The Monster Rank Detector
Though it reaffirmed that she was an idiot, Seoya decided to think positively anyway. She'd taken care of one major thing, after all. Now she just needed to gather the required amount of magic stones, find the blueprints for the magic amplifier, and build it!
But even if I find the blueprints, how the hell am I supposed to build it…?
A bad premonition made Seoya roll her eyes. She vaguely remembered the equations Ibin had taught her long ago, and this world's math knowledge was similar enough that she could probably manage. But could she actually build that massive machine herself…?
I'd have to hand it off to an expert, but how do I even explain it to them…? I can't exactly tell Earth's experts about a 'magic amplifier'…
After agonizing over it, Seoya gave up and decided to at least check how many magic stones they'd gathered so far.
"Unnie, unnie! How many magic stones do we have?"
She'd asked them to help collect them, and with the decent pile of S-rank ones she'd gathered herself, combining everything should yield a good amount.
"About a third of what you said you needed last time."
"Only a third so far?"
Seoya's face fell at Lee Gayeon's answer. At that moment, Baek Yena, who was sitting on the sofa next to her, turned her head.
"I've been trying to keep my mouth shut and not ask… but I guess I can't anymore."
"W-what?"
Guessing that Baek Yena was finally bringing up the thing they'd all been pretending not to know about, Seoya stammered. Baek Yena fixed her with a solemn gaze and said,
"Once you collect all those magic stones, you're going back to your world, right?"
"Uh, wha—?"
It hit the nail right on the head.
"…Something like that."
Seoya hung her head and mumbled a vague response. No matter how hard it was to say outright, she couldn't lie to them. The guilt gnawed at her—they'd taken her in without asking for anything in return and devoted themselves to helping her, and here she was planning to take their help and leave.
"…It's fine, it's fine! We'll worry about goodbyes when the time comes."
Lee Gayeon quickly clapped a hand over Baek Yena's mouth upon seeing Seoya's expression, trying to soothe her. With her mouth covered, Baek Yena looked like she was the one about to burst into tears.
"Mmph! Mmmph grr—"
"I can't hear you, so shut it."
"Mmmph grr brrr!"
"Enough!"
Lee Gayeon shot her an irritated glare, then walked over to scoop Seoya into a hug before turning back to Baek Yena.
"And I've been wanting to say this for a while: get your own place! We only kept you around to watch you before Seoya showed up because you were causing trouble every damn day. We don't need to babysit anymore."
"What? I don't wanna live away from my baby!"
Baek Yena wailed with teary eyes, and Lee Gayeon pinched the bridge of her nose like she had a migraine.
"Aigoo… You were the one throwing tantrums about living separately before, and now that Seoya's here, you're glued to the house. Don't you think that's a bit much? Besides, this place is under my name—I took out the loan for it."
"So if I buy my own place, problem solved? No, kicking out your captain like this is too harsh!"
"That was back when we were just starting out as hunters and I needed the loan. I've paid it all off now. I don't wanna live with a full-grown adult either, so how about you move out for some personal space?"
"I don't want even a second less time with my baby."
Lee Gayeon sighed heavily, her face screaming barely contained rage. Seoya barely registered it—this kind of bickering was routine by now.
Then Ji Sein's voice chimed in.
"Whoa, Gayeon unnie! Does that mean I can move out too?"
At the innocent question, Baek Yena and Lee Gayeon locked eyes and shook their heads in unison.
"Don't talk nonsense…"
"No way! You're still the type to cause accidents if left alone. I need to check you're alive with my own eyes…"
"You think that's ridiculous too, right, you hikikomori?"
"And you've gotten a bit more adult-like living with Seoya, so we're keeping you around."
Seoya shot them a cold, deadpan look.
…Well, at least I've been useful in that way.
As she turned to head to her room, Seoya suddenly remembered something she'd almost overlooked and spun back around.
A third is way too few.
There was a mountain left to gather. She shouldn't be lounging at home like this—she needed to hit dungeons herself and stockpile magic stones.
"Unnie, I think I should start running some dungeons too."
"Huh?"
Lee Gayeon raised an eyebrow.
The guilds had stabilized, and things weren't as hectic as before. The reason Seoya had been chilling at home was that hunters had gotten strong enough—no dungeon required her help anymore.
"We're gathering them diligently already…"
"I'm bored stuck at home anyway."
Seoya shrugged casually. Being cooped up too long made the air feel stuffy and her body itch for action.
How does Sein unnie stand staying inside all the time…?
Seoya shook her head, baffled by Ji Sein's lifestyle.
"Fine, got it."
Lee Gayeon had no real reason to object, so she nodded.
"Starting tomorrow, we'll pass you one dungeon a day. With some of our guild members for backup. One a day sound okay?"
"Yeah… sure."
And to cut to the chase: the next day, Neverending Guild had zero mental capacity left to assign her dungeons.
"Ah, I should've been pickier from the start…"
From the top floor of the Neverending Guild Building, Seoya watched Lee Gayeon pace the room, an ice cream stick dangling from her mouth.
"So what mess blew up this time?"
Ji Sein, sucking on her own ice cream next to Seoya, asked on her behalf. Lee Gayeon gave Ji Sein an incredulous look.
"Sein, did you really come into the office voluntarily after a year and a half just for that machine?"
"Yup! Technically not 'work' since I don't plan to do any—I'm just here to check this out and bounce!"
Ji Sein pointed brightly at the 'Monster Rank Detector' on the table in front of her.
A device recently developed by one of Neverending Guild's researchers. Approach within 1m of a monster to detect its rank.
Primary function: Reveals ranks of newly appeared monsters from system updates.
Analyzes wavelength emissions (likely mana) to approximate rank.
Seoya mulled it over after hearing the explanation.
That 'wavelength' has to be mana, right…?
"Anyway~ This thing is amazing! A few more tests to confirm it works, then patent it! It'll sell like hotcakes!"
Ji Sein gushed, eyes sparkling as she jabbed at the detector. Seoya didn't fully grasp it yet, but apparently, knowing a new monster's rank in advance was revolutionary.
"Gayeon unnie, how'd that researcher even make this?"
"'Machine Maintenance' skill at level 9."
"Ooh~ Must've leveled up with the recent system update~."
Ji Sein admired the device, then suddenly whipped her gaze to Lee Gayeon and yelled,
"Ah, unnie! So when are you gonna spill? What blew up?!"
"…You don't need to know."
As Lee Gayeon glanced at Seoya while saying it, Ji Sein wailed dramatically.
"Unnie~! Should I just boot up the internet and look it up right now? Show our crying princess here too?"
"Fine, I'll tell you. Just sit still."
Lee Gayeon glared irritably at Ji Sein. Thanks to her childish antics, Seoya got the scoop she otherwise wouldn't have.
Lee Gayeon clutched her throbbing head and spoke slowly.
"…With Na Seong Guild growing so fast lately, we've been aggressively scouting top hunters."
"Yeah, yeah, I know."
"We can't just sit idle or we'll fall behind in manpower, so we minimized screening and onboarded anyone proven capable…"
"What, trash personality? Some other flaw?"
"…No, old pre-awakening posts from Inbyul bashing hunters as incompetent got dug up."
"No way! Pfft—hahaha!"
Ji Sein burst into loud laughter.
"Whoa, they're roasting her for that now? Hilarious!"
"Even I think she went overboard back then. Sigh… but now she's getting way too much hate."
"Bet Na Seong started the controversy 100%. Public ate the bait, though. Makes sense—no scandals lately, must be boring~."
"She was one of our promising newbies we were pushing, so she had the highest profile."
"Ah, so the pushback made it worse~."
Ji Sein chuckled merrily at the unrelated drama, then switched to a nonchalant tone.
"Anyway, you're not kicking her out, right unnie?"
"Nope."
"Then tell her to lay low~ Pop back up once people forget. Easy~."
"How long's that gonna take?"
"Dunno, three years tops?"
"Ugh…"
Lee Gayeon sighed at Ji Sein's beaming grin, realizing there was no quick fix.
"We trained her up nice, and now this… Building another solid hunter takes time. Worst part is, we were catching up to Na Seong, but at this rate, we'll lose ground again…"
Lee Gayeon looked exhausted thinking about the road ahead. Ji Sein blinked wide-eyed.
"Huh? Hurry up and test the Monster Rank Detector, then patent it! Commercialize that, and our status skyrockets!"
Lee Gayeon softened a bit.
"…You're right. Have our dungeon teams take it in and test it."
Seoya set down her finished ice cream stick and finally raised her hand.
"Unnie."
"Yeah?"
"Then I'll take it and test it for you."