A Partner Only for Me (2)

Na YuNa and Kang HaJin received the attention of many as soon as they arrived at Incheon airport since they were a handsome & pretty couple before they were ability users. Especially, Na YuNa's beauty had transcended humanity, so it was normal for gazes to be gathered on her.

"The two of you, please come this way."

The man who had experience fighting the shadow leopard with Yu IlHan once, Fred, greeted them. They proudly received the gazes on them and left the terminal on Fred's guide. When the awaiting limousine opened, there was a prior quest.

"Did you acquire it?"

She, who brought out her business before any greeting, was the Empress, Kang MiRae. Wearing a black-based robe, and instead of the mask that she wore while fighting with Yu IlHan, she was hiding her face with sunglasses.

"Of course."

"He sounds so reliable, but in fact, HaJin got thraaashed."

"Na YuNa!"

The always-honest Na YuNa revealed Kang HaJin's humiliation for all to see. Kang HaJin tried to stop her, but the water was already spilt.

Kang MiRae first let them in the car and expressed her confusion after facing them with her sunglasses off.

"You acquired them, but you got thrashed?"

"Listen, listen, MiRae."

"Phew…"

Now that it came to this, there was no method to stop her. Kang HaJin could only obediently endure the replay of his dark history.

"...A Korean who uses a spear? His name is Yu IlHan?"

"He also used things like pile bunkers. Feyta said that he's the strongest on Earth right now. And probably in the future too."

"If that angel said so, then it must be true. Yes, hmm."

Kang MiRae answered like that after listening to Na YuNa's story and put on her sunglasses again. Then, she turned her head away from her and fixed her gaze outside the window.

"Anyway, thanks. Thanks to you, I can now advance to 2nd class."

"So you got all the rest! But MiRae, why did you turn your head so abruptly?"

"I only wanted to see the scenery outside."

"Is there anything interesting outsiiiide?"

Na YuNa got close to Kang MiRae and looked outside the window. However, only the unchanging roads could be seen. Looking at that, Kang HaJin thought 'perhaps?' and asked.

"Do you know him?"

"No, bother. I'm hearing of him for the first time."

Kang MiRae answered in a calm tone.

"But hearing that he's stronger than me, I'm a little curious. Well, of course, he will get left behind by me soon."

"As stubborn as always, eh."

"Such MiRae is cute too!"

"Hey, you're being annoying."

However, even though she said it was annoying, Kang MiRae didn't push Na YuNa away. They were childhood friends and ones who had to be separated for ten years when they lived all their life together due to multiversal circumstances. A slightly overboard skinship was a good method to bring back their awkward relationship.

"Anyway, after that, I became curious about that person. But I told him to give me his number, but he didn't give me one until the end!"

"He didn't, fu."

"Yeah. ...Mirae, didn't you just laugh at me?"

"No."

"Riiight? Rather than that, let's drink beer. Beer!"

"After we go home, and I do my 2nd class advancement."

"Yaaay!"

The delightfully cheering Na YuNa, and the vaguely complying Kang MiRae. Seeing that the girls were as ever, Kang HaJin sighed in relief and laid back on his chair. Then, he thought back to Yu IlHan, who disappeared just before they got on board the airplane.

He thought back to Yu IlHan's various abilities, with every single one of them strong.

'It's alright. My strengths aren't only on fighting strength. Don't belittle yourself, Kang HaJin. Jealousy will only make me look puny. I only have to do what I'm best at.'

There will come a day where he will put Yu IlHan under him. Then, it was no different from him winning. Imagining such scenes, Kang HaJin closed his eyes.

The limousine was heading to the destination smoothly and quickly.

Meanwhile, Yu IlHan was roughly and quickly running towards his house. He was thirty times faster than that limousine.

"I'm back!"

From Incheon airport to Jongno, where he lives, he took less than ten minutes to traverse tens of kilometres before opening the door to his house proudly.

However, his father didn't seem to have come back from work as his shoes weren't present, and his mother had gone somewhere after leaving a post-it on the dining table.

Yu IlHan read the post-it.

[I heard there was some fresh seafood so I'm going on a quest to Ya'umin. I'll be back before dinner!]

"Wao."

Yu IlHan already got inflicted with Na YuNa's speech tone, even though he hadn't heard it that much. Ya'umin, if there wasn't the word 'quest' then he might have mistaken her for going to some market.

'Is my mother actually quite strong?'

His father always grumbled every day, saying monsters were frightening, I have no talent and I'm weak and whatnot, but didn't his mother have anything like that? At least, it was clear that she was more talented than his father. If not, then she wouldn't have gone to another world so light-heartedly.

Looking forward to the seafood for dinner, Yu IlHan washed his sticky body clean before directly going to his workshop.

He waved his hand at the Eternal Flame, which greeted Yu IlHan by flickering violently, and he went into work that he had not done. It was the dismantling job that he hadn't finished.

"I might have to throw away all this meat."

Although the rotting speed was very slow compared to the meat of other animals since it had mana dwelling in it, and the materials that made it up were different in the first place, even monster meat rotted. Most of them were fine right now, but since had hunted so many, it seemed very difficult to eat them all before they went bad.

'Should I ask them to apply a rot-proof function on the Cross Bag?'

Yu IlHan thought that before realizing one fact.

'Can't I do it myself?'

However, he soon threw away that thought. The options on the Cross Bag were only made with several angels working together. Since he can't use mana yet and didn't have a high level of mana crafting, he would be too incapable to challenge it.

Especially, since the difficulty was raised as it went against the physical laws, it was wise to give up quickly.

Yu IlHan ardently dismantled the Flame Lizards, trolls, and the scorpions. He first separated the meat by species, and using the vacuum packager that he prepared for such moments, he packaged them and returned them to the Cross Bag before separating a separate portion to put inside the refrigerator at home.

He decided to throw away a large amount of meat which remained even after all that. It wasn't like he would never hunt monsters in his life again. There was no need to get obsessed.

'Wait, it's a bit of a waste to throw it all away.'

Yu IlHan asked while looking at the Eternal Flame.

"Do you eat meat as well?"

He felt as if the Eternal Flame had nodded. No, in fact, even if it didn't, that didn't matter!

Laughing with a 'fufu', Yu IlHan took out a frying pan. He was thinking of getting Cooking Skill experience, albeit a little, by cooking the remaining meat. The Eternal Flame can just swallow the cooked meat and he wouldn't have to worry about throwing it away, so it was perfect!

For 3 hours after that, Yu IlHan cooked. 'Cooking' was just simply grilling the meat, but as the amount was huge, his cooking skill increased by 2.

The Eternal Flame wordlessly (even though it can't speak) swallowed all the meat, and the horrifying pile of meat was all gone like that. If someone else saw it, that person would be dumbfounded and would not be able to say anything.

And when he processed all of that meat, what was left was their bones, carapace, skin and tendons. Even though he had gathered the byproducts after removing all the meat, they still weighed over ten tons in total. Thinking that he should take it a little easier on his hunt starting next time, Yu IlHan went into work.

He first experimented with whether he could make a Giant's Rubber Band with the tendons of the trolls and the flame lizards, but the results weren't that positive.

The ones from flame lizards were no good at all, and with the trolls, they did acquire elasticity like the shadow leopard's tendons when he heated them, but it didn't exceed the shadow leopard's tendons. He felt that he would be able to exceed the black leopard's tendons if he heated a little more, but they reached the critical point and burned before they could.

"Then."

Yu IlHan's gaze turned to the Highland Troll Boss's muscles. The possibility was plenty. He immediately grabbed a string of tendons with tongs and put it inside the fire.

"You remember that temperature from just now, right?"

*Flicker*. The Eternal Flame burned bigger as if to answer him.

Staring holes at the tendon that heated in the fire, he concentrated.

Through the several hundred years of training, he realized that he should be serious in whatever work he did that required him to work with fire. Anyone would become serious if they experienced the feeling of emptiness when everything turns into naught due to a moment of carelessness. This was also the reason why Yu IlHan respected chefs.

The tendon glowed red. He had already seen this scene when he heated the trolls' tendons. However, before their properties completely changed, they burnt away.

What was important was now. Would the Troll Boss's tendon be able to endure the Eternal Flame and achieve mutation? Yu Ilhan watched with a thumping heart.

The tendon became redder and redder. Yu IlHan could see with his eyes that it wasn't simply heating up, but the structure was changing. Of course, it didn't burn in vain. Well, there was a huge difference in endurance between 2nd class and 3rd class.

Success. Yu IlHan was assured. He could make another Giant's Rubber Band after the black leopard!

However, that was it. The moment thought it was about to succeed, the tendon lost its red colour and returned white. Yu IlHan's tension loosened.

"As expected, is there a limit to simple heating?"

Maybe the problem laid in the fact that he had only used one method in creating new material.

Eternal Flame, in the end, was a flame. It was clear that the Highland Troll Boss's tendons had the possibility of mutation, but perhaps there might be something else required to bring out that change.

At that moment, the Eternal Flame burned blue and enveloped the tendon. While doing that, a streak of flame that separated from its main streak flickered as if licking with its tongue.

Yu IlHan thought 'maybe' and asked.

"Do I need to feed it something?"

A positive movement. Yu IlHan took out a few 2nd class magic stones which he acquired after finishing the dismantling and put them in his bag, and unhesitantly threw it. The Eternal Flame ate those magic stones as if it had waited for them and burned brighter.

In the blue flames, the tendons gradually turned redder. It seemed to glow gradually before eventually became scarlet and shrank in volume. Seeing a clearer change than the time he made the Giant's Rubber Band with the black leopard's tendons, Yu IlHan shouted with his fist gripped tight.

"So, Eternal Flame is the best and I don't need anything else!"

Re-realizing the OPness of the Eternal Flame, he took out the Giant's Rubber Band from the furnace (T/N: I might have translated that as a fireplace before… pfft a fireplace is a smithy…I must be crazy) That, which changed so much to the point that its original characteristics were all but gone, had a unique shine to it to make it look high-class.

It was more elastic than the black leopard's and had higher durability as well. It was the birth of a perfect Giant's Rubber Band.

'Would she come back when I make a new weapon with this?'

Yu IlHan thought of Erta. He also thought of Lita's figure, but he decided to put her aside for the time being.

'I wish she'd come quickly and attach about 9 options to the Cross Bag.'

It should be fine for him to ask for 100 options… With a humble mind, Yu IlHan picked up the hammer.

From now was the delightful time of equipment-creating labour.

Meanwhile, the two angels he thought of were coincidentally in the same place; as a participant of the meeting held by angels.

[As a result of the investigation, it was found out that Reta Kar'iha was an intelligent species, an elf, of the world, 'Daréu'.] (T/N: Shit… accents… that's gonna be a pain.) (E/N: That sound like a you problem)

[Ah, I remember meeting her when I was in charge of that world. She was a talented child. That world's history might have changed if she was born 500 years earlier.]

[Daréu is an Abandoned World. Just why did she appear in a dungeon on Earth? No, how did Earth get connected with an Abandoned World?]

[Is it related to the overlap of the Traps of Destruction?]

When the angels spoke a line each, the place turned noisy. The angel in the position of a chairman tapped the table and summed up the situation.

[There are two big questions regarding this incident. One, how did a portion of an Abandoned World get connected with a dungeon on Earth. Two, why did it happen in a dungeon where the Traps of Destruction overlapped?]

[Chairman, are you doubting your fellow angels?]

[As a possibility, yes. If the human Yu IlHan didn't kill Reta Kar'iha, then Erta and Feyta would have meaninglessly lost their lives. In the worst case, there's even a possibility that Earth and the Abandoned World will get mixed up.]

[Wait.]

At that moment, another angel interjected.

[Did you say that a human killed Reta Kar'iha?]

[I did.] (Chairman)

[A human on Earth? By himself?]

[He wasn't alone. A human called Na YuNa was there too.] (Feyta)

[Is that possible? It has only been two months since the Great Cataclysm ocurred on Earth. A single human defeated a 3rd class Breaker?]

[Like I said, Na YuNa too.] (Feyta)

The meeting place turned noisy in an instant. Feyta ended up becoming silent as she became shy since she was ignored twice.

[How is that possible? Isn't that human suspicious instead?]

[If there was someone behind this incident, isn't that human the one who we should be suspecting?]

[Shut up all of you, my IlHan only became strong thanks to going through hellish suffering!]

Lita exploded and shouted.

[He's a good child!] (Lita)

[Some angels were with Yu IlHan all the time. There is no room for doubt. What we should give him are rewards, not suspicion.](Chairman)

[You're right. He protected me and Feyta, and in that process, defeated the Breaker with exceptional ability. Also, regarding his exceptional ability, angel Lita should have submitted a report already.]

Lita's words were quite off, but fortunately, the chairman and Erta correctly expressed their opinions, so the suspicion that was about to be given to Yu IlHan was safely avoided. The angels who didn't like Yu IlHan since before clicked their tongues, but there were plenty who liked him in that place. None were stubbornly claiming again.

[At this point of time, we cannot come to any conclusion. Therefore, I suggest that we increase the number of angels dispatched to Earth by four times to investigate the situation on Earth in detail.] (Chairman)

With the chairman's declaration, the venue turned noisy.

[Four times? Earth is just a tiny world where only the First Great Cataclysm occurred. Aren't we being too serious?]

[Can't we just close Earth if a problem occurs? I think we are just putting angels at risk. The Army of Heaven is not infinite.] (T/N: Army of Heaven is the group's name, hence capitalized) (T/N: I do not know what this guy means by 'close'. The word used here is different from 'abandon' from Abandoned World)

[You're right. Let's not invest so much fighting power in a mere small world.]

There were a lot of angels who objected. However, the number of those who agreed numbered much more.

[No, Earth has too many connections with other worlds. We cannot rashly close it.]

[I shall agree. It looks interesting.]

[I also agree. Whether big or small, First Great Cataclysm or Third Great Cataclysm, a world has the right to exist.]

[I think it should be fine if we pull some veterans out of the completely stabilized worlds.]

[I agree.]

[Agreed! Completely agree! Please accept place of work application!]

There was no room for doubt as to who wanted to apply for a place of work. The chairman's suggestion instantly acquired more than half of the votes and was passed.

[There's something I should tell you which is not related to this. Lord God had considered the characteristics of Earth and decided to give benefits to a few humans belonging to Earth with outstanding ability to reclaim the balance of the world. Like a few angels including Erta and Feyta are doing, from now on, a few angels will take the role as a human's guardian angel.]

[The probability to reach the center of the incident would increase if we stay next to strong humans.]

[Although I don't want to meddle with a lower existence, oh well.] (T/N: Guardian angels were useless though…?)

The meeting finished around there. The angels prepared to leave.

The chairman seemed to want to talk more seeing that the angels were going away in such a hurry, but since the chairman was aware that many things were only at the suspecting stage, the chairman only said this. (T/N: Sorry, I don't know whether this angel is male or female…)

[Watch over Earth. Although I do not want it, If it gets connected to an Abandoned World again, then the situation will become out of hand.]

[Just why did it come to this when we have planned to connect Earth to other worlds to avoid a commotion, I wonder…]

[Why did the connection become so strong? Now we can't even sever it like we want. Shit.]

[Are there any good ones amongst the returnees…]

The angels scattered in an instant, excluding a few to decide the rewards that will be given to Yu IlHan.

[What would make my IlHan happy?]

[Rather than what makes him happy, shouldn't we give him something that can help him?]

[M-my YuNa too. She worked hard as well!]

Hearing the conversation between the poor angel Lita, and the strict mother-like Erta, which blew away all the serious atmosphere from just now, the chairman angel, Myuta, ended up laughing.

[On my, Myuta's, authority, I promise him the best rewards. Lita, I will accept your stubbornness.]

[Myuta, really? Thank you so much!]

[Myuta-nim, why?]

While Lita became honestly happy, Erta tilted her head. It was because Myuta was known for always keeping neutrality with a fair and strict mind.

Myuta seemed to think a bit at Erta's question, before replying, shrugging.

[I only execute God's wills. Allowing an unbalance for the balance of Earth. That's it. Also,]

[Also?]

[I think that rather than the 7.4 billion returnees, 1 dropout will probably approach the core of the problem.]

At Myuta's words, the angels lost their words. If Yu IlHan was present, then he would have shouted 'fucking foreshadow!', but unfortunately, he was ardently smacking metal in his workshop right now.