Old Friends and New Family
Taehyun returned to the abandoned warehouse district of the Hongcheon Field with Yuri and immediately headed toward Minhyuk, who had been looking for him. The abandoned warehouse where they lived was nothing more than a temporary base inside the field. It wasn’t meant for long-term residence, so only the bare minimum of daily necessities were scattered around.
Taehyun looked at the few Rogues he had brought with him and thought, ‘It’s about time we move on.’ He felt they had stayed at this base far too long. Besides, since they had already taken down the Lava Dragon, it was time to hunt for even stronger monsters.
With that indifferent expression, he walked past them and approached the container inside the warehouse where Minhyuk lived.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
“It’s me. I heard you were looking for me.”
“Yes, please come in.”
Taehyun stepped into the container where Minhyuk lived. Minhyuk had been frantically writing something inside and quickly stood up to greet him.
“Welcome, Lord Taehyun.”
“What’s with all the formality between us? I keep telling you there’s no need for that, yet you still do it every time.”
Taehyun was only in his early thirties, and Minhyuk was twenty-nine. Deep down, Taehyun wished Minhyuk would just call him “hyung,” but Minhyuk’s personality made that impossible.
“Please understand. The only one I follow is you, Lord Taehyun.”
“Sigh~ Fine. So what did you want to see me about?”
“There are two things I need to report. First, it’s time for us to move to a different field. We’re almost out of daily necessities, and more and more hunters are pushing deeper into the area.”
While managing the Rogue base, Minhyuk periodically used his abilities to check how far the hunters had advanced in their hunting. Thanks to that, they had been moving their base at precisely the right times, which had allowed them to evade the Hunter Association’s eyes.
“Understood. I’ll tell everyone to prepare.”
“The second matter is this.”
Minhyuk pulled a photograph from his pocket. The image showed Seolhee and Hyunseong from their high school days, along with Taehyun himself.
“Where did you find this?”
“I was recently assigned to investigate a guy named Choi Hyunseong. While digging through every possible source, I checked his high school website and found it there.”
Minhyuk had used every means necessary to uncover Hyunseong’s background and roots. What he discovered were Hyunseong’s old friends: Min Seolhee, an S-class hunter and target of their revenge, and Kwak Taehyun, the S-class Rogue he served and the one who had saved his life.
“What exactly is going on here?”
The skin on Minhyuk’s face, eroded by the cold energy beneath his black mask, stung. He had been quite shocked to learn that Min Seolhee and Kwak Taehyun had once been friends.
“Even when you saved me, you appeared right in front of that woman. With your abilities, Lord Taehyun, you could have easily dealt with her. But you didn’t. Was it because…”
Minhyuk thrust the photograph forward.
“…of something like this?”
Taehyun, however, shoved his hands into his pants pockets with a perfectly confident look and said,
“Are you doubting me right now?”
“Isn’t the situation exactly like that?”
Taehyun’s eyebrows twitched. Soon after, a sword made of blood formed near him.
Whoosh!
It simply materialized. He didn’t throw it.
“Min Seolhee couldn’t understand me. No, none of the hunters can understand us. They’re bound by rules, constantly worrying about the eyes of non-Awakened, and they bow before dungeons.”
“I understand your will, Lord Taehyun.”
“Exactly. What we want is a world that isn’t controlled.”
“That’s why I want to hear your answer. About this photograph…”
Even in front of Taehyun’s power, Minhyuk did not flinch. If his suspicions were correct and he had displeased his lord, he was prepared to fight and die.
However—
“I’ve come too far to cling to old friendships. Back then, I simply lacked the strength. And Min Seolhee wasn’t someone I could just ignore.”
“Is that really true?”
Taehyun nodded.
“That’s all I needed to hear. If that’s what you say, then it must be so.”
Shaaak.
Taehyun dismissed the blood sword and pulled his hand out, clenching it into a fist.
“We need to become stronger. First, to bring down this country’s Hunter Association… you said we need to move our base, right?”
“Yes.”
“We’re heading to North Korea. We need to hunt stronger monsters and grow. Not just me, but all of us…”
“N-North Korea, sir?”
They had originally moved between the Hongcheon, Inje, Gangneung, and Sokcho fields for their bases. The farther they got from Seoul, the more numerous and powerful the monsters became, so Gangneung or Sokcho would have been fine.
“The weak ones will be weeded out.”
Minhyuk’s concern was natural. Among the Rogues Taehyun had gathered, only a few problem children like Yuri could actually fight properly.
“When have we ever protected the weak? In the new world that’s coming, weakness is a sin. Being weeded out is only natural.”
“…Understood. I’ll prepare immediately.”
“Good.”
As the conversation seemed to be wrapping up—
“Ah, lend me that photo for a bit.”
“Of course.”
Minhyuk handed it over right away. He could always print another copy. But as Taehyun stared at the photograph, he fell into thought.
‘Choi Hyunseong… so he was alive.’
His expression was deeply meaningful.
“Mom, use this card to buy anything you need. You can use the rest for living expenses.”
Hyunseong had opened a bank account with roughly ten billion won in it and handed his mother a card. Although the new house he had bought for Seolhee lacked nothing, his mother might still feel there were things she wanted. They had to move, after all. They needed to throw out what should be thrown out and buy what should be bought.
“Sigh, it’s money you two earned. I feel a bit guilty. I should be the one taking care of things.”
“Don’t think like that. Just enduring all those hard years was more than enough.”
After soothing her awkward feelings, Hyunseong turned around. That was when it happened.
“Hyunseong… thank you. For coming back to us so strong and healthy like this. Your father and Hyeonji would both think the same.”
“It’s all thanks to you holding everything together. Dad, you, and Hyeonji…”
They were just about to start preparing for the move when—
“Oh, right. Mom, there’s someone I want to introduce you to…”
“Hm? Who?”
In response to his mother’s question, Hyunseong immediately changed his sub-classes.
‘Change slot one from Hunter to Sage. Change slot two from Healer to Summoner.’
The skills for Hunter and Healer vanished, replaced by those of Sage and Summoner. And then—
New Skill Acquired
Due to Class Synergy, the skill Designated Summon has been created.
What Hyunseong needed right now was that synergy skill. He immediately activated it.
‘Designated Summon: Silvia.’
A massive summoning magic circle formed on the floor of the house. Soon, a human shape burst upward. Color filled the figure, revealing a maid standing around 170 centimeters tall with snow-white skin and hair, and violet eyes.
“You called for me, Master.”
“Welcome, Silvia.”
“Is this the space where I will be working? It appears cleaning is required.”
“No need. We’re leaving this place. There’s another house.”
At those words, she quietly put away the cleaning tools she had somehow already taken out.
“Understood. Please leave everything to me.”
Silvia bowed her head with perfect courtesy. Naturally, his mother looked completely flustered.
“Hyunseong, this is…”
“You said you didn’t like strangers coming in and out of the house last time… Silvia won’t go anywhere and she’ll listen to you very well, Mom.”
“Still, it’s a bit…”
“Isn’t that right, Silvia?”
“Yes, of course. Master is like a parent to me. A parent’s parent is a grandparent.”
She had an uncanny way with words. In truth, Silvia was a monster that Hyunseong had tamed after acquiring the Tamer class in the other world. She wasn’t particularly dangerous; her official name was “Doppelganger,” a mimicking monster. He had trained her to perfectly embody the loyal heart of a medieval maid, which led to her current state.
By imitating an excellent housemaid, her skills had reached an almost unbelievable level. Cleaning was basic. She could cook, give massages, entertain guests, and even manage gardens. If he wanted, she could even do lewd things. Of course, Hyunseong had never tried that yet.
‘Even so, a monster is still a bit…’
That was why he could entrust her to his mother. Since she was someone he could trust completely, he had decided to introduce her.
“She says so too.”
“Well… I understand. She doesn’t seem dangerous at all, just like you said.”
It seemed his mother had come to that conclusion after seeing Silvia’s extremely polite, almost submissive attitude.
But in reality, there was another reason Hyunseong had assigned Silvia to his mother.
‘She can act as a bodyguard too.’
Silvia was strong. It wasn’t just talk; she had learned various combat techniques while traveling with him in the other world. Unless someone was exceptionally skilled, they wouldn’t be able to touch her. That was why Hyunseong could feel at ease.
“Your name is Silvia, right? Let’s get along well from now on.”
His mother approached Silvia, took her hand, and shook it with both of hers while gently stroking it. In response, Silvia knelt on one knee and kissed the back of his mother’s hand.
Chu.
“I, Silvia, will do my utmost.”
“Oh my! Look at her~.”
Perhaps because of that, the wall in his mother’s heart crumbled quickly.
That was when it happened.
“Haa! That felt good!”
Hyeonji, who had gone to take a shower to wash away the last memories of their old house, came out of the bathroom and saw the scene.
“What the—?! Who is that?!”
Still in her comfortable clothes, she saw Silvia and immediately rushed over to separate her from their mother, launching a mana-infused kick.
The moment Hyeonji attacked without hesitation, Silvia switched into combat mode. She gently moved their mother to the sofa and caught Hyeonji’s kick.
Grab!
“Master, who is this person?”
“Oh, she’s my little sister.”
“M-Master? What kind of situation is this?”
A huge commotion had nearly broken out, but thanks to Silvia, who had far more sense than Hyeonji, they managed to prevent it.
The move went smoothly. As expected, they decided to throw out almost everything from the old house. They already had most of what they needed right away, and anything else could simply be bought.
In the now spotless new house, four people were present: Mother, Hyunseong, Hyeonji, and Silvia. Mother was watching TV on the sofa while Hyunseong and Hyeonji sat beside her, watching Silvia.
“She works really well.”
Silvia was cooking using ingredients they had bought to celebrate the move. Mother had suggested ordering jajangmyeon, but that was usually for when the house was still messy and they just needed a quick meal. It didn’t fit the current situation. There hadn’t been much to bring over anyway, and what little there was had been quickly taken care of by Mother and Silvia. So after the short move, she was now cooking for their first proper meal in the new home.
“What do you dislike so much about her?”
Hyunseong asked Hyeonji, who was glaring at Silvia with clear displeasure.
“It’s just… I’m worried for no reason. She’s a stranger.”
“I’m more worried about you. You threw a mana-infused kick at a stranger? Do you want to get arrested for reckless ability usage?”
“Come on, that was extenuating circumstances. I was trying to pull her away from Mom.”
“Without asking a single question?”
“…Ugh, whatever. I really thought it was a dangerous situation.”
She crossed her arms and pouted sulkily. At just the right moment, Silvia approached.
“The food is ready. Would you like to eat?”
“Yeah, let’s eat.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve had Silvia’s cooking.”
Hyunseong and Mother stood up and walked to the dining table. Dishes were quickly laid out across it.
“Whoa, it’s a feast. How did she know which side dishes we eat often?”
“She’s got sharp senses, that’s for sure.”
The two began eating the food arranged on the table. Meanwhile, Hyeonji remained on the sofa.
“Choi Hyeonji, aren’t you coming? We’re going to eat it all without you.”
“I’m not eating.”
It seemed her sulking still hadn’t worn off.
“What’s wrong with her again?”
“I don’t know. She’s just being sulky by herself.”
She was only twenty-two, so he could only think that she was still quite childish. That was when Silvia took Hyeonji’s utensils, a small portion of side dishes, and some main dishes over to the table in front of the sofa.
“Skipping meals is bad for your health.”
In other words, Silvia was a living Buddha. She had completely forgiven Hyeonji, who had attacked her without asking any questions, and was now taking care of her health without any lingering resentment. She was the very definition of a heavenly saint.
‘Silvia really is the mature one here.’
That was all Hyunseong could think.