Chapter 435: A Mother's Magic Touch (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 435: A Mother's Magic Touch (1)
An event occurred that was unprecedented in South Korea, and exceptionally rare even on a global scale.
The examiner for a special promotion test had been defeated by the candidate.
At this, all who were watching as observers were left speechless.
It was simply too absurd.
They kept calling him one for the ages, a legend…
I never imagined he'd be this incredible…!
All their predictions before the test had been wrong.
The strategic battle between a mage and a warrior, each trying to keep the other at their preferred distance?
Nothing of the sort happened.
What did happen was a close-quarters brawl where a single swing of a fist could land a blow.
And that made it all the more shocking.
“For a mage to defeat a warrior in close combat…”
One of the countless labels that followed the word 'mage' was 'weakest in close combat.'
A lopsided development focused solely on mana growth, and the casting time required to manifest magic.
A label that, due to these two shackles, was thought to be impossible to ever shake off.
It had just fallen from one mage's collar.
What did this mean?
“The emergence of a flawless mage…?”
The word might have been premature.
But they had clearly seen a glimpse of it.
The potential to approach perfection.
And that potential earned the unanimous agreement of all the S-rank Hunters present as observers.
Without a single dissenting opinion. Unanimously.
【Kim Do-jin has passed the special promotion test!】
He had become an S-rank Hunter.
* * *
Kim Tae-yang, who had collapsed as the sacrificial lamb for Kim Do-jin’s new magic, was immediately and discreetly moved to the Association’s internal infirmary.
Not long after receiving treatment from the B-rank Healer stationed there, he opened his eyes.
“……”
A pure white ceiling.
And the sharp scent of disinfectant stinging his nose roused his hazy mind.
Simultaneously, he recalled the moment his memory had cut out.
His arm caught by something sticky, and between it, two giant palms closing in.
“Hngh…!”
The memory of that moment returned so vividly that Kim Tae-yang squeezed his eyes shut and let out a groan.
As he did, an unbearable sense of shame and humiliation rose to his throat, and he clenched his fists.
“You’re awake?”
A familiar voice made him open his eyes.
When he turned his head, a young man in a suit was sitting there.
A pale face, thinly opened eyes, a sharp nose, red lips holding a friendly smile, and a sharp chin.
An appearance reminiscent of a snake.
The moment he saw him, Kim Tae-yang’s face crumpled into a scowl, and he turned his head to the opposite side.
“…Hmph. What are you doing here?”
“What do you mean, man? I heard you collapsed and came running.”
“……”
The man was his friend.
They were as close as two friends could be, but their relationship wasn't entirely pure.
“Heard you got your ass kicked by some greenhorn junior. Haven’t you been slacking on your training lately? Heh heh!”
The remark thoroughly scraped at a wound that was still bleeding profusely. Kim Tae-yang snapped his head back and yelled.
“Who got their ass kicked! That’s only because I went easy on him! If we fought for real…!”
“Oh…? Really? Our old geezer was furious when he heard you lost, saying your value had plummeted. How about we set up a revenge match?”
“Tch…!”
Unable to finish his sentence, Kim Tae-yang turned away and lay down with a huff, like a sulking child.
With the man’s capabilities, he could arrange a revenge match or anything else the moment he asked.
If that happened, he would have to face Kim Do-jin again.
Fucking bastard.
The final scene came to mind.
The look in Kim Do-jin’s eyes as he stared at him, clapping his hands together to deliver the final blow.
The moment he saw it, he had frozen.
He looks like him.
The resemblance was chilling.
It was just like the eyes of Son Si-woo—the man who had handed him a defeat so crushing it had broken his will for revenge back when he had been on a winning streak.
The look in his eyes that day, when he had mercilessly beaten him down not with a sword, but with his bare fists.
Compared to that day, today’s defeat was trivial.
Yet the reason he couldn’t rashly speak of revenge was because of those eyes.
And that made him resent Son Si-woo all the more.
That damn geezer…!
It had been a mistake.
He had been on a mission with other Hunters and overheard one of them talking about his daughter. Curious, he searched for her online and, upon seeing her beauty that was already radiant before it had even fully bloomed, he had made a slip of the tongue.
“She looks fucking delicious,” he had said.
That day, he had seen a demon descend upon the mortal world.
A merciless demon by the name of 'Dad,' who brutally punished the man who had insulted his daughter.
The memory of Son Si-woo refusing to listen, no matter how many times he insisted it was a mistake, was still vivid in his mind.
The fear was engraved so deep in his bones that his body would instinctively flinch at the sight of him.
As his body trembled, the man patted his shoulder comfortingly.
“Hey, hey. Why are you getting so worked up over something like that? You can just get stronger and beat the crap out of him.”
Seeing Kim Tae-yang so uncharacteristically withdrawn, the man spoke with a smirk.
“Hey, Tae-yang. I got my hands on a killer artifact recently, you know?”
Artifact.
That word caught Kim Tae-yang’s attention.
Confirming that his ears had perked up, the man continued, even more excited.
“Let me tell you what it does…”
Whisper, whisper!
As if to prevent others from hearing, the man leaned in close to his turned-away friend’s ear and whispered.
Hearing this, Kim Tae-yang shot up, his eyes wide as he asked the man again.
“Is that even possible?”
“Hey, I’m telling you! You think I’d bring it up without checking it myself?”
“If something like that really exists…”
As he mumbled, the man continued with a grin.
“Getting revenge on that greenhorn punk would be a piece of cake. Right?”
He was certainly right.
If everything the man told him was true.
Just as the heat began to return to his eyes, which had been clouded with defeat…
The man spoke again.
“So, what do you say? Wanna give it a try?”
An irresistible offer approached, flickering its bewitching tongue at Kim Tae-yang.
* * *
Three days had already passed since my promotion was confirmed.
Somehow, they had all gotten my number, and calls were coming in from everywhere.
[Hello, Hunter Kim Do-jin! I’m from the Sejin Group Public Relations Department….]
[We’d like to offer you a modeling contract! Our brand is….]
[We have arranged a gathering to celebrate Hunter Kim Do-jin’s promotion. We would be honored if you would grace us with your presence….]
“What the hell is this? A ‘Congratulations Kim Do-jin’ party without Kim Do-jin?”
What kind of psycho throws a party and then invites the guest of honor?
Conglomerates, broadcasting stations, political circles.
Offers were pouring in from every place that needed the buzz surrounding the name Kim Do-jin.
I’d read one message, and two or three more would arrive. I didn’t even have the courage to read them all.
“I should just turn off my damn phone. Sheesh.”
The messages were the least of my worries.
Like I just grumbled, I could escape this insane barrage of notifications by turning off my phone.
There was a much bigger problem.
“Do-jin, another gift just arrived by quick delivery…?”
“…How many?”
“Uhm, twe…lve?”
“……”
Packages, quick deliveries, aides of chaebol or politicians.
All sorts of people were showing up at Jeong-hee’s house with gifts.
“This is from the three-term congressman of our district…”
“Our company president asked me to…!”
“The chairman sends this gift to commemorate Hunter Kim Do-jin’s promotion…”
I was going crazy.
I had already received over a hundred gift boxes in the last three days.
And every single one was filled with things that were either mind-bogglingly expensive or hard to get even with money.
“Wh-what should we do with all this?”
Jeong-hee was having a hard time because of it.
She had just gotten over her body aches last night and started moving around again. I felt terrible.
“Sorry. I’ll clean this up right away.”
Using my mana, I levitated all the gift boxes piled up in front of her house and moved them to the rooftop.
Watching the boxes stack up neatly on the outdoor table, I was reminded of the classic game Tetris.
Specifically, the state right before a game over, when the blocks are stacked to the brim.
Seeing this, Jeong-hee gave an awkward laugh and rubbed my back.
“Hoho… Everyone’s working so hard to get on your good side, Do-jin.”
“Do I seem any different to you?”
“Not at all.”
“Ah, I see.”
When I put on a sullen face, Jeong-hee lightly pinched my cheek and continued.
“Because whether my dear husband is an S-rank Hunter or a D-rank Hunter, you've always been the best in my eyes.”
“Gasp.”
This was bad.
Jeong-hee was getting more and more bewitching by the day.
So much so that I was worried I might be the one who gets eaten instead.
But that was that, and this was this.
“Jeong-hee…!”
Riding the mood that had heated up in an instant, I tried to slowly approach her.
“Ah, not right now.”
She refused firmly, stepping back and pointing downstairs.
“It’s dinnertime.”
Ah, right.
It was time for dinner.
As I smacked my lips in disappointment, Jeong-hee came over and gently pulled on my cheek.
“Hurry up and get ready to come down. I’ve prepared a very special menu just for you today, Do-jin.”
“A special… menu?”
“That’s right. So don’t be late, okay?”
“Yessir.”
Jeong-hee descended the stairs with light steps.
After being sick, her movements were much more nimble than they had been a few days ago.
“…Is it because she got a good rest while she was sick?”
That had to be it.
Preparing breakfast and dinner for four people every day, cleaning the house, managing the building…
Even with a younger body, working like that without a single day off was bound to be exhausting.
I thought that I needed to let her rest sometimes.
If she rested at home, the housework would just catch her eye, so maybe taking regular trips wouldn't be a bad idea.
“Phew… all done.”
After neatly stacking the gift boxes in the storage shed built next to the rooftop room, I headed downstairs.
Click!
The moment I opened the door, the smell of food wafted into my nose.
“Hmm.”
The smell itself wasn’t different from usual.
She definitely said it was a special menu today.
As I headed to the kitchen, Baek Hyeon-a was helping Jeong-hee carry the finished dishes to the table one by one.
“You’re here? Come and sit.”
I nodded at her smiling welcome and sat down, scanning the dishes.
Spinach, bean sprouts, grilled mackerel, stir-fried anchovies…
What was this?
These were all things we usually ate.
While I was puzzled, Shin Yu-jeong came out of her room and plopped down in the seat next to me.
She wore the same expression I did.
“What’s this? I thought it was a special menu today.”
From the kitchen, Jeong-hee answered with a confident smile.
“It’ll be out soon, so just wait a little longer.”
Well, if she said so, I’d wait.
While I was exchanging some seemingly innocent, yet suggestive, hand-play with Yu-jeong, who was blatantly tickling my thigh…
“Alright, you’ve waited long enough!”
Jeong-hee captured our attention with a highly excited tone and placed a large platter on the table.
On it was none other than…
“Beef…”
“And braised potatoes?”
An unexpected dish had appeared.
Braised beef and potatoes.
It was certainly a dish she didn’t make often… but it didn’t seem special enough to be called a special menu.
With that thought, I subtly lifted my head to check Jeong-hee’s expression across the table.
She looked triumphant.
What was strange was that Baek Hyeon-a, sitting next to her, was also wearing the same confident smile.
What was going on?
Did the two of them create some special seasoning to put in it?
As I pondered deeply, she placed some of the braised beef and potatoes on my and Yu-jeong’s rice bowls and said.
“You won’t know just by looking, so try it first and then judge.”
That’s it.
The secret must be in the taste, not the dish itself.
I scooped up the rice and the braised beef and potatoes with my spoon and stuffed a mouthful.
The savory juices of the beef, soaked in a salty-sweet sauce, spread throughout my mouth. Just as the nutty flavor of the fluffy potatoes began to temper the saltiness, creating a perfect harmony…
A message window suddenly popped up before my eyes.
[You have consumed ‘Beef and Potato Stew of Stamina Recovery’.]
[Stamina recovery speed increases by 15% until satiety wears off.]
“……?”
“……?”
What the hell is this?
Why is my stamina recovery speed suddenly…?
As I stared at Jeong-hee with wide eyes, she made a shocking confession with a shy face.
“I… I’ve awakened.”