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Chapter 105: The Second Mission (1)
Chapter 105: The Second Mission (1)
Kai stopped by the church and learned all the skills that the Clerics of the Rush guild recommended.
Of course, they’re nowhere near as good as the skills of a Solaris Cleric...
The problem was that his skills as a Solaris Cleric were currently locked. Until he could unlock that category, he had to practice the skills of a regular Cleric. Additionally, since he might need to party with others at any time just like he had done, it seemed better to have the skills that regular Clerics learned to avoid suspicion.
All preparations are complete.
Now, he just had to wait for the second mission from Tardal.
But before that, he needed a shower so logged out. There was only one reason he was so busy even though it was early in the morning!
Finally, today is moving day.
Han Jung-Woo looked at his empty room with only the capsule left. He had lived in this room since moving in the second grade of elementary school, so seeing the room clean and empty made him feel strangely hollow.
“Wow, the room looks so spacious now that it’s all cleaned out!”
While the movers disassembled the capsule to take it to his studio apartment, his mo looked around Han Jung-Woo’s room with a satisfied expression.
Come to think of it, was my room always this spacious?
With the desk, computer, wardrobe, and bed gone, the room was unbelievably large!
Though he didn’t want to admit it, even Han Jung-Woo felt a bit refreshed seeing the room in that state.
“You must be happy, mom, for kicking your son out and gaining a big room.”
“Jung-Woo, let’s be clear. This house is under my name, so it was always my room.”
Just as his shoulders slumped, someone patted him. Turning his head, he saw his father with a stern expression.
“We believe in you, Jung-Woo. We’re pushing you out into the world because we trust you. Wherever you go, stand tall and live proudly. Understood?”
“Father...”
Touched by his father’s rare show of affection, Han Jung-Woo slightly nodded with a smile.
After giving his son some encouraging words, Han Jung-Woo’s father quickly moved to his wife and wrapped an arm around her waist.
“Honey, this room will be my study now, as we discussed.”
“Alright. But you haven’t forgotten your promise to get me a new massage chair in Ji-Hye’s room, right?”
“It’s already been ordered. It should arrive next week.”
“Great. Hehe.”
Han Jung-Woo rubbed the back of his neck and shuddered, realizing he was leaving home because of such a shady deal!
Shivering with a sense of betrayal, he felt a small, gentle hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t be too disappointed. They may act like that, but they were up all night worrying about you.”
“They should show that in front of me.”
“They’re just embarrassed to do so. You know how they are.”
Han Jung-Woo looked at the young woman who patted his back cheerfully with a face filled with concern.
In the end, my sister is the only one who takes care of me.
Han Jung-Woo gave a faint smile and tried to console her. “Noona, I’m fine. I’m twenty-two, not a kid. You don’t think I can live alone?”
“That I’m not worried about... but why do I have to leave too...”
His family never let him feel touched for more than five seconds!
“And now, who am I supposed to send out to get beer?”
Do it yourself.
Han Jung-Woo looked at his sister with cold eyes and quickly put on his shoes.
Let’s get out of this house!
Han Jung-Woo bowed his head with an expression full of dissatisfaction. “I’m gonna go now.”
“We won’t go out to send you off.”
His father waved his hand as if to hurry him along.
Seeing this, his mother, perhaps feeling slightly sorry for her son, approached and gave him a light hug. “I stocked the fridge in your studio apartment with side dishes. There’s also dried seaweed, canned food, and different kinds of ramen in the drawers.”
“Come on, I’m not an elementary school kid... I can manage on my own.”
“If you were capable of handling things on your own, you wouldn’t be getting kicked out.”
“It’s called independence, a sophisticated term...”
“I know that term, too. But you’re being kicked out, aren’t you?”
Realizing that continuing the conversation would be fruitless, Han Jung-Woo bowed his head once more. “Then I’ll really go now.”
“Call if you run out of side dishes!”
Even though they said they wouldn’t go far to say goodbye, his family came all the way down to the first floor. Despite his assurance, they even came to the road to see him off getting into the truck!
“Is this an airport? I’m not going abroad or anything.”
“To a parent, their child always looks like a kid.”
Feeling embarrassed, Han Jung-Woo muttered as his father gave him wise words, “...Go inside now. It’s cold.”
As he rolled up the window, the driver slowly started the truck, and his family stayed until it turned the corner.
Just wait and see.
The son, once regarded as a troublemaker and unemployed, would return as the family’s pride.
***
“Hmm. Seems like everything is roughly organized.”
The move itself wasn’t very difficult. After all, the moving center staff handled everything from start to finish, so all Han Jung-Woo did was arrange his personal belongings.
After finishing moving, he looked at the mid-afternoon sun and walked to the dining table.
“Come to think of it, I need to deliver some rice cakes.”
He put on a hoodie, filled an eco-bag with rice cakes and started greeting his neighbors from the first floor of the officetel[1].The last stop was the seventh floor.
...What’s this?
As he climbed the stairs to the seventh floor, he scanned left to right.
Bodyguards?
Two bodyguards were blocking the door to the officetel.
Only then did he recall the real estate agent’s advice.
Oh, by the way, don’t go up to the top floor carelessly. They’ve combined three houses into one up there. Just think of it as private property.
As he was about to turn around, a hand landed on his shoulder.
Then, a polite but firm voice pressured him. “Excuse me, what’s your business here?”
Turning around with an awkward smile, he responded, “Haha... I just moved to the fourth floor. I was delivering rice cakes, and the seventh floor was my last stop.”
As he held out the last three rice cakes in the eco-bag, the bodyguard nodded and said, “I see. We’ll make sure the rice cakes and the message are delivered.”
“Thank you, I’ll be going then.”
As he turned to go down the stairs, the door of the officetel that was firmly shut, opened. A woman dressed in a white skirt suit with a red mink shawl emerged, matching the chilly weather.
...I didn’t hear anything about a celebrity living here.
Even though she was wearing sunglasses, her perfect body proportion, her small face the size of a fist, her slender jawline, and her high-bridged nose were more than enough to reveal her beauty.
She looked at her bodyguard and Han Jung-Woo standing on the stairs.
“What’s going on?”
“Oh, he’s a new resident on the fourth floor. He came to deliver rice cakes.”
“...Put the rice cakes in the fridge. And you, the new resident on the fourth floor.”
“Yes?”
Click, clack, click, clack.
The woman coming down a few steps, likely due to her high heels, seemed very tall. Being 181 centimeters tall, Han Jung-Woo was by no means short, but she came to his chin.
The woman slightly lowered her sunglasses and stared intently at Kai's face.
After a moment, she tilted her head and asked, "Have we met somewhere before?"
"...I don't think so."
He had been a hikikomori for the past two years, rarely leaving his house, so he hadn’t met anyone, let alone a woman as striking as her. Moreover, someone with such a strong impression would be impossible to forget.
"...My eyes are never wrong," the woman muttered quietly to herself. Then, she adjusted her sunglasses, and nodded. "Well, sorry for the confusion. Nice to meet you, and I'll enjoy the rice cakes."
"Yes, then I'll be going now..."
He bowed his head and went down the stairs.
The woman watched him intently as one of her bodyguards approached her and asked, "Ma'am, should we look into him?"
"No, we're already busy as it is."
"Understood. Then we should get going. We need to leave now to be on time for your appointment with the chairman..."
The woman turned her head toward the bodyguard that was nagging her. Even with her sunglasses on, her cold, chilling gaze was felt.
"I-I apologize," the bodyguard quickly bowed his head and pressed the elevator button, sweating cold sweat.
After all, if he got on the bad side of the beloved granddaughter of the chairman of Cheonhwa Group, he would be fired immediately.
***
"So, what do you think?"
"Kyurooo!"
In a secluded area near the city, Kai summoned Blizzard and put the armor on him.
Blizzard seemed to be very pleased, constantly looking at himself in the full-length mirror Kai had summoned. The armor was the modified Armor of the Undead set, now tailored with a hole for Blizzard's tail.
Hehe. Solid did an even better job modifying it than I expected.
The tail part of the current Armor of the Undead set had a wide opening. However, when Blizzard's tail was inserted, the opened part was covered with black fabric.
The meaning of that was simple.
If necessary, I could use him as my substitute by cutting off his tail.
Blizzard, shivering from an inexplicable chill, approached Kai.
"You’re cold, aren’t you? Here, drink this."
As Kai handed him some hot cocoa, a message window appeared.
[The Darkness Hunters’ Member Badge is glowing.]
Kai's eyes widened instantly.
The mission is here!
The long-awaited call from Tardal had finally come.
Kai quickly transported himself to Tardal's mansion and faced Tardal, who looked the same as before.
"...You seem to have grown stronger again."
"There is an old saying in my homeland that if you meet someone again after three days, you should look at them with new eyes because they must have grown in that time."
"Are all people from your homeland as monstrous as you?"
"Haha, there's no way. I'm just a bit unique."
When the light conversation ended, Tardal handed over some documents.
"This is your second mission."
"I've been waiting for this." Kai's eyes shined as he took the documents and began reading them. However, as he read through the content, his expression gradually became ambiguous. "...What is this?"
The content of the documents had nothing to do with tracking the Church of Muldine.
Didn't he say the next mission would be suitable for me?
Tardal didn't seem like someone who would say one thing and do another.
But judging by the content of this document, it looks like plain volunteer work.
The main point was that a cleric was needed in a village struck by an epidemic, and he was to go there as support.
However, Kai's dissatisfaction and doubts were completely washed away by Tardal's next words.
"One of the most wicked chimeras of the Church of Muldine, the Blue Plague Aosa, has appeared. You are to get rid of it."