episode_0048

“There was a store like this in Euncheon-gu. It’s amazing…”

A family restaurant with a quiet atmosphere that appears to have opened recently.

Eunha, who visited [Euncheon Restaurant] to be treated to lunch by a guild scout, gestured towards Hunter Jeong So-ra of [Changcheon Swordsman] who came in immediately.

This woman stands out wearing a gi with a design unique to the Changcheon Swordsman Guild and a straight sword strapped to her waist.

About half of the tables were already occupied, so it was a bit noisy.

I wonder if it would be embarrassing to wear clothes like that in broad daylight.

There’s something about it… It feels like kids who go to a kendo gym wear uniforms to show off that they do kendo.

Jeong So-ra, who was sitting across from Eunha, must have noticed Eunha’s gaze and smiled awkwardly.

The sound of the straight sword being removed from the waist and being set aside is particularly heavy.

“Haha… The guild uniform stands out quite a bit, right? Eunha would be the first person to look at the Changcheon Swordsman’s uniform with such eyes.”

“What about my eyes?”

“The look in their eyes is like, ‘Aren’t you embarrassed to wear clothes like that?’ You often hear people say you can’t lie, right?”

Eunha, who had hit the nail on the head, turned her gaze to the side.

I felt like if I made eye contact with Jeong So-ra now, my true feelings would be revealed again.

Rather, to Jeong So-ra, who had encountered many hunters, her behavior just seemed cute, but Eunha couldn’t know that fact.

“Hmm… I heard that [Changcheongamga] hunts monsters coming from the northern border. But isn’t it uncomfortable to wear clothes that flutter like a gi? I think they’ll get caught on tree branches a lot in the mountains.”

“Of course, there are different uniforms for monster hunting~. This uniform is just for showing off to others. It’s a uniform that lets them know that I belong to the [Changcheon Sword Family].”

I don’t know anything else, but I do know that the pride in the guild is great.

After chatting for a while and getting to know each other to some extent, the two checked the menu on the table to order a meal.

This is not a high-end restaurant where the food names are difficult to pronounce, but a family restaurant where the whole family can enjoy a comfortable meal together.

Therefore, most of the items written on the menu were familiar menus.

Western menu including steak, salad, and pasta. And hamburger set meals for children, etc… There are so many different types of dishes that it’s hard to decide what to eat.

“Wow, there’s pizza too? I like Gorgonzola pizza, Neapolitan spaghetti, and shrimp salad. What about Eunha?”

“Umm… I’ll order a tenderloin steak and a cola.”

“No need to hesitate, order as much as you want. If you’re a hunter, you should eat well.”

“Because I tend to tell the news.”

Eunha gently declined Jeong So-ra’s recommendation and decided to order just one steak.

It’s no different, thanks to the [Self-Healing] skill, you won’t starve to death even if you don’t eat. I just feel mentally hungry.

So, unless it’s a really delicious meal, Eunha eats only enough food to eliminate hunger.

‘Thanks to you, it’s good to save money on food, but no matter how much you eat, you don’t gain weight, so when you find delicious food, you end up eating it endlessly…’

Once the menu was decided, Jeong So-ra rang the call bell and finished ordering in an instant.

Soon, a waiter came over and set up a fork and knife along with a glass of cool water.

The service is pretty good.

“…I’m sorry, but do you have any chopsticks?”

The knife in front of me.

Eunha, who was quietly looking at the blunt blade, spoke in a trembling voice to the waiter who was about to leave.

I’m scared of knives.

I felt like if I grabbed that knife now, the pain from cutting out the intestines would come back again.

Eunha hid her trembling hands under the table and asked the waiter for chopsticks.

Suddenly, my stomach starts to hurt, as if someone is tearing out my intestines.

Is it acute enteritis?

It’s a long-awaited restaurant, but it’s unfair.

Fortunately, the waiter who headed to the kitchen brought chopsticks and set them in front of Eunha.

Eunha thanked the waiter and drank water with a more relaxed look.

okay. Steak can also be cut and eaten with chopsticks.

You don’t need a knife.

“Eunha, are you afraid of knives?”

“Cough!”

Jeong So-ra, who was quietly watching Eunha’s actions, asked vaguely.

Eunha, who almost got into trouble while drinking water, shrugged and pretended like nothing had happened.

“Not at all? You weren’t that scared?”

“It’s natural for hunters to be afraid of blades. Because they’re scary, they’re wary of invisible threats… Only then can they survive [the Rift Field].”

Jeong So-ra says that she is actually afraid of blades, and taps the straight sword that is standing next to her.

It is visible that he is being considerate so as not to hurt Eunha’s feelings.

Why is he so kind?

Isn’t he the guild scout who didn’t pay attention to Eunha when she was an F-level hunter?

On the contrary, I even felt suspicious.

Meanwhile, the food was being prepared step by step.

Pink pickled radish and bottom plates are set, and soon the table is filled with the ordered food.

In front of Eunha, a freshly grilled tenderloin steak is wafting steam, waiting to be eaten.

Any doubts about Jeong So-ra are swept away by appetite.

After thanking Jeong So-ra for a good meal, Eun-ha took a sip of cold cola and cut the steak with chopsticks and put it in her mouth.

The thick steak was juicy and melted in her mouth.

Combined with the sauce, it has a very clean taste without being greasy.

“Wow… this place is really nice. Thank you, Eunha, thanks to you, I’m getting to know a good store.”

Jeong So-ra, who was across from me, also praised the food for how well it tasted.

The dishes placed on the table disappear at a rapid pace. Since hunters are jobs that consume a lot of energy, most of them seem to be gluttons.

“Oh, by the way, did you hear the news? Last night, a gangster fell to his death in front of a bar in the neighborhood next door. I guess there was a power struggle between the gangsters.”

“It’s scary… What would it be like to die from a fall? Come to think of it, I’ve never fallen to my death before.”

“Ahaha~. Who has ever died? Eunha is so unique~.”

We had lunch and had a normal chat.

As if exploring when to get to the point so there will be less resistance.

Soon, the guests who had finished eating at the table next to them stood up, and Jeong So-ra thought it was time to hand Eunha a card.

She took the card without thinking and pursed her lips in confusion.

What is written on the card is:

[Changcheon Hunter Academy] 1 month free subscription.

The location of the academy is even clearly indicated on the back of the card.

“Jung So-ra? This is…”

“A guild scout is a person who recruits hunters with outstanding skills, but is also a tester who recognizes potential new recruits.”

Jeong So-ra, who stuffed the remaining piece of Gorgonzola pizza into her two mouths, said with a grin.

I am very fortunate to eat it.

“Unfortunately, the minimum condition for joining our [Changcheon Swordsman] is ‘a talented C-rank or higher hunter’… It is the minimum condition for everyone to survive by fighting monsters coming from the border. The same goes for the other four major guilds. .”

“And I’m an E-class hunter.”

“He’s a talented E-class hunter. Not giving up is also a hunter’s virtue.”

While saying that, he took out a document from his uniform.

It was an application for promotion that Eunha had submitted to the association for three years for the promotion test.

“This application can be checked not only by the association but also by guild scouts… Eunha, congratulations once again on your promotion to E-class hunter. I was very impressed by the way you achieved your goal without giving up.”

“thank you.”

“But the D-level exam will be different.”

And, as if this is the real point,

Jeong So-ra said with a serious expression.

“A written exam that became more difficult, a physical fitness test that I barely passed… and I have to pass a 1-on-1 mock battle in the [artificial crack field].”

“……Yes.”

“No matter how talented Eunha is, I think it will be difficult for her to become a D-class hunter anytime soon. I heard you haven’t even learned ‘mana’ yet?”

I nodded my head, feeling heavy at her correct opinion.

Yes, the D-class hunter promotion test.

If the barrier to the E-level exam is the basic physical fitness test,

In the D-class exam, you must fight and win one-on-one with an ‘artificial monster’ created by the test supervisor using a skill.

Of course, the test supervisor will adjust his strength appropriately, but if you ask him if he can fight and win against a monster whose strength has been adjusted… Eunha will shake her head without hesitation.

Because of [self-healing], she has no muscles or calluses, so her palms come off after a few swings of the wooden sword.

Euncheon-gu’s soft fist.

A 10,000-year F-class hunter.

It is different from a physical fitness test.

That’s just a shortcut that I barely got through by losing weight.

This time, you really need the lethal force to defeat your opponent… actual ‘strength’.

“But it’s a different story when you realize ‘mana’.”

There, Jeong So-ra smiled repentantly and pointed to a free one-month subscription to [Changcheon Hunter Academy].

“If you can handle mana, you can easily pass the D-class exam by learning just basic physical strengthening at our academy. Hunter Academy is a facility for that.”

“…It wasn’t a guild invitation, it was an academy invitation.”

Realizing what Jeong So-ra was saying, Eun-ha made her usual smiling face.

Is that what it means in the end?

It is difficult for E-level hunters to join our guild. So why not study at our academy?

If you grow well, I will let you join the guild… something like that.

It’s the same with the blood donation center, and the strange hunter association these days…

There are some people approaching the galaxy recently.

Are they trying to take advantage of me because I look like a pushover?

It would just be nice if everyone got along well.

Of course, it’s not a bad story for Eunha.

Because it was a ‘mana’ that I couldn’t feel even though I went through all sorts of hardships over the past few years.

You never know if it is an academy run by [Changcheon Sword House], one of the best guilds in the country.

And one month of tuition is free.

This is a bit big. Is Hunter Academy a bit expensive?

Since the guild scouter confidently recommends it, it would be okay to pretend to be fooled once and go to the academy.

If something feels strange, it comes out right away.

“That’s a good story… But why are you recommending this to me? I’m sure there are many other talented people out there.”

“…We, the [Changcheon Swordsmen], saw the shining potential in Eunha’s strong will and… [Self-Recovery] skills. So, we want to continue to build a good relationship with Eunha.”

We will be good partners.

Jeong So-ra said that with a kind smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“It’s [self-recovery]… the association was hiding a fortune.”

After a while.

Jeong So-ra, who came out of the restaurant saying she would leave for a moment, smiled as she remembered Eunha’s positive answer.

In Jeong So-ra’s hands, she holds the promotion application form that she showed Eunha earlier.

Application form from the year before last.

Last year’s application.

And this year’s application…

A new ID photo of the galaxy taken every year.

But over the course of three years, Eunha really didn’t grow the size of a fingernail.

In other words, it is not old.

As if aging had stopped.

Why didn’t I know this important fact?

It seemed as if the association had cleverly hidden it so that others would not notice.

‘Resilience to the extent that it hinders muscle growth. The skill to stop aging… even to me, a guild scout, it’s really amazing. Eunha must never be missed.’

The guild is already preparing enough money for one person to play and eat for a lifetime.

It’s money to take over the galaxy.

With this much money, wouldn’t Eunha be willing to become a member of the [Changcheon Sword House]?

At first, as an academy,

When you become a D-class hunter, Sora Jeong directly helps you hunt monsters.

As they slowly build intimacy with each other, the moment Eunha rises to a C-level hunter, [Changcheon Swordsman] directly invites her to join.

That way, other guilds won’t feel suspicious.

They will probably move on and say that they have recruited talented people.

I thought about having him join the affiliated guild first and then taking the opportunity to bring him to [Changcheon Swordsman], but it would be too much of a waste of luck to do that.

Overflowing talent needs its proper place.

Rather than sending it to the affiliated guilds and gradually raising them up, one of the largest guilds in the country… join our [Changcheon Sword House] all at once! I want to create a brilliant resume that will get scouted.

‘Then, since I posted everything after seeing it… shall we go back to Bokdeong?’

Just like that, it was the moment Jeong So-ra finished reporting to the superiors and was about to return to the restaurant.

“hello.”

“……?!”

A voice as hard as a machine, devoid of any emotion, spoke.

Behind Jeong So-ra.

As a B-class hunter, she felt no sign of anything.

No, even now I can’t feel any sign of anything behind my back.

But I heard someone’s voice behind me.

Cheaeng!

Creepy stealth.

Sensing danger, Jeong So-ra swung the straight sword on her waist with its sheath.

However, someone standing behind her caught the weapon swinging at her temple with his hand and opened his mouth as if nothing had happened.

The weapon and hand just collided, and a sharp metallic sound rang out.

“…Isn’t it dangerous on the main street?”

“Who are you?”

“I am Eunha’s protector.”

Cold eyes look at Jeong So-ra.

… … .

… … .

『What would you like to order?』

“Help me.”

Meanwhile, at that time.

Eunha was left ‘alone’ in the restaurant.

He was answering the headless waiter’s question with tears in his eyes.