Chapter 44
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: The One Who Achieved His Dream
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The One Who Achieved His Dream
Ferocious Mandragoras. At Cheon Doun's words, the siblings chuckled.
When you really looked at him, their friend had a mischievous streak.
‘Well, it’s not exactly a lie. Their disposition does seem pretty aggressive.’
Whether they were threatening or not was a separate issue. Judging by their temperament alone, they were indeed ferocious roots.
The siblings glanced at each other and grinned. Now was the time to play along with Cheon Doun’s mischief.
“That’s right, it was one violent root.”
“S-Sirs, you saw the Mandragoras too?”
“We did. There was a great battle.”
“It easily defeated a legion of over thirty Chimeras.”
“A legion of Chimeras…!”
Manager Kim’s jaw dropped. In his mind, he pictured heavily armed Chimera Hunters standing with guns and blades.
“The Mandragoras’ total force was five roots.”
“F-five of them defeated thirty?”
“They did. It was a landslide victory. They stacked their bodies up like a tower and attacked.”
“Like a tower…!”
Manager Kim’s eyes wavered. Mandragoras stacking their bodies into a tower to attack. He couldn't even begin to imagine it.
‘Th-there must have been a sonic-type scream attack.’
The shriek a Mandragora lets out when pulled from the ground. A sound that releases all the demonic energy it has accumulated over its life.
If an A-rank Hunter heard that sound unprotected, their eardrums would burst, leaving them with a permanent disability.
In severe cases, some even suffered brain damage and were left vegetative.
And now, five Mandragoras, stacked like a tower, were unleashing that sonic attack.
The mere thought of it made Manager Kim turn pale.
The Mandragora’s scream known to people was, in fact, nothing more than its final cry.
The last shriek of an individual that grew up stressed in the human world. Unaware of this, Manager Kim trembled in fear.
“When we arrive, try feeding it some of your mana. If it eats well, you can be in charge of feeding it from now on.”
“Ooh, I can be in charge of feeding the Mandragora?”
He might shrivel up like a mummy from giving the Mandragora all his mana.
Even knowing that, Manager Kim’s face beamed with honor.
The feeder of a wild Mandragora. He couldn't yield such a glorious position to anyone.
“Of course, if the Mandragora rejects your mana, there’s nothing we can do.”
“I will do my best not to be rejected.”
“Good. When you pour out your mana, circulate your mana hole to maximize its purity. Otherwise, it will spit it out.”
Manager Kim nodded.
“I know. I had practice feeding mana to a Mandragora during my apprenticeship. It was a cultivated type back then, but… it should be fine. I wasn't rejected then, either.”
Refining mana within one's body was a specialty of alchemists.
Manager Kim spoke confidently, but Cheon Doun wore a strange expression.
“It’ll be different from a cultivated Mandragora.”
“Different?”
“The one you fed mana to was an individual that had suffered from malnutrition its entire life. It would probably stomach anything you gave it, even if it was garbage.”
“G-Garbage…”
Was the purity of my mana really that terrible?
“Not now. You said you fed it mana during your apprenticeship.”
“Ah.”
“It’s obvious what the mana of a newly Awakened person is like. Your mana hole wouldn't have been properly settled. Naturally, you couldn't have produced proper mana. Right?”
He wasn’t wrong. Of course, Manager Kim had also been an F-rank once.
“The ones in my garden are elites raised on high-grade demonic energy. They’ll be picky, so get serious and circulate your mana hole. Otherwise, they’ll spit out every drop of mana you give them.”
“Understood.”
“Do your best. If you can produce mana good enough for my garden dwellers to eat, the wall to S-class will crumble a little more for you.”
Manager Kim’s eyes widened. A strong sense of determination mixed with his already motivated expression.
The Yu siblings watched him with peculiar looks on their faces.
‘Those roots in the garden suck up an incredible amount of mana.’
Until now, Cheon Doun had been supplying the garden with demonic energy. If Manager Kim tried to take over, wouldn’t he be reduced to skin and bones?
Five small roots cling to Manager Kim’s back. They stab their fine roots into his back and suck him dry. The siblings could almost see the illusion.
“Shall we get going, then? I’ll run. Yu Beom, you carry the bird.”
“Got it.”
Yu Beom moved under the giant bird.
Manager Kim’s jaw dropped as he casually shouldered the eight-meter bird and took flight.
“Yu Jia. You take Manager Kim.”
“Will do.”
Yu Jia grabbed Manager Kim’s arm. Am I going to fly through the sky too? Manager Kim’s face lit up with excitement.
“My, I don’t know how many dreams I’m achieving since coming here.”
“Dreams?”
“I’ve wanted to fly since I was a child. I was always so envious of the Awakened who had flight abilities.”
Manager Kim smiled brightly. Yu Jia looked at him, then spread her wings and shot straight up into the air. If it was his dream, she might as well make it a proper one.
The siblings’ high-speed flight began. Manager Kim, held by the arm, was also forced into high-speed flight.
“Ablblblbl!”
The fierce wind hitting him head-on forced his mouth open. The wind filling his mouth made his cheeks flap wildly.
He wanted to ask her to slow down, but he couldn't speak with his cheeks flapping. Even his tongue flapped uncontrollably in the wind against his will.
‘Th-this isn’t it!’
This wasn’t the kind of flying he had wished for. What he wanted was to soar through the sky, feeling the breeze.
“Ublblgh!”
He was feeling the breeze, all right. The wind smacking his face hurt. The air high up was so cold it stung his skin.
The speed was so fast that his body dangled and swayed, centered on the arm Yu Jia was holding.
“Ublblaaahhh…!”
Save me. Manager Kim thought as he tore through the wind.
“Shouting like that at his age. Is he that happy?”
Running through the forest, Cheon Doun looked up at Manager Kim, who seemed to be yelling “yahoo.”
Watching someone achieve their dream is a pleasant thing. Cheon Doun smiled softly.
* * *
O Bongsu, the young guide of the slums.
He entered the pharmacy, his face flushed with fever.
On his way back with cold medicine, the owner of the clothing store, Mr. Park, saw him and waved.
“Hey, Bongsu! Come have some roasted sweet potatoes before you go.”
The two had started talking occasionally since the day Cheon Doun bought clothes from him.
“Winter’s coming, you know. Nothing beats roasted sweet potatoes in this weather. But what’s with your face? You got a cold?”
“I think so. I’ve had the chills for ten days now. The medicine isn’t working at all.”
“Ten days? Hey, you think that’s a sign of Awakening?”
Mr. Park said jokingly as he handed over a sweet potato.
“They say body aches are a precursor to Awakening. A long fever, dizziness. Cold medicine doesn’t work. Sounds just like it, doesn’t it? Don’t people Awaken after getting sick like that?”
“What are you talking about, it’s just a cold. How could someone from the slums like me become an Awakened?”
“What’s wrong with being from the slums? Does Awakening care about where you’re from?”
Though he’d said it as a joke, Mr. Park’s expression turned thoughtful.
“Come to think of it, you’re the right age. You said you’re seventeen this year, right?”
“Yes.”
Due to malnutrition, O Bongsu was small for his age. He looked about fifteen, but he was actually seventeen.
“It must be an Awakening symptom. Powers manifest in the late teens, right? You’ll be eighteen after this winter. The age fits perfectly.”
Mr. Park was making a fuss, but O Bongsu was indifferent.
The number of Awakened was small. He never thought he would live such a privileged life.
‘Besides, if you don’t reach a high rank, it’s not much of a privilege anyway.’
The slums, a graveyard for D-rank Hunters. Born and raised here, O Bongsu had no illusions about the Awakened.
“Don’t get my hopes up for nothing. By the way, doesn’t the atmosphere in the slums seem strange lately?”
O Bongsu looked around the streets.
Here and there, luxury sedans, a rare sight in the slums, were parked along the road.
“There’s a rumor that Gold City is going to flatten the slums.”
“Flatten them? Then what happens to us?”
“Who knows. Do you think those high-and-mighty types care about people like us? The Hunters are saying all sorts of things, like they’ll use the Awakened to clear us out by force, or open a Gate and release Monsters.”
“No way they’d do that. The internet would go crazy if they did.”
“You’re so naive, sir. They’d obviously control the media too. They’d probably cover it up by saying a naturally occurring Gate opened and Monsters poured out… or something like that.”
O Bongsu scanned the street.
“We just have to hope it’s a baseless rumor that spread because everyone’s on edge. At the end of the day, this place is our home.”
It was the place he had been born and raised his whole life. He didn't want to see it disappear overnight at the hands of others.
Please, let it be a groundless rumor. O Bongsu thought as he blew on his sweet potato.
* * *
Manager Kim opened his eyes to the gentle scent of lavender. When he moved, his entire body creaked. His right arm ached as if it were about to fall off.
It was the aftereffect of being dragged through the air at high speed by only his arm.
‘I-I’m alive.’
That was his first thought. Manager Kim chuckled blankly.
His fantasy about flying was shattered, but he had achieved his dream of soaring through the sky.
All he could remember was the wind beating against his face, but he had achieved his dream nonetheless.
Manager Kim patted his arms and legs and looked around.
‘Why does this room feel so eerie?’
Enough demonic energy to kill an ordinary person in moments was radiating from the entire room.
His gaze, which had been scanning the surroundings, stopped at the ceiling.
“G-Glowstones? Are those really Glowstones?”
Probably not. There was no way those precious Glowstones would be embedded in the ceiling like fluorescent lights.
He wanted to get a closer look, but he couldn't reach, so he just stomped his feet in frustration.
“You’re awake. If you’re up, come out.”
“Ah, Sir?”
Hearing the voice from outside the house, Manager Kim left the room. He turned back, wondering just where he had slept, and his eyes went wide.
“Wh-what in the world…!”
It was a house that looked like it belonged in a horror movie. But what caught Manager Kim’s attention wasn’t the shape of the house.
“Silk Thread Caterpillar thread! Isn’t this the silk from that Monster’s cocoon!”
As a high-ranking alchemist who had handled all sorts of materials, Manager Kim immediately recognized the thread wrapped around the house.
“Th-this precious, precious material, so much of it! Ah… Aah!”
Was this heaven? Manager Kim paced back and forth around the house, unable to stand still. He carefully stroked a loose thread. He even sniffed and licked it for good measure.
Watching him, Cheon Doun subtly took a step back. He would have to replace that part of the silk later.
“Ooh…! Th-this is really Silk Thread Caterpillar thread. It’s cocoon silk! Ah, the Silk Thread Caterpillar secretes different threads for offense and defense. And you can use this thread for… ah, no. That’s not why I’m here.”
Regaining his senses, Manager Kim stopped talking.
He was here to see the Mandragora garden. He couldn't let himself get distracted by other things. Manager Kim scanned the yard, searching for the garden.
His gaze stopped on a pile of yellow ore in the yard.
“Th-that’s…! Don’t tell me it’s that ore from back then!”
The bracelet Cheon Doun had brought. The very same ore he had hoped to buy even a single, fingernail-sized piece of was piled up in the yard in massive quantities.
“Woah…! Ooooh!”
Unable to bear it, Manager Kim clutched his chest and approached. The ore, polished to a shine by Kim Nari, boasted a clear, transparent color.
Was this heaven? Did I freeze to death while flying and come to heaven?
Manager Kim touched the ore from every angle, breathing heavily.
“You like it that much?”
“Of course I do! Isn’t that an unidentified ore? I want to investigate it. What properties does it have, what medicines can be made using it, what results would appear if I used it as a medium for an alchemical formula…!”
Cheon Doun laughed at his nonstop rambling.
“Then take a few.”
At the casual remark, Manager Kim froze solid. When he looked back in surprise, Cheon Doun pointed at the ore.
“Take some. I think I dug up more than I need, so there should be some left over. Take it and study it. Use all your knowledge to find out what it’s useful for. Report back what you find.”
At the nonchalant words, Manager Kim’s body trembled.
He knew this wasn't heaven. But he felt like he was about to fly to heaven any second.
“And about the Mandragoras.”
“Ah, the Mandragoras…! Th-the garden!”
My ferocious, wild Mandragoras.
Manager Kim snorted and scanned the yard. At the edge of his vision, he saw a small garden plot bordered by stones.