Chapter 34: The Blind Date (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 34: The Blind Date (2)
In a quiet café near the Magic Tower.
Since the café was located in an area with many corporate offices, it was nearly empty now that the lunch rush was over, save for me.
What kind of menu item is called a Dirty Matcha Truffle Chocolate Shake?
My mind is in chaos.
Still, it didn't taste half bad.
“I didn't expect to be rejected so firmly, though.”
An hour had already passed since I left the Magic Tower, but Choi Young-ok's completely unexpected answer kept replaying in my head.
- I'm sorry, but a professor at the Magic Tower cannot personally tutor a student who isn't part of their own lab. Especially not during the school break.
Honestly, I thought she would help me without hesitation.
Compared to what I'd asked for with Jeon Hyeseong, this seemed like a much simpler request.
“Nothing to be done about it.”
It wasn't like I could throw a tantrum there. Besides, I was already deeply in her debt for helping me with Jeon Hyeseong.
And it wasn't as if I'd gained nothing at all.
- Oh, right. I almost forgot. Are you free two days from now?
- Two days? Yes, well... I don't have any particular plans.
- Perfect. In that case, would you like to meet my granddaughter then?
The first meeting with my blind date was finally set for two days from now.
To be honest, I was fucking nervous.
The photo Choi Young-ok had shown me was of a female mage so beautiful she could easily hold her own against Iris or Cheon Yeo-hwa.
“Suddenly, I'm drowning in women.”
I wasn't sure if it was a blessing or a curse, but for someone who'd never even been on a blind date in his life, it was bound to be unsettling, for better or for worse.
I was nervous, but also excited.
Ding-
Just as I was sipping the drink with the bizarre name, a text message arrived on my phone.
[S Bank]
[Withdrawal: 200,000 KRW]
[Balance: 22,171,280 KRW]
“Ah, the rent.”
It was already that time of the month.
Thanks to selling the magic stones, I no longer had to sweat over the rent, but it still pained me to see my balance was only a little over 20 million won after buying various survival supplies before meeting Cheon Yeo-hwa.
“...Should I try a Gate?”
Thanks to my wizard registration card, I could enter Gates even without a hunter license.
Plus, as a mage, even parties stronger than me would be desperate to have me, so it would be easy to get carried.
In the underground dungeon, I fought more like a warrior than a back-line support.
Thinking back on it now, it felt a bit unfair.
I was a noble mage, not some untouchable warrior!
So why was I the one dodging swords swung by magical beasts and getting turned into a pincushion by arrows?
The time had come for me to return to my rightful place as a mage, one of the two pillars of nobility alongside healers.
“Or maybe learning swordsmanship wouldn't be a bad idea.”
If I wanted to properly use the 'Imperial Army's Magic Sword' I bought last time, it made sense to learn how to wield it.
Not only that, but learning swordsmanship would involve physical training, giving me a great opportunity to build up my stamina and strength.
I had definitely felt my stamina lacking during the underground dungeon and the hike with Cheon Yeo-hwa.
Thankfully, I'd been able to supplement it with magic power, so I never collapsed from exhaustion, but I couldn't rely on magic to patch things up forever.
I realized that the stronger my physical base, the more efficient I could be with the same amount of magic power.
“I wonder if there's anywhere near my place that teaches swordsmanship or some kind of physical combat.”
Truth be told, learning proper swordsmanship costs a lot of money.
Some of the more expensive places had annual fees in the billions of won.
Of course, I had no intention of going to a place like that. I didn't have the money, for one. All I needed was a place that could properly teach me the basic movements—slashing, stabbing, and swinging.
“...Oh? There's actually one near my house?”
I used a map app to see if there were any sword dojos nearby, and surprisingly, there was.
[Full Moon Sword Dojo]
I never thought there'd be a dojo in that rundown neighborhood.
“Hmm... should I check it out? If it's decent, I'll sign up. If not, I'll just look for another place.”
After that, I planned to find a Gate and earn some money.
What's the point of resting?
I needed to make some cash.
I had to pay back my housing loan and, if I wanted to buy and drive a foreign car, I needed to get moving.
*
A ten-minute walk from my house.
There really was a sword dojo there. However, characteristic of the rundown neighborhood, the exterior of the building was so dilapidated that it looked incredibly shabby.
It was a miracle that a business was even operating here. This was the kind of neighborhood where even convenience stores went out of business due to a lack of people.
“Does anyone actually sign up here?”
I had a feeling that if I paid for a year, it would shut down in two months.
Still, it felt like a waste of time to turn back now. I might as well take a look inside before deciding.
I cautiously entered the building.
Ting-a-ling-
As I opened the door to the dojo on the second floor, a surprisingly spacious and clean interior greeted me.
Of course, it was also completely empty.
“...Are they actually open?”
“Well, the lights are on. Does it look closed to you?”
“?!”
Startled by the presence behind me, I spun around.
Standing there was a woman who looked at least two heads shorter than me.
Since when...?
Until she spoke, I hadn't sensed or even suspected that someone was behind me.
Having fought magical beasts in the dungeon and even killed bandits, my first thought was that if this had been a real fight, my head would have been sliced clean off.
“Scared?”
Looking closer, I realized she wasn't human.
With wolf ears on her head and a wolf tail attached to her tailbone, she was a beast-kin, the race with the second-largest population after humans.
“So, what's a human doing here?”
“Isn't this a sword dojo? I came to check it out and decide whether to sign up.”
The beast-kin woman looked at me with a strange expression.
Silver hair and golden eyes... even though other races tended to have more unusual appearances than humans, I had rarely seen one this striking.
“You a hunter?”
“No.”
Her informal speech was starting to get on my nerves, but this was typical for most wolf-kin.
They were an ill-mannered race, paying no mind to whether someone was older or a complete stranger.
They might show some respect to those stronger than them, but that was a common trait among most carnivorous beast-kin.
Anyway, they were famous for their foul tempers and for frequently starting fights on the street. To make matters worse, their superior physical abilities meant they usually demolished their opponents.
It's no wonder they say if you want to hear a wolf howl, just hang around a police station.
“One million won a month.”
“...Excuse me?”
“Pay for a year, and I'll make it eleven million.”
Was this woman insane?
Even for a sword dojo, how could she charge a million won a month for a rundown place like this with seemingly no students?
“Are you even trying to run a business?”
The thought slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it.
“You've got money, don't you? If you go learn somewhere else, it's at least ten million a month.”
“Even so, paying a million won every month is...”
Honestly, I was leaning towards signing up, but a million won a month was just too expensive.
“You still think so after seeing this?”
Vwooom-
What shattered those concerns of mine was the distinct blue energy radiating from the tip of the wolf-kin woman's finger.
It wasn't the Sword Qi that skilled hunters of B-rank or higher could use, but the Aura Blade known to be wielded only by the handful of monsters called A-rank hunters.
“How about it?”
That day, I paid 11 million won in a lump sum and paid my respects to my new master.
*
While signing up at the dojo went smoothly, my mind was a mess of unresolved questions on the way home.
“Why is someone like that in a sword dojo in a rundown neighborhood like this?”
I thought about asking her, but I decided it wasn't my place to pry and held my tongue.
What if my new master got pissed off and offered me a refund?
Learning from an A-rank hunter for just 11 million a year?
Even if I paid 10 million for a single day, it would still be a bargain.
Wasn't this basically a charity case?
“Full Moon Sword Dojo... I can't find anything no matter how much I search.”
It really only appeared on the map. There were no blog posts or café articles about it.
Naturally, there was nothing about the wolf-kin woman who was the master of the dojo either.
You'd think someone with her level of skill would have some rumors floating around, good or bad.
I couldn't shake a slightly uneasy feeling, but I decided to focus only on the fact that an A-rank hunter was teaching me personally.
Worrying about things I didn't know wouldn't get me any answers.
If a problem arose later, I could think about it then. I had the other-world dating app and my connection to the Seongbuk Choi family, after all.
“Now, should I look for a decent Gate? It's still daytime, so there should be some parties recruiting.”
Upon receiving my wizard registration card, I gained access to the hunter-exclusive app run by the World Hunter Association.
With this, I could find a suitable party without worrying about clickbait posts and see a list of currently accessible Gates.
“A D-rank party...”
Unfortunately, the only party that seemed suitable for me to join right now was a D-rank one.
I had wanted to get carried as a mage, but a D-rank party was a bit much.
If I were to compare my current skills to a hunter rank, I'd probably be around D+. The monsters I'd dealt with in the underground dungeon were D-rank or D+-rank.
But if I joined a D-rank party, I wouldn't be getting carried; I'd be the one doing the carrying.
“Is there nothing decent...”
Ring, ring, ring-
Just as I was scrolling through the party recruitment posts, a call came in from an unknown number.
A voice phishing scam?
“Hello?”
- Hello.
A strange woman's voice came through the phone. It was a sexy voice, with a slightly low tone.
- Is this Kang Hyun-woo?
“Yes, it is. Who is this?”
I didn't know any woman whose voice could get 5 million subscribers just from doing ASMR.
Actually, I didn't know any women at all.
- This is Choi Hyena. Did you hear from my grandmother?
“Ah.”
I wondered who it was, but it was my blind date.
- Something suddenly came up for me in two days. Would it be possible to meet tonight instead?