Chapter 49: Swimming

“I’ll ask the kids and Hye Won directly what they need. No, scratch that. I’ll just give you one of my cards and let you buy whatever you need.”

Park Hae Jin’s voice was so bright that it carried even over the phone receiver.

“As expected of our boss, you’re really generous. Thank you so much! I’ll come down to visit soon.”

Sang-woong said sincerely.

“Yeah, if anything else difficult comes up, don’t hesitate to tell me.”

“Haha, got it. I’m hanging up now.”

Park Hae Jin smiled brightly and ended the call.

Sang-woong felt the heavy weight in his heart from earlier disappear like smoke after talking with his comrades.

At times like this, he once again felt deeply that his decision to retire as a Hunter and come here was the right one.

Sang-woong grabbed his wallet and stepped outside.

The kids were gathered in front of the house, busy filming something.

“Hey, mister!”

Lee Ji-an spotted Sang-woong and waved her hand.

“Hello.”

Gu Eun-woo quickly greeted him as well.

“What are you filming today?”

Sang-woong asked.

“Minky just had babies!”

Ji-an’s voice was full of excitement.

“Minky had babies?”

Sang-woong was surprised and quickly peered inside Minky’s house.

Four little kittens clung tightly to their mother, suckling milk.

The small, adorable sight naturally brought a smile to his lips.

“Wow, Minky did a great job. Now that she’s a mom, we have to take even better care of her.”

Sang-woong spoke softly to Minky as he gently stroked her head.

A mother cat right after giving birth naturally gets more nervous and protective.

Especially for a stray cat like Minky, it was even more so.

Still, Minky didn’t resist Sang-woong’s touch and quietly closed her eyes, trusting him.

“See? Cats can be pretty selective! They take care of us every day, but they like you even more! Leon says it’s because you’re their owner, but still.”

Ji-an said, grumbling playfully.

Sang-woong laughed and scolded gently.

“Hahaha, that’s because you were the first to get close to Minky. But what’s Leon doing here?”

Leon was the kind of guy who usually roamed freely in the mountains and fields.

Except when he was hungry, he was hard to find.

But now, he was quietly sitting in front of the house.

Like a guardian protecting his mother and her babies, Leon sat motionless.

“Minky’s babies were born, and Leon has been sitting there all along.”

Ji-an explained.

Sang-woong stroked Leon’s head.

“Are you really protecting Minky and the babies?”

Leon nodded slightly as if to agree.

At that moment, Sang-woong caught a faint scent of blood.

Now that he looked closely, there was a red stain near Leon’s mouth.

“What’s that?”

Ever since meeting Leon, it had been rare to see him hunt directly.

Leon only fought when monsters invaded the land.

Especially here on Earth, Sang-woong didn’t expect Leon to have to fight.

“Leon, come here.”

Sang-woong took Leon away from the kids, moving toward the nearby restaurant.

Once they had some distance, Sang-woong asked,

“Leon, is that blood on your mouth?”

Leon nodded slightly again.

“Did you hunt something?”

At Sang-woong’s words, Leon turned and walked forward as if telling him to follow.

Sang-woong followed Leon into the forest.

After walking for a while, they reached a huge pig lying dead on the ground.

The pig was much larger than a normal pig, and its sharp tusks stuck out like axes.

It was a mutant.

Sang-woong had only heard of them but was seeing one for the first time.

Leon wasn’t just guarding the dungeon grounds, but also this area on Earth.

And, in case of danger, he had silently been protecting Minky and her babies who couldn’t move.

“Well done, Leon. But is this the only one?”

Leon looked at Sang-woong and nodded.

Sang-woong took a shovel from his inventory and buried the mutant pig.

“Since Leon did well, he deserves a reward.”

Sang-woong pulled out a chunk of pork belly—Leon’s favorite—and tossed it to him.

Leon jumped into the air, catching the pork belly like a pro, and devoured it in an instant.

“Let’s go.”

Sang-woong led Leon back to Lee Ji-an and Gu Eun-woo.

“Mister, where did you go?”

Ji-an asked.

“Leon did something good, so I gave him a snack. And here, take this.”

Sang-woong handed a card to Ji-an.

“I heard you’re going to shoot a YouTube video with Hye Won, right? Use this card to buy the equipment and cover expenses.”

“Really?”

Ji-an’s eyes widened as she took the card.

Gu Eun-woo, who was listening, opened his eyes wide in envy.

Since he was in charge of filming and editing, new equipment was more essential to him than anyone else.

Since starting YouTube, he had been studying filming techniques hard.

Thanks to that, he developed an eye for the screen and naturally grew his appetite for video gear.

His mind was flooded with ideas about various angles and compositions to create fresh styles different from before.

But it was hard to even try with only one camera.

Unexpectedly, support had come from somewhere out of the blue.

“Yeah, buy the best gear you can. Make sure Hye Won’s music video looks amazing.”

Gu Eun-woo’s face flushed with excitement.

Grateful, he cheerfully shouted toward Sang-woong.

“Thank you so much, mister!”

Seeing this, Sang-woong felt proud.

Gu Eun-woo had once been worn out and bitter from dungeon sickness, losing his smile and only showing sarcasm and bluff, but now he was beaming brighter than anyone.

Sang-woong patted Gu Eun-woo’s head and returned to the restaurant.

***

In the corner of his heart, Sang-woong felt a growing anticipation for today’s Ahoa Tribe’s chieftain selection tournament.

Though the competitions could sometimes be childish, the way everyone gave their best always gripped him tightly.

Already, the lively atmosphere of the Ahoa Tribe seemed vividly drawn before his eyes.

After finishing cleaning up behind the restaurant and passing through the dungeon gate, a subtle tension and excitement like the night before a festival filled the place.

As usual, Aria was the first to come out to greet him.

“Master, hello.”

Aria waved brightly with a cheerful face.

“Hello, Aria.”

“Master, what kind of competition do you think will be selected today?”

Aria blinked her eyes and asked.

“Well, there are so many types of contests, I’m not sure.”

Sang-woong shrugged.

The Ahoa Tribe members each wrote down on slips of paper the competition they were confident in.

Then, through a drawing, the event to be held in the chieftain selection tournament was decided, so it was hard to predict the event.

The draw began, and the selected competition was swimming, which had never been chosen before.

Perhaps thanks to the new pond that had been created, becoming a new playground for the Ahoa Tribe, many had written swimming as their choice.

“Wow, Master. Swimming got picked!”

Aria cheered.

“Yeah, this should be fun.”

Sang-woong’s face was full of anticipation as he awaited today’s event.

Once the event was decided, the Ahoa Tribe gathered nervously by the pond.

“Master Sang-woong, please be our judge again today. Hau!”

Chieftain Oliver approached Sang-woong.

“Got it. But how will the competition proceed?”

“Today’s event is simple. All the Ahoa Tribe members will jump into the pond, and the first to reach the finish point becomes the chieftain. Hau!”

Oliver’s words made Sang-woong marvel.

“Wow! I thought it would be a tournament style like before, but this time they announced a very straightforward competition.”

The image of over a hundred Ahoa Tribe members running at the pond for the final battle was thrilling just to imagine.

Sang-woong took off his cotton T-shirt and tied it to a tree, making a starting flag.

Because this was one of the most precious traditional events for the Ahoa Tribe, he wanted it to go properly.

“Alright, everyone, gather at the starting line!”

Sang-woong’s announcement marking the start had the Ahoa Tribe members line up tensely along the starting line.

Their gazes focused intently on Sang-woong.

“On the count of three, start.”

Sang-woong shouted loudly so everyone could hear and began counting.

“One, two, three!”

At the shout of “three,” Sang-woong waved the flag vigorously.

At the same time, the Ahoa Tribe leapt into the pond.

The blue water rippled and twisted like a massive living creature.

As more than a hundred tribe members dove into the pond at once, a grand splash shot toward the sky.

In an instant, the pond turned into a fierce battlefield where countless heads and short limbs tangled in heated competition.

The lead group surged ahead, cutting through the water.

Their strokes were strong and rhythmic.

Sunlight reflected off the water droplets flying from their movements, and an intense heat filled the pondside.

Their shoulders bumped and water splashed as they struggled to move forward, exuding primal energy.

“Incredible.”

Sang-woong ran along the pondside with Aria, watching the competition.

Among them, the most striking was Alton, the Ahoa Tribe’s top troublemaker.

His usual mischievous expression was nowhere to be seen; instead, his sharp eyes sliced through the water as he swam.

Like an otter that had lived in water for a long time, his body moved fluidly with the water’s flow.

Beside him, Oliver followed closely, as if unwilling to relinquish the chieftain’s seat.

The power bursting from his silver arms was no less than Alton’s, but somehow, his stiff movements stood out sharply in comparison.

As time passed, the distance between the lead group and the others gradually grew, but not a single Ahoa Tribe member gave up.

They didn’t hesitate to wrestle to get ahead.

Their faces clearly showed a fierce will to win.

Though their labored breaths occasionally reached the shore, they encouraged one another, showing their best efforts.

Sang-woong’s eyes tried not to miss a single one of the tribe members dynamically moving through the water.

Their passion and energy seemed to be transmitted straight to him.

“Keep it up! Everyone, fighting!”

Sang-woong cheered loudly.

The first to reach the finish line was, as expected, Alton.

He pushed his arms even faster, as if squeezing out his last strength, while Oliver, right behind, seemed to slow down as his energy waned.

Alton maintained his focus until the very last moment, cutting through the water with precision.

Finally, Alton’s hand touched the finish line.

“Wahahahaha!”

At that moment, Alton let out a loud, triumphant roar.

He had never been chieftain before.

Now, having won the chieftain selection tournament for the first time, his mood was beyond words.

Breathless and soaked in water, Alton’s face broke into a bright smile.