The Skill Maker

It was also a name they were keeping quiet about and tried to avoid.

Also…

‘They’re also the reason why Gracovich barged in here.’

Before he was recruited by Kim Yoo-Na and flew over here, he remembered hearing her name.

It was probably similar back then too.

They were trying to avoid mentioning their name and keep them hidden.

He wasn’t going try to find out the thing they were hiding.

Because Hyun-Soo had secrets that he couldn’t tell others as well.

Since information about himself was important, there wasn’t a need to dig up another person’s information.

‘But this situation is a bit different.’

Someone actually used force to try to get to them.

He was unwillingly deeply involved in it too.

If Hyun-Soo lacked the power, then his waist could’ve been opened wide and he couldn’t lost a large amount of blood.

‘That’s why I have the right to ask.’

He was unexpectedly attacked by weird guys.

He was directly involved in that attack.

So asking should…be okay, right?

“Ariel is…”

Kim Yoo-Na was the straightforward type, so she would say no without any hesitation, but she seemed to be hesitating about this.

It looked like she was contemplating about it because it could be an issue if Hyun-Soo didn’t ask about it despite of how the situation turned out.

“Only a few know about her. Those few call her by her nickname instead of her real name.”

Hyun-Soo recalled the name that Gracovich used when he said that he had to meet her no matter what.

He thought it was odd because as soon as he heard that name, he connected it with Ariel.

‘What was the name again?’

Before Hyun-Soo could remember it, Kim Yoo-Na’s calm voice said the answer.

“Fortune Teller…that’s her nickname.”

“Then…”

“Yes, you’re able to make an a.s.sociation based on her name, right? She’s very different from your ordinary hunters. Kind of like you, Hyun-Soo.”

“…..”

When he heard the last sentence, it made his heart drop.

How much did she know?

But she didn’t say anything else about Hyun-Soo after that.

“Rather than me explaining it or telling you a story, it’s better to meet her. It’s hard to describe her with just words alone. How about it Hyun-Soo? What do you think?”

“What do you mean?”

He asked with a doubtful heart.

She didn’t even show her face to a powerful person like Gracovich and eventually made him turn back.

And she wants him to meet a person like that?

A small smile appeared on Kim Yoo-Na’s face when she noticed Hyun-Soo’s confused expression.

“Of course I’m talking about meeting Ariel. She recently came back.”

“Where are we going?”

“To where she is.”

“She’s in…a place like this?”

“Yeah, interesting isn’t it?”

That was true.

Hyun-Soo left the base and was standing in the middle of downtown where buildings were standing tall all around him.

It was such a busy place that he would’ve never thought or even imagined that such an important figure would be living here.

Different types of people were busily moving around, causing everyone to move at a fast pace.

Despite of that, it seemed like Kim Yoo-Na didn’t care because she was heading towards somewhere.

“Would you like some coffee, Hyun-Soo?”

“Oh, sure.”

In a moment of bewilderment, Hyun-Soo answered her and after she grabbed the coffee from a small food truck, he accepted it in the same state.

Along with the coffee, Kim Yoo-Na ordered some food and walked through the sea of people again.

And they arrived at a penthouse that was located in a tall building.

Hyun-Soo’s eyes because this was his first time seeing such a s.p.a.cious penthouse.

“Wait here. I think she’s sleeping. It hasn’t been that long since she returned from her vacation. I think she has jetlag. Wait here. I’ll go wake her up.”

“Can you do that?”

The owner of the house was sleeping and the guest was waking them up.

In Hyun-Soo’s mind, it didn’t make sense, but this must happen to her everyday because she nodded without any hesitation.

“Yeah, she might already know.”

Right. Fortune Teller, the one that can see into the future.

He wasn’t sure if they were able to predict something like that, but since Kim Yoo-Na said it, he thought that was the case.

And moments later.

Kim Yoo-Na walked out with a woman with messy brown hair and freckles on her face.

Yawn.

The brown-haired woman, Ariel, must’ve been really sleepy because she yawned without hesitation.

“That’s why I told you that it would’ve been better if you brought him here in the beginning. Then you wouldn’t have to wake me up.”

Ariel spoke with a tired face while rubbing her eyes.

“Having him meet you face-to-face is like double-edged sword.”

“There are a lot of people making a fuss for not being able to see me, you know.”

Ariel quietly talked back to Kim Yoo-Na when she calmly replied to her.

“And they don’t seem like the type that would be affected from hearing some bad comments, so what are you worried about? Anyways, good thing you brought them. What’s your name?”

Ariel’s question was for Hyun-Soo.

Hyun-Soo was quietly listening to their conversation without knowing the context and came back to his senses when Ariel asked him a question.

“My name is Kim Hyun-Soo.”

“Right. You had that kind of name. Hyun-Soo. What kind of job do you think I have?”

“I heard that you’re a fortune teller…”

“Yes, that’s right. But I see something else instead of someone’s fortune.”

“….?”

Arield smiled like a cat.

“After seeing you, there’s a lot of things I want to say. Well, shall the two of us talk in private? Oh, I’ll be the one doing all the talking, to be exact, but I a.s.sume it’ll be a very beneficial and worthwhile. You won’t regret it, so what do you want to do?”

“I’ll…listen?”

At the end of the chaotic conversation, one thing that Hyun-Soo understood was that he had to agree when she asked.

When he glanced over at Kim Yoo-Na, she was silently sitting and watching them.

Kim Yoo-Na stayed still and her silence could be considered as her consenting it.

Hyun-Soo saw Ariel jump up and after seeing her enter a room that was covered in mirrors, he followed her.

“It doesn’t look like the room of a fortune teller, huh?”

When thinking about your ordinary fortune teller, many tend to have a fixed idea about them.

For example, many use purple velvet fabric, a crystal ball, tarot cards, a staff and etc.

He didn’t see any of those.

It wasn’t dark and it didn’t give off that scary feeling either.

On one side, an entire wall was a window and as the sunlight shined through the curtains, it lit up the room.

‘Just from the atmosphere alone, I feel like I came to a greenhouse or some sort of flower garden.’

There were pots of beautiful flowers placed in different parts of the room and there was a small tree where its vines were twisted.

Just from one look, it looked like the room of a healthy, ordinary person.

“I dream. What do you think I see in the dreams?”

“…I’m not sure.”

When Hyun-Soo vaguely answered, Ariel started laughing.

“The answer that most people give is the future. You didn’t come here without being informed, right?”

Hyun-Soo nodded his head.

Just from the nickname alone, a lot of things have been a.s.sumed.

“Then, I’ll tell you about a dream. There’s something I wanted to tell you whenever you came.”

“To me?”

“Yes, but it might be a bit vague. It might be a pie in the sky for you. But, there’s no harm in hearing it, so listen closely.”

There’s a lot of people that won’t be able to hear my dream even if they paid a lot of money for it.

After saying that, Ariel slowly opened her mouth.

“Did you have a nice talk?”

When Hyun-Soo exited the sunroom-like room, Kim Yoo-Na asked.

“I’m not sure. Should I call it a conversation…or a foresight?”

He definitely did hear something, but like Ariel had stated, it was abstract.

When Hyun-Soo answered with a confused expression, Yoo-Na nodded as if she understood.

“Well, Ariel’s stories have parts that are symbolic.”

“I heard that she could see the future, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.”

She did mention that it could be a pie in the sky, but she went overboard.

He knew that there were a lot of people that wanted to meet her, but he just couldn’t understand why.

The things that she said were so absurd to Hyun-Soo.

Hyun-Soo recalled what Ariel said.

“You’re going to become a king.”

“A crown is shining on top of your head. It’s a radiant crown that no other can approach.”

There’s a crown on top of my head?

When he heard that, Hyun-Soo instinctively touched the top of his head.

Of course he couldn’t feel anything.

“But, that doesn’t always mean that it’s a good thing. A diamond is considered the most radiant, st.u.r.dy and beautiful gem in the world. But do you know how a diamond is made?”

“I’m not sure…”

“It has to endure an immense amount of pressure and heat. And that’s how Carbon is reborn into a beautiful diamond. And it has to go through countless of retouches. A lot of its sides needs to be cut so that it can be the most radiant diamond it can be.”

Hyun-Soo didn’t know why she suddenly brought up the diamond-making process.

So if he were to put together the information that Ariel told him…

“Does that mean that I’ll experience hardships and suffering?”

“It’s odd how this world doesn’t give things to you easily. There are times when you obtain something, you have to give something up.”

There’s a price for everything.

It was the law of the world that Hyun-Soo already knew.

“It’s not just limited to you. There’s a possibility that it can be, but it can be applied to everyone. There’s a lot of things involved. A lot of things are crumbling. There’s nothing that’s maintaining its shape. But one, if we were to exclude your crown.”

A lot of things were crumbling.

He wasn’t sure exactly what that meant.

It could mean the collapse of an already existing system or it could mean a disruption of a certain order.

If not that, then it could mean the collapse of an actual object.

But Ariel said that it doesn’t always mean that it’s something bad.

“The future isn’t set. At least, that’s what I believe. It might be weird to hear this from someone that can see the future, but…I can’t see the entire future and am only seeing parts of it.”

It meant that nothing was clear and distinct.

Ariel added that she could’ve seen a transitional period of something new that was going to come into this world or it could mean a period of change.

It was up to Hyun-Soo to decide whether the end of that change was good or bad.

Hyun-Soo looked at her with a confused look and Ariel apologized about it being vague.

He expected her to interpret it more for him, but she said that she was done talking and gave him an order that he could exit the room.

But right before Hyun-Soo exited the room, Ariel spoke.

“You’re the only one that has the full color. Depending on how you handle it, all the interpretations may differ. I’m getting curious as to what kind of gem you’ll turn out to be based on how you’re disciplined.”

Just like the other fortune tellers, the things that Ariel said weren’t clear and very vague.

Like a blind person touching an elephant’s leg, the things that she said were confusing.

Because she said a lot of vague comments, not a lot of them stuck with him.

‘King, crown, change, hardship.’

He thought she would be clear since she mentioned the future, but he had a lot questions.

‘There aren’t any kings in this world, so what did she mean when she said that I would be king?’