Chapter 101: The Meeting (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 101: The Meeting (1)
The weather slowly began to grow colder.
As the days passed, one by one, midterms were suddenly just around the corner.
In that time, we had steadily built up our teamwork.
We always took overlapping classes together, and if nothing special was going on, we ate lunch together…
To build our synergy, we also ran a C-rank dungeon every week, earning a nice sum of money in the process.
Thanks to that, our movements were starting to sync up quite well.
To put it a bit bluntly… we’d reached the point where we could move without getting in each other's way.
And the improvement in our teamwork was proven by another phenomenon.
Namely, Elena’s trait.
“My feet feel a little less slow, I think…?”
“I’m not the only one feeling that, right?”
“I felt it too.”
The deceleration rate of the zone she created had started to affect only us less severely.
Unlike at the beginning, when it slowed our overall speed by 30%, it was now only about 15%.
My feet still felt heavy, but compared to before, it was much easier to move.
In other words, it meant she was gradually starting to accept us as allies, not enemies.
Despite this, Elena wore an apologetic expression.
“I’m sorry… I thought I trusted my teammates, but this is still the extent of it.”
It couldn’t be helped.
Her trait distinguished friend from foe based on her inner thoughts.
That meant for us to be fully recognized as allies, our existence had to seep deep into her subconscious, and how could that possibly be easy?
If she could control her trait freely, she'd be able to distinguish friend from foe by will alone, but that would take even longer than seeping into someone's heart, so it was out of the question for now.
“It’s fine. This much is a huge improvement, isn’t it?”
“Well… getting close to someone isn’t something you can just decide to do.”
Shin Yu-jeong added her own words of comfort to mine.
But why did she glance over at me while saying that?
“Thank you, everyone. I… I will work even harder from now on!” Elena said, clenching her fists.
Lately, her expression had become much more vibrant.
The reason was probably money.
With the money she earned from clearing C-rank dungeons every week, she was able to send some to her family, and I suspected she’d made a small but meaningful change to her own diet as well.
Considering she’d told me at the gym the other day that she’d bought protein shake mix and offered to whip one up for me, I was probably right.
“Alright, let’s head back.”
After packing up, we left the dungeon, changed in the locker room, and headed to the exchange office.
Our earnings this time were about 8 million won.
This was the typical profit from a C-rank dungeon.
The Ant Nest Dungeon had just been unusually profitable for its rank.
After splitting the post-tax profits evenly, I started the journey home with Shin Yu-jeong.
Inside the bus on the way home.
As if it were the most natural thing in the world, she was leaning her head on my shoulder, looking at her smartphone.
Does she think I’m her personal pillow?
“Yu-jeong.”
“What.”
“Have you ever considered that my shoulder might hurt if you lean your head on it like that?”
I asked politely, and she replied with an indifferent expression.
“Nope.”
“……”
“If your shoulder hurts from just this, you should quit being a Hunter.”
The fact that she was right just pissed me off more.
While I was sulking for a moment, Shin Yu-jeong shoved the smartphone she was looking at in my face.
“Hey, what about this?”
Wondering what it was, I saw she was looking up pomegranate juice.
“Pomegranate? Why all of a sudden?”
At that, she ruffled her hair and said.
“Well, Mom’s been a bit on edge lately, so I did some searching online.”
“…And?”
“It said menopause can start to hit around your mid-forties. I was wondering if maybe that’s why, and since I’ve earned some money, I was thinking of buying her something that’s good for it.”
Menopause…
It was true the Ajumma hadn’t seemed to be in a great mood recently.
But I was pretty sure it was because of me, not menopause.
On the surface, everything was the same as usual.
She still made sure I had every meal, brought over side dishes, and looked after me in all sorts of ways…
But the atmosphere had grown a little chilly, you could say.
She was definitely sulking or angry about something.
The problem was, I had no idea what it was.
It’s best to resolve these things quickly.
“They say pomegranate is really good for menopause. So I was thinking of buying this, what do you think?”
“Hmm… I don’t know.”
I knew pomegranate was good for menopausal women.
But the Ajumma wasn’t acting this way because of menopause, so it would be useless. That was the problem.
“I think a different gift would be better.”
“Like what?”
She stared at me with wide, round eyes.
Good question.
What kind of gift would be good?
If I knew why the Ajumma was upset, a gift related to that would be best…
“We’ll have to think about it.”
“Hmm… well, I’ll do some more searching, so you think about it too. Seriously, how much has Mom cared for you? At this point, she’s not just my mom, she’s our mom. Right?”
From the moment the Real Do-jin ran away from the orphanage, you could say he was half-destined to die.
He’d run out into the world in the middle of a cold winter without a single penny to his name. How could he not freeze to death?
So, in a way, the Ajumma had saved a life that was already lost.
On top of that, she had cared for him with the utmost devotion until now.
It was fair to say she had been more of a mother to him than dozens, even hundreds of people who only shared the title.
“Yeah, you’re right.”
“Heehee… A mother-in-law is still a mom, right?”
“……”
Though it seemed this girl was thinking along completely different lines.
I got home, changed my clothes, and immediately flopped onto my mattress.
I hadn’t done much besides blast magic from the back, so I wasn’t particularly tired, but on days I returned from a dungeon, I never felt like doing anything afterward.
It was a bit like that feeling.
Kind of like that Sage Time that hits after you’ve had a good wank.
As I lay there spread-eagled, staring blankly at the ceiling without a single thought, I was suddenly struck by a feeling of emptiness.
“Something feels… hollow.”
It happens sometimes.
The feeling of wanting to hug something tight and curl up around it.
But there was nothing like that in this room.
“…Maybe I should buy another pillow.”
I considered buying a long cushion to keep next to my mattress.
With no other choice, I was rolling up my blanket to hug it to my chest when my smartphone rang.
I checked to see who it was. The Ajumma.
“Hello.”
-Do-jin, come down for dinner.
A dry, emotionless tone.
But it wasn’t dry because it was empty of emotion; it felt like she was deliberately forcing all emotion out of it.
“Uh… I think I’ll skip today. Maybe because I’m tired, but I’m not very hungry.”
-…Is that so? Then get some rest.
“Okay.”
Even after the call ended, I continued to stare blankly at the ceiling.
It was then that I started to feel that something was off.
The sense of lethargy was particularly strong today.
“…It’s never been this bad before.”
I had been in this body for several dungeon runs, but I’d never felt like this before.
That meant the sensation I was feeling wasn’t just post-dungeon fatigue.
Wondering if something was wrong with my body, I closed my eyes and slowly observed it from within.
My mana, flowing smoothly from my core, became my eyes, looking into every corner of my body, but physically, I was in strangely perfect condition.
It seemed the cause wasn't physical, at least.
Just as I was pushing my mana back into my core and slowly opening my eyes…
A semi-transparent window appeared before me.
[To the 504 ‘Ones with Aptitude’ who have proven themselves through many trials and tribulations, we have an announcement.]
[Tonight at midnight, a meeting has been prepared.]
[All ‘Ones with Aptitude’ are requested to attend and grace the occasion with your presence.]
[Please note that for those unable to attend due to unavoidable circumstances, your trait will be revoked.]
[We will see you at midnight.]
“…What is this?”
A meeting, out of the blue?
The moment I saw the message, the lethargy that had been pressing down on my whole body began to slowly fade.
I had no idea what the connection was, but it seemed that symptom from a moment ago was because of this message.
“A meeting…”
Simply put, it was an event to meet and greet each other face-to-face.
The opening of the message limited it to the 504 people with the ‘One with Aptitude’ trait.
Did that mean they had arranged a place for us to meet and greet each other?
“No matter how I think about it, this isn’t going to be a friendly gathering.”
The name of the trait was ‘One with Aptitude.’
I didn’t know exactly what that potential was for, but it meant a possibility was open to us.
In cases like this, it’s rare for all 500 people to reach the end laughing happily together.
Because with potential, the higher you climb, step by step, the narrower the foothold becomes.
Even if, by some miracle, the path was wide enough for all 500 to climb hand-in-hand… it would be impossible to ascend without a single sacrifice.
“They’ll all be at each other’s throats. How could it possibly work?”
That’s just what humans are.
They can’t stand the sight of hundreds of others walking around with the same power they have.
Why?
Because if you’re the only one with that power, it leads to even greater authority.
Five hundred absolute beings, or one absolute being.
Which one would you want to be… I don’t even need to say it for everyone to know the answer.
“Midnight… that’s not much time.”
It didn’t say where to go, so I guess I just had to wait until that time.
The lethargy was gone, and after thinking for a while, I suddenly felt hungry.
“Ah, I should’ve just eaten dinner.”
There were plenty of side dishes in the fridge, so I could just make myself a meal, but I really hate eating alone.
Should I make something, or just starve?
As I lay there debating, I suddenly heard a presence at the front door.
“Do-jin, it’s me. Can you open the door?”
“Huh?”
What was she doing here at this hour?
I went straight to the door and opened it.
It was the Ajumma, dressed in her usual form-fitting dress.
She was holding a small pot in her hands.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
“Huh? Ah, yes…”
With those words, the Ajumma stepped inside, immediately placed the pot on the stove and turned on the heat, then opened the refrigerator.
She took out all the side dishes inside, unfolded the small table that was propped up next to the fridge, and placed everything on top of it.
“Ajumma…?”
I called out to her with a bewildered expression, and she answered me while scooping a heaping portion of rice from a small electric rice cooker.
“You went to a dungeon today, didn’t you?”
“…Yes.”
“Then you must have used a lot of energy. You can’t skip dinner.”
It seemed she had come up, worried that I was skipping a meal after a dungeon run.
Her tone was still stiffer than usual, but it was filled with concern.
As I stared blankly at her back, I suddenly noticed something different.
“Ajumma.”
“What.”
“Have you lost weight?”
“……”
I saw it, just for a moment.
The Ajumma’s cheek, slightly visible from the side, was flushed bright red.
“Heh.”
Looks like I picked the right answer.