Chapter 29
“How many times do I have to say it before you get it? How long am I supposed to keep accommodating you?”
“Ha… I really don’t want to party with someone like you.”
“Put out for me just once. Honestly, you’ve slept with plenty of guys, haven’t you? It’s not like it wears out, so give me a turn too.”
“Hey! Stop going around flirting, you shameless bitch!”
“Ha… Let’s end things here. I don’t think you and our guild are a good fit.”
Lee Hyun-ah’s every day was miserable.
She had come to Seoul dreaming of a hopeful future, thinking that becoming an Awakened would let her take revenge on the detestable monsters, but
what awaited her was a brutal reality.
Talent that failed to live up to her expectations, filthy desires for things other than skill, and the envy and jealousy those desires provoked…
As the days passed, she grew exhausted, and her self-esteem hit rock bottom.
Her motivation, which had once made her feel capable of anything, had vanished long ago, and she was merely hanging on out of inertia.
Then even that thread of inertia was severed when she was fired from her guild.
‘Should I just give up on everything like Minwoo said and go back down…?’
But she couldn’t bring herself to give up.
She was afraid that if she gave up now, the words of those who had criticized and mocked her would become reality.
But at the same time, she was far too exhausted to continue living as a Hunter.
…And then she met Gam Deokbae.
“Aha! So this is how you do it?”
“Wow! You really know your stuff. Thank you.”
A rookie who had started working as a Hunter without knowing even the basics.
Someone stupider, more foolish, and more of a pushover than she was.
Even so, he was kind and never said a single harsh word.
She smiled for the first time since being fired.
‘Pfft! Is he an idiot? How can he not know something this basic? I can’t help it—I’ll have to teach him.’
‘No! You’re doing it like that? Do I really have to explain this too?’
‘That’s more like it. You’re finally getting somewhere. But what’s with that expression? Pfft! What did you do to look so proud?’
She had fun for the first time in a long while.
Being the one teaching someone when she was always the one getting scolded felt fresh and entertaining.
Although he was a poor student, she even felt proud as she watched him reduce his mistakes one by one.
The fact that someone was less capable than she was,
and that he depended on her,
and that he did as she said,
made her self-esteem, which had hit rock bottom, begin to rise little by little.
“Aah, I see. If I register my card here, the proceeds from selling the magestones will be deposited automatically?”
“I can rent equipment over there, right?”
“What? No? What is it… Ah! This one! Right?”
“You really know your stuff, Hyun-ah. Thanks to you, I won’t get called a sucker wherever I go.”
Every word Gam Deokbae said sent a thrill through Lee Hyun-ah.
His thanks were strangely addictive.
That was why she couldn’t let him go.
To keep hearing his praise and receiving his thanks, she took care of even the smallest details for him.
Before she knew it, so much time had passed that it was nearly time for most of the shops to close.
“Hyun-ah, thank you so much for today. It must have been difficult to go to this much trouble for someone you just met, so I really appreciate you accepting my request.”
“Ah… No! It’s not like I did it for free.”
“Even so, I was being pushy. And you even gave me some magestones.”
“That’s because… you’re F-Rank… Seniors usually look after their juniors, right? It’s the same for Hunters. Yes. That’s all it is.”
“Even so, not everyone does that, right? I’m glad I got to form a party with you, Hyun-ah. I’d like to meet another party member like you next time too.”
“Uh… what?”
She was genuinely flustered.
There was still so much more to teach him, and so much more she needed to look after.
So she needed to receive more ‘thanks’ from him…
But he seemed to want another party member.
“You said you normally only party with D-Rankers, right? I hope I can rank up quickly and form a party with you again.”
“Ah…”
That was right.
Since she didn’t know him well, she had kept him at arm’s length.
She had brought up this being their first and last time because she didn’t want to party with an older, unattractive F-Rank healer.
But that had been her mistake. The person she actually met wasn’t the low-class man she had imagined.
“That’s not true!”
“Huh?”
“It’s just… Deokbae, you have skill and an artifact, so it’s hard to consider you an F-Rank, and also… Yeah! I guess I just wouldn’t feel at ease? I feel like you’ll forget everything again by tomorrow…”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean… I’ll help you until you rank up to D-Rank! It’s hard to find a party member you click with. You could end up meeting a bad party member and having your artifact stolen!”
She didn’t know what she was saying.
She simply said whatever came to mind in an attempt to hold on to Gam Deokbae somehow.
“It wouldn’t be a disadvantage to me either, since healers aren’t easy to find! You still have a lot to learn, and if you form a party with another Hunter unnecessarily, you might end up being a burden… No! I don’t mean you’d be a burden to me…”
“Ah, I’d be happy to keep partying with you, Hyun-ah. Partying with a veteran is reassuring.”
“A veteran… Yes, that’s right! It’s a good choice!”
‘I did it…!’
Fortunately, he readily accepted her party request.
The tension left her face.
Hearing him call her a reliable veteran, she felt her heart race at the thought that he really depended on her.
“Give me your contact information! I’ll prepare everything in advance, like which dungeons to clear and our schedule, and contact you!”
“Oh, I’d really appreciate that.”
‘Ah… He’s thanking me again!”
She was too happy about forming a party with him again to realize it, but
she had asked someone of the opposite sex for their contact information for the first time in her life.
====
Wow… A woman asked for my number for the first time in my life.
Was this the effect of spending points on my appearance?
No, it was probably because healers were hard to find, but being asked for my number still felt good.
But I shouldn’t get carried away. Lee Hyun-ah has a boyfriend.
She had subtly brought up her boyfriend before we met, and when I saw her today, she was blatantly wearing a matching ring.
It was probably her way of saying: Don’t get the wrong idea or hit on me.
So I kept my guard up as much as possible today, and I guess it worked.
By the time we finished clearing the dungeon, her wariness had faded considerably.
And besides, I hadn’t had time to worry about anything else, either.
Wasn’t it supposed to be as simple as entering a dungeon, killing monsters, collecting magestones, and leaving?
There was so much to pay attention to… I had to learn every detail, from when to enter and when to retreat, and memorize each monster’s different weaknesses.
On top of that, there was more than I’d expected for a Hunter to learn, like magestone collection machines, fees, equipment rentals, and so on.
Maybe I’d been too complacent, believing everything I heard on the internet.
Still, thanks to Lee Hyun-ah’s tutoring, I learned all the essentials.
I’d been worried she would mistake it for me hitting on her, but fortunately, Lee Hyun-ah readily agreed and carefully taught me everything I needed to know.
Before we met, she had seemed rude, but in person, she turned out to be a kind person.
There are people like that—people whose way of speaking changes online. Lee Hyun-ah was probably one of them.
Anyway, thanks to Lee Hyun-ah, I safely cleared my first dungeon, received a crash course in the basics of being a Hunter, and made plans to form a party again in the future.
It had been a positive day in many ways.