Edited By: Sebas Tian
Right.
Thatâs it.
After eating the fruit that was hanging from the plant, he couldnât breathe and felt an intense pain.
Because he had a hard time breathing and was in pain, he fell out of the chair and fainted.
ââ¦â¦I thought I was going to die.â
He managed to survive.
But it felt like someone punched him repeatedly all over his body, so Hyun-Soo grabbed a handful of Levshila and shoved it into his mouth.
Chew, chew.
Gulp.
Even though eating a lot didnât stack the effects, it calmed him down mentally.
Hyun-Soo grabbed another handful and ate the plant.
âWhewâ¦â¦.â
Since he ate a medicinal herb, it felt like he was getting better.
âWhat just happened to me?â
He ate the fruit of a plant he didnât have any information on.
And right after, he felt an intense amount of pain.
ââ¦â¦That fruit was the issue.â
Thinking about it now, he wasnât sure why he wanted to eat that fruit really badly.
He remembered telling himself that he was going to look into it more and the way he ate it without hesitation wasnât like him at all.
He couldnât help but think that maybe he was possessed.
Other than the fact that he was in a lot of pain and lost consciousness, nothing changed.
Hyun-Soo looked at himself to see if there was anything wrong with him.
He slowly poked his abdomen and chest to see if they were infected, but he didnât feel any pain.
Because of the Levshila, after the pain disappeared, his body felt really light.
âSomething is definitely weird.â
Since his physical condition changed all of a sudden, he couldnât help but be worried.
Since he was a hunter, most illnesses were cured on their own, so it wasnât a big problem, but since his body was an a.s.set, he was thinking about going to a hospital.
His eyes saw something odd.
Hyun-Soo was about to activate Interface and look at his stats.
He wanted to look his stamina since his body felt odd.
And then he saw something he hasnât seen before.
âWhatâs this?â
Hyun-Sooâs eyes were fixed on the list of skills.
Interface displayed Skill Creation, Skill Transfer, Medicinal Mix, Invisible Attack and Blade Fist.
Those are skills that heâs seen before.
But at the end, there was something heâs never seen before.
âWhat is that??â
ââââââââââ
â¶Name : Kim Hyun-Soo (21)
â¶Rank : B
â¶Cla.s.s : Skill Maker
â¶Experience : 3%
â¶Stamina Level : 97%
â¶Energy Level : 100%
â¶Stamina : 126 / Agility : 114 / Strength : 125 / Critical Hit : 117 / ?? / ?? / ??
â¶Skill List
Interface[SS]
Skill Creation[A]
Skill Transfer[A]
Medicinal Mix[B]
Invisible Attack[B]
â Blade Fist[B]
ââââââââââ
Hyun-Soo looked at Interface as if he couldnât believe what he was seeing.
He earned a new skill and he didnât know about it?
And it was a skill filled with question marks.
He used Interface again to find more information, but the information displayed was filled with question marks.
Hyun-Soo was stunned.
âWell this is rude.â
It was information about himself.
Shouldnât it at least display all the information about himself?
Even though he thought that way, he had already given up.
âStupid activation rate.â
He strongly felt that this was happening because the activation rate was only at 24%.
The more he raised the rate, the more information itâll display.
âAlso, I only have eight skill slots and that unknown skill just filled the sixth slot.â
He didnât have a lot of slots left.
When his rank increased to B, the skill slots increased to eight and because that unknown skill took the sixth slot, he only had two slots left.
Since the Blade Fist was Invisible Attackâs sub-skill, it didnât fill one of the slots.
It was a relief.
If that took up a slot, then he would only have one left.
âI donât know what it is, so I canât even erase it.â
He wasnât sure if he could even erase a skill that was filled with question marks.
Hyun-Soo had a headache, but thinking about it wasnât going to solve it.
So he decided to go with the second-best solution.
He decided to hand over his problem to his future self.
After deciding to think about it later, he looked at the clock.
The clock showed that it was already midnight.
Hyun-Soo was surprised, so he looked at the Hunter Link.
He thought the time was wrong, but the same time was displayed on the Hunter Link.
Three missed calls. Two messages.
He received them while he was pa.s.sed out.
âHyun-Soo! Youâre not picking up. Are you sleeping because youâre tired?â
The first message was from Katrina.
âI guess youâre really tired. Rest up and Iâll see you tomorrow.â
The second one was from Kim Yoo-Na.
They mustâve thought that he fell asleep due to exhaustion because he didnât come to dinner at all.
âWhewâ¦â¦.â
After letting out a deep sigh, Hyun-Soo looked at the Levshilas that he was working on.
It looked like he would have to use them next time.
âItâs so good. Iâm sure you wouldâve succeeded as a chef if you didnât become a hunter.â
âYouâre probably just thinking that itâs a little bit more delicious than the others.â
David raised both of his thumbs and complemented Hyun-Sooâs Bibimbap again, but Hyun-Soo said it wasnât anything special.
Bibimbap was a fairly simple dish, so hearing David talk about him being a chef made him feel embarra.s.sed.
It was delicious though.
âBecause I put in a lot of Levshilas.â
The Levshila was a bit bitter, but it was rich in flavor, so Levshila was the best ingredient for the Bibimbap.
The combination was great and if the score of an ordinary Bibimbap was a five, then it jumped to 10 with the addition of the Levshila.
It was also an amazing ingredient because it increased oneâs stamina.
It was delicious in many ways.
On top of that, the Bibimbap that everyone has been eating all this time was made by Kim Yoo-Na.
It was obvious that people would compare it since Kim Yoo-Na wasnât a talented cook.
âI heard that some politician is going to come. Did you hear about it?â
âI did.â
âThis is troublesome. Even though the rookie made us a dish that gave us strength, weâre tied down because of this peddler.â
Hyun-Soo was appalled by how David had the guts to call the politician a peddler without any hesitation.
It didnât matter who the politician was because that position gave them power, but David called them a peddler.
They said something about meeting their girlfriend?
âThen itâs understandable as to why heâs mad.â
But there was something that David said that caught Hyun-Sooâs attention.
What did he say?
It wasâ¦â¦.
âA food that gave him strength?â
Itâs possible that he was just being nice.
Or it could be his way of expressing his grat.i.tude.
âYouâre saying that itâs delicious, right?â
âAre you trying to make me say it twice?â
âItâs fine.â
Hyun-Soo acted like he didnât know what David really wanted and let it go.
The reason for Hyun-Soo making that Bibimbap was simple.
At first, it was to test out the ingredient.
He also wanted to show something to those arrogant hunters.
He was secretly increasing his worth.
And by increasing his worth, he wanted to be an important member within the clan.
He wanted to show the clan some of his power.
He wasnât thinking about showing all of his power.
He would show some of it and let them make a.s.sumptions afterwards.
That was enough.
Unless they were dumb, thereâs no way they wouldnât recognize Hyun-Sooâs worth.
Thatâs why, as long as he was part of the clan, he could use it as his shield as much as he wanted.
Davidâs comment meant that he caught on to some of Hyun-Sooâs powers.
If that wasnât the case, then it meant that he definitely knew what kind of effects the Bibimbap had.
Hyun-Soo was satisfied with just that.
âThank you for informing me on the clanâs activities. The clan really is amazing.â
He was the politician of the city where the new portal appeared and they came to thank the clan.
The members didnât know why they had to meet someone like them.
There were rumors that the politicians strongly requested them to take care of it.
And that they wanted to see the heroes that saved the citizens from an unknown danger.
âI think they just wanted to see what kind of people were in the clan.â
He couldnât help but think they had other intentions.
âThey must think of hunters as some sort of valuable gem.â
Power and authority were usually paired up together.
And if they were wealthy, then they had everything.
High-ranked hunters were known to be a one-man company that brought in a lot of money.
And their individuals skills were weapons.
If one had military power and wealth, then they would naturally obtain authority.
âAre they trying to recruit soldiers?â
He couldnât tell what those powerful figures were thinking.
âThe new portal was temporary and we decided to name it âColorful Portal.â
The hunters there were half forced to join and they mustâve felt burdened by their annoyed looks, because the politician coughed and continued talking.
âThis is confidential, but Iâll tell you anyways. This isnât the first time that a colorful portal was discovered. Like the request that we sent you, the colorful portals appeared at the same time. Talented hunters were sent in to clear those portals. Butâ¦there hasnât been one team that came back.â
It was obvious what the politician was trying to do.
Only one person managed to survive.
âEven though a lot of talented hunters went in, no one came back. That meansâ¦â
They failed.
All of them.
But one.
The politician continued talking after mentioning the one person that survived.
âThe survivor is a hunter and they were able to teleport a short distance. Iâm not sure how they escaped the portal, but other than the heroes here, theyâre the only ones that survived. Unfortunatelyâ¦theyâre not in any condition to talk.â
âAre they badly hurt?â
âNo. Well, I guess you can say that theyâre injured. Yes, itâs a serious injury. A psychological injury.â
The politician displayed a bitter smile when they mentioned that the survivorâs head was a blank slate and all they did was stare at the sky with a blank expression.
âWe brought in well-known psychiatrist specialists to try and heal them, but they failed. In the end, we couldnât find out anything.â
Everyone was shocked by the unexpected result.
Hyun-Soo somewhat expected this when the politician mentioned that this clan was the only group that safely returned from the colorful portal.
But on one hand, he thought maybe they were still hunting since they havenât returned yet.
But after hearing about the only survivor, that a.s.sumption became irrelevant.
End.