Hard Boss Hunt

I’d seen it in books plenty of times: humans are animals with room to grow. But could someone really improve this much in such a short span of time? And from A+ grade straight to S grade, at that? He was already a captain with A+ abilities... so what on earth did S grade even mean?

"Good to meet you, Haruru. I’m also honored to be able to do this with the rest of the party."

Every time I looked at ClearSkyBlue, something deeply awkward seemed to happen. I kept my expression under control and asked lightly, "Everyone’s been preparing hard for today, you know. Did you prepare anything too, ClearSkyBlue? As always, I’m not trying to pressure you or anything."

"I’m not throwing shade. Ah, should I ban one of you as an example?"

"That was a joke. I had no idea it would land this well."

Meanwhile, ClearSkyBlue chuckled as if he were enjoying the stream. For the past week or so, he’d been looking up what a VTuber even was, then found my broadcast and even subscribed. Pretty surprising, honestly. And he was in his fifties...

"These days I’ve gotten completely hooked on listening to our Haruru’s radio show. I even put it on sometimes while I’m working."

"Eh?! Even while flying a plane? Then this is plane mode, huh. Heh heh."

"I tailored that joke for him. ClearSkyBlue likes this kind of thing, you know."

Just as I’d expected, he laughed brightly and kept going.

"Heh heh."

"See? You do like it."

"When I’m flying, I don’t listen because it’s dangerous. But whenever I get a free moment, I catch your stream. I had no idea sharing a hobby like this with something I enjoy so much in Unknown Universe could make me this happy."

"Not at all. I’m the one who’s happier, just hearing that you enjoy it."

"So, to make sure I wouldn’t embarrass you, I kept polishing my flying skills. I spent all my spare time training on aircraft. We’re going to be piloting a spaceship later, aren’t we?"

What the hell.

So that’s why his rank had gone up? More than that, hold on...

"Y-you trained on a real airplane just to practice flying a spaceship in a game?! Shouldn’t it usually be the other way around?"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Of course I practiced spaceship piloting too. You can count on me."

"Just hearing that makes me feel safe."

Once all the party ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠members had gathered, all that remained was to set out. But before that, we stopped by the guild farm. We needed to turn the crops they’d grown into doping potions. Imda and the other guild members in charge of farming, who were almost always online around the clock, came out to greet us.

- Damn lol

- What if it’s actually a macro

- Not even human, just a machine lol

- The Im-Scary Story

"Imda-nim, have you gotten any sleep? You can take it easy, you know..."

"You are eating, right?"

"W-what do you mean, 'I’m eating that chicken'? You’ve been eating that for a week?"

"I mean, I’m not usually that bad... no, actually, I kind of am."

- Damn lol

- Then why even order chicken?

- Haruru is terrifying

- Haruru’s food budget is 500 won a day, whoa

"No matter how much you overstate it, I don’t do that..."

He handed over a mountain of crops. I’m not exaggerating when I say my eyes went wide. The quantity was absurd.

"I-I thought this would be enough for maybe one or two drinks per person at most... but this could make twelve each?! At this rate, we’ll still have some left over after entering Hard Black Fox and clearing it."

"Thank you, Imda-nim, MuchaeNamul-nim, and Napo-nim! I’m going to go cut down Hard Black Fox today."

Then, out of nowhere, MuchaeNamul-nim said this.

"Yes, eh?"

"Haruru-nim, I’m honestly worried because you seem like you don’t eat enough. You have to keep streaming for a long time, after all. Radish has all kinds of nutrients in it, so it’s basically a natural supplement."

"That’s a kind offer, but you worked hard to grow it, so if I’m taking anything, I should pay you..."

- True facts

- But doesn’t she have Chaemoney?

"I mean, I’d be grateful, but..."

"Ah, thank you. I hear radish prices have been higher than gold lately. To receive gold for free... I’m truly grateful."

"No, no, it’s fine! I’m not that badly off when it comes to food."

I’m not used to receiving kindness like this, so I’m always awkward about how to respond. I just get embarrassingly flustered, my face turning red and my whole body heating up.

- Probably not

- As if she did lol

"I was going to skip it anyway since Chaemoney-nim said she’d make steak for me during our collab later, but I’ll make sure to eat properly from now on! Thank you again, MuchaeNamul-nim."

- Nice~

- Surprise truck attack lol

- Harusalidan, assemble!

"No! Seriously, don’t do it. Just knowing you’re thinking of me is enough. And since MuchaeNamul-nim is sending me radish, I’ll be set for a while."

Come to think of it, even if I didn’t have cash right now, I still had Uni, the game currency from Unknown Universe, didn’t I? I’d received both in-game crops and real-world vegetables, so I should give something back too.

"You farming folks worked hard, so I’m sending you Uni! Use it to power yourselves up, hehe. We’ve all got to run raids together later!"

- Seriously;

- It’s rare to meet good people in Unknown Universe.

Well, that was because I’d used Insight to recruit only good people. But that aside, I really had gotten absurdly lucky with the people around me.

Maybe it was like that saying: around flowers, only butterflies gather. I’m a good person, so good people are the only ones who end up around me.

"..."

If I said that out loud, it’d turn into another flood of "hm" comments, so I’d better keep it to myself. But wait a second...

"CaramelYumYum. What do you mean by saying the guildmaster’s the problem?"

[CaramelYumYum's chat history]

"Oh."

"Then I’ll go make the doping potions."

"Fifty of them, no less. Imda, MuchaeNamul, and Napo are the real deal..."

- Come to think of it...

- Haruru would totally do that.

- So it wasn’t just an evil mafia guild, it was a kidnapping forced-labor guild...

- The rumors were true...

"You know what’s scarier than saying I locked them up and made them farm all day? No one actually told Imda-nim to do it, and he still voluntarily spent the whole night farming."

- The Im-Scary Story, whoa

- There’s no normal person in this guild...

- Does that man have two bodies or what?

I handed the freshly made juice to the party members. Then, before we set off, I told everyone to drink one each.

"But first, Haruru’s going to give the toast!"

"Woooo!"

"Hehe. Right, that’d be disappointing to skip."

"Haruru, please go all out."

"Is it a mere one-time rhyme or not? Anyway, though our birth times may differ..."

I cleared my throat once and shaped my voice into something as cool as I could manage.

"The day we hunt down Hard Black Fox is the same for all of us!"