Chapter 15

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 15

Chapter Title: I Have Something I Want to Try

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"Yeon Chorok! Are you okay?"

Officer Seonhwa led the way.

"Daijōbu? Kega wa nai?"

"Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Hey, hast du dich irgendwo verletzt?"

"Little one, anywhere hurt...? Wait, you... "

Everyone there rushed over in worry for me—except ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for the one person who flinched.

"No injuries!? I'll call an ambulance right—!"

Even the booth staffer, phone already in hand, looked ready to summon sirens any second.

They all swarmed me, the one caught in the explosion.

But I barely noticed. For one thing, there was the guy coiled around my arm right now...

Glitching letters had flashed wildly across my vision.

What the heck does that even mean? It was so garbled I couldn't read it. Give me the simple version!

Another friend?

Wriggling around on my arm right now, besides this one?

And a cool big sis, no less?

Where? Where? Where? I'm dying to know!

I glanced around eagerly, but in the meantime, Officer Seonhwa had come right up and was inspecting me head to toe.

"Good... no visible wounds. But what about internal pain or anything like that?"

"I'm fine. Totally fine!"

Officer Seonhwa's worry was written all over her face.

I'm really okay, though. More worried about the mess I caused...

Finding a friend is great, but look at this disaster zone I made...

"Officer Seonhwa, can we talk alone for a sec?"

"What's this about?"

"Um... well... this thing wrapped around my arm..."

I tried to point at the vine coiled on my right arm.

But its shape had...

"When did you start wearing that bracelet?"

It had turned into a perfect flower bracelet hugging my wrist.

"Huh...?"

No wonder the coiled feeling was gone!

What's up with this? Because it's Chomper's buddy?

.

.

.

"Will she be okay...?"

I'd only told Officer Seonhwa what happened.

She told me not to worry, that she'd look into it quick and to wait here in the break room.

"Chomper, what do you think?"

Tilt.

She doesn't know either. Yeah, things got super complicated.

"But you're more interested in the new friend, huh?"

Ever since the explosion chaos, Chomper had been super quiet in my arms.

Staring at the second friend—now a bracelet—on my right arm the whole time.

Wriggle wriggle.

Nod nod.

Look at that. The bracelet's stem twitching, Chomper nodding her head.

What's this? Are they having a conversation?

I wanna join in. Tell me too!

Wriggle wriggle.

Nod nod.

But for some reason, I can't read their thoughts like before.

Not fair! Keeping secrets from me. Hmph!

Wriggle wriggle.

Like that wasn't it, a vine stem poked out from the bracelet and shaped a heart.

"What? You doing cute tricks too? You little rascal. Kinda adorable?"

Oh right. Gotta name this one too.

"You're all wriggly, so you're Wriggle. Like the name?"

Wriggle wriggle.

Wriggle drew an even bigger heart with two stems.

Awesome! Wriggle loves the name I gave her too.

"...I'm back, Chorok."

"Oh, Officer Seonhwa! What'd you find?"

Officer Seonhwa returned to the break room.

She looked better than before, even with a faint smile.

"You're in the clear. Witnesses only saw the explosion—no one knows you were involved, and the CCTV's busted too. As for the plant seed, the chairman said it was a gift he meant to give you from the start, so no worries there."

Huh? CCTV busted?

What happened there?

During the explosion, didn't Wriggle whip out super fast and smash everything...?

"...Did you, Wriggle? No, right?"

Wriggle wriggle.

I whispered super soft, and Wriggle drew a circle with her stem.

Yeah? This little troublemaker caused a massive incident!

Good thing Officer Seonhwa says it's fine...

You...! When we get home, you're getting a tiny scolding smack!

"Chorok, that bracelet on your wrist—you said it's a new summon?"

"Yup. Seems like it stretches out, shrinks back, turns into a bracelet, that kinda thing."

But does it have other powers?

Chomper gets huge! Sprays sweet sleepy gas! Super tough! So what about Wriggle?

"Then it's a tool-type summon. Usually called an ego sword, but sometimes summoners wield their tool summons directly in battle."

"Ah, got it."

I'd only heard about summoners in passing—they seem super unique.

Wonder if other classes are like that too? So many questions.

Gotta study this later.

"You'll need to register it. But today's been long, so we'll do it whenever's convenient for you."

"Sure!"

Click-clack.

...And that's when it happened.

Heels clicked into the break room as a woman entered.

"There you are... I was looking everywhere. You ask what I saw back there, hear me out, then just ditch? I had questions too."

"Oh Jihye..."

Isn't this the woman from the Yuseong Pharmaceuticals booth earlier, with the foreigners?

Right...

Oh yeah! Something about Myeongrim!

"Not just here for you, Bong Seonhwa. Been looking for her too—we had plans to meet today."

"Eung...?"

What? Who?

She knows Officer Seonhwa, but she's pointing at me too!

"Haha! What's with the 'eung'? Seeing you in person, I get why you write like that. You!"

"Eung...? Who are you really?"

"It's me. Behind JH. Recognized you right away from your summon pics, but couldn't say hi back there."

JH...? Wait, that name rings a bell!

The one I chatted with on Behind before coming here!

Always calling BS, never believed a word I said!

But replied to my posts every time!

Nice or mean? Annoying either way!

"Wondered what kinda kid writes like that. Didn't expect a tiny thing like you. World's full of surprises."

"Chorok, this the person you wanted to meet?"

"Uh, yeah... She never believed me on Behind, so we got talking and..."

Officer Seonhwa rubbed her forehead for some reason.

Eung? Did I mess up?

"Chorok, arranging private meets on Behind is dangerous. Be careful next time."

"C'mon, Bong Seonhwa. You her guardian? Scaring the kid like that?"

"I am her Awakener Protection Program officer."

"Oh? Little one, wasn't lying after all? Officer handler, huh. Wonder if the rest was true too?"

Zzt zzt.

Officer Seonhwa's glare sharpened! They know each other, but she doesn't seem to like Jihye much.

"Um... what's your deal?"

"No relation."

"Old colleagues. Not anymore."

They spoke at the same time!

But different answers! Which is it?

"C'mon, Bong Seonhwa. That's harsh. We swore to bury our bones at the Bureau together, and you broke it? Guild life's not all that anyway. Lots of gripes lately."

"Tch..."

Officer Seonhwa clicked her tongue.

Jihye just giggled anyway.

"Anyway, nice meeting you. Not a hidden class, huh? If it was legit, the whole country'd be buzzing. Right now."

Eung. Spot on!

But she's a stranger, so admitting it feels off.

Officer Seonhwa warned me.

Some people might misuse my powers. Gotta be careful.

"Oh, you were looking for a friend? Find 'em?"

Wriggle wriggle.

Before I could answer, Wriggle moved.

One stem forming a hook shape.

"Whoa, tool-type summon? Joined Behind recently, so I figured you awakened not long ago? Already two summons? Not bad, kiddo."

"I'm not a kiddo! I'm an adult!"

Keeps calling me kiddo!

Time to flash my hunter license!

"See? Adult, right? Ahem!"

"A-rank... Wow, total kiddo but 20 and legal? World keeps surprising me! Saw something fun, so as a senior hunter, wanna share some valuable info? Anything you're after?"

Valuable info?

The other friend quest that flashed by.

Wanna find that. Told ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me to look for a cool big sis.

"Know any dungeons with weird plants...? Like the ones at the expo."

"Weird plants... Oh, scouting guild just found a jungle dungeon gate. Might have some? You into that?"

Wriggle wriggle.

Jungle mention, and Wriggle's stems perked up.

Related somehow?

Now I'm curious.

"Interested? Hit me up here. I'll even let you tour. Senior's special service."

She handed me her card.

Raid leader?

Looks slim, but she's way stronger than she seems?

Got me interested.

The dungeon. And her.

"Gotta go—schedule's packed. If I'd known you were this cute, I'd have been nicer... Like this."

Oh Jihye left, leaving just me, Officer Seonhwa, Wriggle, and Chomper.

"Officer Seonhwa. She bad or good?"

"Not bad... Just some old history. That's why I didn't stop her."

Officer Seonhwa looked a bit bitter.

Secret agent secret barcode buzzcut spy stuff, right?

***

A few days later.

Hunter Management Bureau HQ, audiovisual room.

"Thus, to establish a guild, hunters need substantial gate participation history. This varies by risk level for dungeon-type or emergency gates and..."

Bob bob.

Officer Seonhwa was teaching guild setup today—study time.

But studying's boring as ever—makes me so sleepy...

"In short, Chorok, you'll need more gate experience to form a guild."

"Ugh... How much more?"

"Contribute to first clear on a high-risk dungeon gate, and it could be one go. Or grind cleared low-risk ones for rewards over time."

Means lotsa gates either way.

Hmm... That card from before's on my mind.

"Curious what made you want a guild in the first place, Chorok."

"At first, thought being guild boss sounded cool... But there's more."

I'm serious, okay?

If you're gonna commit, gotta have some cool aspirations!

"People like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me. Folks who know zilch about hunters. When they awaken, a guild reaching out to help. That's what I want."

I struggled back then, clueless.

Even after awakening, ignorance nearly got me killed.

Hate imagining what could've happened without good people like now.

So I wanna help them.

"Noble dream... But it'll take experience, massive funds for facilities. You heard in today's lesson."

Snoozed a bit, but yeah.

Money, gate XP—tons to do.

"So much... Wonder when."

I pulled out that card from before again.

Wrinkled from taking it out a million times.

"That's the card from then. Thinking of touring?"

"Hmm..."

Not quite.

Not a tour—wanna do more.

Meet other friends, pursue my fuzzy guild dream.

Yeah. How 'bout this?

Take one step forward.

"I... wanna try raiding a gate!"