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New Rookie King (2)

“It’s small.”

Claire looked around Kang Shin-hyuk’s room and didn’t waste any time giving him her first impression. If it weren’t for the bag of chicken in her hand, he would have already driven her out.

“This a male boarding house; you’re not supposed to be here.”

“Shin-hyuk, let me tell you a secret; It’s not a crime unless you’re caught.” Claire gave him a meaningful smile and stuck a small black circle at the door entrance. Kang Shin-hyuk looked at it blankly, unsure of what it was.

“It’s a barrier against perception. They sell a lot of them on the trading board, so I recommend you buy one too. They’re only 50,000 HP.”

“50,000…!”

“At times like these, you’re such a newcomer. Why are you acting so surprised at only 50,000 HP? It’s not a disposable item, you can recharge it and reuse it.” Assuming you received the VIP bonus, it wasn’t an amount that could be obtained even by slaying ten variant War Trolls. Kang Shin-hyuk didn’t think Claire even knew of the existence of his VIP bonus, though, and figured she might be stunned if he told her.

“I figured it was a great item, but do you know who the dormitory director is? It’s Emil Bolton. He used to be in the top 300 in the world.”

“I see. It’ll be okay.” Claire took out another barrier and stuck it nearby the first as she said this. Content with her work, she decided to sit down on Kang Shin-hyuk’s bed, finding the hedgehog lying on a cushion nearby.

“Is that from the egg yesterday?”

“Are you stalking me?”

“I noticed when you chose it over the Class B artifact. Even if you couldn’t use it, you could’ve sold it for a bunch of money. But this one is so cute. Can I hug him?”

“Don’t let him get close to metal, he’ll eat it.” When Shin-hyuk had returned after his meeting with Shin Eunah, the creature had already gone through a door handle and a belt buckle. He was still hungry, too.

“Metal? Wait…” But here was an angel before Kang Shin-hyuk. Claire accessed the Hero Universe without hesitation and bought some ingots right from the trading board.

-Mew!

The hedgehog jumped up immediately from his spot and ran over to the unknown metal ingot Claire held in her hand. Once he was lying down on her lap and contentedly eating at the metal, she began to pet him with a satisfied look.

“He eats so fast.”

“Yeah, I need to figure out a way to feed and raise him. Thank you for feeding him, sister.”

“It’s not expensive, so don’t worry about it. Let’s eat too.” Having learned her lesson last time, Claire bought five servings of chicken. It was a good brand, too. Claire opened a can of cola while Kang Shin-hyuk hurriedly bit into a chicken drumstick.

“You did well. You made a good rookie debut, and you weren’t even found out by Eunah.”

“Well…I think she noticed something. She said she felt comfortable around me, and she noticed the sword during the match.”

“Eunah said that herself? You really need to be careful of her intuition. It’s like you wanted to be spotted.”

“I don’t. It was a little quiet today, but normally I receive a message from her every thirty minutes…” He had been half-worried and half-prepared for her to find out about his identity as Anvil at the athletic meet, but she hadn’t. As a result, he concluded that unless he or Claire made a big mistake, she wouldn’t notice. Although, that didn’t mean he was alright with meeting with Shin Eunah one-on-one regularly. When he had met her in person…

“Is that what she is normally like? It was completely different from when she sends me messages.”

“Yeah, it’s kind of scary. When she talks about Anvil, she becomes a completely different person.” Kang Shin-hyuk instinctively nodded. It was scary. Outwardly, she was fine, an upstanding adult. Yet, she became like a seven-year-old child when she sent messages to her grandpa. He couldn’t help but think he preferred the Shin Eunah persona or the Eunah one.

“At least it worked out well in the end, so then…” Claire handed the can of cola to Shin-hyuk and pulled a can of beer from her bag for herself, toasting him with it.

“Congratulations and cheers for Kang Shin-hyuk’s rookie championship!”

“Cheers!’

-Mew!

Kang Shin-hyuk drank some of the cola and then went right back to eating chicken. The cola was sweet, and the food tasty, and Claire herself was also pleasant as they conversed over the meal.

“So you’re a hybrid; combat and production. I mainly focus on production myself.”

“I think Anvil focused only on production as well. According to the administrator, he didn’t have the combat characteristics I did.”

“Ah, so that’s how you became a hybrid. But won’t it be difficult to focus on both metallurgy and combat? It’s difficult enough to master just one path.”

“But I can. Or rather, I must.” Kang Shin-hyuk responded strongly, having already finished off one of the chickens. Claire couldn’t help but think that this child appeared to be most confident while he was eating.

“I think you can pull it off.”

“Absolutely.”

“Alright, if you’re trying your best, then I need to as well. I’m ready to open my bar.”

“You mean that…” Claire finished off the rest of her beer boldly, and Kang Shin-hyuk couldn’t help but think about how cool she appeared then.

“I’m going to set up a mobile bar for superhumans. I’ll have a separate main store, but I’ll drag a cart with cocktail ingredients to every gate that opens up and do business there! How’s that? Isn’t it cool?”

“It’s very cool!”

“You get it too!” It was an idea that even if he were only a toddler, he would have sincerely cheered on with all his heart.

“It won’t just be a potion business. By being there to see the types of monsters that appear, I can instantly make and sell cocktails designed to deal with them.”

“A bartender defending humanity on the front lines.”

“Frontlines…the frontline bartender. What do you think?!” He thought it was a bit of a cheesy name but didn’t want to tackle that subject. Claire nodded, very satisfied with herself.

“Shin-hyuk, you have some good sense. If someone asks me where that name comes from, I’ll tell them you came up with it. A mysterious man who showed up in this bartender’s path and gave them advice on how to use their abilities…it’s perfect.”

“Uh, sister…?”

“I had a question for you that I meant to ask last time.” She decided to ask the question that had suddenly come to her mind, and Shin-hyuk was happy to change topics before this one could continue further.

“Do you know anything about a man named Lee Manwoo?”

“…Do you know him?” Claire’s surprise at his casual familiarity with the name was unparalleled, and Shin-hyuk was momentarily taken aback.

“Do you know him personally?!”

“Well, we’re not close but he’s the adviser for the club I’m in. He occasionally shows up to talk.” Claire almost choked on her drink at that.

“I wondered if that person was really in Shinyoung…”

“Is he famous?”

“What are you even doing? He’s one of the greatest craftsmen in the history of superhumans…although Eunah often complained that compared to Anvil, he was just pretending to be a craftsman.” Kang Shin-hyuk couldn’t help but laugh at those words; he could tell how much Eunah thought of Anvil. In reality, it was probably somewhat true. Lee Manwoo wasn’t in the Hero Universe, after all, but Anvil was. Not that it mattered for Kang Shin-hyuk, who was only a blacksmith-in-training with poor skills himself.

“But why are you looking for him?”

“If you’re looking for a craftsman, it means you want something made. I had been wanting to put in a request with him, but it’s been difficult. I had heard he was at Shinyoung, so I thought I might ask you but…it turns out that was the correct choice.” Despite finding the answer she wanted, Claire’s face was dark.

“To be honest, I knew he had some reason for laying low. Have you seen him do any metallurgy yourself?”

“No, not at all.”

“I see.” She pondered deeply before letting out a sigh.

“Oh well. It’s not in me to bother someone who wants to be left alone. Which means I have no choice but to rely on you.”

“Me?”

“You said it yourself you wanted to master both. I’ll help you regain the power of Anvil, in exchange for a few tools.” She let out a spiteful laugh.

“I’m not the only one who expects things from you.”

“Do you mean Shin Eunah?”

“No, Lee Manwoo. He wouldn’t have taken you on unless he knew of your talent.” She winked as she handed him a new can of coke.

“If you’ve received the recognition of the best craftsman in the world, I have to believe in it myself. Your sister will be good to you, so grow up fast, alright?”

“…Yeah.” Kang Shin-hyuk’s face was beet red at Claire’s face coming close and giving him a wink. She laughed at his innocent reaction and opened a new can of beer. Suddenly, she clapped her hands as if she came up with something good.

“I’m going to make a cocktail right now, so keep watch and let me know if I use that spiritual power or not. You can drink both my failures and successes.”

“I’m prepared.” Kang Shin-hyuk had been hoping for the good atmosphere to continue but decided to give up on his expectations and start eating again.

-If you increase the synchronization rate, you will be able to control your emotions more freely. That is the true skill of a blacksmith who has been struggling with iron for twenty years.

The message from the administrator came with awkward timing.

‘I’m going to practice metallurgy tomorrow…’

As the two continued celebrating, Onyx finished eating the ingot and was now working his way through the aluminum cans they had dropped on the floor. The thorns on his back were gradually growing sharper, but Shin-hyuk hadn’t noticed it yet.

***

-That’s how it happened. He took the contract and left.

“Hmm, really?” On the way back to the hotel after leaving Kang Shin-hyuk’s room, Claire was on the phone with Shin Eunah. She was recounting the story of the association member candidate she had met earlier that day. Of course, Claire had no intention of telling her she had just been partying with that very same candidate.

-I said it yesterday, but he really has great potential. It was difficult to keep my composure. I suppose he was chosen by that sword for a reason.

“So did you give the contract ridiculous terms?”

-Yes?

“Artifact rental, providing identification…such a ridiculous privilege for a simple sponsorship would never happen in the United States.” There was no response as Claire simply grinned and teased her friend.

“Be honest with me, Eunah. What were you thinking?”

-Maybe I’m in love.

“…Huh?” Claire had been expecting an answer like, ‘He’s my grandpa!’, but instead, the answer she received caused her muscles to tense. It was completely unexpected. The silence, however, only made Shin Eunah bolder in her confession as she could not see the shell-shocked expression on her friend’s face.

-My eyes kept going to him, and my heart kept beating every time I saw him. It felt like my chest was tightening…I had never met him before, but I had the urge to approach him and hug him that I could hardly endure. I couldn’t leave it be, so I abused my authority a little to get him into the association.

“Uh…huh? Huh?”

-Is it love? I haven’t experienced it before, so I don’t know. Claire, is this love?

“Well…well…isn’t it arrhythmia or a heart condition?” Claire tried to deny her words but was sweating.

‘She instinctively feels that it is Anvil but is trying to reason it out mentally. So this is the conclusion she came to…!’ However, Claire couldn’t tell her who Kang Shin-hyuk was. Shin Eunah continued to blabber to her friend like an innocent schoolgirl.

-Also, my hairpin vibrates whenever I see him! I’ve been wearing it for eighteen years, so I know. It only does that when I meet an exceptionally good person. It was the same when I met you.

“Oh, the hairpin that Anvil made you…so, he’s a good person because it vibrates?”

-Maybe this is fate? A bond that grandpa gave to me…

Only

The hairpin was just reacting to the person who had made it, but without knowing that, it was easy to see how Eunah had come to such a conclusion.

-What should I do if it is love? There’s a big age difference…and I’d have to ask grandpa first.

“Don’t do that, please!”

-No, I won’t ask. I have to think about it on my own.”

“That’s right!”

-Kang Shin-hyuk, Kang Shin-hyuk…what a good name. A good personality, too. Besides…don’t you think he’s handsome, Claire?

“Oh, Eunah…!”

The alchemist screamed at the chaotic situation gradually unfolding before her and grabbed her head.