The Start of the Ripples

[Thursday FEB. 22, 2024]

Opening my eyes as if I just closed my eyes just a few seconds ago and now its morning as I see my clock that is about to alarm.

"Still blank huh."

I did my morning routine shower, eat, train and shower again before going to class. The classes will always be the same now in my perspective especially the theory and history ones, without any apparent practicality in the field. I've already sent the ginseng to Suho as he just thank me with a warm/wry? Smile on his face before the class starts, as he reminded me again that I don't need to pay them since we're friends as all I need to do is ask.

Since he said that I shamefully ask him if we can spar or train after class as I want to try something with my constructs as he agree to it immediately saying my unpredictability in battle also help him to in his swordsmanship.

After class ended Suho just said that we should just meet at the forest biome since it's cooler there in this month as people are now starting to now use the Fitness Centers as he wants our spars and powers/techniques to not be exposed to everybody since there is still exams in Combats. Before going out I noticed that the seeds that I've planted last night have already sprouted questioning whether it is normal in here or due to me injecting my powers in it.

"Interesting."

Noting down the Idea that pop on my mind on my smartwatch notes before going out the door and starts walking to our designated training place with Suho as it seems Yonghan won't be there since he still have his class rep. duty.

[Change of POV KIM HAJIN]

"Ah, I can't wait."

I was currently at Angel Box, a coffee shop near Seoul. I was waiting for an item at this place. For the record, cadets were able to use Portals 5~6 times a month as long as they filled out a form.

Time passed by. 5:29:55… 5:29:56… 5:30:00.

At exactly the promised time, the shop's door opened.

…

..

.

"Here's the item. Please take a look."

…

..

.

I opened the suitcase.

Click. Click.

With an elegant sound, the case opened. A brilliant light erupted from the inside.

"…Wow."

…

..

.

"Thank you. You can go now."

[Desert Eagle]

[Quick Timeskip]

"…170,000 won?"

"Yes. From Seoul to Gangwondo Wonju, it's 170,000 won."

"Customer, there are people waiting in line."

…

..

.

Gangwondo Wonju's scenery could be summarized with just a sentence.

"So many foreigners."

Just like in my setting, Wonju was a global city.

Hearing a clumsy Korean being spoken, I couldn't help but laugh.

As I look around and hear their conversations.

"Take this. You'll feel better afterward. It's a troll blood potion."

"Ah, thank you. But have that guy will ever go back in doing what he did before?"

I Immediately lock on those people when I hear those words since it seems that there something happened in Gangwondo for them to gossip.

"I don't Know I've heard in the news that Cube or the Association will now manage on who he will help recover with compensation saying that it is for his personal safety."

"Well that sucks since we can really save up some money then since it is still cheaper than potions that help us recover after the hunt."

"Yeah, there are a lot of people looking for him when he suddenly stops coming here, especially Guys."

"Yeah!, I heard a rumor that its not only their body recovered from wounds some even found out that they also recover their stamina and some says that the guys recovery also helps with their 'stamina'."

[eyebrows] *wiggle* *wiggle*

""Hahahaha….""

I immediately turn my eyes away from them when their discussion starts to turn vulgar. But I'm pretty sure the one they are talking about is Yu Jin since he's the only guy I know which I do not know really.

"Now that I think about it, I really know nothing about him except for the obvious and what he'd said to me."

Making him a wildcard in these story like me as he can affect the story as I now often see him with Suho and Yonghan. I even see him getting along with everyone and seems will soon get along with the other side characters like Rachel, Yeonha, and Nayun, or at the least don't antagonize him contrary to me which make me slightly pissed off since we are both extra's but why our standings are different?

*Haaaah…*

Sighing with those emotions I continue my walk through the streets as I see the world that I've created.

I continued walking and before I noticed, I was at the entrance of the 'Field.' There were many people already waiting nearby. I would have to go to Hamgyong Province if I wanted to hunt in a quiet place, but Hamgyong province was too dangerous for the current me.

"Excuse me?"

Just when I was about to enter, someone struck up a conversation.

It was a tall, average-looking man with slightly slouched shoulders and circular glasses.

I didn't know him. He was likely an agent.

"Yes?"

"Are you perhaps here to hunt monsters?"

"…Are you an agent?"

"Ah, yes, here's my business card."

I took the business card for now. I didn't know who he was, but an agent was necessary to sell monsters' bodies.

But when I looked at the name and the company logo written on the business card, I doubted my eyes.

[SH Agent Head Manager, Park Soohyuk]

"… Mr. Park Soohyuk?"

"Ah, yes, nice to meet you."

The man smiled as he tidied up his clothes.

Park Soohyuk. I knew who he was. Indeed, he looked similar to how I described him in my novel.

Park Soohyuk should be the most-appearing agent in the novel, as SH Agent would become Korea's greatest agency.

"Haha, you might not have heard of me. I started this work not too long ago."

But for now, he seem to be doing averagely well.

I smiled.

Connections were one of the most important aspects of life. A person's future was often the result of ill-relationships and good-relationships one made.

As this world was still in its early stage, there were many who were currently weak but would become prosperous in the future. The best way to get close to a famous person was to become friends before that person became famous.

"SH Agent, I don't think I've heard of it before…"

The only thing that bothered me was that this connection was supposed to be Kim Suho's.

But since agents usually had multiple clients, it was probably fine.

"It feels like a trustworthy name."

"Hahaha, thank you but are you sure you haven't heard of us before even though we're relatively new we still have made a slight ripple since we have a few hunters now than the last few weeks. Especially with the help of rising popularity of Yu Jin a CUBE Cadet which is acquainted with our company"

Hearing his pitch make my smile cracked as I heard the name of Yu Jin escaped in the mouth of Park Soohyuk's as I see him look at me with confused eyes from what I've said not knowing their agency. As it seems Yu Jin already beat me to the punch in connections even though he practically knows nothing of the story.

"Ah, by the way…"

"My main weapon is a gun. Is that okay?"

"I don't think why that would be a problem. Gun or sword, mercenary or hunter, it doesn't matter to me! New customers are always welcome!"

Park Soohyuk put his hand out with a bright smile.

With that in mind, I walked into the Field.

Park Soohyuk followed me from behind. It seemed he want to see what I can do. I ask if he was in a desperate time since considering the fact that agents without a vehicle usually waited outside the Field only to be politely refuted as he explained that they seems to invest more on magic pouch for now for trade reasons.

"Ah, there's one there."

After about 30 minutes of wandering around, we finally encountered a monster.

A large body and protruding teeth, it was a low-rank grade 9 monster called an iron hog. The 'iron' part of its name wasn't because it was covered in iron, but because its skin was stronger than iron.

"I think we should ignore that one."

When I began to approach it, Park Soohyuk held me back. I asked.

"Why?"

"…Yes?"

Park Soohyuk's eyes seemed to say, 'Do I need to explain this too?'

"You can't kill an iron hog with a gun. Even piercing its outer skin will be difficult."

"But it's expensive."

"Yes?, Even if it's expensive, attacking it isn't a good since you don't know your baseline yet it's better to prioritize safety than profit especially if you've just started…"

"You'll just have to wait and see."

I took out my Desert Eagle and aimed it forward. The gun barrel shined under the blazing sun.

"W-W-Wait just one min—"

Park Soohyuk made a fuss in a fluster, but I didn't hesitate. I pulled the trigger. The bullet shot straight to the middle of the iron hog's head, and before the hog could even notice it, it tore through its iron-like skin. There was nothing it could do with its brain shot through. It helplessly fell down.

"Perfect."

Both the power of the weapon and my skill were satisfactory. I had struck the iron hog's vital point with pinpoint accuracy.

"…Wow. Amazing but still…"

Next to me, Park Soohyuk exclaimed in awe then hear a somewhat disappointed tone.

"So? Clean, isn't it?"

"Uh… That's a great gun! Your sharpshooting is amazing too."

"Haha, I'm flattered."

I've become jolly with his praise but I notice he has a frown on his face.

"But that was still dangerous for the both of us, as you recklessly attack a monster in your first hunt, even if it is safe here and we can ask for help for a fee that won't matter if you attack a monster you cannot kill remember we only have one life the money will come as long as we lived don't let a momentary greed affect you."

Lowering my head as my jolly mood breaks as he seemed to started lecturing me about safety and life in general.

"Why don't you try what Yu Jin do as he starts to get some experience with the weakest first then going stronger monsters from there as experience pile up?…"

I hurriedly spoke as I pointed at the iron hog's corpse just to stop his ramblings.

"S-so h-how much will this go for? It looks pretty expensive."

"Well, iron hogs are already pricey and since this corpse is in such a good condition, even after the fees, it should be at least 600… no, 800,000 won."

"Wow."

"Hold on. Let me store the corpse first."

Park Soohyuk took out a pouch from his bag. It should be a magical pouch with a space expansion magic.

Seeing him slightly struggle to put the hog in the pouch, I grabbed the hog's front leg.

"I'll help out."

"Ah, thank you."

"… This is really heavy."

But thinking about it now, my strength stat wasn't that high either.

"Uuk, uk, god."

"Wow, it really is heavy."

"Aren't you an agent? Should you have known this beforehand?"

"…You're right. Since all the hunters and Yu Jin can just haul it to the magic pouch I never bother helping them out."

"... Really?"

"..Yeah, I've only tell them where are the areas they can hunt after I've seen their prowess."

"I'll hold its hind legs. You hold the front. Wait, don't we have to carry the pouch around afterward?"

"Ah, don't worry, anything inside the pouch will have its weight cut in half"

"...Only Half?"

"Oh… This is an old one since I have attachments to it, the other ones we have are their weight only a quarter or eight of their weight and given to our affiliated hunters."

"Won't they run with it or sell those magic pouches?"

"No they won't as I know them and even if they did do it, it won't happen."

"Ugh."

"Uuu."

"Come on, put more strength into it."

"Sorry, I didn't have lunch…"

After an hour of groaning and moaning, we finally managed to stuff the hog in the pouch.

"Whew…"

…

..

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[Back To Yu Jin POV]

Kim Suho and I are now Sparring in a clearing within a forest it looks the usual sparring of the two of us except it looks like a fight to the death with a Illuminated chain that seemed tied between us.

Let go back for a bit…

As Suho and I met at our destination I immediately tell him of my Idea since just a normal sparring is already a usual for us three when we happen to meet each other in the training facility.

My Idea is I will connect my construct to him and then channel my Gift in those to help him in recovery while we spar. He seems skeptical at first but when we are connected and he tried a minor cut to his fingers it recovered almost instantly due to my gift and his power too. With few experiments here and there its proven that my idea worked very well.

Then Suho just suggested that our spar to level up with the help of my gift he said I don't need to hold back anymore and so did he as long as our attacks won't kill us immediately or my limbs being cut of is okay with his excuse that with my gift I can just recover making my heart to pump louder as he looks at me with his mischievous and somewhat sadistic smile.

The Sparring at first is just normal but then it became a battle as his sword and my staff started to make some few nicks and damage to the other as it became heated up we forget the time and only focus on our battle as he fully employs his swordsmanship to disable me with his cuts and thrusts. And me Finally making the battle for Suho as he not only need to be wary of my staff but with my constructs either from my staff or out from my body making it look he's fighting additional 4 spear-man plus me.

With my constructs I've given Suho some piercing wounds on his body especially in his limbs and sides but not that deep given with his sturdy qi reinforcement.

Few hours passed since the start of our spar that turned into battle as our clothes are bloodied and torn but no visible wounds on our body with my gift we are now staring at each other as I've backed up a bit since I feel that my mana is going low now.

"Should we end it now? It seems that the sun have already fallen awhile now."

"Yeah we should end this now."- Suho

Kim Suho Agreeing with me to end our fight seems to fix his stance then focus on me more looking that he will cut me soon. making me confused as it seems there is a misunderstanding somewhere as I ready myself too in case he attacked me suddenly.

…As we stood there waiting for something as I was about to speak to clear the misunderstanding, then a sudden gust of wind blow making Suho charge fiercely at me. making me panic as I immediately make the four constructs charge towards him only for him to weave through them as He attacks me. I too attack him being confident of my barrier's only to be shocked as he seems to just cut a barrier of mine making me hurriedly create more and stack those with my satellite's one only for it too to be just cut down. time seems to slow down as I see the sword slowly going down to my chest I immediately instructs my constructs to defend me with the help of Aether enhancing my constructs it was blocked and my staff hit his chest with my thrust thankfully with me being flustered there is now head construct on the tip of my staff that hit him as he cough only a few blood.

"Hey Suho, Seems I've even gotten stronger."

"Yes, *cough!* *Cough!* You did and I'm Happy for you. Ehem."

As I see my construct breaks into tiny motes of light and slowly blacking out as I've spent my mana in stacking those barriers in the last seconds for defence.

"Sorry Suho, you can leave me here if you have something to do since my mana seems to be empty now will be blacking out soon…."

I've said those with my sheer will just to let him know that is nothing wrong with me only mana exhaustion. Then I black out I just vaguely hear of "leave it to me Jin" from Suho before everything went black.