Chapter 23
“Why do you keep coming to bother me every day?”
“I’ve got nothing else to do during break except train anyway.”
Late morning.
After eating breakfast, I went straight to the hospital ward.
My mom was lying still in bed, unable to move properly after knee surgery. Though she pretended to be annoyed that I came, she never actually told me not to visit.
“They said your break lasts a week, right?”
“Yeah. It ends in two days, so I’ll go straight back then.”
“…I see.”
She looked uneasy.
I could tell she was about to start lecturing me with some worried advice, so I tried to change the subject—
Bzzz—
My phone buzzed loudly on the table at the perfect time.
“Hold on.”
When I picked it up, the screen only showed a number—no saved name.
A call from someone I didn’t know.
“Hello?”
[What are you doing?]
“…Who is this?”
Who calls from an unknown number and just starts with ‘what are you doing?’?
I asked, a bit taken aback, and a cool voice replied:
[Han Sui.]
“Oh.”
Right—she’d given me her number yesterday.
I hadn’t saved it because I hadn’t given mine in return.
“What’s up?”
[Let’s spar.]
“Today again?”
[Yeah. You said you train every day anyway.]
Even after getting thoroughly beaten yesterday, Sui didn’t seem fazed at all and was already asking for another match.
Well, she actually seemed to enjoy it.
She’d kept saying it was the first time she’d met someone her age stronger than her and had challenged me over and over for hours without getting tired.
Even if her face didn’t show a smile, there was a strange spark of excitement in every clash of our swords.
[I got a temporary pass from my senior. You just need to show up.]
She was already fully prepared.
Honestly, training at a big guild with good facilities was good for me too—but…
“Can’t today.”
[Why?]
“I couldn’t buy my equipment yesterday because I was training with you.”
I hadn’t managed to buy a proper weapon after bumping into her at the store and heading straight into a spar.
And besides the sword and armor, I needed to buy potions too, so there was no time today.
[Then tomorrow.]
“Can’t tomorrow either. I’m entering a gate in two days, so I need to rest up.”
[…]
A silence followed my repeated refusals.
Feeling slightly guilty for turning her down so much, I was about to say something when she spoke again.
[…Are you going to buy a longsword today?]
“Yeah. I’ll get that and some potions, and get everything ready before entering the gate.”
[I see.]
At least she seemed to understand.
I was about to say goodbye and hang up when she spoke again in her flat voice.
[Then come to our guild at 2 p.m.]
“I told you, I have to buy my weapon.”
[Come to our guild at 2 p.m.]
“….”
Guess she didn’t understand after all.
No—she probably understood perfectly well. She was just stubborn.
If I kept arguing like this, it would go nowhere, so I decided to compromise.
“Fine, fine. But only for an hour.”
[See you later.]
The one-sided call finally ended.
An hour should be fine.
I began mentally rearranging my day’s schedule.
After pocketing my phone, Mom asked curiously:
“Who was that? A friend?”
“A classmate from the academy.”
“Sounded like a girl’s voice.”
A teasing smile crept across her face.
It wasn’t her usual gentle smile—it was mischievous.
“My son just became a Hunter and already he’s chasing girls?”
“I’m not! She’s just a classmate.”
“I’d like a daughter-in-law who’s friendly and sweet, like a daughter to me.”
Nobody was taking me seriously today.
Maybe she was extra talkative because it was the first time she’d seen me on the phone with a girl.
“You’re meeting her later, right? Go home and change into something nice!”
“I told you, it’s not like that.”
“Sure, sure—now hurry up!”
She patted my thigh playfully, trying to push me out the door.
Even though there was still time before I had to leave, she kept urging me to go.
On the surface, it was teasing—but deep down, I knew she was worried I wasn’t hanging out with friends because of her situation.
I couldn’t just sit there any longer.
I stood up.
“Have fun on your date~”
“….”
She waved with a bright smile—happier than usual.
I didn’t mind it. I just told her I’d come again tomorrow and left the room.
“You came.”
“I’m only staying for an hour.”
“Okay, come on in.”
She nodded slightly, handing me a temporary pass.
“I’ve prepared everything inside.”
“The sparring hall? Doesn’t the guild staff prepare the equipment there anyway?”
Normally, when you reserve a sparring room, the staff prepares all the needed equipment beforehand.
So she probably just meant she made the reservation herself.
I followed her inside, but when we arrived at the training hall, the sight that greeted me was… different.
“…What’s all this?”
A real sword lay at the center of the room.
Not only that—there was a set of expensive-looking armor and a heavy, stuffed bag beside it.
I looked at Sui with confusion.
She met my eyes and said calmly,
“After our call, I asked my grandfather to prepare these. He said he picked only the best, so they should be good.”
“….”
Her eyes weren’t joking in the slightest.
And Han Sui wasn’t the kind of person who’d go through this much trouble just for a joke.
Still, it was hard to believe. I asked just to make sure.
“All of that… is for me?”
“Yeah.”
No hesitation.
She stared straight at me and added:
“So, we can train together all day today, right?”
“Heh.”
I couldn’t even laugh properly—it was ridiculous.
All this, just because I said I couldn’t train for a day?
I had to admit, her generosity was impressive. I slowly looked over the equipment.
They’re all luxury brands.
Even a quick glance told me how high-end these items were.
The backpack was packed with potions and emergency supplies for gate expeditions.
“Let’s spar now.”
As I inspected the gear, she approached, holding out a practice sword.
I looked between her and the equipment and asked cautiously:
“Is your family rich?”
“What exactly defines ‘rich’?”
The fact that she had to ask that said everything.
There was no need to dig further.
Rich or not, these weren’t things I could just accept.
I carefully organized the bag and stood up.
“I’ll spar with you, but I’m not taking this.”
“You’re not?”
“Yeah. I’m not.”
A firm rejection.
I glanced at the items.
“That’s easily over a billion won. How could I accept something like that?”
“There’s plenty more at home. It doesn’t matter.”
“Still no.”
Even if the giver said it was fine, the receiver had to think carefully.
“Giving such expensive gifts to a friend can actually ruin the relationship.”
If you accept something like that, you start worrying about what to give back.
And if you can’t, it just becomes awkward.
“I’m not someone who can afford to repay a gift like this.”
“I’m not asking you to.”
“Even so, I’d still feel guilty.”
If I were the type who didn’t think too much, maybe I’d just take it happily.
But if I accepted, I’d start feeling obligated to her—and I hated that kind of dynamic between friends.
“I’m uncomfortable with it, so I’ll have to decline.”
“…Uncomfortable.”
Her voice noticeably softened.
Her expression didn’t change much, but I could tell she was deflated.
I’d thought she wasn’t the emotional type, but maybe that wasn’t quite true.
She probably doesn’t know much about this sort of thing.
Her social world was even smaller than mine—just the training room, lecture halls, and dorms.
I’d never seen her hanging out with anyone her age.
Makes sense, then.
Quiet, stoic, labeled a genius—no wonder others felt distant from her.
I could kind of guess why she’d done this.
I gently took the practice sword from her hand.
“I’ll buy my stuff tomorrow, so let’s just spar like yesterday today.”
“Huh…?”
Her blank expression showed she hadn’t expected that turn.
Her face changed in a way I’d never seen before.
When I found myself oddly fascinated, she shook her head quickly.
“No, it’s not that. It’s just…”
“Just what?”
“You said you were uncomfortable.”
“I said your gift made me uncomfortable—not you.”
Normally, both would make me uneasy, but…
Knowing why she did this, I couldn’t feel annoyed—only a little sorry.
“Next time, if you really want to do something like this, just ask. Don’t go through all the trouble.”
“….”
She looked at me silently, then nodded.
“Okay.”
The corners of her lips lifted—barely, but definitely.
I was about to help her pack up when—
“Well, at least it’s not some shameless brat clinging to my granddaughter.”
A gruff voice came from the doorway.
I looked up immediately.
White hair, short frame barely 170 cm, forearms thick with veins, and a burn scar covering half his left face.
Too distinct to mistake.
“…Master Han Sanguk?”
“Watch your manners, kid. Call me Master Han Sanguk,” he barked.
I’d spoken too casually out of surprise, but Sui only looked at him calmly.
“Grandpa, why are you here?”
“I heard my Sui finally made a friend, so I had to come see who it was~”
His tone toward her was completely different—his stern face melted into a soft smile within seconds.
But what shocked me even more was something else.
“Your grandpa is that Han Sanguk?”
“Yeah. My grandfather.”
Han Sanguk—the living legend of Korean blacksmiths.
Weapons he forged were prized artifacts that couldn’t be bought with money alone.
And she was his granddaughter.
No wonder I didn’t know—our circles never overlapped.
So that’s why all the equipment’s the same brand.
They were all made by the company her grandfather founded.
To her, those weapons were basically pocket change.
“I was worried some mosquito of a boy might be leeching off my granddaughter… but looks like that’s not the case.”
Master Han stepped closer, staring straight into my face.
His eyes were completely different from when he’d looked at Sui.
Was it just protective instinct for his granddaughter… or did he sense something unusual about me?
Either way, I needed to stay composed.
“Hello, sir. I’m Jung Juhyuk, Han Sui’s classmate at the academy.”
“I know. The F-rank kid who solo-carried a D-rank gate.”
So he’d already looked me up.
He glared for a few moments, then turned toward the equipment.
“Take it. They’re just spares I picked from the workshop.”
“I really can’t, sir. They’re too expensive.”
“Expensive, huh…”
He thought for a moment, then spoke with a grin.
“Then let’s call it a commission.”
“A… commission?”
“Yeah. No problem if there’s a fair exchange, right?”
Pointing at the gear, he said casually:
“Take those—and in return, clear a B-rank gate for me.”
