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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: An Aunt's Gift
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Huh? Wait a minute. What? What am I getting?
“What?”
“I said I’m giving you an S-rank weapon.”
She thought she’d misheard, but apparently, her ears were working just fine. Seora couldn't hide her bewilderment.
“To me? An S-rank weapon for me, an F-rank with a frail body who can't even shoot a gun properly?”
“I won't be able to rest easy unless you have at least that. Even if you can't activate it, it's incredibly durable, so you can at least try swinging it around.”
“W-well…”
Getting thrown into a dungeon once was certainly leading to all sorts of strange experiences.
Seora glanced up at the source of her strangest experience yet.
‘Well, compared to the Administrator, this isn't all that shocking.’
【Administrator: (❁≡◡ ˬ ◡≡)⁾⁾⁾】
‘He’s getting shy, he’s getting shy.’
She’d seen him act smug or excited, but this was the first time she’d seen him act so bashful. Seora let out a small smile at his uncharacteristically cute behavior.
However, Song Hanna, who knew nothing of this, interpreted that smile differently.
“Right! Just thinking about it makes you happy, doesn't it? Great, now that we're on the topic, let's go pick one out right now. Phew, now I can finally relax.”
Tsk, tsk. I should have done this sooner. A radiant Hanna grabbed Seora’s hand and shot up from her seat.
Seora, who had simply smiled at the Administrator, was now being dragged away, only managing a dazed, “H-huh?”
But her aunt, already blinded by her love for her niece, didn’t hear a thing and dragged her all the way to the armory in the Association’s basement.
* * *
There's a saying: a person's mind is different entering the restroom than it is leaving.
The analogy was a bit crude, but in any case, Seora’s mind changed the instant she stepped into the armory.
“My god. How much is all of this worth?”
Weapons exuding deadly auras.
The room was filled with priceless items that would be hard to buy even with mountains of gold.
‘The Association President’s private armory is on another level.’
The Association always kept weapons in stock to prepare for emergencies. Of course, since Awakened-exclusive weapons were so expensive, most were C-rank or lower disposables.
But that rule didn't seem to apply to Song Hanna, the president of the number one association in the country and contractor to one of the world's top-tier Constellations.
Her personal armory, where she could take whatever she wanted, was littered with S-rank weapons Seora had only ever seen online.
“You said you didn't want one, but now that you see them, you're thrilled, aren't you?”
Song Hanna gently wiped Seora’s chin. Whoops. It seemed her desire had been drooling right out of her mouth.
“What kind of weapon do you want? Considering your traits, a firearm would be the right choice, but…”
Song Hanna’s voice trailed off.
The truth was, despite awakening the Marksman trait, Seora had never once held a proper gun.
Since ordinary bullets couldn't penetrate the tough hides of monsters, the Awakened used special firearms that converted mana into ammunition. The problem was her abysmal lack of mana.
It was pathetic, really. Even a D-rank gun would drain her mana after just three shots.
‘Though now I’m wielding a diamond of an EX-rank weapon.’
Talk about a life-changing reversal. Seora suppressed her excitement and began to browse leisurely.
“This place is heaven.”
Perhaps because she’d awakened the Sniper trait after starting as a Marksman, just looking at the firearms filled her with a sense of contentment.
‘Wow, that revolver is gorgeous. Ack, isn't that the gun they only recently succeeded in producing for the Awakened? Wow, the Association President is on another level. She got her hands on it already. There’s a machine gun, too. Firing that thing on full auto must feel amazing, right?’
With every weapon she examined, Seora’s breath grew heavier with excitement.
“You can be even happier. You're the first F-rank to ever pick a weapon from the Association President’s private armory. This is all thanks to your loving aunt’s heart.”
“Isn't this an abuse of power? Is it okay for the Association President to do this?”
When Seora asked playfully, Song Hanna beamed a brilliant smile.
“Everything in here is mine anyway. If they don't like it, they can try to fire me. If they can, that is.”
Wow. Seora couldn't help but applaud her confident words. The unofficial number one ranker truly was different.
Right, you could only argue about abuse of power with someone who was reasonably sensible. Song Hanna, who was still receiving countless love calls from superpowers like the US, China, and Russia, was a figure the nation had to revere unconditionally.
They would never want to lose her to another country.
‘Come to think of it, just how strong am I?’
The thought suddenly occurred to her. Rankings weren't officially compiled by the system but were just something people did for fun, so they weren't an accurate measure.
‘Now that I’m an S-rank, I’m honestly curious just how strong I am.’
【Administrator: ( •∀• )✧】
The Administrator reacted as if it had sensed her curiosity. It was as if he were saying, *if you were curious, you should have said so sooner*.
‘What the. This is unsettling.’
A shiver went down her spine. She’d only known the Administrator for a few days, but those sparkling eyes—no matter how you looked at them, whether you rolled left, right, or did a backflip from a handstand—were nothing but trouble!
‘Don’t let your eyes sparkle like that. Don’t get any weird ideas…!’
If she had been alone, she would have grabbed onto the Administrator’s message and clung to it for dear life.
‘Don't do anything!’
Seora shot glances toward Hanna as she laid down the law with the Administrator.
【Administrator: σ(*´∀`)σ】
‘Aargh!’
But when an utterly untrustworthy emoticon appeared in response, Seora nearly tore her hair out.
This was no time to be thinking he was cute for acting uncharacteristically shy. Her hands trembled at the feeling of carrying a ticking time bomb on her back.
“Seora, what are you doing by yourself?”
First glaring into thin air, now trembling. Hanna’s eyes widened at Seora’s strange behavior.
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
“It looks like something's wrong. The shock must have been greater than I thought, huh? Tsk, tsk. She wasn’t the type to space out so often…”
*Park Jinyong, that bastard turned my niece into an idiot. I'll never forgive him.*
“…”
*No, Auntie. I’m not an idiot. Why are you making your niece out to be a fool…?*
“Now, hurry and pick a weapon. Choose well. You never know, an opportunity might come up to kill—ah, no, I mean hit that bastard while pretending it was a mistake, right?”
“…”
That didn't sound like a slip of the tongue; it sounded like she meant it.
Song Hanna was definitely the scariest person in the world.
Seora silently shut her mouth and began to choose a weapon in earnest.
* * *
“She’s as cute as ever, even after all this time.”
After finally managing to press a weapon into Seora's hands, Song Hanna returned to the president's office.
That little mouth, twitching despite her trying to act nonchalant—it was so adorable. She’d barely managed to restrain herself from showering her niece with kisses.
“If I hadn't, my contracted Constellation would have been seriously sulking. Thanks to having such a jealous Constellation, I can't even properly kiss my niece.”
“What are you going to do about this?” Hanna clicked her tongue at the empty air.
A golden haze drifted past, ruffling her bobbed hair. It was the touch of her Constellation, and it was by no means light.
“Don't touch me without permission. If you want to touch me, give me the answer I want first.”
Hanna tossed her head in annoyance, her gaze fixed on the distant void where her Constellation resided.
“Are you sure nothing is wrong with my niece? Aside from her acting a little foolish, she doesn't seem to have changed much. Are my eyes deceiving me?”
The daughter her precious friend had entrusted to her.
She wasn't her own child, but she was a niece so dear she wouldn't have minded losing an eye for her. And that beloved child had nearly died.
If it weren't for her position, with so much to protect, she would have already gone half-mad and beaten that bastard to death.
That’s why she had to be certain.
She had to know if Seora was truly safe.
“‘Greedy Devourer.’ What did my Constellation see in Yoon Seora?”
True to its title, the Constellation that was only satisfied when it devoured everything it desired gave her an answer.
【‘Greedy Devourer’ does not wish to lie to its contractor. ‘Greedy Devourer’ chooses silence.】
“…Silence?”
This was an unexpected reaction. For a top-tier Constellation who feared nothing, why was he being so cautious today?
“To think I’d see the day you choose silence. Is that your choice? Or is it unavoidable?”
【‘Greedy Devourer’ lets out a low hum.】
“So you’re being forced to comply. Wow, how fascinating. What in the world happened to my niece?”
【‘Greedy Devourer’ says that it has already said too much. It conveys that anything more would be difficult.】
“Your difficulties are none of my concern.”
【‘Greedy Devourer’ insists that it truly cannot say anything more.】
Hanna scowled at the less-than-satisfactory answer.
Didn't this mean that a massive influence, one capable of silencing even a top-tier Constellation like him, was cast over Seora? She really didn't like that.
“Seora isn't in a dangerous situation, is she?”
If she was, she would secure her niece's safety, no matter the cost.
Just as Hanna made her firm resolve…
【‘Greedy Devourer’ shakes its head with a reluctant expression. It informs you that she is not in danger, but rather in a very safe situation.】
“Safe? Not just safe, but *very* safe?”
Very safe, despite being under an incredible influence. In that case, there was only one possible conclusion.
Perhaps Seora had made a contract with a Constellation in the dungeon.
A top-tier one, at that.
‘Of course, I know that’s impossible, but there are always exceptions.’
If she was right, then there was only one question.
Why was she keeping it a secret from her?
“…Well, she’s an adult now, so there’s no rule saying she has to tell me everything. I guess I’ll have to pretend I don’t know for now. I gave her an S-rank weapon, so if something happens, she’ll handle it herself. Ugh, an aunt’s heart is burning with worry.”
My dear Seora, what on earth are you going through right now?
* * *
And around that time…
The niece in question, Yoon Seora, completely unaware that her aunt's heart was burning with worry, was currently quite excited.
Her curious eyes were fixed on the rift before her.
That is to say, Seora was now standing before a rift that was about to erupt into a dungeon. If Song Hanna knew, she would have fainted.
Completely oblivious to that, Seora tightened her grip on the weapons in her hands.
In her right hand was the EX-rank weapon, Heat. In her left, the S-rank weapon she had received from Hanna today.
“This is what you call diamonds in both hands.”
A surge of confidence washed over her—the feeling that she could smash anything that stood in her way.
And so, she had run straight to a dungeon. She couldn't bear not to test out her new weapon and see how it felt in her hands.
Besides, she needed to gauge more accurately just how much stronger she had become.
“Administrator, are you sure you can control this gate? If people start showing up, I’m finished.”
【Administrator: (•̀▽ ́•)φ】
The confident emoticon eased her anxiety a little.
