Chapter 8

“Are you feeling any better? You were out cold for two whole days!”

The visitor was none other than Teaching Assistant Im. He studied Suho’s complexion as he sat on the bed, and the instant their eyes met—

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry I ran away on my own!”

He launched straight into an apology.

In truth, there was nothing a lone E-rank hunter could have done in that situation. E-rank hunters’ physical abilities were barely different from ordinary people’s, so they weren’t even counted as combat strength in dungeons. The very first precaution Im had learned after awakening as an E-rank was, “If you see a magic beast, run as fast as you can.”

Yet Suho, who had been nothing more than an ordinary civilian at the time, had been downright heroic.

'He kept saving people in that dangerous place until he passed out!'

Suho’s actions stood in such stark contrast to his own that Im had never felt so ashamed in his life, his face burning with embarrassment.

Suho, however, took the apology calmly.

“Well, it’s fine. You really don’t need to apologize to me.”

“No. There’s nothing I could possibly say to excuse myself.”

Still apologizing, Im took some hot porridge from the shopping bag he had brought and set it in front of Suho.

“Here, you’re hungry, right? Your stomach’s empty, so start with some porridge. Here’s a spoon.”

“Oh. How thoughtful.”

GRRRROWL!

The moment Suho saw it, his stomach let out a thunderous rumble. The beef porridge gave off a gentle aroma of sesame oil. It looked as good as it tasted.

Suho grabbed the spoon without hesitation and began shoveling it into his mouth. After two days without food, the porridge tasted heavenly.

“Once you’re done, want me to peel an apple for you?”

So that explained the apples in the refrigerator. It turned out Im had been visiting him both yesterday and today while he was unconscious.

'Never thought I’d see the day my department’s teaching assistant would nurse me. I’m not even hurting anywhere after leveling up.'

He was thinking he should get discharged today when Im handed him an apple and asked a question.

“By the way, those people leaving your room earlier were Association employees, weren’t they? What did they say?”

“They measured my mana.”

“Huh? They measured it? So you really did awaken?”

Im’s eyes lit up.

“How much mana do you have? I heard that dungeon was D-rank. If you survived in there, you must be at least...”

“They said I’m E-rank.”

“Huh? Seriously?”

Im’s eyes went wide. Suho unfolded the mana test results the Association employee had left behind.

“Huh, what do you know. You really are E-rank. A mana reading of 46 is low even for an E-rank.”

“Hey, why are you disappointed? What were you expecting? Wow, that’s creepy. Were you hoping to make connections if I’d awakened as some amazing hunter? No wonder you were being so nice.”

“No, you brat! If you were some amazing hunter, would you have passed out in that dangerous place? I figured you’d be D-rank at most!”

“See? You were thinking about it.”

Im practically jumped up in protest at the unfair accusation. Then he slapped Suho’s results down and tried to reassure him.

“Hey, this is actually for the best. E-rank is good too, you know. You don’t know how much more stable it is than being a middling D-rank, do you?”

“Of course I don’t.”

“Heh heh. Naturally. You only just awakened.”

Looking thoroughly pleased with himself, Im planted a hand on Suho’s shoulder.

“From now on, just trust your good old senior and follow my lead. As a seasoned E-rank veteran, I’ll introduce you to the world of E-rank hunters.”

* * *

Dungeon raids operated on a strict division of labor. First came the raid party that cleared the dungeon. Following them was the collection team, which gathered the magic beast corpses. At the very rear was the mining team, which extracted the dungeon’s resources.

E-rank hunters handled practically everything except joining the raid party.

“In other words, E-ranks have the most job opportunities.”

Im was right that E-rank work was far more stable than being a middling D-rank. D-ranks were the weakest hunters eligible to join raid parties. In a sense, theirs was the position most exposed to danger.

E-ranks, on the other hand, were excluded from combat altogether. All they had to do was perform manual labor somewhere safe to collect their day’s pay. It was a pretty good deal.

“Of course, some E-ranks need quick cash and volunteer for raid parties despite the risks, but it’s not common. You end up paying more in hospital bills. Unless you’re friends with a healer, that is.”

The day after his discharge, Suho arrived at Hankuk University’s art museum while listening to Im’s explanation.

'... I never thought I’d be coming back here.'

He looked up at the museum, half demolished thanks to Beru, and reflected on everything that had happened.

His purpose here today was none other than to become a miner. Apart from the Shadow Dungeon, this would be his first real dungeon, so he had decided to readily accept Im’s offer to help.

“Oh, by the way, the university has switched all classes online until the dungeon is completely cleared. Now that you’re a hunter, you’ll be taking a leave of absence, right?”

“That’s the plan. The exhibition’s over, and this semester’s pretty much finished anyway.”

“Okay. I’ll stop by the teaching assistants’ office and submit your hunter leave application. Now, shall we get started?”

Brimming with enthusiasm, Im looked at Suho with gleaming eyes. His gaze had all the presence of a veteran showing a newcomer the ropes.

“Heh heh. Today, I’ll teach you everything you need to know about living wisely as an E-rank hunter! First, a miner is—”

[What a pathetic thing to boast about.]

“Eek?!”

Beru suddenly popped out of Suho’s shadow. Im startled so violently that he fell on his backside.

“A m-magic beast?!”

Beru looked down at Im as though he were the most insignificant creature in the world and muttered,

[Tsk. Such cowardice. Young Monarch, I know far more about what it means to be a hunter. You would do better to learn from me.]

He fluttered over in front of Suho, spread his two short arms wide, and proclaimed grandly,

[A hunter is, by nature, a born predator! To slaughter enemies, dominate them, and devour them! That is the very essence of a hunter. So please, kill and kill again, and take all that power... Gack?]

Suho’s hand clamped around the wildly gesticulating Beru like a baseball.

“Why did you suddenly come out?”

[Ahem. I sensed a dungeon’s presence nearby. At present, you are no stronger than a feeble ant larva, Young Monarch. I cannot rest easy unless I stay right beside you to protect you.]

As he spoke, Beru’s body stretched like elastic and slipped free of Suho’s grip. Miniature Beru then hopped onto his shoulder and began keeping watch, his eyes positively murderous.

But Suho wasn’t falling for it anymore.

'After all that, he’ll just stand around running his mouth when the fighting actually starts.'

Finally recovering his wits, Im cautiously pointed at Beru.

“Suho, is this a summoned creature?”

[No.]

Beru answered firmly in Suho’s place. Strictly speaking, he wasn’t Suho’s summon, but his father’s.

“If you’re not a summon, what are you... sir?”

Having already lost their initial battle of wills, Im found himself speaking politely without meaning to.

Beru’s eyes flashed intensely.

[I am a nanny.]

“... A nanny?”

Im tilted his head.

[Indeed. By human standards... an uncle of sorts, perhaps?]

“...?”

[Heh heh. Well, there was a time.]

What on earth was he talking about?

Muttering incomprehensibly, Beru gazed wistfully at Suho’s face.

Ignoring Beru, Im asked Suho directly,

“So you awakened as a summoner-type hunter?”

“Yes, well. That seems to be how it turned out.”

“Hmm. That’s unusual. I’ve never seen an E-rank summoner before.”

Im held his tongue. There was no need to bring up how underwhelming summoner-type hunters were. And an E-rank hunter with a summoning skill, at that.

'The bottom of the bottom tier, huh.'

Im studied Beru standing on Suho’s shoulder. He had only been startled earlier because Beru had appeared so suddenly. Now that he could get a proper look at that tiny, adorable form...

'He doesn’t look useful for anything.'

[That look in your eyes is most disrespectful. Shall I pluck them out?]

“...”

Im quietly lowered his gaze. Still, the summon was quick on the uptake, so he would probably make a good lookout. Besides, he could talk. Maybe he would be surprisingly useful?

“Ahem. Still, plenty of E-rank hunters don’t have any skills, so you’re pretty lucky. For the record, I have a running skill.”

“Aha. So that’s why you were so good at running away.”

“...”

Suho’s innocent remark wounded Im. The fact that it was true only made it hurt more.

* * *

And so, on Im’s recommendation, Suho became a miner.

“All right! Let’s give it our best again today!”

The mining team, made up of E-rank hunters, felt pretty much like a construction crew.

“Hey, new guy! Come get your pickaxe.”

A dungeon pickaxe was placed firmly in Suho’s hand. The middle-aged man handing them out gave him an easygoing smile.

“If it breaks while you’re working, come get another from me. But the cost comes out of your day’s pay, so handle it carefully. Still, you’re quite something for a young fellow. You’re a student here, right?”

“Hey, this is that kid, isn’t it?”

To his surprise, most of the miners recognized Suho and struck up friendly conversations.

'It must be because of that news story.'

He smiled wryly as he recalled the articles posted online yesterday and today. Had the headline been “Hankuk University’s Hero Becomes an E-Rank Hunter”? It was hard to tell whether that was praise or an insult.

After all, if he had become the art museum’s hero as an ordinary civilian, he might at least have received a bravery award. But because he had awakened midway through, it was now merely a case of a hunter doing a hunter’s job. Yet his actual hunter rank had turned out to be the very lowest, leaving the whole thing rather awkward in other people’s eyes.

Even that, however, seemed to endear him to these men.

“Heh. What a shame. If you’d awakened just a rank or two higher, your whole life would’ve changed.”

“Still, don’t feel too bad about your rank being low. We make a decent living ourselves, you know?”

“That’s right. It’s a bit hard on the body, but you don’t need any special skills. Just know how to swing a pickaxe. What’s not to like?”

Pleased to have a promising, well-mannered newcomer for a change, they were all eager to give Suho a word of advice.

Beru thoroughly disliked this warm, friendly atmosphere.

[Young Monarch, rather than wasting time chatting with these ignorant fools, let us go level up. This is a waste of your time.]

“Oh! Is that a summon?”

“Wow. Never seen one like him before.”

“He’d be cute to have tagging along.”

“He’s too small to be any use mining, though.”

Intrigued by Beru’s sudden appearance, the miners gathered around.

Beru bristled warily and unleashed his murderous intent at them.

[Stay back, you insolent fools! Our Young Monarch is so frail that a mere tap could kill him! Rest assured, Young Monarch. I shall protect you!]

“...?”

Suho stared at Beru. Was this overprotectiveness, or was he just taking a dig at him?

“Hahaha! What a dependable summon.”

“Come on, then. Let’s get to work.”

Laughing heartily at Beru’s cute antics(?), the miners shouldered their pickaxes and dispersed in small groups. Watching them, Suho suddenly had a good idea.

“Beru.”

[Yes, sir! Just give the word, and I shall behead those impudent fools.]

“... Don’t behead them.”

[Then what is your command?]

“Bring out some goblin corpses from the Shadow Dungeon.”