Chapter 95: Vacation (1)
December 27, at the Saeyoung Apartment Complex in Eumsong County, Chungcheongbuk Province.
A woman in her early fifties sat on the couch and stared in dismay at her daughter, who was crouched cross-legged on the floor beneath the sofa table, munching on fruit that was laid out on top.
"Haaah. Seriously, this girl..."
She could say with confidence that her daughter was beautiful enough to turn heads anywhere, but dressed like this, it would be too embarrassing to take her out in public. She was wearing shorts over sweatpants, topped with an old T-shirt that had a stretched-out neckline and a red stain, presumably from spilled kimchi.
It was so horrendous, she couldn't even bring herself to look at her. As a mother, she was completely lost on what to do to fix this immature daughter of hers.
The woman eventually asked, "So when did you say that you were heading back up to Seoul?"
"Well, our Guildmaster's given us a vacation until the first of February, but since I also have university to deal with, I guess I'll have to head back up a little earlier than that," the red-haired beauty replied to her mother as she popped another slice of tangerine into her mouth.
Lee Ji-Yeon was constantly juggling Hunter work and university classes. She couldn't grow her nails out because long ones made it harder to grip her weapon properly, so peeling tangerines had become a nuisance. That was why she was quietly using a knife instead.
Her mother asked, "And how is your Guildmaster doing?"
"Hm. He's still as fun-loving as ever."
After Lee Ji-Yeon found a secure position as a Hunter, her parents went up to Seoul to visit DG Guild, and they had a conversation with DG Guild's Guildmaster, Kim Ki-Rok.
"I see him so often on the news these days..."
"But it's never anything bad, right?"
The rumors about the DG Guild had indeed been dominating the recent news cycle.
"That's true... But Ji-Yeon." Her mother's voice grew serious.
"Yes?"
"Aren't there any nice young men in your life?"
The question startled her enough that she accidentally sliced the tangerine in two.
"Mom." Lee Ji-Yeon yelped in protest. "I'm still in my early twenties."
"Even so, if there is such a person waiting for you in the future, wouldn't it be better for you to meet them earlier?"
"Mom!"
"No, it's not like I was nagging you."
"How was that not nagging?"
"Isn't it all because I met Ji-Hee? I keep wondering what it would be like to have a granddaughter," her mother murmured, resting her cheek in one hand as she stared off into the distance.
Lee Ji-Yeon let out a deep sigh, popped another tangerine slice in her mouth, and turned her attention back to the TV.
However, once her mother started nagging, there was no putting a stop to it. Before long, another question came her way.
"So Ji-Yeon, you are saving money, right? Just because you're earning a lot at a young age, that doesn't mean you should spend it recklessly. You never know what might happen to you. You should diligently save your pay, and if someone ever asks you to lend them money, just tell them that you don't have any money to give them since you've sent it all to your parents."
***
On the ninth floor of Il-Sung Apartments, Mapo District, Seoul.
The short-haired beauty, Yoo Seh-Eun, rubbed her head sleepily as she emerged from her room. She was startled to see everyone in the living room suddenly turn their eyes on her as soon as she opened the door.
"Wh-what the?" Yoo Seh-Eun stammered.
One of the intruders commented, "Oh my, are you just waking up now, Seh-Eun?"
"No, it's not even a holiday today, so what are you all doing here?" Yoo Seh-Eun protested.
For some reason, all of her relatives seemed to have gathered in her home.
Various aunts, uncles, and cousins were gathered around the TV, gazing at her with gleaming interest.
"Hello," she greeted politely with a small bow, scratching her neck as she headed to the bathroom.
After splashing some water on her face and fixing her bed-hair, she came out of the bathroom and walked to the kitchen. She could still feel her relatives' curious stares. Opening the refrigerator door, she took out a water jug, heaved a sigh, and turned to face them.
"So care to explain why?"
As if they had been waiting for this, her younger cousins came running over.
Her niece let out an excited cry. "Unnie! You're the greatest!"
"Hm?" Yoo Seh-Eun blinked in confusion.
Her nephew threw up his arms. "You're so strong, noona!"
"Huh?" Yoo Seh-Eun looked around, hoping for an explanation.
Just what on earth were they talking about?
Following the Gate raids, the Gate defense battle, and that crazy party that had been thrown during their so-called break, Yoo Seh-Eun had then had to fight off the attack by the Awakened criminals. And all of this had happened in quick succession.
Because these events had left her so mentally exhausted, Yoo Seh-Eun had fallen asleep as soon as she stepped foot into her home for the first time in a long time.
Glancing up at the clock, she saw that it was already 1pm.
Her niece tried to get her attention. "Unnie! Unnie! Sign this for me!"
"Huh? Sign?" Yoo Seh-Eun repeated in surprise.
Her nephew also began begging, "Noona! I want a photo! A photo! So I can show off to my friends!"
"A photo?" Yoo Seh-Eun frowned, struggling to keep up with their energy.
Even as she agreed to her younger cousins' requests, her eyes remained on her parents while she tried to figure out what was going on. Once free of them, she walked over to her parents and asked, "Dad, what is all this about?"
By way of explanation, her father pointed to the TV and said, "Seh-Eun, why don't you take a look at that."
Yoo Seh-Eun glanced over at the screen and saw that their Gate defense was being broadcast on screen. She saw herself mowing down a goblin, slicing off its head with her sword and flashing a confident grin at the remaining monsters.
「Not coming?」
「Kieeehk!」
As the goblins advanced, she conjured three mana blades and charged in. It looked cool, yet seeing it on screen made her cheeks burn with embarrassment.
"Wh-what is this?"
One of the younger cousins piped up, "It was uploaded onto the DG Channel!"
There were no fancy CG effects, just skillful editing and subtitles. While Yoo Seh-Eun stood there, clutching her water jug and watching her heroic highlights, the screen changed to reveal a very familiar face.
Her younger cousins cheered.
"It's Man-Kook oppa!"
"Man-Kook hyung!"
Jeong Man-Kook, Kang Seh-Hyuk, Nam Dong-Wook, Lee Ji-Ah, Yoo Seh-Eun all knew each other very well. This familiarity extended to their respective families and relatives. The five of them had grown up together as children from a very young age, before they had all decided to become Hunters together.
「Hah!」
With a short war cry, Jeong Man-Kook appeared on the screen swinging his massive mace and crushing the goblins. Although the gory parts were mosaic-blurred, nothing could hide his sheer power and destructive prowess.
Fwoooosh!
A striking red-haired beauty appeared through a blaze of fire.
"It's Ji-Yeon unni!"
"Wow! She's so pretty!"
Her two younger cousins, who had been marveling at Jeong Man-Kook's feats, now watched Lee Ji-Yeon's grand entrance with delighted grins.
Even a thirty-something cousin, eyes shining with excitement, asked eagerly, "Seh-Eun. How old is Miss Ji-Yeon?"
Yoo Seh-Eun just snorted. "She's over ten years younger than you, so don't even think about it."
She had gotten a rough idea of why all of her relatives had gathered here today. But how had they found out about this so quickly?
Yoo Seh-Eun turned to address another of her cousins who was currently looking for yet another MeTube video to put up on the TV screen. "Jae-Ha."
Her cousin turned to her with a quizzical expression. "Hm?"
"Has this gone viral?"
She replied with a nod, "Extremely viral. There's already over one hundred million views."
"Just... when was it uploaded?"
"12 a.m. today. Wait, since it was midnight, would that make it yesterday?"
"That means it was uploaded before dawn," Yoo Seh-Eun muttered.
"That's right."
"But it's already at over a hundred million views?" Yoo Seh-Eun asked with growing disbelief.
"Yep."
Yoo Seh-Eun turned back to the TV just in time to see a clip of herself once again slaughtering goblins with her three blades of mana.
「I don't care why you're here... Just die, you monster bastards!」
Swish swish swish!
Yoo Seh-Eun flinched in embarrassment at her rough language, but her younger cousins were extremely enthusiastic.
"Whoa, that's so badass! Total girl crush!"
"She's so cool!"
***
Even before awakening his skill, Jeong Man-Kook had always loved to eat, so much that his friends joked his stomach was three times larger than normal. It turned out his gluttonous genes ran thick in his family.
"Time to eat," his father announced.
Nodding, Jeong Man-Kook and his family started their meal. Five minutes later, the scraping of chairs could be heard as they all got up from their seats and walked over to the rice cooker. Taking turns scooping up more rice, they returned to the table one by one.
Within ten minutes, all the rice in the cooker had disappeared, along with the dozens of dishes on the table.
"Man-Kook."
"Yes, father."
"Let's order some delivery."
"Yes." Jeong Man-Kook nodded obediently. "What should I order?"
"Just order something." His father waved him off.
"Alright," Jeong Man-Kook said as he pulled out his smartphone.
Since he had two active younger siblings who exercised regularly, the family needed plenty of nutrition. Once he was done placing the order, Jeong Man-Kook put away his smartphone and called out, "Father."
"Yes."
"I've ordered food from a Chinese restaurant, a snack shop, and a lettuce wrap restaurant[1]."
His father nodded in approval. "Good job."
"Thank you, sir." Jeong Man-Kook returned the nod.
"In that case let's have some ramen while we wait," his father decided, getting up from the table.
"Alright. Since mother has gone on her trip, that should be enough for the four of us. Should we keep it light with about twelve packets?"
"That feels about right," his father agreed with the suggestion.
Soon, the family was feasting on an enormous amount of instant ramen as they waited for their food delivery to arrive.
***
Nam Dong-Wook was the only member of both the Five Siblings of Mapogu and the Four Cardinal Guardians.
If both groups happened to have scheduled events at the same time, Nam Dong-Wook would prioritize his appointment with the siblings over the guardians. After all, his old childhood friends were more important to him.
Among the four, only the East, West, and North were gathered in this cafe today.
"Hey, I know I'm the one who invited you, but..." Boo Seung-Tae took a sip of his milk coffee as he glanced between Dong Sung-Min and Seo Lee-Ha. "Don't you two have friends that you should be meeting up with?"
Seo Lee-Ha was on the verge of graduating from high school. Considering that this was their winter vacation, a student like him should normally be busy hanging out with his friends.
"Ah... all of my friends went on a trip together," Seo Lee-Ha admitted in embarrassment.
"A trip?" Boo Seung-Tae repeated doubtfully.
"That's right."
His eyes widened. "Without you?"
"That's correct."
There was a pause before Boo Seung-Tae chimed in, "Um, could it be that you're being bullied?"
"Of course not!" Seo Lee-Ha vehemently denied. "It's just because we've all been so busy since the start of December!"
Their schedule this month had definitely been crazy enough to make them wonder if they would even be able to survive until the end of the month. It was only after everything was over that they could joke about it like this. If they were asked to do the same thing again, they would have to seriously consider leaving the guild.
Dong Sung-Min had been slowly making his way through the slice of cake he had ordered, but suddenly stopped to ask in a quiet voice, "Umm, Seung-Tae hyung. Lee-Ha. Is it just me or does it feel like people are staring at us?"
Now that he mentioned it, they could definitely sense some strange gazes coming their way.
"You're right." Boo Seung-Tae slowly turned his head to scan their surroundings. "But why? It shouldn't be all that strange for three men to meet up at a cafe."
As Boo Seung-Tae met their eyes, a few lookie-loos quickly turned their heads down to their smartphones, while others smiled and politely bowed at him.
"Hm? You mean you don't know, hyungs?" Seo Lee-Ha asked, seemingly aware of why.
Boo Seung-Tae raised his eyebrow. "Hm? So you know why they're looking at us?"
"I do."
"What is it, then?"
"Because of a video..." he began to explain.
"A video?" Dong Sung-Min asked.
"Yes. Neither of you are subscribed to the DG Channel?" Seo Lee-Ha asked in disbelief.
"Ah, well..." Boo Seung-Tae awkwardly scratched his head.
Seo Lee-Ha's voice rose. "Even though it's the MeTube channel run by our own guild?"
"Ahem." Boo Seung-Tae avoided making eye contact.
Seo Lee-Ha spent a few moments staring blankly in surprise, then took out his smartphone, tapped into MeTube, and accessed the DG Channel. After clicking on a video that had been uploaded in the middle of the night, he placed it on the table so the others could see.
It was footage from the Gate defense, showing DG Guild members in action.
Boo Seung-Tae noticed something. "Part one?"
"That's right." Seo Lee-Ha nodded. "Part two will be uploaded tomorrow, and will probably start from when the Ice Troll Lord first appears. The last scene of this video showed the silhouette of a troll appearing at the Gate."
As the video played, the footage clearly showed Boo Seung-Tae, Seo Lee-Ha, and Dong Sung-Min taking action.
"But even so, isn't this reaction a bit much? It's not like we're celebrities," Dong Sung-Min reasoned.
Seo Lee-Ha shook his head. "In the twelve hours since the video was uploaded, it's gotten over a hundred million."
"A hundred million what?" Boo Seung-Tae asked in confusion.
"Views."
Boo Seung-Tae and Dong Sung-Min both lowered their heads at the same time. Since they weren't watching the video in full screen mode, they were able to quickly check the number of views without having to press anything.
"Whoa!" Dong Sung-Min's jaw dropped in surprise.
"Fucking insane," Boo Seung-Tae swore.
The video titled Gate Defense Battle Part One had been uploaded thirteen hours ago, yet the number of views had already exceeded 130 million.
***
"Ji-Hee."
"Yeeees."
Sprawled on the bed, rolling around, Kim Ji-Hee turned her head to look at Kim Ki-Rok, who sat at the desk beside the bed.
"Ji-Hee, which set of clothes would you like to wear today?"
"The bear!"
"Not the rabbit?"
"I'm bored of the rabbit."
[The Time Rabbit leaps up, crying out in a loud voice, "B-Bored!"]
"My goodness, Ji-Hee. You're tired of rabbits now?" Kim Ki-Rok asked with pressing concern.
"It's always rabbits!" she complained with a pout.
Smiling wryly, Kim Ki-Rok got up, scooped her off the bed, and lifted her in his arms.
"Okay, then. Shall we dress you up like a bear today?"
"Yeeees."
"What kind of bear?"
Without even pausing to think about it, she answered, "The Grizzly Bear."
"As expected, it seems that our dear Ji-Hee likes bears more than she likes rabbits."
It seemed Time Rabbit's strong request of making Ji-Hee's favorite animal a rabbit had failed. Grinning at the giggling girl in his arms, Kim Ki-Rok carried her over to the closet.
"Mister."
"Hm?"
"Where are we going?"
"Since we've gotten enough rest, we need to go looking for your teacher now."
1. This is a type of BBQ restaurant where customers grill raw meat, and wrap it in lettuce along with rice and some seasoning. ☜