How a D-Class Alchemist Avoids Death

I frowned seriously at the cracked wall.

‘Can this be fixed even if I apply cement?’

As I brushed it with my finger, lumps of cement fell off. It felt as if I could hear them begging me to let them be.

“You got nothing to do?”

“Nope, why?”

“Then go sleep at home! Why are you hanging around here?”

“Well, that’s my choice.”

“Damn it!”

As I heard the voice of Woo Hanseong arguing with Taeju, I asked a question that had been bothering me.

“Do you two talk to each other casually? Isn’t Hanseong-ssi younger than Taeju?”

“No, we’re the same age.”

“What?”

How could they be the same age? Woo Hanseong’s face was young enough to still have baby fat, and she was so fresh-faced that you could see the peach fuzz if you looked closely. But she was the same age as Taeju, who was just a dark, bulky guy.

‘How can that be?’

When I asked in surprise, Woo Hanseong jabbed Taeju in the ribs.

“You must be an old soul.”

“Hey, no way. I’m well-known for looking young.”

“So, you’re not old, you’re just well-known for looking young. Don’t you know sarcasm?”

As Woo Hanseong laughed, Taeju clenched his fist.

“Hit me. Go ahead. I could use the money.”

“You jerk.”

Whether it was because Taeju was being generous, or because, contrary to his appearance, Woo Hanseong was strong, they started to tussle again.

Taeju had been hanging around for about a week now.

At first, I had tried to stop him, but now I had given up. They never fought to the point of bleeding, and they always stopped when they got tired, so I ignored them and looked back at the cracked wall.

“What should I do with this?”

Even though I had experience repairing homes from going through all sorts of underground rooms, I had no idea how to fix a wall that was cracked on all four sides.

‘It looks like it’s going to collapse at any moment.’

Perhaps, the Woo Hanseong in the novel didn’t die from the monsters, but from the earthquake caused by the overflow of monsters due to the clear time being exceeded.

Otherwise, it made no sense that Woo Hanseong, who had been smashing the monsters with a hammer during the monster wave, would die so futilely.

“Hey, I’m going to kill you today!”

“Give it a shot! Wait! Where did you get the hammer?!”

“It’s right here!”

As the sound of their scuffling echoed through the house, I thought about how to fix the wall.

‘Should I try fixing the wall with alchemy? Or should I make a support to prevent it from collapsing?’

“I won’t come near you, you bastard!”

“Like I’d go near you!”

‘Maybe I could destroy everything and rebuild the house with alchemy. But can my alchemy produce that level of skill? I think I can make a burrow at least.’

—Bang!!

Startled by the deafening noise, I turned my head. In an instant, I could see the outside scenery through the hole that had just opened, along with a refreshing breeze.

“Gasp.”

“Wow.”

The two, who had simultaneously muttered a word, stiffened like ice as they stared at me.

‘Looking for your mom after causing an accident?!’

I could feel my anger rising.

“Are you going to destroy everything?!”

“Should I?”

In response to my sarcastic remark, Taeju grinned and answered.

“Are you serious!!”

I smacked Taeju’s shoulder, unable to believe his response. The guy had watched me struggling to fix things and now he was spouting nonsense.

“So-sorry.”

“Don’t mind.”

Unlike the gloomy Taeju, I waved my hand dismissively at Woo Hanseong, who had shrunk and was apologizing.

Honestly, Woo Hanseong has nothing to apologize to me for. This isn’t my house, and if anything gets damaged, it’s Woo Hanseong’s problem, not mine.

“Hey, but they say it’s going to rain tonight?”

With a mischievous smile on his face, Taeju teased Woo Hanseong.

“So what?”

“You’ll turn into a drenched cow. Cow Hanseong.”

“I told you not to call me a cow?!”

“Din’ chu tell meh not to call ya a cow?!”

Seemingly unscathed, Woo Hanseong picked up his hammer and charged at Taeju again.

Watching Woo Hanseong, who kept teasing Taeju even while running from his hammer, I sighed.

Even though there are two 20-somethings here, why does it feel like I’m watching two elementary school kids run around?

And then, eventually.

Bang—

The hammer collided with the cracked wall, opening up a hole.

“Stop it. Hey! I said stop!”

In the face of an unbelievable sight, I finally raised my voice, and the two, who had been glancing at me, walked over. Woo Hanseong approached me as if he had lost his spirit, but Taeju remained as confident as ever.

“Why are you so confident?”

“It’s not like I broke it.”

“You provided the cause! What are we going to do about this?”

I pointed to the hole in the wall. Even if we temporarily covered it, winter was coming. Covering it won’t be enough to keep out the cold.

‘My head already hurts thinking about repairing the cracks.’

As I groaned at the unsolvable situation and held my forehead, I heard a thump in my ear. The hairs on my head stood on end and I stared at Taeju in disbelief. He, too, looked at me with momentarily shaken eyes.

The guy was looking at me, his gaze slightly wavering for a moment.

Soon after, we both looked up at the ceiling as our eyes met.

“Damn it.”

“Are we screwed?”

As soon as the curse slipped from my lips, that jerk Taeju grabbed Woo Hanseong’s hand and rushed out.

—Kwaaarurung

As soon as we passed through the front door, a cloud of smoke engulfed us, accompanied by a thunderous sound from behind.

“Ha… ha.”

“This is insane.”

I swept my hand across my face.

“Uh…”

“My… my house…”

It had collapsed. Woo Hanseong’s house had literally crumbled to the ground.

The toilet I had fixed, the roof, the pillars – all had fallen down.

Well, it may be a good thing in a way, considering I had thought of demolishing everything to rebuild anyway.

“It collapsed nicely. Hahaha.”

“Hey, Seo Taeju, you maniac!”

I grabbed Taeju by the collar.

“Are you laughing?! What are we going to do now?!”

But, undeterred by the situation, he gave a smug smile and responded casually.

“What’s the problem? We just need to rebuild.”

“Rebuild?! Is that what you should be saying right now?”

“Why not? It’s true. If it’s collapsed, we need to rebuild.”

“Do you think a house can be built in a day! Where will Hanseong-ssi stay until then?!”

In response to my angry outburst, he replied with his usual smile.

“My house.”

“What?”

“What?”

It wasn’t just me who was taken aback, Woo Hanseong, who had been staring blankly at the collapsed house, was also looking at Seo Taeju.

“My house has plenty of rooms. You can stay there until your house is rebuilt.”

“Oh.”

Seo Go-woon’s parents, who had planned on having many children, had built many rooms in the house.

Apart from mine and Taeju’s rooms and our parents’ room, there were three others remaining. So, technically, it wouldn’t matter who stayed there. One of them would suffice. But…

“Well. So that’s settled, right?”

“Are you saying you’re bringing Hanseong to our house? You?”

For the Taeju I knew, this would have been impossible. Recently, the two did seem to be getting along better, but allowing her to ‘stay’ was a completely different matter.

However, Taeju, who had let go of my hands on his collar, put his arms around me and Woo Hanseong, as if this was the most natural thing to do, and said, “Instead of standing in front of a collapsed house, let’s go to a fully intact one.”

“Hey, at least ask for Hanseong’s opinion. And what about the items we need to bring from here—”

“There’s no need for that. We’re going to my house, right?”

I was certain that Hanseong would refuse. But then…

“Ha, you crazy… Since there’s nothing to pack, let’s just go.”

Woo Hanseong sighed and nodded in agreement with Seo Taeju’s words.

“Huh?”

“See? I was right. Let’s go now.”

Just like that, Taeju, grinning over the unexpected agreement, led the way to the car, leaving behind me, taken aback by the unexpected answer, and Woo Hanseong, who was sighing. She couldn’t stop smiling, seemingly delighted by the entire situation. 

***

“Anyway, this uncontrollable brat…”

Upon hearing the request for spicy braised chicken breast  because a guest had arrived, Seo Go-woon left to shop for groceries, agitated. As soon as he was gone, Woo Hanseong turned to stare at Seo Taeju and asked, “What on earth were you thinking?”

“Exactly. I told you to come over right from the start.”

“You’re saying that now…”

Woo Hanseong gritted her teeth.

She had indeed disregarded Seo Taeju’s earlier invitation. But was it really an invitation?

“Hey. Do you want to live at my house?”

“Why should I? I have my own place.”

“My brother’s struggling because of you. Just come live with us.”

“No.”

“No? Well, okay then.”

Although she felt uneasy at the response Seo Taeju gave, wearing an inscrutable smile, she never imagined it would lead to the destruction of her own home.

“Wouldn’t it have been better if you agreed from the start? You should have obediently followed.”

Seo Taeju chuckled.

Hanseong realized that no matter how handsome a guy is, if he laughs in such an annoying way, one would want to slap him.

“No matter what, I’m not joining your guild.”

“Guild? When did I ask you to join the guild?”

At his surprised question, Woo Hanseong furrowed her brow. “What? Weren’t all these efforts to make me join the guild?”

“Not at all.”

At the incomprehensible actions of Seo Taeju, Hanseong momentarily tilted her head.

It didn’t matter for Go-woon as he was just an ordinary guild member, but Seo Taeju was the vice-guild master.

Knowing her own value as a hunter, Hanseong had always thought that Taeju’s frequent visits to her home and the man’s friendly demeanor were for scouting her.

Therefore, she had always been on guard, expecting him to bring up the topic at any time. With her house destroyed, she thought it was certainly time for her to be asked to join Taeju’s guild.

But it wasn’t?

“Aren’t you the vice-guild master of the Sunset Guild?”

“Yeah. So what?”

Seeing Taeju tilt his head as if he genuinely didn’t understand, Hanseong was bewildered.

‘Was he really not trying to woo me?’

Seo Taeju shrugged his shoulders.

“I became the vice-guild master because of my high rank, not for any special reason.”

“But if you’re a vice-guild master, don’t you have to work on expanding the guild?”

“Hey. Then do you want to be the vice-guild master? You’re an SS-rank hunter. My sister would love it.”

What seemed like a joke to Taeju felt serious to Hanseong.

If he’s not planning to invite her to this house to recruit her into the guild, then why? What provoked Taeju to provoke her and even destroy her house?

“Hey. Dunce. I can practically hear you overthinking.”

“Stop calling me a dunce. Since it’s come to this, let’s ask frankly. Why did you ask me to come to your house?”

“Didn’t I say before? I hate seeing my brother struggle in that house.”

Upon hearing the unexpected response, Woo Hanseong stared at Seo Taeju with a sickened expression. From the first time she met him, Seo Taeju’s brotherly love was something else.

To the point that she wondered if all siblings were like that.

“Don’t look at me like that. It’s true I love my brother, but not in the way you’re thinking.”

Taeju crossed his arms over his chest in an X, grinning mischievously.

“Do you know that you’re a bit excessive?”

“Is it that bad?”

“Yes. Maybe it’s because I don’t have siblings, but I honestly can’t understand it.”

Taeju slightly furrowed his brow.

“So my brother doesn’t like it.”

“Does Go-woon dislike it?”

“Yeah. He’s causing a fuss, thinking he’s some greenhouse flower.”

“…A greenhouse flower?”

Thinking that Seo Go-woon was too ambitious to be considered a greenhouse plant, Woo Hanseong momentarily pondered before nodding.

“Do you like him that much?”

“It’s more than just liking him.”

“What do you mean?”

Seo Taejoo let out a sigh.

“I owe him a debt.”

“A debt?”

“Yeah, a debt for my life.”

His expression was too serious to be considered a joke.

Seo Taejoo ruffled his hair and got up from the sofa.

“Hey, I’ll show you to your room. Get up.”

At his words, Woo Hanseong obediently got up from her seat. She had a lot of questions, but she had firsthand experience that it was rude to ask about something the other person didn’t want to talk about.

“I’m not asking you to work as a blacksmith. Just stay by my side.”

Asking an SS class blacksmith to simply stay by his side.

“Why? Why me?”

“Because I like you, and I trust you.”

“And if I say no?”

At his curt reply, Seo Taejoo laughed and opened the door closest to the hallway.

“Even among my acquaintances, you’re the most decent and diligent one.”

Woo Hanseong, who didn’t know about Seo Go-woon’s past, couldn’t understand why he would say such a thing.

“Now, you can use this room. There’s a bathroom and a shower inside, so feel free to use them.”

“…This room seems too nice to offer to a guest. Am I really going to stay here?”

A room with a bathroom.

It was far too nice for Woo Hanseong who had been imagining a small, single-room place.

“Every room in our house has a bathroom. It’s a house that my parents built.”

“Oh.”

“So don’t feel burdened. Use it. The other rooms are all the same anyway.”

“…Okay.”

“Then, take a rest.”

As Seo Taejoo walked away, Woo Hanseong cautiously entered the room.

The room was larger than it appeared from outside, neatly arranged like a hotel room she had seen on TV.

“Why would there be a bed in an unused room.”

Woo Hanseong, moving from examining the bed to the bathroom, noticed the bathroom was spacious too.

Looking at the neatly stacked towels in the bathroom, she felt an itchy sensation.

In the abandoned house, the old oil boiler often stopped working, forcing her to shower in cold water.

It was bearable in summer, but in winter, the already cold tap water felt like ice. She had to heat water on the gas range just to wash himself. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had a leisurely shower.

“Just rest, he said.”

As Woo Hanseong, who had placed her infinite pouch from her pocket onto the sink, and was about to take off her shirt,

“Hey, are you taking a shower? Do you have clothes to change—.”

As soon as Seo Taejoo, who had opened the door, saw Woo Hanseong, he froze.

Woo Hanseong, who was taking off her shirt, did the same.

Both of their eyes shook uncontrollably, and the first one to come back to her senses was Woo Hanseong.

Woo Hanseong, who had lowered her own shirt she was removing, yelled abruptly.

“Get out!”