The Skill Maker

<Secrets #2>

Edited By: Sebas Tian

Kyahhhh!

The mole let out a loud cry as it was falling to the ground.

‘Invisible Attack!’

Hyun-Soo materialized the skill into a ball and threw it towards the falling mole.

Boom!

Bam!

Kyahh!

Due to the impact of the fall as well Hyun-Soo’s attack, it screamed out loud.

Kyah…h…

Due to the shock, it lost its conscious and after he saw that, a smile appeared on Hyun-Soo’s face.

‘It worked just as I thought.’

He immediately created a skill that looked like a fang.

‘Invisible Attack! Cut it!’

And he released the attack towards the mole that was shaking on the ground.

His target was the white light that was on the mole’s eye.

Towards its weakness.

Fwoosh!

Hyun-Soo’s skill cut through the slim opening.

The sound of skin cutting and something soft exploding could be heard clearly.

At the same time, the mole screamed in pain.

Kyahh! Kyahhhhhh! Kyah!

As the mole rolled its body around violently, it tried to find a way to escape.

Instead of attacking Hyun-Soo with its long nails, it started digging instead.

Their body was halfway into the hole, but Hyun-Soo wasn’t in a rush.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

He created a skill that looked like a hook and hooked the mole’s back.

Perhaps it’s because he attacked its weakness, but his attacks were working well.

Kyahhhh! Kyah!

He didn’t have any trouble maintaining one skill.

Hyun-Soo pulled out the mole using the hook that he created.

The mole tried not to get pulled and sound of them clawing the ground could be heard.

When they were thrown into the air, their flailing was useless.

He felt bad for the monster after seeing blood flow out of its eye.

‘It’s funny that I’m feeling bad for a monster, but…’

Hyun-Soo decided to end it quickly.

Swoosh!

Kyah…h!

Thud! Boom!

The blade that Hyun-Soo threw cut through the mole’s neck.

The mole stopped moving and their cry stopped as well.

He finished them off with one attack.

Blood was spouting out of its body and its head dropped to the ground.

‘They really did become blood red, just like their name.’

Their red fur was soaked in their blood.

“Whew…”

Managing his strength became more flexible and he was stronger.

‘If I fought the mole before I leveled up, I probably wouldn’t have been able to cut its neck with one attack.’

He probably would’ve created several small knives or forcefully pierced a long spear through them.

But this time, he created a blade big enough to cut the monster’s neck with one attack.

‘Getting stronger is definitely the best. It’s always new. Exciting.’

Hyun-Soo looked at the corpse that was sitting in the puddle of their own blood.

‘Now that I think about it, this skill can be used in variety of ways. I didn’t know being able to take on different forms could be an advantage for me.’

It was a useful skill.

He was going to create a new skill because he needed a powerful one, but this skill filled his satisfaction.

‘But, having just one isn’t enough though. I should take my time with this. The more the merrier.’

Kim Yoo-Na approached him after confirming that the hunt was over.

“You’ve become faster.”

Kim Yoo-Na must’ve felt what he felt because she complimented him.

“I think I know why hunters put their lives on the line to level up.”

Power that they can use.

The strength of that power.

And regret.

He definitely felt that he’s gotten stronger compared to before.

Being a B rank and then an A rank will be even more amazing since he was pretty strong despite being a C rank.

There was a reason why people wanted to become an A rank hunter.

And people looked up to them.

“My God!”

‘Huh?’

Hyun-Soo turned to the side when he heard English.

‘Oh yeah, Katrina was here. She was so quiet that I forgot.’

Hyun-Soo was intimidated by her stare.

“*****? *****?”

‘Before she came into the portal, she turned her head every time she saw me.’

But, after he finished the hunt, she approached him and started talking to him.

Before this, when he was hunting in a blue portal, she would stay near him, but now, she actually approached him.

‘It doesn’t sound like she’s saying anything bad.’

In the current situation, the only person that’s able to understand Katrina was Kim Yoo-Na, so he looked at her.

Her expression was filled with uncertainty.

It didn’t look like she was mad, but it didn’t look like she was happy either.

‘Did I do something wrong? I don’t think so. She looked happy just a moment ago though.’

But, Kim Yoo-Na acted like nothing was wrong and translated what Katrina said.

“She asked if you really are C rank hunter.’

“Yes. I’m C rank. Okay?”

“********?”

“She said she’s curious as to how a C rank hunter is able to kill a monster by himself.”

“Just do it!”

It was an answer that reminded of a certain commercial.

‘But, I really don’t have any other answer. I honestly didn’t think I could do it, but it somehow works out.’

This was all Kim Yoo-Na’s fault…no, it was thanks to Kim Yoo-Na.

‘It took me awhile when I was a D rank, but it’s a lot shorter now.’

It was impossible to kill a monster like Kim Yoo-Na.

However, after he plans out the bigger picture and goes for it, he was able to clear it.

There’s a lot he needed to work on, but after laying down the groundwork, he wasn’t really worried about the rest.

The more effort he puts in, the stronger he’ll become.

“***********!! ****!”

After hearing his short answer, Katrina’s eyes started to shine brightly.

She was no longer distant and didn’t keep her guard up anymore.

“Wow, what’s wrong with her? Why is she grabbing onto my arm?’

Hyun-Soo was surprised.

Katrina would stick next to Kim Yoo-Na and chatter away, but she approached him and did the same.

‘Why is she looking at me like that?’

It looked like she was expecting something.

Hyun-Soo felt uncomfortable, so he looked at Kim Yoo-Na.

Kim Yoo-Na’s face was filled with uncertainty again. She looked as if she was trying to find the right words to say, but she ended up translating what Katrina said.

“She said let’s go.”

“Huh? Where?”

“The clan’s base.”

“It’s hard for me to decide that now though…”

It was about that again.

‘Is recruiting people to their clan their hobby or something?’

Honestly, he felt good about it.

It was a good thing.

‘These high-ranked hunters are wanting to recruit me, so it makes me feel like I’ve become an important figure.’

However, there was still a lot of things that hadn’t been resolved yet.

It was difficult to actually say something about it.

‘Oh, is that why Kim Yoo-Na didn’t translate right away before? Because another teammate asked me to join?’

Well, asking about the same thing does create pressure.

On top of that, he explained that he needed more time and was going to save the conversation for later.

Kim Yoo-Na talked to Katrina as if she was explaining something. But, instead of talking to Kim Yoo-Na, Katrina turned to Hyun-Soo.

“Why? Why *****?”

‘I feel like she wouldn’t understand unless I tell her.’

The way she ran towards him and grabbed his shirt while asking why reminded him of Hyuna.

Maybe that’s why.

He would’ve ignored her and moved on, but Hyun-Soo explained his situation.

“You see…”

Kim Yoo-Na kept on translating back and forth.

During the conversation, Katrina started talking as if she thought something was odd.

“Why are your parents an issue?”

“Well, they’ll be going to a place that’s far from home, so…”

“If you want, we could provide everything for you guys.”

“The language and lifestyle is different, so they weren’t interested.”

This was just his assumption, but he was sure that’s how they were feeling.

‘Honestly, no matter who it is, if they were told to go a place they’ve never been to, they’ll definitely be surprised.’

But, he couldn’t just leave his family and follow Kim Yoo-Na.

Who would protect his family?

Staying with his parents was a better choice.

When Hyun-Soo explained that, Katrina gave a simple answer.

“Then, we can protect your family.”

“Huh?”

“Hyun-Soo is saying that he’ll stay here because he’s worried about them and his family thinks it’s too burdening to move overseas, right? We can do that for him.”

Hyun-Soo was surprised when she said that they would resolve the part he was having the most trouble with.

“How?”

“The simplest way is to create an identity that has no relation to you.”

“Wow…”

“This usually applies in the US, but do you know about the Witness Protection Program? I’m sure Korea has something similar. If it’s too much and you feel too burdened by it, we can change the residence or our side can be on guard for 24 hours. There are usually problematic people that follow around talented hunters, but clans that are pretty big have done this for a long time.”

Kim Yoo-Na translated all of it.

“That actually doesn’t sound all that bad.”

Kim Yoo-Na nodded to let him know that what Katrina said was credible.

“If your parents are okay with it, it won’t be so bad to consider it. No matter which method you choose, our side is ready to support it.”

‘It’s best to go together, but if that’s not possible, then we have to go with the second-best option.’

It was interesting because the options that he was provided with were things that can only be seen in American dramas.

I thought those only applied to different situations, but both Katrina and Kim Yoo-Na looked as if this was nothing new to them.

Kim Yoo-Na looked like she was slightly ashamed for the fact that she wasn’t able to think of those simple options.

‘Did I live a really sheltered life or are they the weird ones?’

Anyways, another path opened up on a single path, so that was encouraging.

‘The problem is whether it’s realistically possible. It could be too much. But, it feels like I’m the only one that was thinking that.’

“That means we can go together now, right?”

Katrina pulled on Hyun-Soo’s sleeve and asked.

“Let me think about it first.”

Katrina was disappointed by his answer and was going to say something else.

However, Kim Yoo-Na intercepted.

Katrina pouted and Hyun-Soo was able to let out a sigh of relief.

***

“I’m thinking about adding one more portal next time. Is that okay?”

“…As long as I don’t die.”

“Don’t worry. You did really well today. Last time as well.”

Even though I gave her a pessimistic answer, he wasn’t all that exhausted.

Despite that, Hyun-Soo was extremely tired.

It’s because he was extremely tired mentally.

‘I didn’t think she would follow us to both of the portals.’

After the first portal, she asked why she couldn’t go with them, which surprised him. During the second portal, she would react to every little thing he did.

‘Maybe it’s because she’s from the US. Her reactions are pretty amazing.’

Kim Yoo-Na was a strict teacher.

She complimented him for things he did well in, but she’s normally a quiet person.

But Katrina reacted to every little thing.

‘It felt nice in the beginning and he was flattered.’

There isn’t a guy alive that wouldn’t like getting compliments from a beautiful woman.

But, that was only in the beginning.

Because he heard so much English during the hunt, it broke his concentration and his ears started hurting.