Chapter 26

▶ Chapter 26. The Disciple Proposal (3)

I raised both hands and pointed dramatically.

At the tiny duckling sleeping peacefully in Han Junggeun’s huge hands.

“Elizabeth Cleopatra Victoria Isabel Mary Katrina Seondeok the 12th has a very special unique skill.”

Then I explained everything in detail.

“Fifty percent bonus experience?!”

The moment I finished speaking, even Han Junggeun, who was usually quiet, shouted loud enough to shake the room.

Worried that the sleeping 12th might wake up—though it was still sleeping perfectly fine—he immediately shut his mouth.

Still, the shock was clearly written all over his face.

“Woooow…!”

Han Dongju’s mouth dropped wide open.

Just like when he had first seen a Rank 10 box, it looked like his mouth couldn’t possibly open any wider.

I want to stick my fist in there.

For some reason, I always felt like playing pranks on Han Dongju.

Would it be okay if I actually tried it…?

Now wasn’t the right time, so I pushed the thought aside for later.

“But like I said, for me to use that special skill, I have to reach Level 10 first. After that, every five levels I gain lets me add one more person.”

Han Yonghwan asked with an excited expression.

“Could you tell us your current level and total experience?”

“I’m Level 9 right now, with a total of 81,030 experience points.”

“Then Level 10 isn’t far away.”

“Yeah. But leveling really is as slow as everyone says. I cleared one Rank 5 Gate, one Rank 7 Gate, and two Rank 9 Gates, but I’ve only gotten this far. And that was with bonus experience too.”

Han Yonghwan immediately shook his head.

“That’s incredibly fast! Of course, part of it is because below Level 10, each level only requires ten thousand experience points. I’m Level 30 now, so I need thirty thousand points per level. Even if I clear Gates consistently, it’ll probably take me around four months to reach Level 31.”

“Four months?”

“Yes. As an SS-rank Hunter, the most efficient Gate for me to clear is Rank 6. Normally, a Rank 6 Gate has around sixty regular monsters and one boss, so the total available experience is 5,760 points. If I go in with a five-person party and nothing unusual happens, I get 1,152 points. Just looking at the numbers, I need to clear around twenty-six Rank 6 Gates to reach Level 31.”

Han Yonghwan explained everything very passionately, using exact numbers.

I’d heard plenty at my old job about how insanely difficult leveling was.

But hearing Han Yonghwan explain it with shining eyes made it feel much more real.

“NotAHunter-nim can clear Rank 9 Gates alone. If you take all the experience from ninety regular monsters and one boss, then include your bonus experience, you can earn exactly 34,200 points. That means once you’re in your thirties, you could gain almost one full level every time you clear one.”

Han Yonghwan now looked like he was dying of jealousy.

Seeing someone as cold as him react like that… I guess my leveling speed really is ridiculous.

Once again, I felt grateful for the 12th.

I’ll buy you lots of chicken—no, spicy dakgangjeong—from now on!

With that promise in my heart, I finally got to the main point.

“I want to choose the three of you—Han Yonghwan, Han Junggeun, and Han Dongju—as targets for the bonus experience.”

They had probably expected me to say something like that.

Even so, all three brothers looked so overwhelmed that they seemed ready to faint.

Han Dongju really did roll his eyes back and collapse sideways.

“Dongju!”

Han Yonghwan panicked and used a skill to wake him up.

Han Junggeun still carefully held the 12th in one hand while pulling a water bottle out of his inventory with the other and practically shoving it into Han Dongju’s mouth.

“Cough! Cough! Ah, enough! I’m awake!”

Han Dongju spat out the bottle, then spread both arms toward me and screamed at the top of his lungs.

“I love you, NotAHunter-nim!”

“No. Don’t love me.”

“Yes! I won’t love you! Ehehehehehe!!! I’m so happy I could die!!!”

“Please don’t die either…”

“Yes! Ehehehehehe!!!”

He was completely losing his mind.

It was getting unpleasant to watch.

If Han Junggeun smacked him once, maybe he’d come back to his senses.

But Han Junggeun was in no condition to do that either.

He wasn’t as bad as Han Dongju, but Han Junggeun and Han Yonghwan both seemed far too excited to be thinking properly.

Leveling really is that hard, huh…

Once again, I felt just how serious it was.

Only after a little time passed did the three brothers finally calm down.

“There are some conditions the three of you need to accept.”

First, even after I retired, the three of them had to continue saving people.

Second, once one of them reached Level 50, that person had to take the 7돌알람 skill.

Third, since I didn’t know much about Gates, the three brothers would decide the details of which Gates we should clear and how we should level.

Fourth, they would also discuss and decide who should level first.

Han Dongju, whose eyes still looked slightly unfocused, raised a question.

“The 7돌알람 skill? Is that the skill you got from the random new-skill ticket last time?”

“Yes. It’s a skill that says, ‘If an unexpected Rank 7 or higher Gate appears, an alarm will immediately reveal its exact location.’ That’s how I noticed the sudden Gate in Gangneung and was able to fly there right away.”

“Wait. You flew all the way to Gangneung?”

Han Dongju’s eyes became a little more normal.

“Yeah. I’m not a registered Hunter, so I can’t use portals. It was pretty inconvenient. Even flying, it still took me twenty-five minutes to reach Gangneung. It drained a lot of stamina too. Is there any way I can use portals?”

Han Dongju clicked his tongue in disbelief.

“You mean only twenty-five minutes…”

Han Yonghwan answered instead.

“We’ll try to arrange something regarding that.”

“Okay. Please do.”

Han Yonghwan continued.

“We’ll gladly accept every condition you mentioned. However, we can’t immediately decide the leveling plan, the order, or who should receive the 7돌알람 skill. Would it be all right if we discuss it first and tell you later?”

“Of course.”

I had expected them to accept, but hearing them actually say it still made me feel relieved.

No, honestly, I felt very relieved.

It almost felt as though my luxurious retirement life was already appearing in front of my eyes.

Ehehehe!!! …Damn it, Han Dongju’s laugh already rubbed off on me.

I was very glad I was hiding my strength—and especially that I was currently in meal mode, so they couldn’t see my expression.

Han Dongju raised one hand.

“NotAHunter-nim, were you trying to buy a skill abandonment ticket because you wanted to give up the 7돌알람 skill?”

“Yeah. But now I’m going to transfer it to someone else, so I won’t abandon it.”

“Then I’ll cancel the listing with the auction company.”

“Okay. I’ll come back one week from now, at this same time.”

“One moment.”

Han Yonghwan stopped me.

“There’s something we need to tell you about the Hunter Association. I’ll give you the detailed information next time. For now, I just want to tell you to be careful. Especially around the Association President.”

“Yeah. I already know the Association President is a problem.”

I knew how incompetent the Hunter Association had become after the new president took over.

At my previous job, the employee sitting next to me had been in charge of dealing with the Hunter Association.

That person used to curse the Association so furiously that foam practically came out of their mouth.

“Then I’ll be going.”

I took the 12th with me and happily left.

My luxurious retirement life!!!

I walked away while imagining that wonderful future.

Three days later.

“All right~ Just ten more seconds! Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, oneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee—done! Great job! You’re almost a Health Queen, member!”

“Yeees…”

“Oh? You still have enough energy to answer?! All right, ten more seconds!”

Honestly, I wanted to punch my personal trainer from Health King.

The violence inside me…

I became painfully aware of it once again as I crawled out of the gym with legs shaking like a newborn giraffe.

It was exhausting.

But I was in a good mood.

Because of the restaurant I was about to visit.

A two-star Mashulin restaurant!

It was a Hanwoo omakase restaurant.

It cost a ridiculous 500,000 won per person.

Even though I had decided to start spending more money, my hands had trembled while paying for the reservation.

And yet, getting a reservation was still incredibly difficult.

By pure luck, I had managed to grab a recently canceled seat.

How delicious is it going to be?!

I felt like I was already drooling, so I tightly closed my mouth and headed toward the restaurant.

“Hello. I have a reservation for 1 p.m. under Kim Suyeon.”

“Yes. Welcome, Ms. Kim Suyeon. I’ll show you to your seat.”

Every seat was at the bar.

Not only the seats, but the entire restaurant looked luxurious.

Wow!

My mouth felt like it might open endlessly just like Han Dongju’s, so I clenched my teeth tightly.

Then—

The entrance suddenly became a little noisy.

And a familiar face appeared.