Chapter 45
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Uninvited Guest
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“I'm sorry...”
In front of Hunter Seong Ji-yoon, I bowed my head deeply. I had a mouth, but no words came to mind.
I'd called an S-Rank Hunter just to trim a single nail, and yet the nail had fallen off all by itself.
Seong Ji-yoon gently stroked my head. This was a situation where I should have felt mortified, but her touch felt so comforting that my mind started to blur hazily.
“Hng...”
Seong Ji-yoon opened her mouth as if it were nothing at all.
“It's fine. Thanks to you, I've gained some new insights, and the help you've given me and the nation is beyond measure anyway.”
“Still...”
“If it bothers you that much, could we talk a little about the spear?”
Oh, right! Seong Ji-yoon's spear was still incomplete!
The realization hit me late, and I pondered deeply. What would it take to complete the spear?
She pulled out Reborn Divine Punishment from her subsapce. Tiny golden patches filled in the small scratches, traces of its use so far.
'It's barely been any time, and she's already repaired the spear this much.'
As its creator, I could instinctively tell. Reborn Divine Punishment had incredibly high durability due to its materials—enough to withstand Hunter Seong Ji-yoon's aura.
There was no issue with its performance, but seeing the spear with all those added golden spots made me feel the extent of her hard work.
“I want to complete this spear if possible. Since it's unfinished, it'll need materials, right? I want to know what those materials are.”
“Hmm, materials...”
Her words sparked a flurry of thoughts in my mind—not words, but impressions flowing through.
And I reached a conclusion.
“Anything holy or divine!”
“...Pardon?”
Seong Ji-yoon looked puzzled and asked again.
“The original material was the 'Forbidden Sacred Spear,' right? That's holy, so it needs more holy materials. But there are too many other materials mixed in, so it needs even more holy stuff!”
Seong Ji-yoon pondered my words for a long while before cautiously replying.
“So... you're saying it needs materials that match the weapon's nature?”
“Yes! Exactly!”
Hmm, yes. My explanation must have gotten through properly.
“Understood for now. If I find any materials, I'll come ask you about them.”
“Sure!”
“...Along with the drake's heart.”
“Sure!”
I suggested she rest in the lair since she looked tired, but Seong Ji-yoon said she had a dungeon raid soon and prepared to leave without proper rest.
To see her face more at ease, I'd have to work harder on item crafting. That way, other hunters would grow stronger, and her workload would lighten.
I saw Seong Ji-yoon off at the entrance once she was ready to go.
“Take care! Raid the dungeon safely!”
I wanted to tell her to come visit again, but I couldn't say that to someone so busy. With a pang of regret, I waved, and Seong Ji-yoon, who had been at the door, turned back toward me for a moment.
“...?”
She stroked my head with a slightly firmer touch than before.
“Hee-hee, thanks for the encouragement, Miss Lee Da-yoon. It gives me strength.”
Clunk, beep.
With those words, Seong Ji-yoon left the house. All that remained was me fiddling with my loose nails and Yoo So-jeong with her peculiar expression.
“At least there's no need to trim the nails now.”
“...Yeah.”
I awkwardly replied and carefully peeled off the nail and toenail shells one by one, putting them into a ziplock bag. ...Maybe they'd come in handy someday.
I was strolling outside in a tracksuit shirt and shorts. Even though most things could be handled indoors, there was a reason this shut-in like me had ventured out.
'I want to fly!'
Of course, I wasn't planning to jump off the rooftop like last time. I'd promised Miss So-jeong not to do that after she scolded me.
But thanks to that day's experience, I'd grown familiar with handling my wings, and now even from low heights, short flights were possible.
So, practicing flight in places like the playground or quiet paths had been added to my daily routine.
Flap flap flap!
I leaped from the bench, flapping my wings furiously.
Whoosh─
Lifting my whole body was still impossible, but jumping about two meters high and gliding ten meters was doable.
“Fwaaa~~~”
Facing the headwind, I let out a weird sound with my breath. Hmm, it would be nice to have someone to fly with.
As I repeated leaps and glides several times, something colorful caught my eye in the corner of the walking path.
Green, white, skin-tone, beige... various colors sprawled amid the bushes. As I approached for a closer look, the shape became clear.
'...A person?!'
A girl with beige hair. A girl around middle-school age, still shedding her childish innocence.
But her outfit was bizarre for an ordinary person. She wore a hoodie, shorts, slippers, and inexplicably, a pure white gown on top—like she was at an English academy's Halloween party.
A lab coat, like what a doctor or researcher would wear.
But I soon stopped worrying about her clothes. Even as I approached, the girl didn't stir at all.
A chill ran down my spine. She wasn't dead, was she?
I cautiously neared the girl. Up close, her face was pale. Was she breathing? No reaction to my presence.
What should I do? Call 119 first?
“Um, hello...?”
I tried speaking, but no response came. I was starting to get genuinely scared.
Worried I might hurt her, I gently reached out and tapped her shoulder.
“Are you okay...?”
Right then,
Twitch!
The girl's fingers stirred.
Relieved she wasn't dead, I was about to pull out my phone when,
Pop!
The fallen girl sprang up like a spring, shifting her posture in an instant like a breakdancer.
Meaning, she was now kneeling before me.
“Huh?”
Before I could process the bizarre scene, the girl clasped her hands reverently, her eyes sparkling toward me.
“Ahh...! Found you...!”
An exclamation burst from her lips.
“My Divine One!”
“Huh?”
With that, the girl collapsed again with a thud.
I considered calling 119, but remembered a faster way.
“Miss So-jeong! Big trouble!”
“What happened?”
“There's a person collapsed here! In the alley behind the apartment—she suddenly talked to me and passed out!”
“I'll call a healer. Please wait a moment.”
A minute later, a man in a real lab coat appeared instantly, as if teleported by Yoo So-jeong.
“Urk... Heal!”
The man looked dizzy but used a skill on himself to recover.
“Is this the one who collapsed?”
“Yes. She was down, then woke up when I approached, said one word, and collapsed again.”
The man placed his hand on the girl.
“What illness is it...?”
I asked anxiously, but got an unexpected answer.
“Sleep deprivation. She'll wake up after a day of rest.”
“Eh?”
By the way, Miss So-jeong was giving the girl a strange look. Like she'd spotted someone familiar, yet wondering, 'Why is this person here?'
“Do you know her?”
“...For now, yes.”
A vague reply. She knew of her, but they weren't close?
“Who is she? Her words are bothering me.”
“Someone like you, Miss Lee Da-yoon. An awakener not affiliated with any guild, working with the Management Bureau.”
Like me?
Thoughts raced through my mind. High-rank awakeners unaffiliated with guilds were rare. Most strong ones joined major guilds for better treatment and support.
Yet this girl had chosen to collaborate with the Management Bureau, just like me.
'No wonder I feel a sense of kinship...'
Of course, I was being courted by the Bureau due to my SSS-Rank uniqueness, but she probably had her own circumstances.
I decided. What to do with this girl.
“Miss So-jeong, let's take her back to my place for now?”
“Pardon?”
“It's just sleep deprivation. She's basically asleep—feels wrong to take her to a hospital, and we can't just leave her.”
Yoo So-jeong hesitated a bit, let out a tiny sigh, and replied.
“...Understood. But know this is an exception. If it were someone unverified like in most cases, I would stop it.”
“I get that much.”
Yoo So-jeong sometimes treated me like an elder, but other times like a child.
Did she see me as a high schooler whose body regressed, or a smart elementary kid? I wasn't sure, but her attitude felt oddly mixed.
Yoo So-jeong carried the girl, and I walked beside them back home. I felt passersby glancing our way, but I'd grown past caring about that level of attention.
'After all the stares I've gotten so far.'
I laid the girl in the guest room of my house and watched her sleep for a bit. I hadn't noticed when she was collapsed, but she seemed really cute.
Her soft, chubby cheeks, still baby-fat plump, were especially adorable.
If I were still a student, I'd have wanted a little sister just like her.
Confirming she was sleeping soundly, I went about my normal routine until she woke. Aside from Yoo So-jeong seeming a tad displeased, it was an ordinary day.
And exactly one day later, the girl regained consciousness.