Chapter 71: Episode 71

The Disaster was over. The dungeon gates that had clung to the Korean peninsula like cancerous tumors slowly scattered into the air and vanished. We exited the dungeon and returned to Korea. The wasteland where we’d dealt with the demonkin had opened near Wonju, saving us a little time on the trip back to Seoul.

“Good work, everyone!”

“Haha! We handled another one!”

“You all worked so hard!”

“We made it!”

Drunk on victory, the hunters shouted, hugged, and exchanged high-fives.

“Yusin! Yusin!”

Bora came running into my arms, sobbing.

“Bora.”

“Waaah! I can’t believe you! Do you have any idea how scared I was when you suddenly disappeared from the car? You just vanished without a word!”

While I was trying to calm her down, Heejong and Yoonji approached with awkward expressions.

“Congratulations, Yusin. Seriously,” Heejong said, scratching his head. “Even in that state, you got up by yourself to go clear the dungeon? Man, this is embarrassing. A pro like me just passed out.”

“Haha, you were injured, Heejong. It couldn’t be helped.”

“Congratulations,” Yoonji added. “And thank you. Really.”

The hunters’ celebration was brief. Soon, they began to disperse. Everyone had been pulling all-nighters for a week straight, and their fatigue was catching up. It seemed they were more interested in sleeping before they collapsed from overwork than in celebrating.

Bora cried her eyes out while hugging me for a while before finally falling asleep, so I left her in the car. Heejong and Yoonji promised to buy me a drink in Seoul later and got into their respective managers’ cars. Nara had been bouncing with excitement, insisting on picking me up personally, but I politely declined and decided to return with Bora in the car sent by her management company.

Before heading to Seoul, I briefly checked the internet. It was chaos. People who had been up all night, wondering what would become of the country, were reeling from the dramatic news of the Labyrinth Dungeon being cleared with just five minutes to spare. People who had been at each other’s throats were now busily preparing to return home as if nothing had happened.

The President, who had fled to Jeju Island, emphasized a “great victory of national unity!” and praised himself, claiming the key to overcoming the crisis was the swift re-evaluation of the dungeons, enforced through close cooperation with the Hunter Association. The Emergency Committee was disbanded, and members of the National Assembly announced they would return to Seoul to focus on stabilizing the public’s livelihood.

And, of course, South Korea always needs a hero.

The media was buzzing with my name and Yeon’s. It wasn’t ideal for me to get so much media exposure as the master of the Magic Tower, but this incident was too big to control.

’Top Contributors to the Labyrinth Dungeon Disaster: Hong Yeon, Kim Yusin.’

That was the official statement from the Association. The fact that we were both academy students and not certified hunters became a hot topic. One was a prospective early graduate, the other the former student council president. I could just picture the Association President grinning with delight.

Yeon was already a huge celebrity, so she received even more attention this time. Her name showed no signs of dropping from the number one spot on the major search rankings. The top prospect in the hunter world, a star with both skill and beauty, the Association President’s younger sister, the academy’s student council president—she had all the qualities the media adored.

My name hovered around eighth or ninth place in the search charts. From what I could gather, I was seen as ‘a lucky male party member who got a piece of Yeon’s glory.’

I was perfectly satisfied with this. I wanted nothing to do with becoming some national hero and having my every move scrutinized. Yeon hogging the spotlight was a blessing for me.

—The real deal is Kim Yusin.

—Discovering Kim Yusin is the greatest achievement of this disaster.

—A hero that’s underrated because he was overshadowed by Hong Yeon.

Most importantly, I had definitely made my mark on the hunter world.

Just then, Nara sent a message saying the driver had arrived. I was about to get into the van to head back when I saw her.

Yeon was waiting near the vehicle. As soon as she saw me, she bowed her head politely.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“…Uh, you too.”

An awkward silence fell between us. I forced a smile and asked, “Are you hurt?”

“Ah, I’m almost healed. I have a regeneration trait, and the potion you gave me helped. I’m fine.”

“That’s a relief. Anyway, shouldn’t you get going? Reporters from all over the country must be scrambling to get an interview with you.”

Her expression suddenly darkened. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”

“About what?”

“You were the one who resolved this crisis, not me!” she raised her voice. “You should be the one becoming a hero! For you to be treated as just some party member who got lucky enough to join my party is…”

“Whoa, hold on.”

It was a good thing I didn’t leave without talking to her.

“Just so there’s no misunderstanding, I’m perfectly happy with my current position. I hate all that hero stuff and being in the media spotlight.”

I still had too many secrets. I was the first case in Korea of someone’s Unique Ability changing. The true nature of my power, the Sage’s Eye, the potion business, and my connection to the Potion Master… It would get annoying if the media started digging into all that. If paparazzi started following me, it would be difficult to enter the Magic Tower discreetly. My every move would be restricted.

“If you’re thinking of talking about me in an interview, please, I’m begging you, don’t.”

Her shoulders flinched. She really was planning on it.

“…Are you serious?”

“Yes. And I have one more favor to ask. About connecting the other dungeons to the Boss Zone to call the hunters… please leave my name out of it and make something up. Say the Boss Zone started acting weird while you were fighting the demonkin, or something like that.”

She stared at me, trying to gauge my intentions. When she realized I was serious, she nodded obediently.

“If that is what you wish, I will do so.”

“Thank you.”

’Phew.’ I let out a sigh of relief.

“Let’s part ways here, then. Thanks for everything today.”

I started to head back to the car, but she remained rooted to the spot.

“What’s wrong? Something else you want to say?”

She was glaring at me with an uncharacteristically pouty expression. When I didn’t react, she sighed and mumbled, “Num…”

“What?”

“It’s nothing.”

She turned her back on me abruptly. ’Haha, maybe I was teasing her too much.’

“Can I get your number?” I asked first.

Yeon turned back, her eyes wide like a rabbit’s.

“Once might be a coincidence, but they say if your paths cross three times, it’s fate. We should keep in touch. If you’re okay with that.”

A wave of joy and relief washed over her face before vanishing. Or was that just my imagination? It was too fast to tell.

Yeon couldn’t meet my eyes as she timidly approached and politely held out her phone.

“You want me to put my number in?”

“Yes.”

I took her phone. It wasn’t locked. Suddenly, I was curious about her wallpaper. I wondered if it was something with a surprising charm, but when I looked…

’Huh?’

I was genuinely shocked. Her wallpaper was, of all things, a photo of a wild-haired Westerner with a deeply wrinkled face, sticking his tongue out cheekily.

’What kind of picture is this for a wallpaper?’

Below it was a quote:

-Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. – Albert Einstein.

“Pfft!”

So it was Einstein. Still, what was this natural-born genius trying to say with a quote like that?

Seeing my reaction, she tilted her head.

“…!”

Then, in an instant, her face turned beet red all the way to her ears, and she lunged at me.

“Whoa! What’s wrong?”

“G-give it back!”

“You asked me to put my number in.”

“Shut up and give it back!”

This was the first time I’d ever seen her so flustered. Feeling mischievous, I held the phone up above my head. Yeon stood on her tiptoes, her arms flailing.

“Hey, what’s the big deal? It’s a great quote.”

She squeezed her eyes shut and just kept repeating, “Give it back!” Eventually, she must have overloaded, because her face, now as red as it could possibly get, balled into a fist. I had no choice but to quickly type in my number and hand the phone back.

’This habit of trying to solve things with brute force… like sister, like sister.’

Yeon snatched the phone and hastily hid it away, glaring at me.

Silence fell between us once more. She stammered out an excuse. “Th-that’s… it’s a quote wallpaper theme.”

“Huh?”

“It’s an app that changes the quote on the wallpaper every day.”

“What? That’s perfectly normal. Why did you get so embarrassed?”

“You laughed at me first!”

“Hahaha!”

I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. She growled as if telling me to stop, but I deliberately laughed even louder.

“Ah! Speaking of Einstein, a certain quote just came to mind.”

“If you’re going to tease me again…!”

I closed my eyes, searching my memory. “When you are courting a nice girl, an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder, a second seems like an hour.”

Seeing her obvious bewilderment, I finished.

“That’s relativity.”

Yeon lowered her gaze and fell silent. After a moment, she asked cautiously, “…So how much time has passed for you right now?”

“Fifteen hours.”

In the end, my smart mouth earned me a punch.

* * *

Name: Kim Yusin

Unique Ability: Sage’s Eye

Personal Traits: [Child of Mana Lv.2], [Master of the Magic Tower Lv.10], [Magic Engineering Lv.10], [Spell Lord Lv.10], [Over-immersion Lv.8], [Multi-Casting Lv.5], [Potion Brewing Lv.5], [Information Processing Lv.5], [Golem Mastery Lv.5], [Accelerated Casting Lv.5], [Remote Casting Lv.5], [Analysis Lv.5], [Mobile Casting Lv.3], [Mana Breathing Lv.2], [Predictive Evasion Lv.2]

Basic Stats: [Magic Power 209], [Agility 58], [Stamina 32], [Strength 31]

Special Stats: [Focus 39], [Intelligence 22], [Willpower 11], [Endurance 8], [Darkness 3]

Total Stats: [413]

* * *

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep