< OFF (1) >

"The installation is complete."

"Thank you very much![1]"

Finally, the pen for Peace was finished. I looked at Peace's new house with a pointlessly proud heart.

It had clean glass walls, air purification facilities and hot and cold rooms, and even a hardwood shelter, so rather than a beast pen, it seemed like a high-class smoking room. Thanks to taking up about half of the living room, it was incredibly large. If it was that much, it wouldn't be stifling even when he was alone.

Besides the pen, the inner door of the entrance was changed to a sturdier one. The whole glass in the living room was originally specially made glass so they said it would be okay.

As soon as the preparation was complete, I went straight to Yoohyun's greenhouse and brought Peace over. When I lowered him onto the living room, he was only awkward about the unfamiliar surroundings for a short moment, and soon started to explore, twitching the end of his nose.

"You can't bite the wires."

Though the wiring was very tidy, so there were barely any exposed parts.

"Later, an ahjussi is coming so don't bite him."

Yoo Myeongwoo had gone to his house to bring over his things. He was about the size of a cat, but Peace was at the level of a stat C-Rank and Myeongwoo was F-Rank so if the two fought, Yoo Myeongwoo would be KO'd[2] right away. I should be careful to make sure the two weren't alone together in one place.

-Geureureung!

Peace, who had continued on from the living room to inspect the kitchen, came over to my feet as if pleased and sprawled out on his back. As soon as I picked up that purring[3] thing, he clung on immediately as if he was just waiting to.

"Our Peace, how are you so cute."

How would I be able to starve him? Still, I couldn't not promote his growth. …Should I teach him Korean?

Carrying Peace, I went to sit on the sofa and turned on the TV. Light came on from the fairly large television hanging on the wall and a special broadcast came on. The backdrop was none other than the Hunter Association.

The reporter was loudly chattering about how a new Korean S-Rank Awakened Person would soon appear.

"Yerim must have gone to register as an Awakened Person."

It was only just noon, she went early. Soon after, the camera zoomed into a car coming into the Association parking lot. The car stopped and Haeyeon Guild A-Rank Hunter Kim Jiyeon came out of the driver's seat. Then, Yerim also appeared on the camera.

"She was sullen that I wouldn't be coming with but she looks fine."

Or was it because they did something for the screen? It was really great to see the expression overflowing with confidence.

All the way to the Association building and to the high rank measuring room, the camera persistently followed her from behind. Yerim's attitude while doing an interview before being measured was extremely natural to the point that it seemed like she was skilled at it. She was doing well.

"Peace, look at that. It's Yerim noona[4]. You'll see that noona often from now on."

I said, grabbing Peace's two front legs and waving them. The noona you have to be friendly with… wait, was 'noona' right?

'…What was Peace's sex again?'

I didn't check if he was female or male. I didn't hear anything from Yoohyun either. When I looked down at Peace's face, two round golden eyes looked back at me. Cute.

I couldn't tell from his appearance.

"Hm… Should I check really quick?"

I'd probably know if I turn him upside down."

"Peace, be good~. Let's lie down for a bit.

I lowered him to the sofa and lightly rolled him over. Peace, maybe thinking that we were playing, didn't really protest and wagged his tail. Let's see, this is the anus and… um… uh...

"...It's not there."

He had neither. What. Was it stored away? Did mammals also have stored forms? Of course, he was a monster so you couldn't expect normal common sense.

"Well, whatever."

Whether he was female or male, as long as he grew up strong and well, that was all that mattered. The small front paws grabbed my hand and chewed[5] painlessly. In response, I scratched the soft mane at his nape and stood up from my seat.

Now, I should slowly prepare to arrange my life funds.

-Keeahng

As soon as I moved to the room, Peace whined and quickly followed. I had no choice but to hold that guy, and turned on the computer.

I had dropped by the bank in the morning, and had completely organized my bankbook and even opened a new account for stocks. It should be okay if I left about 10 million won to use for the time being and invested the rest. I was thinking of first buying the pharmaceutical stocks that would be wildly successful in two months, and then placing the increased money here and there in places that would definitely be a hit.

There was no way that the future would be 100% the same so it would be better to divide up.

'The hair loss remedy would be developed properly, right?'

It was after just two months so it probably wouldn't change.

After putting out the money, I browsed the portal site. There was a commotion everywhere from the appearance of a new S-Rank. Amongst that, there were also trash journalists who were writing novels about Yerim's deceased parents. These crazy bastards. I quickly made a PDF and reported it to the Haeyeon Guild public relations team.

-Keureueu

Since I was working at the computer[6] for a long time, Peace started to complain. As soon as I took my hand off the mouse in appeasement, scarily,

Pajik!

The small front paws smashed the mouse flat as if catching a cockroach. …Our Peace, you must've been bored.

"Even if you are bored, you can't break things like this. Dad[7] is going to be poor for a while."

Zero living expenses and 300[8] monthly wasn't a small sum of money, but just in case, I had to be thrifty. Since it was a sum that would be half gone if I went into a dungeon. And I could only go into a low ranking dungeon at that. Other than that, situations where I needed money could occur any time.

"A mouse wouldn't be much, but the computer and cell phone are prohibited. It's expensive to buy new things that are usable."

-Gyareureung

At the words said in an accusatory tone, Peace quick-wittedly acted cute. He licked my hand and playfully swished his tail. Watching this, I wondered if he would quickly understand even words like 'I love you'. It would be great if I could successfully apply the keyword without starving the poor kid.

I went to the kitchen, and fed Peace and also ate my own lunch. Even though Yoo Myeongwoo hadn't cooked before, he made pretty decent side dishes[9]. Was it thanks to his basic hand skills? After one to two months or so, he might unexpectedly become first rate.

[Bak Yerim-yang's initial skills are three in total, and among those, one is as much as SS-Rank.]

The small television in the kitchen continued showing the broadcast on Yerim. During that time, the rank measuring must have finished, because there was 'Birth of the 8th S-Rank Combat Hunter' in large captions. It was enthusiastically explained that because of this, we would catch up with China and become world best relative to per area and the citizens' safety blah blah.

China around now had nine S-Ranks and Japan had five. But China didn't do registration and had many S-Ranks who hid their identity. Who would want their families to be taken hostage and want to be tied to the government?

In the end, S-Rank were obvious, and even A-Rank and lower Hunters escaped to foreign countries one by one, and so after 4 years, China lost the ability to manage high ranking dungeons.

'Wait, they're people who're going to leave China anyways, so should I steal some Hunters away?'

Within a half year, Awakening Centers would appear so I didn't even need to Awaken them one by one. If they were combat Hunters, even if I didn't use the Seed-Leaf skill and they Awakened at the Center, it would be close to optimization more or less. If I brought the future's A~S-Rank combat Hunters and their families into the country, then my job would be done.

'If it's a half year later, my pockets would have gotten fuller as I stole away several people, and if I just Awaken A-Ranks and higher, the country or guild would probably figure out the other procedures on their own.'

There was definitely one A-Rank healer. It would be perfect if I put them in Haeyeon. The government and guilds could discuss and divide up the rest.

'Eh[10], since it's the same thing as helping people who would suffer instead of using my skills.'

I didn't even have to directly put myself forward, and only had to hire some brokers. Other countries also took away Chinese Hunters in that way. Later, as the surveillance got worse, it became bloody, not figuratively but for real.

'It was definitely a brutal neighborhood.'

In the first place, it was normal that you went into dungeons risking your life, so it was definitely a matter of course. Still, for a full-blown war to start, there was still about three years left. The number of dungeons increased, and monsters that were impossible to deal with like Lauchtas burst out, and there weren't enough high-ranking Hunters, so as S-Rank dungeons began to burst open, it became really brutal.

At that, Korea was on the peaceful side compared to foreign countries.

However, if I searched the entire world diligently and regularly discovered one S-Rank per month, and took in and raised A~B-Ranks that didn't Awake optimally.

If I did that, the future might change into a considerably more positive direction, but.

'...Ehh, is there any need to worry about other countries as well? Let's just end with adding several to Korea.'

Doing what with my condition. Amazing and high up people would probably do well on their own. Even 5 years later, it was just a bit tough to live; it wasn't to the point of being wretched.

I draped Peace on my shoulders and cleared the dining table. I didn't have anything to do right now; it felt like the weekend even though it was Monday. It would be great if it was always like this from now on.

Just then, I heard a text alert from my cell phone. It was Kim Sunghan.

[Since the novice Hunter training starts tomorrow, I will buy alcohol today if it is alright with you.]

Well, the first day would be theory class but starting from the second day, it would double up with practice so it wouldn't do to drink alcohol the day before that. Though I was someone with over 4 years of field experience, I couldn't reveal that.

'Should I say the keyword or not?'

Let's decide after getting a little drunk. If it seemed doable, then I would spit it out, and if not, then I wouldn't.

[Yes. Please contact me in the evening. It would be great if it was shop with an easygoing atmosphere.]

There would be people who recognize him sometimes so it would be annoying for Kim Sunghan, but I didn't want to go somewhere where you had to wear a tie because it would be stuffy. And it wouldn't be an atmosphere for saying the keyword.

If it was a boisterous place where you passed around drinks, nonsense like 'I love you' would quickly get covered up.

[I understand.]

Shortly, the reply came. Speaking of, was HunTalk[11] not created yet? The actual name had been H-Talk but everyone had called it HunTalk and it was a messenger exclusively for Hunters. Lower ranking Hunters without fixed parties had used it to gather a party to go into a dungeon. Though I wouldn't need to use it now.

I should buy stocks for HunTalk too. Where was it created again?

Yoo Myeongwoo came back and there was a short fuss, but our smart Peace quickly distinguished between things he could eat and things he couldn't eat. He didn't leave a single bite mark on Yoo Myeongwoo.

…Actually there was exactly one left. Still, there wasn't blood and left only a slight imprint, so just that much was commendable.

My[12] kid must be a genius.

Then, there was a little trouble too with Yerim, who had returned late in the afternoon. 'The cat is so cute!' rang out about thrity times and Peace threw a fit and scratched my shoulder. Our poor Peace.

I kicked out and sent Yerim back to her house and arranged a soft place to sleep for stressed-out Peace, and then Kim Sunghan contacted me.

"I'm going out, so don't open Peace's pen, and stop Yerim from coming over."

At my words, Yoo Myeongwoo's complexion turned pale.

"M-me…?"

"She's also a person you can get through to with words. Don't be so afraid."

You'll have to deal with a lot of S-Ranks from now on, so you should get used to it while you're at it. Not to mention, you're going to be the boss[13], punk. Don't get scared.

I thumped Yoo Myeongwoo's drooping shoulders, and went down to the parking lot where Kim Sunghan would be waiting.

The place where we arrived was a bustling street not that far from Haeyeon Guild.

"…Here?"

Slightly flustered, I stared at the pub, the sparkling sign that Kim Sunghan guided us to. This was too, that is… too young kids… in their 20s, and early to mid at that, weren't they the target? Kids that seemed like college students were going in and out. Just what did you think of me…

…But thinking of it, I was actually in my mid 20s. My age kept on slipping my mind.

But even when I was in my early 20s, I ate pork belly and soju with factory ahjussis. It was my first at such a light, lively, fresh place. It was colorful. And what was the 'hunting[14]' written on the banner? Was it a club? The music spilling out gave that kind of feel too…

No matter what, this didn't seem right. This atmosphere wasn't right.

"I didn't know places like this so I received a recommendation from a different Hunter."

Kim Sunghan said. Recommendation… a recommendation… it did look popular.

"…Whose recommendation was it?"

"It was Kim Minee, a B-Rank Hunter. He is a college student who is three years younger than Han Yoojin-ssi. He said this place is a fairly popular[15] and easygoing place around here."

No, I didn't mean 'easygoing' as in a student's standard of 'easygoing'...

"Student Minee… doing Hunter work on top of studying must make him busy, but it seems like he's familiar with recent popular places."

"If he wasn't a Hunter, he would have been expelled."

Kim Minee-gun[16] must have played a lot. If he was a guild-affiliated B-Rank Hunter, they would have considered him as someone who found a job already and tolerated a lot, but that he was on the verge of expulsion – did he not go to school at all?

And speaking of, I remembered that Yoohyun also was specially admitted into a school and had an attendance rate of zero. Yerim didn't have a reason to go to school anymore, too.

C-Rank and higher minors were moved to an Awakened Person special school for safety or were homeschooled. Since it was dangerous in various ways if you placed super youth at a tough age, who teachers couldn't block with their strength, with their weak peers.

"Let's go inside."

Kim Sunghan said, as if there was nothing wrong. I at least had a face that was in its 20s but you were in your 30s? Not to mention, with a stiff frown and a serious appearance adding five to six years at face value – weren't you uncomfortable? No matter how you looked at it, he didn't look like a customer, and seemed like an uncle who came to find his indecent nephew.

And he had on sunglasses that didn't fit the time, to cover his face, so he also looked like a thug that came to collect money... Look there, the kids passing by are glancing over nervously.

"You're not coming in?"

He asked, turning to look at me, who was mumbling. Ahjussi. I mean, I didn't actually have a problem. It was just a little awkward, but I was in my twenties. If I had gone to college normally, I would have gone to places like this.

"…I'm going."

I swallowed dryly and moved. I guess trying out one of these places would be good. And enjoy my youth since I've regressed…