Chapter 42
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Preparation
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“What’s this?”
Han Seung-woo approached Lee Ru-ri, who had been pushed back by the wind, and asked.
“I’m guessing it’s a gift from Keres...”
“I never imagined the human I revived as a bonus when choosing my master would turn out to be so useful. What a surprise.”
“Your master?”
“It’s... a long story. I’ll tell you later.”
“This feeling... I’ve experienced it before. I thought it meant I’d reached the promotion threshold.”
“That was the price I gave you for stealing away your eternal rest in death.”
“Eternal rest in death?”
“How do you plan to protect my little master?”
“I don’t know why I have to say this to a monster, but I’ll protect Ru-ri even if it costs me my life.”
“Good resolve. Commendable. Here’s a gift for you as well.”
Keres suddenly lunged at Han Seung-woo.
Acting on instinct, Han Seung-woo blocked Keres.
The moment Keres and Han Seung-woo clashed, a burst of red energy exploded from his body.
“That’s right.”
“I can see red light coming from Seung-woo!”
“Humans are more amusing the more I learn about them.”
Keres spoke in a satisfied tone.
“Make it fully yours. It’s a gift because your resolve to protect your master was so commendable.”
Han Seung-woo stared down at the red light flowing from his body for a long while, his face dawning with realization.
“That’s enough for today.”
Keres departed as she was, soon returning as a residual shadow to await orders.
“Residual Shadow, I’m going to scout the interior. Can you stay with me?”
“Understood.”
Lee Ru-ri tightly gripped the hand of Han Seung-woo, who was still out of it, and pulled him along.
Snapping to his senses quickly, Han Seung-woo began cautiously surveying the gate’s interior, awkwardly positioned between Lee Ru-ri and the residual shadow.
The two walked deep into the gate’s interior with the residual shadow in tow, in silence for quite some time.
Lee Ru-ri, deep in thought about something serious, asked the residual shadow.
“Residual Shadow, are there any named beings here right now?”
“None.”
“Hmm, then why did this place appear?”
“I don’t know.”
Han Seung-woo, who had been quietly listening to the exchange between Lee Ru-ri and the residual shadow, let out a chuckle.
“Why are you laughing?”
“I’m amused at myself for getting used to this absurd situation bit by bit.”
“Good thing you adapt well. I was really worried you might try to send me to a mental hospital... I agonized over it for ages.”
“I should probably check in to one with you.”
“Since you’ve adapted, that sounds perfect.”
The two burst into laughter at the same time.
The residual shadow followed behind them, tilting its head as if utterly baffled by the conversation.
“Little Master, there are nameless ones ahead.”
“Really?”
Lee Ru-ri reached out her hand to check the monster’s information.
[C ― Muski: Current Favorability <0>]
“C-rank monsters.”
“Little Master, there are many of them.”
“How many?”
The residual shadow pondered for a moment before answering.
“In human numbers, 200.”
“Two hundred...”
“That’s too many. C-rank monsters shouldn’t be too hard to take down, so how about calling it here for today?”
“Yeah, that’s probably best. Thanks, Residual Shadow. You can go back now.”
“Understood.”
The residual shadow vanished, and Lee Ru-ri and Han Seung-woo left the Inex Gate, regret trailing behind them.
“By the way.”
“Yes.”
“The chairman and vice chairman wouldn’t have fallen to mere C-rank monsters.”
“I suspect Inex Gates have a limit to the number that can be cleared, just like regular gates.”
“So the gate those two entered had monsters on the level of Keres and Ezoald...”
“To minimize damage, we need to prioritize clearing the Inex Gates in Korea. Other countries are only just ramping up hunter awakenings.”
“Heavy burden on Korean hunters’ shoulders.”
Kugugugung.
As the two neared the entrance, the gate’s interior shook violently.
“Argh!”
“Ru-ri, careful!”
Han Seung-woo helped the fallen Lee Ru-ri to her feet. The shaking continued for a while.
“What’s going on? Residual Shadow!”
“You called?”
“Something’s wrong here!”
The residual shadow vanished in an instant, reappeared, scooped up Lee Ru-ri and Han Seung-woo, and bolted out the entrance.
“Why did it suddenly shake?”
“It was a named one.”
“You said there weren’t any!”
“It just appeared.”
“Ha, we’re outside now, so everyone would freak if they saw you. Go back—thanks for coming right away.”
At Lee Ru-ri’s command, the residual shadow returned.
Han Seung-woo examined Lee Ru-ri’s scraped knee from the fall and asked her.
“What’s a named one?”
“Mm, they call the bosses we know over there ‘named ones.’”
“If it’s as Ru-ri says... Hmm, I still can’t wrap my head around it.”
“Looks like the gate interior has its own circumstances, like the society we live in. Keres gave me the homework of figuring it out.”
“Can that monster Keres really be trusted?”
“She says she sees me as her master, at least. Well... she killed us but ended up saving us in the end, so she’s not entirely untrustworthy.”
“That’s baffling in its own way.”
The two got into the car and headed to Yang Jeong-hyun’s lab.
“Nothing happen around the gate?”
Yang Jeong-hyun greeted them.
Ham Dae-hee was in the middle of getting her hunter stats checked.
“We were just confirming if entry was possible.”
“How was it?”
“Entry’s possible, but the monster ranks inside don’t seem fixed.”
“Hmm, but how’d you figure that out?”
“Ru-ri and I went in ourselves to check.”
“Are you insane? Alone in that dangerous place? You two aren’t living on borrowed time.”
Yang Jeong-hyun scolded them while checking Ham Dae-hee’s status on the monitor.
“Wow, Dae-hee’s amazing.”
Lee Ru-ri marveled at Ham Dae-hee’s stats.
“Heard of appraisers?”
“Appraisers?”
“Yeah, position tasters. Dae-hee can appraise hunters’ positions without the mana stone system.”
“First time hearing it.”
“Figured. She was the only one, but when Chairman Han couldn’t control her, he erased her position name and hunter info entirely. Fifteen years ago.”
“Ah...”
“Hey, Ham Dae-hee. You didn’t slack off, huh? Last I saw, you were around C-rank, but now you’re just shy of S-rank. By new reappraisal standards, solidly A-rank.”
“I’ve been running Ghost Crew ops too.”
“How, without a hunter license?”
“There are ways under the table. Plenty of hunters operating in hiding on their own.”
“Now that guilds manage their own, round some up. We need numbers for Inex Gate clears.”
“Jin’s already gathering them.”
“Jin Mi-seon, you mean?”
“Yeah.”
Han Seung-woo, listening to Yang Jeong-hyun and Ham Dae-hee, asked Yang Jeong-hyun.
“Can the key personnel get preemptive reappraisals?”
“Exactly what I was thinking. I’m most curious about Ru-ri, though.”
“Then I’ll swing by HQ, make the calls. Let’s gather before lunch tomorrow for checks.”
“Okay. It’s late—go rest. I’ve got some overdue mental training for Dae-hee.”
Leaving the trembling Ham Dae-hee behind, Han Seung-woo and Lee Ru-ri left the lab for her guest room.
“After tomorrow’s reappraisal and gate clear, how about we train just the two of us for a bit?”
“Huh? Seung-woo, you serious?”
“I just want to properly test out this power that Keres... gave me.”
“Is this the same guy who swore off gate runs?”
“Si-jin’s trained the guild so most low-rankers are C+ now. Leave low gates to them—we’ll do B+ and up.”
“Promise no nagging if I solo C-ranks, and I’ll think about it.”
Lee Ru-ri said cheekily.
Han Seung-woo sighed deeply and accepted her terms.
“Rest well. See you in the lab tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
Lee Ru-ri watched Han Seung-woo’s retreating figure as he headed to HQ, then returned to her room and flopped onto the bed.
She straightened her lying position and pondered the monster that had appeared in the Inex Gate, as the residual shadow mentioned.
‘Definitely SS-rank. Seung-woo thinks Inex Gates can be ranked too, but I see it differently. When we entered the hidden gate with him, the gate break happened, and Ezoald jumped from S to SS and burst out—that had to be because the Inex Gate pulled the trigger somehow.’
She tossed and turned a bit.
‘Hope nothing happens tomorrow...’
Worries churning, she couldn’t sleep easily and chugged water from the fridge for no reason.
‘Tomorrow’s reappraisal... I’ll have to talk to Seung-woo first about how to handle it.’
Lee Ru-ri lay straight in bed again, trying hard to sleep.
The next day.
“Seung-woo, how should we handle the reappraisal later?”
“Others will come on time, so let’s go early and check first. For the group one, just do it skillfully in front of everyone.”
“Got it.”
The two headed straight to Yang Jeong-hyun’s lab.
“Where’s Dae-hee?”
“Locked her in my room.”
“Yang, I have something urgent to discuss.”
“You want Ru-ri’s reappraisal first, right?”
“Huh! Teacher, how’d you know?”
“Ru-ri, I’ve been bored lately, tracking your gate runs live. Didn’t you know?”
“Ha, haha. I did.”
“That’s not D-rank level. Let’s go.”
Yang Jeong-hyun guided them to the fully prepped position reappraisal room.
“Wow.”
“Impressive, right? I poured my soul into it. When all Korean hunters come, it’ll flatten Chairman Han’s nose a bit.”
Yang Jeong-hyun shrugged and pushed Lee Ru-ri into the appraisal room.
“You’ve worked hard.”
At Han Seung-woo’s incongruous words, Yang Jeong-hyun grimaced and poked his side.
“You. Hanging with Ru-ri’s made you all soft?”
Han Seung-woo replied without flinching.
“Ru-ri’s no ordinary woman.”
“Ha, you’re crazy. That’s why people in love are so annoying.”
“Not in love yet.”
“Then do something about those lovey-dovey eyes first.”
Yang Jeong-hyun turned on the mic and spoke to Lee Ru-ri waiting in the appraisal room.
“Ru-ri, got time, so I’ll push you to max rank. It’ll auto-stop if stamina drops dangerously. Don’t stress.”
Lee Ru-ri raised her hand high and waved outside the room.
Yang Jeong-hyun and Han Seung-woo, watching from inside, chuckled in unison.
Yang Jeong-hyun promptly generated a C-rank virtual monster in the appraisal room.
Inside, Lee Ru-ri checked the generated virtual monster’s info.
[C ― Blue Koranbi: Cannot increase target’s favorability.]