The End and the Beginning (20)

I picked out the gear I needed from among the mountain of weapons and Min Ha-jun’s hard sell.

He said I could take everything since he wouldn’t use it anyway even if it stayed here…

‘I don’t even have anywhere to put it.’

He might have a personal storage in the building’s basement, but my tiny officetel barely has room to lay this one body down. There’s a limit to what I can cram in my inventory, too.

So, I politely turned most of it down and carefully chose only what I needed right now.

An S-rank combat suit set, three emergency recovery potions.

That’s plenty.

Unlike my workout clothes that only had sweat-wicking, the combat suit had excellent stretch, insulation, and baseline defense.

“I made it using the hide of a monster I hunted myself. Took a lot of work to take down.”

“You can just whip up an S-rank combat suit in a single day?”

We’d only first brought up gear yesterday, as I recall.

“There’s no such word as impossible for people.”

I offered a moment of silence to the artisan who must have made this suit. I choose to believe they got overtime pay for the all-nighter.

“It won’t tear under most circumstances. Like this…”

Min Ha-jun lightly gripped the greatsword he’d just shown me and gave it a big swing. The wind hissed with the force, but the suit didn’t take a scratch.

“It also didn’t take much damage from fire or ice attacks, so it should hold up well against those too.”

“Is it really okay to hand over gear this good just like that?”

“Of course. I hunted the beast, so it’s my call.”

He shrugged like it was nothing. He’s got plenty of other guild members—are you allowed to give this away free to someone who isn’t even in the roster?

Still, we’re in a cooperation relationship now; I’ll call it an investment. I reaffirmed my resolve to clear Gates diligently.

“Want to try it on?”

“Here?”

“Yes. If anything’s uncomfortable we can get it altered. Ah, um… I’ll step out.”

A fitting, too… it really felt like we were out shopping.

Without waiting for my answer, he darted out. I heard the door lock, and soon I was alone in the storage.

What is this proactive door-to-door salesman level of initiative…

Since it’s come to this, I might as well try it on. I guess I’ve adapted to Transcendence’s shopping mall.

For being “leather,” the suit was extremely light. It didn’t even look like leather, closer to everyday wear; the size was a perfect fit and the simple design matched my taste.

If his suit screamed military issue, mine felt more athletic.

Other than the inner top being a bit form-fitting, it was similar to what I normally wear. Easy to move in, too.

‘Wait, it feels tailor-made—how did he get my size right?’

Same with the shoes last time. Does he have a ruler in his eyes or what.

“May I come in?”

A soft knock, then his voice. When I went and opened the door myself, he stood there politely and dipped his head with a handsome smile.

“As expected, it suits you well.”

“It’s comfortable to move in, so I think I’ll use it as is.”

“Are you sure you don’t need a weapon?”

I nodded. The weapons he’d brought were excellent, but I preferred what my hand was used to.

“I’ve been through thick and thin with this one—I’m attached.”

By habit, I twirled the dagger once in my hand. Lucky thing saved my life several times even before it got reinforced up to S-rank.

“Then these weapons should go back to their rightful users.”

“If there’s anything you ‘confiscated,’ make sure it gets returned.”

“Haha, nothing like that. I paid fair price for some of them, though.”

“You didn’t wave money at some crying victim and strong-arm them, did you?”

When a Guild Master flashes cash and says hand it over, even if you don’t want to, the rules of society say you pass it along while hiding your tears.

Either way, I was grateful.

“Anyway… thank you. You made getting gear easy.”

“No need to thank me—this was my selfish desire.”

“I’m the one receiving things. What do you mean, your desire?”

“It’s a thing.”

A kind of desire that finds happiness in giving to others, maybe. Not a feeling I can understand. But people think differently, so I decided to just respect it.

“Still, don’t go handing everything out.”

“Pardon?”

Even if Rank 1’s wallet is deep, if you keep handing things to anyone and everyone you’ll be broke in no time.

I was going to give a life tip, but it felt presumptuous, so I just looked at him with the eyes one would use for a diligent, decent young man.

* * *

“Hey! They keep coming up from below!”

I shouted, half regretting that earlier decision.

Long story short, I should’ve looted the whole storage instead of just the suit. I was hanging by one hand on a cliff face, teeth clenched.

‘Feels like I’ve worked ten times what those items would’ve cost.’

Even with nowhere to put it, I should’ve hauled it all out and sold it.

“You can handle the small fry on your own!”

Yul yelled from the sky. While I searched for the core, he was holding off the swarming monsters. Individually they weren’t strong, but there were so many that taking them all out would never end, so we split roles.

Even now the air above was thick with a black mass of monsters.

“Easy for you to say.”

Normally I’d mop them up in a snap, but you try fighting one-handed on a precarious cliff.

Whether he knew the situation below or not, Yul was focused on his task. There were so many that a few kept slipping in through small gaps.

At this rate it felt endless, so I cleared only the ones blocking my sight and scrambled up the wall quickly. They kept peppering me with small attacks, but maybe their fallen comrades spooked them— they were less aggressive than before. Thankfully the suit earned its keep, and I could ignore the ones just “tasting” me.

Once up, I finished off the tick-like pursuers that had clung after me. A quick glance said nothing looked torn anywhere.

‘S-Rank really is nice.’

If it were my workout clothes, they’d have ripped ages ago and I’d be badly hurt.

I dusted my hands and scanned around, and soon spotted what I’d been searching for.

A Gate core wedged in a rough cleft of rock.

“So, I did see it from below.”

Nothing showed no matter how I swept the ground, but something glittered from atop the rock mountain—gambling on the climb had been the right call.

After the unexpected hell getting up here, I’d have been bitter if it was a trick of the eye.

I tipped my head back and exhaled in relief. Finding it didn’t mean it was over, though. It was still out of reach. Looked like I needed to climb two more big boulders.

“Far off?”

“I’ll be done soon! Stop rushing me!”

I shouted back to Yul and started climbing again.

* * *

“How on earth did you get Wind to cooperate?”

A man fussed as he trailed Min Ha-jun. It was the same guild member who’d once sprinted up to him with armfuls of paperwork.

“I didn’t do anything.”

Min Ha-jun answered without even looking at the wide-eyed, brown-eyed guildie.

“Sorry? Then who tamed that alley-cat of a guy?”

“Alley cat? Since when do you talk about Wind that cutely?”

Only then did the guildmaster glance back; there was a distinct chill in his gaze.

“I just meant it as a figure of speech~.”

The guild member quickly took a step back.

Behind him, two staffers supporting him murmured to each other.

“What’s up with him?”

“Dunno. He’s been touchy lately.”

The man flicked a discreet signal behind his back, then cautiously changed the subject. Fortunately, their leader didn’t seem to have heard.

“Still, thanks to this, Transcendence’s name recognition has been rising. Did you see this?”

/—————–

Has ㅇㄷ been weak lately?

Why is he helping ㅊㅇ anyway?

└Consensus in the academy is they finally scouted him.

└Pre-drinking the kimchi soup.

└ㅇㄷ was moved by ㅊㅇ’s reputation.

└lol so many ㅊㅇ stans

└? Who hasn’t been helped by ㅊㅇ?

└And he even brought. Wind. Society. Where #1. Monopolizes.

└Sir, wash your feet and go to bed.

└Association lost another talent lol Aren’t there no more un-affiliated rankers?

└Not confirmed he joined yet.

└Then why are ㅊㅇ and him clearing Gates together every day?

—————–\

“The Association’s been pinging us nonstop. How should we respond?”

“How else? Tell them he hasn’t joined Transcendence.”

“Can’t we just bring him in while we’re at it?”

“Go ask him yourself, then.”

“Me? Oof, who could handle that temper.”

He shuddered and cringed, and Min Ha-jun fell silent, thoughtful.

“Jihoo, tomorrow’s schedule…”

“Tomorrow morning you’re headed to Busan for a support request, afternoon is the weekly meeting, injury reports from members, and a strategy meeting!”

Compared to the usual Gate-packed days, it was a relaxed schedule. Month-end always means lots of admin. Plenty to decide before the year’s out.

“The Seoul raids…”

“Oh, don’t worry about those. Since Mr. Wind started joining, it’s eased up.”

“……”

“Thanks to that, we’ve got time to tackle the stuff we kept postponing, too.”

Min Ha-jun let out a sigh. It was the sort of thing a guild master had to do. Not what he wanted at heart, but…

He’d planned to use the cooperation as a pretext to clear Gates together and grow closer to Yuha. He coveted her combat sense and skill—and liked her as a person.

‘And this time too, my condition was abnormally good again this time.’

The shock of that needle-prick pain disappearing was fresh even after experiencing it again.

He didn’t know exactly what skill it was, but he couldn’t help keeping his eyes on her.

‘I do the work and Wind gets all the credit.’

Lately, it seemed, they even went on clears just the two of them. Thankfully, he hadn’t heard of any injuries…

For the past while, the scene of Wind snatching Yuha from his arms and flying off kept replaying in his head.

Grrk.

His jaw clenched before he realized it. Through the lenses, guild member Park Jihoo’s eyes went round.

Min Ha-jun quickly reined in his expression. He had no intention of letting uncharacteristic feelings show. Though an inexplicable irritation toward Wind roiled inside, he kept his face placid.

Fortunately, Park Jihoo seemed to think he’d misheard, tilted his head, and left.