The Skill Maker

“Yoo-Na agreed as well. She said it’ll be a good experience.”

He was puzzled by the sudden suggestion.

“There’s no reason to think deep into it. Official hunts are warm-ups and help hunters keep in touch with their skills. It also helps the members work on their teamwork. But it doesn’t mean that we go hunt some easy monsters.”

“Is it like a type of practice?”

“It’s similar. Since you don’t know how we go on hunts, Yoo-Na suggested that you go so that you can see for yourself and slowly get used to it. Before the test, it’s best to see how we work and watching us from time to time will be good for you. I made the request, but Yoo-Na approved it.”

Hyun-Soo thought about Kim Yoo-Na, who’s been pretty busy these days.

Even though she visited them every night, she couldn’t erase the exhaustion from her face despite her being an A rank.

‘Hunters aren’t invincible. There’s a lot we need to think about.’

On top of that, since it hasn’t been that long since she came here, it seemed like she visited Hye-Na whenever she could.

Thanks to the rice cake that Hyun-Soo gave her, it seemed like there wasn’t a big issue with her stamina, but it was obvious that she was exercising caution in case the flight affected her.

‘It might be difficult to go hunting for the time being so I used all the roots that I obtained in making the rice cake, but…’

Even if there was a lot, they’ll run out someday.

However, he was given the opportunity to enter a portal.

It was the perfect timing.

“You’ll go, right?”

“Of course I’ll go.”

It would be stupid to pass an offer like this.

“Hyun-Soo, they’re looking at you again.”

Hyuna leaned in and quietly whispered.

Hyun-Soo acted like he was eating and he raised his eyes and glanced towards the hunters he saw earlier.

‘We already made eye contact three times just within this cafeteria. Am I that interesting? If I am, they should just come up to me and talk.’

But if Hyun-Soo approached them first, then the hunters would leave.

It was like they were telling him that they didn’t want him to approach them.

‘But they keep looking at me. I’m confused.’

But he was able to at least change their opinions about him.

That fight was worth it.

That was what Hyun-Soo wanted.

He couldn’t be satisfied with just that.

All he had to do was keep working his way up until they acknowledged him.

He was on the right track.

A lowly C rank seduced their goddess and joined by having connections.

But that C rank won a point against an A rank even though it wasn’t an official fight.

‘That hunter named Jack seems to have a good opinion of me.’

It was difficult to ignore an evaluation from a member he actually fought against.

It was up to Hyun-Soo on how he was going to act upon it so that it was beneficial to him.

There was definitely something different, but it was kind of odd.

This was what Hyun-Soo experienced.

Case One.

Lunch.

Hyun-Soo visited the cafeteria to eat lunch.

He looked forward to this time because all the food that they served were really delicious.

But after he placed his food on his plate and sat down, everyone stood up from their seats.

Of course there were some that fought against it.

“Hey, I’m not done eating…”

“Stop talking and come here!”

“Ahh! Ear, don’t grab my ear!”

Rumbleeeeee.

“….”

Case Two.

Hyun-Soo was getting a headache while studying English, so he decided to step outside to get some fresh air.

He was walking while looking at the buildings he still wasn’t used to…

“Hey, rookie. Let’s have a talk…gah!”

Boom!

Thud.

“Why is this guy lying down here?”

Drag.

“…..”

Case Three.

Intelligence Room.

Hyun-Soo visited that room to get information regarding the portal and the monster.

But as soon as he walked in.

Rumbleeeee.

“Huh? I’m not done searching yet.”

“Shut up and come here!”

“If I don’t submit this to the team leader by today, I…Oof!”

Drag.

“…..”

And there were other situations…

After that, he felt many people glance over at him.

When Hyun-Soo looked back at them, they acted like they didn’t do anything, didn’t look at him or were ignoring him.

Among them, there were those that wanted to approach him and talk to him.

But thanks to those incidents, the way they looked at him changed.

At least they didn’t look at him with disgust.

Instead, they would find him interesting everytime Hyun-Soo did something.

And when their eyes meet, they would turn their heads and ignore him.

‘They’re acting like kids that have a crush on someone…’

It’s not that he wasn’t bothered, but after thinking that it was a process of him adapting to this place, it was bearable.

“Forget it. It looks like they’re having a hard time approaching me because I’m so awesome.”

“What are you saying? You’ve become too full of yourself all of a sudden.”

Hyuna jokingly nudged his side with her arm with a smile.

“What, what?”

Since Katrina didn’t understand Korean, she asked Hyuna what they were talking about and Hyuna gave her a short answer.

Eugene was beside them as well.

After hearing her answer, Katrina suddenly became angry.

“I told you that it worked. I don’t understand why you guys didn’t believe me.”

One should look at people objectively, but because everyone was so prideful, they couldn’t act that way.

Eugene smiled after hearing that.

“Hey, I don’t really think you have the right to say that.”

“Wh-what do you mean?!”

Katrina’s cheeks turned red.

“Weren’t you even worse? The one that got really annoyed when they saw Hyun-Soo…”

“N-no! I might’ve acted that way then, but not anymore!”

“Then I’m sure those guys are the same. Don’t be like that. He needs time to adapt.”

Eugene tried to make Katrina feel better.

‘I feel like he’s saying it to me.’

His opponent was Katrina, but he was saying it to Hyun-Soo.

Well, Eugene was in a difficult position.

‘I’m sure he’ll feel that way since he’s stuck between team members he’s known for a long time and me, the new member.’

But Eugene said this was the time to adapt.

It applied to Hyun-Soo as well as to Eugene’s teammates.

“I’m going to go get a drink!”

Katrina’s entire face turned red as she stood up from her seat.

“Eugene, stop making fun of her.”

“Why? It’s fun.”

‘…He’s not really the nicest person.’

“Anyways, just keep that in mind, Hyun-Soo. There’s nothing you need to prepare, but maybe bring a strong mentality?”

“Ha ha, don’t worry about that.”

There was a hidden meaning.

However, Hyun-Soo tried not to think too much into it.

It would actually be weird if they suddenly welcomed him and acknowledged him as one of them.

If he lowered his expectations, he wouldn’t be disappointed.

‘I’m actually motivated now, so this is good.’

Hyun-Soo’s mindset naturally became stronger thanks to it.

‘Things are changing little by little. Let’s see how things go this time.’

A calm smile appeared on Hyun-Soo’s face as he thought about it.

***

After Eugene informed him about the official hunt.

Kim Yoo-Na visited him that night to teach him English and notified him of the location that they’ll be meeting in.

And Hyun-Soo was at the location at the time they promised to meet.

‘They’re pretty cold…’

As expected.

The hunters that were here were treating him coldly.

They were treating him like he wasn’t there and weren’t even looking in his general direction.

Eugene, Katrina and Brad were sitting next to him and they were the only ones that acknowledged his existence.

‘I thought it got better, but it’s the same.’

He licked his lips.

Hyun-Soo briefly glanced at the hunters that were here.

And among them, he found someone that caught his attention.

‘I was told that not everyone was going at once and that we would be split up into groups. It seems like I’ve been assigned to their group.’

Hyun-Soo saw a group of three hunters.

Marcus, Denver and Melody.

These three hunters ignored Hyun-Soo the most.

And among the three, Marcus was the one that really didn’t like him.

‘Even the hunters that were in the same room with me would suddenly stand up from their seats when they saw one of them walk in.’

Those three, especially Marcus, probably had a leading role and the hunters were probably trying to avoid causing any issues.

The same was happening now.

All the hunters, but one, ignored Hyun-Soo.

Marcus was the only one that was looking at him.

But it was difficult to look at him with a friendly expression, even if it was an act.

‘It’s difficult to ignore him too.’

Kim Yoo-Na opened the door and walked in.

When she walked in, everyone turned their attention towards her.

Hyun-Soo ignored Marcus until the end and looked at Kim Yoo-Na.

“I’m sure you all know through the announcement, we’ll be going on an official hunt today. As the head, I’ve been absent for a while and I want to thank you for calling me back. I heard you took care of requests while I was away.”

Kim Yoo-Na portrayed a charismatic and strict personality towards the members, just like when she was in the portal with him.

After their location changed, there wasn’t an opportunity for him to go to a portal with just Kim Yoo-Na.

Because of that, he felt glad seeing this side of her again.

Hyun-Soo found it interesting how fast Kim Yoo-Na’s personality changed compared to when it was just them two.

“For our first official hunt, we’ll be going into a blue portal, which contains a Moonlight Monster Bird. Please don’t forget to take your infrared goggles. Since we’ve hunted his monster many times, I’m sure you all know that it’s an air type monster and the only light we’re given is the moonlight.”

The hunters nodded their heads.

After seeing that, Kim Yoo-Na displayed a charming smile on her face.

“Finally…let’s have fun and make sure no one gets hurt.”

Hoo-ha!

Yeah!

The hunters cheered at her last statement.

The cold atmosphere that was created because of Hyun-Soo suddenly turned bright because of Kim Yoo-Na.

The reason was simple.

‘She was the pivotal figure.’

Kim Yoo-Na was the center of this clan.

She tried to resign because of her sister, but after seeing how there were people that tried bring her back, she played an important role.

She was popular.

And had amazing skills.

She looked cold and serious, but she was warm towards those she cared about.

She was beautiful on top of that.

Hyun-Soo felt like he saw another side of Kim Yoo-Na.

“Are other groups and guilds like this?”