Chapter 79
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: An Old Memory
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“Gono, take it out.”
Gono gave a slight nod.
What he produced was a leather sack, just large enough for a small child to curl up inside.
This was one of the skills Gono had acquired after successfully completing his affinity quest and being promoted to a ‘Named Monster.’
And what was this skill?
[Gono's Secret Sack Lv.1]
[Gono can carry anything that fits inside the sack. It is also capable of crossing dimensions.]
“So you can double as a porter now.”
“Kiruk.”
It seemed he’d heard my muttering.
Gono stared at me with a slightly disgruntled expression.
“Right, right. Of course, our Gono is no mere porter.”
I patted his head and checked his full status window.
[Gono]
[Type: Named Monster]
[Rank: 3-Star (MonMonMak Standard)]
[Stats: Strength 85, Agility 100, Stamina 85, Intelligence 60]
[Skills: Gono's Secret Pouch, Gono's Secret Sack Lv.1, Blood of Greed Lv.1]
This was his status without any items equipped.
He had already become a monster for whom a rank like 3-Star was meaningless.
In terms of real-world monsters, he was at least a Threat Level A or higher.
‘And he can get an even more extreme boost from items now.’
My eyes shifted to the new skill he’d acquired, ‘Blood of Greed.’
[Blood of Greed]
[Gono's greed is immense. He doesn't care about restrictions if it means he can have one more item. Penalties from equipping items are reduced by 50%.]
It meant I could equip him with items that came with all sorts of debuffs or penalties without much worry.
So, if I decked him out with all sorts of items, he could even contend with Threat Level S monsters.
In other words, the strongest goblin in existence was born.
“There, that’s enough praise, isn’t it?”
“Kiruk!”
“Now, let’s do a good job as a porter, too.”
“Kiruk.”
Gono nodded and opened the leather sack.
So, this meant that anything placed inside could be sent to the Lord’s Castle, even real-world objects.
I glanced at the gnome beside me and murmured.
“It really works on living monsters, right?”
I’d tested it by putting a flowerpot inside, and thankfully, it hadn’t wilted after traveling to and from the Lord’s Castle.
Still, I was a little anxious, so I asked the Sage one last time.
[The Sage informs you that as long as it fits in the sack, it will be fine! However, it warns that if any part of it sticks out of the sack, that part may be lost in a dimensional rift.]
“...That’s a bit scary.”
I had considered visiting the Lord’s Castle myself using this method, but if I didn’t want my upper body to vanish, I’d better shelve that idea.
Suddenly, the gnome carefully climbed into the leather sack.
The sight of it nestled in the sack was quite cute, so I stroked its head.
“You can come here whenever you want, okay?”
The gnome nodded.
“Let’s hang out again soon. This time, without any invisibility cloaks, just walking around normally.”
The gnome nodded again, its eyes sparkling.
It carefully curled up and slipped completely inside the leather sack.
Gono cautiously sealed the top of the sack and hoisted it onto his shoulder.
“Ah, wait a minute.”
Just before he left, a thought struck me, and I stopped him.
I went to the kitchen, grabbed a box of twelve Choco Pies, and handed it to the gnome in the sack.
“Here, take this and eat it. When you get there, you’ll see a grandpa and a girl in armor, right? Give some to them, too.”
The gnome nodded, hugging the box of Choco Pies as it curled up again.
This time, Gono truly lifted the leather sack onto his back.
“Alright, be on your way.”
“Kiruk.”
Gono nodded.
[Gono is returning to the Lord's Castle.]
With a *pop*, Gono vanished, and a purple orb appeared in my hand.
My heart pounded as I opened the status window and synced it with the Lord’s Castle.
A new pixelated status window appeared.
[Gono is currently moving with the Secret Sack. Return time to the Lord's Castle will be delayed. Time remaining until return: 10 hours 30 minutes. ※While returning, Gono cannot be summoned, and the Remnant Sword cannot be copied.]
“Ten hours, huh. I guess it wasn't a freebie skill after all.”
It hadn’t taken this long for the flowerpot.
Still, this was more than manageable.
It was a means of communicating with the Lord’s Castle beyond a simple pixelated window.
‘I’ll be able to send byproducts from the real world to the Lord’s Castle to craft items.’
Blood of Greed was a sweet skill, but Gono’s Secret Sack was truly limitless in its utility.
My immediate tasks were done.
I’d been running nonstop for days, so I deserved a little more rest today.
“So, Sage, shall we get some more sleep until Gono and the gnome arrive?”
*Whoosh!*
The Sage bounced excitedly and flew toward the bedroom.
Yeah, when it comes to resting, nothing beats a latex bed.
* * *
The place was a windowless room, reminiscent of an underground bunker.
Most of the 3,500-square-foot space was submerged in thick darkness, with only a single crystal stone floating from the ceiling, casting a precarious light.
Beneath it was a large round table. Seated at the head of that table was a small, elderly man.
Yu Geonha, the Chairman of Samwol Group and the Master of the Samwol Guild.
“...Hmph.”
He leaned his stooped back against the chair and let out a simmering sound.
This was his private space, one he had favored since his days as an active hunter.
Even after completely retiring from hunting, founding the Samwol Group, and becoming the chairman of a major corporation.
Whenever Yu Geonha had something to think about, he would hole himself up here.
The old man’s eyes scanned the room.
An empty space with nothing but inorganic metal walls.
And so, the single picture frame sitting on the round table was the only thing that shone.
“I made a mistake.”
Yu Geonha muttered, picking up the frame before him.
A woman was smiling inside the frame.
His wife, who had passed away long ago, the only woman in this world with whom he had shared love and human emotion.
“Even if it was your last wish, I should have gotten rid of him sooner.”
His voice was utterly dry.
Devoid of any regret, hatred, or love. Devoid of any human emotion.
Yu Geonha truly believed it.
That he should have disposed of the trash that shared his bloodline long ago.
Because of that fool, everything he had built up until now had nearly come crashing down.
He had managed to mitigate the situation by essentially cutting ties with a single guild.
Yu Geonha was genuinely relieved by that fact.
*Thud.*
He raised his hand and set down the frame of the smiling woman.
His train of thought now turned to the cause of the recent incident.
“...Kim Hanul, was it.”
Kim Hanul.
Yu Geonha already knew him. He remembered the name. He had seen the face.
When was it?
The memory went back much further than that.
It was possible for Yu Geonha. Because he never forgot what he saw.
[Perfect Memory / Memory Playback]
As he used his skill to travel back in time.
A scene from seven years ago began to play before his eyes.
[Begin Memory Playback]
It was the day of Yu Wolha’s graduation ceremony from Hunter’s Den.
There was a massive auditorium, filled with all sorts of people.
Yu Geonha had also attended the ceremony. He needed the image of a ‘corporate chairman watching over his beloved son’s graduation.’
Since it was all about maintaining an image, he couldn’t have cared less whether a graduate received an A-rank or an E-rank. It was the same even when Yu Wolha cheered after receiving his A-rank license.
However, there was one young man who briefly caught his eye.
—Graduate Kim Hanul. You do not have the ability to work on the front lines.
The young man not only received an E-rank notification but also had to endure such humiliating words from the dean.
No matter how low the rank, a dean would never publicly shame a graduate like that.
And so, he turned his head, only to realize the dean was glancing back and forth between him and Yu Wolha.
That’s right. This was Yu Wolha’s doing.
*Pathetic fool.*
He sneered inwardly and stared at the young man on the stage.
He possessed the Perfect Memory skill.
Thus, he remembered all the childish whining Yu Wolha had done while attending Hunter’s Den.
The young man who had just received an E-rank license was the trainee who had beaten Yu Wolha to take the top spot in every single theoretical exam.
Was it because of that?
—Ha, of course. What’s the point of being book-smart? Is he going to kill monsters with theory?
—Exactly, his actual abilities are trash.
—He’ll probably go back to his hick town where his mom lives.
—He doesn’t even have a dad, so he’ll have to do manual labor. What choice does he have? He’s getting old, too.
Even after the dean’s public announcement.
The jeers directed at the young man swelled like the buzzing of a swarm of bees.
—Everyone, please don’t say such harsh things! He’s much more than you think…!
One of the Hunter’s Den candidates watching from the back cried out in protest.
But no one paid her any mind.
The air was thick with envy, jealousy, and disgusting sentiments from those trying to curry favor with Yu Wolha and Yu Geonha.
Yu Geonha simply watched with a blank expression as the malicious thorns pierced the young man.
What could be done? In a way, hadn't the young man brought this upon himself?
He would surely fall into despair and resent the world, but that was none of Yu Geonha's concern.
And yet.
—Thank you, Dean. I will continue to work hard.
In that venom-filled hall, the young man spoke with composure.
Then, clutching the E-rank license as if it were a treasure, he stepped down from the stage.
He walked over to a woman who appeared to be his mother and embraced her.
Telling her that he’d made it. That she didn’t have to worry anymore.
*How strange.*
...Yu Geonha realized he had unconsciously muttered those words, and his eyes widened.
As the young man cut through the air thick with malice to embrace his mother, his eyes were shining.
His demeanor, like a single crane cutting through a flock of dirty chickens.
It was a stark contrast to the twisted face of his own failure of a son.
“I see.”
That was why Yu Geonha had felt a shard of ‘interest’ in that young man.
[End Memory Playback]
As the shadows of the past lifted from his aged retinas.
His memory turned to his most recent encounter with Kim Hanul.
Right after facing the masked man in the bloody mess.
Yu Geonha had used the power of his Divine Seat.
[Insight]
A skill that allowed him to grasp a target’s abilities through image manifestation.
This skill had never failed. Even with someone like Sanarae, he had been able to glimpse fragments of her power by observing the shadows fluttering around her.
But Kim Hanul.
*?!*
He couldn’t see.
No, it would be more accurate to say he was blocked.
The moment the mental image unfolded through Insight, all he saw was a massive wall.
It was reminiscent of an ancient castle wall. Endlessly long, soaring as if to pierce the sky, and seemingly capable of protecting all of creation.
A sturdy and majestic fortress wall.
That was all his Divine Seat’s power could discern.
“Hmm.”
The old man nodded slowly, his face impassive.
The young man who had sparked a shard of interest seven years ago.
He had grown this much. To the point where the top three guilds were making unprecedented overtures to him. If so, how astonishing would his growth be in the near future, and in the more distant future?
And if they were to stand with him, in the reach of his halo.
If the Samwol Group could bask in even a fraction of the light that Hunter Kim Hanul would shine, how much more could it grow?
“Secretary.”
A quiet voice escaped his wrinkled throat.
Simultaneously, a figure rose from the shadows in the corner of the room.
“You called, Chairman.”
Yu Geonha was a calculating man.
If it meant he could fulfill the wish he had made with his Divine Seat.
He was willing to join hands with the man who had ostracized his own son from the world.
He was content to have gained an opportunity for access by offering up his failure of a son.
“Look into Hunter Kim Hanul. In as much detail as possible.”
The old man spoke softly as he turned the picture frame on the table face down.
* * *
After rolling around and playing with the Sage, it was already evening.
[Gono has returned to the Lord's Castle!]
Gono had finished his journey and returned safely.
After checking the long-awaited notification, I immediately synced with MonMonMak.
“Oh, he’s there!”
A new dwarf pixel sprite had appeared inside the Audience Chamber.
The gnome lingered before the Lord in the Audience Chamber for a moment, then began to move down a corridor toward a specific location.
The blacksmith I had built recently.
“Heh heh, what a good kid.”
To think he would look for work as soon as he arrived.
As the sprite reached the blacksmith, a new status window popped up.
[The gnome will now reside in the blacksmith. You can now request item crafting at the blacksmith using byproducts!]
“Yes, this is it!”
My heart pounded as I tapped the pixelated window repeatedly.
[Would you like to check the list of currently craftable items?]
I still had some byproducts left from the Freezing Akan I’d hunted before.
It seemed there was an item I could make with just those.
I swallowed hard and checked the activated item at the very top of the list.
“Huh?”
My jaw dropped.
[The gnome can use the byproducts to craft a 「Specialized Item」.]