Chapter 017
[Chapter 017]
< Start of the Gap (1) >
I had to stay calm.
By this point, it also meant it was time to reveal the truth.
“Actually, I heard that you, Mr. Jang Kang-hyun, are deeply knowledgeable in the fields of hunter condition management and medicinal herbs. Stories of you helping Hunter Lee Seok-ju’s recovery have been spreading subtly lately.”
“Ah... I see.”
Kang-hyun did not deny it.
“But it’s not so much that I did it, but rather that Hunter Lee Seok-ju recovered quickly because he is such a strong person.”
“Of course, that point is also valid. Hunter Lee Seok-ju is someone with far superior physical recovery ability even among B-Ranks. In particular, his poison resistance passive is comparable to A-Rank.”
At Kim Min-jun’s words, Kang-hyun showed a slightly surprised expression.
“You even know such things about Hunter Lee Seok-ju.”
“Of course. He's a talent we considered as the top recruitment priority in our guild. We should naturally be aware of that much.”
He felt Kang-hyun's guard slightly loosening at those words.
It seemed he didn't feel bad about the fact that, unlike the Bureau people who treat Hunter Lee Seok-ju as a consumable, the outside world evaluated his value properly.
“So, how about we invite you as an unofficial advisor to our MK?”
Kim Min-jun made the offer, not missing the gap where the opponent's guard loosened.
But Kang-hyun rejected it flatly.
“The unofficial advisory matter makes no sense. I don't have that kind of ability and I’m not of the healer class. All I did at the Bureau was field miscellaneous work.”
'If so, the spirit from a moment ago was....’
In this situation, it was a polite refusal.
Kim Min-jun understood those words and made up his mind not to dig further.
“Understood. I also don't want to burden you.”
That's it for today.
“I’m sorry for the intrusion at such a late hour.”
In the moment Kim Min-jun was about to turn away.
“Hi-hing!”
From the darkness outside the gate, a massive shadow leaped out.
Kim Min-jun didn't even have time to dodge and collided with that shadow as it was.
“Ugh!”
He tumbled on the ground without any room to resist.
Upon coming to his senses, what had rammed him was a Gorani as big as a house.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, yes. I’m fine. It's because I didn't see ahead....”
While clutching his aching arm and standing up, Kim Min-jun did not blame the Gorani.
“Isn't it a pet animal? Since it collided with me, it must have been hurt too.”
He was rather worrying about the Gorani while feeling sorry.
Raising a Gorani.
He thought it was a bit strange even as he said it.
“Is the place you hit your arm?”
“Ah, yes. My right arm, of all places... ugh.”
Kim Min-jun groaned in extreme pain as he tried to move his arm.
“It’s probably broken. It must be very painful.”
“Pardon?”
It was a bit of a hard collision, but broken?
It didn't feel like it was to that extent?
“Don't be like this, and please come inside. All the nearby hospitals will be closed at this hour. Driving would be impossible with that arm, so if you're okay with it, it would be better to stay for a day.”
“Pardon?”
Kim Min-jun was momentarily dazed by Kang-hyun's offer.
He should be close to an uninvited guest who approached to dig something out, not an invited guest.
Yet Kang-hyun was truly worried about him, who was injured.
“But I wonder if I can receive such hospitality....”
Only after hearing Kang-hyun's words did Kim Min-jun look down at his right arm.
He felt no sensation for some reason.
Limp.
Under the tattered suit sleeve, the arm was hanging limply at an unnatural angle.
“I-it seems it really is broken?”
He was once an Awakener who had reached B-Rank.
Of course, he turned to office work early on and received the high salary of MK because the dangerous hunter life didn't suit his aptitude, but Kim Min-jun’s body was still at a level far exceeding ordinary people.
Yet his bone broke just from a graze with a Gorani.
“Please stay still for a moment.”
Kang-hyun brought a sturdy splint and bandages.
“The bone might have been displaced, so we must fix it first.”
He then applied the splint and wrapped the bandage around Kim Min-jun’s arm with surprising skill and calmness.
It was a movement that came from the experience of treating countless injured hunters during his field support team days at the Bureau.
Even in pain, Kim Min-jun could only be impressed by Kang-hyun's touch as he treated him.
A perfect movement without any superfluity.
It was a sophisticated and stable treatment that would only be seen from an A-Rank healer.
‘Such a person was an E-Class support agent?’
He could hardly believe those words.
“Have you had dinner?”
“No, not yet....”
Growl!
Come to think of it, he hadn't been able to eat anything since he came here in the afternoon and waited while tense.
“Then let's eat this together. What I planted yesterday... no, what I planted recently has opened.”
Kang-hyun pulled out several sturdy potatoes from the garden and went into the kitchen.
Chirp, chirp, buzz-
Late evening in the quiet countryside.
The sound of clattering and rhythmically tapping the cutting board from the kitchen between the sounds of insects.
“Ah, nice....”
Those things made Kim Min-jun’s tense mind comfortable.
He was worried looking at his arm with the splint though.
Strangely, there was no great pain.
A moment later, what Kang-hyun brought out was a bowl of steaming potato soup.
“The smell is incredible!”
A savory scent infiltrated his nose.
It was a deep and soft fragrance that contained the freshness of freshly baked bread, onions sautéed in butter, and somehow the scent of the soil.
Kim Min-jun took the spoon attracted by hunger, then laughed awkwardly.
“I wonder if I can receive such hospitality when we've just met....”
“Of course. Please eat.”
“Thank you. I’ll enjoy the meal.”
Kim Min-jun used the spoon clumsily with his left hand.
The moment he took a spoonful of soup and put it in his mouth.
“...!”
Kim Min-jun’s eyes became the largest they had ever been in his life.
A deep and rich flavor wrapped around his tongue along with the soft texture of the potato.
It didn't seem like butter or cream was added, yet a savory and thick taste filled his mouth.
What was more surprising was the warm and comfortable energy spreading through his whole body the moment he swallowed the soup.
“Wh-what... is this taste?”
“It's made with potatoes dug from the garden today. Is the taste a bit unique?”
“The taste is not just unique! It seems all the potatoes I've eaten until now were fake! I have never in my life eaten a potato so soft and savory with a rich sweetness lingering at the tip of the tongue!”
Kim Min-jun, who emptied a bowl because it was so delicious, requested a refill several times.
Forgetting his dignity, he did not put down the spoon until the deep pot revealed its bottom.
That night.
Kang-hyun gave Kim Min-jun the small room in the annex.
Forgetting even the emergency treatment of his broken arm, he fell into a deep sleep, enveloped by a mysterious feeling of satiety and fatigue.
Even while sleeping, an amazing change was happening inside his body.
The clear energy contained in the potato soup gathered toward his broken right arm.
Snap, snap, crackle...
A minute sound of the displaced bone finding its place echoed inside his body.
Over the damaged nerve and muscle tissues.
Like a living organism, the muscle tissue began to clearly regenerate while weaving itself together.
* * *
Next morning.
Kim Min-jun woke up to the smell of savory soybean paste stew.
Even though he slept in a strange place all night, his body was strangely refreshed.
“Mmm....”
He habitually stretched to loosen his stiff body.
In the moment he stretched his right arm straight toward the sky.
“...Huh?”
It was perfectly fine.
“Uh, uh?”
Exactly the arm that felt the terrible pain of the bone being displaced when he collided with the Gorani last night was so perfectly fine.
Far from pain, not even a faint bruise remained.
‘What on earth... is this?’
He hurriedly ran outside.
On the veranda, Kang-hyun was preparing breakfast.
“L-look at this!”
Kim Min-jun held out his perfectly fine right arm before Kang-hyun's eyes and shouted in excitement.
But Kang-hyun's reaction was too calm.
“Ah, you’re all healed. As expected of a high-ranking hunter, your recovery power is exceptional.”
While praising Kim Min-jun’s recovery power.
“Pardon? No, even so, for a bone to heal in one day is....”
“Apparently the bone wasn't broken. That's a relief. Have some breakfast before you go.”
Kang-hyun said so and lightly brushed off Kim Min-jun’s doubt.
He had no choice but to eat breakfast while in a daze.
The breakfast menu was nothing more than freshly cooked rice and a savory soybean paste stew with potatoes dug from the garden cut into chunks.
A simple rural meal.
But just the smell of the soybean paste stew boiling made saliva pool in his mouth, so he couldn't resist.
‘Was I a person with such a good appetite?’
Kim Min-jun put rice in his mouth as if possessed.
He ended up finishing two bowls since morning.
Kang-hyun just watched with a satisfied smile.
* * *
When Kim Min-jun left, I called the Gorani who was loitering next to the shed.
“Gorani. You’re not being careful, are you?”
“Kkiing....”
The Gorani stared at me with its black eyes as if asking what it had done wrong.
“That person yesterday was a B-Rank Awakener, so he only ended up with a broken bone. If it were an ordinary person, they would have died instantly on the spot.”
The Gorani, which was growing with the energy of my garden, was becoming stronger day by day.
Now it was at a level to lightly overwhelm an average C-Rank monster.
I had to teach it how to adjust its strength.
“And....”
I turned on my terminal.
The Hunter community was still burning with talk of Muryong.
‘Hope of the E-Class? Secret government weapon?’
All kinds of speculations were rampant, but no one could reach the truth.
I smirked and closed the window.
“It’ll be forgotten soon anyway.”
This 1st floor raid was close to a fluke obtained thanks to the special situation of the Gorani’s sonic attack.
There was no guarantee that such luck would follow on the next floor.
People's interest will also quickly move to other provocative issues.
‘And even if the Gorani’s power really works afterwards, there's no need to advertise that it's me.’
Clink-
I was more interested in the rewards obtained from the Tower than people's reactions.
Remaining money 2 Gold.
It was the money left after buying the mushroom given to So-ye and the pebble given to Muryong.
‘The market price of 1 Gold in the Tower is about 1 million won.’
If so, I currently have 2 million won in cash in my hand.
Money equivalent to half of a month's salary at the Bureau.
I earned that in only 12 seconds.
‘I must go.’
I firm my resolve.
That one mushroom was not enough to give to So-ye.
To root out the disease, more, more powerful spiritual medicines are needed.
And the only place to get those ingredients is the Tower.
“Good. Shall we go to the next floor?”
* * *
Tower 2nd Floor Cobweb Cave.
A disgusting space where sticky cobwebs covered the surroundings and venomous spiders fell incessantly from the ceiling.
“Gorani.”
“Kkiyot!”
“Do you see that thickest cobweb? The Queen Spider will be at the end of it. Make some noise.”
As soon as my words ended, the Gorani let out a hellish scream once more.
“PE-E-E-E-E-CK-!!!”
Sonic attack made hundreds of spiders and the Queen Spider at the center die while bursting their bodily fluids.
[Successfully cleared 2nd Floor by completing raid goal ‘Slay Poison Queen Spider’!]
[Clear Time: 20 seconds]
[Raid Grade: EX]
[Earned Gold: 15 G]
3rd Floor Goblin Outpost.
‘The 3rd floor must be....’
This floor was a place swarming with Goblins as it was a Goblin outpost, but it was a floor where only the Goblin Shamans had to be picked out and processed.
“The Gorani’s cry won't work here.”
Because of the faint mental barrier the shamans cast.
But that was all.
“Gorani, do you see those kids with strange necklaces? Just go and ram them!”
At my instruction, the Gorani charged like a giant bulldozer.
The Gorani’s strengthened body was a weapon in itself.
“Kieee-ck!”
“Ugh, aaagh!”
Screams of the shamans burst out, but it was already too late.
[Successfully cleared 3rd Floor by completing raid goal ‘Slay 10 Goblin Shamans’!]
[Clear Time: 30 seconds]
[Raid Grade: EX]
[Earned Gold: 20 G]
4th Floor Swampland Den.
“Gorani, those eggs in the puddle over there, just step on them all.”
“Kkiyooooot!”
After the Gorani let out a vigorous roar, it jumped into the puddle.
Crunch! Crackle!
The sound of the slimy eggs bursting like watermelons under the heavy hooves vibrated.
[Successfully cleared 4th Floor by completing raid goal ‘Destroy 50 Giant Lizard Eggs’!]
[Clear Time: 45 seconds]
[Raid Grade: EX]
[Earned Gold: 25 G]
5th Floor Cursed Forest.
“You can just ram those trees with your fangs. You can do it, right?”
As if answering my words, the Gorani moved its fangs up and down and headed toward the trees.
Crack! Crunch!
As if a giant chainsaw were sawing through trees, the Treants struck by the Gorani’s fangs let out a fracture sound like a scream and fell helplessly.
Solid bark was torn like a sheet of paper and fragments flew in all directions.
[Successfully cleared 5th Floor by completing raid goal ‘Fell 5 Treants’!]
[Clear Time: 55 seconds]
[Raid Grade: EX]
[Earned Gold: 30 G]
4th and 5th floors were the same.
Clearing every floor with an overwhelming EX grade, Muryong's name completely monopolized the lower floor rankings.
I stopped by the Dimensional Shop on each floor, but as expected of lower floors, there were only useless items.
[Item: Forever Damp Socks] [Price: 2 G]
[Description: They never dry. The probability of getting athlete's foot increases by 300%.]
[Item: Transparent Dragon's Scale (Transparent)] [Price: 10 G]
[Description: It's too transparent to be seen. No responsibility is taken for loss.]
[Item: Cool Stone] [Price: 1 G]
[Description: It's cool.]
I clicked my tongue and left the shop.
‘Let's see, the Gold I've gathered until now is....’
2nd Floor: 15 G
3rd Floor: 20 G
4th Floor: 25 G
5th Floor: 30 G
‘Total 90 Gold?’
If converted to money, 90 million won.
It was money I couldn't even imagine until only a few days ago.
< Start of the Gap (1) > END