LIGHTNOVELWORLD 41
Afterward, Habin revealed a bit about the interdimensional entry to Chae Jiseok.
Of course, she omitted the part about going to the boss room and defeating the Demon King, only mentioning that she could travel between different floors of Kill Screen.
“……What? You can visit up to the 54th floor?”
Chae Jiseok’s jaw dropped in disbelief at Habin’s story.
The 54th floor.
Even ‘Fides’, known as humanity’s strongest hunter, could barely manage to visit the 50th floor by mobilizing all his knowledge and skills.
Other hunters had put in all their effort just to clear the 26th floor…….
Could this really be true?
After a long moment, he finally regained his composure and asked Habin:
“You…… are human, right? I mean, are you really human……?”
Habin put on a deeply disappointed expression.
“Wow, that’s harsh. Chae-ssi, are you saying you won’t even treat me as human anymore? I’m disappointed.”
“That’s not what I meant! No, really, this is…….”
Chae Jiseok shook his head and muttered. He spoke to Habin in a serious voice.
“First…… thank you for not killing me despite having such an incredible secret. Thank you for sparing me even after I learned the secret, and thank you for being my friend, no, I mean, thank you.”
Habin furrowed her brow.
“What are you saying? I’m not the type of person who just kills people, you know? I even saved you in the Mirror Dungeon last time.”
“To be honest, at that time, I really thought I was going to die.”
Chae Jiseok, who had faced the Mirror Dungeon.
At that time, he had sensed death twice—once from the overwhelming presence of the monsters, and once after seeing Hyun Habin’s abilities.
Habin retorted as if to say, “What are you talking about?”
“Chae-ssi is Jise-unni’s brother to begin with! If I killed you, how could I face our unni?”
“……Now that you mention it, that’s true.”
Somehow, it’s even scarier that it sounds so sincere?
Lost in thought, Chae Jiseok summarized his conclusion.
“So, in the end, what you’re saying is that if we go to Kill Screen, you can take me to the 50th floor?”
“More or less. We’ll have to see when we try.”
“……Thank you. I didn’t expect you to help this much.”
This was Habin, who found even going to the training institute bothersome. She disliked getting involved in complicated matters and struggled to keep her secrets. For her to voluntarily step forward like this.
“Is it because of our nuna this time too?”
“Well, that’s part of it, but…….”
Habin turned her head, avoiding his gaze.
‘I understand that feeling too.’
The worry for family.
Habin, of all people, understands that feeling, having searched for Hyun Siwoo before her awakening. She knows the feeling of asking for help, and the feeling of being rejected.
When Habin set out to find Hyun Siwoo, there were people who rejected her too.
‘Hah, if they’ve been missing that long, they’re probably dead by now. Miss, come to your senses and stop wasting money on this.’
‘The living must live on. Think rationally.’
‘What……? Hey, this is pocket change for hunters. Who would bother looking for someone for such a paltry sum?’
And fortunately, amidst all that, there were occasional glimmers of kindness.
‘……Look, you’re not even an Awakened and probably don’t have much money, so you don’t need to offer such a large sum for this. I’ll make sure to let you know if I hear anything about your brother while I’m out and about, so don’t worry and just give me your contact information.’
‘What do you mean you won’t accept money? I’m giving it to you because I’m truly grateful…….’
‘If you’re that grateful, just help someone else the same way next time. That’s how it goes around.’
I wonder how that hunter who readily helped without asking for anything in return is doing now.
‘I should let them know that I found my brother now.’
Putting aside the memory that had suddenly surfaced, Habin turned her gaze back to Chae Jiseok in front of her. Then she firmly crossed her arms.
“Ahem, and I’ve calculated that there’s not much time left before the strawberry buffet closes.”
“Ah, that strawberry buffet you were supposed to go to with nuna? There’s a closing date for that?”
Habin nodded quickly.
“Of course! Even strawberries have a season, you know. If Jise-unni doesn’t return soon, we might end up going to the strawberry buffet next year!”
He thought she was just saying that to hide her embarrassment. Even that gesture made Chae Jiseok grateful.
“You don’t have to make such excuses. I truly appreciate your…….”
“What are you talking about? I’m serious.”
Chae Jiseok tilted his head at her very serious voice, full of sincerity.
“……Was that so important?”
“Of course. You should never put off eating and having fun! You never know when you might die! Or when the world might end.”
[Couldn’t you just prevent the apocalypse!]
Ahezar chimed in. Fortunately, this time he only shouted at Habin. It seemed he had developed a bit of tact after being scolded so many times.
“That’s not something I can control at will…… Anyway.”
Tap tap. Habin stood up, dusting off her seat, and asked Jiseok:
“So when are we leaving? If we’re going, I need to charge my power bank in advance. While we’re at it, let’s pack some lunchboxes with delicious menu items and stock them in our inventory!”
“……A power bank and delicious menu items? Why are you packing those?”
Chae Jiseok asked with an incredulous face.
“We barely have enough space for potions and items as it is!”
Whether going to a Gate dungeon or a Kill Screen dungeon, hunters naturally packed potions first.
Who would bother with a power bank when communications don’t even work inside dungeons? Moreover, with limited inventory space, who would put delicious menu items in there?
Besides, this expedition is to Kill Screen, and to the 50th floor no less. Even Chae Jise, ranked 2nd in Korea, had to be prepared for death!
But Habin answered nonchalantly:
“I told you, I’m sick of cafeteria food. This golden time after escaping the training institute is precious. How frustrating would it be to miss out on delicious food and have to fill up on emergency rations or potions?”
Just now, even Secretary Lee Junhwi had officially declared that ‘recovery potions taste awful’. Besides, it’s not like drinking potions would recover much for Hyun Habin anyway.
‘My health is 2.14 billion.’
There’s absolutely no need to drink them.
But she couldn’t explain all that openly.
‘There’s no need to tell him, right?’
Habin nodded as if she understood.
“Alright. If you insist that much, I’ll pack some potions too.”
In case unni or Chae-ssi run out of potions, I’ll have to give them some.
“……Then, what about the power bank?”
“That’s obviously for charging my phone. I’m going to watch movies when I’m bored.”
As if she had just thought of it, Habin checked her remaining phone storage and let out a sigh.
“Ah, I only have 2GB left!”
This isn’t even enough to fit one movie!
Feeling urgent, Habin tapped her foot as she fell into thought.
“Hmm, I should switch to a model with more storage soon or buy an auxiliary device. If I download movies in advance, they’ll play without interruption even without data, right?”
“You’re going to watch movies……? On the 50th floor of Kill Screen…… movies…….”
Chae Jiseok muttered blankly. This isn’t some kind of emotional camping trip.
In Kill Screen, where powerful monsters run rampant and life and death hang by a thread, she’s going to leisurely watch movies?
But however she interpreted that muttering, Habin looked up.
“Why, do you want to watch together? Should I bring a mini beam projector? I guess it would be better to watch on a bigger screen with higher quality, right?”
She frowned with an annoyed expression. Chae Jiseok quickly shook his head.
“Ah, no, I’m good.”
What movies when our heads might roll if we’re not careful! No matter how strong she is, this goes beyond carelessness to the point of being oblivious to danger. I shouldn’t get caught up in this pace.
‘I should at least pack normal supplies.’
He quietly checked his list of potions to bring. While Hyun Habin’s mere presence was reassuring as a powerful ally, he had no intention of entrusting his life to her completely.
As always, he would prepare thoroughly and approach this as he had done before.
Chae Jiseok nodded.
“Alright. Then I’ll explain the plan from here on out. As much as I’d like to leave right now, there are some urgent matters I need to handle, so I’ll need two days.”
Though he desperately wanted to depart immediately, before Hyun Habin changed her mind or before something happened to Chae Jise, realistically there were many constraints.
First, before visiting Kill Screen, one needed to make a reservation and obtain a visit permit, even if just as a formality. This was a rule set by international agreement, so even Chae Jiseok had to follow this procedure.
The remaining affairs of Solaris were also an issue. With Jise already absent, if Chae Jiseok were to leave right now, Solaris would be in a precarious situation. So he needed to set up some defenses before departing.
“So, I’ll spend these two days packing supplies, getting the Kill Screen entry paperwork issued, and finishing up Solaris’ affairs. Please wait that long.”
“Can you do all that in two days?”
“It’s what I always do. Don’t worry.”
Chae Jiseok shrugged, letting out a sigh.
“Anyway, I’m really grateful for your help. It might not be much of a repayment…… but after this is over, I’ll do whatever it takes to help get you out of the training institute.”
Chae Jiseok handed Habin the alternative training documents he had prepared in advance.
The convincingly forged documents were stamped and only had the date section left blank, so they could be used whenever desired.
It was essentially a blank check for skipping training!
Habin’s eyes widened as she confirmed this.
“No way! What’s gotten into you, Chae-ssi? You prepared something like this?”
Swish.
Habin quickly pocketed the documents without hesitation. A smile floated onto her face.
“Really, this is why they talk about precognition skills, huh? Your intuition is too sharp!”
[Didn’t you say it was dangerous just now?]
“Of course it’s dangerous! That’s why I need proper compensation in the form of early discharge from the training institute!”
[…….]
That’s right. Absolutely.
While Habin was examining the blank documents with satisfaction, Chae Jiseok added:
“You know that’s not all, right? Consider that a down payment. I’ll add several times more when the job is done.”
“Deal. Now we’re talking, Chae-ssi.”
◆◇◆◇◆
After finishing their conversation, they headed back to the Guild Master’s office.
When the office door opened, they saw Lee Junhwi still immersed in his work songs.
“Hmm hmm hmm…… happy happy sunny day…….”
The problematic G-mart logo song.
Coincidentally, his humming matched the pitch and rhythm perfectly, creating a sweet duet with the video.
Meanwhile, his mechanical movement of flipping through documents was nothing short of awe-inspiring.
“Na na na…… happy happy…….”
“Excuse me, Secretary-nim?”
Chae Jiseok called out to Lee Junhwi, who was bobbing his head deeply engrossed in the work song.
“Secretary-nim!”
“Heuk!”
Startled, Lee Junhwi looked up and pressed the space bar to pause the YouTube video.
Finally, the 2x speed work song that had been filling the room stopped, and silence fell.
“‘Heuk’, you say?”
“……Ahem, what do you mean ‘heuk’? What’s that? You must have misheard.”
“…….”
Lee Junhwi, feigning nonchalance, smoothly changed the subject.
“Anyway, are you two finished talking?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm, so Vice Guild Master-nim, is there anything I need to be briefed on?”
“……There is.”
Chae Jiseok rubbed the back of his head with a troubled expression. His face said, ‘How on earth am I supposed to say this?’
“Yes, what are you going to say that has you making such a constipated expression?”
Sensing something ominous from that silence, a faint killing intent flickered in Lee Junhwi’s eyes, which had been soulless until now.
But Chae Jiseok pressed on and said what he had to say.
“Habin and I have decided to go to Kill Screen together.”
The silence that followed this time was a bit longer. Long enough to clearly hear Lee Junhwi’s entire body tensing up.
After a long while, laughter escaped his lips. A laughter as crisp as staccato.
“Hahaha! Vice Guild Master-nim, are you perhaps a car? Your joke is crossing the line……. And it’s the center line at that.”
“It’s not a joke.”
“……When?”
“Two days from now.”
“…….”
Crash.
As soon as he finished speaking, Lee Junhwi overturned the table while wearing a calm smile.