20.
‘You have to use the obtained integer first.’
Seo Yi-jun turned off Jose Woo’s KakaoTalk and called the manager of the management office, Seon Woo-chan.
-Seo Yijun Hunterniiim! Congratulations on first place! Are you feeling okay?!
Before the bell had even rung once, a loud greeting came flying in.
I see that you were itching to contact me as soon as you found out the promotion match was over, but you held back.
“Yes, it’s okay.”
-You are indeed a hunter!
My ears hurt, so I put my phone on speaker mode.
“Thank you. I am contacting you because I have something to ask of you at the administration office.”
-Haha, if you’re looking for a C-class gate list, I’ve already pulled it all out! Don’t worry!
“That’s something I already asked you to do last time.”
-… … Huh? Oh, okay, go ahead.
Seonwoochan’s voice suddenly became quieter in response to Seo Yijun’s response.
“I would like to be introduced to someone.”
-All, all, all, do you want to change the person in charge?
“… … .”
I picked up a remark that shattered my self-esteem.
You were so cheerful when we started talking, but why are you like this?
“I would like to be introduced to an alchemist through the Bureau. I have obtained some essence.”
-aha!
As Seo Yi-jun added, his voice brightened again.
The essence is a material item.
It has no function by itself.
In order to utilize the essence, one must be able to refine it and make it into an ingestible form.
It had to pass through the hands of an alchemist.
‘I have to check if his story is true.’
And Seo Yi-jun was thinking of a certain person.
A few hours later.
“Hunter!”
Seonwoochan came driving in front of the house.
“Here is a list of B-class alchemists who are currently working as freelancers.”
Seonwoochan handed over the documents.
The best alchemists in the country are A-class.
But they all have exclusive contracts with the guild.
So this list was of the best alchemists that the Hunter could personally access.
“If you need the help of a Class A alchemist, the head of the headquarters said he would negotiate with the guild directly.”
Seonwoo Chan added that if A-class is needed, Chief Yeon Ha-eun will personally take action.
“I appreciate your intention, but that’s okay.”
“Yes! If you change your mind at any time, please let me know. For now, should I contact the nearby B-class alchemists?”
“I appreciate this list, but it’s okay.”
“yes?”
Seonwoochan blinked.
“Do you have someone in mind?”
“yes.”
Come to think of it, I said I wanted to be introduced to an alchemist, I never specifically asked for a list… … .
“Please go to the management office.”
“… … Management Office?”
Seonwoochan’s eyes rolled around.
“I just finished my work and came back after filling out my work schedule… … .”
“I’m sorry. Then I’ll go alone today.”
“Haha! Inviting you, Hunter, is also one of my outside duties!”
As Seo Yi-jun tried to turn on the taxi app, Seon Woo-chan quickly started the car. * * *
“Chief Jeong!”
“Huh? Chief Seonwoo, weren’t you out on business earlier?”
A skinny old man in his seventies adjusted his glasses.
“Haha, Hunter Seo Yi-jun, who I’m in charge of, said he wanted to see the squad leader.”
Seonwoochan smiled awkwardly and introduced Seo Yijun.
“This is Team Leader Jeong Myeong-san, who manages the materials warehouse of the management office.”
“Hello. This is Seo Yi-jun.”
“Oh my, it’s Jeong Myeong-san~ What did an active hunter do to this old man… …?”
“Looking for an alchemist.”
“Huh? An alchemist?”
Chief Jeong Myeong-san tilted his head and turned his gaze towards Seon Woo-chan.
A gesture as if to ask if I heard correctly.
“haha.”
When Seonwoo-chan nodded awkwardly, Jeong Myeong-san let out a sigh.
“Hmm, aren’t you mistaken? This old man is just passing the time by taking care of the management.”
——————
faqwiki.us
Join our Discord for new chapter updates!
https://discord.com/invite/xr7SxG5T6V
——————
“But you are one of the first alchemists.”
“Oh, that’s true, but… … Back in our time, that kind of thing didn’t mean anything.”
20 years ago, on that day a cataclysmic event occurred.
The day of the break, when gates appeared all over the world and monsters poured out.
“Humanity was left helpless by the monster that suddenly appeared.”
Still, there was hope.
People with superhuman strength have appeared among the young adults aged 19 to 50.
They defeated monsters with strange powers and called themselves hunters.
This was the emergence of the so-called first generation hunters.
“I was exactly 50 years old at the time. I was the oldest among the Awakened.”
Hunters were broadly divided into two categories.
Combat classes such as warriors, wizards, and thieves.
Crafting professions such as blacksmiths, alchemists, and craftsmen.
“But the production world right after the cataclysm was unable to fulfill its role as a production world.”
A situation where monsters are trampling on humanity right now.
“The production world also allows hunters to fight monsters.”
Jeong Myeong-san was one of the most famous first-generation production hunters.
That meant they fought a lot.
Over the course of about ten years, society slowly came back to its senses.
But Jeong Myeong-san couldn’t do that.
“There’s nowhere for a D-class alchemist who just grows old and has no experience to go.”
Combat Hunters and Crafting Hunters have different promotion conditions.
Jeong Myeong-san, who only fought instead of producing, was unable to reach the threshold of promotion.
“Thank goodness the head of the headquarters is considerate of the first generation of production staff, so we are able to survive like this. That’s all.”
“… … Still, I would like to see your abilities just once.”
“Well, it’s not that difficult.”
After receiving permission from Jeong Myeong-san, Seo Yi-jun opened his inventory.
-Slime mucus
Slime mucus.
It was a D-grade material left over from making permeating poison.
“Mucus… …, huff.”
Jeong Myeong-san pressed the slime with his finger.
Bam!
The slime was split exactly in half.
– Split Slime Mucus X2
“Hey, our class leader Jeong! [Divider] Your skills are in good shape!”
Seonwoochan gave a thumbs up.
It’s not a fuss.
[Divide] is a basic production skill that cuts materials.
It is a common skill that many production hunters possess.
“You are amazing.”
But Seo Yi-jun was also impressed by Jeong Myeong-san’s [Divider].
If it were general materials, I don’t know.
This is because things like slime are not easily split by [divide].
It either fizzles out and comes back, or loses its shape and just spreads out.
‘Or else, if you increase the output recklessly, it will all evaporate.’
So, this type of material requires a separate skill.
It was a skill that was possible because Jeong Myeong-san used to split monster barrels instead of materials with [Divide] in his old days.
“I’m sorry, but can I ask you one more time?”
“What is there to see?”
Although he said that, a faint smile spread across Jeong Myeong-san’s wrinkles, perhaps because he didn’t mind the compliments from Seonwoo Chan and Seo Yi-jun.
“Huh.”
As Seo Yi-jun took the materials out of his inventory, Jeong Myeong-san’s smile turned into one of bewilderment.
“uh?”
Seonwoo Chan, who was watching from the side, couldn’t hide his embarrassment.
Seonwoochan shouted.
“Hunter, isn’t this the essence?!”
A fist-sized bead.
This was an integer.
“It’s an E-grade material item. It’s lower grade than D-grade slime mucus.”
“But it’s Jeongsu?!”
Integers are difficult to obtain, but they are even more difficult to refine.
Regardless of the level of the essence, handling this required a separate skill.
This was the reason why Jeong Myeong-san, who had split the mucus without hesitation, also showed reluctance.
“Hmm, this old man doesn’t have the skills to handle essence.”
“You didn’t even have the skill to split a monster.”
“I’ve never even touched a pure water.”
“You can touch it today. Oh, it doesn’t matter if it breaks.”
But Seo Yi-jun was indifferent.
Jeong Myeong-san felt his own heart calming down as he felt a sense of leisure.
“Okay. I’ll try.”
I pressed the point with my right index finger, as if I was touching slime.
Bam!
I thought the integer was split in half.
“oh!”
It just completely evaporated.
Seonwoo Chan was the only one who reacted to that fact.
“… … .”
Jeong Myeong-san stared blankly at the empty table.
‘also.’
Seo Yi-jun was looking at Jeong Myeong-san like that.
Failure is true.
‘I didn’t expect it to be successful from the beginning.’
Jeong Myeong-san had the look in his eyes of someone who had realized something from that failure.
Jeongmyeongsan Mountain raised its head.
“This old man is so shameless.”
“Hey, Chief Jeong! Don’t worry! Hunter Seo Yi-jun said it was okay for it to break. Right, Hunter?”
“Yes, it doesn’t matter.”
“Okay. Then, if you have any more, can you give me one more?”
“Of course.”
At Jeong Myeong-san’s request, Seo Yi-jun readily took out another essence.
This time it was a D-class essence.
“……ok?”
Seonwoochan, unable to keep up with the conversation between the two, made a blank sound.
Bam!
Meanwhile, Jeong Myeong-san’s [Divider] split the D-class essence.
It didn’t stop there.
Scratch! Scratch! Scratch!
He quickly scanned the split essence, then split it, examined it, split it, examined it, and split it again.
So most of the essence fragments evaporated and disappeared like the E-class essence from before.
“Oh! It’s not gone! It’s not gone!”
The whole number the size of a fingernail did not disappear.
No, that wasn’t an integer anymore.
-D-class elixir
It had been completely refined and transformed into an elixir that would enhance the Hunter’s overall abilities.
‘The rumors were true.’
Five years later, Jeong Myeong-san from his previous life leads Nogu to prevent the gate break.
In the process, the essence was purified by chance using [Divide], and the hunters who took the elixir saved the lives of many people.
It is said that Jeong Myeong-san closed his eyes amidst the gratitude of the people.
‘The King of Death laughed at this, saying that it was an act of idolizing the dead and turning a blind eye to despair.’
There was a clear result before Seo Yi-jun’s eyes.
“… … I’ve always dreamed of this moment since I awakened as a hunter.”
Jeong Myeong-san’s voice trembled.
Stop.
A water stain appeared next to the elixir.
“Oh my, what a dream at this age. What a ridiculous thing to say.”
Jeong Myeong-san quickly wiped his eyes with his sleeve.
Seonwoochan intervened.
“Hey, Chief Jeong! Even before the Great Cataclysm, there was talk of a 100-year lifespan. But hunters live even longer.”
“Well, that’s what they say.”
“For someone like Chief Jeong, it’s the time when you’re dreaming a lot!”
“Heh heh. Is that so?”
In fact, hunters live long lives.
Even if you live long, what awaits you is the end of humanity, and the longer you live, the more separations you will experience.
‘This time is different.’
That was a story from a previous life where Seo Yi-jun and his group never existed.
“Hunter.”
Jeong Myeong-san wiped away his tears again and stood in front of Seo Yi-jun.
“I hope you didn’t check out my skills out of curiosity. Feel free to leave the essence to me at any time.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes. As a hunter in the production world, you have taught me a sense of accomplishment that I never knew I had in my life.”
“No, that’s not it.”
Seo Yijun opened the inventory.
Wow, more than 30 integers poured out.
“There are quite a lot of essences.”
“… … .”
Jeong Myeong-san opened his eyes wide and was unable to continue speaking.
