Chapter 300: Holiday
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Once, twice.
And even after three tries from the beginning, the outcome remained unchanged.
I stared at the letters displayed by the machine, lost in thought.
A little cold sweat formed around my forehead.
‘I just wanted to check if it was working properly.’
What was just a casual measurement of magical power.
If this is accurate, how the heck am I supposed to interpret this change?
“……”
Looking at the result in front of me, a new hypothesis about Kim Gi-ryeo’s physique suddenly popped into my head.
But I hope this judgment is wrong.
Yeah… it probably isn’t, right?
If I think about it, I might have come across some noteworthy search results online regarding this matter recently.
But whatever, it’s just a feeling.
No matter how primitive a magic scholar one is.
There can’t be that absurd a secret in the bodies of Earthlings. I don’t want to think that way.
‘Please, just once.’
I only want to regain even a fraction of my former power and relax somewhere in the countryside.
Anyway, no one’s going to listen to me.
I stopped rambling to myself and filled a foldable bathtub with water.
It might seem like a sudden move, but this was actually the main reason I entered the studio.
‘Y-Yeah. Enough thinking, let’s just take a bath for now.’
I need to reapply the defense boost effect of the Divine Tree Sapling.
Clink.
I took out the coral blood I had put in the small refrigerator. I mixed the liquid in a cup with some cold water I had prepared somewhere.
‘It seems I bought the right depth, but this cylindrical portable bath makes it hard to stretch my legs.’
Splash.
The preparation was simple.
I finally submerged my body into the perfectly set up portable bathtub.
And at this moment, I should mention.
While browsing the internet, I discovered something new in the past few days.
If you put your phone in a zip-lock bag, you can use Earth’s electronic devices even while taking a bath.
Touching it works just fine.
Yay!
I enjoyed the chatter of someone on the other side of the Earth with a palm-sized device.
To think I could find joy with a 5,490 won kitchen gadget sold at the mart in my second life.
‘Should I test the performance of the new equipment after my bath? I want to see if the gloves I made perform well in practice.’
I felt satisfied.
Anyway, since I’ve been reincarnated on such a nice planet.
Even if it means throwing away the pride of a magic scholar, for now, I just want to live well with money and proper items for a long, long time…
*
Meanwhile, just as someone was charging up on moisture.
In the sunny afternoon by the window.
“Youngest, are you finally eating?”
A voice echoed in the spacious living room decorated in mid-century modern style.
This place is an unknown villa in Pyeongtaek.
Conversely, at a long table typically reserved for wealthy families in dramas, someone was having a meal.
When a stylishly dressed man passing by spoke, the person sitting at the head of the table immediately responded.
“I’m hungry.”
Long lashes framed eyes that drooped slightly.
Dyeing their eyebrows and hair with a wine hue.
Given that they were engaged in the violent profession of hunting, their nails were always neatly groomed for holding tools.
What more is there to explain?
Currently sitting at the table is Seo Esther from the Korean Magic Tower Guild.
And the one passing by in the corridor was Seo Yo-han, a family member of that famous B-grade hunter.
“Aren’t you just eating a bowl of rice wrapped in seaweed? Isn’t that barely enough? Should I call the housekeeper?”
“Too bothersome~”
Thud.
Seo Yo-han stopped in his tracks and turned around.
The only younger sibling in this household with two older brothers.
Even though he never showed it outwardly, he had worried quite a bit when Seo Esther would lock herself in her room during her school days.
Life is all about ups and downs.
As it turns out.
Now, he’s gotten worried because his youngest sibling is too actively engaged in social life.
That woman, who is munching on dried seaweed, has just returned to the big house after 220 days.
Sometimes, it felt more familiar to see the family’s face in the news than in real life. At this point, is it so strange to suspect her of overworking?
“Anyway, this family’s business genes seem to have been handed down to everyone except me. What’s the deal? There’s not a single kid in the family who doesn’t dive into work.”
Clatter.
Yo-han entered the restaurant and plopped into an empty chair.
Seeing his younger sister, Esther, barely managing to eat with a disheveled face made him want to tell her to quit being a hunter and escape instead.
‘After all, the family has plenty of money.’
But even if he insisted, it ultimately was something that suited her.
Moreover, since she started her social life, she has gained a lot of energy.
“Hmm.”
Yo-han pushed his concerns aside and decided to smoothly initiate a conversation by mentioning a confirmed schedule.
“Esther, by the way, about the new clothes you asked me to deliver last time. It seems like I’ll have to deliver them myself. Is your passcode for the Seoul studio the same?”
“You’re coming yourself?”
“It’s just that the winter coats are too bulky for delivery, so I figured it’d be easier to throw them all in the car and drop them off at your place in Seoul.”
“Do as you like~”
However, Esther’s reaction was lackluster.
Phew.
As Yo-han worried, today was rare indeed, a day off for him.
A week.
Recently, Esther had realized that her immune system had weakened due to consecutive workloads and decided to take a week off.
Of course, since she was still part of a standby team that had to respond in emergencies for the company or the country.
‘But hey, not having a basic dungeon schedule is something.’
Crunch.
Seo Esther hastily finished her meal with plain rice and seaweed and reached for the glass next to her.
After refreshing her palate with the kale juice left there, she planned to lounge around again.
‘So tired~’
She woke up to the morning breeze due to her usual routine.
Exercised, took a warm half-body bath.
Moreover, after a minor meal, she could enjoy a day lounging around like a wealthy house cat.
‘Hmm.’
At that moment, a face of someone in the industry flashed through Esther’s mind.
‘Somehow, I ended up benefitting from that fourth person again.’
The fact that she took a week off was partly a result of some S-Class behavior.
‘Kang Chang-ho. Who would’ve guessed that hunter would suddenly start being active like this?’
It was common knowledge among the citizens of South Korea.
In fact, the news from the three main broadcasting stations lately had been buzzing with a specific topic.
The third S-Class hunter in this country suddenly revealed himself to society due to matters like compensation claims.
Until now, it had been difficult to determine if that man in his thirties was dead or alive, but now he was willingly sharing the news.
Moreover, the identity of the personal news he revealed was that he had changed his mind after losing to a ‘certain hunter.’
‘Well, I do interact with the internet junkie, so it’s only been recently that I’ve actually met the guy. Even considering that, Gi-ryeo really is… quite unique.’
As the recent flow of thoughts indicates.
‘Who would’ve thought that it would lead Kang Chang-ho to act this way?’
In fact, Esther firmly believed from the start that Kim Gi-ryeo easily defeated Kang Chang-ho…
Moreover, it wasn’t just because of the reports from reputable institutions like YTV or Jeongseong Daily.
A nasty piece of work like Hunter Kang would suddenly change his attitude and acknowledge a crime.
Furthermore, he obediently tackled various dungeons to meet the settlement terms that Jeong Ha-seong presented. How could anyone not believe the clash between the two hunters?
That Kang Chang-ho, some rich kid, would now tremble at the mere mention of Kim Gi-ryeo’s name and think, ‘Ah, I’m never going to provoke that guy again.’
Thus, Esther observed the series of events with side-eye and wondered.
Just how fierce was the past conflict between them?
‘Saying he was moved to help in a dungeon is an excuse… did he physically break Kang Chang-ho’s nose or something?’
The liquid in her glass slowly approached the bottom.
‘As people get older, it becomes harder to admit defeat unless there’s a significant skill gap. How on earth did Kim Gi-ryeo manage that against a close-range skill user like Kang Chang-ho?’
But just as Esther was thinking about her fellow hunters.
At that moment, was it because Seo Yo-han abruptly remembered a topic he had conveniently forgotten?
The man wearing designer silver glasses swept a glance at his younger sister’s expression and started asking with a hint of expectation in his tone.
“Oh! By the way.”
He began recounting a story he had which happened a couple of weeks ago.
“By the way, I met a friend of yours, Esther, at the store recently?”
“Your secretary?”
“No, not someone from the company… the hunter named Kim Gi-ryeo.”
“Huh?”
“I don’t know why, but he suddenly came to our shop and bought a ton of stuff?”
“What?”
“Did you know about this?”
“Not at all…?”
“Really? What? I thought you sent him over as a recommendation.”
That’s strange.
The hunter, who lived in a place about 5 pyeong in size, often exuded simplicity, suddenly visiting Seo Yo-han’s store.
‘Huh?’
Esther suddenly realized after hearing those words.
She had been too busy to notice.
Thinking back, wasn’t there an incident a few weeks ago where that 5 pyeong house collapsed?
‘Oh my god! All the clothes I gifted him back then must have sunk too!’
Damn it!
Hunters have relatively more wear and tear on their clothes than ordinary folks.
Therefore, it’s not at all weird for them to spend on apparel.
But hearing that Kim Gi-ryeo shopped alone made Esther display an expression of tension for a moment.
“What, what, what did he buy at your place…?”
Considering it wasn’t much fashion compared to those crazy promotional chicken gifts that looked a bit like a mannequin.
Just wearing something like that would utterly demolish any trust she had toward him.
“What did he buy? Just a bunch of regular suits he wore every day.”
Huff.
Esther sighed in relief after hearing the description of the clothes the industry person bought.
But at that very moment.
The man with a pomade hairstyle next to her started glancing at her younger sibling’s face, asking with an expectant gaze.
“Hey, by the way, are you close to that hunter named Kim Gi-ryeo?”
Esther was pretty much ready to curse if any clumsy advice were to come next.
“If we have time at work, we eat together, and sometimes we chat for a bit.”
“Why are you asking that?”
Yet somehow, the conversation began steering in a strange direction.
“Well, I was just a little worried about our youngest. I thought maybe they don’t have friends to hang out with outside.”
“…….”
“Do you have acquaintances to hang out with on your days off?”
“I do….”
“Not online.”
“…….”
“Just popped into my mind, but Kim Gi-ryeo seems like a pretty decent person. Even as an S-Class, he doesn’t look down on others. Oh, more than that, since I offered him free stuff at the store that time, he refused and paid for it instead.”
“…….”
“He seems like the kind who can handle your temper. So when you meet him later, try to suggest you could be friends with him.”
“…….”
“It’s not embarrassing for an adult to say something like that. What should be embarrassing is a broken relationship due to a bad temper.”
