Chapter 45: Chapter 45

“!!!”

Delicious!

There were many meat dishes in the United States. Aine’s favorite was Texas barbecue, brisket. The heavy meat was marinated with various spices and smoked for a long time, resulting in its exterior becoming so black it would seem burnt. However, cutting into a piece would reveal it to be a glossy mouth-watering barbecue due to its juices. Hwang Gyeongryong would sometimes call his children and cook for them. Surprisingly, he had some excellent dishes. In particular, he would even use magic to cook brisket. That was the secret to its taste!

In fact, there was something called a magic taste that exceeded sweetness or umami. Like umami, magic power was something that actually affected taste. On that note, the marinated ribs given to her by Choi Yeonseung had more magic power than Hwang Gyeongryong’s dishes. The meat had a fundamental difference that Hwang Gyeongryong could never match!

“...!!!!!!!”

Aine stomped her feet as she ate, which startled Choi Yeonseung. Was the meat spoiled?

‘Did I lose my sense of taste after being in the Abyss for so long?’

He only treated goblins like people, but they could be a bit far from humans...

‘Magic power... Its magic power is no joke!’

Aine barely managed to swallow it. Magic power was flowing all over her body, just like when she drank a quality mana potion.

“Are you okay? How was its taste?”

“You... You...”

“?”

“It’s better for you to be a chef!”

“......”

A sudden job change offer!

***

The dish was so surprisingly delicious that she couldn’t stop herself from making such a suggestion. However, Aine soon regained her sanity. She couldn’t raise a person who should be a hunter as a chef. Nevertheless, she still asked as if she had lingering regrets.

“Do you want to open a restaurant? I’ll invest in you.”

“My menu is too limited to set up a restaurant. It will be hard. Most of what I know are Korean dishes.”

“What’s wrong with that? Korean food is popular these days. In addition, just speak comfortably. You’re my father’s friend, so there’s no reason to use honorifics with me.”

“If that’s okay with you.”

Choi Yeonseung nodded. Aine grinned and slapped him on the shoulder.

“It’s nice and refreshing. I was worried you would be difficult to handle because you had been in the Abyss for so long.”

“What about the people who have stayed in the Abyss for a long time?”

“Um... In many ways... they’re... hard to deal with!”

Aine avoided elaborating and instead provided a vague answer. Well, it wasn’t normal to fall into the Abyss and stay sane.

“I was worried that you would have a hard time dealing with me. There is a slight age difference.”

To be specific, it was over 10,000?years!

Aine naturally didn’t know this, so she confidently replied, “I don’t care about age.”

“Rather than age, what type of person they are is important, right?”

“No. I just live thinking that everyone is below me.”

“......”

Choi Yeonseung stared at Aine, clearly lost in thought. What type of education did Hwang Gyeongryong give her?

“Don’t worry. I’ve never failed at?my?job.”

“I wasn’t worried. That aside, I made some rice just in case. Would you like to eat together?”

“Ah. I don’t eat carbs that often...”

Aine hesitated before accepting the bowl. Perhaps it was because she was Hwang Gyeongryong’s daughter, but she used chopsticks skillfully.

“!!!”

‘Too... too delicious...!’

It felt like each grain of rice was beautifully flavored! She could feel strong magic power from the rice as well, which was thanks to Choi Yeonseung’s simple refining process when soaking the rice in water.

“Ah, really! I don’t eat carbs!”

“Haha. It’s fine, it’s fine. You can eat this much. You’re skinny. Eat some more.”

The golden combo of meat-rice-meat-rice! The moment warm rice was served with sweet meat, Aine could no longer stop moving her chopsticks. Under normal circumstances, she never would’ve eaten such a simple meal. This last-minute meal didn’t even have any side dishes. But...

It was delicious!

“You eat well. Keep eating. I’ll cook more.”

“N-No...”

“Why are you refusing? Keep eating. You’re like skin and bones.”

Choi Yeonseung’s words reminded Aine of something.

‘A g-grandmother?!’

Trying to feed her every time they met!

“N-No! I’ll gain weight!”

“Eat more. Eat more.”

***

In the end, she could only proceed with work after emptying her bowl. Aine looked at Choi Yeonseung with resentful eyes.

“People grow when they eat and sleep well.”

“Are you my grandmother? What...”

Choi Yeonseung looked at Aine with the eyes of a grandmother, which seemed to disgust Aine. Why feed her more?!

“Getting back to business, I’m here to help you with your hunter activities. We need to understand and trust each other to do that, don’t we? Do you know what a manager does?”

“Hmm.”

Choi Yeonseung recalled what a hunter’s manager did thirty years ago. Of course, he didn’t have a manager at that time. Back then, everything was done through rough estimates, and he didn’t feel the need to have a manager.

“Isn’t it taking me to places and managing my schedule?”

“You’re right, but... Even third-rate managers can do that. A top manager should be able to do other things. Determining the level of a hunter's ability, what they'd need to do to become stronger, and what their weaknesses are.”

“That sounds like an analyst’s job.”

“That’s right. First-class managers have to be good analysts. You can’t be a manager if you don’t have the ability to do that. People often think that giving a hunter whatever they want is an ability, but that’s just the very basics. It’s the eyes that matter. Understood?” Aine said while pointing to her eyes.

“Got it. So you’re first-class?”

“No.”

“?”

“I’m the best.”

“Uh... I see...”

Behind Aine, Odaigon raised his hand to his head and twirled it around, which could only mean one thing.

This girl is a bit crazy, isn’t she?

‘Well, it’s good to have confidence.”

Wasn’t it better to have confidence than not to have it?

“Even so, that doesn’t mean I don’t have other abilities. If you have any wants, needs, or questions, feel free to tell me.”

“I heard that hunters call and bother their manager at 3 a.m. Can I do that?”

“Yes. It doesn’t matter.”

“Oh...”

Choi Yeonseung was a bit surprised. He didn’t expect that to be okay, considering Aine’s personality.

“My subordinates will be the ones doing such troublesome things anyway.”

“......”

“Why? Are you surprised? Isn’t it strange for someone like me to work alone?”

In Aine’s opinion, a manager who took on chores alone was the lowest of the low. These days, both managers and?agents moved?into giant corporations. The hunters’ picky demands were difficult to satisfy even when responding as a team. Aine’s team was actually on a small scale!

‘I shouldn’t call at dawn.’

Aine’s staff was probably working hard enough already!

“I heard from my father that you’re joining the Icarus clan. Do you know anything about it?”

“All I know is that it’s a clan made up of aces. Ah, and that it has many crazy people.”

“That’s right. Lots of crazy guys.”

“......”

“Don’t look at me like that. You know that there are many crazy people among the hunters. Hasn’t it been that way since your time?”

“That’s true.”

Choi Yeonseung was forced to admit it—there were many crazy hunters! Was their inner madness released after awakening or was it due to awakening?

“It is said that hunters don’t do raids anymore and only play sports. However, thanks to this, hunters who actually fight have become more important.”

Just because hunters now jumped into sports instead of raids, where they had to risk their lives, didn’t mean that fewer dungeons appeared. Someone had to clear the dungeons, kill the monsters released from them, and stop monsters from pouring out of the gate.

Low-grade dungeons and weak monsters weren’t a big deal. Hunters who exclaimed, “I’ll fight!” swarmed such dungeons and monsters, which was only natural since it wasn’t dangerous. However, that number would sharply decrease when counting only those who'd voluntarily attack C-grade dungeons. Moreover, those that would willingly raid B-grade or higher dungeons could be counted on one hand.

“My father thinks that we need a team who does ‘real’ raids, and I agree with him.”

“Indeed. Is it to protect Earth?”

“What? No. Of course, it is for profit. It’s dangerous for clans to do actual raids, but they come with enormous profits.”

There was a huge amount of money in sports, but that was it. The rewards that made hunters stronger came from dungeons. That wasn’t all. Clans that could attack dungeons had ‘power.’?It was the power to demand and receive all types of preferential treatment from?national governments!

“......”

Choi Yeonseung made a baffled expression.

Gyeongryong?hyung...

How did he teach his children?

“I don’t think you’re aware of this yet... Do you know how much a good clan gets for a raid?”

“I saw that Gyeongryong hyung got a panda.”

“... That’s because he is a strange person. He?could’ve?obtained some Chinese mines instead.”

In the decades when Choi Yeonseung was gone, the power and status of the clans had risen much higher than he could’ve expected.

“You know that Dragon Industry received this city from the government, right? How can I explain it in a way that would make it easier to understand… Hmm… Ah, this should work. Do you know what the ‘Aiden’ clan asked for after killing an A-grade monster on the African continent eight years ago?”

“What did they ask for?”

“They asked for a country.”

It was a much bigger demand than a city!

“...... ?”

“A literal country. Be given some land and be entrusted with the authority to govern it... It was a small but decent country, though that was possible because it was a chaotic area.”

“A country... What’s so good about getting a country?”

“Ask Aiden about it. In any case, the reason why the Icarus clan is treated well even though it has many crazy people is that its members are talented. After all, skills are everything in the world of hunters, aren’t they?”

“That’s right.”

“Entering that clan means you’ll be in fierce competition. If you lack skills, you’ll be eliminated right away. Stop looking like you find it ridiculous. There was a time when a B-grade hunter was eliminated after a week.”

It didn’t matter how crazy a person was, they would be kicked out if they weren’t skilled enough. That was the Icarus clan.

“I see.”

“Yes. The clan won’t touch you no matter what you do for as long as you train on a set day in the clan and show that your skills are above standard.”

“Scheduled training?”

“It’s around three times a week, I think? Gather and train on those days. You have to move as a team when attacking a dungeon, after all. They don’t care what you do in your spare time, be it individual training or playing.”

“I like personal training.”

“You’re a very unusual person. In any case, that’s all you need to be aware of. Ah... Right. Since it’s composed of many crazy individuals, there could be conflicts within the clan.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve experienced it.”

Choi Yeonseung shrugged. It was common for a clan’s hunters to have friction.