Episode 183 Qualifications of a Friend (3)
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After that, Kang-hoo and Takashi continued to advance through the dungeon.
There were very few battles with monsters here, and even if there were, they were quickly resolved.
30 minutes passed like that.
Kang-hoo silently focused on solving the dungeon’s pattern.
Thanks to this, Takashi starts to feel bored as he has nothing to do.
“Let’s go.”
Takashi spoke first.
Then Kang-hoo answered with a smile.
“I guess you have no more questions now?”
“hmm?”
“I was wondering how long you’re going to keep taking tests.”
“What… is this it?”
Even though his true intentions were revealed, Takashi didn’t seem particularly awkward.
Because I brought you to a dungeon where the patterns are so blatant. It’s stupid not to know.
Takashi asked further.
“You came to a dungeon you were completely unfamiliar with, so don’t you want to take it easy?”
It’s a hunter’s natural instinct.
Facing uncertainty can mean death, so most hunters are reluctant to do so.
Of course, there are hunters who enjoy challenges and adventures, but most prefer to have some prior information.
Then, you can minimize the risk while taking all the useful fruits.
Kang-hoo shook his head.
“Well, I don’t know what’s going to happen right away, so is there any point in just trying to go through the dungeon without panicking?”
“Heh heh.”
“It’s in my personality to constantly be on edge, ask questions, and explore and figure out situations.”
Kang-hoo’s words, spoken calmly, were filled with sincerity.
Since opening his eyes in this world, Kang-hoo has never felt at ease.
A normal person would have felt extremely tired and would have gotten sick long ago.
But Kang-hoo enjoyed the tension.
And I was grateful to have a goal to grit my teeth and chase after.
The thirteen stars were still threatening and motivating figures to Kang-hoo.
The same goes for Takashi, who is in front of you right now.
If you look at the level of that guy, he’s more than three times higher than me. The comparison itself is different.
“Honestly, I was surprised. For an assassin, he has quite a few attractive skills.”
Takashi said in admiration.
It would be even more surprising if he knew that the skills he saw today were ‘part’ of the skills he possesses.
In the end, Takashi was still connected to the thirteen stars, so Kang-hoo didn’t show them all.
Still, I was confident that it would be enough.
What Takashi focused on when he saw Kang-hoo was shadow walking, clone magic, intuition, and soul waves.
Even if it is natural that assassins are good at deception.
It was quite surprising that he had the ability to evade in advance and even psychic abilities.
Although Takashi’s swordsmanship is his foundation, he has reached his current level simply by being equipped with the ability to utilize clones.
Hunters admire Takashi’s ability to control clones, but are also very picky about it.
Even if there are just one or two additional abilities that follow the main ability, the evaluation will change.
However, Kang-hoo had quite a few skills that were completely outside the mold of an assassin.
And Takashi was also convinced.
Kang-hoo said that he intentionally hid some things and did not show them to others because he still did not fully trust himself.
That’s why I was even more curious. It’s only natural that the more you wrap it up and cover it up, the more you want to see inside.
An assassin who constantly works hard and questions every situation despite having good skills and specs.
Takashi was quite fond of Kang-hoo. It seemed like he had similar tendencies to him.
Outside the dungeon.
Kang-hoo and Takashi sat in front of the stairs visible in front of the apartment.
Since it was an apartment building on a hill, there was a long staircase leading down the hill in the front.
Although no one lives there now.
When people lived there, it looked like the kind of stairs that children would have climbed up and down while playing.
Takashi drank the coffee he had packed in his backpack. It was a warm mixed coffee in a thermos.
I wonder why he brought it with him when he couldn’t drink it himself, but thanks to him, I got to drink free coffee.
While Kang-hoo sipped his warm coffee, trying to calm his body, which was slightly shivering from the chill.
Takashi’s clone sitting next to me also pretended to drink(?) and kept in sync with Kang-hoo.
At that moment, a man came out of the mansion across from the bottom of the stairs, separated the trash, and left.
If you just sit here and look at the scenery, it reminds you of a residential area in the 1990s… … .
It was a cozy and peaceful place, and I couldn’t think of anything else. It felt good.
The silence without any conversation was okay. Kang-hoo was the type who enjoyed silence rather than found it awkward.
But since there was something I really wanted to say to Takashi, I broke the silence first and spoke.
“I don’t want to make a fuss with you, nor am I intentionally seeking to gain something from you.”
I was sincere.
It is true that I approached Takashi with the intention of separating him from the thirteen stars.
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But I never approached him with the intention of just taking the dungeon-like kernels from him.
Rather, I liked Takashi’s sincere passion when it came to persistent analysis, research, and strategy for dungeons.
There were definitely some parts that I felt were similar to mine.
Takashi asked back.
“You don’t know much about me, do you? This is our first meeting.”
“Does that matter?”
“… … .”
right.
It doesn’t matter when you met or how much you knew each other.
That’s the relationship between hunters.
Even if you were close and friendly yesterday, you can become enemies today.
That’s better than nothing. Tomorrow may not be with me. Death is always by my side, like the wind.
“I just want to love and conquer each dungeon like you. I want to study and conquer thrilling dungeons in detail and feel a sense of accomplishment.”
Since he was in front of Takashi, who was not good at talking, Kang-hoo ended up talking a lot more than usual.
It wasn’t that I found it unnatural or that I didn’t like it.
Takashi is important enough to suppress his basic personality and speak with heightened tension.
Takashi nodded and answered, perhaps feeling a deep resonance in Kang-hoo’s words.
“I also like to challenge dungeons fiercely from start to finish. It makes me feel alive.”
Kang-hoo nodded instead of answering. It was a typical Takashi answer. The guy looked exactly like the original.
Takashi added.
“I’ve tested you before. I’m sorry for testing you again this time. I wanted to get to know you better.”
“I understand.”
“Next time, do you want to do a proper raid with me? There are quite a few dungeons that are still unsolved.”
“You are very welcome.”
Of course it’s okay.
Aside from severing ties with the thirteen stars, Takashi is also a very useful hunter.
To be honest, it’s a question of whether he suits me or not, and it’s definitely not my place to worry about whether he suits me or not.
“Let’s not think about what level we are at or what we do. It’s tiring.”
“I just realize that I have to pay for the meal, right?”
“Next time, I’ll contact you first. Then, I hope we can at least call each other by our names.”
“My name is Shin Kang-hoo. I am 29 years old.”
“Takashi Akiyama. Thirty-three.”
“I will call you hyung.”
“No. Just call me Takashi. I don’t really like the word ‘hyung’… … .”
At that moment, Kang-hoo stopped as the story about Takashi came to mind.
Although it is not directly mentioned in the original work, it is mentioned in a way that feels like it is implied.
It is a story about Takashi’s deceased younger brother, who had no choice but to choose the life of a hikikomori.
It seems that this has also been faithfully implemented. If that is the case, Takashi’s pain is also fully understandable.
“Okay, Takashi.”
“Okay, Shin Kang-hoo. See you next time.”
The two of them stood up and dusted themselves off.
Since Kang-hoo was used to parting and meeting, it wasn’t awkward for the atmosphere to suddenly change to one of arranging things.
At that moment, Kang-hoo was leaving the apartment complex first and was about to say goodbye to Takashi.
Takashi extended the little finger of his right hand toward himself.
At first I wondered what kind of signal it was, but after hearing Takashi’s next words, all my doubts were answered.
“The shadow you move is the little finger shaking slightly. Check it out for yourself. You’ll see the difference.”
It was a story about the weakness of his shadow walking skill, a habit that Kang-hoo could not overcome on his own.
For a gift received to commemorate becoming friends, it was a very meaningful gift to Kang-hoo, a gift as precious as his life.
* * *
After returning to the Rico Tower.
Kang-hoo went straight into practice in the underground training grounds.
As Takashi had pointed out, I observed that while using the Shadow Step skill, there was indeed a slight tremor.
‘Because the mana distribution wasn’t perfect, the mana flow changed right before the move.’
The cause diagnosis has also been completed.
The habit was right.
Because I was so intent on quickly developing the shadows, I ended up only taking care of 99% of the details, not 100%.
The 1% that was missed there was the wobble of the little finger.
‘I got advice that money can’t buy. It feels like my blocked heart has been cleared. I saw this on our first meeting.’
Kang-hoo was once again in awe of Takashi’s observation skills.
Although he was quite good at it, he seemed to be lacking compared to Takashi in terms of observation skills.
Anyway, I was happy because I felt like I had a lot of money today.
There’s no need to think too deeply about getting close to Takashi.
When dealing with a guy, it’s much more effective to push him forward honestly than to try to reason or argue.
In the first place, I am the type of person who does not respond well to beating around the bush or talking back.
So, I planned to continue to treat Takashi the way he is.
If you think he’s worth using, then it’s right to be honest about it.
It may sound strange to hear, but the guy really likes that kind of honesty.
“Let’s put the remaining five Dark Age dungeons on hold for now.”
Kang-hoo checked the current situation on his smartphone and reconfirmed the strategy schedule that he had deliberately put on hold.
Because the all-out war with the Toushi Guild is intensifying again.
Of course, it wasn’t a dungeon within the battle’s sphere of influence, but I didn’t want to go there and force myself to do it.
‘I remember that the imbalance point was near JR Sapporo Station, but I can’t pinpoint the exact location.’
One of the reasons Kang-hoo came to Japan was because the imbalance point was here.
It is a space that has already been enjoyed domestically. A place that takes advantage of the errors created by time, space, and dimensions.
I’ve always thought I’d stop by there whenever I came to Japan, but I couldn’t remember the exact location.
This is what was mentioned in the original.
– The imbalance point near JR Sapporo Station was located in a dungeon next to a building that was particularly dark.
Jang Si-hwan wondered how on earth he had found the imbalance point. The location was that odd.
With this information, you have to find a dungeon that meets the conditions. It’s not an easy situation.
Right then.
A call came to Youngho Ahn.
Since the dungeon story was on hold and not the time to bring it up, there was only one thing he needed to call me about.
“Hey, Youngho.”
– Brother. I found someone who can help me enter the Fukuoka Liberation Zone. It’s a security checkpoint free pass.
“Insider.”
A human pass has been issued to enter the Fukuoka Liberation Zone.
