Last Vacation (1)
-Myu…
-Kuooo.
-Myu?!
-Kuooooooo…
-Myuuuuuuu!
In the living room of one of the Royal Class dorms, a mysterious communication was taking place in front of Kang Shin-hyuk. It transcended the boundaries between the living and inanimate things. Kang Shin-hyuk was quietly talking to Onyx, who was letting out a cry as he walked on the back of the blue cow.
“You shouldn’t eat it.”
-Myu?!
“Don’t look surprised, I can read your thoughts.” Now that he was making weapons on a regular basis, he would frequently feed Onyx the ones he was less satisfied with. But whenever he discovered a new metal, he could only focus on that. Even now, he was considering how to try a bite secretly.
“By the way.” He tossed Onyx the battle hammer he had made today in his workshop and collapsed on the sofa. The cushions under him were so comfortable he wondered if it was an artifact.
“A lot of money was spent on the Royal Class… no, wait, that’s not the problem.” His gaze was drawn to the TV, hanging on the living room wall. Kang Shin-hyuk (or rather, Shin Eun-hyuk) and Shin Eunah were currently being displayed on it.
[The Superhuman Association maintains the position that this attack on the Belatos Gate happened by chance during a training expedition.]
[Shin Eun-hyuk, the talented newcomer who prevented the terrorist attack at Lubron hotel previously, was involved in the incident.]
[Belatos has remained unattended for the past few years, but now it has been cleared and destroyed due to the efforts of Shin Eunah and Shin Eun-hyuk. The association has revealed that they will make an announcement at the World Superhuman Conference, and whether traces of other worlds were found in Belatos…]
[Shin Eun-hyuk has been revealed to be a newcomer that was discovered and is being nurtured by Ms. Shin Eunah.]
[On the other hand, there have been recent complaints from the merchants and superhumans active around Belatos…]
“Ahhh…” Kang Shin-hyuk had been expecting as much. However, he believed that things would cool down a week or so after clearing the gate, but it didn’t at all. Rather, he had occupied the main article of the news even a week after they had returned from their training excursion. The response was even larger than it had been after the Lubron hotel incident. Given that Belatos was a popular A+ gate, people wondered what sort of boss ruled over it and what reward was obtained from it.
“Eunah seems to be doing her best though.” Even with her efforts, however, it wasn’t possible to reduce interest in Shin Eun-hyuk. A newcomer that arrived on the scene out of nowhere and cleared a gate on his first try, of course, people would talk about it.
“What sort of hidden identity is this… I feel like an idol dancing on stage.”
-500HP bonus!
“…uh? You want me to dance?”
-2,000HP bonus!
“You’re not going to deny it?!” He let out a sigh and stood up. As soon as he decided to go back to training, a message arrived.
[Senior Eleanor: It’s been scheduled.]
Kang Shin-hyuk looked at it for a moment before he realized what she was talking about.
[Dungeon?]
[Senior Eleanor: Yes, A-class. Admission is limited to two.]
[You monopolized an A-class gate? How the hell did you book it?]
[Senior Eleanor: I have some connections.]
Kang Shin-hyuk was suddenly very aware of the power that Eleanor actually held.
[Is that alright? There was the hotel incident…]
[Senior Eleanor: That’s why I chose a gate that only two people can enter. Since we’ll be in the city, no one can openly aim at me, and inside the gate, it will just be us.]
Kang Shin-hyuk nodded, convinced that she had already thought this out.
[Senior Eleanor: To let you know, I think there is a bounty on me right now. That’s why those terrorists attacked me. Their original goal wasn’t me, but they saw an opportunity.]
[It’s suddenly very dangerous?!]
What sort of era was this? A bounty?
[Senior Eleanor: It’s not a bounty that normal superhumans can take. It’s only spread among the community of villains.]
Not villains like in a comic book, but people like those in Jormungand or those terrorists who attacked the hotel. Those who rioted against society using illegal means.
[The British royal family is using guys like those to get rid of you?]
[Senior Eleanor: It’s not the royal family, but others who want to stick to them.]
[I see…]
[Senior Eleanor: I must have offended them after gaining attention at Shinyoung.]
If Baek In-ha and Kang Shin-hyuk were receiving the most attention from the 1st years, then Eleanor was garnering attention from every student. It couldn’t be helped after she had taken the Two Crowns and defeated Douglas Payne to become the captain of the Wyvern Knights.
[Senior Eleanor: It’s a little annoying since I can’t move as actively. But if I can deal with it, I want to.]
[That is really annoying.]
[Senior Eleanor: …Sorry.]
[No, why are you sorry?]
[Senior Eleanor: If you’re with me, it’ll be annoying for you…]
Now she was saying that after inviting him to a gate? Kang Shin-hyuk wanted her to stop sounding like she was telling him goodbye.
[Senior Eleanor: I don’t want to bother you.]
[Don’t worry about it, recruit some helpful guys, so you don’t need to rely on me in the future.]
Eleanor briefly explained the details about the dungeon. They would go in two days, and it would take ten hours to clear the gate. She also sent details on the dungeon environment and the monsters in it. Having checked all of it, he finally stood up.
“Should I train for the dungeon?” He had been fighting using threads and daggers as Shin Eun-hyuk, but that wouldn’t work in front of Eleanor. She had already seemed to notice his secret, of course, but there was no need to push it. Worst case, he could switch using the equipment slot if he really needed it.
“This time, I’ll use you.”
-Vwooom
He hadn’t been using it lately since he had been making and handling new equipment, but now he gripped the Godslayer sword in his hand. He still needed to master that sword dance, so he decided to limit himself to using only this one.
‘No, I should use the wing bracelet too. I haven’t tested it yet.’ The natural artifact he had acquired, the Queen Wasp’s Wing Bracelet, from the gate at the Lubron hotel. He decided to go ahead and test his equipment, focusing on the bracelet’s ability to cause vibrations to enhance wind or damage enemies. He headed into the training room with both artifacts in hand.
-Vwooooom
“It’s a bit difficult to vibrate the sword itself…” Unlike his threads that could be controlled remotely, it was impossible for the sword. If he used the bracelet to cause it to vibrate with the power of wind, he couldn’t properly wield it. But if he weakened the vibration, it wasn’t strong enough to use as a weapon. Kang Shin-hyuk trained for a couple of hours before he finally came up with a possible solution.
‘What if I surround the sword with wind and reinforce that with vibrations?’ Rather than the sword itself, he could create a sword of wind on top of it. That sounded much more plausible. He went to work testing it.
Two days later, Kang Shin-hyuk realized who he was entering the gate with.