How a D-Class Alchemist Avoids Death

“Just a little.”

I had lived a life far removed from neckties. I’d briefly worn a suit when I was dispatched, but the discomfort didn’t have enough time to settle in. Now, having to wear it throughout a meal, I felt as though my throat was being strangled.

“You don’t need to wear a necktie. You can take it off.”

At Michael’s words, I glanced around. However, perhaps because of a dress code, all the men were wearing neckties.

‘I can’t be the only one standing out.’

The basic rule of being a detective is not to stand out on your own. I had heard, to my ear’s content, the arguments of my seniors that one should smoothly blend in anywhere. So, I shook my head.

“No, I’m fine.”

Seeing Michael’s worried gaze, I managed a wry smile.

There was no particular reason for sitting in an unfamiliar restaurant, dressed in clothes I didn’t like. It was simply because Michael, as a token of gratitude for saving him, had repeatedly called to treat me to a meal. Hence, while Seo Moon-no-eul was on vacation, I agreed to meet Michael due to his persistent requests.

‘How can I refuse when he calls morning, noon, and night asking, ‘when we can have a meal? Ah, can’t you just have a meal with me, please?’’

Of course, since we were going to be in the Cradle party together, I did accept in advance. However, I never dreamed that he would choose such a place.

Can one really feel full after eating these tiny pieces of food?

“Do you like the food? This place is one of my favorites.”

“Yes, it’s delicious.”

He wasn’t asking much today, unlike when we first met. Was it because he was simply excited back then?

“Seo Go-woon-ssi, aren’t you an alchemist? Were you a multi-class? You used water back then, right?”

Ah, nope. It seems he is still the same ‘question-mark killer.

“No, the water I used was from an item. I had an item called ‘Blue Cloud’ that can summon water. It was effective back then since it was a fire golem.”

“Ah, really? Can I see that? Where did you get it? Did you create it? Or did you find it somewhere?”

Raising my hand to his barrage of questions, I said, “Please ask one question at a time. I will answer all of them. We have plenty of time.”

“Ah, I’m sorry. When I get excited, I tend to just throw out questions.”

“Hmm, ‘Blue Cloud’ was found in a forest dungeon, and it’s irreplaceable. And no, I don’t carry it around all the time.”

Of course, saying I don’t carry it around was a lie. Now that ‘Blue Cloud’s’ usefulness as a water summoning item was over, I was infusing it with magic to hatch Salt.

However, I also had to infuse Salt with magic every morning and evening, so whenever I had extra magic, I gave it to ‘Blue Cloud’.

“But were you really a nutjob?”

How could he ask that directly, at a meal meant to show gratitude for saving him?

I looked at Michael with a dumbfounded expression, but whatever he thought of my reaction, he just burst out laughing.

“From what I saw, you didn’t seem like a nutjob. You fought with Taeju because you were a nutjob that day, right? Isn’t that true?”

Before Michael’s sparkling eyes, I surrendered.

“Yes, I was a nutjob, but the fight with Taeju was due to a misunderstanding. We’ve cleared it up.”

“Did you?”

Why the disappointed expression? Would something good have happened to the Spirit Guild if I fought with Seo Taeju?

“Why?”

Unable to suppress my curiosity, I asked, and Michael just laughed heartily again.

“No, it’s just that I liked you. If you hadn’t made up with Seo Taeju, I was planning to scout you for our guild.”

“Our guild?”

“Yeah. Spirit Guild! Although I didn’t mention it, our guild is really great! It’s totally awesome! It’s full of only good people! And the welfare is the best! Of course, it can’t be compared to Taesan’s… but our guild is better than Sunset Guild’s!”

Comparing it with Sunset Guildl doesn’t work. No matter how much the guild has grown, it can’t compete with Spirit Guild… But what was important to me wasn’t the welfare.

“I appreciate your kindness, but I’m fine.”

Michael’s right about the Spirit Guild’s great welfare, but what’s the use of it all when I’m not going to stay here forever and am going to return to my world?

Besides, since I was already earning more than other hunters due to the hair growth serum, I didn’t feel the need to change guilds.

However, Michael seemed dissatisfied with my refusal and came up with a new proposal.

“Well, it can’t be helped. Then let’s just be friends. Is that okay?”

A proposal to be friends.

What’s this all about? Suddenly suggesting friendship.

“…….”

“You don’t want to? Why? Why don’t you want to?”

Perhaps because I didn’t respond immediately, Michael frowned and started bombarding me with question marks again.

‘Well, we’re going to be partying together anyway, so it doesn’t matter.’

Finally, I nodded my head.

“Yes, let’s be friends.”

“Wow, friends! We’re friends! Go-woon-ssi, you should also start speaking casually! Call me Michael, not Guild Master.”

“Alright.”

It’s not like I have to pay to use casual speech and call him by his name. If he wants it, I should give it to him.

Despite my indifferent response, Michael smiled broadly.

‘He must have been loved a lot growing up.’

There was nobody around me who laughed as brightly as that. Whenever I met the party members, they looked grim, and while Taeju was amusing, he was still uncontrollably mad. Woo Hanseong, from the beginning, had a face that was mostly expressionless.

‘Hmm. It’s the first time I’ve seen such a character.’

It’s hard for a Hunter and Guild Master to be untainted by the world and maintain such a bright disposition. Was the greenhouse plant that Taeju wanted me to be like that? Of course, it’s hard to see the Guild Master of the Holy Spirit Guild as a greenhouse plant1.

While chewing on a well-cooked steak, I thought about this when Michael raised his wine glass.

“Let’s cheers.”

“Cheers?”

“Yes. Apparently, Koreans usually cheers when good things happen.”

I nodded and clinked my glass with Michael’s. I took a sip of the wine, hearing the clear sound it made.

“Eugh. What does this taste like?”

Besides being bitter, it smells of rotten wood. Is this what wine is supposed to taste like, or is it just the wine that Michael picked?

“Tastes good, right? It’s expensive. I specially prepared this wine for you.”

The taste is awful. If this really is a special wine, I wonder why people pay to drink this.

‘I think I’ll just eat and go home to drink soju.’

I already had mackerel stew at home, thanks to Taeju, who was craving homemade food since morning. Maybe I could pair that with soju…

“Go-woon?”

“Ah, sorry. I was appreciating the taste.”

“Oh, okay. You really enjoyed it. Eat a lot.”

Michael must have noticed that my attention was elsewhere.

I took another forced sip of the wine at his hopeful gaze, then rinsed my mouth with some meat.

The one thing I liked here was the meat. It melted in my mouth after just a few chews, suggesting it was quite expensive. I wish I could learn from the chef if I had the chance.

Just when I was focusing entirely on the meat to forget the unpleasant memory of the wine…

Suddenly, Michael, who was genuinely enjoying the wine, asked me a question out of the blue.

“But Go-woon, how did you know Sooha, I mean Shin Sooha?”

“Shin Sooha?”

The word that came out of his mouth was Shin Sooha.

‘Hmm. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen Shin Sooha in a while. Judging by the lack of articles or news, it doesn’t seem like anything happened. Maybe he’s in a dungeon.’

Actually, it wasn’t unexpected that his name would come out of Michael’s mouth. It would be odd if Shin Sooha of Taesan Guild and Michael of the Holy Spirit Guild had never met. But that was between the two of them. There was no need for him to ask me about my connection with Shin Sooha.

Before I had time to ponder his somewhat random question, Michael explained his reasoning.

“Oh, sorry! That was out of the blue, wasn’t it? Actually, I met Sooha a few days ago, and I bragged to him about eating with you. Then, Sooha asked if you were doing well.”

“He asked if I was doing well?”

“Yup!”

Thinking about it, it was a bit strange. It’s only natural that I would be curious about how Shin Sooha is doing. He was the mainstay who had to play a significant role in clearing the dungeons ahead. That’s why he also helped in purifying the contamination.

However, it was a bit odd for him to ask about me. Shin Sooha is a Guild Master who is responsible for a guild and a top-level Hunter. It was not a position to be concerned about someone like me, a D-rank.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one curious about this.

“How do you two know each other?”

It’s not surprising that Michael would be curious. With the SSS rank, being the first in Korea and third in the world while operating a guild, it’s normal that there should be no connection between the notoriously mad me and Shin Sooha.

If anyone other than Shin Sooha had said they knew him, everyone would have laughed at them, no one would have believed it.

Thinking it would only complicate things to go into detail, I mumbled a reply to Michael’s question.

“We just… bumped into each other.”

“Bumped into each other?”

Michael tilted his head. He didn’t seem to understand.

But I was under no obligation to explain further. I returned to my meal, focusing on finishing it.

After the meal was over.

“Thanks for the meal.”

“Yes. I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

“But Michael.”

“Yes?”

“Why… didn’t you eat much?”

In stark contrast to me, who had been devouring the food as soon as it arrived, Michael had only had a bit of meat and wine, leaving most of it untouched.

‘He definitely said he liked this place. Did he mean he liked the restaurant’s interior, not the food?’

Michael, noticing something odd about my expression, replied with an exaggerated gesture.

“Ah, no. It’s just… I haven’t had much of an appetite lately.”

“You don’t have an appetite?”

“Ugh. It seems like I caught a cold from the dungeon I visited a few days ago. I can’t taste food well.”

‘Ah, contamination.’

I nodded as I looked at his contamination level.

[Michael – Contamination Level 78%]

Just like cold symptoms vary from person to person, so do the symptoms from contamination. Seo Taeju and Shin Sooha didn’t mention anything about loss of taste.

The worldview was that most people died from the contamination in the first place. Although it was stated that contamination was extremely dangerous, the symptoms weren’t described in detail.

While I was nodding, Michael continued speaking, “But I got a vacation because of the cold, and I got to see you, so it’s good.”

“A vacation?”

“Yeah. The vice-guild leader said that I was so sick that I should take a break for a while.”

‘So sick’.

It was clear that Michael, being half-foreigner, didn’t know the meaning of the phrase. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have said it so confidently.

‘He has the perfect personality to get scammed somewhere.’

But the good thing was that he wouldn’t be entering the dungeon anymore in his highly contaminated state.

‘It would be best to perform the purification process in advance, just in case.’

It was difficult to know how to proceed since the emotions felt during purification varied from person to person. He could be numb like Shin Sooha, but he might react sensitively like Seo Taeju, in which case I’d have to answer his inquiries.

“Hmm.”

“Something bothering you?”

“No, not really. So, how long is your vacation?”

“I got a month, so there’s two weeks left.”

I still had plenty of time. I needed to think more about what to do, but at least the groundwork was laid.

“Then, would you like to come over to my house to celebrate our friendship later?”

I didn’t know how Michael would react to the purification, but it seemed better to do it at my place rather than outside, where there are prying eyes. It would be easier to take care of him later on.

“Yeah! I’ll definitely come!”

Michael’s smile was too bright. The excitement in his eyes was poking at my conscience.

In the midst of ignoring the pain of conscience, Michael asked with twinkling eyes, “When will you invite me? Can I come today?”

Where did he get that insane pushiness? Isn’t being in a hurry a Korean characteristic? Michael, you’re a foreigner, why are you so impatient?

“No, not today. I don’t live alone, and Taeju is also there, so I have to get permission.”

“Why do you need permission for a friend to come over?”

“There is a thing called manners towards those we live with, even if they are family. I can’t just come and go to the Holy Spirit Guild, right?”

“Huh? You can come whenever you want. Would you like to come to our guild? Should we go now?”

“…No. Anyway, not today.”

“Hmm…”

Michael seemed to not understand the concept, even if I’d spoken more tactfully. However, in the end, he nodded with a confused expression.

“So, you’re going to contact me separately?”

“Yes, I will.”

“Then give me your phone. I’ll input my number.”

I took out my phone from my pocket and handed it over.

As Michael hummed a song, he entered his number. “You have to call me, okay? Day or night, it doesn’t matter. You have to let me know as soon as you get permission, okay?”

“Alright. I’ll call you, so you should get going. Don’t make your secretary suffer unnecessarily.”

As we left the restaurant, Michael, who repeatedly asked me to contact him, was dragged away by the man he referred to as his secretary, waving his hand frantically.

It was a draining encounter.

“So exhausting.”

Rather than meeting Michael again, it would be better to go through two dungeons. There shouldn’t be another person like Michael in the party. There wouldn’t be another one, right?

“How long will you keep searching?!”

While I was exhausted from the mental energy drained by meeting Michael, a boisterous man entered the building from the entrance. His voice was so loud that his phone conversation echoed inside the building.

“I’ve paid you an advance and searching fees, why can’t you find that person!”

As I was about to ignore the shouting man and walk past, the man moved faster.

The man and I, who were moving in different directions, bumped shoulders.

“Ah!”

“You crazy b*stard, where are you looking while walking? Look properly!”

‘What the hell, he bumped into me and now he’s cursing at me?’

For a moment, I was furious. The thought ‘Should I knock him down?’ flashed through my mind, but I couldn’t act on it. If I did, my painstakingly created image might revert back.

On the other hand, my tolerance seemed to scare the man.

“Damn, I’m already pissed off and then there’s this idiot.”

The man muttered while glaring at me, then he put his phone back to his ear and walked away.

“So, I’m saying, if you received the advance and the commencement fee, find that sh*t! Why can’t you find that runt!”

The silence of the building was once again broken by the man’s loud voice.

“That’s why I gave you an advance to go to the information guild, not the errand center! You should be the ones to find the hunter!”

It seemed that a hunter was the person that this obnoxious man was looking for.

It would be difficult for places like errand centers to find

“Didn’t I give you an advance to go to the Information Guild instead of the Errand Center?! You guys should be the ones figuring out how to find a hunter!”

Judging by their babbling about the Information Guild, it seemed the fool was trying to find a hunter.

If it were an ordinary person, who knows. It would be difficult to find a hidden hunter at a place like the Errand Center.

While it would be easy for the Information Guild to find a hunter, the guild wasn’t open to ordinary people.

‘This world subtly revolves around hunters,’ I thought.

Ignoring the guy screaming to find the person, I resumed my stride outside.

And though I didn’t know who it was, I hoped the hidden hunter would never be found.

A term which means being protected[]