Episode 183 Qualifications of a Friend (3)
* * *
After that, Kanghu and Takashi continued to move forward within the dungeon.
There were almost no battles with monsters here, and even if there were, they were all resolved in an instant.
30 minutes passed like that.
Kanghu silently focused on solving the dungeon’s pattern.
Thanks to this, Takashi felt bored as he had nothing to do.
“Let’s go.”
Takashi spoke first.
Then Kanghu smiled and answered.
“I guess you don’t have any more questions now?”
“hmm?”
“I was wondering how long you were going to continue testing.”
“What… is this enough?”
Even though his true feelings were revealed, Takashi didn’t feel particularly awkward.
Because I was brought into a dungeon where the patterns were so blatant. It’s stupid not to know.
Takashi asked next.
“You came to an unfamiliar dungeon, but you didn’t want to go there comfortably, did you?”
It is a hunter’s natural instinct.
Facing uncertainty is something that most hunters are reluctant to do because it can be directly linked to death.
Of course, there are hunters who enjoy challenges and adventures, but they usually prefer having prior information.
Then, you can minimize the risks and take advantage of all the useful fruits.
Kang Hu shook his head.
“well. “I don’t know what’s going to happen right away, so is there any point in just trying to go through the dungeon comfortably without panicking?”
“haha.”
“It’s my personality to constantly be nervous, ask questions, explore and understand situations.”
Kang-hu’s calm words revealed his sincerity.
Since waking up in this world, Ganghu has never felt at ease.
This is a situation where an ordinary person would feel extremely tired and even feel exhausted.
But Kanghu enjoyed the tension.
And I was grateful that I had a goal to pursue with gritted teeth.
The thirteen stars were still menacing and motivating to Kang-hoo.
The same goes for Takashi, who is in front of me right now.
In terms of level alone, he is more than three times higher than himself. The line of comparison itself is different.
“Honestly, I was surprised. “For an assassin, he had quite some attractive skills.”
Takashi said with admiration.
It would be even more surprising if you knew that the skills he saw today were ‘part’ of the skills he possessed.
In the end, Takashi was still connected to the thirteen stars, so Kanghu did not show them all.
Still, I was confident that it would be enough.
What Takashi focused on from Kanghu was the Shadow Step Clone Art intuition soul wave.
Even if it is natural that assassins are good at deception.
It was quite surprising that he had the ability to evade in advance and even have mental abilities.
Although Takashi is based on swordsmanship, he has reached his current level just by being equipped with the ability to use his alter ego.
Hunters admire Takashi’s ability to manipulate his alter egos and are very picky about them.
In this way, even if there are only one or two other secondary abilities that follow the main ability, the evaluation will change.
However, Ganghu had quite a few skills that were completely outside the mold of an assassin.
And Takashi was also sure.
Kang-hu said that he intentionally hid some things and did not show them because he did not yet trust everything.
So I was more curious. It’s natural that the more you wrap and cover up, the more you want to see what’s inside.
An assassin who constantly works hard and questions every situation despite having good skills and specifications.
Takashi quite liked Kanghu. It seemed like he had a texture similar to mine.
Outside the dungeon.
Kanghu and Takashi sat in front of the stairs in front of the apartment.
Since the apartment was located on a hill, there was a long staircase in the front that went down the hill.
Although no one lives there now.
When people lived, it looked like the kind of stairs that children would run up and down while playing.
Takashi drank the coffee he had already packed in his backpack. It was warm mixed coffee in a thermos.
I wonder why I brought my own self-immolation when I couldn’t even drink it, but thanks to that, I got free coffee.
While Kang-hu sips warm coffee and calms his chilly body.
Takashi’s clone sitting next to him also pretended to drink(?) and joined in the rhythm with Kanghu.
At that time, a man came out from the mansion across from the bottom of the stairs, separated the waste and returned.
When I sit here and look at the scenery, it reminds me of a residential area in the 1990s… It
was a place so cozy and peaceful that I couldn’t think of anything else. It felt good.
The silence without words was okay. Kanghu was the type of person who enjoyed silence rather than finding it awkward.
However, there was something I really wanted to say to Takashi, so I broke the silence first and opened up.
“I don’t want to make a fuss with you, and I’m not intentionally trying to gain advantage.”
I meant it.
It is true that I approached Takashi because I wanted to separate him from the thirteen stars.
However, I definitely did not approach him with the intention of only taking the dungeon-like substance from him.
Rather, I liked Takashi’s sincere passion when it came to persistent analysis and research strategies for dungeons.
There were definitely parts of him that felt similar to mine.
Takashi asked back.
“You don’t know much about me, do you? “This is our first time seeing each other.”
“Does that matter?”
“….”
right.
It doesn’t really matter when you started the relationship or how much you knew about it.
That’s what the hunters’ relationship is like.
Even if you were friendly and close yesterday, you could become enemies today.
That’s a good thing. You might not be by my side tomorrow. Because death is always by your side like the wind.
“I just want to conquer each dungeon with love like you do. “I want to thoroughly research and conquer dungeons that make my heart tremble and feel a sense of accomplishment.”
Because he was in front of Takashi, who was not good at talking to people, Kanghu ended up talking a lot more than usual.
It wasn’t unnatural or unpleasant.
This is because Takashi is important to the extent that he can suppress his basic personality and speak with heightened tension.
Takashi must have felt a deep resonance in Kanghu’s words and nodded in response.
“I also like challenging dungeons intensely from start to finish. “It makes me feel alive.”
Kanghu nodded instead of answering. This is a Takashi-like answer. The guy looked exactly like the original.
Takashi added.
“I took the test before. I’m sorry for testing you again this time. “I wanted to know more about you.”
“I understand.”
“Do you want to try a proper strategy with me next time? “There are quite a few dungeons with unresolved tasks remaining.”
“You are very welcome.”
Of course it’s okay.
Aside from severing ties with the thirteen stars, Takashi is also a very useful talent as a hunter.
Honestly, it’s a question of whether he suits me, and it’s definitely not a position where I have to worry about whether he suits me.
“What level are we at and what are we doing? Don’t think about this. “Because I’m tired.”
“I just realize that I have to pay for the food, then.”
“Next time, I will contact you first. “I hope we can at least call each other by our first names comfortably then.”
“This is Shin Kang-hoo. “I’m 29 years old.”
“Takashi Akiyama. “Thirty-three.”
“I’ll call you brother.”
“no. Just call me Takashi. “I don’t really like the word ‘brother,’ so…”
At that moment, Kanghu paused as the story about Takashi came to mind.
Although it was never directly mentioned in the original work, it was mentioned as if hinted at.
It is a story about Takashi’s widowed younger brother who had no choice but to choose the life of a hikikomori.
It also seems to have been faithfully implemented. If so, Takashi’s pain is completely understandable.
“Okay, Takashi.”
“Yes, Shin Kang-hu. “See you next time.”
The two left their seats and stood up.
Since Kanghu was used to parting and meeting, it wasn’t awkward for the place to suddenly go into a tidying up mood.
That was when Kanghu left the apartment complex and was about to say goodbye to Takashi.
Takashi extended the little finger of his right hand towards himself.
At first, I wondered what kind of signal it was, but after hearing Takashi’s next words, all my doubts were answered.
“The shadow you will be moving makes your little finger tremble slightly. Check it out for yourself. “There will be a difference.”
It was a story about the weakness of his shadow walking skill, a habit that Kanghu could not solve on his own.
For a gift given to commemorate becoming friends, it was as meaningful to Kang-hu as his life.
* * *
After returning to Ricou Tower.
Kanghu started practicing right away in the underground training center.
As Takashi pointed out, when I looked at it while using the Shadow Walk skill, there was indeed a slight tremor.
‘Because perfect mana distribution was not achieved, the mana flow changed right before the move.’
Diagnosis of the cause has also been completed.
The habit was right.
Because I wanted to develop the shadows quickly, I only focused on 99% of the details instead of 100%.
The 1% that was missed was the shaking of the little finger.
‘I got advice that I couldn’t exchange for money. It feels like my stuffed stomach is being unclogged. ‘I saw this when we first met.’
Kanghu was once again in awe of Takashi’s observation skills.
Although he was quite good at it, his observation skills seemed to fall short of Takashi’s.
Anyway, I felt proud because I felt like I made a lot of money today.
There is no need to think deeply about becoming closer to Takashi.
When dealing with a guy, honestly pushing him works much better than measuring or arguing with him.
In the first place, he is also the type of person who has difficulty talking back or pointing upwards.
So, I planned to continue to treat Takashi as he is.
If you think his value is high, the right thing to do is to tell him honestly.
It may sound strange depending on what you hear, but he is the kind of person who really likes that kind of honesty.
“Let’s put off the remaining five Dark Age dungeons for now.”
Kanghu looked at the current situation on his smartphone and reconfirmed the attack schedule that had been put on hold on purpose.
This is because the all-out war with the Toushi Guild is intensifying again.
Of course, it wasn’t a dungeon in the area of influence from the battle, but I didn’t want to go through too much trouble.
‘I remember that the imbalance point is near JR Sapporo Station. The exact location is not certain.’
One of the reasons Kanghu came to Japan was because the imbalance point was located here.
It is a space that has already been enjoyed in Korea. A place that takes advantage of the errors created by space, time and dimension.
I’ve always wanted to stop by when I come to Japan, but I couldn’t remember the location in detail.
What was mentioned in the original was as follows.
– Imbalance Point near JR Sapporo Station was located in a gloomy dungeon next to a building that was particularly dark from sunlight.
Jang Si-hwan wondered how on earth he found the imbalance point here. That’s how odd the location was.
This situation requires you to take this information with you and find a dungeon that meets the conditions. It is difficult to say that the situation is easy.
Right then.
A phone call came from Youngho Ahn.
Since the story about the dungeon was on hold and not ready to come out, there was only one reason for him to call.
“Oh, Youngho.”
– older brother. I found someone who could help me enter the Fukuoka Liberation Zone. Free pass for inspection and search.
“You’re an insider.”
A human pass to enter the Fukuoka Liberation Zone has been obtained.