Chapter 21
"Hawk! Fly high over that mountain ridge and do a scout run!"
With a whoop, Hawk shot straight up into the sky and began circling overhead.
Then.
"Um... there's a huge one with horns down there!"
"Huge with horns? A minotaur?"
"It's got four legs and it's sparkling yellow... and it has really sharp horns!"
"A horned rhinoceros, got it. Okay, let's go."
Following Hawk's directions, we headed straight there.
There, right in the middle of the forest, stood a massive horned rhinoceros, casually walking around.
Hidden in the bushes, I gave Hawk my orders.
'Hawk, attack its eyes!'
Immediately, Hawk dove down at blinding speed.
Just before touching the ground, Hawk spread its wings wide and sharpened the golden-white feathers at the tips like blades.
Then it spun its body and sliced clean through the rhinoceros's left eye.
At the same time, I activated my Focus skill and fired an arrow, cleanly piercing the right eye too.
"Kuaaaaaah!!"
Still peacefully chewing grass, the rhinoceros suddenly went mad with blindness.
That monster charged toward us, and Yoo Sumi raised her sword and charged in while Kim Seohwa unleashed fire magic.
The rhinoceros's lightning attacks and charges were terrifying, but it was already blind.
Kim Seohwa's flames sent it staggering, and before long it was taken down by Yoo Sumi.
"Quest complete!"
Yoo Sumi flashed a thumbs-up, and I gave her a high-five with my right hand.
Our loot list now included the horned rhinoceros's Mana Stone.
Right now, the three of us were climbing the mountain.
The terrain was rougher than the flatlands below, and the monsters we encountered were even higher-level.
The Association recommended parties of six or more for safety, but we only had three members—and the only one who could pull aggro was Yoo Sumi.
Even with the Barrier, if we got surrounded we'd be in serious trouble.
That's when Hawk became our game-changer.
Flying high in the sky, it scouted the ground below and constantly fed me the type and location of every monster it spotted.
It wasn't the one-dimensional hunting where you just fight whatever monster you bump into.
It was ultra-high-level strategy—Hawk gathered intel on the enemy, we planned our moves in advance, and then we struck.
When there was a dangerous monster or a big pack, Hawk told us to avoid it.
When there was a solo or manageable one, Hawk guided us straight to it.
Information in battle was that important.
"Hawk!! Take out the shaman goblin over there!"
While we were fighting a small goblin village, I shouted.
Immediately Hawk dove in like a missile.
The shaman goblins' firebombs bounced right off it.
Hawk spun its body and drilled a spiral attack straight through the shaman's forehead.
The shaman goblin sprayed blood and died instantly.
With the shaman gone, the regular goblins suddenly weakened and collapsed.
We'd cleared the entire goblin village.
Hawk wasn't just a scout—it was a combat powerhouse too.
A sharp beak strike one-shot weak monsters.
For tougher ones, the golden-white feathers at the wingtips became razor-sharp blades.
And the real secret was how unpredictable its dive-bomb attacks were.
Who could predict a bird suddenly falling from the sky at full speed?
Already more than five monsters had been sent flying by Hawk's high-speed bombing.
Hawk was picking off fast, weak targets like that shaman goblin.
Just say the word and Hawk would snipe them.
With Hawk doing scouting and coordinated attacks, our team's combat power had completely broken the sky.
"Hawk is the best..."
Yoo Sumi said.
"Just by scouting, it's worth more than one person, and it even took down the shaman goblin. Fighting with Hawk makes battles twice as easy."
"Exactly. How much is a hunter's value when they can do scouting like this? A summoner handling all that alone is insane."
Kim Seohwa's mouth didn't stop praising it.
In high-difficulty gates, scouts are extremely important.
The more lives on the line, the more info you need to minimize danger.
That was why I had Hawk doing exactly that.
Just fighting and you wouldn't know, but with scouting alone it was basically worth several people.
How did such a cute kid end up with me?
Did I really save a country in my past life?
"Hawk!! Come here!!"
Instantly Hawk zipped over and landed on my right arm.
"Here, eat this! It's mine!"
I handed Hawk the cheese sausage I'd been saving.
Hawk stuck its beak in to sniff, then wolfed it down in one gulp.
"More!"
I fed it five sausages.
After finishing, Hawk pushed its head against my hand again, wanting head pats.
How could anyone be this pretty, cute, and adorable?
I didn't pet its head, I just rubbed its cheek against mine.
"Ehehe."
After that, we cleared the gate and had fun munching on the mountain monsters.
From the moment we started hunting them, high-grade Mana Stones kept dropping.
Thanks to that, we earned money that made your head spin.
Yoo Sumi and Kim Seohwa argued among themselves and decided to give me 60%.
"Because of Hawk's performance, you can't get less than that."
But I shook my head.
"I'm overthinking it. I don't need that much. I'll take 50%."
No matter how much I liked money, I couldn't just steal my sisters' share.
I had to remember that I wouldn't have gotten this far without them.
When I said that...
"Aigoo... Jiyun is so kind-hearted. There are so many people always lying down demanding extra shares."
"Right. But we're already rich. We earned enough to buy a car, a TV, a computer, and all the home equipment. We don't even have any luxuries left. So Jiyun should take it. It looks like we made a lot, right? But if we buy one gear set, it all flies away. Plus, maintenance costs—so we need to earn even more."
"Ah... ugh... still..."
No matter how much they insisted, eventually I took the real 60%.
Thanks to that, an absurd amount flooded into my account at once.
...Whoa, what is this?
My balance is already at 50 million won?
How long have I been a hunter now?
It hasn't even been a month yet?
If this continues, my annual salary is going to be insane.
I'm suddenly feeling like I've turned on my life cheat code.
Just a few days ago I was still balancing rice costs and gacha expenses.
With this money I could make ten full-clear, full-revive characters and still have leftover cash.
From now on I need to think about how to spend it.
First, maybe switch my phone—its storage is way too low.
...But, what we got from this gate wasn't just money.
"Hehe. Hawk, this is all thanks to you."
Inside the car heading home, I hugged Hawk tight with both arms.
Honestly, it's not an exaggeration to say this was all thanks to Hawk.
With just one Hawk, my value as a hunter skyrocketed.
As a healer, I had insane buffs, ranged damage with arrows, and scouting with a summon.
Was this even possible?
The moment I showed my face, the whole world would be trembling.
EX-rank Healer Royalty, the god of nature... the pride of South Korea.
Take one step outside... reporters would swarm me...
Write one post and I'd get 3,000 likes...
...why did it have to feel so good?
Today's march had been intense.
Even a boss-level minotaur... taken down... mountain climbed...
There was still some way to go until we got home, so I should sleep...
"Hawk worked hard..."
Watching Hawk dissolve into light and seep into my chest, I slipped into deep sleep.
***
"Heh. Jiyun's asleep."
Yoo Sumi in the passenger seat turned around and said.
Kim Seohwa, gripping the wheel, glanced at the rearview mirror.
In the back seat, a kid who looked like it had dropped straight from the sky was passed out.
"I was going to feed her something before dropping her off, but she passed out."
"Waking her up to eat sounds annoying. Just drop her at home?"
"If we drop her at home she'll just go hungry."
"Yeah... but if she sleeps in the car and wakes up, she won't have any appetite."
"Exactly."
For a moment, silence fell between Yoo Sumi and Kim Seohwa.
"Still, we should feed her."
"Right. Even if we drop her at home, she's alone. In that dark studio apartment village."
After a short discussion, the two of us decided to feed her anyway and send her home.
Kim Seohwa's SUV didn't take long to reach the family restaurant.
"Jiyun-ah. We made it to the restaurant. Let's eat and then go home."
"Mhm... zzz..."
Stretching with a yawn, Jiyun couldn't hide how sleepy she was.
That this brat might one day flip the entire country upside down was hard to believe.
Yoo Sumi and Kim Seohwa kept staring at her like that.
Jiyun only snapped out of it after drinking a full glass of ice water at the restaurant.
Then she perked up and started chatting nonstop.
Before we knew it, the conversation turned to Claire Moreau, Lena Richter, and Emma Ricci's trip to Korea.
Kim Seohwa wanted to tag along when she heard the names, but she had guild business and couldn't go.
Jiyun looked genuinely disappointed.
After eating, we finally made it home.
"Uuu... I'm so sleepy..."
After barely managing a shower and brushing my teeth, I collapsed face-first onto the bed.
Then I realized something and quickly opened my account app, captured the deposit history, and cropped only the numbers.
I'd planned to post a bitick in the gallery before bed...
But I couldn't fight the sleep that poured over me and dropped my phone.
"Hehe... lol..."
Followed by a quiet breathing sound echoing in the narrow studio apartment.
