Skill Even in Buffs (1)
Kim Yeo-ul spooned up rainbow sherbet as he opened up about his dual personality. Yet because he himself knew so little about it, the sherbet was still frozen solid even after he had talked himself dry.
“Whenever I end up in a tight spot, I black out. When I come to, everyone’s dead. That’s it, right?”
“Yes…”
“What happened the first time the phenomenon appeared?”
“My father took my bankbook. He even tried to take my little sister.”
“And the second time?”
“I was withdrawing cash at an ATM when I got robbed.”
“The picture’s getting clearer. Yesterday another party showed up and tried to snatch the token, correct?”
“Oh! Yes, exactly.”
“For example…”
Swish! Chae Mu-jin snatched Yeo-ul’s rainbow sherbet without warning.
Crack! The reaction was instant. The plastic spoon in Kim Yeo-ul’s hand shattered.
Mu-jin set the cup back down just as quickly.
“Yeo-ul?”
“Yes? Did something happen?”
Yeo-ul stared at the crushed spoon in his grip without the slightest awareness. The reaction was so amusing Mu-jin almost stole the sherbet again, but he stopped himself.
With my current strength I can’t suppress Yacha without collateral damage. Innocent lives are one thing, but I can’t afford the property destruction either.
He still didn’t know exactly how much provocation it took to summon Yacha, but at least one thing was certain.
“Your second self… for convenience, I’ll call it Yacha. Yacha emerges whenever someone tries to take something from you.”
“Now that you say it, that does seem to be the pattern.”
“Has Yacha ever spoken to you? Or have you tried speaking to it?”
“No, never…”
“Then we’ll speak first. By the way, do you dislike ice cream?”
Mu-jin had already finished his own, yet half of Yeo-ul’s remained.
“No! I like it.”
“Eat comfortably. Everything we’re doing is so we can keep living.”
Mu-jin ordered pistachio almond and began eating. He had simply wanted more, but Yeo-ul thought he was forcing himself for his sake and felt a sudden rush of emotion.
Maybe it was the cold sweetness settling in his stomach, or maybe it was trust in Mu-jin. Either way, a surprisingly bold question slipped from the timid man’s lips.
“What the manager truly wants isn’t the timid me, but Yacha, isn’t it?”
Having his real intention seen through, Mu-jin was more than a little rattled. Still, he wasn’t clumsy enough to let it show. Inside he might be flustered, but his face remained perfectly calm.
“I named it Yacha only to distinguish it. I don’t think of it as a separate person.”
“You’ve seen Yacha yourself. You know how dangerous it is… aren’t you trying to use it?”
“Just because a murderer kills with a kitchen knife doesn’t make the knife guilty.”
“Yacha… has killed so many people. So even if it’s a murderer, you don’t care as long as it’s useful?”
Yeo-ul wanted to settle the matter clearly. He needed to pin down the suspicion and unease that had taken root in a corner of his heart.
Being around Mu-jin made him feel warm and fuzzy inside. The man treated him with a father’s strictness at times and a senior’s kindness at others. If someone like that turned out to be a con artist, Yeo-ul didn’t think he could endure it. The thin thread of reason he was barely clinging to would snap.
While Yeo-ul’s expression grew deadly serious, Mu-jin answered with a perfectly tranquil face.
“It matters, yet it also doesn’t. Because you, Yeo-ul, belong to our Hunter Management.”
“……?”
“Even if you were a murderer, I would still believe in you. It was an unintentional mistake. You regret it. You feel responsible. Am I wrong?”
“Y-yes, that’s right. No, I mean… I don’t want to live as a murderer.”
“Of course atonement doesn’t justify murder. One day someone may come seeking revenge, whether through the law or through force. The point is, you can’t simply run from it.”
“So I have to fight?”
“That’s a dangerous way to put it. First you apologize. Then you negotiate a settlement.”
“What if the other side refuses both apology and settlement?”
“Then, well.” Mu-jin shrugged. “You fight. No matter how sorry you feel, you can’t just roll over and die.”
“Wouldn’t that be a crime too?”
“Yeo-ul. If you want to live an ordinary life, keep obeying the law like you have until now. But if you want to become rich, if you don’t want anyone looking down on you… you mustn’t blindly worship the law.”
“……!”
“If the law were truly fair from the start, the phrase ‘no crime if you have connections, no innocence if you have no money’ would never have been born. Don’t misunderstand, though. That doesn’t mean the law is unnecessary. People aren’t perfect, and the law is something imperfect people created.”
“Ah……”
He hadn’t understood everything perfectly. But he had grasped the core of what Mu-jin was trying to say.
“You’re saying you’ll stay on my side until the end? Even if it means breaking the law?”
“This much I can promise you.”
From beginning to end, Mu-jin had not told a single lie. Because every word came from the heart, he could speak with his chest thrown out proudly.
“If you are in the right, Yeo-ul, I will stand by you even if it means turning the entire nation into your enemy.”
“Ah……”
Normally such things were written into contracts—how far the agency would protect its talent. But Mu-jin hoped they could skip that for now. A formal legal contract would be necessary once the management was official, yet he had no desire to quibble over it at this moment.
Bureaucracy is the one thing I absolutely hate.
Fortunately Yeo-ul seemed satisfied. The reason for using Yacha made sense to him, and the promise to help even against the nation had moved him. Even if it turned out to be a lie, the fault for being deceived would not be his own.
If you really are deceiving me… I will never forgive you.
With his doubts washed away and someone he could truly trust and rely on for the first time in his life, Kim Yeo-ul felt his chest grow light.
“Then what should we do now, Manager?”
Mu-jin slapped the table and stood.
“Let’s go crush the third test.”
The third test was one-on-one sparring. Last year it had been against the examiners, but the rules had changed as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Making test-takers fight each other? Where’s the fairness in that?!”
“Fighting five times every hour on the hour is pretty brutal.”
“Wait, Supervisor. You’re saying non-combat classes have to duel too? No special treatment?”
At one supporter’s question the supervisor frowned.
“Supporters don’t lack arms and legs, and dealers don’t have four of them. What special treatment are you expecting?”
“You said we have to fight every hour. What happens if a match goes over one hour?”
“If it exceeds one hour it’s ruled a draw and both receive zero points. Anyone who fails to appear on time is automatically disqualified.”
“Shit! So we absolutely can’t go over an hour!”
“That’s a foolish concern. It’s hard enough to fight a monster for an hour. How could you possibly fight another hunter for that long?”
There had been plenty of complaints during the second test, but nothing like this. The supervisors listened quietly before cutting it short with a single line.
“Anyone dissatisfied with the test policy is free to withdraw.”
If you don’t like it, leave. Most of the test-takers grumbled but stayed put. Only a tiny handful actually walked out.
Once the atmosphere had settled somewhat, the supervisor delivered an additional announcement.
“This test will evaluate the applicants’ interpersonal combat ability. To assess that properly, you will have to fight in earnest, which means casualties are inevitable.”
That was exactly what every applicant had been worrying about. Even ordinary people could be injured or crippled in a fight. If hunters went at each other seriously?
At the very least they would walk away disabled.
“We will be issuing protective suits and magic weapons to all applicants. The suit and weapon are linked. The magic weapon will only activate while the protective suit is online. Therefore there is no risk of death.”
“Oh, that’s actually pretty good.”
“Means we don’t have to hold back.”
The authorities clearly didn’t want casualties either; they were generously supplying rather expensive equipment.
“Please let my opponent be a support class.”
“Statistically one in five should be. With luck maybe even two. At minimum two points are guaranteed.”
The combat classes were already treating supporters and healers as free points and began plotting strategy.
“Manager… what am I supposed to do? I’ve never fought another hunter before.”
Yeo-ul immediately asked for advice.
“You’ve never fought anyone at all, have you?”
“Ah, Manager. You can speak comfortably… I’m twenty-one, you know.”
Mu-jin had been waiting for the chance to drop formal speech and took it at once.
“Got it. So, Yeo-ul, you’re going to score a perfect ten in this third test.”
“Th-that’s impossible, isn’t it? In the dungeon we were in the same space so you could help, but sparring is one-on-one. Unless…”
“Obviously we’re not calling out Yacha to win. That would cause an uproar.”
“Then how can I win without Yacha? I can’t even picture it.”
“You’ve got me. I’m more reliable than Yacha.”
Mu-jin jabbed a thumb at his own chest with complete confidence. Yeo-ul wasn’t looking down on him, but this was a state-run facility. It was anything but lax.
“The sparring rooms are completely sealed. You can only watch through windows, and buffs get blocked by obstacles.”
“Using a skill through a wall is impossible. For normal hunters, anyway.”
“Wait, does that mean you can apply buffs through walls…?”
Yeo-ul lowered his voice even further in case anyone overheard.
“Yeo-ul. Do I look like a normal hunter to you?”
“No.”
“Exactly. So I can. And even without buffs I can still make you win.”
Yeo-ul couldn’t understand no matter how hard he thought. His own brain produced zero solutions, yet Mu-jin claimed to have not one but two ways to guarantee victory?
Just who is the manager, really?
He was an S-rank supporter everyone coveted. Even Cheon I-hwa had wanted him and been refused. It wasn’t simply turning down a dealer’s offer. She was the daughter of the Hunter Association President. Ignoring her was the same as ignoring the president himself.
Yeo-ul had overheard plenty of gossip about Mu-jin while walking around.
“That Chae Mu-jin guy. He’ll disappear by tomorrow morning. He actually refused Cheon I-hwa’s offer.”
“You know how much of a daughter-obsessed fool the Association President is. Last time the president’s son tried to seduce Cheon I-hwa and vanished the very next day.”
Yeo-ul had been quietly worried too, but astonishingly nothing happened. Mu-jin remained perfectly safe. Because of that, not only the other applicants but even the supervisors began looking at him with different eyes.
There’s something about Chae Mu-jin!
In reality he was merely the youngest son of a gamjatang restaurant, but wild rumors spread like wildfire. He was a secretly created artificial awakener by the government. He was the president’s hidden son. And so on.
Mu-jin knew the rumors were circulating but didn’t bother correcting them one by one. Having lived as a celebrity in his previous life, he understood that the correct response to cheap aggro was simply to ignore it.
Yeo-ul looks curious about my identity too, but it’s a relief he’s focusing on the test without making a fuss.
Even if he lacked talent as a mage, strong concentration was good news. Anyone whose focus could be shaken by mere baseless gossip had no future as a high-level hunter.
“Yeo-ul. I said I would definitely make you win, but without your own resolve a perfect score is impossible.”
“Resolve?”
“The resolve to kill in order to survive. If you intend to kill others, you must also be prepared to die. Without that mindset you have no right to call yourself a hunter.”
Yeo-ul agonized for a long time before finally clenching his fist.
“I’m not confident enough to say I’ve fully resolved myself yet, but I think you’re right, Manager. If I don’t resolve myself, I won’t be able to grow, will I?”
“Look at you. Pretty sharp, aren’t you?”
Would having a younger brother feel like this? Mu-jin almost reached out to pat the praiseworthy young man’s head but caught himself.
I shouldn’t get attached. Hmm.
His already outstretched arm felt awkward, so he extended a single finger instead.
“As proof that I’ve resolved myself too, if I can’t get you a perfect ten I’ll give you one free wish.”
“A free wish?”
“A wish ticket. I’ll grant you anything you want.”
“That’s great for me… but what if I lose because I couldn’t perform well even though you did everything right?”
“It’s only natural you wouldn’t perform well. How could you be good at something you’ve never done? I made that guarantee taking all of that into account, so there’s no need to feel burdened.”
This wasn’t just an excuse cooked up to justify his awkwardly outstretched hand. Sincerely, no matter who the opponent was, Mu-jin was confident he could make Yeo-ul win. And by promising a reward on top of that, Yeo-ul would work even harder out of guilt.
“As long as you don’t get paired against Cheon I-hwa, we’re golden.”
He had said it as a joke, yet for some reason an ominous premonition settled over Mu-jin.