Chapter 6

Chapter 6

“What I mean is, Master’s skill isn’t just a simple mind-control type skill. Perhaps… that skill is more dangerous and has far greater effects than either you or I can imagine.”

“…Ah, no, but the skill description says—”

<Skill Description>

Ruler’s Garden (S)

You are the ruler, and this world is the ruler’s garden.

Therefore, this place is your garden, and all beings dwelling in the garden must naturally devote their loyalty to the ruler. However, one who wears a crown must bear its weight. The power of a king who has not yet held a coronation cannot reach the weight of a thousand gold.

※The higher the intelligence and rank of a lifeform, the more difficult the domination condition becomes.

The description of ‘Ruler’s Garden’ floating in my status window remained the same. Whoever had written the explanation of my skill was stating it clearly. This skill was one that ‘dominated’ someone.

And the type of skill that uses this kind of phrasing was obvious. It was either a mind-control type or a territory-control type.

‘But my skill is definitely not the territory type.’

Territory-control type skills usually refer to skills that exercise dominion over a certain natural element. For example, if a hunter has an affinity with the water attribute, such a skill might manifest as allowing them to place all water within a specific area under their control.

And in those cases, the skill name itself makes it blatantly obvious. For instance, King of Water (S), Water King (A), Ruler of Water (S)… something like that.

So my skill is definitely a mind-control type skill. There’s no other way to think about it. Looking at the skill description, no matter how you see it, it’s that kind. Including the fact that mind-control type skills usually have unfriendly descriptions.

But Hunter Yoon Juyeong seemed to think differently. No, to be precise, he seemed to be thinking a step further.

“I’m not saying your thoughts are wrong. Rather… I think you’re right. Your skill is definitely a mind-control type skill. But… I’m sure it’s not just that.”

“What do you mean…?”

“Perhaps… your skill strengthens the target of the skill, that is… the one who is bound to you?”

“Strengthen?”

In other words, a buff attached to a mind-control skill?

I checked my skill description again, but I couldn’t find any such information. It was only natural, since the so-called description was just abstract nonsense like ‘You are the ruler, this world is the ruler’s garden.’

But the skill description doesn’t contain all the information about a skill. This was a fact confirmed over the past five years as hunters directly used, applied, and modified their own skills.

‘…But still.’

No matter how you looked at it, it was hard to believe that a strengthening function powerful enough to turn a B-Rank hunter into an S-Rank hunter in an instant wouldn’t be written in the skill description.

Even if the skill description didn’t contain all the information about a skill, there was no way it would completely omit an entire main function like this.

If that were the case, the hunter industry would have issued a guideline outright saying, ‘There may be functions beyond the skill description.’

“Um, Hunter Yoon Juyeong. No matter how you look at it, I don’t think it has a function strong enough to turn a B-Rank hunter into an S-Rank hunter… If it had that kind of function, it would definitely be written in the skill description.”

“But considering what you’ve told me so far, the skill you used seems to have been in a state where its description wasn’t properly established in the first place… Am I wrong?”

“That… is true, but.”

“Master. It is a fact that I awakened to S-Rank, but… that awakening happened after you used your skill on me.”

“……”

“And above all… I have never heard of a case where rank awakening also healed all the wounds on one’s body at the same time.”

That… was true. In all the stories I’d heard about rank awakenings, there were accounts of bodies feeling lighter or experiencing strength they’d never felt before, but never a phrase like ‘all wounds on the body were healed.’

‘Then is it really… because of my skill?’

If awakening a B-Rank hunter to S-Rank and instantly healing a fatal injury in the process were all effects of my skill.

‘…Is that something I can even handle?’

There are many awakened ones. There are many hunters. And there are many hunters who want to raise their rank.

It’s only natural. Higher-ranked hunters earn more money. They’re more popular. And that’s not all. For some reason, the higher your rank, the better-looking your face becomes.

Naturally, people in this world want to awaken, and if they’re going to awaken anyway, they hope to become a high-rank awakened one.

And naturally, the world isn’t filled only with good people. There are plenty of people in this world who would do anything, no matter how bad, if it meant raising their rank.

And… honestly, I didn’t have the confidence to protect myself from people like that. After all, I was just an ordinary C-Rank hunter.

In the end, I kept my mouth shut, brooding over my skill and my future, walking aimlessly down a dark alley. It was truly a miserable walk home.

…Ah. Wait a second.

“Hey, Hunter Yoon Juyeong. How long are you planning to follow me?”

“Huh? Well, I intended to stay with you to guard you, Master… Is it inconvenient? If so, shall I hide and guard you instead?”

“…Huh?”

“……?”

…What the hell is this guy even saying?

* * *

[Unexpected Incident in Low-Difficulty Dungeon… C-Rank, C+-Rank Hunters Reported Dead]

Last night at three in the afternoon, two hunters—a C-Rank and a C+-Rank—were reported dead in the Red Chimera dungeon located in ○○-dong, ○○-gu, Seoul, causing a major shock.

According to a survivor who gave an interview, a monster in a form more enhanced than the usual boss monster, the Red Chimera, appeared unexpectedly in the dungeon. The monster first killed a C+-Rank hunter, Mr. Lee, and immediately after, a C-Rank hunter, Mr. Kang.

Regarding this sudden and unexpected situation, the Dungeon Management Committee stated they would strive for stricter dungeon management. In response, netizens flooded comments like, “Bet it’s the Administrator’s fault again,” and “Maybe they skimped on money and didn’t bring a B-Rank hunter.”

—By Lee Rion, Hunter Daily Reporter

“It’s an article about yesterday’s incident.”

“…Ah.”

I lifted my head from staring blankly at my smartphone screen and saw Hunter Yoon Juyeong wearing that neat smile that reminded me of when we first met at the dungeon entrance.

I’d been thinking this since the first time I met him—his features were sharp and harmoniously balanced, making him a really pleasant person to look at.

Even if awakened people all undergo positive changes in appearance to varying degrees, to reach the so-called “handsome” level, you’d need a solid foundation from before awakening. Considering that, I figured Hunter Yoon Juyeong must have been quite good-looking even before he awakened.

“Hunters dying in dungeons happens all the time, but since this is the first time such an unexpected incident has occurred in a low-difficulty dungeon… I can understand why it’s causing a stir.”

“I suppose so……”

“What is the manager thinking? Does he just enjoy watching humans suffer?”

“I wonder……”

“Oh, by the way, I noticed you didn’t eat breakfast, so I cut up some fruit. Would you like to try some?”

“Thank you……”

“I couldn’t just stand by and watch my Master—no ordinary person—skip three meals a day.”

“Thank you… no, I mean, Hunter Yoon Juyeong. I keep telling you, I’m not your master or whatever.”

From yesterday when the incident happened until now, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve said, “I am not your master,” to Hunter Yoon Juyeong. Chewing the apple he’d fed me without much energy, I repeated myself in a weak voice.

“Hey, Hunter Yoon Juyeong. Are you really planning to live in my house? Seriously? In this tiny place?”

“Yes, of course. Ah, if you don’t like the location, how about we go to my place? Though it’s hardly worthy of hosting my Master……”

“Of course a place where a B-Rank hunter… used to live would be better than where a C-Rank hunter lives. But that’s not what I’m trying to say……”

I’ve never studied Confucianism in my life, but even I know the rule about men and women not sitting together after the age of seven.

Yesterday, time flew by before I could say anything, so I ended up letting Hunter Yoon Juyeong sleep in the small room I used as storage… but that doesn’t mean it has to continue today.

I tried my best to put on a firm expression as I stared at Hunter Yoon Juyeong.

“Hunter Yoon Juyeong. I’m a woman, and you’re a man.”

“Master. Please, call me comfortably. Hmm, if it’s not too much, how about just ‘Juyeong’?”

“Stop talking nonsense. I don’t know what you’re thinking, Hunter Yoon Juyeong, but I’m a sensible person of this era who finds it extremely uncomfortable to have a man of the opposite sex in my house.”

Of course, I knew that from Hunter Yoon Juyeong’s perspective, I wasn’t a woman or the opposite sex — I was “Master.” That was obvious from the way he’d acted toward me so far.

The very first thing he did when he came into my house was open the refrigerator door and ask why I only had instant food, and after that, all he did was go grocery shopping, prep ingredients, cook side dishes, make dinner, and clean the house…

Huh, isn’t this a nanny?

Well, anyway. Whatever the case, let’s get back to the main point. What mattered now was somehow getting Hunter Yoon Juyeong out of here.

Honestly, it wasn’t like I hadn’t thought about reporting Hunter Yoon Juyeong for illegal trespassing… but the problem was that reporting a guy who’d ended up in this state because of my skill felt a little guilt-inducing.

Because before he got hit by my skill, Hunter Yoon Juyeong was an extremely ordinary — no, if anything, he was on the nicer side of ordinary — a sensible person.