The weather was a bit hotter than yesterday. I was searching around the area near Myeongdong Station, a popsicle in my mouth.

A barbecue restaurant near Myeongdong Station.

That was the only lead I had on Park Yerim's current residence.

“Excuse me. Does a student named Park Yerim live here by any chance?”

“No, there’s no one like that here.”

Another dead end. I marked an X on the map on my phone. I've checked this side of the street, maybe I should try the other side. There seem to be quite a few barbecue restaurants around.

As I chewed on the last bit of my dwindling popsicle and glanced back, I saw Kim Sunghan who was trailing behind me, dressed layer upon layer in this hot weather. Do high-ranking hunters not feel the heat? I wanted to make that guy an S-rank, but I didn't have the nerve.

The situation with Yoo Myeongwoo was a stroke of good luck.But what excuse would I have to tell that guy that I love him? Should I arrange a drinking party?

‘Maybe I should insist that confessing love to just anyone is my drunken habit?’

Of course, simply saying the keyword wouldn’t do, there needed to be some emotional bond, something that would make us closer. But how would we get closer? Should I go with alcohol after all? Does he even like alcohol?

I crossed the street and went towards the Charcoal-grilled Rib House located in a secluded place. Having thought about drinking, the smell of grilled meat made my mouth water involuntarily. Looking at the menu on the wall, it seemed they also served gopchang and makchang.

Gopchang sounded good. Gopchang, sizzling with fat and puffed like cotton wool, and refreshing beer that clears your palate! Although pork belly with soju was also nice, I preferred gopchang. Gopchang was good. I wanted to eat it. It was still a bit early for dinner, but should I eat now and continue searching later?

Holding the ice cream stick in my mouth, I was going over to the rib house door when suddenly,

“Everything is always my fault!”

With a sharp cry, the glass door swung open. The small sign hanging on the door rattled as if it were going to break.

“Damn you, Park Soocheon!!”

“Where does that brat think she's yelling?! Get back in here!”

A girl in a tracksuit stormed out, glaring at the interior of the shop as if she could kill with her gaze. Her face, filled with anger, was unmistakably familiar. It was Park Yerim, right?

“Excu—”

“Just drop dead!”

With a burst of anger, Park Ye-rim shouted and turned to sprint away. Hey, where are you going? Wait a second!

I dashed after the girl who had already gotten far away in an instant. She was just a middle schooler, so as an adult man, even though I was only an F-rank Awakened, I should have been able to catch up easily… why was she so fast?

‘Has she awakened already? Oh no, a car!’

While I was hesitating, stopped by the car, the shortened distance grew further again. Should I have worn the gloves and belt? If I hadn’t taken them off because of the heat, I would’ve been able to catch her right away. Still, I made sure to remember the direction she went.

After the car passed, I crossed the street and ran in the direction Park Yerim had headed.

In a short distance, there was a hill . I saw the back of the girl who was sitting haphazardly on the ground between trees at the edge of Namsan Mountain[7].

Before long, I reached a hillside overgrown with trees. Through the trees at the foot of Namsan, I saw the back of a girl sitting on the ground randomly.

‘For now, I should make sure.’

Since it could be a different person. Let me use the Sprout skill. Despite being a considerable distance away, the status window appeared.

[Unawakened – Park Yerim

Possible Awakening Stat Rank: A~S

Optimized Initial Skills:

Shadowless Day (SS)

Hermes’ Shoes (S)

White Corpse (S)]

I did expect the best possible Awakening stat rank to be S. The optimized initial skills having an SS was a little surprising.

But more than anything.

‘There’s nothing resembling ice?!’

All the optimized initial skills of the girl who was famous as an Ice Witch were entirely unfamiliar to me. That fact was the most astonishing, if not downright shocking.

So she had become that famous with skills that didn’t even suit her? Just how overwhelmingly talented must she be? I was jealous.

‘But these skills… I really have no idea what effects they might have.’

While Hermes' Shoes seemed to be related to flight or agility, I couldn't even begin to guess what Shadowless Daylight and White Corpse could do. It was frustrating that the Sprout skill couldn’t check the skill details too.

It wouldn’t do if they were assistance skills. Still, the stats were S-rank, so—

“Han Yoojin-ssi.”

Oh my god, that startled me! Sunghan suddenly appeared beside me. His expression seemed to ask what I was doing right now.

“I felt a strong energy from that student, so I’m going to approach her. Please wait here.”

Saying that I felt a strong energy… It made me feel like I had become a cultist or something. Kim Sunghan glanced at Park Yerim and silently nodded.

Now, how should I approach her? I pondered as I slowly went towards Park Yerim.

The young girl was sitting backwards to me, so I couldn't see her expression. But there was a deep sadness emanating from her silhouette. Her hunched shoulders emanated a sorrowful aura.

“Um, excuse me, student. Can we talk for a moment?”

I spoke in the most gentle voice I could muster. I am a harmless person, trust me.

Park Yerim turned her head and looked at me. She wasn’t crying but the rims of her eyes were red. There were traces of her biting her bottom lip.

“Hello? I'm—”

“I’m not interested in sex.”

“Neither am I!”

What does she take me for!

The atmosphere, which had been as delicate as thin ice, was shattered in an instant. Why would such words come out here!

“You’re Park Yerim, right?”

In response she stood up from her seat with a start. Then she gave me a suspicious look.

“…A stalker?”

“No!”

As if being accused of statutory rape wasn't enough, now it's stalking! I felt genuinely wronged. I swear that even before the regression I was clean in that regard. Though I wasn’t in others.

“I’m, anyways, I’m someone who was once indebted to your parents.”

I decided to use the ‘you don’t know but we actually have a connection’ again. The kid’s guard was up too high for me to say I came to scout her.

“To my parents?”

“Yeah. I'm not a suspicious person.”

“You’re a really suspicious looking ahjussi though.”

Ahjussi! Yeah, okay. To a middle schooler, I might seem like an ahjussi. I'm already in my thirties… No, I'm not! I regressed! I'm still in my twenties!

“…I'm still in my mid-twenties, you know?”

“Have you gone to the army yet?”

“…Yeah.”

“Then you’re an ahjussi.”

…I was already feeling unfair to have gone to the military as I didn’t Awaken as a higher rank, but this was too much. Just the thought of entrusting my protection to her already made me feel uneasy. She’s got quite a character for her age.

“Anyways, I want to sponsor you.”

“So it actually is statutory rape! Hey, police!”

“No! It’s not! Here, take a look at my Hunter license and temporary guild membership card!”

I quickly took out my wallet and showed my licenses. Park Yerim raised an eyebrow at seeing them.

“What, you’re only an F-Rank. Rather than sponsor me, it seems like you might struggle to support yourself, mister.”

…Always picking at the sore spots, huh.

“Can you at least take a look at the guild membership card?”

“Haeyeon Guild? That’s a famous one.”

“Yeah, you know the guild master Han Yoohyun, right? An S-rank hunter. He's my younger brother.”

Park Yerim looked at me with a surprised expression.

“That good-looking oppa? You don’t really look alike.”

“…So that guy is an oppa.”

“He didn’t go to the army.”

“S-ranks are exempted anyways.”

“Then correction to abilities-having oppa.”

…It hurt even more because it was true. Still, perhaps she felt a bit sorry, because she added that after a closer look we did look a bit alike.

“Having a brother with abilities is an ability, too. Don’t put on that pitiful expression, ahjussi.”

“When did I.”

“It’s the face of a victim who has been rolling around in mud for 5 years and only recently managed to crawlout, though.”

What's this? Did she have some kind of a memory-reading ability or what?

“Let’s stop getting off track and get to the point. I can make you into an Awakened.”

“An Awakened?”

Park Ye-rim's eyes lit up with interest. Being an Awakened was the most popular profession among young people. Of course, only those above C-rank and higher. Like any profession, the bottom was treated as if it didn’t exist.

“Yeah. That's my skill. I can turn others into Awakeners. And with the Haeyeon Guild Leader behind my back, I can also help you establish yourself.”

“But that’s no help if I turn out to be an F.”

“Don’t worry. Your rank is at least B or higher.”

At my confident words, she tilted her head in curiosity.

“You can tell that too?”

“I can. It’s a secret to other people.”

“What if I don’t keep the secret? Why are you telling me this? This ahjussi has no sense of caution.”

“To prepare for that, there's something called a contract. Awakening you is after we write a contract. If you decide not to Awaken and go around telling the secret, well, who would believe you? You don’t have proof.”

‘If you do this, you can become an Awakened!’ The internet was filled to the brim with similar rumors. So if she went around saying that there was someone who could Awakenpeople, it wouldn’t draw much attention. Moreover, there were already several scammers making similar claims, so she would surely be met with skepticism.

With a slight frown as if lost in thought, Park Yerim spoke up.

“If I become an Awakened, can I become independent? I don’t want to live at my uncle’s house.”

“Yes, you can. During the First Dungeon Shock a lot of minors Awakened, so a special law was enacted. Starting from 14 full years of age, except for the restriction where you are only allowed to enter a dungeon at least 2 ranks lower than your rank, as a Hunter, you have the same rights as an adult. In other words, you can enter a guild without a guardian’s permission. Haeyeon Guild has dorms so you just have to register as a Hunter and then you can leave your house.”

Opinions on minors entering dungeons were still divided. It was undoubtedly an ethically problematic law, but when dungeons first appeared, there weren’t a lot of Awakeners. In that chaos, as dungeons continued to burst open, there was a need to utilize every possible help, even from minors.

Still, because of the restriction allowing minors to only enter dungeons at least 2 ranks lower than their own, the casualty rate for Hunter minors was low. The mentioned restriction would be lifted if one cleared dungeons ten times unharmed or reached the age of 18.

‘After Awakening Centers were established, the number of Awakeners increased, so the age for dungeon entry was raised gradually.’

That was only proper. But since this was before the special law was amended, there was no problem with Park Yerim becoming independent.

“But wouldn't not having a guardian make some things difficult? After all, you're still young—”

“I said it's fine. Not having a guardian is a lot better. At this rate, I won’t be able to bear it for longer and run away from home anyways.”

Park Yerim said bluntly. Did she just mention running away? It sounded familiar, maybe I’d seen that in an interview from the future.

“Your uncle doesn’t treat you well?”

“Besides the school fees, he doesn’t give me a single penny for allowance and makes me slave away. This is after he took all my parents’ possessions with me as an excuse! And that restaurant was made by selling our apartment. And yet, in front of others, he acts like a great person taking care of a kid who has nowhere else to go!”

A glint of tears appeared with the angry yelling. There were a lot of people in the world who didn’t care about their own flesh and blood when money was involved. But if you had taken all the family’s possessions with the child, they should at least give them some care - this was too much.

“If you want, I can offer you legal help too.”

Most guilds had several lawyers. A Guild like Haeyeon would surely have them too, and for an S-rank awakened individual under the guild's wing, they would spare no effort.

“No. I just don’t want to be involved with him again.”

“Sure, do as you please. It feels a bit awkward to talk while standing here. It's a bit early, but how about going for dinner?”

To use the skill, we needed to talk with each other more.

“Gopchang… you probably don’t like that. Is there anything you want to eat?”

“No, I like it. Though Uncle’s doesn’t taste good. There's a famous place nearby, let's go there. Is it okay if it’s a bit expensive?”

“It’s definitely okay. Eat however much you like!”

I had a Haeyeon Guild company credit card. I brought it, saying that I would use it for entertainment expenses when I find an A-rank or higher. So, feel free to splurge as much as you want, it's okay!