CH 16

[Activating Flight (S)]

[Proficiency of ‘Flight (S)’ has increased. (15/100)]

Hara still felt embarrassed even as she was flying to the cedar tree. Honestly, she didn’t expect that he’d wrap his own tie around her feet there!

Hara had also stupidly forgotten that she was wearing socks until that moment.

Even as Seheon wrapped the tie around her feet, there was a hole at the area of her big toe.

“Was my fortune for this year making a spectacle of myself…”

When she returned home, she had to look at her fortune first. Not the free one, but for 10,000 won, and look at the paid fortune!

If she managed to return home though. Hara squeezed the lightstick she was holding. In any case, although the quest was still in progress, she was a possessor of S-class skills. Perhaps she’ll get a raise when she returns back. 

‘Since S-class’s pay grade is different.’

Hara’s embarrassment was thrown to the back of her mind as she became a little happier. Although she wasn’t a full-fledged S-class, since her skills were S-class, she might obtain an A-class salary. Her civil servant rank would probably change as well. 

In that case……

‘I could become independent!’

Hara jumped joyfully. It’s because she has been beholden to her parents for around 10 years now.

Hara’s house being in Mapo-gu was a reason, along with her parents’ strictness being another, but the biggest reason was due to the salary of E-classes, aka a level 9 civil servant. 

The Hunter Agency was a special organisation, so aside from the fixed pay grade, even promotions with a longer period of service wasn’t applicable. Instead, each branch office had incentives, but this was split amongst the country’s civil servants, so it’s out of the question.

‘Gosh, I might be able to pay off the fine?’

She suddenly recalled the mana stone fine of 8 million won. She’d even written a letter of apology because she destroyed an A-grade mana stone.

She was called in by the tiger-like head of the Mapo branch office that day, and was told off to the point of tears.

At that thought, Hara tightened her grip on the lightstick again.

‘No matter what happens, I will return back.’

Hara took a deep breath and used her powers with the lightstick. The light stretched out in a straight line.

[Mana has decreased]

It was around two metres in length earlier, but now it has become much longer than that. About 2.5 metres? This was sufficient enough to defeat the bird-type monsters that flocked around Hara.

“Caw, caw!”

“Kiik!”

They were mainly in the D and E classes. Large bird-type monsters in the C-class appeared occasionally, but when Hara waved her lightstick, it became divided into two like she was cutting a radish. At the beginning, Hara also doubted her eyes. 

‘So this is the level of an S-class…’

It was simple. When she was an E-class, the beam from Hara’s lightstick was really weak. When you were in elementary school, have you ever tried burning paper with a magnifying glass in science class? Hara’s skill was at that level. The most she could do was burn a piece of paper. 

But now, it was as though she was holding a laser fretsaw in her hand. It had great lethality. In addition, the fact that it weighed little to nothing was the most awe-inspiring part.

When Hara waved her lightstick towards the monsters in front of her, the places where the beam grazed would be severed off. The trees, too.

Thump…

As she swung her lightstick instinctively to kill the bat that came at her, an entire tree beside it began falling sideways. 

Caw, caw. The monsters that were holding their breaths in the dark forest flew up in unison and began biting each other. It was nothing short of a mess.

The moon also rose in dungeons. If it weren’t for the moon, Hara might not have dared to approach the cedar tree. She flew through the forest cautiously, relying on the brilliance of the two moons.

To her surprise, there were no other monsters around the dungeon’s largest cedar tree, and Hara soon understood the reason for that.

‘Bird droppings…’

The boss at the top of the cedar tree was a bird-type monster, so an enormous amount of bird droppings surrounded the base of the cedar tree, and the smell was unbelievable. 

Rotten grass was amidst the bird droppings, and beneath it were the bones of other monsters piled into a mountain. Perhaps they lived off on other monsters in the dungeons. 

[You have entered the territory of the field boss, Georg (B)]

[Georg is currently away]

[Special effect of Georg’s territory: Intimidate (distant) is triggered]

As soon as she detected that scent, her body stiffened like an electric current passed through her body. At the same time, the system message popped up with a ding. It was the effect of entering the field boss’s territory.

Beasts will mark their own territory. When they see the sign, the weaker beasts will become frightened unknowingly. Humans weren’t an exception to that.

[Measuring the status of the user, ‘Kang Hara’…]

[The user, ‘Kang Hara’ overcomes Georg’s Intimidate (distant) with tenacity]

[Strength is regained]

This was thanks to the multiplication skill.

[User: Kang Hara (Characteristic: Idol fan)]

Stamina: 49 (7)

Agility: 9 (3)

Strength: 16 (4)

Skill: 4 (2)

Mana: 81 (9)

Luck: 1 (1) 

Status: ‘Multiplication’ is currently activated (24:11)

Hara’s stamina was originally 7. However, when this skill was activated, her stats were instantly squared. It was incredible. 

Additionally, Hara’s mana was now at an amazing figure of 81. She couldn’t believe that this was an A-class skill. The only regrettable thing was that it was limited to only 30 minutes.

‘But tenacity?’

Hara looked at which stat was it that helped her overcome Intimidate. Was it strength? Although her stamina had risen noticeably, it could also be due to strength. Anyways, it’s a relief that she managed to overcome it.

‘When I’m free after leaving the dungeon, I should look into it.’

As with most E-classes, Hara wasn’t a combat-type hunter. Therefore, she had little interest in her own stats or skills. She was also completely ignorant of the effects gained from stat correction.

Right now, the old materials in the Mapo branch office’s physical training room came to mind. It was the combat-type hunters’ hideout. 

‘I should be able to find something if I go there.’

Hara hid in the cedar tree’s shadow and climbed up quietly. When she arrived at the cedar tree, she thought there might be a mid-level boss but surprisingly, there was nothing at all even when she reached underneath the nest.

It seems that when the boss flew to another place, they were brought along, or the boss was originally the type to act arbitrarily.

‘Now then.’

The nest was huge. The cedar tree, for example, needed five Haras to fully hug its width, so the nest was naturally huge. 

Hara climbed right beneath the nest. Old bird feathers and fluff, branches, as well as bird droppings were clumped together, making it incredibly dirty. There was a smell, too.

Just then, a sound reached Hara’s ear, as she pinched her nose.

“Uhuhuhu, Mooom…”

It was a human’s voice. Hara’s ears perked up. It’s a relief that scents were detected through her nose, as it would be a disaster if it was detected through the ears. 

“Is that Seoyeon over there?”

The crying voice from earlier was startled.

“Who are you?”

It was clearly the child named Seoyeon. Hara hurriedly climbed up to the nest in joy.

The nest was three times larger than Hara’s room, and there were a total of eight eggs waiting to hatch. She soon spotted a little girl in a familiar school uniform in their midst.

Sookyung and Heeyeon. It was similar to the two children’s school uniforms. 

“You’re Seoyeon, right?”

“Uhuhuhu…”

The girl’s eyes stung due to the light, and tears quickly filled her eyes.

Hara held out her hand hurriedly. She didn’t know what she should say in such a situation, so she uttered what she would say while supporting civil authorities hesitantly. 

“I… I’m Kang Hara, from Seoul Regional Natural Disaster Response Policy Office, Special Applied Safety Department, Mapo branch, Mana Stone Management Division…?”

[The constellation, ‘Cupid’ rolls on the floor in laughter and asks if the child would understand what you’re saying]

However, despite what he said, the child seemed to understand. The tears that filled her eyes instantly dripped down her cheeks. 

“Erm, a—are you here to rescue me?”

Are you here to rescue me? As she said that, the child’s lips quivered and her voice kept shaking. 

But so much relief was written on her face that even Hara almost teared up. Hara held out her hand with a smile.

“Yes!”

The child moved while sobbing. Hara quickly moved closer and grabbed the child’s hand.

The child fell into Hara’s arms with dishevelled hair and appearance. She burst into tears right away.

“Uhuhu, uhuhuhuuuu…”

Her fright was obvious. Hara patted the child on her back.

“After I was brought back here, I crawled underneath the egg, and hid there, hic, I almost died… Have I, hic, have I survived?”

The child cried till she couldn’t catch her breath, but she kept speaking despite that. 

What would have happened to her if Hara hadn’t come to save her? Hara thought that it was a relief she spotted her in the nest and breathed a sigh of relief internally. 

“Sookyung and Heeyeon told me about you. That’s why I came.”

“Soo—Sookyung?”

The child who clung to Hara raised her with a surprised expression. Hara nodded and whispered.

“Yes, but I haven’t caught the field boss yet. We have to leave quickly.”

“Uh……”

It seemed like the child had something she wanted to say, but a number of small crows were already at the nest. They seemed to have noticed that someone broke into the nest.

Hara scooped the child in her arms and began floating upwards. But Hara hesitated momentarily due to the object that caught her eye at that instant. 

“Unnie?”

[Dungeon’s magic core]

Grade: B

Quest: Normal (1) Hidden (0) Side (0)

[Would you like to view the quest information? Y/N]

It was the magic core. It wasn’t the mana stone within the field boss’s body, but the key mana core of this dungeon. It was the only iridescent egg that shone among the eight eggs.

Hara instantly felt conflicted. 

‘If I break that now, won’t the dungeon close?’

It seemed worth a try. The mana core was B-grade, while her stats were corrected through multiplication.

Additionally, Hara had gained some confidence while on the way to the nest. Hasn’t she witnessed countless monsters splitting into half with a single laser beam?

‘Should I give it a try?’

But at that moment, a new message appeared on the system window. 

[The direction of the wind has changed]

The wind’s direction? Hara tilted her head.

[Georg has noticed the abnormality]

Hara breathed in. 

* * *