Chapter 90: An Old Friend (3)
It would be nice if you told me these things a bit earlier.
“Here’s my number.”
A moment later.
I was sweating buckets as I entered my contact info into the other person’s phone.
Now that that was done, all that was left was to escape safely.
“By the way.”
Gu Seo-hyeong paused after receiving the phone and said, “Excuse me. Could you lower your head a bit towards me?”
“Excuse me?”
“Not that it means anything. I just got suddenly curious about how you look.”
“…”
“Haha. Come to think of it, I don’t actually know what my benefactor looks like either.”
Is it not clear at this distance?
Hmm.
It’s not like they want to touch my body; they just want to see me.
“Alright.”
As I accepted the suggestion, the other person stepped closer and began to shoot me a look full of anticipation.
‘Is this enough?’
But a few seconds later…
For some reason, the smile slowly faded from her lips.
“…”
“…”
Gu Seo-hyeong soon fell silent, her face turning white.
With those wide-open eyes and trembling pupils, she looked as if she had seen a ghost.
Curious, I asked, “Is there a problem?”
Then the other person answered.
“Your voice.”
“My voice?”
“I imagined you had a gentle tone just from your speech…”
Oh dear.
*
On Tuesday when I returned.
[Association President’s Office]
A loud laugh echoed down the quiet corridor.
“Hah hah hah hah!”
In this room marked as the Association President’s Office, there were about three people dressed in suits.
Among them, the middle-aged man sitting in the highest position suddenly spoke in a loud voice.
“Wow~ Our country has finally become an Enchanter nation! This is amazing!”
“Haha!”
“Moreover, we’re the first in Asia!”
As the head of the association said this, the others in the room nodded in unison.
“Now, countries like Japan and China will all come here for strengthening.”
“Haha!”
“Those Europeans have been too arrogant all this time. Charging such high fees for a simple enchant.”
They were rejoicing in this unexpected piece of good fortune.
An Enchanter.
A rare ability that had only been discovered in ten people around the world had finally appeared in Korea.
“Oh, by the way, have we contacted all the S-Class Hunters?”
“Of course.”
“Esther the Hunter heard the news and was ready to fly to the association! Haha!”
Enchanters usually reveal their true value when assisting the top-ranking Awakened.
S-Class Hunters all owned excellent equipment that matched their level.
The enchantment skills of an Enchanter improve the performance of items to the extreme.
Almost to the point of breaking limits, providing S-Class Hunters with a boost in power above their current level.
That’s why S-Class Hunters were sticking to Awakened whose levels were only C~D-Class.
“Hah hah hah hah!”
From now on, just intermediating this enchantment contract would yield incredible benefits.
The Association President chuckled loudly, grinning from ear to ear.
“Hey, President.”
But as with all things, what goes up must come down.
“Yesterday, Gu Seo-hyeong submitted a request to the association…”
The President’s mood quickly dampened upon hearing this unwelcome news.
“What?”
According to his secretary, since the moment Gu Seo-hyeong awakened, she has been consistently arguing for one thing.
– I will repay this kindness!
She had a benefactor who prioritized over any requests, so she wouldn’t accept external enhancement work for the time being.
“At such an important time?”
“Well, she’s quite stubborn about it…”
The President rubbed his temples.
Right now, Japan was waiting outside with dozens of contracts worth billions, asking for strengthening.
“Why is this Gu Seo-hyeong so demanding?”
He spoke irritably.
“She asked for her identity to be protected to the point we couldn’t even issue a single decent article; still, we’ve catered to all her other requests.”
“Haha…”
“But now she wants to choose the jobs she takes? Ugh, seriously.”
Tsk, tsk.
The President clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“This is why the kids these days are called selfish.”
The staff around him showed slightly troubled expressions, but the President continued without stopping.
“With such valuable abilities, they should think about promoting the country. Everyone’s just raising their noses and doing whatever they want. Huh?”
“Ah, right.”
What on earth happened to the world?
The main age group of Awakened individuals is in their twenties and thirties.
It was rare to find older Hunters in this industry.
After 40, magic power starts acting as a deadly poison within the body.
“Tsk. In our time, at least when national crises arose, we didn’t act like this. There should be some sense of shame.”
The President was displeased with the current state of affairs where kids with barely matured heads flaunted their powers as Awakened.
‘I was happy to hear that they weren’t bringing their guilds under the association, but this Awakened is a headache. A real headache.’
Moreover, there were many recent issues he wasn’t satisfied with at all.
“By the way.”
After a brief pause,
The President suddenly said as if he just remembered, “Is Jeong Ha-seong still on strike?”
The secretary nodded at this, and the President scratched at his beard in frustration.
The sudden disappearance of the S-Class Hunter, ranked number one, was a bigger headache than anything else.
“Where in the world did that guy hear some strange talk…!”
He spoke in a rough voice, and the people around him stayed silent, just exchanging glances.
“No, that guy told me during a call last time that he feels he’s too weak right now, so he needs to focus on health and training for a while…”
“Hah hah hah.”
“But hearing this made me immediately picture it in my head. Ah, he must have gotten into a fight with another Hunter!”
Thud.
With that, a thick fist slammed down on the table.
“There’s no way Jeong Ha-seong would feel so disheartened unless he got a few hits from another Awakened. Right?”
The President began to murmur with a face full of conviction.
But the secretary next to him just fleetingly glanced at his watch, showing no great interest in the conversation.
“This is the problem with Awakened individuals. They always get into fights so easily…”
“Mr. President.”
“Ugh, if I could, I’d go find whoever provoked Jeong Ha-seong…”
“Mr. President?”
A moment later.
The secretary pointed awkwardly to the watch, and the President jumped up in surprise.
“Has it already gotten this late?”
It seemed he needed to start moving for his next agenda.
“Haha, then I’ll take my leave. Everyone, I’ll see you all later…”
At that moment.
The President noticed a familiar face outside the window behind him.
Messy brown hair tied up.
Pale skin without a hint of color.
And those round eyes.
“Is that Gu Seo-hyeong?”
“Yes, yes. That’s the Enchanter!”
Gu Seo-hyeong outside was chatting away with a bright smile on her face.
And the listener of that conversation…
“Who’s that?”
Swish.
The President pointed at the man walking with Gu Seo-hyeong.
“Who? Which one?”
“That one.”
“Is it the one with the blonde hair?”
“Why is Gu Seo-hyeong hanging out with him? What if something goes wrong with her security?”
Then another staff member promptly replied.
“Ah! That’s the benefactor that Seo-hyeong referred to.”
But the President’s response was cold.
He clicked his tongue, looking displeased.
“Benefactor my foot. It’s obvious he’s just her boyfriend.”
“Excuse me?”
“I can tell he’s just a wannabe from the entertainment industry who can’t even draw a line between his personal and professional life. Tsk tsk.”
If this reached the ears of the Enchanter, who knows what kind of trouble would arise, but what a thoughtless thing to say.
As the secretary and staff fell into awkward silence, the President muttered while looking at the man walking alongside Gu Seo-hyeong.
“By the way, he sure looks nasty.”
With hooded eyes lacking double eyelids and dry skin.
Was that sharp impression and the moment our eyes met truly just coincidence?
*
‘What’s going on? Is someone watching me…?’
Damn it.
After being stalked so much, I’ve started developing a bit of paranoia.
Whenever I go outside, I have this feeling that someone is watching me.
Actually, thinking about it, maybe it’s not just in my head.
Right now, Kang Chang-ho might be tracking my location from somewhere…
“What’s wrong?”
Swish, swish.
I quickly scanned my surroundings and replied.
“Nothing at all. Let’s just head inside.”
“Yes.”
Soon we arrived at the multipurpose room of a nearby building.
Today was the day to split the bamboo.
Of course, it wasn’t that I was planning to actually saw bamboo, but rather I was using it as a metaphor based on the story of Heungbu and Nolbu.
‘Hmm.’
Who would have thought a small good deed would lead to this kind of reward?
I gained the authority to enhance items as a reward for catching Gu Seo-hyeong after her fall.
And that too, completely free of charge.
“Did you know? An Enchanter’s awakening skills are generally divided into two types.”
However, since Gu Seo-hyeong was merely a budding beginner in awakening, there were clear limitations.
“One is to strengthen the abilities that the equipment has. The other is to attach entirely new abilities.”
“But you can’t use the latter, right?”
“Yes.”
Gu Seo-hyeong quickly put on her newly adjusted glasses while avoiding my gaze.
“Right now, I can only enhance the equipment’s abilities, which is ‘Amplification’…”
She had a somewhat dejected demeanor.
But even after hearing her explanation, I wasn’t bothered at all.
‘Free!’
After all, I was completely satisfied just not having to pay anything.
I had no expectations for quality from the start.
“Don’t worry about it. Skills will improve over time.”
Clink.
I placed the item I hurriedly bought for today onto the table.
[Intermediate Ring]
[Grade: Normal]
[Description: A ring infused with protective magic. Reduces damage slightly when worn.]
Seeing that, Gu Seo-hyeong tilted her head in confusion.
“This is it?”
Did she think the scale was smaller than expected since she was prepared to repay kindness?
But it was out of my hands.
Excluding this ring, my available equipment was only two items and counting.
The Pyromancer Necklace was originally meant for self-destruction.
The Twin Guardian Angel already had top-tier defense, so enhancing it wouldn’t be meaningful either…
“Haha, yes.”
I began to engage the conversation, showing off my practiced Earth-style emotional expressions.
“I almost forgot to mention that I’m an F-Class Hunter.”
“F-Class?”
“There aren’t many items available.”
“Oh, really?”
Seeing her casually react like that, it seemed she wasn’t quite familiar with the Hunter ranking system.
“Well, now I understand.”
Seo-hyeong replied as she started examining the ring I brought.
“Hmm.”
But for some reason, she couldn’t seem to focus on the ring and kept glancing at me.
Then a tentative statement slipped from Seo-hyeong’s lips.
“By the way, Hunter, you have no idea who I am, right?”
“No. I only watch the news on TV, so I don’t really know much about celebrities…”
I wondered why she suddenly asked me this.
Was she feeling a bit down because I didn’t recognize her?
‘But she was quite an active actress, after all?’
While I was lost in various assumptions, Gu Seo-hyeong was about to ask another question.
“Then, I was wondering if…”
But I couldn’t catch the end of her sentence.
“No, it’s nothing.”
“Excuse me?”
She seemed to brush off her words.
“What is it? You’re making me curious.”
“If it’s something to say, just say it!”
I urged her to speak up without holding back.
Then Gu Seo-hyeong, with reluctance, said, “I, I wanted to ask about your age. I was curious how old you are!”
Goodness, Earthlings sure love to ask about age.
Back in my hometown, people often forgot their ages due to abnormally long lifespans.
But well, it would look strange to suddenly go mum on it here.
“Me? I’m 24 years old.”
I shamelessly borrowed Kim Gi-ryeo’s age.
But lo and behold. Upon revealing my age, I received an unexpected response from across the table.
“Really? I’m also 24!”
Gu Seo-hyeong said.
Since we’re the same age, why not speak more casually from now on?
Of course, I readily agreed.
Personally, I dislike using honorifics. It just makes the language less efficient.
