F-Rank Secretly Becomes Stronger - Chapter 74

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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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F-Rank Secretly Getting Stronger 74

 

“You came early?”

 

“I just didn’t have anything else to do.”

 

A spacious meat restaurant.

 

Inside it, a small private room suitable for having a personal conversation.

 

I had come out about 20 minutes earlier than the promised time, but she also arrived shortly after without much delay.

 

“I ordered the assorted platter, is that okay?”

 

“I eat everything well except vegetables.”

 

“That’s a relief.”

 

Saying that, he places the meat on the hot fire.

 

Along with the sizzling sound, a delicious aroma gradually rises.

 

“What did you suddenly call me for?”

 

“I just wanted to eat some meat but felt awkward coming alone.”

 

“Really?”

 

Did he really call me for such a trivial reason?

 

Just because he didn’t have anyone to eat lunch with?

 

It was all too easy to tell that it was an obvious excuse.

 

Why on earth did he suddenly ask me to have lunch together?

 

Having doubts about his unknowable intentions, she casually asked.

 

“The matter with Mephisto was handled well?”

 

“…Well, that also worked out fine in the end.”

 

Though the herb obtained from Jia at the end became completely useless.

 

He could roughly guess that bringing up such talk wouldn’t lead to any good conversation.

 

While Juhyeok was silently grilling meat alone and pondering how to break the ice first.

 

She spoke first.

 

“So what’s your real business?”

 

Getting to the main point before even filling her stomach.

 

“You wouldn’t meet me just because you wanted to see my face.”

 

Jia wasn’t stupid enough to mistake that Juhyeok had met her out of romantic interest.

 

She had already somewhat guessed from the moment he called her to a beef shop, not even a pork place.

 

She wanted to know the exact purpose of why he had called her to such an expensive restaurant to ask for some favor.

 

“What could be the reason that guy who hadn’t contacted me for a week after that suddenly wanted to meet?”

 

“I’m originally the type who doesn’t contact people much.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just quickly tell me why you called me.”

 

The meat being flipped over.

 

Juhyeok checked that the door was properly closed and spoke quietly.

 

“I told you before, that I can open Gates.”

 

“That’s right.”

 

“The Gates work the same way as other Gates, defeating the boss.”

 

“Right. They’re all the same.”

 

Fortunately, all his predictions were correct.

 

Juhyeok asked her directly without needing to add flowery words.

 

“Could you open a Gate for me?”

 

“…A Gate?”

 

She seemed a bit surprised, as if she never dreamed he would ask her to open a Gate.

 

Jia hesitated for a moment, then dipped the properly undercooked beef in oil sauce and ate it while asking.

 

“Why, is there someone you want to throw in there?”

 

“No. I want to go in myself.”

 

“I see. You want to go in yourself…”

 

It wasn’t that unexpected, so her reaction wasn’t very big.

 

Juhyeok continued speaking to her.

 

“You said before that you could make up to S-rank.”

 

“I did.”

 

“Open an S-rank Gate secretly, just once.”

 

“….”

 

Eyes full of dark circles staring quietly at Juhyeok.

 

She chewed another bite of grilled meat and said.

 

“You must be in urgent need of money?”

 

Jia’s first guess was this.

 

A place urgently needed money, so he had to quickly enter an S-rank Gate to mine magic stones.

 

However, S-rank Gates weren’t a grade that appeared all that frequently.

 

Juhyeok had been worrying for a while due to lack of money when he happened to come asking for help from someone who knew how to open Gates.

 

A single remark thrown at the most plausible deduction.

 

Of course, Juhyeok crossed out that deduction.

 

“I’m not going in to make money. In the first place, the source of all magic stones has to be clear if you want to sell them.”

 

“There are routes to secretly launder that stuff. We made money that way in the beginning.”

 

“There’s no need to make money while taking unnecessary risks.”

 

If he got caught later for no reason, the Guild he had worked so hard to create might disappear.

 

Since he wanted to start cleanly without any such problems, he wanted to exclude illegal routes as much as possible.

 

“Then why are you entering the Gate?”

 

Juhyeok naturally couldn’t answer that question truthfully.

 

Since the artifact dwelling in his body was a secret from everyone, the fact that he was going to obtain magic stones to feed that artifact was naturally also a secret.

 

“Combat training.”

 

So the excuse he came up with was combat training.

 

It was clichéd, but there was no better excuse than this.

 

“I’ve been training lately, and I think it would be more helpful if I did it in real combat.”

 

“….”

 

The chopstick movement paused for a moment.

 

Eyes with deep dark circles looked at Juhyeok.

 

Just when he wondered if his obvious excuse had been exposed.

 

Jia let out a deep sigh.

 

“Shouldn’t you be able to rest a bit now that you’ve gotten that strong?”

 

Her face scrunched up as if asking if he wasn’t tired of it.

 

Since he was someone who devoted himself to training every single day, the excuse worked.

 

If it had been someone else, they would definitely think he was trying to enter the Gate for a different purpose.

 

But for a training maniac like Juhyeok who trained even though he couldn’t be more than 10 meters away from her, she thought it was a plausible enough story.

 

“Someone of your level is more than enough to be S-rank.”

 

A question thrown at Juhyeok.

 

Why did he live being so obsessed with training?

 

Juhyeok was already at a level that could be considered to have reached S-rank.

 

No, judging from his training, he was sufficiently competitive even within S-rank.

 

“You won’t have any problems making a living from now on, right?”

 

There was no Hunter in South Korea who could surpass him.

 

Since he hadn’t clearly shown all his skills in front of everyone yet, public evaluation still considered him a Hunter on the edge of S-rank.

 

But before long, his skills would gradually become known to the world, and therefore he would gain wealth and honor.

 

She couldn’t understand why such a guy constantly trained himself.

 

“If it were me, I’d just live training moderately.”

 

“….”

 

Needing a Gate for training was all a lie.

 

What he wanted were the magic stones he could obtain there.

 

Magic stones to give as food to the artifact were his main purpose.

 

But the question that arose from his excuse touched him.

 

“What exactly is the reason you train so hard?”

 

What was Juhyeok running so tirelessly for?

 

He had already become strong and climbed high enough to envy no one.

 

A different life had come, unlike before when he lost more often than he won.

 

The reason he continued to swing his sword without becoming lazy despite all this.

 

To Jia’s question, he spoke of the ambition he always carried in his heart.

 

“It’s proof.”

 

“Proof?”

 

Juhyeok stopped using the tongs to flip the meat and continued speaking.

 

“I have a belief. That there’s nothing that can’t be achieved if you put in the effort.”

 

[Nothing is impossible in the face of effort. You understand, son?]

 

His father’s face comes to mind again.

 

It’s faint.

 

It remains vivid when he looks at photos, but in his own memories, it has grown dim.

 

What remains in his dust-covered childhood memories is that voice filled with conviction.

 

With that voice alone, he overcame every adversity.

 

A dullard among dullards.

 

A person who couldn’t perform above average at anything.

 

That was Jung Juhyeok, and Jung Juhyeok was also the one who overcame it.

 

“I’m getting stronger to prove that to the world.”

 

The belief he’s held his entire life.

 

He runs endlessly to prove it.

 

Effort.

 

Until everyone acknowledges all the blood and sweat contained in that word.

 

Jung Juhyeok will keep running forever.

 

It’s a difficult path.

 

When he was young, there were many times he wanted to give up, and many days when he hit walls and broke.

 

Still, even if he broke, he never stopped.

 

Effort is a habit.

 

Habits shape a person.

 

Jung Juhyeok’s body is already filled with effort.

 

That’s the legacy his father left behind.

 

The will he inherited.

 

He doesn’t stop.

 

“Are you saying you became strong through effort alone, without any talent?”

 

“Sadly, yes. I’ve never shown talent in anything.”

 

“…I’d say the fact that you’ve already become that strong shows you have talent.”

 

Ability that reached S-rank.

 

That’s a level that ordinary people couldn’t reach no matter how much effort they put in.

 

She thought that reaching such a level itself showed he had talent.

 

Jung Juhyeok answered lightly.

 

“It’s more luck than talent.”

 

“Luck?”

 

“That’s all I can tell you.”

 

The best answer he could give without mentioning the artifact’s existence.

 

Heaven helps those who help themselves, as they say.

 

Jung Juhyeok was lucky enough to encounter the artifact, and thanks to that, he was able to become this strong.

 

While it was difficult to talk about all of that, saying he was simply lucky was possible.

 

Jung Juhyeok said this while picking up a piece of meat and eating it.

 

“So can you help me? Or not?”

 

“…Well.”

 

She falls into thought for a moment.

 

After a brief contemplation, she spoke.

 

“S-rank won’t work. If I make one, the mana consumption is so severe I’d have to lie down all day.”

 

She could create an S-rank Gate, but the massive amount of mana required to create such a large Gate.

 

That’s why she always only made B-rank Gates, and rarely had occasion to make larger Gates.

 

“Then would an A-rank Gate be difficult too?”

 

“Well, that’s possible.”

 

Jia begins to hesitate.

 

She slyly held out her chopsticks and smiled mischievously.

 

“You’re not asking me to help you for free, are you?”

 

“…If it’s money, I’ll match whatever I can.”

 

“No, I don’t need money.”

 

He came to ask for help on his own feet.

 

For Jia, there was no better opportunity than this.

 

“Help us with our work.”

 

The work she was asking for help with.

 

From her saying help with ‘our’ work rather than help her, he could immediately guess what kind of work it was.

 

“Is it related to revenge by any chance?”

 

“That’s right.”

 

“I see.”

 

Juhyeok quietly picked at the side dishes with his chopsticks.

 

He asked back.

 

“What else do you want besides that?”

 

“Nothing.”

 

She answered firmly.

 

“Just as proving effort is life for you, revenge is life for us.”

 

“I see.”

 

Time slowly passes.

 

They both realized what they needed from each other and tried to find an appropriate point of agreement, but unfortunately the two lines could not intersect.

 

Juhyeok placed meat on her front plate with a regretful heart and said.

 

“Eat, the meat will burn.”

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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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