The Only Enhancer - Chapter 116

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 116
116 – The Berserker Runt (2)
3.
I had no genuine intention of making an eight-year-old child into a dealer, no matter how awakened he was.
Education was necessary.
After all, he looked like something straight out of a film—a feral wolf child.
He needed social education and various forms of care.
The problem was….
‘I can’t provide that myself.’
Why not just hire someone to take care of him?
Well, that’s obvious enough.
But think about it.
“Aou?”
Woo-jin, who resembled a feral wolf child.
The problem was that Woo-jin wasn’t an ordinary child.
He was an awakened one with tremendous power.
Who could possibly care for such a child?
His physical body was nearly equivalent to a level 5 dealer, and like the alchemist, his special trait granted him physical abilities approaching level 6.
Because of that, I couldn’t entrust him to just anyone.
At best, perhaps Jung Ji-hwan?
But.
‘Sigh… it’s better if I do it myself rather than burden Jung Ji-hwan with this.’
The problem was that Jung Ji-hwan already had far too much on his plate.
As Min-jun sat there deliberating, someone knocked on his office door.
Knock, knock.
A measured, composed knock.
And thinking about who would visit at this hour, I immediately knew who it was.
“Come in.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Isabella entered with a respectful bow, expressing her gratitude.
And upon seeing her, my eyes widened in surprise.
“!!!”
“???”
Isabella, confused about why I was reacting that way, looked at me.
I asked her a question.
“Isabella, besides being Team 1’s leader, do you have any other responsibilities right now?”
“Ah, nothing in particular. That’s actually why I came—to ask if there’s more work I could take on….”
“Aou?”
I smiled quietly, glanced at Kim Woo-jin, then looked back at Isabella, and she seemed to understand, swallowing hard.
Min-jun smiled softly as he looked at Kim Woo-jin, then gazed at Isabella, and Isabella, realizing what was happening, swallowed hard for a moment.
The child Min-jun had brought not long ago.
Though still underage, Isabella knew better than anyone that he’d changed his nationality to Korea under the name Kim Woo-jin.
She was also well aware that he was a formidable Level 5 powerhouse.
The only troublesome aspect was that he acted so much like a beast, driven purely by instinct.
He understood Min-jun’s words almost like commands and tried to obey them.
But since he hadn’t been socialized yet, he needed proper guidance—and entrusting him to someone other than Min-jun made her uneasy.
After all, he’d never spent time with anyone else before.
Still, Isabella felt quite confident.
“Understood. I’ll take charge of him.”
“If it seems too difficult, please tell me right away.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Isabella extended her hand toward Kim Woo-jin, who had now become her new responsibility, and spoke.
“Let’s go.”
“Huh?”
Seeing Woo-jin wary and unfamiliar with her, Isabella crouched down to meet his eye level and spoke again.
“The guild master is busy, so we can’t bother him. Come with me instead.”
“…?”
Min-jun tilted his head, observing Isabella’s appearance.
He thought she didn’t seem old enough to be called an aunt, but then again, Isabella was approaching her early thirties, so the title wasn’t entirely inappropriate.
Normally one would ask to be called a sister instead, but he let it slide.
It wasn’t particularly important.
As Min-jun watched.
Though not perfectly understanding her words, Woo-jin grasped enough and moved hesitantly.
Still unfamiliar, but drawing closer to Isabella.
And Isabella lifted Woo-jin into her arms and stood up.
The gesture looked so natural that Min-jun tilted his head in slight surprise.
Did she have children?
As he entertained this rather impolite thought.
“I’m good with children since I cared for them when I was younger.”
Sensing what misunderstanding he might have, Isabella added this clarification and bowed her head slightly.
Then Woo-jin also bowed with a little nod and nestled into Isabella’s embrace as they left.
Min-jun watched them go, scratching his head in brief contemplation.
“…Should be fine, right?”
They seemed to get along well enough and looked fine, but the uncertainty still made him anxious.
Still, since Isabella showed confidence, she’d do well, wouldn’t she?
Min-jun decided to stop worrying about it.
He was busy enough as it was.
There was a mountain of work to do.
First, he needed to conduct interviews for Team 2 again, and he had to gather the essence needed to strengthen his guild members to Level 6.
And most importantly.
‘I need to pass the alchemy records to Gwen.’
I should develop alchemy based on the records left by the underground monster spawn.
Min-jun grinned wickedly at the thought.
4.
Woo-jin, cradled in Isabella’s arms as they emerged outside, wore a sullen expression, clearly displeased about something.
Though he pouted while remaining docile in her embrace—which was admittedly quite endearing—Isabella spoke softly to him.
“You’ll need to learn how to speak properly from now on.”
“Ow!”
He protested with a slight huffing sound, but it had no effect on Isabella.
“Throwing a tantrum won’t help. Wouldn’t it be better if the Guild Master could understand what you’re saying?”
“…Owww.”
He made bestial sounds to express his displeasure, but she remained resolute.
Woo-jin nodded quietly at her words.
Min-jun really did seem to mean a lot to him.
Seeing this, Isabella smiled slightly as she spoke.
“That means you’ll need to study hard. There’s no way around it. The Guild Master is busy and won’t have time to spend with you, so if you keep just saying ‘ow’ like that, he won’t understand you and you’ll have to part ways. Is that what you want?”
Whoosh whoosh!
Watching Woo-jin shake his head rapidly, Isabella smiled with satisfaction.
This was just the beginning, but it would work out fine.
Isabella took Woo-jin with her, and his eyes blazed with determination.
5.
The Reinforce Guild Building had become one of the most famous structures in Korea.
Even within the Guild Building, there were restricted access areas.
But there were few places deemed critical facilities.
Most were places Min-jun frequented, but there was only one critical facility unrelated to Min-jun.
It was none other than Gwen’s Research Laboratory.
Gwen was deeply grateful for this and devoted herself to her research.
But why lately?
-Master, is something troubling you?
“Hm? Oh, Bella. No, it’s nothing.”
The Homunculus, whom she’d already named Bella, asked, and she shook her head in response.
She wasn’t even sure if she could call it a worry, but Bella saw it differently.
-If you need anything, please tell me anytime. I will always help.
Though her tone was monotonous, the passion beneath it was evident, so Gwen smiled gently.
Certainly, things had become easier since Bella arrived.
But.
Should she call it a slump lately?
She’d obtained the clue to reach Level 7 after creating the Homunculus, Bella, but she was struggling with the difficult condition of discovering the secrets of alchemy without any skills.
How could she perform alchemy without skills at all?
‘By manipulating mana?’
Perhaps this was the most correct answer, yet I couldn’t quite grasp it.
Min-jun had recently said he’d mastered how to handle mana, but Gwen still hadn’t reached that point.
Yet asking Min-jun about it felt awkward too.
‘…I’m worried I might be bothering him if I ask.’
That was why falling into a slump had become my greatest concern.
In fact, I didn’t think this qualified as something worth worrying about.
That’s why I answered that way when Bella asked if I had something on my mind.
But then.
-Master, what if you created a new Homunculus?
“A new Homunculus?”
-Yes, you already have the Orb of Evolution that the Master gave you. I believe it’s entirely possible with that.
“Hmm, that’s true, but… I’m a bit short on mana stones as materials.”
With the newly obtained monster mana stones, it would have been entirely possible.
But since there were other things I needed to use them for, I felt the shortage.
Bella nodded at that.
But.
-Since new synthesis methods don’t suddenly appear, I thought it would be good to attempt many trials. That’s why I mentioned it.
“Hmm, then should I try creating weaker Homunculi without using the Orb of Evolution?”
-I think that’s also a good judgment.
She spoke curtly, but there was a clear note of joy in her tone.
Seeing that, I was about to gather my spirits when.
Knock, knock, knock.
I heard a knock at the door.
Only two people could enter this place.
And the moment Gwen heard it, unlike her usual self, she hurried to speak.
“P-please come in!”
The person who quietly entered at her urgent voice was obvious.
Min-jun walked in with a slight smile.
Gwen swallowed hard.
And watching Gwen like that, Bella thought.
‘Why didn’t he come sooner?’
When she’d be this happy about it?
Even though Bella thought that, she didn’t say it aloud.
She had a duty to protect her master’s reputation!
In any case, Bella remained quiet with that thought.
Min-jun approached while looking at Gwen.
“Ah, you’ve heard about this situation, right?”
“Yes? Ah! That monster from underground?”
What Gwen had heard wasn’t much.
That there was a monster conducting human experimentation underground, and that we’d rescued someone named Woo-jin from it.
Since she hadn’t heard anything beyond that, Gwen tilted her head in confusion.
Min-jun spoke quietly as he observed her reaction.
“Yes, I believe all the monsters that were in Kaesong were his creations.”
“W-what?! Then, does that mean…?”
“Yes, they appear to be monsters manufactured using a method similar to Homunculus.”
“Uh, um…?”
“That’s why I brought those materials with me.”
As Min-jun spoke to Gwen, he retrieved materials inscribed with new transmutation formulas from his inventory.
Though there were more materials than expected, Gwen’s Research Laboratory was so expansive that there was plenty of space to organize them on one side.
As Min-jun carefully laid them out piece by piece, he arranged them neatly.
Watching him do so, Gwen blinked her eyes in bewilderment.
Then she glanced at Bella.
‘You said new transmutation methods don’t suddenly appear, right?’
‘Well, it seems they can suddenly appear like this.’
Both of them stared at Min-jun with expressions of utter disbelief.
Who could have possibly imagined this would unfold in such a manner?
Recovering quickly from their shock, both of them examined the materials.
Since Bella was also a Homunculus, she was performing her role as an assistant quite competently.
Looking at the materials, one could grasp their meaning at a glance.
Though the materials were written in the monsters’ language, neither of them had difficulty interpreting it.
Since the script was composed of mana, they could intuitively comprehend its meaning and significance directly through mana itself.
As they read through them, both Bella and Gwen’s eyes widened in astonishment.
What Lava Hunchback had been transmuting was human body transmutation.
Naturally, they had no intention whatsoever of attempting such a thing, but there was one thing.
Just one useful technique was documented.
And that was precisely…
“Constructing a physical body through mana?!”
-Congratulations, Master.
Observing Gwen’s reaction, Min-jun smiled faintly and asked.
“Was it helpful?”
At those words, Gwen responded loudly without thinking.
“Yes!!!”
With this, she had finally learned the method of manipulating mana to transmute a physical body.

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