Chapter 551 – Abandoned Village Integrated Management Day (1)

While all this has happened, the date of the ‘Abandoned Village Integrated Management Day’ is fast approaching.

It was the morning when the exam day, which would be the opportunity for me to be promoted to Class A, was quickly approaching.

“… Phew.”

If I work properly as a healer in the abandoned village today, does that mean I too will be an A-level hunter starting tomorrow?

Compared to me, who was an aspiring hunter around this time last year, the growth was truly unbelievable.

Of course, I haven’t officially become a Class A Hunter yet, but unlike the regular promotion exam where you have to show specific achievements, today I was told that I could be promoted if I just did the activity itself properly.

I can’t help but feel excited about the possibility of becoming an A-level hunter in less than a year after acquiring the awakening ability.

Of course, just because my goal was to get a promotion, I wasn’t going to just go to work and indulge in healing activities.

I will run around the scene as much as possible to treat injured hunters, and if necessary, I will use not only recovery spells but also swords and magic to rescue patients.

And in order to prevent it from becoming a hot topic for no reason, it would probably be better to wear a mask of unknown identity until today.

How about officially revealing your face and identity after you become an A-class hunter?

‘When I become an A-level hunter, I will first reveal my identity to the union, and before that, to Areum…’

As I was getting ready for work all morning and thinking about ‘what to do after becoming an A-level hunter,’ the time for work was getting closer.

Me and Han Min-ah walked out the front door together this morning, seeing Eun-byeol off.

“I’ll be back, Eunbyeol.”

“I’ll be back, Eunbyeol.”

“Yes, you two, please be careful and have a safe trip.”

About two weeks had passed since Eunbyeol started staying at my house, and it had become a fairly routine sight for her to see me off in the morning.

Of course, the fact that it was still a commoner’s house with a maid was far from everyday life.

As I was reflecting on the sentiment that had just come to mind, Minah, who was about to open the front door and leave, looked back at Eunbyeol and asked.

“Ah, Eunbyeol. I will prepare dinner tonight. “I feel like I want to show off my skills today for the first time in a while.”

“All right. Since Han Min-ah said so, I am also looking forward to it.”

“See you later in the evening!”

Even Minah, who was so awkward at first, seemed to have become very natural in her conversations with Eunbyeol these days.

It was a moment when I felt quite fortunate as the owner of the house and the manager of the couple’s sexual desires.

It seems like there was an opportunity for women to become friends while I was away.

“You and Eunbyeol don’t seem to be very awkward these days. “Last time I saw you, it seemed like you two talked often without me.”

“Isn’t it strange that we are going to live under the same roof, but it feels awkward forever? And the reason it was awkward at first was because you introduced it strangely to Seong Tae-kyung!”

“… “I feel sorry about that.”

… Well, it was entirely my mistake to make Eunbyul’s first impression to Minah and her sisters as a naked apron maid.

In fact, seeing that they have become this close despite such a first impression, perhaps I should praise Han Min-ah’s friendliness.

With that in mind, I went out the front door and waited for Hye-eun in front of the door. Not long after, the front door to the right of our house opened and the party leader appeared.

“Good morning, Taekyung~! And Minah too~!”

Hye-eun appears to be in a particularly good mood today and approaches Mina and me with a bright greeting.

My commute to work these days almost felt like this. The three meet in front of the house where they are staying and go to work.

In the past, Hye-eun, me, and Mina would meet at the intersection and walk to work together, but these days, it feels like the meeting place has become the front of the house.

Originally, when Hye-eun and her work dates overlapped, she would always meet in front of the house and leave together, but these days, she only includes Min-ah there.

“Good morning, Hye-eun.”

“… You seem to be in a good mood today, huh? “Did something good happen?”

“Huh? Of course that’s a good thing, right? After today’s expedition, Taekyung will finally become an A-level hunter! Just like our azure shield!”

I did something and it made me feel good. I thought there was something else special going on.

Of course, the fact that I was promoted to Class A Hunter made me quite excited, so I had a hard time going to sleep for a few days.

Of course, apart from that, I didn’t know that Hye-eun would be so happy about my promotion, which wasn’t even her own.

“If anyone sees Hye-eun, they will think you are getting promoted.”

“Huh? I’m more happy about Taekyung getting promoted than I am about getting promoted? Taekyung is going to be the best hunter in the world, so of course she should get promoted faster than me and keep going!”

“… “Yes, thank you for saying that.”

I couldn’t help but feel strangely warm whenever I saw Hye-eun purely thinking about me like this.

Is he saying this on purpose to get me to react this way, or is he just genuinely happy that I’m getting promoted?

I would have been happier if it had been the latter, so I decided to think in the direction that would make me happier.

So, the three of them walked side by side on their way to work, with Hye-eun on their right and Mina on their left.

Meanwhile, I suddenly had doubts about the event I had decided to participate in today, so I asked two people about today’s group activities.

“By the way, this is my first time holding an integrated abandoned village management day event. Can you tell me how to do it? “You guys probably already have experience.”

“Let me know and then sleep… If you just go into the abandoned village dungeon, the guides will tell you where to go, right? I don’t really have anything to tell you. “This is my third time, and it all felt the same.”

“Usually, the types of monsters that appear in each area are different, so hunters tend to efficiently collect monsters that are easy to deal with before starting the battle. Area A has a lot of toxic monsters, so focus on hunters who can attack from a distance, and area B has a lot of huge, hard monsters, so focus on hunters with a powerful single leg.”

“As of last year, the area Yuri was assigned to was Area A. The area that Hye-eun and Ji-hee received was Area B. And the area I received was Area C.”

“What are the recruitment criteria for Area C?”

“Most hunters with good mobility go to Area C. Area C is originally a residential area, so there are a lot of monsters running away through the alleys, so tracking them is the most important. Otherwise, hunters with slightly lower combat power tend to gather here, and in any case, it is dangerous for Area C monsters to act in groups, and each individual is weak.”

As the saying goes, it is an integrated management project, so it certainly moves in a systematic manner.

Considering the unique nature of the dungeon, which is an abandoned village, hunting systematically like this was definitely the most efficient.

In the first place, the abandoned village was not a formal dungeon entered through a natural gate, but a dungeon conversion that occurred due to a monster wave that occurred in an area where people lived normally.

Area A was where the factory that processed monster materials was located, and Area C was where the residential area was originally located.

And to Area B, where there was an amusement park visited by many families.

Since the environments of the three areas of the habitat were different, the distribution of the monsters’ habitats was bound to change accordingly.

To be precise, it would be more reasonable to say that the monsters that ran out of the gate at the time of the monster wave hid in habitats suited to their respective environments.

Monsters with toxic abilities settle and breed in the factory area of ​​Area A, which is similar to the environment they originally lived in, and monsters such as large Treralodon use the wide Area B as their territory.

Thanks to this, even in a subjugation situation, it was possible to form a line that could effectively deal with monsters and engage in battle. Due to various problems, eradication is currently impossible.

“If Taekyung had participated as a swordsman, he would have definitely been assigned to Area B. That might be a little disappointing~”

“We always hunt together on party expeditions anyway.”

“That’s true, but~. “But even on days like this, I want to be with you.”

“Now that I think about it, I don’t know how healers are assigned. “As far as I know, they treat injured soldiers returning from a few safe areas, and I heard that if they are unable to move from the injured side, there are instances where they move with an escort to the side where the injured people are.”

Since healers were a rare resource, there seemed to be a safe zone to protect them.

Of course, you will have to check for yourself how useful the safety zone created in the dungeon will actually be.

Honestly, my personal wish is that I would rather roam around the battlefield and heal the injured hunter than wait in the safe area for him to come.

The reason was not specifically to maximize performance. Anyway, my promotion was guaranteed just by participating in this large-scale subjugation.

If I, as a healer, could save more lives by just being busy running around, then that alone was worth the attempt.

Since it was a large-scale subjugation operation, even if the situation in which each hunter’s life was at risk was rare, strictly speaking, the probability was not 0%.

My dream of making sure no one gets killed by monsters was still valid, as it was then. This goal will not change in the future.

… At least, I never wanted to see someone killed by a monster right in front of me again.

“… Taekyung.”

“Huh?”

“I’m just saying this just in case. You’re not thinking anything strange right now, are you?”

“… “What strange idea?”

“There are dangerous ideas like treating people by leaving the safe area and wandering around the dungeon.”

… We’re definitely not childhood friends for nothing. I never thought I would figure out the intention of what I was trying to do all at once.

If I were to say here that I was thinking of doing that, I’m sure he would get angry. But I also don’t like lying too blatantly.

After thinking about it for a moment, I gave an ambiguous answer so that I could make up an excuse later.

“If I’m not needed, I’ll be waiting in the safe area. Instead, I’ll just move around if I think it’s necessary. “Is this okay?”

“That’s the same as saying you’re going to walk around dangerously!”

“If you go later, you’re going to gloss over it again with excuses like ‘It was an unavoidable situation,’ right? Seong Tae-kyung, it’s obvious what you’re thinking.”

… It seemed like I had been with these women for too long.

I didn’t even know that it wouldn’t work to this extent.