Chapter 63
“I think he’s a little shy.”
“……Is he embarrassed?”
The two giggle and shake their heads.
“Most of the guys who’ve asked him to take them under his wing, to be their mentor, have either lost against us or died because they couldn’t pass his test. But here’s a guy who can beat both of us in one fell swoop, and that’s a passing grade! How nice. Don’t you think so?”
Certainly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look embarrassed, even in the game.
He always had a wistful look on his face or a moderate haha, I guess?
“That’s right…….By the way, thank you so much for the fight. I learned a lot.”
“No, no, no. We were having fun.”
“I’ve been watching you for a while, and I can tell. You’re going to be big. See you around.”
“Yeah, I’ll see you around.”
I shook both of their hands, bowed my head in thanks, and followed Kwak as he walked away and entered a building.
The building he entered was a mansion that was much different in size compared to the others.
“Are you surprised that the house is so big?”
Seeing me standing still in front of the house, Kwak smiles with a smug expression.
“I just thought it was different from other places. Why would I be surprised that my house is bigger than yours?”
When I said that with sincerity, he furrowed his brow and quickly turned his head.
“Get the fuck in here……!”
He grumbled, but he motioned for me to come in, and I did.
The interior of his mansion was quite luxurious.
I thought it was true that if a person was capable, he would go to a grand house even if he had to go back to his hometown.
“This is it.”
“Ah, yes.”
I followed him to a room that looked like his usual study.
Medals, plaques, and photographs lined one wall. There were countless of them, all of which seemed to show who he had once been.
“I just need to sign the mentor agreement, right? Let’s see……There you go.”
He scowls at me in disapproval, then slaps a piece of paper down in front of me.
“Seriously, I never thought I’d be mentoring an Academy kid at this age…….”
“Well, I’m not exactly a pushover, I’ve got aura skills, I’m from a good family, and I’ve got swagger.”
“Ha! Even swagger!”
“That’s good self-objectification, isn’t it?”
Afterwards, Kwak Chun-sik listened to me and laughed heartily.
“Yes, you’re right, you’re right, you bastard. Thanks to you, I won’t be bored in my later years.”
I guess that means he’s satisfied.
At that moment, Kwak’s cell phone on the table in his study began to vibrate.
He glanced at the screen, smiled, and nodded.
“Well, it’s almost time.”
After turning off his phone, he stood up and looked at me.
“Let’s go.”
“…… Yes, where are we going?”
“We’re going to a dungeon.”
“……?”
Hey, didn’t you come here as a punishment for slitting a villain’s throat?
Now you want to go dungeon raiding?
“What are you so surprised about?”
“……As far as I know, you’ve retired as an active hero and only hold the position of honorary director, yet you’re allowed to go dungeon raiding like this?”
“What? Hahahahaha!”
Kwak Chun-sik bursts into laughter after hearing my words.
“According to the law, of course not. However, even though Gangwon province is large there are no people, so I can go to dungeons that occur in unexpected places.”
“You mean……?”
“Yes. I usually get requests like this through the Association, but……had been putting it off until today, when I heard that someone wanted me to mentor him.”
If he was right, there would be no problem.
I could meet Kwak Chun-sik in the game until later in the game, but……I didn’t know that he was doing this in Gangwon Province in the meantime.
I could see why Kwak Chun-sik had traveled all the way to this place to be treated like this.
“If that’s the case, then the other seniors here must be similar.”
Build a care facility for retired heroes in a remote place, provide the best service, and ask for help whenever needed…….
I realized that the Association had thought of something great and if anyone in the association could come up with such a great idea. He’s probably the only one.
“Enough small talk, let’s go. They’ll be picking us shortly.”
“Okay.”
As I followed Kwak Chun-sik out of the mansion, I could see a man in a black suit with his arms crossed.
Judging by the certificate around his neck, he must be from the Association.
“Teacher, over here!”
When he saw Kwak Chun-sik’s figure, he waved and smiled brightly, but when he saw me behind him, he flinched and shivered. At the same time, a transparent quest window floated in front of me.
……What? This is where it comes from?
“May I ask who the person behind you is?”
In response to the association employee’s question, Kwak Chun-sik placed his hand on my shoulder as if it was no big deal.
“A disciple.”
He seemed to be saying that because he couldn’t bring himself to say it was a mentor-mentee relationship.
I understood his meaning and nodded, but when Kwak Chun-sik looked at me, there was a smile of victory in his eyes, not pride.
Is it so good that I recognized him as his master once…….?
The Association staff also saw his smile, nodded, and walked toward us.
“A disciple of yours will surely be a great hero in the future, I’ll take good care of you in the future.”
“I’ll do the same for you.”
I shake his hand and smile, and he smiles back, then reaches out with his left and right hands to grab Kwak Chun-sik.
Judging by the badge pinned to his chest, he’s a state-certified spatial mage and the handshake was apparently to teleport us.
“From now on, you will be going to a new dungeon in the Odaesan National Park. There’s an Association staff stationed nearby, so you should be able to attack it straight away, and as for your disciple……you shouldn’t have to worry too much, as you’ll be next to Mr. Kwak Chun-sik, not someone else.”
Certainly, with him by my side, I would be safe no matter what I did in the dungeon.
“Well, I’ll get you on your way right away. Have a safe trip.”
Just like that, the scenery changed.
* * *
“Anyway, this space magic is all good, but my stomach is rumbling after traveling.”
Kwak Chun-sik pats his stomach and scrunches up his face.
“Isn’t that because you’re getting older?”
He looks up at me with a wry smile on his face.
“It’s because I’m always getting car sick, I think you’re doing it because you want to experience the feeling as well.”
“Yeah. Cheer up.”
“Anyway, young people these days are…….Mm-hmm!”
Kwak Chun-sik, realizing that he would be the one who would get hurt if he talked to me anymore, eventually gave up on the conversation and started walking.
I see a gap in the trees in the direction he’s headed, where a camp was set up simply and as we approach, two men emerge from inside the tent.
“We’ve been waiting for you, sir.”
“The dungeon?”
“Yes, in the caves here, danger level C. A few kobolds have crawled out, so we expect it to be a kobold dungeon.”
“I see. I see. I’ll be right back.”
“Thank you, but is that young man behind you…….”
“A damn disciple.”
“Oh……yes.”
The man who was smiling and calling me a disciple just a moment ago was now calling me a ‘damn disciple’ with his tongue in his cheek.
Anyway, not all heroes have big hearts.
“Let’s go, Master.”
“That’s right, watch and learn behind me. Hmmm.”
Even so, he was happy to be called Master once, so he took the initiative.
……After all, it’s just words, but he likes it so much, it’s so easy.
The dungeon I followed Kwak Chun-sik into had all the characteristics a kobold would love.
It’s dark and damp, with connections deep into the ground, and the narrow pathways make it easy to defend. But this careful selection of habitat was also a sign of their weakness.
“Do you know what a kobold is?”
We had been walking side by side without saying a word, but Kwak Chun-sik spoke first.
“You mean like, they’re good diggers, have a very developed sense of smell, and are extremely averse to intruders in their habitat?”
“Yeah, yeah, all that stuff. But do you have any idea why such kobolds have not attacked us?”
Kwak Chun-sik tries to test me again as soon as we enter the dungeon so I decided to surprise him a little.
“Isn’t that because you’ve been killing all the kobolds lying in ambush on the ground every time you took a step?”
“……You noticed that?”
“Didn’t I tell you I’m not an ordinary talent either?”
Truth be told, I hadn’t noticed when I first entered the dungeon. I just thought, “Why don’t I see any kobolds?”
But as we moved forward, little by little, I saw fear on the floor where there shouldn’t be any emotion, and realized that there were kobolds ready to ambush us.
With each step Kwak Chun-sik took, I realized that the fearful entities were disappearing one by one.
“So you’re saying that you’ve reached the point where you can unfold your auras and explore your surroundings?”
“Something like that. Though I don’t know how you’re going around killing kobolds right now.”
“Is that so? Hmm, well, I guess we’d better start learning the basics first.”
“By the way, how do you kill the ones on the ground? When I saw you from behind, all I saw was you walking with your back to me.”
“Hmm, this? No big deal.”
Saying that, Kwak Chun-sik held up his foot to show the sole of his shoe which had a blue aura on it.
“Just like this,” he says, “I’ll walk around and when I detect them, I’ll extend the aura, like shooting thorns.”
With a snap, a spike shot out from the sole of his foot, rising to just above the ceiling, then it returned back where it came from.
Even if I didn’t know everything about aura, I could immediately recognize the absurdity of the trick that was being performed in front of me.
“This is going to be a little more difficult for you to do, so let’s start by trying to get the shape of the aura. Let’s see……Oh, can you feel it around the corner?”
“Yes, at a guess I’d say it’s about fifty, but I think there’s a big hollow or something.”
Kwak Chun-sik nods as if my answer is correct and smiles.
“First lesson: deal with them without using weapons, however, they must never touch your bare skin.”
“……?”
With a pop, a hand made of aura wraps around me and…
“Ah.”
“Then, go.”
“……Damn it.”
I was sent flying.
