I Stole the Number One Ranker’s Soul - Chapter 7

Kim Bongpal and Seo Hayeon (3)

A few months later.

“Uncle!”

Seo Hayeon called Kim Bongpal as he stirred from slumber.

“I told you! Don’t turn them inside out when you take off your socks!”

It was a fun change. For three years, Seo Hayeon had become a nagging niece. And Kim Bongpal, who wouldn’t have blinked an eye before at such complaints…

“Haam. I didn’t do it on purpose. Fuck. Why are you making a fuss in the morning over something like that?”

He was still the same, actually. In fact, it was difficult for Kim Bongpal to change how he lived for several decades within just a few years.

“I don’t know about others, but you can’t do that. Okay? In the past, when Kang Jun wasn’t around, you have no idea what I had to go through when you pooped yourself….”

“Aah! Really! Uncle!”

Of course, it was true that Kim Bongpal had become a little more childish than before.

“How long are you going to talk about that?”

“What? How can I live if the girl I changed the diapers for has that attitude? Do you know how bad the smell of your baby poop was?”

“Aaaah!”

Although he wasn’t aware of it, Kim Bongpal also reduced his cursing a little. He reduced it to one ‘fuck’ every time he said something from the previous three times. However, the one who changed the most was Seo Hayeon.

“I can’t hear you! I can’t hear you! I can’t hear you!”

If those who knew her before saw her now, they wouldn’t be able to hide their surprise. Seo Hayeon was so talkative that Kim Bongpal complained about her nagging more than he could count daily. It wouldn’t be strange considering her age, but the truth was she didn’t use to be a talkative person.

For Seo Hayeon, everyday life meant cooking and eating alone in a house with no one around. Her only company was the sound of the TV playing. So, paradoxically, now Seo Hayeon was feeling calmer than before, given her non-routine life of hunting.

“Anyway, you know you’re in charge of the meal today, right? It’s cheating to only make ramen like last time.”

“Fuck. What’s wrong with ramen? In the past, we would come to blows over a single package….”

Kim Bongpal scratched his belly and answered Seo Hayeon. However, the change that three years brought to Seo Hayeon wasn’t simply that she was more cheerful, and she also learned how to ignore Kim Bongpal.

He was talking like that now, but eventually, he would cook a good dish.

Seo Hayeon was very good at cooking due to her circumstances. Still, surprisingly, Kim Bongpal’s cooking skills were one level higher than hers. Now he had too much money, but he was once a cheapskate who hesitated to spend a penny out of his account. Because of that, Kim Bongpal used to prepare most of his meals himself.

Anyway, as expected by Seo Hayeon, Kim Bongpal made a decent dish of kimchi stew.

And Kim Bongpal’s kimchi stew.

“Wow. Why doesn’t it taste like this when I make it? Uncle, aren’t you adding something weird?”

It was one of Seo Hayeon’s favorite menu items.

“Yeah. You know the Taggart you cut yesterday? I put some of his front leg meat in the pot.”

“…What?”

Seo Hayeon’s complexion turned a sickly pale. The Taggart was a three-star monster that resembled a wild boar in appearance but boasted unparalleled destructive power. It was actually the monster she hunted yesterday.

“There wasn’t much pork left, so I had to make do. Huh? That thing you bit into now, that’s Taggart meat.”

Seo Hayeon had to suppress the urge to spit out the food.

“Haah. Did you believe that? If I had added Taggart meat, we’d both have a stomach ache right now. It’s pork.”

“Ah! Seriously!”

Kim Bongpal revealed the truth, and Seo Hayeon’s complexion immediately recovered.

“You can’t eat that bastard because his blood is poisonous. Fuck, you don’t know how many times I went to the bathroom not knowing that.”

Of course, it was still a sad truth to tell during a meal, anyway, after a few conversations like that.

Clink-

The only sound was of silverware clinking against dishes. In the past, Seo Hayeon hated that sound, and it reminded her too much of an empty home, so she would have to turn the TV on when she ate. But nowadays, she found she didn’t mind it as much. Not here, in the house where Kim Bongpal and Seo Hayeon stayed in the Yeonbaek Plain.

There were several pieces of furniture that the people who lived before didn’t take with them. There were appliances, starting with the washing machine she used today, the vacuum, and other useful things. Thanks to their ability to charge batteries through the mana converter, there was no problem in using them. However, the TV didn’t work even if it was plugged into an outlet.

But Seo Hayeon didn’t complain about it.

Clink- Clink-

At first, it was awkward for her to eat with someone when she used to eat alone daily. Now, Seo Hayeon thought it was quite curious. Why did what seemed so shabby when she was alone feel so full when there were two?

“Thank you for the meal.”

“Yeah. Okay.”

After finishing her meal, Seo Hayeon washed the dishes. One person was responsible for the meal, while the other did the dishes. That was the rule between the two. At first, one person took charge of all of them, but after some time, it was changed to this by Seo Hayeon’s demand.

Kim Bongpal was still upset that they could lead such a peaceful life in the Yeonbaek Plain, but it was satisfying to Seo Hayeon.

“Let’s go if we’re done.”

“Yes.”

And the two left the house.

It was hunting time. During these three years, Seo Hayeon’s life was divided into two. One half was spent hunting the monsters of Yeonbaek Plain, and the other was training time with Kim Bongpal.

Kim Bongpal, who apparently had no interest in teaching others, took time out of every day to teach Seo Hayeon. Though there was nothing great about the method of training. It was just sparring or Kim Bongpal correcting Seo Hayeon’s posture. But even so, it was a big change, even if he remained unaware of it.

“Hmm….”

Kim Bongpal, who stopped suddenly, spread his mana out to search.

It looks like there is a colony over there…fuck. Is that all?

Judging from the amount of mana he felt, only a few hundred 2-stars and a couple dozen 3-stars. If that number of monsters appeared in the city, they would all be surprised. Still, considering that the place they were currently in was the Yeonbaek Plains, the number was remarkably small.

During the months they spent in the Yeonbaek Plain, Kim Bongpal explored the Yeonbaek Plain several times alone. He discovered during his many searches that he couldn’t find any monsters higher than 5-stars. It almost felt as if something had gathered any monster stronger than that.

Of course, such a change in Yeonbaek Plain produced good results for Seo Hayeon. There were no 5-star monsters that Seo Hayeon couldn’t handle with her power, and the 4-star level, which was on par with her, was plentiful. There were quite a few monsters below that too, so it was good to experience mass battles. Unintentionally for Seo Hayeon, the present Yeonbaek Plain became the best training ground.

“Kid.”

“Yes?”

“Take up your sword. There’s a monster colony over there. Go and handle them.”

“Yep!”

This placed Seo Hayeon on the fast track regarding growing her skills. Combined with her teacher and innate talent, it wasn’t comparable to others in her class. Her ability to utilize the terrain and pace her use of mana went beyond the B-class.

“Kyaaah!”

…You know.

“…?”

“Uncle! Uncle!”

Startled, Kim Bongpal quickly scattered his mana around him. Perhaps a monster with a 5-star rating or higher appeared? However, what Kim Bongpal’s mana found were the previous 3 and 2-star monsters.

“What? Fuck?”

Mana detection wasn’t perfect. In fact, it was just a technique that detected the monsters radiating out their own mana. That was why it didn’t work on those who knew how to hide their mana, though that was rare among monsters. Usually, it was only possible for monsters higher than 5-stars. In other words, monsters that were more than a match for Seo Hayeon.

Kim Bongpal frowned, injected mana into his feet, and ran. What he found was.

“Eh?”

“Aaah! Uncle! Quickly! Help me quickly!”

As shown with Mana Detection, a group of weak monsters chasing Seo Hayeon. Her expression was as urgent as if she were being chased by a six-star monster.

“Haah, fuck.”

Kim Bongpal let out a short sigh. He could understand why Seo Hayeon, who could sort out a group of monsters alone if she wanted to, was so fussy. The monster chasing Seo Hayeon was now familiar to hunters named Red Bridge.

They had four pairs of red legs attached to them. On the other hand, the rest of the body, their head, thorax, and belly, was black. It was a familiar creature to everybody. If only you shrunk it down.

In other words.

“Ouch! Spider, spider! Aaaah! Disgusting!”

It was a massive spider.

“What trouble am I in because of that bastard Kang Jun?”

Kim Bongpal, who glanced at Hayeon as she quickly passed him, tensed his hand. There were several reasons why Kim Bongpal didn’t become an S-class Hunter, but the biggest was that he could not use a weapon that affected a wide area, which was a prerequisite for an S-class Hunter. And that meant he had to kill the monsters that were now rushing toward him one by one.

“Fuck.”

Kim Bongpal dashed toward the monsters.

“Uncle! Go for it! Kill them all! Get rid of them!”

She was a high-maintenance niece.