How to get on the protagonist’s flower path

“First, go wash your hands! What are you doing with those!”

Idgrasill kicked the researcher’s butt, slightly easing my anxiety. The man walked away, rubbing his backside and sauntering toward the restroom.

A short while later.

“Wow, thank you for waiting!”

I don’t know how he managed it, but within a few minutes, the researcher had cleaned himself up and was guiding us to the reception table.

Wearing thick horn-rimmed glasses, he saw the elixir I had placed on the table and smiled broadly.

“So, is this the elixir candidate you want to know about?”

“Yes. I appreciate your help.”

“Don’t worry! I’m at the top when it comes to potion-making, at the top! Now, let’s get started!”

His cheeky smile disappeared as he picked up the elixir bottle, instantly transforming into a serious expression.

He opened the bottle cap, filled a dropper with some of the liquid, and transferred it into a test tube, moving the test tube to experimental machines that looked like microscopes along with some other mysterious testing devices.

Wiiiiiing—

The equipment spun the test tube around and began spitting out unknown indices on a monitor.

Each time he saw the numbers, the researcher would exclaim an unclear “ooh” and quickly moved his hands to continue, continue to the next test.

As the tests prolonged, and with each result spat out numerically as the test tubes passed through the devices, his eyes began to shine with increasing excitement.

“Maybe this really is…”

Before long, the test tube passed through the last device, displaying all the information contained within it.

After reading all the information, the researcher suddenly smiled widely and swiftly pulled a scalpel from his pocket, slicing his palm.

“Sir?!”

“Wait a minute! What are you doing?”

“What… there really are some crazy people out there.”

It was as if he finally remembered our presence as he turned around, still smiling brightly.

“Oh dear! You’re still here! Don’t worry! All the values match with the elixirs that existed before in the records! But to understand the actual reaction in real situations that the values can’t reveal, we need to use it!”

“…Is that really necessary?”

“No? But wouldn’t this be more fun? More certain!”

…Is he crazy?

He maintained his cheerful demeanor and poured the elixir from the test tube onto his palm, which he had just cut with the scalpel.

As soon as he did, the area around the wound began to glow and healed almost instantly.

“Oh ho… not only does it heal wounds with such a small amount, but it also has the effect of enhancing the user’s physical health…”

“So, it’s definitely an elixir, then?”

“Of course! There’s no doubt it’s a genuine elixir! By the way, would you consider donating that elixir for my experiment—”

“Hey, Kang Nahyun. Drink it.”

Ignoring the nonsense coming from the researcher, Idgrasill handed the elixir straight to me. She added with a smile, “I’m glad. You’ll be able to treat your younger brother.”

“Wait! Are you listening? This is an incredible opportunity! You can reproduce the elixir!”

“Yes. Thank you for your help, Idgrasill!”

“This is outrageous! For the advancement of science and potion-making, you should at least think about—”

“Big brother, that man is noisy.”

“Let’s ignore him.”

I gently placed the elixir into Kangyu’s hand and put my hand on his ear.

He giggled as he placed his hand on top of mine.

Seeing that smile warmed my heart. My little brother is adorable.

For the record, the researcher was now sitting on the floor after Idgrasill had kicked him over. Thank you.

“Can I drink it now?”

“Yes. But I want to ask you one last thing.”

“Because everything needs to be certain?”

“Yes. You understand well, Kangyu. So, I’ll ask one last time.”

I gently cupped Kangyu’s cheeks with my hands and whispered.

“Kangyu, do you want to be a hunter?”

At my words, Kangyu smiled sweetly, his blue eyes shining.

“I do.”

There was no hesitation in his eyes, so that answer was enough for me.

I silently removed my hands from Kangyu’s cheeks and took a step back.

“Then, Kangyu, drink the elixir.”

“Okay!”

“Wait!”

“Let’s ignore that.”

“Okay!”

Without hesitation, Kangyu downed the entire elixir.

With each movement of Kangyu’s throat, the vibrant blue liquid in the elegant bottle gradually disappeared.

Eventually, when all the blue liquid was gone, a light began to radiate from Kangyu’s entire body.

“Oooh! Is my whole body being enhanced?!”

I could hear the researcher’s voice filled with admiration, but there was no time to pay attention to that. The intense light was blinding, but I strained my eyelids and tried to focus on Kangyu.

Soon, the light enveloping Kangyu began to fade.

As the light dissipated, there stood Kangyu, looking surprisingly intact, holding the empty bottle with a bewildered expression.

“It’s dazzling…”

“Kangyu, are you okay?!”

I rushed over to Kangyu and hugged him tightly.

In an instant, Kangyu had grown taller than me, looking down at me with a smile.

“Wow, I’m taller than you now!”

I could feel his solid upper body, now significantly larger. It was as if he was enjoying looking down at me with his bright blue eyes.

To me, he was still my adorable little brother, but seeing him like this made him look like a nearly grown young man.

Kangyu lowered his head and rested his chin on my head. He hummed a tune, seemingly in a good mood. It made me smile too.

“Right? So, you’re not feeling any pain now?”

“I’m fine! I think I can use water without any problem! …But my clothes are way too small now.”

“That’s a relief…! Let’s go shopping for new clothes together!”

“But, what about my hyper-ability? Aren’t we going to test that?”

As we were happily chatting, Idgrasill approached us with big strides.

In one hand, she was dragging the researcher, who was gripping his neck.

As I heard Idgrasill’s question, I couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat while looking at Kangyu’s brightening expression.

“…W-well, Kangyu has a hard time controlling his abilities.”

“Hmm? Isn’t that okay? I’m here.”

“Really?!”

“Of course! Don’t worry! I can handle any ability!”

“Uh… the thing is, Kangyu’s power is stronger than you might think…”

“Who am I? I’m Idgrasill! I wouldn’t bat an eye at anything that’s only moderate!”

“…”

What on earth am I supposed to do?

I found myself genuinely troubled, caught between Idgrasill, who was looking at us confidently, and Kangyu, who was tugging at my sleeve with sparkling eyes.

Hmm… there’s no helping it.

“Then, Kangyu. Just a tiny, tiny bit. Really the minimum amount of water, okay?”

“Okay!”

“Minimum? What do you take me for?”

Idgrasill’s grumbling didn’t even register in my ears anymore.

I anxiously watched as the excited Kangyu closed his eyes and focused.

The real issue was how much stronger he had gotten… I hoped he hadn’t become even more powerful.

Not long after Kangyu closed his eyes, the building began to vibrate.

Rumble—

At the same time, I heard something flowing through the pipes. As if experiencing a mild earthquake, the entire building shook, and the researcher panicked and shouted.

“Wh-what is happening?! Is it an earthquake?!”

“Hmm? Is that child’s power? It’s impressive, even if it’s just a portion.”

“…No, this is…”

The building started to vibrate even more intensely.

Thud—! Thud—! Thud—!

Crash—!

Finally, water burst out from the twisted and broken pipes, drenching the room.

The flowing water immediately surrounded Kangyu, lifting him into the air.

Up until this point, Idgrasill had been admiring the scene leisurely.

“Hm, pretty strong, huh? To draw up this much water.”

“Ah! My equipment!”

The researcher, who had briefly managed to get up, staggered and fell over again due to the overwhelming vibrations.

Meanwhile, Kangyu remained calm, eyes still closed as he focused on controlling his ability.

More and more water encircled his body, gradually increasing in volume.

The vibrations felt from below continued to grow stronger.

I sighed and said.

“…Idgrasill.”

“What’s wrong? More importantly… it seems like something is stirring down below. We might have to put off looking after that child for a moment.”

“You… don’t have to put it off.”

Just as I was about to say something,

Kuwakakakwang—!

A loud crashing sound echoed.

Wiiiiiing—!

The emergency alarm started ringing.

Yggdrasil was poised to pull a weapon from her inventory, ready to aim downward.

Kuwakwang—! Kwakwang—!

The sound of something enormous breaking through the floor resounded. ‘That’ was rising up like a monster.

“What is this? This should be a safe zone…! Could it be the Wild Hunter?”

Yggdrasil gripped her bow with a serious expression.

The moment she nocked an arrow onto her bowstring, ‘that,’ which had broken through the floor of the layer we were in, swept over Gangyu.

“What the—!”

“…I told you. ‘It’s stronger than you think.'”

Yggdrasil was astonished, but I remained calm.

After all, what had pierced through all the floors of this building and engulfed Gangyu was precisely the water that Gangyu had drawn from deep underground in this city.

Kuwung— Kuwung— Kuwung—

A column of water shot up through the layer we were in, breaking through to the sky.

Yet Gangyu floated peacefully with her eyes closed, even amidst the fierce water column.

“Gangyu, it’s time.”

Gangyu, who had been floating with her eyes closed in the rising column of water, slowly opened her eyes.

The surging water began to flow downward.

As if it was simply returning to where it should have been, the water flowed backward in a way that made it seem as if time had reversed, disappearing as if it had never existed.

All that remained were the remnants of the buildings and objects destroyed by the powerful column of water.

Having witnessed the entire scene vividly, Yggdrasil was frozen in astonishment, still nocking an arrow on her bowstring.

“Um, Yggdrasil?”

I cautiously called her.

However, she seemed unable to shake off her shock, staring blankly at Gangyu.

In the meantime, Gangyu, having removed all the water and descended from the air, approached me quickly and said while looking at Yggdrasil,

“I can handle this much easily! If I exert a little more strength, I can draw water from the sea, and the power I feel around here? I can convert it into water—”

At that moment, Yggdrasil stepped forward and firmly grabbed both of Gangyu’s hands.

What’s going on?

Just as I was about to feel puzzled by her deeply bowed head, she opened her mouth.

“Right now.”

“…?”

“Let’s take the entrance exam for the Guardian Academy immediately! No, more importantly, becoming my disciple comes first! I need to ask this first! Do you want to become a Hunter?”

“Yes!”

“Then can you endure any hardship?”

“Yes!”

“Great! Let’s go train!”

“Wow! Sister—”