Back to Full Strength
"Haa... It's all because of me. I'm sorry~"
"No, that's not what I meant... I just thought you should know."
"Yeah. Hyun Wooseok... I wonder if he's trying to catch us just to vent his anger... I really can't figure out what he's thinking. Everyone always said he had such a good personality and strong sense of justice?"
Arin fiddled with her long ears, folding and unfolding them as she furrowed her brow. 'I'd really like to touch those ears once...'
Having experienced several times how the public's evaluation of people often differed from reality, I wasn't particularly surprised. Right now, I was simply curious about the fluffy texture of Arin's ears.
"Have you ever seen Hyun Wooseok before?"
"I've watched him spar from a distance a few times. That man is insanely strong. It made me realize what people mean when they call someone a genius... He's a monster who has done nothing but train with the sword since birth. Even his talent is considered the best in his family."
"I've heard that too. They say he's the genius who broke Hyun Il-hwan's record for youngest A-grade hunter..."
'And this time, that record will be broken by Yeonhee.' It would be no different now.
"Everyone in that family is a monster... The instructors at Ilseom Guild are no joke either, but it seems bloodline is something you just can't catch up to."
While half-listening to their conversation, I focused on the sensory waves I had spread out several kilometers wide.
'Hmm... The tail I attached to Baek Arin is still following us even now?'
I could sense one guy carefully observing us from afar. 'It's a man, of course. Hmm... I wonder if they attached one to No Hayun too? There are so many strong people around her, it probably got caught right away.'
Anyway, if I left the annoying stuff to No Hayun, most things would get resolved. She owed me for suddenly picking a fight with me before, so this much was only fair.
Yeonhee and Arin, who were chatting, both wore quite serious expressions. The fact that an enemy might strike at our backs at any time was more troublesome than expected.
"It would be awkward to tell Hyun Joong-gil... right?"
"Clack..."
For some reason, Yeonhee asked me about Hyun Joong-gil.
'Well... Even I can't predict how that person would react to this matter.'
We had only just reconnected. It wouldn't do for something like this to drive a wedge between us. Besides, he wasn't the kind of person you called over such a small issue.
We set that topic aside for now and discussed our upcoming schedule.
"Starting tomorrow, we'll enter the Frog Folk dungeon... You've already cleared it a few times, Yeonhee, so it might feel a bit boring."
"Not at all. Every time I go in, the terrain and monster composition change, so it's always new. Plus, I haven't even encountered the flying herbivore monsters that only appear in C-grade dungeons yet."
"Ah— You mean the 'Hanjaring'?"
"Yes. I didn't see any swamp areas though. I heard they appear sometimes."
The 'Hanjaring' was one of the highly valued ingredients alongside Big Boar. It looked like a large sparrow, but it was extremely sensitive to sound, making it quite difficult to catch. Even if you just plucked its feathers and grilled it, it tasted better than most chicken. The more we secured for the future, the better.
'Big Boar, Hanjaring, and Momonga trees. I need to secure as much of these three as possible.'
That alone should prevent any nutritional deficiencies.
'Even though it's a dungeon she's cleared multiple times, Yeonhee can treat this as training for handling werewolves.'
The number of summons had already surpassed ninety in the blink of an eye. Since things would be different from before, practice was necessary. In truth, considering Yeonhee's full power, she could probably clear the dungeon alone, but there were laws requiring a minimum number of party members, so there was no helping it.
The two of them chatted for over two hours while I spent the time carving out daggers by shaving down bones. The number of daggers had now exceeded one hundred. As my proficiency increased, the time it took to make them grew shorter and shorter.
Just as Yeonhee and Arin had talked their fill and were about to get up—
Brrrr—
"Ah, it's Hayun."
A call from No Hayun had arrived. She had also been exploring the Frog Folk dungeon for the past few days. Since it was common to spend over two weeks accumulating experience in a single dungeon, it wasn't surprising.
She hadn't officially promised to party with us yet, so we needed to tie up that loose end properly this time.
"It's been a while~"
No Hayun appeared with her usual half-polite tone and a refreshing smile. She seemed much more mentally relaxed than before. 'Her magic power has increased a lot.'
That kind of composure came from an overwhelming rise in stats. While not as much as Yeonhee, No Hayun had also achieved rapid growth in the time we hadn't seen her.
'That bracelet. It's an artifact.'
A bracelet I hadn't seen before had been added, greatly increasing her magic power. It was clearly an artifact, and she said it was a gift from her mother.
'A super diamond spoon...'
It wasn't even her birthday, but apparently 'The Witch' had bought it for her as a celebration for coming out of her domain after a long time. Yeonhee and Arin could only blink in envy.
"How much was that?"
Arin couldn't hold back and asked the price.
"This? It wasn't that expensive. Mother said it was just right for C-grade use, but I don't know the exact price. She said it's classified as a mass-produced artifact, so it's cheap."
Valuable items from other worlds were supplied daily by hunters, yet the price of artifacts only rose with each passing year. It had reached the point where the current prices were considered the cheapest. Even considering the recent surge in inflation, it was undoubtedly a price that would make one's hands tremble.
"...... Not that expensive... Mass-produced..."
"Yes. There's a lot of supply on the market, so anyone with money can buy them. Doesn't that make it fair to call them mass-produced?"
It didn't quite match the usual meaning of 'mass-produced' as something cheap and widely used, but I understood what she meant.
"I see..."
Arin's ears drooped slightly. She seemed to be having strange thoughts again. Anyway, No Hayun had a talent for casually saying things that demoralized people. Only after spending time with her did I realize those words came with absolutely no malice. Though her occasional sudden outbursts were hard to understand, once I recognized her as a controllable level of crazy, I no longer felt uncomfortable dealing with her.
'That thing I made from bone... I'll have to talk about it later.'
During the dungeon exploration, I'd look for the right moment to trade. Something on the level of that bracelet would probably be a fair exchange.
"Can I ask what the bracelet's effect is?"
"It reduces mana consumption for water-attribute magic by 15% and increases magic power by 250?"
"Whoa... 15% mana reduction... That's really good, isn't it?"
"If it wasn't good, Mother wouldn't have given it to me."
"Y-yeah, that's true..."
'Now she won't struggle as much even when using big techniques.'
Baek Arin seemed to understand that much and leaned forward to change the subject.
"First, let's make the party contract clear. Hayun, will you continue accompanying our party?"
"Eh? What are you saying? Of course!!"
No Hayun answered angrily, as if asking how such a question could even be directed at her.
"Eh? Uh... R-really?"
Arin blinked as if she hadn't realized Hayun liked our party that much.
"Yes. Why?"
"Ah, no. If you're willing to join us, of course we'd love that. But won't the guild have something to say about it?"
"My mother—I mean, the Guild Leader—is a very cold-hearted person. She carefully observed which party helped me grow the fastest and told me it would be better to join that one. She even asked what on earth you people were doing that kept bringing such luck my way?"
'Luck? More like we nearly died several times...'
We had actually died a few times, so Yeonhee and I had truly walked an extremely dangerous path.
"Hayun... You know we didn't want you to get involved in those kinds of things."
Yeonhee showed a slightly dissatisfied reaction. Perhaps because of the unsatisfying summons she had performed, she seemed sensitive to anything related to luck.
"That's true. But isn't it good if facing those situations frequently leads to faster growth? That's why I like our party... Of course, there are many other reasons too."
"What?!"
Yeonhee's expression seemed to say, That was the reason?
'Hayun really has great instincts. It's like one loose screw was replaced with a sixth sense...'
I looked at No Hayun again, her water-colored eyes sparkling.
"Still, sending a guild-affiliated hunter to another party can't be easy. The Guild Leader must be very decisive."
"In many ways... she is an amazing person. Not because she's my mother, but she really does have a vicious side. If I told you how I obtained Ice Growth, you'd probably faint?"
'Ah... Ice Growth. So that's what it was. Is that why she's turned out like this? Her strange tastes might also be the result of influence from a young age.'
I had heard there were special training methods that granted powerful affinity to specific attributes. Usually, families that had reached a certain level in one attribute possessed such unique training methods. The effects were maximized when started from a very young age, and the pain from training grew beyond imagination the more unfamiliar the attribute was to humans. Especially attributes with narrow concepts like freezing.
No Hayun must have received training close to abuse from 'The Witch' since she was little.
'They say she became a crazy person because of The Witch's greed...'
Still, thanks to 'The Witch,' she had gained a trait that included the word 'Growth.' From the perspective of her future as a hunter, it could be considered sufficient compensation.
'It's a trait where growth accelerates over time.'
She would gain unmatched growth in the ice category. Her growth was slower than Yeonhee's now, but that might change later.
"By the way, Ilwol seems to have gone really far away. Is that okay?"
From the moment No Hayun arrived, she had been staring only at me while continuing the conversation. Her question was somewhat abstract, but everyone knew what her concern meant.
"Ilwol has gotten too strong. Honestly, I feel like he'd pass the B-grade promotion test even in his current state. His face is handsome too."
"Pfft— Honestly, just looking at his appearance, he gives off the aura of an A-grade dungeon boss."
"Have you seen an A-grade boss, Hayun?"
"It's just a feeling. How could I possibly go there?"
"R-right..."
"But looking at the current atmosphere, it might become possible to briefly enter and exit soon."
We had stopped the villain Oh Seung-je who had crossed over by skipping 1.5 stages. Conversely, it meant we could now enter mid B-grade dungeons. If that phenomenon accelerated, it might become possible to jump two stages and challenge A-grade dungeons.
'Hmm... I'd like to take advantage of this phenomenon. But as long as the restrictions tying me to Yeonhee aren't lifted, it's difficult...'
Being bound to Yeonhee actually gave me a sense of mental stability, but I still needed to find a way.
'Right. I should ask Master about this too.'
Anyway, starting tomorrow, we would be active as a complete party once again.
"But why haven't we heard from Jua and Eunyoung?"
"Eunyoung unnie probably got lost and was late submitting her results. Jua is a bit worrying though."
But as if to mock our concerns, news of their successful promotions arrived not long after.
⊳ Bae Jua's voice was more energetic than ever.
She hadn't shown it, but she must have been very worried about failing. In my opinion, our party members weren't at a level where they needed to worry about the promotion test at all.
We had been about to leave when Jua and Eunyoung joined us, so we moved to another restaurant and spent time together until dinner. Having not seen them in a while, both Jua and Eunyoung had clearly passed a major growth threshold. It was evident that both had grown evenly without any weak points.
'Better than I expected. And moreover...'
(......)
Since a while ago, a single cat had been sitting on Ham Eunyoung's shoulder, staring intently at me. It had small horns on its forehead, was the size of a palm, and had a mackerel tabby pattern. It was undoubtedly the demon or devil that had been living inside Ham Eunyoung's mirror.