“Aw, when you say it like that, it makes me feel bad. I’ve heard ‘I love you’ so many times it’s boring, but it feels different when you say it, Hyung.”

Park Hayul chattered on, completely unaware of my discomfort. I quickly turned my head forward.

‘What is this. Another similar type of skill?’

For a moment, I was so startled my heart dropped, but thinking calmly, it wasn’t that strange. There were others besides me with the Nurturer title series. Maybe one of Park Hayul’s parents or relatives had Awakened. So it could have been applied first.

Or maybe someone from China, or that older sister he mentioned.

‘…Even so, the rank must be way lower than my title. Preemptive application?’

Then again, it wasn’t even a different kind of skill, and it would be stranger for it to suddenly transfer just because a higher-ranked Nurturer appeared. If it was trying to override a pre-applied keyword, trust level might have more weight than rank. That seemed more plausible.

“Hayul, you seem to trust that older sister of yours quite a bit.”

“Yes, of course~”

“You said you only had two skills when you first Awakened, right? But now you have three. Did that noona help you?”

“Huh? Ah, no.”

So she did help. If it really wasn’t true, he would’ve looked confused and asked what I meant. Like, how can someone else make you get a skill? Or he might’ve just said he leveled up and the skill came out.

‘…In that case, maybe it’s not from the Nurturer series.’

From what I remember, the other Nurturer titles didn’t have skills that granted optimized skills. Except for the one Perfect Nurturer. So it could be a completely new skill or title obtained through conditions I don’t know about.

Should I ask the rookie? When is the dungeon going to connect?

‘It definitely grants optimized skills, but could it also trigger an optimized awakening? Even just the former is useful enough.’

They might’ve used it to acquire not only Park Hayul but multiple other Hunters. Who is it? The fact that I had no idea until the regression meant they stayed hidden all the way through. I had no one in mind.

‘…Should I try to coax Park Hayul somehow?’

Whoever it is, if we could bring them over to our side, they’d be a huge help. I don’t know what their motive was for kidnapping me and sending me to China, but if they learn the world is ending, maybe they’ll cooperate. Of course, before that, I’d need to find out what kind of person they are, and exactly what kind of abilities they possess.

“We’re almost there, Hyung! I can see land!”

Park Hayul, who had better eyesight than me, pointed ahead. When I used the Teacher skill on Blue, I could see the wide seaside plaza too. People were moving around the plaza. They seemed to be civilians.

“Blue, stop.”

Blue adjusted her wings and hovered in place.

“Why?”

“There are too many people, and Blue stands out too much. They might try to eliminate witnesses to hide the route of my abduction.”

What did those people do to deserve that. I instructed Blue to fly high enough that she wouldn’t be easily seen from below.

“We’re going to move again through the airport anyway, right? Let’s jump down there.”

“I’m only stat rank B, I’m not confident.”

“You said you were C before.”

“My rank went up.”

So this person can adjust not just the optimized skill, but the rank too?

“If you’re B-rank, you can jump down carrying me just fine. Do your phone work? Call ahead and tell them to clear out the airport and be on standby.”

Park Hayul said okay and pulled out his phone to swap the SIM card. Then he called someone.

“Blue, go straight home. Home! Got it?”

— Kyaa.

As we neared the airport, Park Hayul picked me up, looking nervous. Since he said he hadn’t raided many dungeons, even I got worried and had Blue lower altitude a bit. Then Park Hayul jumped off Blue’s back.

“Go now! Go home!”

At my shout, Blue made a wide loop in the air and turned toward Korea. Thud! With a solid thump, Park Hayul landed on the runway.

“Wow, I’m really fine!”

“…Put me down.”

The impact from the jump was transmitted to me too, and my head was ringing. Everyone around me, even Yerim who Awakened the latest, had always carried me carefully to avoid injury. Sure, there was a difference in rank, but Hayul was careless.

For ride comfort, Yuhyun and Seong Hyunjae were the best. Chief Song also lifted me steadily. Of course, Noah couldn’t be left out. Yerim’s small frame made it a bit unstable, though.

As I stretched my stiff body after the long flight and put my scarf and cardigan into my inventory, a group of people approached. I quickly took out the translation item and hung it around my neck.

“Are you Park Hayul, Level 2 Special Agent?”

“Yes, that’s me!”

Park Hayul answered cheerfully to the man in uniform. Then handcuffs were fastened to one of my wrists.

“Too harsh for a weak F-rank, hey! Hold on a second!”

Why are they taking my clothes off! Is this a body search? Still, it’s broad daylight, outdoors. What about my rights!

“Don’t take off the earring! It’s just a B-rank shield and Magic stat! Hayul, if I don’t get the Magic stat boost, I can’t even use my skills properly! No, that’s a translation item, translation!”

They even took my shoes—and my socks, too. I spent my time in a luxury hotel in Hong Kong, and now they’ve got me standing barefoot on dirt. Isn’t that too much of a contrast?

“Hey, be gentle with him!”

“He’s got a body that’ll come down with a cold from the slightest breeze!”

Not that it’s literally true. But I’ve gotten a lot weaker lately, so maybe it could happen.

“If I get sick and start whining, do you think your higher-ups will be happy? Potions don’t work on colds!”

Only when I mentioned the higher-ups did they finally stop moving. I was immensely relieved my pants were still on.

“Move him.”

With a command in a rough accent, a big guy slung me over his shoulder like luggage. As soon as we went inside, the rest of my clothes were taken away and I was given new ones. I got my translation item and earring back after inspection. They looked like they wanted to confiscate the earring, but I insisted with a bit of a threat that I couldn’t function without it since my mana pool was too low and my skill ranks too high relative to my stats. I barely managed to keep it.

Then I was dragged onto a hastily prepared plane and shoved into a small room.

“Look at this treatment, seriously.”

Instead of handcuffs, they slapped an inventory-sealing device on my arm. It didn’t work on me, but there was no reason to reveal that. Keeping it hidden as long as possible was to my advantage.

The room had a narrow bed and a rounded-corner table attached to the wall. The windows were all covered. Not that I’d know where I was going even if I looked out. You’d have to know China’s geography. I don’t even know how many airports they have. Probably forty or fifty, since it’s way bigger than Korea.

I sat on the bed and looked at the two men who came in as guards. They were in drab uniforms and had hard expressions. They were probably Awakened.

“Hello, what’s your rank?”

They completely ignored me. I squinted, pretending to observe them, and spoke again.

“Maybe… C-rank?”

“B-rank.”

There are a lot of Awakened who don’t like being underestimated. The other guy seemed to be B-rank too or lower. If either of them were A-rank, they would’ve spoken first.

“Hey, aren’t you going to feed me?”

Still silence.

“I haven’t had a sip of water in hours. You know, I’m in a state where I’ve been receiving regular meals and medication. At this rate, I’ll collapse before the plane even takes off. Even if you can’t give me medicine, at least give me food.”

I kindly told them, if you don’t take proper care of me, I’ll die. You kidnapped me all the way here, only to kill me?

One of them, as if reluctantly, contacted someone, and soon food was delivered. It was a rice bowl topped with some kind of meat. The seasoning was so strong and unfamiliar that I only took a few bites before setting the spoon down. I opened the bottled water that came with it and took a drink, then looked at the two Hunters. They said B-rank, right?

“Seems like we’re going to be seeing each other for a while, so how about we exchange names?”

Ignored again. Do they have mouths just for decoration? I suppose, for someone in the military or a special unit, that’s the right kind of attitude.

“I’d prefer to get along, honestly. Not important intel, but at least tell me the kind of stuff you pick up just by being around. Like which S-rank has a nasty personality, which areas to avoid, or which cafeteria has the best food. Stuff like that.”

Still silent. I let out a loud sigh. Then I pulled out a small pill I had taken from my inventory ahead of time and hidden in my pocket. At the same time, one of the Hunters lunged at me.

“Ow, my wrist!”

The pill rolled across the floor. The other Hunter pinned it with his toe and examined it.

“Ramati flower fruit. D-rank poison.”

“Where did you get this.”

“I slipped it in just before they put on the inventory seal bracelet. Not like anyone here can use that thing anyway.”

They already knew I had poison resistance. That kind of information would’ve been in the hospital records—would be weird if they didn’t know.

“I was going to teach you something good. Consider it a bribe, a bribe.”

I picked up the poison pill again while watching them cautiously. The two Hunters kept their eyes on me, still on alert.

“Do you know I sponsor a research lab? It was big news globally, so you must’ve heard. Thanks to that, I’ve got a lot of information that isn’t public yet. This Ramati flower fruit is one of them. It’s D-rank and pretty common, so it’s cheap. But when combined with the right ingredients, it turns into a much more useful item.”

You’re Hunters too, so you’d be interested, right? Technically, this is information only I know for now. I only found it out about two years later.

“You could sell the info, make side money yourself, or report it to the higher-ups for a reward.”

I smiled as if to say, tempting, isn’t it? Honestly, who doesn’t like money? Except for Chief Song. Though even he would be interested in the new item info itself. Sure enough, the hand that had been gripping my wrist let go.

“You got a concealment item, something C-rank or higher? The higher the rank, the better.”

It’s the kind of item that blocks a monster’s vision or hides the user’s body, something most people carry around. It’s not very useful in high-level dungeons, but for B-rank, they’d have it. One of them hesitated before handing over a black rod about two knuckles long. It was B-rank.

Along with a low-grade potion bottle, I also received sleeping powder. Since none of it would affect a B-rank Hunter, they weren’t wary. I emptied the potion, spread the sleeping powder across the floor, snapped the concealment rod and dropped it in, and finally pushed in the pill.

“Remember the order, right? Watch closely, come in a bit closer. This is the important part now.”

The two Hunters leaned in toward the potion bottle. This distance was enough. I slowly moved mana into the inside of the bottle.

With the mana ability of an F-rank stat, it would’ve been impossible to combine them. But now, with the help of the mana imprint, I could control my mana much more delicately. The sleeping powder shimmered faintly. The Hunters focused more, trying to feel the movement of my mana.

The concealment rod melted, and the pill softened, coating the mixture like a glaze. Heat surged through the entire bottle.

Tung!

With a small explosion, the potion bottle burst. At the same time, thick smoke engulfed the Hunters’ faces. They inhaled it completely off guard.

“Wh─”

Before they could even react, the Hunters collapsed to the floor with soft thuds. A-rank paralysis smoke. Its limited range was a drawback, but its effectiveness was excellent—enough to knock out even A-rank stats with poison resistance below B-rank. In theory, that is. In reality, it was hard to get it to work on B-rank Hunters since they’d dodge it before contact, but if they leaned in on their own like this, they’d go down without a sound.

Just in case, I listened toward the door, but the explosion had been drowned out by the noise of the airplane preparing for takeoff. It was quiet. No one would come for a while. I started searching the fallen Hunters. ID cards… I couldn’t read what they said. Is this a wallet? Should I take it? Might just get it taken back. Car keys and weapons—C-rank. Forget it. Phone.

“Both locked.”

How thorough. I tilted one phone under the light to examine the protective film. One of them had no visible clues, but the other clearly showed traces of an N-shaped pattern. Thank you very much.

After unlocking the phone, I started sending messages. Normally I shouldn’t be doing ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) this, but well. There’s at least one A-rank Hunter among them, so if I’m about to crash, they’ll probably come save me.

[Yuhyun, it’s Hyung. I’m in China. I’m safe and the plane just took off.]

[Yerim, I’m okay. I’m in China.]

[Chief Song, I’m in China~ I’m sorry.]

[Myungwoo, I’m sorry. I’m really fine, just in China.]

[Noah, I’m okay so please don’t worry too much.]

What was Hyunah’s number again. And Seong Hyunje… hmm. After sending out the texts, I called my little brother.

[Hyung! Is it really you? Are you okay?]

“Yeah, it’s me. I’m not hurt and I’ve been eating well. Are you tracking my location?”

[Yeah. It was blocked, but they said since this is a direct connection, they broke through. You’re at Dalian Airport, right?]

“That’s right. I’ll keep the phone on, so keep tracking. Is everything okay in Korea?”

[Yeah. Just… be careful, Hyung. I already miss you…]

“It’s barely been a few hours. Don’t overdo it either. I love you, my little brother.”

[I love you too, Hyung.]

It felt like I was on a business trip, calling home and leaving the kid behind. Not even a full day had passed. Next, I called Yerim.

[Mister! Are you okay?]

“I’m fine, I’m fine. Just that the food here is bad.”

[Should I pack a lunchbox when we come get you? Even if you don’t have an appetite, please keep eating properly.]

Our Yerim, so sweet.

[Peace seems a bit down. Is it okay if we bring him with us?]

“Oh no, Peace… of course, he can come. Is he next to you?”

[Kkieuung, kyaang!]

“Daddy’s sorry, Daddy’s okay. I’m safe.”

Our Peace must’ve been really scared when I disappeared. After finishing the call with Yerim, I debated whether to hide the phone or just put it back like nothing happened. Then a call came in. It was Chief Song’s number. Was the Monitoring Office trying to track the location too? I answered.

“Chief So─”

[Han Yujin.]

Ack! Jeez! What the heck, why is Seong Hyunje on the line! I was so startled I almost threw the phone. This guy, seriously—did he even steal Chief Song’s phone now?

‘…Now’s not a good time to talk.’

It’s not like we parted on good terms. I did feel a tiny bit sorry. He’s not someone who’d be hurt by being told he’s untrustworthy, but still. It was awkward on several levels.

“Uh, where’s Chief Song?”

[He’s right next to me.]

“Oh… okay… um, I’m fine.”

[That’s good. Other than finding a way to counter the mental-type skill, refrain from reckless actions. Though I know you won’t listen to me.]

“…You know me too well.”

Seong Hyunje didn’t bring up anything from a few hours ago. Not even the fact that I still had Grace. He simply told me to stay safe and said he’d hand the phone over to Song Taewon. I quickly stopped him.

“Wait a second, about the celebrity.”

I couldn’t mention the name Park Hayul. But if it was Seong Hyunje, he probably already figured out his identity.

“More details.”

[You mean to investigate.]

“She’s overseas. A woman.”

I wanted to talk about how Hayul trusted her or how she’d helped him, but I felt an intense reluctance. In the end, that was all I could say. Even so, Seong Hyunje replied that he understood.

Since he had a wide reach overseas, if Sesung got involved, they might be able to find some clue about that noona.

“Chief Song… I’m sorry for increasing your workload. You must be busy, right?”

As soon as the call switched back to Chief Song, an apology slipped out. Even if Hayul had made him more wary of S-ranks, I couldn’t help feeling sorry toward Chief Song. Maybe it was because we were talking over the phone and not face-to-face. Anyway, I was sorry.

[It’s alright. Please take care of yourself.]

“Chief Song too… I know you probably can’t, but try to take it easy.”

[I submitted a vacation request.]

“…Excuse me?!”

Seriously?! Hearing that while I’m in China just makes it worse. No, wait—did he take leave because I was dragged to China?

Both the Monitoring Office and Sesung Guild said they’d keep tracking my location. I tore a bit of the pillow and hid the phone inside it. After some time passed, the door suddenly burst open.

“Hello~”

I greeted the startled person who walked in and saw the collapsed Hunters. Ah, that face looked like they’d just bitten into a raw bitter melon.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep