BXBX NOVEL Chapter 64: Even Gods Hold Two Jobs During Economic Recessions
Chapter 64: Even Gods Hold Two Jobs During Economic Recessions
But I pondered over it for a moment. There were rumors that the two were more than just business partners. They might even be lovers. Something told me he wouldn’t take too kindly to Sung Mi-Na’s regressed mental state.
Uh-huh, he’d give me hell.
As a peace-loving person, I was racking my brains for an amicable resolution until...
“How insolent! Do you know who he is?!”
Sword Demon suddenly appeared.
“Who is he?”
Then, Sword Demon pointed at me and roared, “He’s the almighty Sword God!”
Silence ensued.
“Sword God? What’s that?” Baek Yoo-Hyun asked, dumbfounded.
“Ugh. You foolish one! The title Dragon Slayer is wasted on you! Open your eyes and take a good look! How can you not see his greatness?!”
“He just looks like a normal guy to me.”
“Haa... What a disappointment. To think that the renowned Dragon Slayer is just a kid who can’t gauge his opponent’s true strength.”
Uh, Mr. Sword Demon? Can you stop? You’re embarrassing me here.
“Keke, even the girl you’re looking for, Mi-Na, has been defeated by Sword God. Now, she can’t live without him.”
Oi, Bastard! Watch your mouth!
“She can’t live without him? What do you mean?”
Predictably, all traces of emotions vanished from Baek Yoo-Hyun’s face as a tremendous aura soared from him.
Roooooar!
“If what I think is true, you’re all dead.”
I’d been thinking about it, but wasn’t Sword Demon the type to pour gasoline over a burning house to extinguish the flames?
“Haha! You got guts! Mr. Sword God, sit back and relax! Let me take care of him!”
Where did all that confidence come from? The opponent was one of South Korea’s top S-rank Hunters!
“Look. My trusty sword, Dragon Tooth, is shivering with excitement! How it lusts for blood!”
Shiver!
Indeed, the sword in his hand was trembling. Also, Dragon Tooth? When did he name it?
“Are you sure your hand isn’t just tired?”
Regardless of how strong he was, he’d been lugging that 100 kg sword all morning.
“Of course not! Watch me, Mr. Sword God. I’ll show you the results of my training!”
Full of confidence, Sword Demon charged forward, pointing his sword at Baek Yoo-Hyun.
“Haaa! Baek Yoo-Hyun! Feast your eyes! This technique is called Demon Lord’s Heavenly Sword, bestowed by Sword God himself!”
Then...
Bam bam bam bam!
Baek Yoo-Hyun’s Dragon-Slaying Sword spewed flames at Sword Demon, knocking him back!
“Aaargh!”
Sword Demon’s body was charred black.
“S-Sword Demon! Are you alright?”
Sword Demon stumbled, roaring in frustration, “You coward... Using your ability... in a battle of swords...”
Plop—
And... he fainted.
“What’s with this idiot?”
Baek Yoo-Hyun stared incredulously at the unconscious Sword Demon.
My thoughts, exactly. Haa, that guy.
Was he the same Sword Demon I met back then? Pretty sure he wasn’t like this...
Suddenly, Baek Yoo-Hyun disappeared, leaving only embers where he had stood.
Flick!
He reappeared in the blink of an eye, grabbing me by the neck.
“Where is she! What did that idiot mean earlier!”
Baaam!
His Dragon-Slaying Sword was aimed at my head, menacingly bursting with flames. Instantly, I saw its essence. A red dragon the size of a building ferociously glowered down at me.
-Grrr!
It roared at me, baring its fangs, instilling the pride and might of a dragon, the so-called mightiest of monsters. Surely, its heat alone could burn me to a crisp.
One of the stalkers chimed in.
[All-Cutting Heavenly Sword asks why would you allow a worm to infest your territory.]
I know, right? I was starting to get annoyed with him myself.
“Equip malevolent god title: Brutal Killer (C).”
Rooooar!
The power began surging through my entire body.
-Grr?
The once intimidating red dragon slowly looked up at the sky, fixated on something. Its gaze was no longer arrogance, but fearful.
The scales of the red dragon quivered all at once. It started trembling and peeing like a frightened puppy.
-Kggghhgk!
I pointed my forefinger at the red dragon’s forehead.
Squash!
The flames on Baek Yoo-Hyun’s sword went out in an instant.
“W-what?” Baek Yoo-Hyun looked at his sword.
Don’t be shocked yet.
Rip! Riiip!
Thud! Thud!
Spider web patterns spread across the blade, shocking Baek Yoo-Hyun. He turned to me.
“D-did you do this?”
Under the influence of malevolent god’s karma, I smirked.
Now, what should I do with this worm? How dare it grab me by the neck with arms so much thinner than Il-Ho’s! Do I crush him in a single blow? Or condemn him with the flames of hell?
“Ack! Skill! Agni’s...”
Seemingly sensing my thoughts, Baek Yoo-Hyun gritted his teeth, about to do something.
I saw sparks of transcendent flames writhing fiercely in his body, but I was faster. I pointed my index finger at Baek Yoo-Hyun and...
“Nngh, so noisy...”
Clunk!
The cabin door opened, and Sung Mi-Na walked out, sleepily rubbing her eyes.
Briefly, both of us froze, registering her appearance.
“Hey, Sung Mi-Na! Are you okay?!”
In contrast to Baek Yoo-Hyun, who was happy to see her, Sung Mi-Na didn’t look too good.
“Bad guy!” Sung Mi-Na murderously glared at Baek Yoo-Hyun.
On the outside, it did seem like a scary, fiery guy was oppressing me.
Tzzz!
“Die!”
Sung Mi-Na’s eyes turned blue as she shot a command at Baek Yoo-Hyun.
“Cough!” Baek Yoo-Hyun coughed up a mouthful of blood, instantly loosening his grip on my neck. “Keogh, Mi-Na. H-how could you...”
Baek Yoo-Hyun collapsed to his knees, unable to finish his sentence.
“Huff huff!”
As an S-rank Hunter, he seemed to have survived, but his face was deathly pale.
Meanwhile, the barefoot Sung Mi-Na ran to me, staring at me with concern.
“Are you okay?”
“Ah, yes. I’m good.”
“Don’t worry. Unni will protect you from the bad guys,” she said, hugging my waist.
But... Unni? Despite her apparent recovery, her memory seemed to be jumbled.
“M-Mi-Na...”
Writhing in pain, Baek Yoo-Hyun stared at Sung Mi-Na. But not once did she look back at him. Tears began welling up in his eyes.
I unequipped my malevolent god title. According to internet rumors, Baek Yoo-Hyun and Sung Mi-Na might be more than business partners. He came all the way here only to be attacked by the very person he tried to rescue. Not to mention, she clung onto me like a cicada.
If I were him, I wouldn’t want to live in this world anymore.
Haa, I’ll cut him some slack. I directed my ring finger at Baek Yoo-Hyun.
“Healing Ring Finger of God.”
Then, a dazzling white light enveloped him.
[Calculating the causality rate of the healing target: Baek Yoo-Hyun...]
[A member of a lower race of the 8th realm. Has potential for transcendence and might affect the rules between gods and the world.]
Ding!
[You paid 100 Gcoins for the healing.]
It cost me 100 Godcoins to heal him, just like with Sung Mi-Na. Apparently, healing an ordinary person like Sword Demon would cost 1 Godcoin, whereas healing S-rank Hunters would cost 100 Godcoins. Well, both amounts didn’t matter much to me at this point.
Ah, but would healing Il-Ho cost me 100 Godcoins as well?
It’d turn into a bit of an issue, considering how driven Il-Ho was. He always came to me after reducing himself into rags.
“D-did you just heal me? What is this nonsensical healing ability...? Even the S-rank Hunters I met from South America weren’t this good...” Baek Yoo-Hyun stared at me with a mixture of shock and awe.
At the very least, it didn’t seem like he’d remain hostile.
“Uhm, Mr. Baek Yoo-Hyun. I think you’re in a huge misunderstanding. Let me explain what’s going on...”
Ruuumble!
Suddenly, the sound of a whirring helicopter came from the sky. Sung Mi-Na looked up and exclaimed in delight, “Oh, it’s Mi-Ri!”
Huh? Ms. Sung Mi-Ri?
“Mister! Unni! Are you alright?”
“Ms. Mi-Ri! Calm down!”
Sure enough, it was Sung Mi-Ri. A school nurse could be seen trying to stop her as she recklessly leaned out of the helicopter, about to jump down at any time. Accompanying them was Choi Kang-San, or Homeless Uncle. He was beaming at me for some reason.
Why was he looking at me like that? Something seemed off...
Afterward, I calmly filled everyone in on everything that had happened.
“...So that’s what happened.”
It might seem like a swift resolution, but in fact, I spent about an hour explaining to them.
Meanwhile, Sung Mi-Na clung onto Ms. Sung Mi-Ri like a piece of gum, rubbing their cheeks together.
“U-Unni? Stop it. People are watching.”
“Hic, Mi-Ri. Do you hate Unni?”
“N-no. I don’t hate you...”
“Then, you dislike Unni?”
“No, I-I like you, Unni...”
When she first learned that her own sister sealed her power, Sung Mi-Ri was enraged. No wonder, since she worked so hard to advance in ranks. However, after learning that Sung Mi-Na did it at the cost of her own life, Sung Mi-Ri couldn’t bear to treat her coldly.
“Ehehe.” Showing a killer smile, Sung Mi-Na continued rubbing her cheek against Sung Mi-Ri’s.
Nevertheless, it was nice to see them get along so well. Once Sung Mi-Na recovered, I hoped she’d be as loving to her younger sister.
“Please accept this.” The school nurse handed something to me.
When I opened it, I found a B-rank Hunter license issued by the Hunter Association.
“Huh? This is...?”
“Though the machine determined you as G-rank, Principal Choi Kang-San vouched for you. Above all, the monster flower that you summoned...”
“Hic!”
“Kyaaa!”
Choi Kang-San gulped hard in panic, while Sung Mi-Na shivered in Sung Mi-Ri’s arms like a terrified kitten.
“Ahem,” the school nurse cleared her throat and rephrased. “You were granted a B-rank Hunter license because you could summon such monstrous creatures. Do not be disheartened. Many guilds out there are looking for a B-rank Hunter.”
Summon monstrous creatures? Ah, she must be talking about the flowers that Il-Ho gave to me as tribute from before.
“Yes! Furthermore, a B-rank Hunter is qualified to become a teacher at our academy! Right, Eun-Bi?”
“I told you to not call me by my first name in public, Principal.”
Paying no heed to the glowering school nurse, Choi Kang-San scooted over to me and said, “Speaking of which, why don’t you work with me?”
Then, he began his grand briefing.
I wasn’t really interested, but I still asked. “What is the salary like?”
After tapping a few keys on her calculator, the school nurse showed it to me.
“This will be your starting pay, including whatever special budget the Principal has available.”
The amount was impossible to refuse.
***
Hunter Academy’s high school division, Class 3-A.
“Hehehe.”
“Mi-Ri, you look happy today. Did something good happen? Before, you always complained about not wanting to go to school.”
“Yeah! Because someone very special is coming today!”
“Someone special? Who is it?”
Draaaag!
The classroom door opened and I stepped in, wearing a blue training suit. All the eyes of our future elite Hunters gathered on me.
“Who is he?”
“Oh, I’ve seen him before! It’s the guy who knocked out Mr. Lee in the sparring room!”
That’s quite excessive. But hey, first impressions count.
“Ahem. Hello everyone.” I mustered the sternest look I could as I greeted the students. “I’m Yu Il-Shin, a temporary teacher. I’ll be the replacement for Mr. Lee while he is on sick leave.”
“What?”
“Wait, what? All of a sudden?!”
Hearing the sudden news, the students made a commotion. Immediately, Sword Demon slammed his sword down on the ground.
“Silence, everyone! I’m Sword Demon. I shall be assisting him in the lessons. Hehe... Hmph! Consider it an honor to be taught by the almighty Sword God, kids!”
Yeah. As you could see, I got employed.