---

Chapter 122

A girl in pajamas was snugly wrapped up in a crisp white blanket, clutching a bowl filled with a murky dark liquid. She stared at it for a moment, then dipped her pinky into the liquid, bringing it to her lips.

“Ugh, it tastes terrible! Isn’t there a way to make it sweet?”

“That’s the medicine. Just shut up and drink it.”

The girl made a face of pure disgust as she expressed her complaints. However, sitting next to her, ‘Man Sword’ Yuri, who looked younger than the girl, merely scolded her.

“Ugh… I’ll do it!!”

“Making all this noise over just one bowl of medicine…”

The girl downed the bowl in one go.

Gulp, gulp— the sound of liquid sliding down her throat echoed loudly in the cabin. After finishing her impressive gulp, she slammed the bowl down onto the side table.

“Ugh, disgusting…!”

‘That reminds me of how Hyukka used to finish his drinks like that.’

As Yuri pictured the towering figure over 2 meters tall, a deep sigh escaped him.

“Is your health feeling better?”

“Umm… I’m not so sure yet… what.”

The girl tilted her head in confusion just as a gust of wind blew in from the window, ruffling her calm navy blue hair.

As she held onto her hair flailing in the wind, she glanced outside the window.

Clouds drifted over the small forest, and on the hill stood training dummies. Below them, a carpet of blooming flowers brought a sense of nostalgia.

“It’s a beautiful place, Master.”

“Yeah, it’s the scenery you loved. Are you happy to know your old master is struggling to make a living?”

“But you’re younger than me now!”

Yuri, quiet until now, was jolted awake by the girl’s laughter, as the little dog, Injeolmi, who had been peacefully napping on her lap, twisted in his sleep.

What surprised the girl the most about moving to this cabin was finding out that her previously uninterested master had taken in a puppy.

“Did our Momo wake up? But what exactly happened with him?”

“That’s not your Momo. While you were out of it, I took in a new disciple who left him behind during the break.”

As Yuri said this, he narrowed his eyes, making a light popping sound. Momo perked up his ears at the noise, causing the girl to burst into laughter.

Who would have thought she’d witness her strict master playing with a puppy? As the girl began to laugh uncontrollably, Yuri looked at her with an expression that said, “whatever.” Suddenly, he scooped Momo into his arms.

“Hehe, where are we going…?”

“With the weather being warm, I thought we could go for a walk. This little one shouldn’t just sleep all day either.”

Momo, nestled in his embrace, yawned and started wagging his tail. Did he understand the word “walk”? As Yuri stood up, the girl quickly grabbed his sleeve.

“I wanna go too! Let’s walk!”

“What kind of walk can you even go on with your weak body? If you want to go, get better quickly!”

“I’m almost healed… Ahhh!”

The girl, determined to stand after throwing off her blanket, wobbled and lost her balance.

Feeling that she would hit her head on the floor, she closed her eyes. However, that impending future did not come.

“Don’t act up.”

Before she could completely fall, an intangible aura caught her. The aura moved smoothly as if driven by Yuri’s will alone.

‘It feels lighter now.’

It was already light, but she had eaten, and yet it felt even lighter.

With a frown, Yuri adjusted the aura, lifting the girl back onto the bed and tucking her in again.

During that time, Yuri hadn’t moved a single finger or raised an eyebrow.

“Hehe, thank you, Master.”

Once again, the girl sank into her place on the bed and said this with a hint of loneliness. A bitter smile spread across Yuri’s lips.

“Even after I tried to stop you, you still wanted to run out and now you’re just causing trouble for this old body. Hurry up and get better so you can run off.”

“…Yeah, I will.”

Though it sounded harsh, there was no doubt that it was a warm sentiment to her.

After all, she had recklessly dashed out and got addicted to a demon yet returned just fine, and her master only looked at her with disappointment.

The girl gazed out the window, watching her master play with the little puppy.

The aura that once moved freely was now gone. If she tried to invoke even a bit of mana, a dark force curled tightly within prevented the flow.

She tugged at her pajama sleeve and ran her hands over her beautiful porcelain skin. From her left collarbone to the right of her navel, a dark scar marred her skin.

That day, the hero failed to defeat the Demon King.

Not only did she barely take down a demon lord but she failed to complete her mission as a hero.

‘…Ah….’

Even now, when she closed her eyes, the horrifying scenery vividly unfolded in her mind. Opening her eyes revealed the familiar and peaceful landscape.

The hero of legend meant to save the Alkayon continent, Noel de Vish, was merely a fifteen-year-old girl.

*

Remember that when you stir up trouble, consequences will always come racing after you.

And when you delay a job, it becomes rapidly tedious.

“Wahahaha! Choi Yeon-woo, the hunter, really did something here!”

“Ugh.”

What had been a light pat on the back suddenly felt like bone-crunching agony with every impact, leaving him feeling as if he’d just been hit squarely in the chest by a hunter’s throw.

As blood was replaced by saliva, Yeon-woo wheezed in pain while Danjae-woo laughed heartily, giving him playful slaps on the back.

Yeon-woo understood why. After all, he was the hunter who discovered and resolved what could have been a worldwide catastrophe caused by an outer god.

‘Talk about network connections.’

Honestly, they hadn’t really done much, yet it felt like they had trampled over every reward.

From money and results to, not to mention the stigmata they obtained, it felt like winning the lottery all at once. What would Na Yang-ho’s reaction be when she returned with that stigmata in just a month?

‘I should give the reward money to the nun.’

Yeon-woo wasn’t so devoid of morals that he’d swallow the entire reward money.

She would likely refuse saying she wouldn’t take money from him, but if he said it was half for her, she would most likely accept.

Clair, who had been out of touch with the world, had always fallen for this little lie since before his regression.

‘It’s actually the complete reward money, though~’

[Isn’t it weird whether someone rejects money given to them or someone lies to give them money?]

‘There are such things as white lies in this world.’

No matter how the children felt about him, that was the essence of the follow-up in the guild. Yeon-woo would tell the story, Danjae-woo would praise him, and Yeon-woo would bask in the praise.

“If it were up to me, I’d want to immediately raise you to B-rank for this achievement, but the guild’s promotion rules only allow for one rank at a time, you know, right?”

“Yes, I know. Honestly, reaching B-rank would be problematic for me. I’m still a student, and I can’t participate in large-scale requests yet.”

“Good thinking. The future of the Korean hunter circle is bright!”

Saying this, Danjae-woo once again swung his bear paw hand. Yeon-woo quickly twisted away to evade that strike. Not even a bear should hit this hard, so why did it hurt so much?

Watching his own miscalculated strike awkwardly, Danjae-woo regained his composure and opened his mouth.

“Of course, the guild has compensated you adequately, but I can’t help feeling it’s still a bit lacking. What do you want to do about it?”

The artifact excavation request was just a D-rank job, and while the emergency requests had double rewards, they didn’t have enough detailed information, so it felt considerably insufficient.

Moreover, the emergence of an outer god wasn’t the kind of thing one could openly discuss. Naturally, if things became dire, he would have spread the news around town to gather a response team, but it was over before it came to that. Yeon-woo did not want rumors to spread.

With that, Yeon-woo only had one choice.

“I’ll leave it as a debt in the branch manager’s mind.”

“…Smart thinking, even at your age. Is that what it takes to enter the Academy?”

Danjae-woo’s gaze sharpened. He likely felt he stepped on a landmine. But what could he do? Yeon-woo was a regressor, and he planned to extract every possible advantage, regardless of the other person’s feelings.

Although some people looked down on him, a branch manager in the guild was an incredibly significant position. It meant they were someone who could manage all occurrences within a specific territory and could handle any crisis that arose within it. In other words, they were like a joker card in the Hunter Guild.

If he could get the cooperation of such an individual, it would be equivalent to taking a step closer to safely bringing Nea back.

“Alright, let’s leave it as a debt. Anyway, it’s beneficial for me to maintain a connection with an outstanding talent like Choi Yeon-woo.”

After a bit of a standoff, Danjae-woo chuckled and gave Yeon-woo a light pat on the back. Though he thought of that slap as settling debt, it didn’t feel bad at all… cancel that, it hurt so much, it made him want to roll on the floor. The impact certainly carried some feeling this time.

“Well then, the follow-up isn’t done yet, so have a good day, Branch Manager.”

“Yeah. You too.”

After their conversation, Yeon-woo stepped outside the guild. He inhaled the refreshing air. It couldn’t feel more reinvigorating.

‘What I need are artifacts related to space and rare materials. As long as the Hunter Guild doesn’t crumble, I’ve taken a significant step forward.’

While he still hadn’t clarified how to transport Nea to this world, there was at least a foundational methodology in place.

Riley was the boss of the gate but could also operate in Earth. Even without a gate explosion, she had been able to walk freely on Earth from her own gate.

‘Since Riley is a homunculus.’

An artificially crafted soul made by human hands. Given that creating a completely identical human body is a taboo for magicians, a homunculus resides in a doll-like body paired with it.

Thus, while they do not age, they eventually wear away with time. When they can no longer function, homunculi can transfer to another doll.

At that point, Riley realized something. The gate keeper cannot leave because their existence is tied to that gate. Unless the gate is overlaid on the texture of Earth, that is.

But what if they could split that binding in half?

An empty vessel could be flung outside the gate effortlessly. If she could possess a doll situated outside the gate, wouldn’t she be able to traverse freely back and forth?

[Crossing dimensions merely with a soul is an incredibly risky gamble. For the magic that transcends time, it was because of this that I nearly faced oblivion without tying my existence to my father.]

In that aspect, Riley’s burden was lighter than Shar’s. After all, she was a homunculus born of human hands. Certainly lighter than a dragon.

While mastering all mage books from the archive may not let her perform dragon-level magic, it may allow her to yield dragon-level output. With several safeguards set, careful attempts were made.

After around a dozen attempts, Riley claimed she had succeeded by sheer luck. With existing successful cases, the method to bring Nea back to Earth had nearly been established.

Yet, the method was hardly perfected. As stated before, the difference in the essence of ace types is clear between a homunculus and a dragon.

If that’s how it feels for a homunculus made by human hands, then how much mana would be required to transfer the soul of a dragon—the strongest being in one world?

Furthermore, how would one create a vessel capable of holding a dragon’s soul?

Numerous questions loomed, but a foundational theory had emerged.

Thus, the next steps were to gather materials to create the vessel for Nea and hasten the emergence time of the gate where she resides.

Shar, as well as Yeon-woo and Tae-oh, all wanted to meet Nea sooner. For that reason, the information-gathering abilities of the Hunter Guild needed to remain intact.

Organizing the information in his head, Yeon-woo stretched. There was little that could be done just thinking about it.

‘Next is the God.’

Luckily, that matter could be resolved with just two calls.

“Hello?”

– What is it, my foolish disciple?

“There will be a strange golem from a joint research with the Magic Tower and Harmony City. It’s fine to conduct research, but can you please ensure it isn’t destroyed?”

– You call and that’s all you say? Honestly, all these disciples of mine…

“Eh, is hyung there? Why didn’t you call while I was there?”

– I can’t call you hyung since our styles are different. Besides, it’s my residence, you fool. I’ll be around after the break, so come visit. Anyway, is that all you wanted?

“Well, uh… is everything alright?”

– You’re late. I’m quite fine. Hang up.

Seems like he wasn’t in the best mood. Hearing Yuri’s curt voice, Yeon-woo shrugged.

The nearest Magic Tower to Harmony City was located there. He would just need to have a word with Yuri since they were collaborating with the Academy. Plus, a little bit with Relin’s Archive as an advisory role to Riley would seal the God-related matters.

Research… well, that was inevitable. After all, there shouldn’t be any significant harm done to the God.

“Follow-up complete!”

Now all he had to do was channel the divinity from the stigmata right back to the God!

“What should I eat today?”

Once everything was settled, humans naturally pondered what to have for lunch. As Yeon-woo engaged in light-hearted chatter with the children, he stepped forward with a lighter heart.

(To be continued in the next chapter)

 

---