The Skill Maker Chapter 72

Edited By: Sebas Tian

A few days after he successfully completed the test.
Hyun-Soo stood on the same spot that he stood on the first time arrived at the clan's base.
And he introduced himself again, but this time, he was at different position.
"It's been awhile since we have a new member, so please treat him well. Hyun-Soo, you can go in now."
"Okay."
As he walked back, he slightly turned his heads and his eyes met Kim Yoo-Na's.
'Now she looks at me.'
Kim Yoo-Na had small smile on her face as she watched him walk back, but when her eyes met his, her smile disappeared.
Other than private meetings, Kim Yoo-Na would purposely not look at him, but now, she looked at him without holding back.
It was like a sign.
It was a sign saying that they wouldn't undervalue Hyun-Soo's worth just because he had a connection with Kim Yoo-Na.
This is the kind of benefit that he got once a majority of the members acknowledged him.
'I was pretty disappointed.'
He knew the reason and he understood them.
That's why he was thankful, but on the other hand, he felt bad.
Despite of that, he was a bit disappointed, so he felt even more bad towards her.
After that, Kim Yoo-Na briefly announced the clan's schedule.
When she told them that they haven't received any requests, a group of them expressed their disappointment.
When the meeting was over, most of them stood up and went about their own business.
"I just don't understand!"
Hyun-Soo heard someone's angry voice.
He was about to ignore it, but because of the conversation they were having, Hyun-Soo stopped walking.
'The voice belongs to?'
"I don't understand why all of you are treating him so nicely based on one measly test."
'Marcus?'
They were definitely talking about Hyun-Soo.
There was no guarantee that the other person would like everything about him.
There were always going to be likes and dislikes.
It would be a lie if he said he didn't care, but saying that everyone had to like him was an unrealistic idea.
Right when Hyun-Soo was about to overlook it.
"Hey, you've got it all wrong."
He heard another familiar voice.
'It's Eugene.'

"You liked him from the start anyways. You're biased so I don't need to hear your opinion."
"No, you do need to listen to it. Do you think me and the rest of the members are blind or something?"
"So what? He's just a C rank."
"Right, he is just a C rank. But do you know how long it takes for an E rank to become a C rank?"
When Eugene asked for a specific timeframe, Marcus didn't answer.
It's probably because he had no idea.
"It's six months. No, not even. A few months at least."
"…If Yoo-Na was personally training him, then isn't it obvious?"
Tsk, tsk.
He heard something clicking their tongue.
It was obvious who it was.
It was probably Eugene clicked his tongue because he thought Marcus was being pathetic.
"You don't know anything about Yoo-Na. I'm pretty sure you know that Yoo-Na doesn't use the gentle and nice approach. And if he was someone like that, would she even bring him here? Yoo-Na's standards are just as high as yours."

Marcus didn't answer again.
Kim Yoo-Na's high standards. Hyun-Soo agreed with that as well.
On top of that, she trains people really hard.
It was such an intense method that she probably wouldn't feel a thing even if she threw someone off the cliff.
"Yoo-Na did train him, but he leveled up through his own efforts. I'm pretty sure you know it too. You have ears and aren't an idiot."

"Since you have eyes, I'm sure you watched the test in the recent official hunt live with your own eyes."
Eugene's annoyed voice filled between them.
Hyun-Soo was a bit embarra.s.sed, but was feeling proud as well.
Besides Kim Yoo-Na, Eugene was the hunter that actually saw him up close and acknowledged his efforts.
Not just the current Hyun-Soo, but the Hyun-Soo in the past as well.
'I'm really thankful, but I should leave.'
He ended up hearing most of their conversation, but he felt that it was wrong to stay there.
Their conversation was coming to an end.
In order to avoid any awkward situations, Hyun-Soo was going to leave, but he felt someone's presence.
"Marcus, I understand why you have so much pride, but try looking at it without thinking about the ranks. The skilled hunter that you like so much will be standing right there."
With a wall between them, the footsteps stopped.
"Don't think that I'm taking sides. From what I know, you're not a petty, close-minded person. That's why I'm letting you know. You came to this place in order to be acknowledged with your skills alone, right?"
With that last comment, Eugene walked out.
It was obvious that Eugene and Hyun-Soo would b.u.mp into each other.

Eugene looked surprised for a moment, but smiled not long after and pointed his finger behind him.
His lips started moving.
This was what he said.
'Do your best.'
His best? What was he talking about?!
Just what was he telling him to do with the guy that despised him?
Before Hyun-Soo was ready to do anything, Eugene told him to do his best.
'Ugh. I don't like this. This kind of situation.'
It felt like background music started playing and the phrase, 'A wild Marcus has appeared!' popped out.

Marcus was surprised when he walked out of the resting room and saw Hyun-Soo.
"What the? Were you eavesdropping? You sure have a horrible hobby."
"I wasn't planning to, but I did I the end, so I'm sorry about that."
Marcus was acting sensitive, but when Hyun-Soo apologized so easily, he loosened up a bit and looked at Hyun-Soo.
He didn't seem like someone that enjoyed talking bad about him and the negative feelings that he had towards Hyun-Soo couldn't be seen in his eyes.

Marcus kept on opening and closing his mouth as if he had something to say, but in the end, gave up and remained quiet.
This situation was extremely awkward and painful for Hyun-Soo, but he stood there as if there was nothing wrong.
He instinctively felt that nothing would come out of it if he backed out.
Marcus turned around after looking at Hyun-Soo for a bit.
And then he quietly mumbled something.
Because he spoke so quietly, Hyun-Soo questioned whether he heard it right and kept on looking at the spot that Marcus was standing in.
'…But I still haven't completely acknowledged you.'
There was a but in the beginning.
What was the meaning of that word?
'Was he trying to say that despite of me doing well, I'm still not prepared?'
If his a.s.sumption was correct, then the conversation he heard between Eugene was something he didn't have to worry about.
It could be an issue with his pride and stubborn personality, like Eugene had mentioned.
'At least he's not a bad person.'
He already knew that, but.
There wasn't a completely evil person in this clan.
Maybe it's because they're in the same clan as Kim Yoo-Na.
'Oh. I'm sure Hyuna is waiting.'
He knew that Hyuna would be waiting for him after ordering some late night snacks.
He pushed aside the slightly awkward and embarra.s.sing feeling and quickly walked towards the dorm.

***

After being accepted into the clan, the biggest change was the members making requests.
The clan members were making requests about food.
He was thankful for their interest, but Hyun-Soo was honestly in pain.
He only made enough so that he was full, but the members were expecting him to make a dish that was delicious and pleasing to the eyes and that was difficult for him.
'The Bibimbap was the only dish I was able to make…'
After eating Bibimbap about eight times, they stopped requesting for it, which was a relief for him.
It was a bit unfortunate, but they started asking him for a different dish.
After telling that Jjambbong, a Korean spicy seafood noodle, was a popular dish these days, he bought instant noodles and cooked it for them, so they stopped demanding for the time being.
Of course Kim Yoo-Na is the one that provided the ingredients.
'Even though I didn't put in any Levs.h.i.+la, they seemed to enjoy the food, which I'm thankful for, but…it feels like I've become a kitchen maid.'
If he cooked based on what the members wanted and the original recipe, then he wouldn't have any Levs.h.i.+la left.
'The ones that I've planted in the garden have all died, so I don't have much left.'
Despite of his back and neck being in pain, he planted the flowers in the garden and they were lively during the first few days.
But later, the color turned to black then they fell to the ground and died.

"Hyon-Ssoo! The flowers died! What should we do?!"

He remembered how Katrina screamed.
Honestly, he wanted to scream more than her.
'My hard work! My potion factory dream! My money!'
But he somehow managed to hold back what he wanted to say to prevent humiliating himself.
There wasn't a guarantee that he would find an item as rare as a Levs.h.i.+la.
That's why he plucked the flowers without holding back during that time…
'I'll just have to do some research with the flowers that I have left.'
The rice ball cake was good, but the only issue was that it didn't last very long.
Just from one look at the shape and ingredients, one can tell that it provided an effect and Hyun-Soo gritted his teeth while trying to think of an item that killed two birds with one stone.
'I guess I have no choice. Time to take out my trump card.'
Hyun-Soo's trump card was j.a.pchae, which was a Korean gla.s.s noodle stir fry.
Noodles, soy sauce, sesame oil and sugar.
With a bit of meat and a variety of vegetables, he'll be able to make an addicting j.a.pchae.
It took a long time at first since he had to soak the noodles for a long time and it was difficult since he was cooking for foreigners, but after figuring it out, people responded positively.
Slurp!
Slurp! Sluuuurp!
Chew, chew!
He made the first batch as a test and within five minutes, the dish became clean.
After serving the dish, it became quiet.
He wasn't sure how long that peace was going to last.
It was good that they weren't holding back, but this was a bit much.
It came to a point where Hyun-Soo wanted to suggest that they eat out.
Anyways, it's probably thanks to the j.a.pchae.
A small smile appeared on Hyun-Soo's face as the hunters gave him a thumbs up and told him that the Korean spaghetti was delicious.
'Thankfully, they've become accustomed to the taste, so I'll be able to perform many tests.'
Everyone will eat it and say how good it is.
Their body became stronger and were sensitive about the changes that happened to their body.
They were great test…no, great teammates.
'It's not like I'm going to poison them, so it's beneficial to both sides.'
Hyun-Soo decided to think that it was good for everyone.
Anyways, thanks to the j.a.pchae that he made, he was able to enjoy the quiet in the Center Room.
It was nice to train in his own training room, but since he had to work with other hunters, Hyun-Soo visited the Center Room whenever he got the chance.
The other hunters read his mind and allowed him to watch.
The best way to work on their teamwork was to actually try, but as of right now, it was a bit too much.
It wasn't impossible for the other hunters to work with Hyun-Soo, but that couldn't be considered as practice.
Because of that, all he could do now was watch the other hunters.
He wasn't sure how helpful it was going to be just by watching.
However, since the other hunters knew each other well, there was a need for Hyun-Soo to work that much harder so that he can catch up.
'But the problem is that the more that I watch, the more I just watch them without a.n.a.lyzing or studying.'
Since their rank was high and their power was different from his, it was fun to watch.
'That's the power of A rank hunters' was what he thought as he watched their impressive skills.

—————————————————
Name: Kim Hyun-Soo (21)
Rank: C
Cla.s.s: Skill Maker
Experience: 98%
Stamina Level: 89%
Energy Level: 100%
Stamina: 101 / Agility: 77 / Strength: 90 / Critical Hit: 75 / ?? / ?? / ??

Skill List
[Interface][SS]
[Skill Creation][B]
[Skill Transfer][B]
[Medicinal Mix][C]
[Invisible Attack][C]
—————————————————

His eyes stopped at experience.
'I'm 2% short. So this is what it feels like when something is missing.'
A phrase that he once saw before popped into his head.