Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I tilted my head in confusion before pulling over the container of oil.

After turning it around several times, I lifted it completely and checked the bottom.

"This stuff has expired, hasn't it?"

Thud.

The container, which still had about a third of its oil remaining, made a dull sound as I set it down.

"Then it can't be because of the oil..."

Suddenly, I remembered that this bird was the first sculpture I'd made since awakening.

Could it be...?

"Is this because of Aura too?"

I knew that, unlike skills, stats directly affected a person's everyday life.

But Aura...

I quietly looked for a mirror.

...

"...Why does it only affect my sculptures?"

I was delighted, but I also felt strangely wronged.

There was no doubt that the sculpting technique was entirely my own.

However, unlike my other sculptures, which only acquired an aura after I used my skill on them, this bird seemed remarkably lifelike even before I activated Pygmalion.

It was so fascinating that I forgot all about cleaning the floor and simply kept staring at it.

"What on earth will it look like if I use my skill on it too?"

At the same time, I was excited.

It felt as though I'd opened the door to an entirely new world of sculpture.

"Will it come to life and start moving around? Or will it turn into some kind of bird-shaped toy item...?"

Judging by Pygmalion's description, it seemed likely that the bird would come to life.

Then again, it might turn into an item shaped like a figurine.

Perhaps its name would be something like Lifelike Bird Sculpture.

"There's only one way to find out."

This was something I would have had to investigate sooner or later anyway.

I was also curious about whether it would possess a consciousness of its own if it came to life, or whether it would simply turn into a warm corpse...

"Pygmalion!"

As expected, I immediately felt mana draining from my body.

It was like having a large amount of blood drawn all at once.

Instinctively, I knew that if I used my skill three or four times in quick succession, my vision would probably go dark.

Judging by what had happened that morning, my mana seemed to recover gradually over the course of approximately two hours.

Still...

I've heard that completely exhausting your mana is incredibly painful.

Given the nature of my skill, I probably wouldn't encounter many situations where I needed to use it repeatedly without resting.

Even so, it seemed wise to be careful.

At that moment, I felt a small amount of the mana I'd expended returning to my body.

Simultaneously, a System notification I'd never seen before appeared before my eyes.

[Your Mana stat has increased by 1 through repeated skill usage.]

However, I didn't have time to celebrate the increase.

Behind the notification, the sculpture was flashing brightly.

Crackle!

"Wow."

Flutter, flutter...

The bird shook its body and began grooming its wing feathers while sitting on my palm.

Its face was white, while the back of its head was light brown.

The feathers covering its body gradually changed to a reddish brown toward their tips, creating an incredibly beautiful gradient.

It had fluffy cheeks, large wings, a round body, unusually round eyes, and a tiny beak.

It looked like something that might appear in an animated adaptation of Snow White.

And perhaps because of the effects of my Aura stat, it seemed as though there was light glowing inside its body.

It wasn't actually emitting light.

Rather, it possessed a mysterious, almost sacred appearance.

For some reason, its aura seemed even more distinct than that of the gerbera bouquet or Mad Dragon Rubera's Scale Sword.

Is it because this bird was created from the first sculpture I made after awakening?

In many ways, the bird didn't look like a creature that belonged on Earth.

Yet that mysterious little bird was moving around on my palm.

It was breathing and acting of its own free will.

Just like a real, living bird...

"It's moving..."

Hearing my voice, the bird turned its round, black eyes toward me.

They weren't the usual unreadable eyes of a bird, the kind that gave no indication of what it was thinking.

These eyes seemed to contain genuine emotions.

It looked as though it might start talking to me at any moment.

"Hello?"

It said...

"Just now...?"

Ring, ring! Ring, ring!

At that moment, my phone began ringing loudly.

"Did the bird just talk? Does it really have a consciousness of its own?"

I was so astonished by the possibility that I'd actually created a soul that I didn't even hear my phone ringing.

Instead, the bird frowned.

"Wow. I didn't know birds could frown."

"Answer your phone already! You're going to make my ears explode!"

"Wow. You've got a pretty nasty temper. Ow! All right! I'll answer it!"

The bird repeatedly pecked at my wrist with its beak, making my shoulders jerk in surprise.

Eventually, I hurriedly grabbed my phone and pressed it to my ear.

"H-Hello?"

"Hwa-in... I'm sorry."

"Huh? What? No, wait. More importantly, you won't believe what's in my hand right now. It's a talking bird..."

"It looks like you'll have to negotiate with the guild master."

My mind instantly snapped back to reality.

"W-With who?"

His guild master was...

"Damn it. Don't tell me you mean Shin Ha-gyeon."

"...I'm sorry."

"What a headache. Didn't you say we'd be dealing with the vice guild master?"

"Ahem. That was the plan. The vice guild master usually handles the guild's internal affairs, so I tried my best to avoid running into the guild master before requesting a meeting. But, well..."

"But what?"

"Well, it looks like I set some pretty incredible records while testing the Scale Sword. The guild master must have been shocked when he received the report from the reception desk because he rushed straight to the testing area. And then... he saw the Scale Sword and started smiling from ear to ear."

"..."

"...Hello? Hwa-in? Do Hwa-in?"

"...H-Hey! You know I'm scared of Guild Master Shin Ha-gyeon!"

"I'm sorry! I'm scared of him too! Hahaha!"

Damn this ridiculously good-natured bastard!

To explain what kind of person Shin Ha-gyeon was, we needed to go back thirty-five years, to when Gates first appeared.

Dimensional portals had suddenly emerged throughout the world, and grotesque monsters had begun pouring out of them.

Countless people died helplessly, and civilization started collapsing at a terrifying pace.

Just when the survivors had fallen into despair and begun predicting the extinction of humanity...

As though by divine intervention, Awakened people appeared.

Before ordinary people even had time to feel uneasy about their unfamiliar abilities, the Awakened showed them hope and the possibility of a future.

People celebrated their arrival like the appearance of superheroes from the movies.

It was during this period that Shin Ha-gyeon awakened.

He was young, remarkably handsome, and stronger than any of the Awakened who had appeared before him.

Naturally, he immediately captured the attention of the entire country.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, Shin Ha-gyeon wasn't quite the person the public had hoped he would be.

He was an exceptionally free-spirited man who did whatever he pleased.

Some people called him a pervert, a lunatic, a man who lived as though he were the only person in the world, or someone who simply did whatever the hell he wanted.

To understand what he was like, consider an interview that still resurfaced on television programs and YouTube every so often.

Interviewer: "I heard you recently returned from clearing an A-Class Gate. How was it?"

Shin Ha-gyeon: "A Gate is a Gate. Oh, the boss monster looked pretty funny, though. Its body was only about two heads tall."

Interviewer: "Hahaha... Was there anything you found disappointing about the raid?"

Shin Ha-gyeon: "My weapon, I guess? The government promised to get me a new one, but I haven't heard anything from them."

Interviewer: "I-I see. Ahem. Let's move on to the next question! As your popularity continues to grow, more and more children are saying they want to become Hunters when they grow up. Do you have any advice for these future Hunters?"

Shin Ha-gyeon: "Hmm. Being a Hunter is something you're born with, so maybe you should choose a dream you can actually achieve through hard work...?"

Interviewer: "R-Right! That concludes our interview!"

This was back when people were more likely to call the era the Gate Era than the Hunter Era.

The criteria for the term S-Class hadn't even been properly established yet.

Nevertheless, Shin Ha-gyeon's overwhelming strength and unpredictable personality attracted attention far beyond South Korea, spreading throughout neighboring East Asian countries and even into Central Asia.

The controversies surrounding his attitude also encouraged people to take an interest in his Gate raids.

Let's see just how good this guy really is.

It was a reaction born from their discomfort with someone who didn't fit the established image of Awakened person equals hero.

However...

There was his indifferent attitude during interviews.

His way of speaking, which somehow made even perfectly reasonable statements sound irritating.

And despite all that, he never avoided participating in Gate raids and had never once failed to clear one.

Eventually, the public settled on an image of Shin Ha-gyeon as someone who was actually a good guy, despite everything.

If he'd become an entertainer, he probably could have reached the very top of the industry through his talent for attracting attention alone.

Fine. That's all well and good. Whether Shin Ha-gyeon is secretly a nice person or some kind of eccentric genius, what does any of that have to do with me?

The problem was the reason Shin Ha-gyeon continued clearing Gates so diligently despite being indifferent to almost everything else.

According to rumors, he never took a break from Gate raids because he was fascinated by other-dimensional spaces.

There were other stories demonstrating just how passionate and persistent he could become whenever something caught his interest.

For example, there had once been a period when Shin Ha-gyeon became obsessed with frogs.

Nobody knew exactly what had sparked his fascination.

However, he expressed that fascination by collecting practically every kind of frog in the world.

Living or dead, it didn't matter.

Everything from tiny frog stickers to extremely rare species of frogs found its way into Shin Ha-gyeon's mansion.

Frog emblems also began appearing on his combat uniform.

As time passed, their numbers increased so much that anyone looking at him from a distance could mistake him for one enormous frog.

Eventually, he even appeared with frog stickers plastered onto the greatsword the government had provided for him.

At that point, practically the entire country began wishing that Shin Ha-gyeon would finally lose interest in frogs.

Apparently, his combat uniform only returned to normal after he established his guild and hired professionals to manage his public image.

And now that kind of person is interested in doing business with me?

I couldn't decide whether I should be happy or terrified.

Just thinking about how Shin Ha-gyeon might react was giving me a headache because I had absolutely no way of predicting his behavior.

As I continued considering the situation, however, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.

"Wait a minute. Maybe this isn't as bad as I thought."

"Huh? Really?"

How can you react like that when he's your own guild master?

"Think about it. Guild Master Shin Ha-gyeon might be eccentric and motivated by his personal interests, but he still does his job as a guild master, doesn't he?"

"Well, that's true."

Even from the little I'd heard from Eom Seok-hwan, that much was obvious.

On the battlefield, Shin Ha-gyeon was regarded as a natural commander.

To the Hunters of the raid teams, he was a dependable pillar of support.

And when dealing with the outside world, he fulfilled his role as the guild's public representative perfectly.

"I have a production-type skill that's impressive enough to amaze even you. So from Shin Ha-gyeon's perspective, wouldn't it be natural for him to want to bring me into his circle?"

"Now that you mention it, I think you're right."

If he lacked even that much common sense, there was no way he could have maintained South Korea's number-one guild.

Besides, I was a potential business partner who'd been introduced by the captain of Raid Team Two.

Surely, no guild master would casually mistreat someone with connections to one of his important guild members.

In that case, there was nothing to worry about.

For the guild's sake, he wouldn't want to lose access to an S-Class production skill.

Naturally, that would put me in the stronger position during negotiations.

And if the negotiations don't go well, I'll feel a little bad for Eom Seok-hwan, but... I'll just find another guild.

I was nodding to myself when my eyes suddenly met a pair of small, round eyes.

"You look weird when you smile like that."

"...What?"

"Why? Is something wrong? Like you said, I think meeting the guild master might actually work out."

"No, I wasn't talking to you."

"Then who were you talking to? Is someone there with you?"

"Uh... I just made something."

"Don't tell me my name is 'Something.'"

"Huh? No, that's not what I meant..."

"If you're busy, should I call you back later?"

The bird's blunt voice overlapped with Eom Seok-hwan's confused voice.

"Then hurry up and give me a name!"

"No, Seok-hwan, don't hang up just yet."

I briefly pulled the phone away from my ear and turned toward the bird.

"...Good grief. Who did you take after to become so impatient?"

"I must have taken after my parent."

"Who's your parent? Oh, right. That would be me, wouldn't it?"

"Peep, peep, peep!"

The bird burst into cheerful laughter.

Apparently, it found me amusing.

As I glared at the little creature, its status window suddenly appeared.

[Unnamed Little Bird (C+)

A bird born from sculptor Do Hwa-in's imagination.

Everything about it is fast, including its speech, flight, and learning ability.

Created by Do Hwa-in.

Owner: -

*The person who gives it a name will be recognized as its owner!

• Can use a small inventory.

*Currently Stored Items (0/5): -

!WARNING!

This is the first original creation!

→ The effects of the Aura stat are significantly enhanced.

This is a growth-type item!

→ Its rank and abilities may change depending on its development.]

My eyes widened in astonishment.

I'd suspected that its aura was stronger than that of the bouquet or the Scale Sword, but this was beyond anything I'd imagined.

An inventory?

I remembered the prices of inventory items I'd come across while researching the market value of B+ rank weapons.

Apart from inventory items obtained directly from Gates, most could only store one or two objects at most.

Despite their extremely limited capacity, their prices were comparable to those of A-Class weapons, which apparently started at 1.5 billion won.

After all, being able to store an enormous weapon or an entire combat backpack inside a single accessory was an extremely valuable advantage inside Gates.

And yet this little bird had an inventory with no fewer than five slots.

What's more, nobody would even realize it was an inventory item just by looking at it.

And it was a growth-type item on top of all that...!

The fact that something I'd created had developed a consciousness and was now moving around on its own was considerably more overwhelming than I'd expected.

But that feeling didn't last long.

As I stared blankly at the bird, I noticed that the feathers on its chest seemed puffier than before.

Is it actually feeling proud of itself right now?

How adorable.

I wonder who could have carved something this cute.

Right.

Well, it's already been born. What else can I do?

I'll just have to take responsibility for it.

Its manner of speaking was a little rude, but since it had boldly declared that it took after me, I couldn't exactly argue.

Still, I'd better make sure my skill never comes anywhere near a human sculpture if I can help it.

Taking responsibility for an animal was one thing, but I couldn't even begin to imagine how I'd take responsibility for an actual person.

Besides, having an item status window attached to a person would be pretty disturbing.

I cautiously reached out and stroked the bird.

This time, it remained perfectly still.

Even its behavior was adorable.

I could feel its smooth feathers beneath the tip of my index finger.

They were incredibly soft and pleasantly warm.

The sensation naturally soothed my nerves.

Ah...

I felt as though my heart were melting.

"Hello? Hwa-in? How much longer are you going to make me wait?"

"Ah, sorry. Anyway, I've decided to meet your guild master. I'm curious to see what he's actually like in person."

"Honestly, I'm the one who should be thanking you. If you refused to meet him, there wouldn't be anything we could do about it. I might even have to cling to your legs and beg you."

"That sounds pretty good. Should I cancel the deal right now?"

"Heh, heh. Don't even joke about that. You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Who's joking?"

"..."

I continued teasing Eom Seok-hwan right until the end.

If he was going to give me such a fright, the least he could do was put up with a little teasing.

Anyway...

My first business partner is going to be an S-Class Hunter and the guild master of South Korea's number-one guild.

One awakening had certainly brought about more unexpected developments than I could ever have imagined.

After hesitating for a moment on the other end of the line, Eom Seok-hwan spoke again, this time in a serious voice.

"Anyway, I really am grateful. The Scale Sword is incredible. I hope your negotiations with the guild master go well. That way, we'll be able to trade other items too, not just this sword."

I smiled slightly at his praise.

Eom Seok-hwan probably didn't realize it, but getting caught by Shin Ha-gyeon at just the right moment had actually improved my bargaining position.

As a crafter who'd only just produced his first item, I would have had difficulty securing a meeting with Yeonwoo Guild's vice guild master without personal connections.

Yet now I was going to meet the guild master himself.

And I hadn't been the one to request a private meeting with Shin Ha-gyeon.

He was the one who'd requested a meeting with me.

That difference alone gave me a considerable advantage in the negotiations.

"If the deal goes well, I'll give you a separate reward on top of the meal I promised. Just keep helping me until the contract is finalized."

"Of course! I'm going to remember that promise about a separate reward, you know. You've got my hopes up now!"

For the first time in a long while, I spent some time talking about the future with my friend.

One week later, in front of Yeonwoo Guild's main entrance.

"What's that bird?"

"Hello!"

"What the hell? It can talk?!"

With the little bird perched on top of my head, I looked at Eom Seok-hwan and gave him a faint smile.

"Say hello. Its name is Chaeri."

"...Why?"

"Because I made it from cherry wood."

"No, that's not what I meant. Why is a bird suddenly talking...? Don't tell me you made this thing too."

"Your guess is correct."

"You..."

Eom Seok-hwan opened and closed his mouth several times before whispering in an extremely low voice.

"Just how high is your skill's rank? Don't tell me it's S-Class."

"Yeah. It's S-Class."

"Huh? My friend is a genuine S-Class? ...Holy crap. That's seriously incredible."

"Ah, the rank isn't important, but could you keep Chaeri a secret from the guild until I decide to bring it up myself?"

"Why? Wouldn't showing it to them give you an even bigger advantage during the negotiations?"

Eom Seok-hwan widened his eyes, giving me a look that practically screamed, If you're going to keep it a secret, why did you bring it here?

It's not like I wanted to bring Chaeri along either.

Whenever I tried leaving it behind, it would somehow end up sitting on my head or shoulder.

Eventually, I'd had no choice but to bring it with me.

And judging by its behavior, it wasn't trying to play tricks on me or cause trouble.

It simply didn't want to be separated from its guardian.

Despite its tendency to grumble, it was still a newborn baby bird, after all.

"...There are a few things I'm worried about. To be honest, I'm still thinking it over."

"Worried? About what?"

"If I show them something too extraordinary, won't they start expecting too much from me?"

"But the Scale Sword is already comparable to an item obtained directly from a Gate..."

"Exactly. I've already shown them something incredible. Imagine what'll happen if they find out about Chaeri too. They'll start wanting even more. I'm planning to sell the Scale Sword and spend the next few months focusing on sculpture, so I'd rather not have them constantly making new demands."

"Ah, I see. Human greed can be pretty frightening. Personally, I think both our guild master and vice guild master are decent people. But you don't know them, so I can understand why you're worried."

Even though he belonged to the very guild we were discussing, Eom Seok-hwan was taking my side.

"Maybe things will be different once we've built up some trust. But there's no reason for me to show them every card in my hand right now."

"Well... Having more cards to play is certainly better. It's not like you're actually joining Yeonwoo Guild as a member, either."

"Anyway, shouldn't we head inside?"

I lightly rubbed my hands together as I urged him forward.

Eom Seok-hwan leaned awkwardly to one side.

"Ah, r-right. Come on in."

Chaeri hopped down from my head and slipped into the breast pocket of my shirt.

I stood in front of the elevator and stared at the numbers on the display.

Eom Seok-hwan, who was standing diagonally in front of me, glanced in my direction.

"I don't know how this is going to sound, but... I'm really glad to see you here in our guild building."

"What's with the sudden sentimentality?"

"I'm just saying I'm glad, even if it is sudden. I really hope the contract works out."

I scrunched up my nose slightly before quietly nodding.

"Phew..."

Standing in front of a dark wooden door, I took a moment to steady my breathing.

After examining the decorative patterns carved into its surface, I took Chaeri out of my shirt pocket.

"You promised, remember? You're going to wait here."

"..."

"Okay?"

"...Waaah!"

Although Chaeri whined in protest, it obediently slipped behind a decorative potted plant standing against one side of the corridor.

Perhaps because it was so small, it disappeared almost completely from sight.

"Are you done?"

"Yeah. Thanks for waiting. Let's go inside."

Eom Seok-hwan, who had been standing there awkwardly and shifting his eyes around, nodded and opened the door.

"Hello. I'm Do Hwa-in."

"So you've arrived. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Shin Ha-gyeon, the guild master of Yeonwoo Guild. Please, make yourself comfortable."

Shin Ha-gyeon's first impression was much friendlier than I'd expected.

However, there was a certain pressure emanating from him.

I already knew what it was, thanks to Eom Seok-hwan.

Mana.

The more mana a person possessed, the stronger their presence became.

By the time someone reached the level of an S-Class Hunter, that pressure could become so overwhelming that an ordinary person might actually faint.

Even now, Shin Ha-gyeon appeared to be suppressing his presence to some extent.

Nevertheless, simply keeping my head raised made the back of my neck ache.

Once an employee brought us some tea, Shin Ha-gyeon opened his mouth.