Chapter 138

After a bit of bickering, the three finished their meal and left the restaurant. Nara Shim said she was going home, and Taeyang Kang said he was going to his hotel. But Cho-i Hyeon blinked, saying he was going to the guild.

“Why to the guild all of a sudden?”

Nara Shim asked with a puzzled voice.

“I need to check if my baby is doing well.”

“Your baby?”

Then Taeyang Kang spoke as if something had dawned on him.

“You mean that juvenile monster.”

“Juvenile monster?”

“Yeah, you know about the dungeon break in Gangnam, right? It’s a kid I picked up there.”

“Hey! How can you just pick up a monster! You should kill it immediately.”

Cho-i Hyeon wrapped his arms around his shoulders.

“Killing a baby is too cruel.”

“There’s no one more cruel than you here right now, so be quiet.”

When Nara Shim spoke, gritting her teeth, Cho-i Hyeon tilted his head and began to explain.

“So, I picked it up thinking I might be able to tame it.”

“Do you think that’s as easy as it sounds? It’s not like no one has ever tried it before, right? The nation has probably made many attempts to tame monsters. But there hasn’t been a single word of success until now, has there?”

“Well, I just thought of it lightly.”

“You mean you picked it up without thinking at all.”

Nara Shim sighed and clutched her head. If Cho-i Hyeon was determined to do it, there was no way to break that stubbornness, even if it killed her. She looked at Taeyang Kang. Taeyang Kang also had a slightly displeased expression, and seeing that look, Nara Shim decided he was on her side.

“Isn’t taming monsters too dangerous? If one escapes by mistake, civilians could get hurt.”

“And it doesn’t suit Cho-i Hyeon. Something cuter…”

“Enough. Let’s not talk about it.”

He wasn’t an ally. Shoot. Shoot. Nara Shim shook her short bob and just thought about going home. There wasn’t a single person she could communicate with. She eventually turned around without a word of goodbye, trudged along, and called a taxi home with her smartphone.

“Oh. Are you leaving?”

“I’m going to rest. You handle it.”

“Even if you hadn’t said that, I would have handled it.”

Cho-i Hyeon replied with a bright smile. Taeyang Kang also said goodbye to Cho-i and quickly disappeared. Cho-i Hyeon decided to walk leisurely to Paehyeok. After all, the lab was open 24 hours, and the people in the lab at night were easy prey to torment. Thinking thoughts that would make the lab staff shiver if they heard them, Cho-i walked towards Paehyeok, then suddenly leaped onto the top of a building. Leaping between buildings, climbing walls, landing on the ground, and then leaping again, Cho-i arrived at Paehyeok. She saw the lab still lit, despite the late hour, and leisurely walked inside. Cho-i Hyeon got into the elevator, pressed the 71st floor button, and as she ascended, she was briefly moved by the dazzling white lights.

“To think there are people still exploited and unable to go home at this hour, Taehyeok Sa is truly a son of a bitch.”

Cho-i Hyeon hummed a tune as she headed to Room A701. Knock, knock, she knocked, and the door opened from within. The research assistant, looking haggard, didn’t even pretend to be surprised by the sudden appearance of an S-Rank, and with a tired face, pointed to the enclosure inside the glass tube.

“Oh my, you made a new house?”

“Oh dear, my baby.” Saying that, Cho-i approached the glass tube and tilted her head for a moment.

“It seems a bit bigger?”

“It’s not just a bit. It’s…”

What was clearly only two hand spans long had grown large enough to fill her arms. Cho-i tilted her head from side to side and said,

“What did you feed it?”

“Nothing but raw meat.”

“It’s a baby, so it grew so fast when I wasn’t looking. Can I go in?”

“It might be dangerous for you.”

“Let’s see.”

Cho-i used ‘Inspect’ on the juvenile monster inside the enclosure. Then, ding, a blue window popped up in front of her eyes.

[Axolotl (A-rank)]

“Wow! My baby is A-Rank!”

“In that case, it probably won’t be dangerous for the Hunter. Just please don’t break the lab.”

“Alright. Alright.”

Cho-i Hyeon opened the automatic-looking door and stepped into the glass tube. It seemed to be designed to only open from the outside and not from the inside. As soon as Cho-i Hyeon entered, she clapped her hands and spread her arms.

“My baby, come here!”

Then, the now much larger creature, as if scared, began to slowly crawl into a corner. With a disappointed look, Cho-i Hyeon still managed to pull the monster, which was still a baby, out and sat it in front of her. Then she grabbed what seemed to be its front paw and said,

“Paw!”

Cho-i lightly shook the front paw up and down, then put it down and offered her hand again, saying the same thing.

“Paw!”

Then the young monster, no, the axolotl, which could no longer be called a baby, slowly began to go back to the corner. Cho-i Hyeon pulled it back in front of her and repeated “paw” until it understood. Paw, paw, paw! After repeating the word “paw” for over an hour, the axolotl finally seemed to give up and placed its front paw on Cho-i Hyeon’s hand. Cho-i Hyeon smiled brightly and hugged the monster, which now filled her arms.

“Good job!”

The monster didn’t look very proud, but Cho-i was. She picked up the monster, spun around a few times, then put it down and said,

“Alright, now you just need to understand ‘spin,’ ‘play dead,’ ‘bite,’ and ‘don’t do that.'”

The axolotl didn’t understand Cho-i’s words, but it had a terrified expression. Cho-i Hyeon, whether she understood the monster’s feelings or not, smiled broadly and gently shook the monster’s two front paws. After making it learn more tricks until morning, Cho-i Hyeon, who hadn’t slept, came out of the glass tube with a bright smile. The researchers who had been up all night looked at her as if they were fed up, and the axolotl inside the glass tube was lying exhausted on the floor, fast asleep. It seemed that even for a monster, an S-Rank’s stamina was better than an A-Rank’s. Cho-i Hyeon, who had stayed up all day, went up to the top floor instead of the first floor. She planned to sleep on the sofa there, as it made her feel sleepy. But ding, the elevator arrived at the top floor, and after the doors opened, what she saw immediately was not Taehyeok Sa, but…

“You’re early?”

“What?”

It was Suui Kim. Taehyeok Sa was sitting at his desk, and Suui Kim was standing in front of him with his hands behind his back. Cho-i Hyeon, not understanding the situation, scurried over to Suui Kim’s side and looked up at him.

“What, already?”

“Didn’t you come after getting a text?”

“A text? What text?”

Cho-i Hyeon took out her smartphone and checked her messages. Indeed, there was a text from Taehyeok Sa at 8:45 AM. It was a message telling her to come to the Guild Master’s Office as soon as she checked it. Cho-i Hyeon scratched her head and looked at Taehyeok Sa with a face that said, “I didn’t come because of this.”

“Anyway, it’s fine since you’re here.”

Taehyeok Sa sighed and said to the two of them,

“The reason I called you two separately is because of an external event.”

“An external event, you say…?”

“What’s an external event?”

As if he knew they would ask that, Taehyeok Sa immediately replied,

“It’s an event related to the hunter academy’s practical training.”

“Hunter academy?”

Then Suui Kim, who was standing next to her, said,

“There’s one private academy and one national academy in Korea. We get requests from the private academy and go every year.”

“Ah, I see. But what does that have to do with me?”

“It has something to do with you. You’re the most popular hunter in Paehyeok right now. So you’re going as a practical instructor. Suui Kim is support.”

“What? I’ve never heard of that!”

“That’s why I’m telling you now.”

“Oh, right.”

Cho-i Hyeon quietly sat on the sofa. Suui Kim glanced at Cho-i and sat next to her. Taehyeok Sa thought he could finally explain calmly and gestured to Suui Kim. Suui Kim had just sat down but got up again at Taehyeok Sa’s gesture and approached the desk.

“Yes, you called?”

“You keep a close eye on Cho-i Hyeon.”

“Again…?”

“I can’t go this time, you know.”

“Still…”

“You used to just say ‘yes, yes,’ but lately you’ve been talking back a lot.”

“Well, it’s because Cho-i Hyeon is a hunter who causes trouble…”

Of course, Taehyeok Sa fully acknowledged that, but he pretended not to know and turned his head.

“Anyway, it’s your job to keep Cho-i Hyeon from causing trouble.”

“But I told you last time, why can’t you do what you can’t even do yourself…?”

“She used to at least pretend to be surprised, but now she just blurts things out.”

“I have to find a way to live too, don’t I?”

“What are you two talking about?”

Cho-i Hyeon wouldn’t have asked if she really couldn’t hear, and she smiled brightly and interjected as the conversation between the two flowed strangely. The two immediately closed their mouths and turned their heads in different directions. Cho-i Hyeon slammed the table and said,

“Anyway, go to the academy!”

“Yes.”

Taehyeok Sa crossed his arms as if telling her to speak.

“The students attending the academy!”

“Yes.”

“Don’t I just have to go and teach them how scary real combat is?”

“It’s similar, similar. But it seems a little different.”

Suui Kim briefly held her head next to her, and Cho-i Hyeon shrugged, asking what the problem was. Taehyeok Sa rubbed his temples for a moment and said,

“As Hunter Suui Kim said, it’s similar. However, it’s also your job to make sure the kids don’t get hurt.”

“Then there’s nothing more to worry about, is there? I’ll be drawing all the aggro anyway.”

“No, no.”

Suui Kim stepped forward to explain properly to Cho-i.

“The students will be tanking. You’ll be supporting them from the side.”

“Huh?”

“If you keep spamming shouts, the students won’t be able to fight like it’s real combat. You understand?”

“I understand, but it’s frustrating. How am I supposed to just watch from the side?”

“Even if it’s frustrating, bear with it.”

Cho-i Hyeon crossed her arms, turned her head this way and that, and then sighed deeply, saying,

“I’m a good person, so I guess I have to endure it.”

“…”

“…”

A silence fell, in which no one agreed.