Chapter 6
“I mean that your skill might not be a simple mental interference type, Master. Perhaps… it’s far more dangerous and powerful than either of us imagined.”
“N-no, but if you look at the skill description—”
[Skill Description]
Garden of the Ruler (S)
You are the Ruler, and this world is the Ruler’s Garden.
Therefore, this place is your garden, and every being dwelling within it must naturally offer their absolute loyalty to the Ruler. However, he who wears the crown must bear its weight. The power of a King who has yet to hold his coronation cannot yet reach the weight of a thousand gold pieces.
※ The difficulty of the dominance condition increases for high-intelligence and high-rank lifeforms.
The description of ‘Garden of the Ruler’ floating in my status window remained unchanged. Whoever wrote this was stating it clearly: this was a skill intended to ‘rule’ others.
In this world, the categories for skills with such phrasing were predictable. It was either mental manipulation or domain dominance.
‘But my skill definitely isn’t the domain type.’
Domain dominance skills usually referred to exercising authority over natural elements. For instance, a Hunter with an affinity for water could bring all water within a certain area under their control.
In those cases, the skill names were blatant. Monarch of Water (S), King of Water (A), Ruler of Water (S)… things like that.
So, my skill was definitely a mental interference type. There was no other way to look at it. The description screamed it, right down to the characteristically cryptic and unfriendly phrasing often found in that category.
Hunter Yoon Joo-young, however, seemed to have a different take. Or rather, she was looking a step beyond.
“I’m not saying you’re wrong, Master. In fact… I think you’re right. Your skill likely falls under the mental interference category. But… that isn’t all it does.”
“Meaning…?”
“Perhaps your skill… enhances the target? Specifically, the one who becomes subordinate to you.”
“Enhances?”
So, it was a mental manipulation skill with a built-in buff?
I checked my skill description again, but I couldn’t find any such information. It wasn’t surprising, considering the text was nothing but abstract nonsense about kings and gardens.
However, a skill description didn’t always contain every single detail. This was a fact Hunters had verified over the last five years through constant use, application, and modification of their abilities.
‘…But still.’
It was hard to believe that a feature powerful enough to jump a B-rank Hunter to S-rank would be left out of the description entirely.
No matter how incomplete a description might be, they wouldn’t just omit the primary function. If that were the case, the Hunter Association would have issued a public guideline long ago warning that ‘skills may possess functions significantly beyond their descriptions.’
“Look, Hunter Yoon Joo-young. I find it hard to believe it has an enhancement feature strong enough to turn a B-rank into an S-rank. If it did, it would definitely be in the description.”
“But based on what you’ve told me, Master, isn’t it true that your skill hasn’t been properly explained from the start?”
“Well… that’s true, but…”
“Master. It’s a fact that I awakened as an S-rank… but that awakening happened after you used your skill on me.”
“…….”
“And more importantly… in all my years, I have never heard of a rank-up awakening that simultaneously heals every wound on one’s body.”
That… was true. In every story I’d heard about rank-up awakenings—about how people felt lighter or experienced a strength they’d never known—there was never a mention of ‘total physical restoration.’
‘Then it really was… because of my skill?’
If awakening a B-rank into an S-rank and healing fatal wounds in an instant were all part of my skill’s effect…
‘…Can I even handle the weight of that?’
There are many Awakened. There are many Hunters. And there are countless Hunters who are desperate to raise their rank.
It was only natural. High-rank Hunters made more money. They were famous. Not only that, for some unknown reason, people seemed to get more attractive the higher their rank climbed.
Naturally, everyone in the world wished to awaken, and if they did, they wanted to be high-ranked.
And unfortunately, the world isn’t just full of good people. There are plenty who would do anything, no matter how heinous, if it meant raising their rank.
To be honest… I didn’t have the confidence to protect myself from those people. I was just an ordinary C-rank Hunter.
I walked down the dark alleyway toward home in silence, my mind racing with thoughts about my skill and my future. It was a deeply troubling walk back.
…Wait.
“Excuse me, Hunter Yoon Joo-young. How long do you plan on following me?”
“Yes? Well, I intended to stay by your side to protect you, Master… Does it make you uncomfortable? If so, should I move to the shadows and guard you from there?”
“…What?”
“……?”
…What on earth is this person talking about?
[Unexpected Turn in Low-Difficulty Dungeon… C-rank, C+-rank Hunters Reported Deceased]
At 3 PM yesterday, two Hunters—one C-rank and one C+-rank—were reported killed in a Red Chimera dungeon located in ○○-dong, ○○-gu, Seoul, causing a significant shock to the community.
According to a survivor interviewed at the scene, an unexpectedly evolved form of the usual Red Chimera boss monster appeared. This monster reportedly killed the C+-rank Hunter, Mr. Lee, first, followed immediately by the C-rank Hunter, Mr. Kang.
Regarding this sudden development, the Dungeon Management Committee stated they would strive for stricter dungeon oversight. Netizens reacted with comments such as, “Is the Administrator at it again?” and “They probably didn’t hire a B-rank just to save money.”
—Hunter Ilbo, Reporter Lee Ri-on
“It’s an article about yesterday.”
“…Ah.”
I looked up from my smartphone screen to see Hunter Yoon Joo-young sporting the same polite, perfect smile she had when we first met at the dungeon entrance.
I’d thought this since our first meeting, but she really was striking—her features were sharp and harmonious. It was a pleasure to look at her.
Even if everyone undergoes some level of physical improvement upon awakening, becoming a true ‘beauty’ usually requires a decent foundation to begin with. Hunter Yoon Joo-young must have been quite beautiful even before she awakened.
“It’s common for Hunters to die in dungeons, but since such a freak occurrence happened in a low-difficulty dungeon… it’s understandable that the public is in an uproar.”
“I suppose so…”
“I wonder what the Administrator is thinking. Does he simply enjoy watching humans suffer?”
“Who knows…”
“Oh, I noticed you haven’t had breakfast, so I peeled some fruit for you. Would you like some?”
“Thank you…”
“I couldn’t just stand by and watch my Master skip meals.”
“Thank you… wait, no. Hunter Yoon Joo-young. I told you, I am not your ‘Master’ or whatever you’re calling me.”
I don’t know how many times I’ve told her that since yesterday. I chewed on the apple she pressed into my mouth and repeated myself with a sigh.
“Listen, Hunter Yoon Joo-young. Do you really plan on living in my house? Seriously? In this tiny place?”
“Yes, of course. Ah, if the location isn’t to your liking, how about moving to my place instead? It’s far too humble for someone of your stature, but…”
“Of course a B-rank—former B-rank’s house would be better than a C-rank’s. But that’s not the point…”
I never formally studied Confucianism, but even I knew about the traditional propriety of men and women not sharing the same space.
Yesterday, everything happened so fast that I ended up letting her sleep in the small room I used for storage… but that didn’t mean it should become a permanent arrangement.
I tried to fix her with my most determined expression.
“Hunter Yoon Joo-young. I am a woman, and you are a man.”
“Master. Please, speak comfortably to me. Um, would you prefer to just call me ‘Joo-young’?”
“Stop talking nonsense. Regardless of how you feel, I am a common-sense citizen of this era who finds it incredibly uncomfortable to have a member of the opposite sex living in my house.”
Of course, I knew that in her eyes, I wasn’t a ‘woman’ or the ‘opposite sex’—I was ‘Master.’ Her behavior made that abundantly clear.
As soon as she entered my house, the first thing she did was open the fridge, ask why it was full of instant food, and then proceed to go grocery shopping, prep ingredients, cook dinner, and clean the whole place…
Wait, is she a nanny?
Anyway. Back to the point. The most important thing right now was to somehow kick her out.
To be honest, the thought of reporting her for trespassing did cross my mind… but my conscience pricked me at the thought of reporting someone who ended up like this because of my skill.
Before my skill hit her, Hunter Yoon Joo-young was a perfectly normal—actually, a rather kind and sensible—person.
