Ch.5018. Gear Adjustment (1)

“Yuri? What’s going on?”

Yuri is the sub-dealer of the Flame Raid party. Of course, while she’s called a sub, her ice magic skills are nearly all-purpose.

In reality, she was essentially the core of dealing alongside Soso, the main dealer. This meant she held a very significant position in the field team.

But unlike Soso, who frequently moved between the field team’s office and waiting room, Yuri spent most of her time at the guild leader’s office when she was at headquarters.

As guild leader, she was always busy. And now this same Yuri wanted to talk with me.

Not just Soso and Arin, but all the other field team members were looking at us.

“What can I do for you, Guild Leader?”

That was my response to Yuri. Her expression remained the same as always.

Cold as ice, businesslike. That’s why I never felt uncomfortable dealing with her.

‘Well, if it were a personal matter, she wouldn’t have come looking for me so openly…’

After I responded, Yuri hesitated briefly. Then she spoke.

“I need a sparring partner. Someone to help adjust my gear, Nivis. I wanted to talk about that for a moment.”

Father Stefano responded to this.

“Ah, so that’s why you’re here, Guild Leader. Since Nivis is an S-class gear, it must be difficult to calm its overflowing mana without regular use.”

Team Leader Seo nodded at his words.

“It’s certainly better to have a partner for adjustment rather than doing it alone. Are you preparing for the cooperation mission?”

“Yes, Team Leader Seo Duho.”

Yuri calmly nodded. Then, as if answering the gazes directed at her, she addressed the field team members.

“We have two weeks until the cooperation mission, but it will be on a completely different level from our previous missions. So if there’s time to check your Ancient gear and necessary equipment, now is the time. If you need funds for adjustments, submit documents to the finance team anytime. I’ll approve them.”

I thought to myself that she really was a guild leader. She delivered information in a calm voice.

‘She’s completely different from Soso.’

Yuri was famous as the student council president when she attended Ains. And as she said, all raid members were issued high-grade gear.

Just as a master swordsman constantly maintains their sword, gears with will require regular taming and adjustment.

Everyone on the field team nodded at Yuri’s words. Uncle Donghyuk exclaimed:

“We’ll prepare properly as you said, Guild Leader! Especially since you’ve provided us with A-class gear!”

“I’m counting on you. Flame will be entering as a support party, so we may not participate directly in the boss raid. But field situations can change unexpectedly at any time. Please keep that in mind.”

Despite her sudden visit, Yuri spoke calmly to the guild members. But her business was ultimately with me.

I pondered why she had specifically chosen me.

‘Sparring, huh. She could have chosen Soso or other members instead of me…’

But thinking about it, given the team composition, the only options were either Soso or me. She needed someone who could handle her ice magic.

And above all, I knew Yuri’s ice magic extremely well.

‘Despite the two-year gap.’

Soso seemed concerned about this too and casually asked Yuri:

“Guild Leader, if needed, I could be your adjustment partner.”

“I don’t doubt your skills, Team Leader Yeon, but I need Lee Minsu this time. I’m planning to implement newly conceived ice spells in actual combat.”

Yuri explained her reasons. Spell optimization. And possibly circuit defect issues. For matters concerning magic, she needed the opinion of another mage like me.

Team Leader Seo answered on my behalf:

“I understand the reason. Lee Minsu’s magical theory grades were nearly perfect even at Ains. He should be capable.”

“Indeed. I read the after-action report from when you caught Janggyesin. Though I don’t know much about magic, the way you combined trap spells with fire spells was impressive. It proves that Classmate Lee Minsu is a skilled mage.”

Even Father Stefano chimed in. I felt embarrassed receiving such praise.

Yuri, an S-class hunter and guild leader, was asking for consultation from me, an intern and newcomer. Yet the elite members of Flame didn’t question it at all.

‘Aren’t they overestimating me?’

Anyway, once it became clear that Yuri’s business was official, the watchful gazes from Arin and Soso subsided somewhat.

Arin in particular seemed pleased when Team Leader Seo and Father Stefano praised me. She was grinning broadly.

“Anyway, I came to tell you that. I’ll send you the details by email, so please check it, Lee Minsu.”

With those words, Yuri turned and left the office.

‘Wait. If this was the matter, she could have just sent an internal message or email.’

But thinking about it, she not only delivered her request to me but also conveyed several messages to the field team members. So it seems she came for multiple purposes.

‘Well, she certainly didn’t come just to see my face.’

Though she’s become much more approachable compared to her days at Ains, someone with Yuri’s cold and dignified personality wouldn’t confuse professional and personal matters.

This was fortunate for me too. I also needed to adjust Windcutter. And having an S-class hunter like Yuri as a partner was the best possible scenario.

‘I should have been the one asking for this favor.’

I felt pleased at this unexpected stroke of luck.

“Senior, you look happy. Don’t tell me it’s because you saw the Guild Leader’s face…?”

And once again, I had to explain myself in response to Arin’s question.

***

So I ended up going on an unexpected business trip with Yuri. And to quite a distant location at that.

‘Mount Seorak, huh.’

The driving distance was a bit closer than my previous trip to Pyongyang, but still not a short journey. As usual, I was driving.

“It’s best to find a place that Nivis would like.”

Yuri said from the passenger seat. As she mentioned, it’s not easy to find a suitable place to fully unleash an S-class gear’s power.

‘Doing that in the middle of Seoul would cause serious problems.’

In that respect, Mount Seorak is one of Korea’s most rugged mountains. With “snow” in its very name, it was an ideal location for Yuri to use her new ice spells.

‘Gates occasionally appear there too.’

Like the southeastern contaminated zone, Mount Seorak is a place where large gates have formed and been cleared. Though they’re regularly eliminated,

Since it’s winter, the mountain-climbing prohibited season, there should be opportunities to test our gear’s firepower against any monsters we encounter.

‘Of course, for ordinary people, this would be suicidal.’

No, not just ordinary people—even for average hunters, entering a dangerous mountain with monsters in winter would be insane.

But for Yuri, an S-class hunter and ice mage, there’s no problem. She doesn’t feel the cold to begin with. And as for monsters, they should be the ones avoiding her.

‘I don’t feel the cold either, so it’s no issue for me.’

In fact, the cold weather helps with the constantly surging mana.

Above all, I could feel that my newly contracted Ancient gear, Windcutter, was quite excited about this place.

“It seems like quite an unusual one, that Windcutter gear of yours.”

Yuri said to me. True to her words, despite the closed windows, wind was constantly swirling inside the car.

“If it’s bothering you, I can calm it down.”

“No, it’s fine. Newly contracted gear naturally takes time to tame. I have no intention of interfering with that process.”

Windcutter is a wind-attribute gear. So Yuri doesn’t seem to mind the sensation.

High-level ice spells like Blizzard also require injecting a significant amount of wind-attribute mana through circuits.

‘In that sense, Windcutter is unique.’

Originally, my Hongok and Yuri’s Nivis were opposites—fire and ice. But the wind-attribute Windcutter has good compatibility with either.

‘That’s why I went to such lengths to acquire Windcutter.’

As an A+ class gear, Windcutter naturally provides mana amplification effects.

Fire spells consume a lot of mana. And since I use blue flame, an enhanced fire spell, I inevitably suffer from chronic mana shortage.

‘Even with the first seal released… I fainted after just one spell when fighting Janggyesin.’

That happened despite using trap spells to reduce mana consumption compared to pure fire spells.

So the doubled mana capacity from Windcutter will be a huge help for future spellcasting.

But that’s just part of Windcutter’s advantages.

Most importantly, its wind-attribute spells can multiply the power of fire spells several times over.

‘In theory, I can increase both the heat and explosive power of blue flame.’

The fuel for fire spells is mana. But even magical fire needs oxygen for combustion.

And Windcutter can supply that oxygen to the maximum limit. So this trip to Mount Seorak is a great opportunity for me as well.

‘With Yuri around, there’s no need to worry about calling the fire department.’

The Flame Dance of the Fire Phoenix—that fire spell I used to defeat Yuri in our duel—I plan to use it again during this trip.

With Windcutter, that spell could evolve into a new form. No, it must.

Perhaps sensing my excitement, Windcutter’s wind wrapped around me again.

‘You’re really the opposite of Hongok in personality.’

Unlike the overly energetic Windcutter, Hongok was a very calm gear.

When I evolved Hongok to its third form to defeat the Doubt Demon, I glimpsed her image in my mind.

She who had been a phoenix egg had grown into the form of a priestess with long red hair.

That priestess who worshipped fire appeared sacred and elegant—exactly matching Hongok’s usual quiet way of conveying her will.

‘But… why did Hongok save me?’

True to her calm nature, Hongok was rather taciturn. Even now, she wouldn’t answer when I asked about it.

However, I think I understand Hongok’s feelings now. She seems quite displeased with Windcutter’s wind clinging to my body.

I pretended not to notice Hongok’s will and focused on driving. From the hunter-exclusive radio channel I had tuned to, a broadcast was playing:

“A terrorist attack in New York has resulted in nearly 100 deaths. The US Hunter Association suspects villain involvement and has requested investigative cooperation from the Korean Hunter Association…”

Such everyday broadcasts continued. In 2027 Earth, the world I had transmigrated into, terrorist attacks by villains were commonplace.

Neither Yuri nor I were particularly moved by the news—that’s how routine such incidents had become. And among those numerous terrorist attacks, some were surely carried out by the Red Lake.

‘I can’t chase after every terrorist attack. I need to focus on cases that are likely connected to the Red Lake.’

As I was thinking this, the announcer continued:

“Our next news: A-class villain Juan Soriano has escaped from Saint Helena Special Detention Facility…”

My body froze at those words. Juan Soriano—a very familiar name to me.

He was an important villain who confronts the protagonist Siwoo in a key episode of the original “Aka Hunter” story.

‘So the story continues to unfold even without Siwoo.’

Not only that, but hearing that name made me realize that Yuri’s choice of Mount Seorak for gear adjustment was definitely not coincidental.

‘In the original story, Mount Seorak was where Siwoo went before participating in the S-class dungeon cooperation mission.’

Since Yuri had created Flame to take over Siwoo’s role, perhaps something might happen here at Mount Seorak where we came to train.

In the original story, Siwoo discovered an ancient dungeon on Mount Seorak. After driving for quite some time, we finally arrived at the national park parking lot.

“Shall we go then?”

As I got out of the car and was about to walk with Yuri, she suddenly approached and grabbed my hand.

Surprised, I instinctively said to her:

“Guild Leader? Why are you holding my hand…”