The Skill Maker

While drinking the traditional cinnamon punch, Eugene started talking.

On the other side of him, Brad was drinking the punch from the teakettle.

‘They’re kind of weird.’

“Kim Hyun-Soo, what’s your relationship with Yoo-Na?”

“I’m sorry?”

“Eugene!”

As soon as Eugene asked the question, Kim Yoo-Na yelled out his name and glared at him.

She was signaling him to be quiet.

If she gave Hyun-Soo that look, he would’ve immediately stayed quiet, but Eugene ignored her. Maybe it was because he was an A rank as well or that was just his personality.

“Don’t you think we have the right to know?”

“What are you talking about? Why does it matter to you guys?”

“What’s wrong, Kim Yoo-Na? How often do you think we get to see you? Do you think we’re asking because we don’t know the real reason as to why you’re staying here?”

“It’s Hye-Na…….”

“I know that’s not the only reason. Let’s talk about that later.”

Hyun-Soo just watched them talk back and forth.

‘Huh? Didn’t they use me as an excuse to talk to Kim Yoo-Na?’

It was suddenly about him.

But, the conversation was a bit weird.

‘My relationship with her…it’s just business.’

A give and take relationship.

We give each other what we need.

“I’ve been receiving a lot of help from her. I’ve been learning how to hunt and have been training as well.”

I’m not sure what you’re wanting to hear, so I prepared a generalized answer.

Was what Hyun-Soo was feeling.

‘There’s no reason to explain the details. I won’t gain anything from it anyways.’

Kim Yoo-Na didn’t try to get information out of Hyun-Soo, but he wasn’t sure about the others.

But, since they were on the same team as her, they probably weren’t all that bad, however, there was no need to explain the details.

‘The ways she’s glaring is telling me not to say anything, so I better keep my mouth shut.’

Kim Yoo-Na was wanting Hyun-Soo to not talk.

When Hyun-Soo gave a generalized answer, Eugene changed the subject.

“It hasn’t been that long since you’ve become a hunter, right? But, you’re leveling up pretty quickly.”

“It’s most likely because Kim Yoo-Na has been helping me out a lot.”

“Ha ha. We all know how great of a teacher Yoo-Na is.”

It felt like they were just going around in circles.

‘What is he trying to find out?’

It felt like he was just going around in circles instead of getting to the core of the conversation.

“It hasn’t been a year since you’ve become a hunter, but you’ve already leveled up, right?”

“…Yes. Because Kim Yoo-Na guided me.”

“But, I know Yoo-Na isn’t that nice. Shall I give you an example? Let’s say you ask her to open the cap of a bottle that hasn’t been opened yet. She’ll open it once for you. However, if you keep asking her, she’ll teach you so that your arm has enough strength to open it and will tell you to keep practicing until you can do it on your own.”

‘Wow, he’s on point.’

It was exactly like what he’s seen so far.

They must’ve spent a lot of time together.

“Then, what can you draw from that?”

“I’m not sure.”

“It’s simple. You have great potential, Hyun-Soo.”

“My…potential?”

“Yes, potential. You have the willingness to follow Yoo-Na’s ignorant methods and you have the potential strength to push you through it. We call that potential.”

Hyun-Soo somewhat understood what Eugene was saying.

And that Eugene acknowledged his value.

Eugene didn’t know Hyun-Soo was a Skill Maker.

The only thing he knew was that Kim Yoo-Na was helping him and through that, he was leveling up fast.

However, he pointed out that Kim Yoo-Na’s help didn’t play a big role.

And he pointed out that Hyun-Soo’s potential strength was the reason why he was leveling up quickly.

“But, I’m still a D rank.”

He planned on using this hunt to level up, but he was still a D rank.

He had potential strength and leveled up quickly, but in the eyes of an A rank hunter, it wasn’t an outstanding result.

Even if he was saying it to be nice, who wouldn’t feel good about getting compliments from an A rank hunter?

He was happy to hear it since he had to get stronger as soon as possible.

“Yoo-Na doesn’t really show affection. Doesn’t she look cold just from her appearance?”

“What are you trying to say, Eugene? If you’re going to say something odd, don’t.”

When her name was mentioned, Kim Yoo-Na glared at him again.

“But, once she does show it, she gives a lot of it. She has high standards since she’s greedy. The fact that she’s taking care of you means you’re a good enough person and you’re worth her time.”

“Excuse me?”

‘Kim Yoo-Na thinks I’m a good person? Why?’

It was interesting to hear that she was taking care of him.

‘I think we’re going around in circles again.’.

He probably wasn’t saying it so that they could become close friends.

Hyun-Soo looked at Eugene and then glanced over at Kim Yoo-Na.

He wasn’t sure if she was angry or embarrassed.

However, her fists looked like flames would appear at any moment.

“I’m sure you’re not saying these things just to be nice to me. Is there something that you’re wanting?”

Potential, potential power.

No matter how he looked at it, he was far from becoming an A rank.

However, there was a reason why he kept on complimenting Hyun-Soo.

‘Did she tell him about the scrolls?’

He might be trying to get information out of him, so he became slightly suspicious.

But their conversation was going towards a different direction.

When Hyun-Soo asked directly, instead of answering, Eugene spoke towards Brad and Katrina.

Since he couldn’t understand, he glanced at Kim Yoo-Na and noticed that her expression became calm again.

When Hyun-Soo finished the punch for the third time, their conversation in English was over.

Eugene suddenly raised his hand.

“I agree.”

Katrina followed as well.

“Me too.”

“Me either.”

‘What are they agreeing on?’

They were suddenly agreeing on something amongst themselves.

Everyone, excluding Kim Yoo-Na, agreed on something.

Eugene looked directly at Hyun-Soo.

“Kim Hyun-Soo. Will you work with us?”

“I’m sorry?”

“I’m asking you to join our clan.”

“Eugene. Stop..”

“Oh. It sounds like she’s really angry. I guess I’ll have to stop here.”

“……?”

‘Did I just get recruited?’

That’s what it seemed like.

However, when Kim Yoo-Na looked serious, Eugene quickly wrapped things up.

“Let’s stop talking about serious topics. Our leader will blow up. Oh, did you see it too, Hyun-Soo? When Yoo-Na explodes, there’s fire all over her body and…okay. I’ll stop. Stop glaring at me.”

When the conversation was over, everyone got up from their seats.

Hyun-Soo thought they would talk amongst themselves since they haven’t seen each other for a long time, but Eugene told him that they would get in trouble if he left, so he asked Hyun-Soo to leave with them.

When they first saw him, it felt like they weren’t exactly excited to see him.

Excluding Katrina, he couldn’t really express what he felt, but there was something there.

‘Why did their attitudes change all of a sudden?’

The things he felt earlier were gone.

He had an idea why.

‘Maybe it’s because of the monster I took down in the portal?’

That’s probably why they recruited him.

He was treated according to the skills that he showed.

It was a simple concept.

The qualification set by society and financial power didn’t matter.

They decided solely on skills.

That’s what they were showing.

They all became friendly towards him, but Katrina was the one that changed the most.

He thought she would never treat him nicely, but it felt like they suddenly became close.

‘Is it because I gave her food?’

As they were saying their goodbyes, Katrina quietly circled around Hyun-Soo while maintaining a certain distance.

‘She’s like a cat.’

She had her guard up in the beginning, but now, she was like a cat that circled around him.

“Let’s shake hands.”

“Okay.”

Before going their separate ways, Eugene extended his hand out.

When Hyun-Soo grabbed his hand, Eugene slightly bent down and whispered.

Before Hyun-Soo could react, Eugene let go and returned to his car.

While getting into Kim Yoo-Na’s car, Hyun-Soo kept on thinking about what Eugene said.

‘What I saw in the portal was impressive, Hyun-Soo. Please think about my offer.’

**

There was an awkward silence on the way home.

It was awkward because of Kim Yoo-Na.

Kim Yoo-Na looked like she had something to say because she kept on biting her lips and glanced at Hyun-Soo.

‘What’s wrong with her?’

It was obvious that Hyun-Soo noticed.

He was sitting right next to her.

It would be weird if he didn’t notice.

‘She looks embarrassed, or is that just me?’.

She kept on looking towards his side.

‘Why is she hesitating so much?’

However, Kim Yoo-Na didn’t say anything.

However, when the car stopped at a red light, Kim Yoo-Na looked at the rear-view mirror.

Hyun-Soo wondered what she was looking at and noticed a car.

Their eyes met.

Then, Kim Yoo-Na quickly turned her head around.

‘Jeez, she should keep her eyes on the road!’

After the car behind them honked, the car started moving again.

“Kim Yoo-Na, is there something you want to say to me?”

“Huh?!”.

Hyun-Soo decided to talk to her first since the atmosphere was so heavy, but when he did, Kim Yoo-Na was surprised.

“Or is there a problem?”

“No. It’s nothing like that.”

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No! It’s not that.”

“Then……?”

“There’s something that Eugene said that I’m suspicious about.”

“What Eugene said? About recruiting me?”

“That too, but about how I show affection. There might be a misunderstanding.”

She wasn’t looking at Hyun-Soo anymore and was looking straight ahead.

“After hunting with you, I’ve spent a lot of time with you, saw how hard you worked and your results showed that. I know that you followed my training without any complaints, so it’s obvious that I would think highly of you. Right?”

“Huh? Yeah..”

She was asking him to agree and Hyun-Soo did without knowing.

“Hye-Na is very shy, but these days, she keeps asking when you were coming to visit her, so after seeing that, I noticed that you weren’t that cold and analytical, so I’m thankful…so, what I’m trying to say is that that’s my affection and there’s no other meaning to it…I’m not exactly sure what I’m saying.”

Kim Yoo-Na seemed confused.

‘I don’t know either.’