CH 38

20. Start (3)

In the beginning plain, a skinny old tree stood tall in the middle. It casted sharp shadows that divided into several branches.

“You can rest here today.” Baek Hae-Won said as he looked around the old tree. He then put down the square case that was hanging from his waist on the floor.

When Ye-Hyeon pressed the red button, a bright red flame rose from the middle of the object. The fire is much stronger than the common hunter bonfires and yet, it is heatless.

Ye-Hyeon, who approached the fire, also opened a palm-sized case.

Large sleeping bags and blankets popped out through the narrow entrance.

Hunters used compressed products in small cases to store essential camping supplies and minimize luggage.

“I’m fascinated every time I use it.” Ye-Hyeon, stated.

How the hell did they make it? Most of them use these things and throw them away because they can’t be forced back in; but the high-end cases are not only smaller but could also be compressed again. The products are pricey however., so It is common to hire a porter to carry potions and cases.

Ye-Hyeon looked under the blazing flame. The simple bonfire used by Baek Hae-Won did not seem disposable.

“Don’t go back to the back of the tree. There is trash there.” Baek Hae-Won stated.

Ye-Hyeon looked in the direction Baek Hae-Won pointed to.

There were traces of detritus and monster carcasses left behind by previous hunters.

Darkness soon settled everywhere.

Inside the gate, the body did not decay even though time passed by.

It would have been terrible if the smell of blood alone made him gag. Thankfully he is tougher than that and he can tolerate the smell of rotting bodies.

Thanks to this, the spoils collection team was able to safely collect useful things in the best condition.

Yoon Seung-Jae slumped at Baek Hae-Won’s words.

He seemed to be going around the tree.

Since the gate disappeared as soon as it was cleared, there was no need to clean up afterward.

Any garbage that was left behind also disappeared, so the hunters guild took advantage of this phenomena by starting a garbage disposal business. Sub par F-class hunters, who gave up facing monsters, got a job at the company that was subcontracted by the association and took charge of the chores. They often carried trash into the dungeon to be disposed of.

This kind of work is one of the biggest money makers for the guild.

Of course, these ‘laborers’ are not well perceived amongst other hunters. It is often said that only those who fall behind the F-class do it.

Ye-Hyeon cleared his head by tapping his palm on the simple bonfire.

“How did the four of you end up partying? I know this is rude, but you don’t seem to be very close to each other,” Baek Hae-Won asked Ye-Hyeon while closing the water bottle.

“We’re close.” Ye-Hyeon responded cautiously. The question is rude, he thinks..

“Hyung,” Yoon Seung-Jae asked as he placed his head on Ye-Hyeon’s shoulder.

Yoon Seung-Jae however with his armor is too heavy for Ye-Hyeon and it caused him to stumble.

“Oh, sorry,” Yoon Seung-Jae apologized.

“It’s not you. I just…missed a step…” Ye-Hyeon said.

The excuse is ridiculous but he will not look like a weakling even though he was ungracefully sprawled on the floor.

Yoon Seung-Jae looked at Ye-Hyeon with pitiful eyes.

“I told you it’s a misstep.” Ye-Hyeon insisted.

“That’s possible.”

Yoon Seung-Jae’s expression went beyond pity and turned sorrowful.

Baek Hae-Won laughed quietly, maybe because of the ridiculous conversations.

“I know. It happened somehow. I didn’t even know Baek Hae-Won would help me as a mentor.” Ye-Hyeon said as he shrugged his shoulders lightly.

Baek Hae-Won smiled brightly, though a little unwillingly.

“We should get closer from now on. Yoon Seung- Jae and I didn’t get along well at first. Right?” Ye-Hyeon stated.

“Hold on.” Baek Hae-Won replied.

Yoon Seung-Jae snorted when Ye-Hyeon hit his shoulder with his elbow, but he didn’t deny it.

Ye-Hyeon fiddled with his earlobes, conscious of Kwon Joo-Ho sitting across the bonfire.

Ye-Hyeon is not sure if he can get close to Kwon Joo-Ho just because they are in the same party; but right now Shin Do-Gyeom was more of a problem than Kwon Joo-Ho.

Shin Do-Gyeom was grooming his bow far enough that Ye-Hyeon wondered if Shin Do-Gyeom could feel the warmth of the fire. No one paid any attention to Shin Do-Gyeom while the others were conversing except for Ye-Hyeon. Whether Ye-Hyeon likes it or not, he’s a party member who will live and die with them in the future. He was worried if Shin Do-Gyeom thought of him as a good colleague.

Unexpectedly, Kwon Joo-Ho is more cooperative than Shin Do-Gyeom.

It’s still an acorn height measurement but more cooperative nonetheless.

Ye-Hyeon scratched his head and sighed.

“Baek Hae-Won. How long do you think it’ll take to clean up?” Yoon Seung-Jae asked.

“Well, at this rate, it’ll take about two nights and three days.” Baek Hae-Won replied.

“It takes that long?”

“When you are more experienced, you’ll get faster and finish it in a day.”

Baek Hae-Won calmly comforted Yoon Seung-Jae, who was disappointed.

Baek Hae-Won was a little kinder to Yoon Seung-Jae.

“Shall we do the night watch by age?” Baek Hae-Won asked.

“Starting from me to Kwon Joo-Ho and Ye-Hyeon, let’s play rock-paper-scissors to decide the other person tomorrow.”

Baek Hae-Won could have passed the night watch on the pretext of being a mentor to his juniors, but he was very sincere.

“Let’s do that.” Ye-Hyeon said as other people seemed to have no objection.

The party members were cooperative, so the future was bright.

“I’ll do the night watch instead of Ye-Hyeon.” Yoon Seung-Jae interjected.

Ye-Hyeon thought it was all sorted out, but Yoon Seung-Jae objected out of nowhere.

“What? Never mind. You don’t have to.” Ye-Hyeon refuted.

Ye-Hyeon felt a stinging gaze from the side as he tried to dissuade Yoon Seung-Jae.

Ye-Hyeon turned his head because he thought Kwon Joo-Ho was staring, but it was Shin Do-Gyeom, not Kwon Joo-Ho.

“Is there a problem, Shin Do-Gyeom?”

From the look on his face, it is clear that he is annoyed, but Ye-Hyeon doesn’t know why.

Ye-Hyeon was nervous about losing intimacy points from Shin Do-Gyeom, but fortunately the status Window was quiet.

“You lack physical strength. What if you fall? That’s more of a nuisance.” Yoon Seung-Jae said.

“No, Yoon Seung-Jae. You keep treating me like I’m fragile, but I’m healthy. A night or two of guarding is easy.” Ye-Hyeon replied.

“Hyung?” Yoon Seung-Jae glanced at Ye-Hyeon with a distrustful look.

Although Ye-Hyeon constantly appealed from the time he spent almost 24 hours at the camp, Yoon Seung-Jae stuck to the wrong belief that “Choi Ye-Hyeon is a weakling.”

Once Yoon Seung-Jae insisted, no one can change his belief.

Ye-Hyeon looked at Baek Hae-Won with a pleading look, but Baek Hae-Won shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t care. You two should agree.” Baek Hae-Won said.

“Arrangements are clear then.” Yoon Seung-Jae firmly stated

“Hey…” Ye-Hyeon tried to protest but Yoon Seung-Jae ignored Ye-Hyeon’s and he pushed recklessly.

“..You have to wake me up, not Yoon Seung-Jae” Ye-Hyeon sighed deeply.

“Seung-Jae is good at following Ye-Hyeon.”

“I’m taking good care of you.”

Yoon Seung-Jae raised his chin and bragged.

Ye-Hyeon wanted to hit Yoon Seung-Jae’s head, who was pretentious, but he held it in.

Ye-Hyeon gave up and ate beef jerky.

In the veteran’s camp, the experienced hunters often bring their luggage for newbies, so they can eat a variety of meals, but beef jerky was usually the staple food unless they were accompanied by a porter.

This Beef jerky was not hard and tough.

Koreans who are serious about eating end up making delicious beef jerky.

K- Beef jerky boasts a soft texture that makes you mistake it for well-baked beef when you close your eyes and chew it.

In addition, new products such as kimchi, cheese, and seasoned chicken flavors poured out almost every month, which was popular not only with hunters but also with ordinary people.

There was a joke that Korea’s best invention was beef jerky.

Still, Ye-Hyeon couldn’t help but get tired of eating beef jerky for three meals a day.

‘I want to eat the hot soup, but it was a luxury to hire a porter at a Class C gate.’ Ye-Hyeon thought.

By the time they get to Gate B, the porters who ask you to take them will line up on their own.

‘It feels weird to think about hiring a porter,’ Ye-Hyeon thought about opening and closing the inventory window.

There are still only five compartments, but if Ye-Hyeon used the ‘Inventory’ skill, he could at least travel more comfortably than now.

It was difficult to put things in and out of the air and use them secretly.

He needs to tell Yoon Seung-Jae, Shin Do-Gyeom, and Kwon Joo-Ho that he has a space ability.

The problem was Baek Hae-Won. It wouldn’t matter if Baek Hae-Won is a target, but if he is not, then it is better if he remains ignorant of his talent.

Even if it was uncomfortable, Ye-Hyeon thought he would have to hide it a little more for the time being.

Ye-Hyeon needs to get inside a barrier quickly to feel stable.

“Do they usually get a barrier?” Ye-Hyeon replied.

“Yes. it’s usually learned after the treatment ability.”

Even if you have the same job, the initial skills appear differently for each person, but there were skills that were often seen in similar fields.

If you are a tanker, you must have one of the passive ones, provocation, increased defense, and damage mitigation. Barriers seemed to be included in the healer’s early skills.

Ye-Hyeon doesn’t know what kind of skill it is, but just by hearing the name, he thought it would fit him better than the attack skill.

“Hmm…”

Ye-Hyeon was lost in thought.

What is the probability that a barrier skill will appear by randomly picking a skill?

It was safe to say that there was no possibility.

Having healing skills, Ye-Hyeon could pretend to be a mutant healer even if he couldn’t learn Barrier but get a strange subspace ability instead.

However, to keep up with the growth of party members, who will become S-class hunters in the future, they definitely needed a means to protect themselves.

“Defense would be better than poor attack skills. He was still leaning towards the attack skill, but for now, surviving was the top priority.”

‘I need to get affection points…!’ Ye-Hyeon thought.

Ye-Hyeon knew, but he couldn’t take any action.

His conscience did not allow him to get a love point from Yoon Seung-Jae, a minor.

If so, the only target left was Shin Do-Gyeom, but Shin Do-Gyeom’s intimacy fell vertically even if Ye-Hyeon only breathed.

“Then why don’t you…!”

Ye-Hyeon swallowed a sigh by alternating between Baek Hae-Won, who smiles, and Kwon Joo-Ho, who is blunt.

Shizun:      In my mind Kwon Joo-Ho is already in love with Ye-Hyeon. Is it just me?

Grimnoire: Puppy love for sure.