Adapting II

"Please sit down, Han-songyi" I say solemnly to the still blushing girl.

She seems to catch the solemnity in my tone and sits down on a chair near the dining table. I walk towards the kitchen and get 2 bowls of bibimbap for them, I'd prepared 3 of them in the morning for our lunch, let her have Jin-ah's.... I'll make another 2 bowls for the glutton before she gets back from club-activities.

While I was doing this, I ask her "Are you sure you want to be a hunter?"

She opens her mouth to say something, but I cut her off - "If your confidence comes from the fact that my brother Jin-woo being E-rank can complete C-rank dungeons with just two people, then I'll have to stop you from doing it"

She immediately speaks up, a bit defiantly - " yeah, If they can do it, why can't I?"

Stupid question really, I just shake my head and look towards Jin-woo, who shakes his head too with an expression that says - "I've given up trying to convince her".

"Young lady, you must understand the risks of going into a dungeon, where anything can happen...right ? The world is still not clear on how they form and what their limits are, what if one day you walk into a Red Gate ?? We have limited ways of making sure that the gate is stable, you know...even more limited ways of making sure that the gate won't suddenly turn red" I said looking right into her eyes, realising the seriousness in my eyes, she straightens up and replies..

"Ahjussi, the chances of that happening are very low and you know that" she still has a defiant look on her face....sigh

"Alright then, you brat, at least tell me why you want to go into gates in the first place ?"

"I've read about how much an E-rank hunter makes, I know it's very less for the danger they face, but I'm not asking to go in alone, I'm not crazy like this Ahjussi here....I wanted to go in with him and his teammate.....I just want to see inside the gate, I could be a porter too I wouldn't mind, I just have a fascination for mystical stuff like that" she says with her eyes shining so brightly, that I had to actually look away in fear of blinding myself.

"How do I say this .... it does actually sound like a valid reason...." I see Jin-woo snap his head towards me and make a pleading expression....bruh even when you've grown up mentally and physically you're still making such an unsightly face...sigh...I can't help you here, I respect her passion.

"How about we do it this way, Jin-woo will take you to a dungeon soon and you'll be able to see for yourself, how it is inside? How about that ? Are you satisfied ?"

She eagerly nods her head, like a hen pecking for worms "I'm completely satisfied, Jin-woo oppa can you pleeeeeaaaassse book a dungeon for tommorrow ?"

Jin-woo gives me a betrayed look, he looks like a lost puppy, it isn't that hard to watch over her now is it ? why'd you bring her home then? Was it so that I could speak some sense into her ? seriously ? weirdo..... I thought you'd fallen for her, if that was the case then I'd have no choice but to take care of Cha-hae-in in the future...but since it seems like you just care about Jin-ah's friends well being...I'll have to forget about her....I don't want to NTR you...sheesh...even if it hasn't happened yet...it's weird. 

I see Songyi happily munching on lunch, she's like a chipmunk, she looks at me with her mouth full of food and says - "Ichs chooo good! Wagwus-oppa!" Oi Oi the respect comes only now huh.....kids these days...shaking my head at her antics, I look towards the window adjacent to the dining table, I see Jin-woo making a call.....it seems that event is gonna happen soon....I'll be there...something tells me that Hwang-dong-su is going to get a beating tomorrow....after all Jin-woo is around S-rank now and has access to skills.

[ Jin-woo POV (ex-MC of the world) ]

That damn bastard Mag! I thought he'd talk some sense into her, not actually tell her her dream is worth quitting school for, if she had strength I wouldn't say a thing, but since she's my sisters friend and also weak, I thought I'd make her understand that there's no place for the weak in a gate.

I can't understand her passion, after all till recently, gates to me were a place where I'd just have to survive till we finish it and then I'd reap whatever meager profit I'd get from a D-rank gate and often times I'd come back injured, Mag has been paying for my hospital bills, he thinks I haven't noticed or heard about the fact that the association doesn't pay for E-rankers.

He's always been like that, he hides stuff from people close to him, I know for a fact that he's way stronger than he shows too, even now I'm not able to gauge his strength and I've seen quite a lot of auras but his passive aura is already way stronger than me at full power, I will not ask him to go hunting in the gate...no....whatever reason he has...I'm pretty sure it's valid....he's already doing enough...I've seen him work multiple jobs to gather money for Jin-ah's education, our rent and mom's medical fees and on top of that he pays for my treatment as well...

I'm grateful for his support, Jin-ah being the youngest would have gone mad without him being there as her pillar, the sole reason she's sane and not a sad depressed teenager is...him, he pulls her up every time she remembers mom and dad, I wonder.... would I have been different if he wasn't there...

As much as I want to believe that I'll be fine...I know I won't... having someone reliable who cares for you is a gift....always the level headed bastard...hmph...Anyway with him here I know that Jin-ah is safe and cared for, he's stronger than me, what more can I ask for, I'll just have to work harder at getting stronger and finish till level 100 of the demon tower soon to get the ingredients needed for the elixir and then I can cure mom! 

I digress, I got this habit of overthinking from the bastard too...chuckling I take a quick look at the auction site for dungeons C-rank and below, turns out there's none....what a bummer...someone's calling.....ah its White Tiger Guild's SC Ahn Sangmin, this guy is still going at it huh? he's been trying to recruit me ever since that day, he's one of the few to find out that I've reawakened....must keep it that way until I'm strong enough, I think to myself and pick the call...

"Hello, Section-Chief... good morning to you as well, there's a training exercise for the rookies tomorrow morning at a C-rank gate ?"

"Yes, hunter-nim we would like it if you could come join us, after all it is just a C-rank gate and with you having cleared so many C-rank gates recently it shouldn't be a problem for you at all, you can also look at how we train our recruits here at White Tiger Guild" he says over the phone, a true salesman....

Wait, this is the perfect opportunity to show Songyi what it means to be a hunter, I look towards her, she seems to be laughing her ass off at something...is that the photo book!!!???? MAG YOU BASTARD!!!!

I hurriedly reply back to chief Ahn "Understood Chief Ahn, I'll be coming with one more person tomorrow, please text me the time and place, don't worry I'll take responsibility for the other person." and hurriedly cut the phone...

I then use my stealth skill to sneak up on them, only to see them looking at a photo of me wearing a maid outfit....this piece of shit!! he told me he disposed of that! I remember that dreadful day when I was asked to replace a girl on some maid cafe shit....Mag pushed me into the role, I was a stuttering mess back then...it was so unexpected.....I'll get him back for this!! I swear!

[ Mag POV ]

I just sensed Jin-woo being done with the phone call and then suddenly vanishing...quite the good stealth skill, but too bad for him... just my passive mana detection is enough to catch you, you see I'm highly sensitive to mana due to the way my body has adapted and grown over the years, I'd say there's no one better than me at sensing mana.

I see him slowly making his way over to us...why's he pissed ?? his mana is slightly chaotic.....oh the picture...hehehehehehe~

Being a big brother has to have some privileges too no ? I remember bullying him into wearing this maid dress for a maid cafe during some school event, he was so flustered back then, he ripped his dress apart at the end of it too...he seemed to have hated it quite a bit.....hahahaha~ 

"You Shit! why're you showing her that photo??? and why do you still have it??" he popped up from behind us and snatched the photo from Songyi, as expected Songyi was surprised, she nearly fell of the chair, had I not put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her back.

"Ahjussi! why'd you do that ? I felt like I was about to die.....and not to a dungeon boss but to a simple scare...that would've been such a sad way to go!"

Both I and Jin-woo deadpan at her, the audacity of this girl to even think she'd make it to the dungeon boss is surprising...

Anyway.....I strong arm the photo out of Jin-woo's hand and put it back in the photo book.

"Alright it's evening already, take her home Jin-woo, properly drop her home and come back alright ? " I say closing the book and storing it in my 'inventory'.

Jin-woo reluctantly pulls back his arms and sighs, he then nods towards Songyi and proceeds to lead her out of our house.

"I had a good time talking with you Mag-oppa! I'll be going now!" says Songyi waving her hand at me....I smiled and waved back.

Sigh, she's such an energetic girl....if only she was a bit more grounded in reality.....the irony huh...