Chapter 41: The Box That Shouldn’t Open

With rising anticipation, I checked my newly issued Hunter License.

[Baek Dowoon, B-rank Hunter]

Maybe it’s just my imagination, but the letter “B” seems bolder than the others.

No, it must be my imagination.

I even hunted a Cyclops solo, so why am I not an A-rank Hunter?

A disappointed sigh escaped me.

“Hoo… But why, really?”

“Are you okay? Uh, I think you probably just barely missed A-rank. So cheer up, okay?”

Woo Chaeyeon, who was checking the Hunter License next to me, offered words of comfort.

It was a clumsy attempt, but thanks to her, the disappointment faded away.

Instead, a sense of embarrassment welled up.

She’s only seventeen, yet here she is, comforting me, a twenty-six-year-old, with such a mature attitude.

She herself received a B-rank, too.

Honestly, I can’t tell who’s the adult and who’s the child anymore.

I shook my head vigorously to pull myself together.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thank you for caring.”

“Hehe, you’re welcome….”

Watching her smile softly, I fell deep in thought.

It was about why I was rated as B-rank.

The Tower of Trials assesses both physical ability and combat capability.

I took down a Cyclops single-handedly, so I must’ve received an A in combat ability.

Yet, being rated B-rank means I didn’t get an A in physical ability.

Probably, my stats differed when I held Arka and when I didn’t.

They must have thought the boost I got from gripping Arka was just a buff skill effect.

That’s likely the same reason Woo Chaeyeon was rated B-rank.

She demonstrated outstanding ice magic, but still got a B; it must mean her physical stats didn’t reach A-rank Hunter level.

Of course, she’ll earn it soon enough.

With her talent, plus the financial backing of the entire group, she’ll become an A-rank Hunter in no time.

“Oh, right. Why did you pick up those stones?”

“Huh? Oh, those?”

She’d arrived while I was picking up stones after hunting the Cyclops.

When she asked what I was doing, I’d only said I was picking up rocks.

I told her that picking up rocks was what led me here.

Ji Sangwook had already run off with his tail between his legs.

He must have decided he couldn’t defeat the Cyclops and ran away.

Well, either way, what he did was all caught on camera, so he’d get his penalty soon enough.

“It’s just a hobby.”

“…I see.”

As if anyone would believe that.

Woo Chaeyeon knew it, too, but didn’t press further.

She let it go out of consideration, just as her brother had.

Really, she’s the kind of kid who makes it impossible to tell who’s the child and who’s the grown-up.

I guess it’s because she’s both a Guild Master and a corporate vice president.

But she’s still only seventeen.

How is that possible?

What was I like at seventeen?

“…….”

“What’s your schedule like today?”

“My schedule?”

“Yeah. You saved my life, so you should let me thank you.”

“Uh, I’ve already been thanked plenty, though?”

No, not just plenty—far more than enough.

I’d received a huge sum—five billion won—as compensation, got my hands on some of the test Seoljichos, and even got a top-class car.

Come to think of it, I’d completely forgotten about the Seoljichos I’d gotten for testing.

I’ll have to decide whether to take them after checking compatibility.

If the match isn’t good, it could be dangerous.

“If I haven’t repaid you enough to put my heart at ease, then it’s still not enough.”

“…….”

Hearing her say that, she really is a member of the Woo family.

How do they all say exactly the same thing as her father and brother?

The biggest gain from this incident is probably that I’ve established ties with the Woo family.

Just by being seen talking with her in a place where everyone’s watching, my reputation is going up.

Honestly, I’d rather run away somewhere out of sight.

It’s a bit much to handle.

“I do have some time.”

“Perfect! I wanted to treat you to a meal.”

With a bright smile, Woo Chaeyeon stood up.

Seeing her smiling face, she really was just a high school student.

“Ah….”

“……?”

Her smile vanished from her face in an instant.

Wondering why, I looked over and saw Ji Sangwook, utterly deflated, at the end of her gaze.

People recognized him and were whispering, but unlike before entering the Tower of Trials, he didn’t strut around.

He hunched his shoulders and quietly slipped out of the license office.

He even kept glancing at me, trying not to catch my eye.

As if I hadn’t already noticed.

Woo Chaeyeon asked in a cold tone and expression.

“Should I go give him a piece of my mind?”

“It’s fine.”

Watching him so dejectedly slink away actually made me feel better.

No need to rub salt into the wound.

I genuinely hope he takes this as a lesson and gets his act together.

Otherwise, he’ll run into some psycho and get himself killed.

Like Baek Dowoon at seventeen.

“Let’s stop looking at something unpleasant and go eat something nice.”

“Yes, let’s!”

Woo Chaeyeon and I left the license office.

As soon as we stepped out, I saw people murmuring and gathering.

Don’t tell me Ji Sangwook already caused another scene?

I looked, but the reason people were gathered wasn’t him.

There were two cars parked outside.

Even to a complete car novice like me, it was obvious they were top-of-the-line sedans.

Seeing them, Woo Chaeyeon hung her head in embarrassment.

“This is so embarrassing….”

“Ahaha.”

I could understand her reaction.

In front of each car stood Kim Minjoo and Oh Juhan.

The two cars had been sent by the group.

It was awkward enough for me, but it must be far worse for her, who’s close with them.

As we came out, they spotted us and approached.

People’s attention followed them, focusing on me and Woo Chaeyeon.

“Did the assessment go well?”

“Did Dad send you?”

“No, your brother did.”

“My brother?”

“Yeah.”

Woo Chaeyeon asked sharply, but Oh Juhan replied nonchalantly.

He wasn’t wearing a mask and was dressed in casual clothes.

Without his mask, his sharp features looked relaxed.

Sensing my gaze, he offered his hand.

“Long time no see, Ji-on.”

“How did you recognize me?”

“Huh? Well, it was your ponytail. And the hair tie.”

“…….”

Guess I should cut off this damn ponytail.

With nothing else to say, I just shook his hand.

Woo Chaeyeon, watching us, spoke up.

“Anyway, it’s good you both came. We were about to go eat—join us.”

“Should we call Deputy Lee, too?”

He asked, glancing at Kim Minjoo.

She widened her eyes a bit, and Woo Chaeyeon tilted her head.

“Deputy Lee? Who’s that?”

“He exists. A guy obsessed with money.”

“Why call someone like that?”

Woo Chaeyeon asked, tilting her head.

Right. Normally, you wouldn’t call, let alone associate with, someone like that.

I grinned at Kim Minjoo.

Oh Juhan also grinned knowingly.

“…That probably won’t work.”

“……?”

Huh? What’s going on?

Despite blushing a little, Kim Minjoo answered seriously.

Her attitude was different than usual, which made me tilt my head.

She gestured at the cars behind her.

“Miss, you’re to go home. Dowoon, you’re to go to Jae’s smithy.”

So that’s why there were two cars.

One for me, one for Woo Chaeyeon.

Woo Chaeyeon, I could understand—but why me?

Did something happen?

It can’t be anything too serious.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t be chatting so casually.

“Why am I going home… Dowoon?”

“Dowoon?”

Woo Chaeyeon and Oh Juhan repeated my name.

Wait—did neither of them know I’m Baek Dowoon?

No wonder they kept calling me Ji-on.

“Unni, why are you calling me ‘Miss’? Is something going on?”

“…….”

“Seriously, you never tell me anything!”

Woo Chaeyeon pouted at Kim Minjoo, who just silently watched her.

Then she turned to me, bowed her head, and offered a polite farewell.

After adding, “I’ll treat you properly next time,” she walked to the backseat and got in.

Oh Juhan followed and took the front passenger seat, and the car soon departed.

Kim Minjoo led me to the other car.

I took the back seat; Kim Minjoo sat in front.

“The Young Master found a box buried under building debris on Mugapsan, and is currently heading to Jae’s smithy. He asked me to let you know.”

“He already found it?”

“Yes. He suspects it contains what you’re looking for, or at least something important since it was stored in the box.”

That thing.

From the way she spoke, it sounded like she didn’t know what it was, either.

No matter how close we are, business and personal matters are separate.

That must be why she calls them Young Master and Miss.

“I see.”

“…….”

“How did you know where I was?”

I looked at Kim Minjoo through the rearview mirror.

She met my eyes for a moment, then slyly looked away.

“Don’t tell me you had someone tailing me?”

“I don’t know anything. I just got told to come fetch you.”

She answered with a smile.

It was a warm, gentle smile.

But I know that smile is just an act.

Come to think of it, Woo Yeonhu found me at Jae’s smithy before, even though I didn’t tell him.

He must have set someone to follow me.

Deputy Lee, you’d better watch out.

Minjoo is one scary woman.

[Closed]

I opened the smithy’s sliding door, where a [Closed] sign hung.

Kim Minjoo said she’d wait out front, so I went in alone.

Inside were Yoo Jae, Woo Yeonhu, Kim Jiyeon, and Shim Yunjin.

Yoo Jae was sitting alone at the counter, while the other three stood around a black box, frowning.

Looks like something’s not working out.

Woo Yeonhu, noticing me, raised his hand in greeting.

“You’re here?”

“Ah, hello.”

Kim Jiyeon and Shim Yunjin greeted me, and I greeted them back briefly.

Then I looked to Yoo Jae.

She had a leaf pressed to her neck and her head tilted back.

“Ugh… you’re here?”

She greeted me in a weird voice.

Why was she using the leaf I gave her for protection like a neck massager?

“What are you doing?”

“Can’t you see? I’m getting a massage.”

“I can see that. But why are you using that?”

“Because it feels cool. Want to try?”

With that, Yoo Jae tossed me a leaf.

I watched it softly land in my hand, then, imitating her, draped it around my neck.

Huh, this really is refreshing.

“…There’s a spell cast on the box.”

Woo Yeonhu chimed in.

“Thanks to that, the box survived even when the building collapsed—”

“But you can’t open it because of the magic?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

I looked down at the black box.

It was firmly shut, as if it had no intention of opening.

“I don’t know much about magic, but aren’t locking spells supposed to be simple?”

“That’s true.”

Shim Yunjin nodded in agreement.

From her expression, she must have expected me to ask.

“If it was just a locking spell, we’d use an unlocking spell to open it. But there’s also a key spell on this box.”

“Key spell?”

“Yes. You need a key to open it.”

“And the key….”

I looked to Woo Yeonhu, but he shook his head.

They’d found the box, but not the key.

“What if we just cut the box open with a sword aura?”

“It’s possible.”

“Oh, then—”

“But the key spell would destroy everything inside.”

“…….”

So much for that idea.

If sword aura won’t work, then neither will breaking it with magic.

Hmm, I guess all we can do is wait until they find the key in the wreckage.

Just as I was thinking that, Sprout sent me a message.

[World Tree Sprout advises Manager Baek Dowoon to strike the box’s lock with a stone.]

……?

Strike what with what?

[Sprout advises to use a stone to erase the foul energy-laden magic from the box!]