The spar ended with Celeste’s defeat.
A very expected result.
In the first place, the spar was meant as a way for the master to give ‘lessons.’
But rather than watching the master who was giving the lessons, by the end of the spar, everyone’s attention was on Celeste and Yoo Seodam.
A D-Rank superhuman almost hit a S-Rank, and several times even blocked or avoided the attacks.
Under the guidance of a man named Yoo Seodam.
What the hell were the meanings behind what he said during the spar?
It doesn’t matter.
What’s important is the swordsmanship taught by Yoo Seodam was effective against a person ‘stronger than oneself in physical ability.’
‘Damn it…’
Aren sat quietly in one corner of a hotel restaurant, sipping wine.
After every swordsmanship debate, there was always an after party, and this year, all the masters were gathered at a restaurant in ‘JS Hotel,’ which was built less than three years ago because the debate was held in Korea.
Meanwhile, Yoo Seodam and Taylor had disappeared, saying they had somewhere to be, so Aren no longer has to see them, though he was still in a bad mood.
Aren knows.
The fact that the masters approached Yoo Seodam to give gifts or exchange contacts after the debate because they saw the possibilities.
But that wasn’t important to him right now.
‘…What’s wrong with the talismans?’
Four of the talismans are fine.
However, the problem was the talisman of strength, speed, and guide aim.
These haven’t been working properly since a while ago.
No matter how useful Air Pocket and Reduce Friction are to Aren, his physical strength is only B-Rank at best.
‘Damn it. Such a bad timing for the talismans to stop working…I’ll have to make a call again.’
With that thought, Aren clutched his wrist.
Since a while ago, the pain has been acting up again.
The symptoms began several years ago, so he frequently took painkillers, but the pain intensified when the talismans were deactivated.
It’s as if the pain that had been held back was bursting open.
With a cold sweat on his face, he massaged his wrist.
Suddenly.
Boom!!
“W-what!”
The hotel building shook.
Whooing! Whooing!
[An abnormal gate has appeared!]
[An abnormal gate has appeared!]
[Citizens, please immediately follow the evacuation procedure.]
“Huh, what’s this.”
“At a time like this…”
It doesn’t happen often nowadays, but it was a normal occurrence in the past.
The usual gates and dungeons are predicted by the only ‘seer’ on Earth, but now, a gate has appeared unexpectedly.
[The gate has been identified as A-Rank, and the location is at the rooftop of JS Hotel.]
[The Emergency Support Unit is currently on the way, so citizens in the nearby area please remain calm and evacuate.]
“Crazy, it’s the roof of this building!”
“Let’s all evacuate.”
As people began to move hurriedly, Aren also got up.
Suppressing the A-Rank gate is too difficult for him since he doesn’t know if his talismans will work.
However, the people around him didn’t leave him alone.
“Hunter Aren!”
A middle aged official wearing a suit and about four or five waiters hurried towards Aren.
“Hunter Aren, if you don’t mind, can you block the gate on the roof? It will take some time before reinforcement arrives, so I’m glad to have hunter Aren here with us now.”
“…Ah.”
The gate was on the roof, but surely the monsters will come down, wrecking the building in the process.
It will be a while before reinforcements and other emergency units arrive.
But the S-Rank Aren will be able to hold it off.
“Uh.”
“Fortunately, hunter Aren is here.”
“That’s a relief.”
However, Aren was unable to answer.
Why is this happening?
Because he was unlucky?
Because of the bad weather?
He doesn’t know.
Only, it’s not a situation he could say no.
“…Haha. Of course. I’ll go up there.”
Saying so, he clenched his fist, then hurriedly dressed up using his portable aether dispenser.
Although it has less defense than a 3rd-Grade aether suit, it’s easy to wear, portable, and is a device that costs billions of won as a ‘named’ item.
With a named-rank aether blade in hand as well, Aren eventually headed to the roof, his back disappearing from everyone’s view.
Gulp.
Already came the sound of rampant monsters destroying everything.
Filled with people’s screams.
He guesses it’s from the people on the rooftop being attacked by the monsters.
However, Aren couldn’t move forward.
Without the talismans, he’s at most B-Rank.
It’s obvious he’s going to die if he tries to take on an A-Rank gate.
‘This…this is impossible. I can’t do this.’
Once he opens the door, it will be the roof.
Nevertheless, Aren couldn’t open it.
It’s better to lose dignity.
‘Yeah, let’s just run away now.’
Thinking so, the moment Aren turned around and tried to leave.
“We’re here to help too, hunter Aren.”
“…What?”
In front of him, master swordsmen, each equipped with an aether dispenser, stood.
…Again, these masters.
In other words, ordinaries.
He doesn’t know where they got their aether dispensers for such emergencies, but this wasn’t a gate an ordinary person could deal with.
“Everyone, you guys won’t be able to deal with it! It’s a dog’s death!”
“We know. But there are innocent people dying. Although we don’t have superpowers, we’ve lived by the sword our whole life. It’s possible to push back the monsters before reinforcements arrive.”
Saying so, the masters opened the door first and went out proudly.
Aren dejectedly smiled, then bowed his head.
Their physical abilities are obviously F-Rank.
Nonetheless, they were trying to fight against an enemy that’s obviously impossible for them to deal with.
‘What’s B or S rank.’
He suddenly recalled what Taylor had said to him.
‘Just because he’s F-Rank, is his value only F-Rank?’
He understood the meaning of those words now.
As a B-Rank, he was about to do such a horrible thing when an A-Rank gate appeared in front of him, yet, Yoo Seodam has survived on the battlefield for 15 years as a F-Rank.
He raised his head again.
Including his wrist, his whole body aches, and his talismans weren’t even working properly.
…However, he was still a hunter.
“Fuck…What a fucking day…”
Saying so, Aren slammed into the door leading to the roof.
Although his ability has weakened, the looks in his eyes showed he is more S-Rank now than ever.
Next day.
Waking up with a splitting headache, I turned my head to the sudden weight I felt on my arm.
Taylor, with a blanket over her, was asleep with her arms tightly wrapped around mine.
Because we drank heavily last night, we were in terrible shape.
Checking my phone, there were calls from some hunters as well as the masters.
It was mostly about catching a meal next time.
[Lee Junseok: Do you have time for a meal next time?]
There was also a call from Lee Junseok.
I don’t know why this fellow is so interested in me.
Even before I went home yesterday, he asked me out for Korean BBQ, but I declined.
[Celeste: Thank you very much for yesterday.]
For now, I replied to Celeste.
[Yoo Seodam: Good job.]
I also benefited a lot, so it was a two-way gain.
Hiding behind the Costantini family should prevent Lost Day from doing anything to me for a while.
Perhaps for the time being, I’ll stay until I can build up my own little force.
After barely pulling Taylor’s arms away, I crawled to my old TV to turn on the news.
It was just a habit.
The habit of turning on the news or talk shows in the morning to fill the noise.
[Breaking news. An abnormal A-Rank gate appeared on the roof of JS Hotel around 7p.m. yesterday evening.]
“Huh?”
If it’s JS Hotel, that’s definitely where the masters were.
I became interested, and it became more intriguing the more I listened.
[Thanks to the efforts of the master swordsman and a S-Rank hunter at the scene working together to block the gate, as well as reinforcements arriving on time, there were no casualties.]
[S-Rank hunter ‘Aren’ said without the help of the masters, he wouldn’t have been able to save the civilians so flawlessly…]
“Oh?”
Aren was not the kind of guy to do that.
Has he had a change of heart?
That amazes me.
“Anyway, it could’ve been disastrous.”
Aren’s condition is very serious, and I’ve deactivated his artifacts, but I never thought a gate would appear there.
Though, even if Aren was able to properly activate the artifacts then, it’s unclear whether he’ll be able to use its magic.
His body was already overloaded with artifacts that day.
If he had used any more artifacts with that broken body…
Something bad could have happened.
“Hey.”
“…Hm.”
“Do you want ramen?”
“Fu…””
What is she saying?
The hangover seems to be so bad that she can’t even speak properly.
I lightly walked to the sink.
I plan on fixing up ramen for breakfast, and then contact the Dimensional Returnee I had met to find out more about ‘Murim’ over lunch.
Lastly, I’ll have to do some research on magic in the afternoon.
I had learned a lot from Aren.
However, as soon as I had such thoughts, the plant in my inventory suddenly groaned.
[Witch…witch.]
“What?”
I quickly took the flowerpot out of my inventory, and saw that it was shriveled and shaking.
[It hurts…]
“It hurts?”
[Mhm. I’m tired…]
Come to think of it, the flowerpot itself is limited.
After all, this is the modern world, so I had no choice but to create a temporary environment using aether crystals and material from other worlds.
I must take proper measures.
“Damn it. What should I do?”
The White Witch’s library simply wrote ‘desirable environment,’ it didn’t say what to do if a situation like this happens.
The library is just a search skill.
However, the Client who is knowledgeable in this area, quickly gave me an answer.
< Move it to a magic rich environment so the spirit can breath. >
< Contact with any materials good for the spirit can improve its health. >
“…Those are good ideas.”
Good, but it’s a real headache with all the work that needs to be done on Earth.
Dimensional Returnee, unknown mages that may exist on Earth, and the creation of my own swordsmanship that has attracted masters.
For the time being, all of these things are stable, but eventually, I will need strength.
And in order to gain strength, I have to hunt protagonists like what I’ve been doing.
“How bad is it?”
[Very…]
In the first place, the Silver Spiritual Flower is from another world.
It’s not suitable in a modern environment, so even if I hid it in my inventory as much as possible, in the end, it has its limits.
I don’t know if the flower can bloom and become a spirit since it’s still too fragile to survive.
“Give me the list of missions.”
Taking in a hangover cure, I equipped my aether dispenser while boiling water for the ramen.
As expected, when I checked the list, numerous missions appeared.
Let’s think about it.
Wherever it may be, a place related to magic should be the best if I want to get good materials for spirits.
< Don’t choose human-type worlds. >
< Worlds that have races contrary to common sense can provide a better environment for the spirits. >
“What do you mean?”
< So far, most of the worlds you’ve been to had been similar to Earth. >
< But remember, there are many worlds that are not. >
Meaning, there are worlds with environments different from Earth’s.
“Um…”
Surely such a world will have many more interesting things than a world of ordinary mages.
[I’m suffocating. Save me…]
“Hang in there. I’m looking for a good place right now.”
[Dying…]
“You won’t die.”
[You’ll die instead of me…]
“Why are you turning this around?”
While searching for a relevant world in the ‘system’s worlds’ mission list, one stood out to me.
It was the world of a level 61 protagonist.
#DawnFairies_Don’t_Dream
#Fantasy #Dream #Strategic #Fractured #Forbidden_Love
…The hashtags were strange.
Dream, forbidden love, strategic, and fractured?
In the first place, it’s quite difficult to understand the system’s hashtags.
Soon, I picked up my phone and changed the status of my messenger.
I’ll be leaving today, so I won’t be in touch.
It was convenient to do this because there are still many things to talk about with other people.
“Taylor. Have some ramen. I’m leaving for awhile.”
Suddenly, Taylor rose up, crawled over, and grabbed my arm.
“…So. Are you going to a strange place?”
Said Taylor, with her eyes wide open.
Knowing her for 15 years, that tone, I can tell she’s only half awake.
“It’s urgent.”
“…Do you really have to go?”
“Yes.”
“Okay…”
Hearing my answer, Taylor laid back on the floor.
Somehow, I’m worried.
Such an unfamiliar feeling felt strange to me.
I placed the ramen beside her, then spoke to the Client.
“Let’s go.”
[Traveling to Dream Island. The world of the Level 61 protagonist, Hanniel.]
My discord is Yasi#9824 if you need to contact me for anything.
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