Chapter 111

Chapter 111: The Reason Rin Waited and Did Not Sleep

CLANG! CLANG!

The bells rang from the south.

"A strong monster must have appeared. I'll head to the scene."

"Understood."

I opened Acresia and activated a Gate Portal, setting the destination to the top of the south wall.

Then, together with Maxim, I stepped through the portal.

As soon as I emerged, I could see exactly what monster it was.

"That's..."

A monster notorious even among the Highest-Grade.

'A Head Hunter.'

A bipedal monster resembling a brown mantis.

At a height just under two meters, it was closer to a small monster among the Highest-Grade.

However, the smaller the body, the smaller the target range for Hunters to strike.

On top of that, it was said to have remarkably quick movement and reflexes, making landing an attack on it extraordinarily difficult.

'The reason it's called a Head Hunter is that it uses its powerful hind legs to leap swiftly and sever Hunters' heads.'

Now such a Head Hunter came charging toward the wall and launched into a massive leap.

In a single bound, it vaulted atop the six-meter wall.

'Incredible jumping power.'

Once atop the wall, the Head Hunter fixed its glare on me.

"I didn't build the wall for it to be jumped over. Well, there's no helping monsters with that kind of leap."

I pulled a spear from Acresia, gripped it, and prepared for combat.

"Guild Master!"

"We'll help!"

Guild members were running along the top of the wall from behind me.

I extended a hand to hold them back.

"Stand back, please. This is a highly dangerous monster."

"But..."

"I'll be fine. I'll hold it off until another S-Rank Hunter or guild arrives."

Today's patrol duty among the S-Rank Hunters and the Knight Quartet belonged to Santos, the Team Leader.

He was sprinting over from afar.

The highest-ranked Hunters staying at the outpost were also coming along.

Holding out until then would be nothing.

"Kyaaah!"

The Head Hunter swung the talons of its forelimbs, threatening me.

When I showed no fear, it closed the distance and leapt, bringing its sharp talons down at me.

CLANG!

I raised the shaft of my spear with both hands to block the strike, then spun it sharply to aim for the creature's neck.

A technique Neville had taught me.

But the Head Hunter sprang far back.

Its reflexes were as fast as advertised.

I pressed in immediately and began a string of attacks on the Head Hunter.

'Thanks to Neville, I've gained confidence in close-quarters spear combat.'

I had learned the overall framework of battle from Ria, and advanced spear techniques from Neville.

But the Head Hunter lived up to its reputation—it wasn't budging an inch against me.

If I used my skills I could overpower it, but I was deliberately refraining for the sake of combat experience.

'With just a bit more in my stats, I think I could subdue it.'

That little gap was all it took for my strikes to fall short by a paper's breadth.

Conversely, I began to give ground, little by little.

Minor cuts were piling up.

If I got hurt any worse, Ria would be upset.

As I was starting to think about using a skill—

DING—!

The sound of music reached me.

And then—

[Pulse of the Heart]

[Song or performance duration effect: All stats of allies within a 60m radius are raised by 17%. Nimbleness is raised by 22%.]

A performance buff activated.

A different piece from the one I'd heard before.

All stats up by 17%, and Nimbleness up by a whole 22%.

'This is precisely the buff I need right now.'

I glanced briefly down below the wall and saw Damon playing his classical guitar.

Tapping the body of the guitar as he played, producing a drumming sound.

Tapping the body to produce a drumbeat was one of the fingerstyle technique skills.

The sound resembled the throbbing of a heart.

'Arriving before Santos—Damon's party's base camp must be on the south side.'

Thanks to that, I—who had been giving ground—began to press the Head Hunter.

The spear tip that had missed by a hair's breadth now began to land as my Nimbleness rose by 22%.

SLASH!

With a follow-up strike, I severed one of the Head Hunter's antennae.

At that, the Head Hunter's combat sense plummeted.

Its reflexes slowed, and its attacks grew inaccurate.

Then—

SHLOP!

I cut the Head Hunter's neck with the spear blade.

The Head Hunter, specialized in nimbleness, turned out to have extremely weak defense.

And so—

THUD!

the Head Hunter's head rolled to the ground.

Its headless body crumpled as well.

With a spear alone, and without using any skill, I had triumphed over the infamous Highest-Grade monster known as the Head Hunter.

'Though I did receive a buff.'

Well, I hadn't used Spatial Thrust, the spear's unique skill, so the feat was indeed remarkable.

"Whoa!"

"Our Guild Master is strong!"

"And he did it without using a skill!"

I had preserved face as the Guild Master.

By the time I looked down, Santos and the outpost Hunters had arrived and stood by.

Santos gave me a thumbs up.

I returned the thumbs up to him.

I then extracted the Highest-Grade Magic Stone from the Head Hunter.

I absorbed the carcass into Acresia to wrap up the cleanup.

Then I descended from the wall and handed Damon one High-Grade Magic Stone.

As compensation for his help in hunting the Head Hunter.

Damon waved it off.

"I can't accept something this large."

"Please take it. You helped with the performance buff, so I'm just paying a fair price. In our guild, contributions to a hunt are compensated accordingly. That's why I take 85%. The 15% for your help goes to you, Damon."

"But I'm not even a guild member."

"Still, please take it. I don't like being in anyone's debt or burdened by obligations. I prefer to settle things right away."

"...I'll accept it, then."

He took it at last.

"Should anything like this happen again, I'd be grateful for your help."

"Of course!"

Thus, as Guild Master, I did not forget to secure the goodwill of a capable Hunter with some behind-the-scenes groundwork.

Well, if recruiting him didn't work out, so be it.

If it did, that would be great.

What mattered was at least trying.

"I'll be counting on your live performance tomorrow, too."

"I'll give it my all."

***

The next day.

I began the evening service.

For dinner, instead of meals, the restaurant usually served drink-accompanying dishes.

Today, we'd be running the evening service in a live-bar atmosphere.

For that reason, I prepared jamón, mixed fruits, a cheese platter, a charcuterie platter, and gambas.

The evening service was packed with customers to the point that seating was short.

Seats were so scarce we had to use the outdoor tables.

"Ji-young, tiring?"

On top of the lunch service, we were running the evening service as well.

It was Ji-young's first time working the Rift restaurant's evening service.

"Not at all. Compared to my Pungjeong days, this is a walk in the park."

"That's true."

Fine dining required finicky ingredient prep, so setup took a long time.

At its peak, Pungjeong had been booked out months in advance with not a single open table—requiring enormous amounts of prep.

So we worked over thirteen hours a day back then.

Compared to that, this was easy.

"By the way, there really are a lot of customers. Every so often I forget we're on the Fourth Floor of a Rift."

"Hehe! I have moments like that too."

"As expected—wherever the Chef takes command of a restaurant, customers flock in."

"That's a bit of an exaggeration."

Soon—

DING-A-LING!

On the small stage set up at one side of the restaurant, Damon began to play and sing.

The customers sipped wine and enjoyed his performance.

'Tonight's live-bar concept for the evening service is a trial run, to see how it lands.'

I was checking how well a live bar would work if we actually opened one.

The customers were being swept away by Damon's playing and sweet singing.

'Nice.'

It was the kind of atmosphere that made me want a glass of wine myself.

As the service wound down,

I asked departing customers about the evening's atmosphere.

Most were satisfied, but there were a few left wanting.

"I was disappointed there was no makgeolli."

"I was in the mood for jeon—could we have that next time?"

"I wanted to try a variety of drinks, so only having wine and Western liquor was a little disappointing."

"I'd love it if there were some soup dishes."

The Hunter customers, surprisingly, wanted Korean-style drinking dishes.

'Has my menu been too Korean-leaning lately?'

I had, unknowingly, trained the Hunter customers' palates toward Korean food.

But there was one thing every customer agreed on.

That was that listening to the live performance while having a drink had been as good as it gets.

I had to think this through.

'But I can't open a live bar and a separate Korean-style pub-tent too.'

One bar inside the outpost was enough.

Any more and finding staff would be a struggle.

There were also customers who wanted izakaya-style drinks and food.

Then the conclusion was—

'Mix them all together.'

I'd make a fusion bar that blended a Korean pub, a Japanese izakaya, and a Western bar.

Fusion bars were already in operation at many venues back home.

Quite a few of them were doing well, from what I'd heard.

Damon finished packing up his instrument and came over to greet me.

"Thank you for giving me the opportunity to perform live at such a wonderful venue tonight. It'll be a treasured memory."

"Not at all—the gratitude is all mine."

I handed him a small pouch containing two Mid-Grade Magic Stones.

"I'd love to have you again next time."

Taking the pouch, Damon said,

"I'd be honored. Call me anytime."

"Then I'll count on you again. By the way, Damon, how long are you planning to stay here?"

"I've taken a great liking to this outpost. It's comfortable and safe. I plan to stay here for a while and write some songs. I'd also like to see with my own eyes how this outpost grows."

"Is that so? You can look forward to it."

Full-scale construction was scheduled to begin within a few days.

Buildings would go up as quickly as the walls had.

We stepped outside together.

Damon took in the outpost with his eyes and said,

"Chef, you truly are amazing. You've both the ability and the connections to build a place like this."

"I've just been lucky, that's all."

"Luck is a skill in its own right. And the connections are thanks to your good character, I'm sure."

"Haha..."

"Staying here, I've become a fan of yours, Chef. There are probably many Hunters besides me who feel the same. I hope you flourish even more."

He gave me a slight bow.

I could feel he meant it.

I bowed as well in thanks.

"Thank you. I'll work even harder."

***

Once the evening service was over, I cleaned up, finished work, and went home.

"Papa..."

Rubbing her sleepy eyes, Rin came toward me with her arms spread wide.

I caught her and lifted her into my arms.

"Rin, why aren't you asleep at this hour?"

Normally, at this time, she'd have been long since asleep.

Rin started falling asleep when it got dark and woke when it grew light again.

She slept eleven or more hours a day.

"Papa wasn't home, so Rin waited."

"You did? You could have just gone to sleep."

"No. Before sweep, Rin is s'posed to give cheek kiss and say goodnight. Rin weawned that."

Watching by the side, Ria smiled.

"When Seon-u is late from the evening service, I told her she could go ahead and sleep, but Rin insisted on waiting."

"Hehe! Did she?"

"Hehe!"

I carried Rin in my arms to her room.

Rin kissed me on the cheek.

"Goodnight, Papa."

"Right, sleep well, our Rin."

I laid Rin on the bed and kissed her forehead.

Rin broke into a beaming smile.

Seeing that smile, the day's fatigue vanished in an instant.

Soon her eyes slowly closed and she drifted off to sleep.

She must have been really sleepy.