Chapter 28
<Level Up #2>
As soon as the activation level on Interface increased, the parts that had questions marks before were now revealed.
But, it didn’t completely reveal the information because there were still question marks on some parts.
“Did you level up?”
Kim Yoo-Na approached Hyun-Soo and asked.
“Yes, my rank increased.”
I was overwhelmed that my voice was filled joy.
I couldn’t walk on this path before.
This was the path I had to give up.
Even if he was late, knowing that he could walk on this path again made him feel touched.
“That’s a relief. Congratulations.”
“Thank you. It’s all thanks to you.”
It was true.
Getting help from a high-ranked hunter was really amazing.
After watching her, he learned what do to during combat and increased his stamina and agility.
If it wasn’t for Kim Yoo-Na, he would’ve just stayed home and wouldn’t have been able to participate in hunts.
He could’ve made a lot of money too.
However, there is a limit to that as well.
There was a limit on the skills he could make since his level was low.
‘I’m seriously lucky. Being able to level up like this.’
He remembered the thoughts he had whenever he looked at Kim Yoo-Na.
Kim Yoo-Na spoke with a small smile on her face.
“Then, please don’t forget about the scroll.”
“A man always keeps his words.”
“Great.”
Kim Yoo-Na had a satisfied smile on her face.
Even though she was covered in dark green fluids, she still looked pretty.
“It seemed like you were collecting something from the monster a moment ago…Can I ask what it is?”
“It was the Flower Spore’s premature spore.”
“Really? This is the first time I’ve heard of something like that.”
Kim Yoo-Na’s eyes widened after hearing his answer.
She looked curious as to whether it was good for the body.
Kim Yoo-Na was really interested in items that could be obtained in portals since she had already searched for most of the items that were in the portal.
If it wasn’t for Kim Yoo-Na he wouldn’t have known about the different ways that the items and the monster’s corpse could be used.
‘I knew that different industries used a monster’s corpse, but I didn’t know it could be used directly on a person.’
An Energy Stone could be used as medicine, but a monster’s corpse was a different story..
That’s why, an ordinary hunter wouldn’t have thought about eating a monster.
But Kim Yoo-Na was different.
She looked at Hyun-Soo as if he had something she’s never seen before.
“I think this has a paralyzing effect.”
He already used Interface so he had detailed information about it, but Hyun-Soo said it as if he was making an assumption.
‘I’m really happy that I leveled up, but I should still watch what I say.’
“That’s possible. The Flower Spore bursts its pocket and paralyzes those around it. Hm. Do you think this is edible?”
‘You want to eat something that could paralyze a person?’
Hyun-Soo was dumbfounded after seeing Kim Yoo-Na contemplate about whether it was edible or not.
The immunity level of a hunter increases the higher their rank is, but to eat something like this…
“…Then, try eating it.”
“Oh, thank you.”
He doubted that she would actually eat it, but Kim Yoo-Na immediately took the spore that Hyun-Soo handed to her.
She took out a small knife from her pocket and lightly opened the fist-sized spore.
He smelled something sweet as she cut it open.
‘Huh?’
“It smells…pretty nice.”
“The spores that I’ve smelled from other Flower Spores didn’t smell like this. This is interesting.”
The honey-like smell made Kim Yoo-Na tilt her head.
Every time she did that, the Flower Spore’s fluid rolled down to her chin and dropped to the ground.
‘I want to wipe it off for her.’
As if she wasn’t interested in how her outer appearance looked, Kim Yoo-Na focused on the spore.
Kim Yoo-Na carefully placed her finger inside and touched the fluid.
The color of the premature spore was yellow.
She brought it up to her lips and tasted a little bit of it.
Kim Yoo-Na started murmuring and after tilting her head, she spoke.
“This is delicious. At first, it tastes just as sweet as the scent, but the paralyzing effect comes right after. It only paralyzes the area where it touched. It doesn’t last very long though.”
‘I’m sure. It only paralyzes for three minutes. It said the effects were weak too.’
The information that was displayed on Interface was similar to what Kim Yoo-Na said.
“I have an item that’s really good for the body, but because it’s so bitter and strong, ordinary people have a hard time eating it. It’s the poison from a Red Scorpion’s tail…”
“……?”
Hyun-Soo questioned his hearing for a second.
‘Poison? Did she just say poison?’
He was so shocked that his joy from leveling up disappeared immediately.
‘Doesn’t that mean she did more than just find the item that’s good for the body?’
If she knew the effects, that means she ate it herself.
A scorpion’s poison and it wasn’t just any scorpion. It was a monster.
Knowing that she had the guts to eat a monster’s poison made Hyun-Soo feel dumb stuck for a moment.
‘Is it similar to the elders that make alcohol out of wasps and snakes…?’
“If I purify with my skills, the deadly poison will disappear and the nutritious components will be left. The effects are twice as better as the Mutilated Rhinoceros’s horn.
That meant that the health recovery skill will increase by almost 6%.
He wasn’t sure how long the effects would last, but when rounded up, it would be close to 10%, so that’s probably why Kim Yoo-Na said its effects were good.
“But the problem is that it still tastes bitter even after getting rid of the poison. It’s so strong that it feels like you’re eating poison, so I couldn’t give it to Hye-Na. But, if I mixed it with this spore, then it’ll smell nice, dilute the taste and since it has a paralyzing effect, it should be okay. I wonder how I should mix them.”
Kim Yoo-Na was in deep thoughts while holding the spore, when suddenly, she lifted her head and looked at Hyun-Soo.
“……”
“…..?”
Being embarrassed by how she was looking straight at him, Hyun-Soo was about to avert his gaze, but she suddenly spoke up.
“Sell it to me.”
“No, you can just take. I’ve gotten a lot of help and since it doesn’t seem like a rare item, you can just take it.”
It hasn’t even been 30 minutes since he leveled up thanks to Kim Yoo-Na’s help.
Despite of the fact that their relationship was created based on a contract, it was true that she helped out a lot.
And getting money from someone like that was definitely odd.
He did need it, but it was better to give it to Kim Yoo-Na.
‘On top of that, she’s doing it for her sister…’
Honestly, that was the only reason.
“Thank you so much Hyun-Soo. Thanks to you, I can give this to Hye-Na. I think I’ll be able to buy some time with this.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Yes. Will you be leaving or…?”
“I’ll look around some more and then leave.”
“Okay. I’ll be leaving first. Please contact me when you obtain the scroll.”
After saying that, Kim Yoo-Na left the portal first.
‘Let’s see…let’s look around some more.’
He wanted to look around the portal when they first entered, but because of the Flower Spore, he didn’t have the chance.
He leveled up and the activation level of Interface increased too.
‘Let’s see what’s in this portal.’
If would be great if he found something.
The more money you have, the better.
‘I think I can make some money from this.’
That was the conclusion he came to.
The first target was the Flower Spore that burned to death.
‘Interface!’
He wanted to see if there was something left, but after using Interface, nothing really appeared.
All it said was, “Energy Field Status: 0%” and showed that it was really dead.
The field that the Flower Spore was in was quite large.
It was a large field where there wasn’t a hill or a winding road and it didn’t have any trees either.
‘In the previous hunt, I thought it was the perfect place for a picnic.’
Hyun-Soo thought he would be able to find something, so he kept on using Interface.
But, there was nothing.
There were just ordinary, ordinary flower, ordinary, ordinary flower, etc…
‘Hm? Bright Flower?’
Hyun-Soo immediately used Interface.
———————————–
[Bright Flower]
A perennial flower that grows within the portal.
When its stem is cut, a sticky fluid will flow out of it.
Recommended Intake: Eat it by crushing the flower petal and the fluid.
Effect: Increases a small amount of the health recovery rate [Duration: 30 Minutes]
———————————–
Seeing as how it didn’t display a percentage, it must be a really small amount.
‘Let’s take it.’
After looking around more, he found a long grass.
‘Interface!’
———————————–
[Treecreeper Grass]
A type of grass that moves around by using its root.
The thicker and stronger the root is, the older.
It’s assumed that it’s able to move by itself because there’s energy within the root.
Recommended Intake: Boil the root and then eat it
Effect: Energy recovery rate 5% [Duration: 2 Hours]
———————————–
It was a really good one this time.
‘Something like this existed?’
The skills and the power that hunters used weren’t infinite.
If they run out of energy, they can’t use their skills.
That’s why, they need to use their skills carefully during a hunt, so that they’re not tired in the middle of the battle.
Before, he relied on his health recovery rate to recover his energy as well.
But, after seeing the Treecreeper Grass, he understood that it wasn’t impossible to use external factors when recovering.
‘But a grass that moves?’
Is it the same as the Mandragora that appears in video games?
Hyun-Soo grabbed the grass’s leaf and pulled it with all his might.
Flap!
“Damn it, that scared me!”
He almost lost his grip.
The root that was covered in dirt started spraying the dirt all over the place.
“For a piece of grass, you sure scared me!”
Hyun-Soo felt embarrassed after realizing that he got scared by something small, so he ended up swinging the hand that was holding the grass to the ground.
Bam!
It trembled!
As soon as he punched the ground, the grass’s roots trembled for a moment and then calmed down.
That’s when Hyun-Soo was able to put it in his bag without any issues.
While putting the grass and flower that he picked into the bag that he brought, Hyun-Soo felt surprised.
‘I never knew, but there are a lot of useful things.’
He noticed these things after changing his perspective.
That was Hyun-Soo’s situation.
On top of that, it worked well with his skill.
He thought it was perfect.
Hyun-Soo decided to inspect the portal a bit more.
Inspecting the portal took a lot of longer than hunting the monster.
‘Should I be satisfied with just the flower and the grass?’
Since he couldn’t find anything else, he was about to leave the portal, but something shiny caught his eyes.
‘What’s that? Interface!’
While looking at the shining object, he used Interface and read the information.
———————————–
[Bulb of the Flower Spore]
It’s a bulb in its seed-stage and this is what transforms into a Flower Spore.
However, since it hasn’t gathered enough energy, it isn’t able to evolve into one.
Effect: +Stamina 15 [Duration: 2 Hours]
———————————–
“What?”
Hyun-Soo quickly dug out the bulb.
It took him a while because the bulb was as big as a human’s head.
The bulb wasn’t a gem or a rock, but it shined brightly by itself.