< Demon King’s Spinning Wheel (1) >
If it were up to me, I wanted to run out immediately. But the discharge was pushed to tomorrow at the surrounding people’s urging to rest just one more day just in case.
-Chirp cheep
The small beak grabbed a puzzle piece and walked over to put it in the right place. When the rabbit picture on the puzzle’s right side was finished, Chirpie stared at its creation like it was moved. Of course, I was also impressed.
“Our Chirpie really must be a genius.”
“Anybody can put together that picture puzzle. It’s just 100 pieces.”
Yerim, who was sitting in the chair next to the bed, said indifferently.
“What do you mean ‘just’! Chirpie is still young, you know? The recommended age for this is 5 years old.”
Chirpie really had a good head. …Though it also did stupid things sometimes. Specifically, it went a little back and forth. Sometimes, it was calm and smart and wasn’t obsessed with food, but also sometimes it didn’t see the glass and smacked into it and made a fuss cheeping, asking for food.
‘Could it be a split personality, no, a birdality[1]?’
Smart Chirpie and dum… glutton Chirpie.
It was something that was possible enough. Since there were monsters that had two or more heads, each with their own character. Even just speaking of the Lauchtas, it had three heads each using different curse and poison skills, so it was even more difficult.
‘There definitely were bird monsters that were normal as a baby and then had two heads when they grew, right?’
Truthfully it was ugl… no, our Chirpie would be cute even with two heads, but. Hm.
“Chirpie. You don’t have to grow. Would dad not be able provide for just one of you?”
-Chirp!
It was okay if it didn’t grow. Was there a reason for it to grow? At any rate, I didn’t know the growth conditions, and skills didn’t work, so let’s just live like this.
I petted Chirpie and then looked at the status window I had left on next to me. Specifically, it was the My Brat skill application window. (Han Yoohyun-S), (Peace-S). Neither of them had changes.
It meant that they were unharmed, but when I saw letters of Han Yoohyun on the name place, anger flared up inside me again.
“Han Yoohyun, son of bitch.”
“If Guild Leader is a son of a bitch, wouldn’t ahjussi who is his hyung… nevermind.”
Yerim fanned her hands as if telling me to calm down.
“I’ve said it several times, but there won’t be much trouble. He even took two gate stones, so if they really can’t put up with it, they’ll probably come back out.”
I knew that. I knew that but I still was mad. There was ‘choosing to suffer because you’re young’, but there was a limit. Fuck, no matter how amazing of an S-Rank Hunter he was, he was courting danger despite not being invincible? Tossing over the attack preparation all safely finished, and going crawling in, really.
“Han Yoohyun, this crazy bastard.”
“Ahjussi, take deep breathes. Deeply, heueub ha- heueub ha-.”
While thinking it wasn’t to that point, I swallowed and spit out long breaths. I felt a little better.
“Yerim, you’ve been getting calls since a while ago – you’re not going to pick them up?”
I asked, looking at the cell phone letting out light from where it was thrown on the table.
“It’s okay. It’s the Assocation.”
“Don’t you have to take it?”
“No. I’m the most easy to handle so they’re acting like that. This time, an A-Rank dungeon jumped up into a S-Rank. Of course the Association is in a fuss. But besides ahjussi who was carried out and Sunghan ahjussi who didn’t properly participate in the combat, the most easy to handle is me, so they’re acting annoying, trying to get me to tell them in detail. Irritatingly.”
Speaking of, the Association probably had a huge headache too. Dungeon ranks seesawing meant they they couldn’t guarantee Hunters’ safety.
“They haven’t made an announcement about it yet, right?”
“They seem like they want to sew shut the lips of the people who know? The opponents just happen to be S-Rank Hunters, so they can’t, but if they were mid to low rank Hunters, they might’ve buried them in a mountain.”
Would they go that far?
“That’s right, what did ahjussi get for the reward?”
Yerim asked, her eyes shining.
“I got the SS-Rank Mermaid Queen of Sea Waves Earrings. Here, this.”
The elegant blue gem earrings that were hanging from her ears shook, following the movement of her head.
To think it was an SS-Rank equipment; something good came out. If you caught a 1st Rank, an SS-Rank monster, there was a higher probability of SS-Rank items coming out, but it wasn’t a hundred percent. Instead of equipment, special or material consumable items could could come out, too.
“There’s a skill for free activity in water added to the Mana and Mental stats. And in water, it increases water-related and ice-related skill effects by 30%!”
“That’s impressive! There shouldn’t be a Hunter who could follow you in water?”
“Right? Dungeons where you have to do underwater combat are on the unpopular side, but I’m going to sweep up all of them. I’ll quickly pay back my debt!”
She smiled, extremely pleased. If it was an ice skill effect 30% increase in water, she had to quickly raise her ice resistance rank. If you added the buff and reinforcement, I thought it had to be S-Rank to handle it.
I told Yerim the precautions and then asked.
“Have you heard what the other people got?”
“Of course, they didn’t tell me easily. Hyuna unni seemed like her mouth would rip from smiling, so something good definitely came out. I don’t know at all for the Seseong Guild Leader, and our Guild Leader was also already angry, so I don’t know. Sunghan ahjussi got a gate stone. He was happy, saying a good thing came out even though he didn’t do anything. Peace probably didn’t get anything?”
“Probably?”
I didn’t really know. Since he had skills, the system probably applied to him, but it seemed like he didn’t have an inventory.
“Ahjussi should quickly check too!”
With the urging, I opened the inventory list. I hadn’t organized it in a long time and just carelessly put things in, so the list was messy. The inventory also had a limit, so I had to organize it.
When I went straight down the list, an unfamiliar item’s name stood out.
[Nameless Demon King’s Old Spinning Wheel]
What was this? First of all, since it said ‘Demon King’, it seemed to be a high rank item. I took out the item from the inventory.
“……What is that?”
“It seems like a part of a spinning wheel’s… wheel that spins thread.”
It was a real spinning wheel. It was smaller than a person’s head, and was an old wheel made of normal wood.
“The explanation window… A spinning wheel’s wheel that some demon king used a long time ago, SS-Rank. Besides that, there’s nothing else written.”
“Even as a demon king, it seems like they had a peaceful hobby.”
Right. But how did you use this? Was it a material? To make a spinning wheel? If you make a spinning wheel with this, could you spin gold thread from hay with it – what, was it something like that?
‘I should’ve received the attack rewards doubled effect, so why didn’t something good come out? Was it because my contribution level was too low?’
Since it looked like it was just the one spinning wheel, it seemed like the doubled effect didn’t necessarily mean that two items came out. It looked like it was applied to an S-Rank item that should’ve came out, so that it came out as an SS-Rank.
I decided to show it to Myeongwoo later and put it back into my inventory.
Myeongwoo had gone into the Forge like always, and Kim Sunghan had returned to Haeyeon Guild. That guild leader guy had abruptly run into a dungeon, basically by himself, so Haeyeon should also be quite unsettled… shit, deep breaths, deep breaths.
Just then, Yerim’s expression hardened stiffly. She looked toward the door and frowned.
“A crazy guy came.”
Yoohyun wouldn’t have come out already. Shortly, I heard a knock. Before permission was given, the door opened, and Sung Hyunjae came in.
He sent an outwardly at least warm gaze toward Yerim.
“Your senses are good.”
“How long has it been that I would already forget it?”
Yerim stood from her seat and lightly bowed her head. It was a polite appearance, but… it seemed like she had said ‘crazy guy’ even knowing that Sung Hyunjae would hear. Yerim, let’s be careful with our words a little…… did she get it from Moon Hyuna?
“Are you alright?”
“Yes, I am fine. Thank you for coming all the way here.”
It wasn’t a welcoming face, but first of all, I smiled. What could I do? That Sung Hyunjae’s expression at least was quite warm and friendly. Though it was that face when he rejected my skill.
“I heard about Han Yoohyun. They say sweet things are good when you are stressed.”
And then he held out the shopping bag he brought in. Was it something to eat? Yerim took it instead and put it on the table.
“Did you say the standby time for sharing the same skill was 15 days?”
As soon as the short greetings ended, the skill sharing came up. Since he directly experienced the doubled attack skill effect, it made sense, but it wasn’t something that was easy to use. I apologize but even if you express interest, there is no use.
“Yes. The utility is not very high. There are not many skills that can be shared, and though the doubled attack skill effect is good, as you know, I have a weak body. Unless there is a special item like the bracelet last time, it is difficult to use in proximity combat. And for dungeons, up to S-Rank is impossible.”
Last time, there was the goal of Kim Sunghan’s growth. But without that kind of reason, there was no reason to do something inefficient like taking a crowd of S-Rank Hunters to attack a dungeon.
Thus, there was no need to use it outside of a dungeon break after this.
“That’s true.”
Sung Hyunjae nodded his head, as if he was agreeing. But still, the mood was a little icky.
“But it’s an item that was made once, so couldn’t there be a second time? Or a dungeon item with a similar effect could come out. I’m looking forward to that.”
The person involved wasn’t even thinking of it, but he was counting his chickens before they hatched[2]. The eyes bending, pleased, were awful so a sharp voice unconsciously burst out.
“Though it seems like there is no need for the Seseong Guild Leader to look forward to it. It is not like there are no S-Rank Hunters around me. There is even one right next to me.”
There was Yoohyun, and Yerim. There were two kids full of attack skills at home, so why would I use it on a neighboring ahjussi?
At my words, Yerim, who had a stiff face, grinned. On the other hand, Sung Hyunjae openly showed a sad expression. I mean, who was he to be sad? Though it should be a fake expression anyways.
“That’s sad. I had thought that we’ve gotten quite close.”
His saying nonsense with a normal face really was peerless. Where did he go to sell his conscience?
“…Wasn’t there not any reason to become close? What did we do that we would become close?”
“There were a lot of things involved in their own way.”
“Please separate public from private.”
“Aren’t there also things you received from the start?”
I wondered if I should take off the earrings and throw them but I held back. Even if I did, it would only be my loss, and I should use well things that I received. Instead I smiled.
“Thanks to being lucky in friends, something like an S-Rank item is not satisfying, now. Still, if it is something like the SS-Rank Fire Dragon Sillekia’s Wings, then even the words ‘I love you’ could probably come out, Sung Hyunjae-ssi. After trying on that coat, it seems quite good.”
“So it’s an expensive love.”
“Is it so – rather, it is a bargain. Should I also give you a sample? I love you, Sung Hyunjae-ssi.”
It was a keyword that could even grow stat A-Ranks into S-Ranks. It was seriously cheap.
There, now what were you going to do? It wasn’t like he could really give it to me. When I looked up at him, grinning, he shrugged his shoulders.
“That is true. It’s not that expensive. If it doesn’t just end at words.”
…No, wait. Fuck, don’t take the coat out of your inventory!
“Of course it was a joke!”
“That is right, it was a joke!”
Yerim quickly cut in. Then, she glared at Sung Hyunjae as much as she could.
“The patient should be feeling tired, so please go back, Seseong Guild Leader.”
Sung Hyunjae looked at us and smiled, like it was funny, and along with telling me to recuperate well, he obediently left.
Shit, I should quit applying the keyword to that person. Giving the Sillekia’s Wings should’ve been empty words, but still, it wasn’t good for my mental health. At any rate, it didn’t seem like there would be the keyword effect.
“Ahjussi! You can’t be taken in by a mere item!”
Yerim shouted shrilly as soon as the door shut. And then why were you taking off your earrings? Your words and actions were different, Yerim.
“I have SS-Rank equipment, too!”
Holding out the earrings, her face, the two cheeks were very sullen[3]. Her mouth was about to rip from smiling over getting a good item, but she was giving it to me? I felt like I was going to die from the cuteness.
“Even if you don’t give me things like that, I like you a hundred times more than that ahjussi.”
“Really?”
“Of course!”
There was no comparison. At the reply filled with sincerity, she smiled brightly. Of course, she didn’t forget to sneakily put the earrings back on her ears. As expected of our Yerim.
***
Sung Hyunjae, who had gone down to the hospital parking lot and gotten into his car, took out his cell phone. After a short dial tone, the other person picked up the phone.
[Wow, mister[4]. What is the matter?]
It was a woman’s energetic voice. Sung Hyunjae didn’t give a long explanation and went straight to business.
“Prepare to come back to Korea.”
[Already? It is faster than I expected.]
“Contact Noah, too. Convey the message to enter the country as the Ark[5] Guild Leader, who’s not affiliated to Seseong.”
[Huh? That guy too? That is a little weird – weren’t you going to pass Korea to Haeyeon and come out?]
“The plan changed.”
The voice over the cell phone was full of doubt.
[I thought you thought of the Haeyeon Guild Leader as cute; did he do something irritating?]
“No, the young master is still cute. Lately, he’s gotten very venomous, so he’s become even cuter. But the one that made him venomous is a slight problem.”
The cool gaze went toward outside the car window. The call ended. Sung Hyunjae lowered the cell phone, and remembered the events of 3 years ago.
The self-styled filial duty addicts, who came in touch right when he had Awakened.
‘Filial duty, it’s not even funny.’
It was a title that seemed joking, but the information that those people conveyed was accurate.
So there was no choice but to change the plans.
***
It was incredibly late at night. Chirpie had taken up one pillow and was sleeping. Yerim had gone back to the dorms, too. Myeongwoo said he would stay, but was sent back and only Kim Sunghan was remaining in the guardian room.
By habit, I checked that damned guy’s name on the status window, and pressed the TV remote. There wasn’t really anything to watch. They were still yapping on about Myeongwoo on the Hunter related programs.
It was just then
“Boss Mr. Kim, you’ve woken up!”
It was the Dokkaebi. The brightly smiling mask was incredibly pleased, so I smiled back.
It was around the time the keyword could be applied to this guy, too.
[1] the word for personality used here (인격) has the word/hanja for human 인(人) in it, so yj just made a new word here with the hanja for bird 조(鳥)
[2] from the saying ‘the person who will give the rice cake hasn’t even dreamed of it yet, but [you] are already drinking kimchi soup’ which means ‘the person who is going to do something for you hasn’t even thought of it yet, but you’re already expecting it to happen’, or similar to the eng ‘counting your chickens before they hatch’
[3] lit. ‘swollen’ but it means that she’s angry and sulky
[4] eng transliterated to krn
[5] maybe it’s ‘arc’, who knows, I just took a gamble w what seemed most likely