Chapter 57
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Translator: MJK
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Tears of the Special Treat
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The day I headed to Seoul.
The deep blue body of the Ghibli gleamed iridescently under the morning sun as I climbed aboard.
Now, the rumbling exhaust note every time I pressed the accelerator felt pretty familiar to me.
Screech!
I didn't check the backlog of messages until after I'd parked in the lot at the cooking school.
"Huh?"
At the top was a Tower Market message from Shin Seung-ah.
[Shin Seung-ah:] Gorani-man12, thanks to the crops you sent last time, Yu Jin-hyuk Hunter has received a full recovery diagnosis. We are truly grateful.
[Gorani-man12:] Glad to hear it.
Just as I'd expected, Yu Jin-hyuk's condition had improved dramatically.
I'd been certain of his recovery just from what I'd seen in Okinawa.
The shadow of death was completely gone.
A moment later, another message arrived from her.
[Shin Seung-ah:] In gratitude for that favor, our MK Chairman Lee Jin-seong and the government have prepared a modest token of appreciation.
[Shin Seung-ah:] It's nothing compared to what we've received from you, especially with the Okinawa matter.
[Gorani-man12:] It's nothing much, really.
I didn't deny it.
[Shin Seung-ah:] Please don't refuse it.
Her tone was impeccably polite yet firm.
There was no reason to turn it down anyway.
[Gorani-man12:] I'll gladly accept.
The moment I sent my reply, an encrypted file arrived via the Tower Market system.
[Argos Custodial VIP Corporate Ownership Certificate]
[Shin Seung-ah:] This is the ownership certificate for a paper company established in Switzerland. It's a gift from our group and His Excellency the President. Place your finger on the magic seal in the file and say 'I agree,' and the ownership transfer will be complete.
[Shin Seung-ah:] The corporation currently holds assets worth approximately 7.1323 trillion won.
I stared at the number on the screen, momentarily speechless.
7 trillion?
[Gorani-man12:] What's the basis for this amount?
[Shin Seung-ah:] Three years ago, our chairman wagered half his personal fortune on the condition of Yu Jin-hyuk Hunter's full recovery. A promise is a promise.
Once she explained, it made a bit more sense.
The value of a single S-rank hunter could make or break an entire company.
Especially for the MK Group, unlike the top-ranked Valhalla or second-place Phantom, everything hinged on that one S-rank hunter, Yu Jin-hyuk.
His dungeon clears sent the group's stock prices on a rollercoaster, and his condition was the very future of MK Sphere.
Half the fortune of a top-10 chaebol heir.
Framed that way, 7 trillion didn't seem so outlandish.
Of course, that didn't make the sheer weight of that sum any lighter.
"I agree."
The moment I murmured it.
Fwash!
The magic seal on my terminal screen glowed, and a message popped up.
Ownership transfer completed.
7 trillion.
A sum I'd never dreamed of touching in my lifetime.
With this much money, I wouldn't just cover So-ye's hospital bills anymore...
I could build her an entire hospital.
Just imagining what to spend it on made me happy.
A colossal fortune that wouldn't dwindle no matter how much I spent.
Even setting aside actually using it, knowing it was in my account felt incredibly reassuring.
When So-ye recovered enough to go back to school, how much would tuition cost?
Academy fees, tutoring, what if she wanted to study abroad?
I'd worried vaguely about all that.
But now, those worries were gone.
Whatever So-ye wanted, I could give it to her without stint.
That alone made me overjoyed.
And Chairman Lee Jin-seong's sincerity in honoring a promise that could have been easily overlooked.
The President's consideration in ensuring I could accept this fortune without any hassle behind the scenes.
For now, I'd remember all that goodwill.
Cooking class was in full swing.
Today, as usual, I-hana had taken the seat next to Kang-hyun, sneaking peeks at his bizarre cooking process.
Then, suddenly.
"Ah, I forgot to grab that."
I-hana remembered something she'd left in the car.
She excused herself from the instructor and headed down to the parking lot.
But the lot was filled with a commotion.
"Whoa, bros! This car's insane!"
Two young guys who looked like streamers were perched on the hood of Kang-hyun's Maserati Ghibli, streaming live.
"This isn't just any Ghibli, right? It's the hunter-exclusive Aquilone Edition! Bulletproofing's standard, plus mana barrier generation—the top-tier version, dude..."
"Wait, I thought none of these even made it to Korea. What's it doing here?"
"Damn, whoever owns this deserves mad respect! These are impossible to get!"
They were chattering away, fooling around on the car, when.
'Isn't this the car Yuri was talking about last time?'
Choi Yuri had spent days gushing to I-hana about spotting a jobless guy driving an old Avante suddenly gifted a Maserati. The story was burned into her memory.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing on someone else's car?"
With a cold voice, I-hana stepped forward.
She crossed her arms, eyeing them with contempt.
"Who the hell are you?"
"But... damn, she's gorgeous."
"Yo, turn the camera quick!"
Spotting their streaming angle, they shoved the camera in her face.
Wait, is that Phantom Guild's Siren, I-hana?
She's nuts! Real deal I-hana!
IRL slays. No wonder she's B-rank's top visual.
I-hana.
A B-rank, but her solid role as a mana sensitizer backed her up with another name.
With her outstanding skills and striking looks, she enjoyed celebrity-level popularity even among civilians.
"Turn off the stream and get down right now. Have some shame."
"Hey, what'd we even do..."
"Need me to spell it out? Don't you know how barbaric it is to violate someone else's property for your own amusement? Should I call the cops?"
"Uh, no, wait..."
Overwhelmed by I-hana's intensity, the two guys slunk off the car and fled.
I-hana sighed at the spot they'd vacated.
"Ugh, what a mess on a new car."
She pulled a handkerchief from her bag and wiped down the dirty hood herself.
Scrub, scrub.
Once the grime was mostly gone.
"There, good as new."
I-hana flashed a satisfied smile and headed back up to class.
After it ended, she approached Kang-hyun without a word.
She held out a small bag containing a few puppy-shaped cookies she'd grabbed from the car.
"Here."
"Pardon?"
"You seem to make a lot of pet treats. Try feeding them... I mean, give it a try!"
Her face flushed red as she spun away abruptly.
"...What was that about?"
Okinawa, the clearing where the Disaster Flower had vanished.
Screeech...
As night fell, unidentified monster birds cried out, circling the ruins.
In the dark night.
Kang-hyun settled in the purest spot of energy on the island and began circulating his Breathing Method.
Whoosh...
As Kang-hyun inhaled, an unbelievable phenomenon unfolded.
The island's mana and earth's energy swirled into a massive vortex, drawn toward him at the center. The air vibrated, and space around him warped faintly.
Crackle! Zap!
Uncontrolled pure energy sparked blue around his body.
What started as small flickers grew fiercer, morphing into a colossal lightning storm engulfing dozens of meters in all directions.
As if a living thunder god had descended upon the place.
The surrounding temperature spiked hot, then plunged chillingly cold, over and over.
Heat and cold.
Destruction and creation.
Within Kang-hyun's body, yin and yang energies were finally forging a perfect harmony.
Kang-hyun felt it.
What remained in this land swept by disaster.
The pure life force reborn at destruction's end.
And the earth's power, hardened to protect that life.
Those energies flowed into him through his breath, mingling with his internal energy.
A profound sense of oneness with the land itself.
And so, Kang-hyun quietly absorbed the energy through the night.
The chicken was anxious.
Gorani, who'd saved her; the small white fluffball; even the walking root.
All the family here were beings on a whole different level from her.
They just looked so strong and special.
"Cluck..."
Compared to them, she was a plain native chicken from birth.
One wing barely functional.
Did she even belong in this space with these great ones?
Wouldn't she be chased out soon?
The chicken fretted.
What could she even do?
No matter how she racked her brain, there was only one thing.
Lay healthier, fresher, tastier eggs.
Offer the best eggs to her owner and family.
To do that, she needed to eat better and recover faster.
Chomp, chomp!
Part of it was the taste, but it was also a tearful effort to repay the kindness.
From that day, with her owner's permission, the chicken pecked at the lower-quality spirit herbs from the garden.
She devoured them diligently, drank the miraculous water from the backyard spring, and desperately built up her body.
One such day.
Slither...
A massive shadow appeared beyond the fence.
"!!!"
The chicken spotted it and bolted in terror to hide in the barn corner.
A snake.
Definitely a snake.
Bigger than any snake from the mountain that had chased her— incomparably huge!
Coiled around that long body, she'd be just one meal.
As the trembling chicken huddled, her owner's voice rang from the yard.
"Oh, White Snake? Perfect timing. This water's so clear thanks to you. Want me to whip up something tasty?"
That snake... made the miraculous water?
The chicken was confused.
Then an even scarier thought struck.
Was the owner fattening her up just to serve her as that snake's meal?
Overwhelmed by terror, the chicken didn't know what to do.
But oddly, a strange resignation rose.
She had to repay the kindness.
Without Gorani, she'd have been half-moon bear chow, bones and all.
Without her owner, she'd have starved with her broken wing.
Everyone in this house was her life savior.
Even if they fed her to that giant snake... if that was repaying the debt, could she refuse?
No, maybe meekly letting herself be eaten was the right thing.
It was scary.
She didn't want to die.
But scarier still was being cast out without repaying anything.
Losing this warm home and the tasty feed forever.
The chicken was torn.
Desire to live versus duty to repay.
Lost in those conflicting emotions, she just huddled in the barn corner, shivering.
Slither...
The White Snake sat coiled in one corner of the yard, reading every emotion in the little chicken.
To the spirit beast White Snake's eyes, she saw the horrific fantasies in the chicken's head and its admirable resolve to repay despite the fear.
It was heartbreaking that this tiny life suffered such misunderstanding and terror.
All because of her presence.
The White Snake pondered briefly.
Then she slipped the tip of her long, flexible tail into the soft soil of the garden.
When she pulled it out, a fat, wriggling earthworm dangled from the end.
The ultimate special treat chickens adored.
Pretending nonchalance, the White Snake quietly set the worm near the barn entrance, then slithered to the opposite side of the yard and coiled up innocently.
"Cluck...?"
The shivering chicken in the barn blinked dumbly at the worm dropped before her.
Where did this come from...?
Then she spotted the massive snake in the distance, playing it cool.
'...!'
The chicken understood everything.
This fearsome one, for her sake!
It was as good as a promise not to harm her!
A hot tear rolled from the chicken's tiny eye.
"Clu... cluck cluck!"
Weeping, the chicken gobbled the worm frantically.
The first taste of warm kindness she'd ever known.