The Pride of the Artisan Race (1)
The next morning dawned in the E-class zone.
Among the Do-hyeon party, the first to rise was unexpectedly Do-hyeon himself.
Though his body still felt a little stiff compared to the usual refreshing wake-up, it only lasted a moment. Just as he stretched, his body quickly returned to that light and invigorating feeling. It was truly astonishing recovery power.
“Huuuuh.”
After a light stretch, Do-hyeon got out of bed and surveyed the surroundings. It was still early morning, and the others had not yet woken up.
Since they had prepared the simple, provided foods and snacked on them, one by one the other members began to rise.
The first one to meet him was Ji Yu-chan.
With his outstanding physical abilities, he looked refreshed just like Do-hyeon, yet the aftereffects of yesterday were still evident. He had not fully recovered from the fatigue.
Ji Yu-chan rose and came out to the common living room, then asked as he saw the fruits Do-hyeon was eating.
“Are those delicious?”
“Yeah, they’re eatable.”
As soon as he heard Do-hyeon’s words, Ji Yu-chan immediately picked up a fruit and took a big bite.
Squish—
A fruit unknown on Earth spread a strange, exotic taste across his mouth.
Though he had expected the crisp, juicy sensation of a fruit, the texture was that of fruit yet the taste was somehow like biting into bread.
Even though it felt unfamiliar and mismatched, the taste itself was not bad at all. Just as Do-hyeon had said, it was eatable.
“It’s amazing.”
“Isn’t the taste itself good?”
“Yeah, it is.”
Ji Yu-chan replied in the same way and began eating the other snacks one by one. Before long, the Korean Hunter Association hunters started coming out one after another.
They looked a little surprised to see the two of them eating breakfast so early, but they did not seem awkward upon recalling yesterday’s events.
“You two are up early.”
“Such a great battle yesterday. Impressive.”
“Haha, I knew it the moment I saw you yesterday. That party is bound to rank up fast.”
“They came in yesterday and left already. They really are amazing.”
The surrounding hunters showered them with praise, but Do-hyeon was already accustomed to such situations since the training center and paid no mind to it. Ji Yu-chan also felt no stir from the compliments.
Even though it was praise, following Do-hyeon right now was already a tall order.
Do-hyeon, who did not know Ji Yu-chan’s feelings, quietly endured. Then he suddenly recalled the necklace from yesterday and looked at Ji Yu-chan.
He would have to talk about it with Hana-rin.
“Do you want this?”
“What? Oh, that necklace?”
As Do-hyeon asked casually, Ji Yu-chan shook his head without hesitation.
He had thought maybe he was just being generous, but the eyes held no greed or desire at all. Do-hyeon wondered if he might still want it, but Ji Yu-chan said,
“Since you didn’t give the order yesterday, I would have died anyway. If you have it, I don’t care. Listen to Hana-rin’s story and decide for yourself.”
“Okay.”
The cool reply from Ji Yu-chan, cool enough to send a chill through the room, made Do-hyeon nod without hesitation.
He was not the type to take something like this anyway, so he accepted it right away and returned the necklace.
On the other hand.
With items appearing, Do-hyeon felt a slight discomfort and thought to himself.
‘Is there no dimensional storage anywhere?’
He knew the concept existed.
He had heard of pocket dimensions often called magic pouches, but he vaguely recalled the smallest one costing 500,000 points. He shook his head in regret.
If someone had a dimensional storage skill, he could analyze it and take it. But he had never heard of such a person, so it was unfortunate.
It was true that not having a dimensional storage caused a lot of inconvenience.
But saving up points later to buy one, since the smallest cost 500,000, he would feel too bitter.
‘Is there no villain carrying a dimensional storage bag around?’
Unfortunately, among the villains he had killed so far, none had carried one.
There was no such thing in F-rank or E-rank zones.
If they carried one, they would be shouting, “Ah, I’m a golden goblin! Catch me!” and advertising themselves around.
While Do-hyeon kept feeling guilty over his thoughts, a few more hunters appeared, including Hana-rin.
She brought simple snacks and sat down with Do-hyeon and Ji Yu-chan. Before Do-hyeon could speak, Ji Yu-chan asked her first.
“You were asking about the disposal of the necklace you obtained yesterday.”
“Eh? Didn’t you say Do-hyeon oppa would take it?”
“What?”
The sudden declaration of ownership over Do-hyeon’s items surprised Do-hyeon, who tilted his head in confusion.
Hana-rin, however, looked at him with an expression of incomprehension.
“Only one item appeared. Even if I haven’t analyzed it yet, it’s only right that Do-hyeon oppa has it. If you hadn’t given the order yesterday, I couldn’t even have caught it in the first place. Besides, you and Ji Yu-chan oppa each gained over 20,000 points yesterday. If I don’t yield the necklace, I’ll feel guilty.”
Her words came out as fast as a machine gun, but every single one was accurate. Do-hyeon felt he had worried for nothing and immediately wore the necklace.
Normally, even if worn, most items would have unknown effects, but not for Do-hyeon. So he watched him curiously as Hana-rin ate a fruit, her eyes full of interest. Ji Yu-chan also looked on with curiosity.
Do-hyeon felt the mana move and directly sensed the approximate effect, rather than relying on Analysis.
His senses had definitely grown stronger than before. If comparing numbers, his senses felt about 30 percent more developed than before wearing the necklace.
Just as he was about to say it felt better than expected, something odd made him turn his head. He saw a hunter almost stumbling and falling over something on the ground.
It was just a normal scene, but he had turned his head before the hunter’s foot even touched the obstacle, having already predicted that the person behind him would fall.
A sigh of amazement escaped Do-hyeon’s lips.
“Huh?”
He could have thought it was just coincidence, but clearly he had sensed it before the hunter’s foot even touched the ground. He had sensed something was about to happen behind him.
Intuitively turning his head, he had seen the hunter about to fall, which was nothing short of extraordinary instinct.
If he could utilize this even a little better, wouldn’t he reach a realm where he could avoid attacks relying solely on instinct, like the Spider-Man among foreign heroes?
“Why? What kind of effect is it?”
“What kind of item has some effect?”
Hana-rin and Ji Yu-chan asked, thinking he had sensed something. Do-hyeon looked down at the necklace and replied after feeling that the effect was even better than expected.
“It raises all senses except vision. Including touch.”
“Wow, that makes sense. It was a dungeon after all.”
“The fact that it excludes sight might be a bit disappointing, but from the reactions, it seems otherwise.”
“Yeah. I turned my head because I sensed that person about to fall with my instinct.”
“Wow, that’s really…….”
“Amazing.”
Hana-rin and Ji Yu-chan said in unison.
Do-hyeon checked the others’ reactions, wondering if greed would show now, but there was not a shred of it.
That kind of reaction was not normal. Do-hyeon looked at them curiously, and Hana-rin spoke to him.
“If Do-hyeon oppa can tell just by wearing it, then in the future we won’t need to analyze items at all, right? Could you analyze them even before wearing them?”
Hana-rin actually seemed envious of Do-hyeon’s perception ability rather than the items and asked about it.
Do-hyeon thought for a moment and nodded.
He could tell the moment he used Analysis, but there was also a way to tell even without it.
“By injecting mana into the item in a way that feels like mana is being worn, the changed mana patterns can be analyzed and the effects easily guessed.”
“Oh ho?”
“Hmm, then maybe we can pick out items that will suit us later.”
At Ji Yu-chan’s words, Do-hyeon smiled and nodded.
Since they were traveling together, it was only natural.
Hana-rin accepted his agreement and began manipulating mana in various ways, imagining what kind of senses the one Do-hyeon had described.
‘Anyway, both of them are weird guys.’
Do-hyeon thought to himself how anyone else would call out the two of them for that, and soon began taking the party members who had finished their morning meal out to hunt.
Since he had personally received permission from Park In-su to hunt freely after yesterday’s events, he intended to use it.
But just as he was about to leave.
Park In-su, who had gone out briefly after waking up that morning, entered the dorm with a somewhat urgent expression and looked around.
Thinking something was wrong, Do-hyeon’s party looked at him when their eyes met. With a relieved expression, Park In-su approached them.
“Phew, it’s good that you’re here.”
“……?”
“What is it?”
“Hmm.”
Hana-rin asked after hearing Park In-su’s words, and Do-hyeon and Ji Yu-chan quietly waited for him to continue.
Then.
“Elves are in an uproar right now.”
“Ah?”
“Elves are in an uproar even though two parties wiped out yesterday?”
“Hmm, I didn’t hear that elves moved because their kin died.”
As Hana-rin and Ji Yu-chan said, elves were not the kind of foreign races that seek revenge for the death of their kin. Yet they were in an uproar.
The three looked at Park In-su with a strange thought, and he continued.
“After yesterday, they are investigating everyone entering Parvi Island. They are looking for something, they say, and are especially strict with elf mages.”
“Ah.”
“……”
“……”
At the mention of elf mage, Hana-rin and Ji Yu-chan simultaneously looked at Do-hyeon.
It was only natural, since Do-hyeon had caught Zerpael with an elf yesterday.
But Do-hyeon was so startled by his own expression that he unconsciously waved his hands and said,
“It’s not me!”
“……Isn’t it?”
“Not you.”
“Ah, is that so?”
The moment the gazes converged, Do-hyeon had been denying it, but soon he scratched his head awkwardly.
Watching the three of them display such a sitcom-like scene, Park In-su warned them.
“So I recommend going to another public island instead of Parvi Island. Even other islands have elves, but not as many as Parvi. After all, the elf population isn’t that large.”
“Thank you.”
“We’ll have to find another island.”
“Hmm, there are plenty of good hunting islands, so it should be fine.”
Seeing all three of them talking normally, Park In-su thought they were truly amazing and hurriedly tried to get the other hunters to check in.
Do-hyeon looked around curiously and pointed at one place.
“What about here?”