to consume a lot of mana. The amount of mana consumed for skill casting was much higher compared to other Hunters.

 

‘For now, there’s no particular solution.’

 

You can’t get full from the first spoonful, so I’ll just have to work harder at dealing with monsters from now on.

 

‘That aside…’

 

 

An achievement rate exceeding 10%.

Now I could know for certain.

 

“Beloved soul…”

 

This definitely refers to Grandfather.

My grandfather who was a clapping shaman.

Even if he wasn’t always a warm person, we bickered and laughed together. The being who made it possible for me, who had no parents, to endure without loneliness.

The Main Quest was definitely telling me that it would let me meet such a being.

 

‘Would there be anyone who would refuse?’

 

If you asked this question to someone who lost their family.

If you killed monsters endlessly with all your might—

If you offered to let them meet their dead family.

 

‘Who would refuse that.’

 

3 years ago.

Grandfather passed away after being caught up in a dungeon break.

Since then, I made every effort to forget what happened that day. To forget everything, shake it all off, and live well on my own.

However, the events I faced these past few days turned all those efforts into nothing.

Now, I had to make different efforts.

 

“Grandfather. I am…”

 

I lay down on my side. I could feel the cold floor mat beneath me.

 

“Just going to be a Hunter.”

 

Curled up, I spoke as if sighing.

 

“Being a shaman… doesn’t make money. And now I can’t even meet gods. But if I become a Hunter, I can make money and meet gods.”

 

The area around my heart felt heavy. The feeling I experienced daily 3 years ago was rising up inside me again.

 

“I can even see Grandfather…”

 

‘Is there any reason not to do it?’

 

My throat gradually tightened.

For some reason, the penalty warning sound was quiet.

 

* * *

 

The dream is always the same. Buildings collapse and fires break out everywhere.

People’s screams echo chaotically and giant monsters trample everything.

They say dreaming of fire is such a good omen that you should buy lottery tickets. But not once had a nightmare ever led to good fortune.

It’s not a dream to begin with. It’s just replaying the past I directly experienced during the night.

 

 

Foolish act.

When you die, everything becomes meaningless.

Those foolish words keep repeating in the dream.

I absolutely couldn’t persuade Grandfather. But I also couldn’t leave him behind.

What could a middle schooler who only knew how to do divine fortune telling accomplish by running away?

Thump thump, the monster’s footsteps shaking the ground were getting closer.

It was the sound of the dream’s ending approaching.

I stayed in that place and watched the entire ending unfold.

 

— Grandfather, please… Please, come to your senses…

 

Breaking and crumbling.

The moment when the foundation of my life was lost.

And when everything ended, only then could I escape from the dream.

 

* * *

 

Ring ring—. Ring ring—.

 

I woke up because of the phone ringing early in the morning.

 

“Ah…”

 

I’m tired. It felt like every muscle in my body was screaming. With the aftereffects of the dream I had during the night added on, it was even worse.

 

‘Is this reality…’

 

I rubbed my face once and fumbled around looking for my mobile phone.

 

“…?”

 

But the name filling the screen was familiar.

 

 

Oh my. I answered the phone somewhat bewildered.

 

“Uh… Hello?”

 

Yu-kyung’s cheerful voice could be heard.

 

[Dam! I saw the article!]

“Huh?”

 

What is she talking about. I was flustered by words that sounded like what a celebrity might hear.

An article? What?

 

[It was really amazing. I even looked up all your combat videos. I had no idea you were this good.]

“No, that’s…”

[After the Zombie Dungeon, now you’re stopping a dungeon break all by yourself?]

“No, it wasn’t by myself…”

 

Yu-kyung continued speaking happily, paying no attention to my objection.

 

[Eden’s getting a bit noisy too, saying a useful rookie Hunter seems to have appeared.]

“Already?”

[Yeah. Information circulates really fast in this field, you know.]

 

So to summarize, it seemed like an article about yesterday’s dungeon break had already been published and Yu-kyung had read it.

And that article apparently included my combat video too.

 

‘This is embarrassing.’

 

Except for appearing on a show like “Such Things Happen in the World” as a middle school shaman, I had never been particularly close to the internet in my life.

 

[Sister, what’s this about Hae-dam?]

“Choi Yu-il?”

[Hey, come out here for a second!]

“….”

[Wait, I also have something to say—.]

 

The surroundings were noisy.

Choi Yu-il’s voice mixed together with Sister Yu-kyung’s phone call.

 

[Hae-dam! I saw the video too. It was amazing. I should have gone too, but the timing just didn’t work out… It’s such a shame.]

 

Excited words mixed with admiration poured out in a rush. However, that only lasted for a very brief moment.

 

[Hey, come out here for a second.]

[Ahhhhh!]

 

Choi Yu-il’s scream could be heard like background noise. It seemed like his speaking rights had been forcibly taken away.

Hearing the familiar sound of the siblings bickering from the morning made it feel like a home where people actually lived, which was nice.

Soon after, Yu-kyung regained speaking rights.

 

[Dam, I said I’d give you an awakening congratulations gift back then, remember?]

“Oh, did you…?”

[Yeah. At the hospital. Not the magic stones, I mean. I want to give it to you today. Want to come over here?]

“Where?”

[Where else? Eden, of course.]

 

‘I think that might have happened…’

 

I was briefly confused by the memories that had accumulated over the past few days, but soon agreed.

The license issuance had been delayed for quite a while due to handling the dungeon break. I didn’t have anything urgent to do right now.

 

‘And if it’s a gift, I should definitely go.’

 

“Yes, I understand. I’ll come.”

[Good, good. Come quickly. I’ll send a car for you.]

“Huh? No, it’s fine. I’ll just take public transportation.”

[Come on. Don’t refuse. Traffic will be heavy anyway.]

“Uh…”

 

It was hard to refuse further. I scratched my cheek and gave an affirmative answer.

 

“Um… Okay. Then, I’ll trouble you just this once…”

[Come on. What trouble? If a rookie hunter who’s getting attention comes to Eden, we should be thanking you.]

“Haha…”

 

I scratched my head at Yu-kyung’s flattering words.

I really couldn’t understand how this had all happened.

 

* * *

 

Not long after, a pristine white sedan arrived in front of my house, and I got in the car wearing neatly changed clothes.

The Eden staff member’s driving was incredibly smooth, so I was able to arrive at the guild building comfortably.

And the thought that came to mind as soon as I got out of the car was.

 

‘…Shouldn’t this be where the Association is located instead?’

 

A towering building. That single line was exactly what I felt when I first saw it.

 

‘Is our country short on money?’

 

Whether the national treasury was lacking or Eden just had a lot of money. No matter what, the difference from the Association building was too extreme.

The exterior was lavishly decorated with white and gold as the main colors. It was practically self-illuminating.

 

“Wow… This is my first time here, but it’s this impressive.”

 

Actually, even though I’d known the Choi Yu-kyung and Choi Yu-il siblings for a long time, this was my first time coming to the guild headquarters.

There was no real reason to come in the first place. Even if I came, wouldn’t I just run into intimidating hunters?

When Yu-kyung founded the Eden Guild, Choi Yu-il, who hadn’t awakened yet, had told me to come visit.

 

‘…Honestly, I was too embarrassed to go.’

 

Back then, S-rank hunters seemed like people from another world that I could barely even reach.

 

“But now…”

 

How did it end up like this?

I let out a hollow laugh and took a step forward.

 

* * *

 

The place I was guided to where Yu-kyung was supposed to be was somewhat separated from the main building.

It was an annex that looked like a gymnasium, and it was large enough that they could practically hold a concert there.

I made a puzzled expression.

 

‘What is this place for?’

 

I went inside with curiosity for now.

 

Creak.

 

However, before I could even poke my head in, the first sound I heard was.

 

Kwaaaaang!

Kugung!

 

The thunderous sound of something collapsing.

 

“What, what’s that?”

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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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