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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Half an S-Rank
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＊ ＊ ＊
Team K's office was simpler than I'd expected. It felt less like a business and more like a cozy café.
And maybe because they'd been tackling the Sangam District Dungeon for a year straight, there wasn't a single person around.
"Thanks to you, Ms. Kang Ha-ra, our whole team is taking a short break now that we're all out," Kwon Wook said with a smile.
Chief Jeong had tipped me off that it was okay to tell Kwon Wook everything. In the office, Ha-ra quickly explained the whole story to Kwon Wook—from the moment she fell into the dungeon until now.
Having already explained it once to Chief Jeong, the words came out more smoothly than she'd anticipated.
‘If only I could talk to Yoon Se-heon like this...’
A sigh escaped her as she recalled her most recent slip of the tongue. Asking a man who offered to help with anything to date her. How weird must Yoon Se-heon think she was?
But what was done was done.
[The Constellation 'Cupid' cheers you on. K-dramas always start with one person thinking the other is a total weirdo!]
Ha-ra narrowed her eyes and dismissed the message floating before her. The Constellation's nonsense wasn't even funny anymore.
Anyway, after hearing her story, Kwon Wook quickly summarized Ha-ra's condition.
"So you're half an S-Rank, then. Your skills are S-Rank, but without Mr. Yoon Se-heon's help, your stats and overall rank are still E-Rank, right?"
"Half..."
"Haha. Sorry if that offended you."
"No, it's fine..."
Anyone could see he was right. What good were S-Rank skills if her final rank was E, leaving her unable to do much of anything? She'd tried using her skills on her own, but with only 9 Mana, she couldn't maintain Flight or Candlestick for long.
Kwon Wook scratched his cheek, looking a little disappointed.
"Things like this happen sometimes. The Constellations are a bit capricious. It would be great if they made second awakenings easy, but they always want to give humans trials."
"Ugi... Did you go through that too, Hunter?"
The words "Ugi Oppa" were on the tip of her tongue, but she bit it back and corrected herself to "Hunter."
Kwon Wook raised an eyebrow and smiled.
"You can call me Ugi Oppa."
[Thump.]
The Constellation's message appeared before Ha-ra could even process her own thoughts, snapping her back to reality. Ha-ra squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them and replied slowly.
"...I'll pass..."
Her fists were clenched tightly. *I could die of embarrassment...* If this were X-Tube, she'd be waving light sticks with both hands shouting, 'Of course, Ugi Oppa!' But unfortunately, this wasn't happening through a screen; it was real.
Kwon Wook glanced at Ha-ra's clenched fists and let out a soft laugh.
"If you're more comfortable with that, then go ahead."
"...You can speak informally to me, Hunter..."
"This is all for work, how could I? But then again, maybe I will?"
Kwon Wook gave her a wink.
*This oppa is insane. When he was a struggling idol, his fan service skills were zero. When did he get like this? Do S-Ranks have S-Rank fan service skills too?* Ha-ra barely resisted the urge to cover her mouth and nodded.
At that, Kwon Wook made a playful face and waved his hand dismissively.
"I'm kidding. You're speaking formally to me, so I should do the same. We're going to be seeing a lot of each other, after all."
*We're going to be seeing a lot of each other.* Whether he knew how much those simple words shook her, Kwon Wook just grinned and continued his explanation.
"My story is pretty famous, but it's also a bit exaggerated."
As he said, the story of his awakening was something the entire nation knew.
The idol group Mandolin, sucked into a Gate that opened in a shopping mall during a fan signing event. Four of the five members were swept in. Two of them died, and Kwon Wook, while protecting the youngest member who was a minor at the time, met the Constellation 'Shining Fairy' and awakened as an S-Rank.
"Constellation names... they're usually kept secret, right?"
"Of course. My Constellation has a different real name, too."
Constellations are often deities or well-known conceptual beings. Like fairies.
For example, Lanong Utaitanee, a famous overseas Hunter and one of the first of his kind, met the Constellation Salamander and uses mainly fire-based skills. The skills are influenced by the Constellation's characteristics.
"In your case, it's Cupid... Interesting. What do Flight and Candlestick have to do with that?"
...Not much, really...
Ha-ra hesitated before explaining her status window. Normally, even among Hunters, one couldn't see another's status window.
"It said... it reflected my trait... which is... an idol fangirl..."
Her face turned bright red as she said "idol fangirl." To have to explain this in front of her former favorite idol.
The Constellation who caused this whole situation remained silent. Ha-ra glared at the ceiling for no reason.
But surprisingly, Kwon Wook was serious.
"Aha. Then I think I know what the skill is. 'Let's Get Moving' seems like a movement-related skill. Is that by any chance what managers say at fan signings?"
"..."
"Then it could be a forced dungeon escape or a forced teleport. I hope it's the former."
Kwon Wook calmly continued to analyze Ha-ra's skills.
"#HAPPYYOURDAY, that's a C-Rank skill right now, right? And it's usable. The condition is knowing the target's birthday. Do you know my birthday?"
"Of course I do! March 6th!"
"Haha."
Kwon Wook laughed. He meant for her to try it.
[Casting '#HAPPYYOURDAY(C)'.]
[Please specify a target.]
[Target: Kwon Wook (S)]
"Ah..."
Ha-ra's eyes widened. She had actually tried using it several times at the hospital. But every time, after [Casting '#HAPPYYOURDAY(C)'.], nothing would appear, and she'd grumble, 'It's an unlocked skill, so why isn't it working?' But this time was different.
"A target appeared."
"Me?"
"Yes."
Kwon Wook nodded. Ha-ra immediately used the skill on him.
[The difference between the target and the caster is significant. Only a partial display is available.]
[Kwon Wook (S) Trait: Merciless Prayer]
Stamina: 79(+3)
Agility: 84
Strength: 67(+12)
Dexterity: 45
Mana: 88
Luck: ??
[Skills]
- ???
- ???
- ???
- Make a wish SSS+ (1/3)
Grants a wish. (Wishes that exceed the Constellation's limits, such as those related to life, time, or dimensions, are not possible).
[Equipped Items]
- ???
- ???
- Flame Ring (38/50)
The result of using the skill was even more bewildering. Kwon Wook's status window had appeared. It even showed his equipped items.
As Ha-ra stared blankly into the air, Kwon Wook prompted her.
"What is it?"
"Hunter Kwon... I think I can see your status."
"...What?"
Kwon Wook was flabbergasted. He then urged Ha-ra to write down exactly what she saw.
Ha-ra carefully wrote down what she saw on a piece of paper, and with every word she wrote, he groaned. Looking at the finished note, Kwon Wook tore at his hair.
"This is ridiculous..."
Ha-ra had a hunch.
In other words, #HAPPYYOURDAY was a skill that could reveal a target's entire status.
*Hey, Constellation, come out here. Read the room. What is this?*
[The beginning of love is knowing your partner!]
*Wow, you must be having fun. So much fun that you just pop up a message and don't even show yourself.*
Kwon Wook muttered gravely.
"Chief Jeong's intuition is terrifying..."
"Pardon?"
"Listen carefully, Ha-ra. Whatever you do, never speak of this skill to anyone outside. You know why, right?"
"What? Ah, yes."
Ha-ra could roughly guess. When the Awakened Rank Measurement Device appeared, the whole world was turned upside down.
The Awakened Rank Measurement Device was a machine that could glimpse a person's potential, created by a now-deceased S-Rank Hunter.
Countless people had fought over the patent for that machine. But even the Awakened Rank Measurement Device was sometimes wrong.
But a skill that could peek at someone's stats. Kwon Wook pulled off the ring he was wearing on his left hand and held it out.
"It's not just stats. Take this Flame Ring. The info always showed up as question marks, so I just used it. I never imagined it was an item with a limited number of uses."
*A C-Rank skill is this powerful?* Then Kwon Wook cried "Ah!" and tore at his hair again.
"Where am I supposed to get another Flame Ring!"
"...I'm sorry..."
"No, it's not your fault. Anyway."
Kwon Wook glanced at Ha-ra, then cried, "Ah! Chief Jeong, ah!" and threw himself onto the sofa. Leaving a bewildered Ha-ra to watch, he thrashed around for a moment before quickly sitting up, his expression suddenly serious.
"Ms. Kang Ha-ra, have you ever considered joining Team K?"
*So suddenly?* As Ha-ra blinked, Kwon Wook quickly continued.
"This is just my thought, but it probably works on monsters too. If so, clearing dungeons would be a piece of cake."
Come to think of it, that made sense. Hunters could see information about monsters in their system windows, but it only showed their rank and a brief description.
If this skill could reveal a monster's information and weaknesses, it would be a huge help in clearing dungeons.
"Ah..."
"But this is something you'll have to discuss with Chief Jeong, so you don't have to answer right away."
He was quick on the uptake. Seeing Ha-ra's hesitation, Kwon Wook smiled and told her to talk it over with Chief Jeong Yu-jin. Then he immediately moved on to her other skills.
‘Is he doing this so I won't feel awkward...?’
[The Constellation 'Cupid' flashes a red light. Forbidden! No getting smitten with any man other than the designated user!]
‘But you were the one throwing a fit earlier, wishing you'd made Ugi Oppa the designated user!’
*You're so good at negotiating with the system, can't you negotiate this?* But it seemed it couldn't be done. Even for a Constellation, negotiating with the system must be a different matter.
[The Constellation 'Cupid' boasts that such things are only possible because it's them.]
Oh, right, right.
Meanwhile, Kwon Wook pondered over ‘Just a Candle, But I Can Do It’ before speaking.
"If it's a matter of imagination, does that mean you just need any pillar-shaped object of light?"
"Yes."
"Like the fluorescent light from before?"
Remembering the commotion in the chief's office, Ha-ra nodded in embarrassment.
But Kwon Wook, accustomed to Hunters with no imagination, acted as if it were nothing. "Alright, just a moment," he said, opening a small door at the back of his office. A few minutes later, he emerged from what appeared to be a storage room, holding...
"...Isn't this from that movie?"
"Oh? You know it?"
Kwon Wook's eyes widened. Ha-ra laughed awkwardly as she took what he offered. He had handed her the hilt of a lightsaber from a famous sci-fi movie.
"One of our team's Hunters bought this for a Halloween costume, and it just came to mind."
"..."
*For a Halloween costume...* She sighed. But that aside, since it was clearly a prop from a movie, Ha-ra didn't even need to use her imagination. Ha-ra dutifully cast the skill.
"Oh."
Kwon Wook's eyes lit up. A pillar of light shot out from the lightsaber hilt in Ha-ra's hand. It even looked very similar to the one in the movie.
It was much thicker than when she'd used the light stick. Its killing power was better, too.
Watching the office chair that Ha-ra had sliced in half, Kwon Wook clapped enthusiastically.
"Wow, that's no joke. You're so cool, Ha-ra."
"...Thank you..."
*I'm not sure if that was a compliment or not, but at least Oppa likes it.* Ha-ra broke into a cold sweat.
Kwon Wook shrugged.
"You can't fight holding that, so let's get something similar made."
"Made?"
*Didn't he give me this to fight with...?* As Ha-ra stared at the lightsaber hilt, Kwon Wook answered as if he'd read her mind.
"It's from a movie. Our team often shoots promotional videos for the government, so we could get sued."
The ways of adults. Of course, that wasn't the only reason.
"Besides, it's not mine. It belongs to Bok-hee from our team, and he's a huge nerd. He freaks out if anyone touches his stuff. If that thing gets even a scratch, he might actually kill me."
As he spoke, Kwon Wook took the lightsaber hilt and tested its weight.
"It's pretty heavy, too. Something lighter would be better for your wrist, Ha-ra."
"I see..."
"You'll need to learn swordsmanship, too. Do you have any related skills?"
As if.
Ha-ra shook her head glumly, but Kwon Wook just smiled and said it was no problem.
He told her she'd get special training. *Did he just say something incredible like it was nothing...?*
