< A Date First of All (1) >

“Uh…… um.”

Maybe he had cried the entire time because the rims of his eyes were red. With his complexion being pale and him looking like he had no strength, he seemed like a paper doll that had fallen into water and was carelessly fished out and dried.

This guy looked more severe than me, who was kidnapped.

“…Are you okay?”

Though normally, I should be the one being asked if I was okay.

As soon as I spoke, huge droplets[1] of tears started to drop from Myeongwoo. Now, was pulling me over into his embrace next? Well, it seemed like he worried a lot, so I should calmly receive it. And there was a lot of free food I had gotten from him too.

But, Yoo Myeongwoo just cried without a sound and didn’t come towards me. Why was he like this? Was the shock too big? Did that guy, instead of me, need to be sent to the hospital?

“……I’m okay, though. I’m fine. I’m not even hurt anywhere.”

I don’t know what to do, so just say something. Should I put Peace down and pull him over into my embrace first? I was the victim, though.

“……There was nothing I could do.”

Finally, Myeongwoo opened his mouth.

“I, really… nothing at all……”

The voice that was forcefully squeezed out was stained with guilt.

It wasn’t that I didn’t understand. The person who had saved him several times already, had met with danger, but he had to stay cooped up in a room corner.

But.

“But that’s not your fault. You must have been unable to move and was confined somewhere.”

Yoo Myeongwoo wasn’t a normal employee, much less a guild member. He was still employed by me. So, if a sensitive problem occurred within the guild like this matter, naturally his actions could only have been restricted.

Or rather, it would be a relief if it had ended with house arrest. There was the possibility of receiving suspicion and being investigated.

“You’re in the position of being an outsider to a certain point, so the problem might’ve gotten bigger if you had tried to put yourself forward. So don’t worry.”

“But I……”

He swallowed his words and chewed on his lips, before wiping away his tears. That guy raised the head that was lowered, and smiled.

“Sorry. You should be tired but I acted all annoying. Hurry and come in.”

“No, it’s okay…”

Your reaction was more worrying. What was it? I would have let it pa.s.s with ‘he’s the same as ever’ if he had clung to me and bawled. The atmosphere like he had organized things and made a decision and resolved his heart all by himself, was uncomfortable.

“It’s really okay. In the first place, it’s a problem that the guilds that contracted to protect me should figure out.”

I said again, taking off my shoes and coming in. Myeongwoo halfheartedly nodded and asked if I wanted to eat something light. I was thinking of sleeping early, but I hadn’t eaten lunch or dinner, so it would be good to fill my stomach up at little. And I had to feed Peace dinner too.

-Geureureung

Peace, who had jumped onto the bed, turned around in circles. It seemed like he was feeling better after eating.

“You shouldn’t go up without even washing your paws. Come here.”

I picked up Peace and went to the bathroom attached the bedroom. When I did, he whined and pretended to be pitiful.

“Since you went outside, you have to wash. Inside the cage wasn’t clean either.”

-Kkooeuoong

“Okay, okay. Let’s just take a simple shower.”

Maybe because he was part of the cat family and was flame attribute, he really didn’t like washing. After coaxing him and showering together, and washing and even drying his fur, I became tired even with the higher stats. The psychological reason was probably bigger than the physical, but I wondered if I would die from overwork from looking after five when my stats return to normal.

“Let’s sleep now.”

When I turned off the lights and closed my eyes, I opened them again only a bit later. In the middle of the dark, I saw Peace hunched over and stuck right next to me. The red fur along with the mixed in golden hairs were more clearly visible than normal. So my vision had gotten slightly better too.

I looked at him for a bit, and then took out a gla.s.s bottle from my inventory. The red stone inside the bottle emitted a faint light.

‘Still, all of them are S-Ranks and planned to be S-Ranks.’

Yoo Myeongwoo was stat F-Rank, but he wouldn’t need to attack dungeons, so he would be safe. If he just got the skill, he would get protected almost as much as I was.

I didn’t have to worry too much about the remaining four. Of all the S-Rank Hunters in the world, even 5 years later when the level of difficulty rose, there weren’t any who had died in an attack, except for exactly one. …If you considered Yoohyun as well, then it was two. Anyways, it meant that if they didn’t do anything in particular, they wouldn’t die.

The death rate for A-Rank Hunters was also extremely low. Low rank Hunters, well, there were many and many died, and for mid rank Hunters, surprisingly, B-Ranks had a higher death rate than C-Ranks. It was because unlike C-Ranks, B-Ranks also went into high rank dungeon attacks.

‘For my mental health at least, it should be better to only apply the keyword to possible S-Ranks, at minimum A-Ranks.’

High rank familiars would be well taken care of, as much as they were valuable.

If it really didn’t work out, I should turn off the poison resistance and borrow the strength of modern medical science. Before the regression, when I was just constantly drinking, suddenly people appeared and dragged me to a hospital and I got treated for alcoholism, but they did it really well.

‘……Could that possibly have been Yoohyun’s doing?’

At that time, I wasn’t normal so I didn’t think much, but it really was weird that people unlocked the main entrance and came in, just because I had fallen into alcohol for about a week. The quality of the facility and counselling was really good too. The counselor had told me that if it got tough, to contact them anytime, and even gave me their business card. I wondered if that person was working even now.

Anyways, if it was possible, it would be great if the Last Repayment skill had no reason to be invoked again. And it was all too much of a waste to end just with 7 days.

I put the gla.s.s bottle into my inventory and closed my eyes again.

The next day, I spent all of it inside my house. Peace didn’t really want to go outside too, and Myeongwoo also didn’t go to sharpen knives, and made snacks for me. I didn’t know he also had a talent for baking. I had a hard time stopping myself from automatically saying I wanted us to live together forever.

In the afternoon, Yoohyun visited with a key technician. Saying that they had thoroughly searched the entire building, but couldn’t find the inventory sealing bracelet.

That was because I had it. I should’ve put it somewhere, but I had forgotten, and had come back just bringing it over.

“And Hunter Bak Yerim was caught in a stats drop curse for contract violation.”

I was touching the wrist that had the bracelet, when Yoohyun said something confusing.

“What? Contract violation?”

Uh… then again, it was a contract that had entrusted my guarding to her, so it would be called a violation.

Hearing about it, the time when the curse appeared wasn’t right after the kidnapping, but a little bit after. I thought it might have been when I was being beaten up.

Since I put in a vague condition like ‘guard’, it seemed like it based it on violence above a certain amount being applied to the guarding target. Since, when I was kidnapped, besides being grabbed, there wasn’t much else. And pa.s.sing out was because of using up mana.

“For the a.s.sociation, hyung can just contact them to say it wasn’t a contract violation, and for the curse, the related curse skill holder can lift it. The problem is that Hunter Bak Yerim is refusing it.”

“Huh, why?”

“She said it was true that she couldn’t uphold the contract and that she would pay the cost.”

Yerim, that guy[2], really, being stubborn over something pointless.

“I’ll talk to her about it.”

“I’ll leave it to you. Since she listens well to hyung.”

She didn’t listen well to that extent.

“Ah, wait.”

I grabbed Yoohyun, who had finished his business and was about to leave. That guy turned to look at me.

“So, gate stones. Do you happen to have any left?”

They were precious even 5 years later, so asking for one when they were even more precious now, made my face hot. But I really needed one.

Right now, my state was close to an A-Rank combat Hunter. In other words, I could attack a low rank dungeon by myself.

Of course, my real goal wasn’t the dungeon attack, but the contact from the person who made the system.

If I used the most out Lizard Stuck on the Wall, it wouldn’t be hard to secretly go outside. If I bought an F-Rank dungeon exclusive entrance pa.s.s, the secret would be guaranteed too.

But, it was a problem because something like a system error could happen and a monster outside of the rank could appear again.

‘I could interact with the person who made the system in front of the dungeon entrance, and use Wall Lizard and come out straight away, in such a case, but I can’t know if contact will come before the entrance closes.’

I wanted to take one gate stone to prepare for possible danger. If I really couldn’t, I could wait during the time before the entrance closes and just leave if there is no contact, but then it would be a waste of money and the chance. The application of Last Repayment also had just 6 days left now.

“Why? It wouldn’t be to go into a dungeon?”

That little brother frowned right away.

“Well, I can’t just not go in at all. I want to go in my spare time and go up at least 30 levels. I might just get something like a defense skill.”

Of course, I didn’t have anything like that. What exactly was my apt.i.tude? Did I not have something like an apt.i.tude because I was just a normal and easy ordinary person A?

“But there’s this matter too, and also that bird appearing last time. No matter what, it’s uneasy. Of course, I know it’s precious, but……”

Ah c.r.a.p, the more I talked, the more it felt pathetic. Should I just buy a few exclusive bids, and go in and out of them a lot? Was there a penalty if you bought exclusive bids and came out without doing an attack? I had never wasted money like that, or even thought of doing so, so I couldn’t remember.

“…Specifically getting up to 30 levels isn’t bad. The 10 level skill was S-Rank and among the initial skills, one was A-Rank, so the probability of a skill with a high rank coming out is high.”

Yoohyun wasn’t inclined to it, but nodded his head.

“Instead, I’ll choose the dungeon to attack and the team you’ll do it with. That’s okay, right?”

“I have to get your help anyways; I can’t attack even an F-Rank by myself.”

When I chattered on, Yoohyun took out a gate stone. My conscience was p.r.i.c.ked. Still, you couldn’t do something stupid when you were a stat F-Rank.

“You have reserves, right?”

If it was just this one, then it would be better to not take it.

“I do. In the first place, it’s something that doesn’t need to be used. Since me using a gate stone would be the same as meaning I’ve lost most of the main attack team. It would be better than me dying as well, but the guild would probably look miserable?”

He was saying something brutal while smiling. Like that guy said, it was something that was a hundred times better not to use. I nodded my head to agree and put the gate stone in my inventory.

I should look for F-Rank dungeons where exclusive bids were possible and that were located as close as possible.

“Peace, we should go out today. Hm?”

If it was normal, he would have whined about going out first, but Peace didn’t seem inclined at all to go out today as well. He wouldn’t have known the situation too well because he was asleep, but the aftereffects were excessive.

I thought it wouldn’t be good to leave him like this, so I purposefully held him and went out. It would be good if we could go outdoors instead of to the bas.e.m.e.nt training room.

I went toward the elevator while coaxing Peace, who was fluttering his tail in dissatisfaction. Today, the person who would be entrusted with my guard was.

‘Huh? That face is…’

It was a face I remembered. A beautiful fairy-like woman with gorgeous blond hair and deep blue eyes that were close to navy. She came towards me and smiled brightly.

“h.e.l.lo! I am Seseong’s Kang Soyoung!”

Seseong’s A-Rank Hunter Kang Soyoung. She wasn’t of Korean descent, but was a British person who was recruited by the Seseong Guild Leader and also had Korean citizenship. Limited to B-Rank and higher Hunters, even dual citizenship was permitted without conditions.

She was a talented Hunter who stood out enough for Sung Hyunjae to personally bring over, and her age was 19 years, and…

‘She was in a scandal with Yoohyun.’

It wasn’t decided that they were dating, but quite a lot of rumors circulated. That young lady could possibly become my sister-in-law[3].

Seeing her for real, she was even prettier. There was still a little hint of youth, so she was cute as well. Her expression was bright and lovable.

“h.e.l.lo, I am Han Yoojin. Please take care of me for today.”

“I would like to request that of you!”

Yeah, cute. Her personality seemed good too. Hearing the cheerful voice, I automatically smiled.

“So this child must be Peace. He is even cuter than when I saw him on TV!”

Kang Soyoung said in a bouncy tone. Our Peace was indeed cute. As expected, she was a great young lady.

“You will be going to the training room, correct?”

“Yes.”

Pressing the elevator b.u.t.ton, she tossed a look with a sparkling light in her eyes. It was a little embarra.s.sing because it was an expression like she was a fan seeing a celebrity.

“I was really alarmed when I heard the news. It is really a relief that you are safe.”

“Thank you for worrying.”

“I was being sincere. Really. Han Yoojin-nim is my only hope.”

“Hope?”

What hope? Kang Soyoung boarded the elevator and energetically nodded her head.

“Actually, I have one SS-Rank skill.”

She said softly, lowering her volume. An SS-Rank skill? I hadn’t heard that Kang Soyoung had such a thing. I wanted to try using the Seed-Leaf skill, but right now, her gaze was piercing into me, so I couldn’t. Let’s try it later secretly.

“If it is alright, could I hear what kind of skill it is?”

“That is right… Han Yoojin-nim would come to know it anyways.”

Kang Soyoung’s voice became more and more soft. Continuing, I heard a whisper.

“It is Dragon Rider.”

Ah… It was worth me being her hope. Really.

The monsters that were the most difficult to tame were exactly dragon types. On top of that, Kang Soyoung was an A-Rank Hunter, so finding a dragon type familiar that matched her rank would be like plucking a star from the sky. Since it was hard starting from finding a dragon type familiar, they couldn’t be used as expendables, and she would’ve had to consider it as just not having the SS-Rank skill.

“You must have gone through many hardships.”

Kang Soyoung nodded with an eager expression.

“Yes. I cannot explain the specifics, but it is a really, really good skill. But only if I have a dragon type familiar that matches my rank. But how could I find… a dragon type familiar, and at least a high rank or higher at that……”

She stopped speaking and even tears glimmered in her eyes. That a combat Hunter couldn’t use an SS-Rank skill, how frustrating would that have been?

“Still, if it is a dragon type, it would be hard to find them as a baby monster.”

Even if I could raise familiars, you couldn’t make something out of nothing. There needed to be a baby of a high rank monster, to raise it.

“Please do not worry! There is a place among the S-Rank dungeons under Seseong’s jurisdiction, where a dragon’s nest appears sometimes. Though, they only appear as eggs, and it being impossible to make them hatch is a problem, but this time, I decided to firmly prepare and wait until it naturally hatches.”

“……You must have many hardships ahead.”

“Still, if I do well, I could get a highest rank baby monster. It is worth suffering for.”

Then again, it was as good as dragon type. If she could only just get it, it would become the best familiar. In addition, if it was combined with Kang Soyoung’s apparently impressive SS-Rank skill… she would only be called an A-Rank, but outshine S-Ranks.

Ah, I wanted to introduce my brother. They should already know each other’s faces at least. Couldn’t they meet a little faster than before the regression? Even if they didn’t formally date, they should’ve had goodwill for each other at least, for the scandal to break out.

We arrived at the training room in an amicable atmosphere. But Peace didn’t even think about coming down from my arms. When I loosened my arms, he crawled up to my shoulders and stuck close.

“This……”

“It seems like Peace’s shock over being kidnapped was big…”

Kang Soyoung said, with an expression filled with worry.

“He was sleeping the whole time, but it seems like he felt something. It would be good if I could refresh his mood, but we cannot go outside.”

“Ah, then what do you think of going over to our guild building? We have a roof garden. It is large and well decorated!”

“A roof garden?”

It was alluring, but the problem was that Yoohyun probably wouldn’t let us go out.

“It is regretful, but with the kidnapping matter, it seems it will be hard to go out right now.”

At my words, Kang Soyoung thrust her chest out confidently.

“Please do not worry. I will supplement with more people to perfectly guard you. And right now, Guild Leader is at the guild. It is safer than anywhere!”

Um, suddenly, I didn’t want to go.

[1] lit. ‘chicken p.o.o.p-like’

[2] yes, I’m using ‘guy’ as a gender neutral term

[3] this isn’t really necessary, but fun fact, the word for ‘sister-in-law’ here is specifically ‘one’s younger brother’s wife, when one is male’