Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Securing the Prodigy Herbalist
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"Is this really all we need to do?"
"That's what I said, right? Oh, what's that?"
"...Batweed. D-grade herb, good for the skin."
"Whoa, it'll sell like hotcakes."
"...Yeah, probably."
In exchange for me clearing out the dungeon monsters, I'd asked Im Cheong-su to help with gathering herbs.
"What about mana stone mining or something?"
"We can do that next time. Hey, what's this?"
"I told you earlier—matika fruit. Listen when people talk."
"They all look the same to me."
"Hey! This one's pointy, that one's round!"
At first, he'd acted all indifferent about everything, but once we hit stuff he knew, he started chattering away.
Good sign.
At least he was opening up to us little by little.
And someone had even discovered a talent they never knew they had.
"Cheong-su, this is whirlpool grass, right? The one with the fever-reducing effect?"
"Yep. You got it after I taught you once. Unlike some people."
Im Cheong-su answered Han Ji-seong's question while shooting me a glare like I was that pathetic cousin you see at family holidays.
Fine, go ahead and roast me.
If that's what it takes to get cozy with the Justice Guild folks, that's exactly what I want.
"So, does that mean your skill is like an encyclopedia?"
"Kinda like a book opens up in front of my eyes when I see plants and stuff."
"Whoa, that's wild. Does it work on everything, not just herbs?"
"Pretty much. Grandpa once went to town and bought Grandma a hairpin as a gift—I could see info on that too."
"That's an incredible skill. Right, Jang Su-ho?"
"Yeah."
Jang Su-ho, who'd snuck up beside us at some point, answered with genuine awe.
"If Cheong-su joins the guild, we won't have to pay for appraisals anymore..."
"Hey, this one's good for you. Eat it."
"Ptooey! It's all gritty!"
"That's the point."
Where does he get off sticking his nose in our rice?
We couldn't talk about recruiting Im Cheong-su to the guild yet.
Im Cheong-su had burst onto the scene like a comet in [Maestro Guild] at age twenty.
"Cheong-su, how old are you this year?"
"Seventeen."
"High school freshman, then."
"Don't go to school, but yeah, somethin' like that."
That meant it would be three whole years before Maestro scouted him.
If we let things play out naturally, this kid wouldn't leave this backwater mountain for a long time.
And there had to be some reason for that, something the novel never mentioned.
'Can't let that happen.'
Three years was too late.
To stop this world's end, we had mountains of things to do in the meantime.
And with Im Cheong-su on board, it'd be like strapping wings on my Lamborghini X.
Because I'm the Lamborghini X that's gonna stop the apocalypse.
"Ah, sis! That's a weed, I told ya!"
"No, it looks just like the other one."
"Argh, how's it the same? You're killin' me. Gimme that hoe and go sit in the shade."
In the end, he snatched the hoe I'd borrowed from him and shooed me into the shade.
...The Lamborghini X doesn't need to tell weeds from herbs anyway.
I'll have Cheong-su do it.
Anyway, I didn't lounge under that tree for long.
"That's way more than I thought."
We'd only picked the useful herbs as Im Cheong-su pointed them out, but they'd piled up fast—about as much as a heap of autumn leaves.
"Think this'll fit?"
Han Ji-seong pulled out a massive black plastic bag he'd brought to haul camping trash and asked.
But sharp criticism flew right back.
"That'd ruin the herbs!"
Im Cheong-su even clicked his tongue.
"We can't just leave 'em, though."
"...At least try one o' these."
Im Cheong-su pulled several straw baskets from his subspace inventory—same as the one slung over his shoulder—and handed them to us.
"Dunno if it'll all fit in these, though... What the?"
They looked like crudely woven straw baskets, but sticking my hand inside felt totally different.
With a basket like this, even Grandpa Basket-Maker could snag a kid or two.
It didn't ignore weight—just volume—so it stayed B-grade, but that alone proved Im Cheong-su's crafting skill was already top-tier.
"Don't ignore the weight, so you strong folks carry 'em."
"Cheong-su, you..."
Look positively scrumptious?
"Grab these and those too."
I'd planned to leave some behind out of necessity.
"Nah, should we pick more?"
"We'll be back in a few days anyway. Get more then. Don't get greedy."
Oh, he nailed me in one go?
Anyway, his point was solid, so we decided against gathering more herbs.
Besides, there was something more important than herbs.
"Let's head home, Cheong-su."
I slung the hefty basket over my shoulder and said to him.
"Gotta eat that delicious dinner Grandma's makin'."
And finally, the familiar plling~ chimed, with bubbly hearts and a speech bubble popping up over Im Cheong-su's dark head.
"...Let's go."
By the time we emerged from the dungeon, dusk had fallen.
The elderly couple welcomed us back—like their own grandkids—after our early-morning departure and late-evening return.
"Ugh, so full."
"Here, now for dessert—boiled corn. Summer corn's so sweet."
Before we could clear the table, Grandma brought out a tray piled high with boiled ears of corn.
"Grandma, we're stuffed already..."
"I ain't full."
Cheong-su, you coward.
Ditching me solo?
I glared at Im Cheong-su's back as he scurried to his room, but in the end, we force-fed corn into our bloated bellies for dessert.
"Um..."
"Grandma, seriously, we'll burst if we eat more."
"No, not that."
Grandma shot a look at Grandpa, who was watching the news.
The living room went dead silent once the TV clicked off—even the crickets outside were audible.
"Um... what about our Cheong-su?"
"Very bright and smart kid."
The grandparents grew frustrated at Kang Han's textbook answer.
"No, not that. We think he's an awakener or whatever."
So they knew.
About Cheong-su awakening.
Of course—with him brewing unheard-of herbs into medicine, how could they not notice?
Finally, Grandpa got to the point.
"Could the Justice Guild maybe take him in...?"
"Into our guild?"
Kang Han pondered silently.
Misreading it as hesitation, the anxious Grandpa quickly added,
"What can a young'un like him do stuck in these hills? Right? I ain't askin' much. Just feed the kid and let him go to school in Seoul—that'd be a huge help."
"..."
No easy answer came.
Naturally.
The grandparents didn't know Cheong-su's value as an awakener, but we did.
To be precise, I knew exactly, while the others vaguely guessed from his dungeon performance.
But that was enough.
Perfect appraisal of dungeon drops, and his straw basket even had a subspace enchant.
Taking someone any major guild would welcome with open arms into Justice Guild pricked Kang Han's conscience.
I agreed with him... who am I kidding!
Scoop him up quick!
Kang Han's gaze turned to me.
Since I was basically the guild manager.
Strictly speaking, adding new members required both our approvals.
Though I'd already decided to transfer him to Yongsan Awakener High, I wanted to check one thing first.
"Um, why hasn't Cheong-su registered as an awakener yet?"
"We live out in the sticks. Dunno 'bout Seoul, but here the machine's a two-hour drive away. So just once at birth in the hospital, once at twenty when you're an adult—that's it."
That explained why Im Cheong-su first appeared in Maestro at twenty.
We'd found him three years early.
Luckiest break ever.
"Even if the world's goin' to hell, young folks belong in Seoul. So please take our Cheong-su."
"Hmm. Alright."
I gave the two elders a reassuring smile.
"We'll talk it over among ourselves. In a way that's best for Cheong-su."
Kang Han and I stepped outside first.
"Wow, stars everywhere."
The pitch-black rural sky brimmed with stars.
Feeling the chilly night air, I asked Kang Han,
"What do you wanna do?"
"...Cheong-su will probably rank pretty high. He'd be a big help to Justice Guild."
"But?"
"But that's the problem. He'd get better treatment in a bigger, better guild."
"So our conscience twinges at snatching him?"
"You don't have to phrase it like... No, you're not wrong."
Kang Han looked like he wanted to lecture but gave up and nodded.
"How was it with the Yu-chan twins? Did you agonize like this?"
"No. I brought them intending to protect them till adulthood."
"So what's different with Cheong-su?"
"Cheong-su..."
"Don't tell me it's 'cause the twins are low-rank and Cheong-su seems high-rank. Some cold-blooded rank-sorting bullshit?"
Kang Han clamped his mouth shut, eyes full of displeasure, just staring at me.
That's the face of someone bursting with words but holding back.
"Guildmaster knows how big guilds treat underage hunters, right?"
Major guilds move solely for profit.
True top hunters are few.
But most want into major guilds.
So guilds use competition: score performance, adjust dungeon access, salary, benefits accordingly.
Contracts? One year max, two tops.
Unawakened kids get 'juvenile' protections, however meager.
But Cheong-su's already awakened.
In a major guild, he'd dive headfirst into that brutal system bare-naked.
Though as an S-rank, it'd be different.
Still, a rural boy living alone with grandparents—imagine him solo in a major guild's cutthroat center.
Plain as day.
"How d'you think a big guild treats a clueless 17-year-old fresh off the farm? Especially one with appraisal and crafting skills."
They'd squeeze him dry like a rag to recoup the investment on a new S-rank.
"...I overlooked that."
"Only one thing bugs me."
"What?"
"If the other guildmates will adjust okay."
Justice Guild's last join was Jang Su-ho two years ago; they'd survived clinging together since.
Now adding an outsider—would they be fine?
"They will."
Kang Han's voice held zero doubt.
"They're used to taking in unfamiliar folks as guildmates."
Oh, right. They were all strays Kang Han had gathered when they had nowhere else.
"They welcomed you fine too, Nayeo-ju-ssi."
This guy's good till he isn't.
"Guildmaster, you can be annoying sometimes. Know that?"
"I do. That's why I'm saying it."
A faint smile tugged at Kang Han's lips as he spoke.
Whoa, he knows how to smile like that?
"Anyway, so you're good with it? Cheong-su's opinion matters most, but."
No plans to politely ask his consent.
My money wasn't turning into cyber coins anytime soon—consideration be damned.
Gotta butter him up somehow.
"And Nayeo-ju-ssi."
"Yeah?"
"Recruiting's great, but take care of yourself first."
He draped my jacket over my shoulders—don't know when he'd grabbed it—then slipped back inside.
"Always so needlessly sweet."
I watched his back, then turned to stroll around the house.
'How to win over this mountain squirrel so word spreads I'm a great cook.'
As I pondered that, racking my brain—
"It's dark out—where you goin'?"
Im Cheong-su stepped out from behind a massive jujube tree near where Kang Han and I had talked.
Damn.
He'd been there the whole time.
Still, I tried,
"You didn't..."
"Heard everything."
Shit.
Damn that stealth skill.