< One Night’s Curse and Poison Dragon (2) >

Maybe they were using a type of hiding skill, because I couldn’t clearly see their appearance. But the silhouette was definitely a human. And they spoke too.

Was it an S-Rank Hunter who had a hiding skill?

That wasn’t in my memories.

I scrutinized the collapsed silhouette and went toward the basket that Chirpie was in. As soon as I picked up Chirpie, who was sleeping without knowing a thing, the silhouette jumped up.

“Wow, how thrilling. Darling, what was that? My curse resistance is S-Rank, but I had to put on a de-cursing item to finally pull free?”

It was a woman’s voice. The curse resistance was S-Rank – it was a little awkward for me to say, but she must be a fiend.

According to The Weak’s Premonition, she had stat S-Rank, S-Rank poison skills and curse skills, SS-Rank short-range physical attack skills, an SSS-Rank t.i.tle… What was all this. She really was a Hunter I hadn’t heard of or seen. Exactly what kind of t.i.tle was it that there were three S’s stuck to it?

Of course, the attack power could be nonexistent like my L-Rank t.i.tles, but it seemed like that possibility was low. Because.

[Awakened Person – Riette

Current stat rank S

Possible Awakening stat rank S

Optimized Initial Skills

Eternity’s Severance(SS) Acquired

Knife’s Path(S) Acquired

Dazzling Aura(S) Acquired

Flowing Cloud(A) Acquired]

Severance, knife, aura. No matter how you looked at it, they were initial skills that had nothing to do with curses or poison. In other words, the poison and curse skills she had were highly likely to be the SSS-Rank t.i.tle’s skills.

“What could you be looking at, our cutie[1].”

…I didn’t like the way she spoke at all. With that name too; was she a Westerner?

‘Setting aside stats, the skills are no joke. If the ranking compet.i.tion existed now, she would be in the highest range.

Proximity combat apt.i.tude and poison and curse SSS-Rank t.i.tle. And she seemed to have a hiding skill too. Seeing how the Lauchtas’ Natural Enemy skill was set off, the SSS-Rank t.i.tle was also related to curse and poison dragons. It was Dio Valshesis, right? It was a monster I hadn’t heard of, but just looking at the name, it didn’t seem like a normal fiend[2].

“Darling? Why don’t you show me a reaction already or something? Are you frozen from surprise?”

“If you have business, you should have requested visitation through phone during the day, Riette-ssi.”

“Oh my?”

Right after the exclamation full of surprise, the blurred silhouette became clear. Showing her appearance in the darkness, was a beautiful woman with a cheerful smile. A bob that was cut short for activity was a dark black and the two eyes were a clear gold.

Gold eyes. The appearance of high rank Hunters could change strangely, according to their apt.i.tude or skills, but that had too different of a gold quality to be called something that belonged to a human.

“How could you have known? My name. And darling, wasn’t it that you were stat F-Rank with nonexistent attack skills?”

She didn’t look an Easterner, but her Korean was proficient. It was probably thanks to the item hanging around her neck. It was a translation item that sometimes came out in S-Rank dungeons.

“Is it not basic for Hunters to hide one or two?”

“It’s not one or two, though? Just a while ago was a curse skill, probably around SS-Rank. And you seem like you have a skill that lets you read another person’s information. Weren’t you vigorously reading something?”

As expected, the Seed-Leaf skill was caught right away in front of an S-Rank Hunter. I lowered Chirpie back into the basket and smiled gently.

“It was a hidden card. That it did not work, made me quite disappointed.”

“It was just that the match up was bad. That it’s a skill that can incapacitate even an S-Rank curse resistance, is pretty impressive.”

It was doubled again through the Lauchtas’ Natural Enemy. Exactly how many times did it rise again?

“First of all, can I a.s.sume that you do not have any intention to attack?”

Chirpie was right next to me, and Peace and Myeongwoo were nearby. It was better to avoid a fight as much as possible. And, if the skills were to that extent, even if Yoohyun came, the chance of winning wasn’t that high. A proximity apt.i.tude with an S-Rank poison and curse – it was to the point of being evil.

Thankfully, she didn’t seem to have the will to fight.

“Yes, of course. Above all, our natures really don’t match. The curse skill that I sent as soon as I released myself from your curse – did you feel it?”

I didn’t feel it. It was an S-Rank curse skill, so did it just disappear because it was too insignificant?

“My curse resistance skill rank is a little high.”

But pretending I knew, I shrugged my shoulders. She held out both her hands as if answering.

“My curse skill is condition specialized, so it’s weak to use during combat, but I’m upset that it didn’t get through even a little bit.”

Simple attack curse skills like Blackie’s Thorn Trap were things that monsters usually had, and normal Hunters’ curse skills were condition specialized. Used for inventory sealing or contracts and such, with usage versatility being high… wait. Could it be?

“……Did you happen to come find me because of ripping the contract?”

“That’s right! So it was you?”

I mean, did you come just for that? I was dumbfounded. Looking at my expression, Riette quickly added an explanation.

“It’s not just for that reason. I came because I also have a request. In the first place, I didn’t even think that you had destroyed the contract. I was thinking about asking you if you knew anything about it, while I was at it. But seeing Han Yoojin-ssi’s abilities… the kidnapping incident really must have been a trap for MKC?”

It wasn’t. But I put on an expression that said ‘it could be so’.

“That kind of rumor seems to be going around, then?”

“There’s talk that it’s a matter schemed up by Seseong and Haeyeon collaborating together. Anyways, are you going to keep standing while we talk?”

Riette, who had walked to the bed, raised just one long leg and straddled it. Hey, this woman.

“Why don’t you take off your shoes.”

“Ah, right.”

She obediently took off and threw her combat boots. She had cat-patterned socks.

“Aren’t they cute? I bought them in Dongdaemun[3].”

“Ah, yes.”

“Darling, you’re too dry. For things like this, you should know to come up onto the bed on your own.”

Then she lied down diagonally and waved me over. From the window, the moonlight… or rather the light from the opposite side building was dim, so the atmosphere was good, but I didn’t want to use the bed together with an S-Rank Hunter I didn’t know – an SS-Rank proximity cutting skill holder.

I thought it over for a bit and then went to the bed. I didn’t lie down and just sat on the opposite side.

“An illegal contract being shredded – is that not something that you normally do not pay attention to?”

Was an illegal thing illegal without reason? There were cases from time to time when the other person had curse resistance and had prepared tons of de-cursing items before contracting. But even if she had a different primary purpose, to think she was going to purposely check.

At my words, Riette had a bit of a sheepish expression.

“That’s because it hasn’t been long since I started.”

“It has not been long?”

“That’s right. I just started the business so I couldn’t help but pay attention. I only just got the curse skill ten days ago.”

Ten days? Just that?

“Could I possibly ask how you got it?”

“Darling, you’re grilling too much. When you’re not even coming closer.”

“You have learned my secret, so let us agree to each keep our mouths shut.”

“Secret? Do you mean the stats and skills? They’re things the Haeyeon and Seseong Guild Leaders know anyways.”

“They do not know.”

At my words, she turned over onto her stomach. The two gold eyes turned big and round.

“They don’t know? Really? That’s a surprise.”

“If it is this extent, is it not a secret worth a trade?”

Although my card was about half fake. But if she found out the truth, she could guess that I had some kind of special skill. So it wasn’t that I was giving away a little.

“What should I do?”

“I also know that it is a skill that came from a t.i.tle.”

“Wow, you really do have a skill that can check status windows. Darling, you’re too much. Okay. It’s a t.i.tle I got after catching an S-Rank dungeon boss monster.”

“A Dio Valshesis?”

“I mean, if you already know everything, why are you asking?”

Riette pouted her lips.

“SSS-Rank t.i.tle Dio Valshesis’ Twin. It’s a t.i.tle that you can get when you catch the twin dragons Dio Valshesis with just your sibling from the same mother. My younger brother is also an S-Rank Hunter.”

As benefiting a high rank, it was t.i.tle with a difficult condition.

“Could I also hear which dungeon it was?”

“It was an illegal dungeon from China…”

She slightly wrinkled her forehead and continued speaking.

“It might be hard to believe, but it disappeared after the attack.”

“It disappeared?”

“…You’re not surprised? It’s not a lie.”

“I know. I believe you.”

Twin curse and poison dragons Dio Valshesis. There was no way information about a dungeon with that kind of monster as a boss wouldn’t have been revealed in 5 years. So, obviously.

It was a dungeon that should have come out 5 years later.

The dungeon suddenly disappearing was probably because the system administrators took action.

‘So that’s why there was no information about such an incredible Hunter.’

If she was simply a female proximity attack apt.i.tude Hunter, I had heard of her before. The name was different, but there were a lot of Hunters who didn’t use their real names, so she should be the same person. It wasn’t like S-Rank Hunters were common, and if their apt.i.tude and gender were the same, then there was no mistake.

In other words, in the original future, Riette didn’t get the the Dio Valshesis’ Twin t.i.tle. Since it was even before the relevant dungeon appeared.

…Would there have been similar things to this?

“You believe me? Really?”

Riette furtively came to my side. Looking at her from close, she really was a beauty. I was captivated by that face for a moment, so I was sitting blankly until an arm stretched out and wrapped around my waist.

“But darling, it’s a little strange.”

“…What is?”

She pulled my waist and stuck close. She lightly raised her upper body and touched her nose to my shoulder.

“……Are you possibly a dragon type too?”

“I am a human.”

“But the feeling is… same kind? No, rather than that… being able to easily knock out something like a Dio Valshesis, hmm, a big shot kind of feeling?”

…I was wondering if it was because of Blackie’s skills, but no matter how I looked at it, it seemed to be the effect of the Lauchtas’ Natural Enemy or the Dragon Slayer t.i.tle. Then again, Blackie also was frightened, so even if Riette felt a strange feeling, it wasn’t weird.

“Darling, I’m getting a little excited.”

“……Excuse me?”

“You smell good, too. Do you use cologne?”

I did use a lot of body wash. Before that, she was clinging too much.

“How about moving away a little?”

“Darling, you’re really twenty-five, right? You’re too cold.”

“I am at an age where I can differentiate people as I go at them. At any rate, let us talk some business instead.”

I figured out everything I was curious about, so it would be great if you left already. Riette roughly loosened her arm as if sulking and then sprawled out[4] on the bed.

“You’re too much. Would it wear down that thing for you to chime in agreeably? At any rate, it’s sad that normal people aren’t drawn in.”

“…They are not drawn in?”

“Yeah. They’re not. It’s the same as having become about half dragon half human, so the s.e.xual preference also must have changed.”

Is that so. That wasn’t right but it was another person’s business.

“Please just finish up your business and leave. I have to sleep.”

“So cold. You were cute when I saw you on TV. Speaking of, why is your face the same, darling? It seems like your stats are quite high. It’s still fine right now, but if it’s the level of getting compensation, normally-.”

“I did not get any.”

It’s the original.

“Then again, it hasn’t been long since you Awakened, right? My business is obvious. I have a baby monster I want to leave to you.”

“If it is that, please call during the day. You shouldn’t not know my contact information.”

All sorts of spam calls came, so could an S-Rank Hunter not find out my phone number? At my words, Riette widened her eyes.

“Are you pretending not to know? The guilds that negotiated with you have fire in their eyes, so how would I be able to directly call? Especially your brother is going around openly threatening people to not think of personally contacting you.”

Was Yoohyun going around doing that?

“Then you can come over directly?”

She bared her teeth in a smile[5].

“It’s just that, if I don’t get caught. You saw my skills. Originally, I wasn’t planning on showing my face. I hadn’t even dreamed that you could see through to an S-Rank Hunter’s status window. I was planning on secretly coming in and checking your intentions and secretly reeling you in.”

Then again, if you had a hiding skill, instead of using a traceable phone call, directly coming to find me was safer.

“So you want me to raise a baby monster for you?”

“If I openly leave it with you, it’ll come to light that I contacted you; can’t you make a way to connect? There’s a lot of people who are impatient other than me.”

She was pretending to be cute, going ‘please~’.

“Do you have social media?”

“Hm?”

“I will be making an account soon. Of course guilds, but even many Hunters use social media, so I will first follow and then contact you. When my social media account is made, please make a related post. And please give me your ID now.”

“Ah, I didn’t manage it properly though. Here’s my ID.”

After taking a piece of parchment and a pen from her inventory and writing her ID, she ripped it off and handed it to me.

“Thanks, love you~.”

Hearing the prattle that she loves me, suddenly the thought of applying the keyword to Riette too, came up. Because the effect was doubled, it seemed like it would work if I said it even once carelessly. It didn’t take long for even Blackie, who I couldn’t communicate with, so if it was someone who could understand the love ballad, it would quickly be applied. What should I do? Should I fill one empty S-Rank place and at the same time give her a growth buff sometimes?

If the growth buff was also applied doubled, it did seem like I was giving too much. First, let’s check if the keyword effect would appear.

“Do you happen to have someone you think of as a caregiver? Someone who raised you.”

“Hm? No. Not at all. Rather, I raised my younger brother. Speaking of, you raised your younger brother too, right?”

“Yeees, well…”

I did raise him. But looking at the results, I, just, well.

“……Even so, he Awakened on his own, and went on his own road on his own.”

On one morning. He was right about to take the CSAT, graduate, and go to college. I had thought that if he did, my work would have been done too.

Ah, I just thought of it. The savings account I put away for tuition. There was no use for it so I had let it sit the whole time, and then I had cancelled it before going to meet the Awakening broker. So that was why my bank balance was bigger than I had thought.

“Darling?”

Somehow that will disappeared and I flopped down on the bed.

“If you have finished with your business, please leave now. I will sleep now.”

“Really just sleep?”

“Yes, I will sleep.”

I just closed my eyes. I felt Riette peeking from above. The gaze looking down, as well as.

“Han Yoojin-ssi, I’ll come to play again.”

“…No thank you.”

“Thanks. Sleep well.”

A light feather-like[6] touch brushed against my forehead and then left. There was the sound of shoes being put on, and then the door opening and closing. The Weak’s Premonition that had been noisy the whole time became calm.

It was silent.

I opened my eyes again.

‘…The system people really are working.’

On top of blocking the progress, they even erased a dungeon from 5 years later that popped out. Though it was already attacked. It would have been the first attack, so I wondered what rewards they got. Should I have asked that too?

‘During the 5 years, following the level of difficulty, the rewards also increased. Then again, compared to the t.i.tle, a decent regression item wouldn’t be much.’

Dio Valshesis’ Twin. If it was an SSS-Rank t.i.tle, it was a rank that hadn’t appeared even 5 years later. That I knew of.

She said she had become about half human half dragon, so wouldn’t it have been inheriting exactly the Dio Valshesis’ abilities, a type like that? On top of that, it was a twin t.i.tle, so it was obvious both siblings received it.

‘If just the two of them caught the monster, as well as attacked an illegal dungeon, the siblings probably were acting with just each other without a guild or a team. If it were two S-ranks, it would be more than enough right now. Riette has a proximity attack apt.i.tude, so would the younger brother be a.s.sistance, possibly healer? No, if he was an S-Rank healer, there would have been no way it wasn’t revealed, so the likelihood of him being a.s.sistance would be high.’

It could be a long range apt.i.tude or on the magic side, too.

Anyways, both of them were at the level of being outside of rank, for now. It was one thing that it was a waste to just leave them alone, but it was to the point of being uneasy to do so.

Even so, should I say it was a relief that Riette was in a position to ask me for a favor? But, I couldn’t know how far that would go.

‘The keyword effect wouldn’t exactly appear for Riette.’

She was a curse and poison dragon type, so the application would be easy, but she didn’t have someone she thought of as a caregiver. If so, then as expected, I had to reel in the younger brother.

It was a younger brother raised by that older sister. Even if I didn’t see him, I could more or less guess his personality. At the least, he would listen well to his noona.

Since he was the same curse and poison dragon type, the keyword application would happen straight away.

‘I should ask her to introduce me to her brother.’

For the social media profile, whose picture should I use, between Peace and Chirpie?

[1] it uses the word for ‘pretty’ and means ‘person who looks or whose behavior is pretty and lovable’ but there’s no direct word for it in eng. ‘Pretty’ in krn can be used to describe the way a person acts, in which case it means more like polite/sweet, so I guess something like ‘sweetie’ could work too. ‘Cutie’ felt like it had the closest nuance, imho, though there is a word for ‘cutie’ in krn too.

[2] yj uses the krn word for ‘monster’, which I’ved been tl-ing lately as ‘fiend’ to differentiate from dungeon monsters (the eng word). Idk if there’s a special reason he’s using the krn word or if it’s just bc, but putting a footnote just in case

[3] it’s a large commercial district w a lot of shops

[4] lit. ‘lie down comfortably as the character 大’, i.e. w arms and legs askew/spread out

[5] lit. ‘bit off a smile at the corners of her mouth’. It seems like a turn of phrase the author made up but I don’t think it means ‘bit out a smile’ which in eng means ‘reluctantly/forcefully smile’, but rather more like ‘smile wickedly’ so I made my best approximation.

[6] lit. ‘cotton fluff like’