The Skill Maker

<Counterattack #1>

Edited By: Sebas Tian

His main goal was to create a comfortable environment for his parents since they wanted to keep working.

In order to do that, he had to find out,

“The business district.”

Since he was saving money to provide a more luxurious life for his parents, he felt proud and accomplished.

“Okay, I’ll make sure to provide my parents a more luxurious life!”

***

“Damn, it’s really cold.”

When he stepped outside, it was really windy.

It felt like the wind contained sharp pieces of ice and it was blowing in all directions.

‘Where should I go first?’

Before stepping out, there were a couple of areas he thought about.

Hyun-Soo headed towards the underground subway to go to one of those locations.

It was located in front of a college in Seoul.

When he walked out, he noticed that there were a lot of students hanging around despite the cold weather.

‘It feels like it’s been a while since I’ve come out.’

Hyun-Soo didn’t really go out much. It’s because he went hunting with Kim Yoo-Na.

‘Well, I did go out since I have to go hunting, but it’s been a while since I’ve been relaxed like this.’

It was difficult for him to be relaxed because he would always run between his part-time jobs.

After he became a hunter, he was desperate to have steady lifestyle, so he didn’t have the chance to relax.

Even after meeting Kim Yoo-Na, he couldn’t really relax because he was busy hunting in different portals.

Well, he came out here for a reason, so it wasn’t like he was able to relax.

In order to check the area, it was best to go there.

The buildings around it and how it’s placed.

The population.

How many of the same businesses are in the area.

And despite there being a lot of people, business might be slow.

And so on.

But…

‘It’s empty.’

It’s pretty empty.

It’s extremely empty.

He didn’t come out to have a good time, but it was really empty.

‘Since our situation improved, my thoughts have changed too. This is probably why people are saying that it’s best to have a good amount of anything, including money.’

Rather than observing the place, it seemed like he was out for a walk, but Hyun-Soo was somewhat observing the area.

He looked at not only the college, but the buildings around the school.

And then, something caught his attention.

‘Huh? This is…’

It was a building he’s seen before.

It was a training center that was built just for the hunters.

‘It’s the place where I sold my first scroll.’

The building looked beautiful and it was located not too far from the school.

‘We promised to meet in the city during that time too. And it wasn’t that far when we decided to change locations…’

The interior of the building looked pretty luxurious so it was pretty burdening, but it’s actually an expensive building.

‘I wonder how much a building like this costs. Since it’s meant to be used by hunters, I’m sure they make a lot of money.’

Money begets money.

The environment and the location is nice, so it was obvious why they picked this area.

In Hyun-Soo’s current situation, it was difficult to purchase a building like this one.

He turned around feeling disappointed and envious, but heard someone call out.

“Oh! Excuse me!”

“…?”

“Excuse me! Kim Hyun-Soo!”

He didn’t know he was being called.

He thought they called someone else, but that person called out his name.

He turned around towards the direction where the voice came from and a person that was standing in front of the training center started waving at him.

Once their eyes met, the man that was standing in front of the entrance approached Hyun-Soo.

“You are Kim Hyun-Soo! I didn’t think I would see you here.”

“I’m sorry, but I think you have the wrong person…”

They approached him and greeted him in a friendly manner, but Hyun-Soo couldn’t think of anyone.

He had a slightly disappointed look on his face, but spoke with a smile.

“I’m Park Jung-Ho, the guy that bought a skill from you. Do you not remember me?”

‘Oh, the C rank hunter that purchased the first scroll from me.’

Once he heard his name and the word scroll, he remembered.

It was the guy that took Hyun-Soo to a training room in order to test the skill and after making himself tired, he checked to see if it worked.

‘He did lead me here, so it’s obvious I would meet him. I feel a bit uncomfortable.’

He rejected his every offer and continuously refused to sell more scrolls to him.

‘He didn’t contact me after that, so I totally forgot about him…’

Fate is a very interesting thing.

To Hyun-Soo, it was uncomfortable seeing him.

However, Jung-Ho kept on talking to Hyun-Soo as if he were glad to see him.

“Did you have something to do in the area? Oh, are you perhaps here to see me…?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, there was something I needed to do here.”

“I see. I thought you were here to see me so I almost got excited.”

He wasn’t sure why he was being friendly towards Hyun-Soo.

He couldn’t have been satisfied by the fact that Hyun-Soo kept on rejecting his offers, but he didn’t seem to hold any grudge against him.

It’s not like they were close because all they did was meet for business reasons.

But he was acting as if they’ve known each other for 10 years.

“Why haven’t you contacted me? I was disappointed. I was really waiting for your call.”

“Ha ha, it just happened that way.”

He was implying something else.

Hyun-Soo knew Jung-Ho would catch on.

Hyun-Soo’s laughter filled the awkward atmosphere that was between them.

“If you’re here, that means you’ve at least thought about it, right? The skill changed a bit. Oh, let’s go somewhere and talk about it.”

‘No, I was just passing by.’

Jung-Ho wasn’t listening to anything he was saying because he seemed to be misunderstanding what Hyun-Soo said.

Jung-Ho suggested that they go to a café and talk and softly pushed Hyun-Soo’s arm while smiling.

‘Huh?’

But the strength that he used wasn’t so soft at all.

‘Is he trying to show off his strength?’

Park Jung-Ho doesn’t know that Hyun-Soo is currently a C rank hunter.

It seemed like Jung-Ho assumed Hyun-Soo to be an E rank, just like the information that was displayed online.

‘It’s no use.’

Hyun-Soo purposefully used his strength to push Jung-Ho.

When he used his strength, Hyun-Soo stopped moving.

Park Jung-Ho looked surprised when he realized that Hyun-Soo was enduring it.

Complicated thoughts briefly passed through this head.

With that, Jung-Ho apologized to Hyun-Soo.

“I must’ve been in a hurry. I did it without realizing…if I put you in a bad mood, then I’m sorry. But, I really do want to buy you a cup of coffee. If possible, I would like to buy you a nice meal, but you seem pressured by it, so at least let me buy you a cup of coffee.”

He tried to pressure him by using his strength, but since that didn’t work, he suddenly became humble.

Since Jung-Ho was almost begging him, Hyun-Soo didn’t know what to do.

If he refused his offer, then the relationship between them will only suffer, so.

‘There’s already a lot of weird people out there and there’s no reason to make a C rank hunter an enemy.’

On top of that, Hyun-Soo had power.

It’s the same power that allowed him to kill a monster on his own in a green portal.

It was the same power that allowed him to go against Jung-Ho’s power.

No, if he wanted to, he could take him down.

He had enough power and experience.

Anyways, Hyun-Soo decided to take up on his offer and followed Park Jung-Ho.

They walked into a popular café that was nearby.

Park Jung-Ho asked what Hyun-Soo wanted to drink and told him he would order and walked towards the counter.

“Delivery.”

Moments later, two drinks arrived.

Hyun-Soo ordered one of the most expensive menu on the list, which was the Frappucino.

‘I don’t understand why people would pay money for this kind of stuff, but it doesn’t hurt to try in cases like this.’

He purposely ordered an expensive drink.

Since Jung-Ho offered to pay, there was no reason to order a cheap drink.

Park Jung-Ho started talking once Hyun-Soo took a sip of the cold, sweet ice drink.

“It doesn’t seem like you’ve been selling scrolls these days.”

“Yeah, I’ve stopped selling them.”

“Are you having trouble hunting…?”

“No, it’s nothing like that.”

“Now that I think about it, it may be hard for you to obtain the scrolls on your own.”

Park Jung-Ho nodded as if he understood what he had just said.

‘That’s definitely not it.’

Hyun-Soo wasn’t sure which part Park Jung-Ho had a misunderstanding about, but he decided to let him keep blabbering on his own.

There was no reason to give him any information.

Park Jung-Ho noticed that Hyun-Soo wasn’t showing any reaction, so he moved on and started talking about the topic he originally wanted to talk about.

“Like I’ve informed you before, the team that I’m with is a really great team. You obtain and sell the scrolls on your own, but it seems like you’re not getting much. That’s something we can help you with.”

‘I knew it.’

Like he had expected.

It was exactly what he expected from him.

‘I guess he’s trying to see my reaction.’

He was able to subdue him before by using his strength, so he’ll be able to finish it without any issues.

“I currently don’t have any scrolls and I’m not in a hurry to sell scrolls either.”

He did need the money, but he wasn’t planning on selling scrolls anytime soon.

‘Kim Yoo-Na did tell me some things and in many ways, it’s better to refrain myself from selling them.’

But, when Park Jung-Ho heard this, his eyes widened and looked as if Hyun-Soo said something odd.

“How come? If you have useful scrolls like that, you should sell as much as you can so that more hunters can hunt safely.”

He wasn’t wrong.

It felt like Park Jung-Ho was saying he wanted to sell more scrolls to a lot more hunters at a higher price.

“If it’s that difficult, I can offer you this method as well.”

When he noticed Hyun-Soo’s disinterested expression, Park Jung-Ho smile and spoke.

“You can hand over the information about the scrolls.”

‘Does this guy think I’m an idiot?’

This was what Park Jung-Ho wanted to say from the beginning.

I’m envious about the fact that you’re selling the scrolls by yourself and getting all the money, so let’s share.

And what will he gain from it?

‘Nothing.’

He’s saying he’ll go through the process by himself, but it’s useless.

If Hyun-Soo felt that that process was difficult and painful and wanted someone’s help, it would be a different story, but that wasn’t the case.

Park Jung-Ho was basically saying that he wanted to get credit by not doing anything.

“I can give you up to one billion.”

‘He does think I’m an idiot.’

One billion?

It was a large amount to receive at one time.

However, after selling scrolls a couple of times, it was definitely possible to earn that much just from scrolls.

‘It differs whether it’s a one-time payment or a monthly installment, but still. Does this guy really think I’ll fall for it with that amount?’

If it was the Hyun-Soo from before, he would’ve been tempted by that amount and probably would’ve considered handing over the information.

‘I’m sure Kim Yoo-Na would’ve paid a good amount for the D rank recovery skill.’

The D rank recovery skill was a skill that could increase the base recovery rate up to 21%.

On top of that, it increases the healing rate by three percent.

If the hunter valued their life, they would purchase it right away without any hesitation.

‘On top of that, it’s a passive skill.’

Having a healing type skill, despite not being a healer, was a pretty big advantage.

‘And he has the guts to ask one billion for that. He’s a thief.’

“I’m not really interested…but since you offered, I’ll think about it.”

He could have rejected it right away, but Park Jung-Ho might try to talk more about it.

He couldn’t sell the skill anyways, so it’s possible that he might waste his time even more.

‘I thought I could go on a relaxing walk, but I encountered a thief.’

Hyun-Soo tried to end the conversation in order to get out of this meeting.

That’s until a guy suddenly appeared out of nowhere.