Chapter 222 – Getting Mature(2)

Even tonight, the Seoul sky looked very bright. All the buildings in the Choin Shopping Center were lit up. Claire’s bar was in a corner that seemed to be avoiding the light of society will all its might, yet her reputation (as well as of her server, Shin Eun-hyuk) was so high that it was full today.

“Hello! Oh, isn’t Eun-hyuk here today?” With the sound of a jingle, a female superhuman came through the door. Claire, who was in the middle of making a cocktail, raised her head and replied bluntly.

“No.”

“Don’t look at me in such a scary manner, unnie.” The superhuman, Lim Ha-yeon, caught her gaze and replied with a giggle. Claire’s eyes only grewsharper.

“You talk like you can take him away.”

“No, it’s a joke, but now it’s so scary that I might die… what happened to you two?” It was unacceptable to ask personal questions, but she was a regular who could’ve received a perfect attendance stamp from the bar, so she decided to give it a try. Claire put the finished cocktail in front of the customer, and the newcomer took the now vacant seat once they moved back.

“There’s nothing wrong, so go ahead and order. Hunting today?”

“No, I just came to drink. I wanted to drink a French kiss from Eun-hyuk.” The cocktail names were full of potential sexual harassment. How would she react if she learned that Shin Eun-hyuk was, in fact, Kang Shin-hyuk, a minor? Claire sighed and began preparing her drink.

“You’re banned from talking toEun-hyuk.”

“Uh, unnie? I’m just kidding… what really happened? Are you two not doingwell?”

“It’s going very well?” It wasn’t a lie. Rather, the problem was it was going too well. Rum, malibu, syrup… she poured all the ingredients into a cup and mixed them. Lim Ha-yeon accepted the dark pink cocktail and looked around before lowering her voice.

“I thought Eun-hyuk was better suited to you than the Empress.”

“Of course, he’s mine… don’t tellEunah.”

“I don’t want to die early. Oh, it’s delicious.” The scandal of the love triangle between Shin Eun-hyuk, Claire, and Eunah had fully solidified and was now irreversible. Frequent visitors to the bar would often see the three together and observe the subtle atmosphere between them. And while most of the customers were aware of the Alchemist’s overwhelming advantage, everyone kept quiet as they feared the Empress.

“You even make your love look glamorous.”

“This again?” Lim Ha-yeon sipped on her drink as she chatted with Claire. Today, the atmosphere around her was strange, so she wanted to discussit.

“At first, I thought it was something like what would be on TV, but it’s a triangle of bestfriends.”

“It’s not, already… no, never mind.” Claire quickly backtracked after almost making a huge mistake, but her opponent was also superhuman. Her eyes sharpened at Claire’s reaction.

“Already? What came after that, perhapsEun-hyuk…”

“Should I kick youout?”

“Oh, no. I’m sorry!” Lim Ha-yeon urgently apologized as Claire was about to activate the defense artifact installed in the bar. Claire threw a jelly in her mouth, which she had prepared as snacks. They were bear-shaped jellies marinated in vodka, having a sweet and sourtaste.

“Well, well…”

“Listen quietly while you eat.”

“Yep.” Claire noticed the other guests sitting at the counter before she spoke. They quietly emptied their glasses, paid their bills, and vanished. She let out asigh.

“Have you ever dated someone younger?”

“Are you starting to show off your boyfriend right now?”

“I’m serious?” She threw another jelly into Lim Ha-yeon’s mouth. She diligently chewed it thennodded.

“Younger boyfriend, you know, I prefer men who are younger than me.”

“If my boyfriend is young, I think I should be more aggressive because I’m older.”

“How cute?”

“I chose the wrong person to ask.” Lim Ha-yeon quickly grabbed Claire as she began to turn away.

“Ah, no, no. I know the feeling! I was thinking about my own experience for a moment with a superhuman boyfriend when I was still in school!” Claire managed not to flinch away at the mention of a superhuman schoolstudent.

“I was a little worried because I was aminor.”

“The student bit is a little bad.”

“How should I say it? Honestly, aren’t you an adult if you’re eighteen?” That lightened Claire’s heart a little, but Kang Shin-hyuk was stillseventeen!

“Well, the standards of adults were different in every era.”

“I think that’s a bit… anyway! So what is the problem?” Claire hesitated and looked around, only opening her mouth when she was convinced no one was listening.

“That… I feel like I can’t control myself when we’re together these days. I want to treat myself as an adult, leisurely… but when I wake up…”

“Oh, you’re proud of your boyfriend.” Lim Ha-yeon’s expression quickly changed. Now she had to listen about her pride in her boyfriend, who was ranked fourth internationally?

“Isn’t itself-confidence?”

“I wish I was in such a good mood.” Lim Ha-yeon responded casually and then lowered her voice so that only Claire couldhear.

“By the way, Eun-hyukis…”

“You think so?” Claire tried to pretend to be cool on the outside, but she was screaming on theinside.

“It can’t be that way. Still, if you’re saying this, he must be younger than I thought.”

“He’s younger than us, for sure.”

“Huh… so, how is Eun-hyuk? Is he sick? Ouch!” One of the bear jellies struck her in the head this time. Claire handed her a long island iced tea as she was in pain.

“For the counselingfee.”

“Well, did you benefit from this consultation?”

“My mind feels a little easier.”

“I think you like Eun-hyuk a lot.”

“Yes.” Clairesighed.

“I like him so much, I think I’m a fool.” Which was why it was getting more and more difficult. She mumbled quietly as Shin Eunah entered thebar.

***

-You have subdued those who are harmful to the order of things! Bonus based on membership level! You received 66,000,000HP! As a VIP bonus, you received an additional amount of HP equivalent to 50% of the reward, for a total of 99,000,000HP!

-Agility has grown to SS-rank!

-You acquired the Heart ofConfusion!

-You have acquired the Horns of the Predator.

-Of thePredator…

Kang Shin-hyuk’s prediction had been correct. Thanks to Shu’s ability fading away, he received a proper reward for defeating the fire lizard.

‘Now, even my agility has reached SS-rank.’ All stats had reached SS-rank, and even Golden Dragon was at SS+, so it was no exaggeration to say he had reached a status worthy of number four in the world. It hadn’t even been a year since he acquired the Godslayer sword and entered the Hero Universe, but he had already managed to acquire this much.

‘Thinking back, the dimensional quest was really helpful.’ If it weren’t for that, he wouldn’t have been able to hunt these ridiculous monsters reliably. He landed on the ground with a smile, unable to curb his rising satisfaction. Since there were no enemies alive left, all he needed to do now was recover the monsters’ bodies.

“Grandpa!”

“Oh, Shu. You woke up already?”

“Thanks to you.” As he was recovering the monster corpses, Shu approached him. He was briefly worried, but she seemed to be in goodshape.

“A little of the reward came to me as well since you used my abilities to clear these guys up.”

“It works likethat.”

“But I was surprised. How did you use my abilities so perfectly?”

“It’s thanks to spiritual power. Should I teach you?”

“Yeah, that would be it.” She laughed and hung onto hiswaist.

“It felt good, though! It’s hard to find someone who understands our people that way! Well, I believed from the beginning that grandpacould.”

“Don’t tell anyone aboutit.”

“Can we do it one more time? Yes?”

“…It sounds a little weird, so stop.” It sounded somewhat illegal, as she said it. The two finished cleaning up the battlefield and headed toward the wall, where Kwati was.

“When will they wakeup?”

“I shifted the burden as much as possible, so probably at least threedays.”

“You did a very bad thing.”

“I was trying to help, so it’s okay.” Rather, they would probably thank her when they saw the walls were completed.

[Anvil!]

“Oh, Kwati.” Kwati approached them after arranging the Yeomin carefully on theground.

[I really don’t know what I would’ve done bymyself.]

Judging by the amount of HP he had acquired, it was definitely a good thing Kang Shin-hyuk was able to deal with it. Of course, it was possible thanks to the dark bullet fired with Shu’sability.

“Kwati, you did well too. You had good timing.” It was just for a moment, but Kwati had certainly dampened the fire lizard’s flames. Had she not done it, the sword wouldn’t have been able to show off its abilities.

[Because we couldn’t be left as a burden until the end. I’m glad it helped.]

“The others weren’t so good.” It was a problem that they all possessed the same abilities. It is what made the lizards poor opponents forthem.

[If I have the chance. I will definitely return the favor.]

“Is it not over now? I built the wall, so next time you’ll stop it yourself. Isn’t that right, grandpa?”

“It is.” As Kang Shin-hyuk casually affirmed Shu, Kwati’s face darkened for a moment. Kang Shin-hyuk noticed it andsmiled.

“But since I made the walls, I’ll make some weapons before I leave.”

[Anvil!]

The overly thrilled Kwati hugged him, the rock protecting her chest, hurting him a little.

“Oh, don’t cling; it hurts.”

[Sorry, sorry.]

-A new fox appears wherever you go…!

“The administrator counts this one as a fox too.”

“Grandpa, Anvil grandpa.” Suddenly, Shu called out his name.

“Before that, talk to me first.”

“What isit?”

“It’s important,” Shu said so a little shyly.

“If it’s grandpa, you might be able to make me an adult.”

-The wrong approach!

“Administrator, is that an error message?”

-The wrong approach!

-The wrong approach!

Rather, wasn’t it the administrator’s approach that felt wrong?