Chapter 70: Someone's Always Pulling Some Nonsense
Have you ever seen cats scratching at things? Scratching is a hugely important behavior for them. For a wild cat, it might mark territory, while for a pet cat, it's much the same—plus a way to relieve stress. The funny part is, it doesn't look all that impressive to humans. And yet, they go at it with such earnest effort. With the most serious faces in the world.
Nyaaang, nyaaang, nyaaang...
Hoya was humming away, scratching furiously with tremendous dedication. Utterly adorable, utterly cute, utterly... infuriating.
Why? Because I was surrounded by dark elves.
"Hoya! Cut it out!"
But Professor Hoya paid me no mind whatsoever. It was as if my fate meant nothing to her. Sure, I wasn't just taking it lying down from the dark elves, but doesn't the heart work that way? If Hoya's my pet, shouldn't she stick around, watch over me, cheer me on a bit?
"Argh, this pisses me off!"
Just then, one of the dark elves thrust his sword at me. I could see his sword path clearly. Thanks to Elven Swordsmanship. I hadn't mastered using it yet, but this perk of seeing trajectories was already a game-changer. And spotting this one's path meant I could overwhelm him with my intermediate Hertian Swordsmanship.
Bam!
Honestly, Hoya might not even be the most infuriating part. It was that they were all guys. Come on, variety is the spice of life—even elves should have at least one woman in the mix, right? What the hell? Why were all these bastards stinking males?
As my rage boiled over...
Rage level has exceeded the threshold.
Would you like to activate Berserk (Active) Level 1 skill?
I must've been seriously pissed. Wait, there's a rage meter? Anyway, I activated Berserk without hesitation. It was kill or be killed anyway.
Once Berserk Mode kicked in, the dark elves started giving ground bit by bit. Seeing that, I hit them with Fear. And it worked.
"You're all dead!"
In the end, I lopped off every last dark elf head. Then I glared at Hoya.
She just stared back with a 'What're you gonna do about it?' look.
"You...!"
Nyang!
"What, jealous? Think I'll come at you...?"
Choi Si-woo, know your place. I quickly calmed my rage. Berserk Mode deactivated automatically. Professor Hoya truly was the ultimate cure.
"Shall we head to the next stage then, Professor Hoya?"
Nyaang!
"Oh, check the bodies first? Got it."
I immediately started looting the dark elves per Professor Hoya's coaching. And something interesting popped up.
Observation skill used.
◈ Tool granting entry to the Dark Elf's Origin dungeon.
◈ Infuse with mana to reveal its location.
"Whoa, dungeon entry tickets exist too?"
It was exactly that—a classic game dungeon key. The intriguing part was "Dark Elf's Origin." Did it mean the source of their curse from elves? Or some record of their history? I'd find out when I went.
I looked at Hoya. "This what you meant?"
Nyaang! Nyang nyang!
"Keep looking? Alright."
I dug around some more and found a small accessory. An earring on a severed head.
"Ugh, this is super creepy."
Nyang!
Quit whining and pick it up already. So I did and checked it with Observation.
◈ Effect: Strength +20, Agility +20
◈ Elves were a race specialized in jewelcrafting. Though they've strayed from that form, remnants linger.
The description was straightforward. But the effects? Not so much. An accessory boosting Strength and Agility by 20 each.
"Creepy's the issue? Right? Gotta farm more of these from groups of them. Let's go, Hoya!"
Nyaang!
Too noisy—heading home, Hoya said. So we returned to the territory, Hoya cradled snugly in my arms. She'd dozed off at some point, mumbling in her sleep with twitching lips. Adorable. Too adorable—sometimes I wanted to smack her, which was the slight downside. But still cute. So I held back. What else could I do?
Back in the territory, everyone brimmed with vitality. The elders had each tried the stat-boosting ingredients, so they were far more energetic than outside. The Seongsim Orphanage kids were too busy frolicking amid the stunning scenery.
They went to school five days a week. But after one trip back from the gate, they'd play for days before school again. School had become an every-few-days thing.
The orphanage director worried a bit, but I didn't mind. Here, kids were precious. Not just to humans—orcs treasured them too. Orc kids got the same treatment. Human and orc children played together, though orc growth was much faster. Soon enough, playmates would become protectors. That's why the kids mingled more freely with orcs than adults.
The director had fretted at first, but relaxed after seeing an orc save a kid from danger. I held absolute command over these orcs—life and death authority, even. If I banished them, survival would be tough. So they never disobeyed me, steadily carving out their niche while getting along fine with humans. Especially the orc aunties—they were something else.
As lord, I watched these scenes warmly before heading to the near-complete lord's castle. Only my family and the knight order lived there. Housing knights in the castle was traditional, so that's how it was. Others built homes radiating from it.
"Back, Lord?"
"Anyone'd think my name was Lord."
"Nitpicking."
"Whatever. You waiting for me?"
"Yeah, sis said to let her know when you showed."
"Bring her then. I'll wait in the office."
"Heh, 'office' sounds weird, but it's right, so weirder."
"Feels weird to me too, jerk."
"Fine, got it. See ya soon."
"Yeah."
I headed straight to my office. One word: gaudy. Decorated with gold, silver—even mithril from the mines. Lucky a village elder was a carpenter, keeping it tasteful. Orcs had gotten hooked on furniture-making lately.
Waiting there, Seon-woo brought Sis.
"Sis."
"Yeah, but why's it so hard to see you when we're in the same place?"
"We're both busy. Sit. Coffee?"
"Sure."
"You too, Seon-woo?"
"Yeah."
I brewed for three, and we sat facing each other.
"Never imagined you'd be a gate lord."
"Same here. Doesn't happen just 'cause you want it."
"True. You heard I was in the US?"
"Yeah, long time, right?"
"Yep. Ended up hunter-ing unwillingly."
I glanced at Seon-woo; he shrugged. News to him too.
"Wait, siblings both hunters and never told each other? Family issues?"
"Feels normal to me."
"Me too."
"Huh? Si-yeon calls chattering if anything happens."
"Seon-woo's not that cute."
"Fair."
Seon-woo shot me a glare, then sipped coffee.
"So, what'd you wanna talk about?"
"You've heard the US is cooking something with gates, right?"
Conspiracy theories abounded; we nodded.
"Famous stuff. Weird if they weren't."
"Agreed."
Seon-woo chimed in too.
"Not that simple. Si-woo, you know I majored in biotech?"
Seon-hwa Sis researched biotech, landing her in the US. Gates had made it a hot field.
"He's half-beast, so maybe not. I'm still human, so I know."
"Right. Why I became a hunter? Thought gates could replace my research materials."
"Yeah."
"Got results. Then problems."
"Problems?"
"Animal trials? Fine. Human trials? Not."
"What happened?"
"Mutations."
"Mutations?"
"Normal person turns monster—like."
"Like our monsters?"
"Yeah, but zombie/ghoul types, not gate ones."
"Note: gates here have zombies/ghouls too. Anyway, apocalypse? Zombie outbreak?"
"Yep. Lab shut down."
Something felt off. "How'd you survive?"
"Pulled out before final test. Bad vibes."
"Ah. Outcome?"
"Dying researcher sent video. No probe yet; I came home. Then you got the gate—figured stay inside."
"So, US doing dangerous stuff? But not just them. All superpowers probably."
Sis nodded.
"So, what're you saying?"
"Prepare for worst-case."
Worst-case: zombie incident ended—they nuked the area, no more cases. Officially. My life felt like genre-shift, but I decided not to overthink. Inside here, we'd find solutions anyway.