Editors: Spade, Roki
Proofreader: Sapphire
The analysis results of the fourth dungeon clue finally came out.
Only twelve days were left until the fourth dungeon, and there were talks about whether it was enough time to prepare.
After the analysis was completed in the morning, Yisun was ready to go to the conference room, when suddenly, Shin Jian texted all of the Chord members a hotel address.
Disregarding Yisun’s bewilderment at the announced change of the usual meeting place, Sa Hyeon took him to the hotel. As they approached the grand and sophisticated lobby, Yisun admired the appearance of the famous hotel in his heart, assuming that Chord would occasionally hold meetings in this kind of place as well.
Chord was Korea’s most elite hunter team, and he’d heard that they’d been receiving financial support from various companies because of the recent Raid success. This hotel might have provided them with the venue, or maybe they had simply changed the meeting location to revitalize the atmosphere.
But from the moment he entered the breakfast lounge, Yisun could smell it.
The sweet and soft scent that filled the space made him realize just what exactly the current situation was.
It was the smell of freshly baked bread.
Yisun slowly stopped walking, recalling what he had said to Sa Hyeon exactly two days ago. He glanced around with a stiff face and stared at Sa Hyeon with difficulty, his eyes clearly hoping he would prove him wrong, but Sa Hyeon simply raised an eyebrow and smiled.
“Do you like it?”
“……”
“Moving the equipment all the way to the Chord conference room would’ve been too much trouble.”
Sa Hyeon explained that it was done to avoid dirtying the conference room. He led the dumbfounded Yisun to sit at the table in the middle of the lounge, then quickly disappeared to talk with Shin Jian. Yisun looked straight ahead with a blank face.
Over the hall, more than five cooks could be seen making bread. Plate after plate of freshly baked bread came out endlessly, and the Chord Hunters trickled into the lounge one by one, greeting Yisun, and joyfully taking their shares.
Han Arin and Ki Joohyuk also greeted Yisun warmly when they entered the lounge. They naturally vacated the seat next to Yisun and sat down at the round table. Yisun watched them with a complicated expression and asked, “Has Chord ever had a meeting in a place like this before?”
“Hmm, no? Not that I remember…what about you, Ki Joohyuk?”
“Eh, I don’t think I do.”
Han Arin was the third member to join Chord, while Ki Joohyuk was the fourth. All of the Chord Hunters would often gather and hold meetings about dungeon strategies, and most of the time, it would be inside the HN Guild building. When they went to clear a dungeon that had appeared in the countryside, they had a meeting there, but it was their first time meeting at a hotel.
“Isn’t it because a lot of investment poured in after clearing the third dungeon?”
“Are we the only ones here? Did they reserve the entire first floor for us?”
Han Arin wondered to herself, and Ki Joohyuk nodded, suggesting that maybe the hotel had provided the first floor to accommodate the heroes. In fact, they had always been receiving similar sponsorship offers. Chord was a famous team, so just them visiting would be enough promotion…
Yisun really tried to believe those words, but the smell of bread filling the space forced him to accept reality. If the hotel had really provided them with the venue, then there was no reason for them to fill the current hall menu with only bread. Even the Chord team members occasionally wondered why there was only bread, so it was definitely because of him.
As he sat there with a serious expression on his face, Han Arin came back from the hall holding a plate full of bread, placing a loaf in front of Yisun before settling in her own seat with the plate.
“Huh?! Noona, what about my share?!”
“Really now… You dare expect to receive the same treatment as Restorer Yisun? Do you think you can compare?”
“Wow, I’m really sad… but it’s kinda true.”
Han Arin glared at Ki Joohyuk with a serious look, and so with a grunt, he could only leave to get his own share. Yisun thanked Han Arin and glanced around the hall again with a complicated expression.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Han Arin noticed his burdened gaze and asked, “Restorer Yisun, do you hate bread?”
“No, I don’t… but I think I might soon.”
“Really? Should we change the venue, then?”
A velvety voice suddenly sounded from behind. Yisun whipped his head back, startled, and looked up at Sa Hyeon approaching him. He didn’t even notice when he’d finished talking with Shin Jian.
Sa Hyeon lowered his head and met Yisun’s gaze. If he said he didn’t like bread here, then the venue would be changed immediately, so he had no choice but to say he liked it.
Sa Hyeon naturally sat in the empty seat next to Yisun and spoke in a gentle voice.
“You didn’t specify what type of bread you liked exactly, Yisun-ssi, so I ordered them to try making all the varieties they could make. So, if you like something in particular, tell me. We can place a separate order.”
Sa Hyeon’s kind words confirmed the situation, causing Yisun to nod with a subtle expression. Meanwhile, Han Arin next to him was very happy and even asked, “Did we come here because of Restorer Yisun?”
Everyone from the Chord team soon gathered in the lounge, and after a short snack break, the fourth dungeon briefing began. The TV placed in front of the hall flashed on, and the item they’d received after defeating the third dungeon’s boss monster was displayed on the screen.
“This clue is also in ancient Greek, and it says, ‘To offer a sacrifice for the prosperity and glory of Ephesus,” Shin Jian explained while zooming in on the photo of a burnt and torn piece of parchment paper.
Ephesus was an ancient Greek colonial city located in the Izmir province of Turkey. Shin Jian calmly recited the information and showed the pictures of the “ruins.
“Ephesus prospered as a port city and benefited greatly from active trade with Greece. In particular, the temple dedicated to the goddess of fertility, which was famous for its exquisite splendor, was “the.”
Artemis was most widely known as the goddess of the moon and hunting, but in ancient beliefs, she mainly symbolized abundance and prosperity.The screen changed to show the Temple of Artemis, built in a double row column style. It was a huge temple with a length of 137m and a width of 69m, and had 127 ””Ionic-style made of white marble, each of them around 20m high. As of now, only one column remains.
“Therefore, we have deduced that the next dungeon will be the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus.”
“Are we fighting a new boss monster again? This is driving me crazy.”
Han Arin was the first to respond. She anxiously flipped her hair as she grumbled, while Ki Joohyuk, on the other hand, smiled and exclaimed:
“I used to love the goddess Artemis!”
“So will you go in and die? Do you want to be the sacrifice?”
Ki Joohyuk felt slighted by Han Arin’s cold words and began gushing about how wonderful Artemis was. He said she looked really cool in a he read as a child, and that he was overjoyed at the thought of meeting Artemis as a boss monster. As if she heard those words, Shin Jian briefly touched the tablet that controlled the TV screen and then displayed a new picture.
“For reference, this is what the Artemis found in the ruins of the Temple looks like.”
The statue that emerged from the ruins was far from the word “cool.” The primitive form of the deity stood upright, extending her hands forward in a commanding gesture. Her lower body was sculpted in a cylindrical shape, with countless beast figures carved into it.
Even the stone slab on the back of her head was adorned with countless carvings of wild beasts, resembling an indigenous totem. It was said that the goddess in Greek mythology was connected with the indigenous beliefs of Ephesus, hence why she took this form.
“… Oh.”
Seeing his shocked expression, Na Gunwoo, who was beside him, smiled and patted his shoulder.
The briefing continued for a while longer. They discussed the possible reasons as to why the clues of the next dungeon came out damaged, and it was revealed that the history of the Temple of Artemis’s collapse aligned with Yisun’s predictions. The Temple had been destroyed thrice: first by floods, then by fire, and finally by pillaging.
Among the three, the arson incident was the most famous. The Temple had burned down to ashes in a fire started by Herostratus, who was driven by the self-centered desire of leaving behind a heinous deed to be remembered for generations. It was later reconstructed, only to be thoroughly destroyed by the East “Germanic that invaded and plundered it, before finally setting it aflame.
The invasion marked the beginning of Ephesus’s decline. As they reached that part, Yisun remembered the phrase from the clue once again. ‘To offer a sacrifice for the prosperity and glory of Ephesus…’
“Could the altar also be some kind of clue?”
In the third dungeon, the throne of Zeus had a special significance, so maybe the altar in the fourth had some kind of purpose as well.
“There’s a high chance.” Sa Hyeon confirmed Yisun’s guess. He stared at the screen, his index finger rhythmically tapping the table. After pondering silently for a moment, he reached a conclusion and spoke.
“Hunter Ki Joohyuk, refrain from using your fire magic in this dungeon. All other Mages stay vigilant as well.”
“Yes? Why all of a sudden?”
“It’s a temple that has been burned down twice, so using fire inside might not elicit a positive response. Besides, it is quite peculiar that the clue came out burned.”
The Hunters nodded in agreement with Sa Hyeon’s speculation. Ki Joohyuk also marveled and muttered a “Whoa, the temple might hold some deeply hidden secrets.” Then, as if his thoughts had suddenly diverged, he spoke up.
“But couldn’t it also be unexpectedly counterproductive? Just like the Nike monster we faced in the third dungeon.”
With those words, the Chord meeting began in earnest. In the third dungeon, it was because they weren’t prepared for Zeus’s lightning attack that they had to give up on clearing it during their first run. So this time, they discussed things thoroughly so that it wouldn’t repeat.
Yisun listened intently, captivated by the ongoing discussion, and soon realized that the plate in front of him was empty. He thought that he wouldn’t be able to eat the bread because the whole thing made him uncomfortable, yet since the bread happened to be bite-sized, perfect for one or two bites, he ended up devouring everything on the plate.
Oddly enough, Yisun felt a sense of defeat as he continued inspecting the plate, when he heard the sound of an oven opening from beyond the hall. The cooks were baking bread again.
He glanced towards them, then looked at Sa Hyeon, feeling strangely overwhelmed. Their eyes instantly met.
“…….”
Noticing his smiling face, Yisun thought it would be nice if Sa Hyeon wasn’t so keenly perceptive.
* * *
The meeting lasted for over three hours.
They had small breaks about every hour, and freshly baked bread constantly poured into the hall. Its tantalizing aroma filled the space throughout the meeting, to the point that Yisun thought that his sense of smell might become numb. What was very unfortunate was that the type of bread changed every time in the meantime, so he unwittingly thought it smelled good.
By the time the meeting approached its end, Ki Joohyuk went to the hall to eat one last plate. Yisun was embarrassed that Chord had a meeting here because of him, especially since the only thing available on the menu was bread. However, as new bread came in every now and then, he was relieved to see everyone taking a bite here and there.
Ki Joohyuk, who came with a plate full of bread, sat down and asked a question.
“Why is it only bread though?”
“You, be quiet.”
“No but, this hotel is famous for its breakfast, right? The bread is really good too, but I want to try something else…”
Han Arin quickly tried to stop Ki Joohyuk, but he didn’t pick up on her cues and expressed his disappointment. Yisun fell silent and awkwardly averted his gaze, but Sa Hyeon calmly asked Ki Joohyuk, “Want to try something else?”
“Yes!”
“In that case, you can go somewhere else.”
“Yes? That’s not what I meant…”
“Go somewhere else. Don’t bother Yisun-ssi unnecessarily.”
Ki Joohyuk froze and gasped loudly. He quickly processed the current situation, before eventually shaking his head.
“No. I absolutely love bread. I’m actually “Jean. From now on, please call me Ki Val jean. I caught bread at my .”
Han Arin next to him shook her head apologetically at Ki Joohyuk’s swift change in attitude, nagging him for being so slow-witted. Then, in a stark contrast to when she was dealing with Ki Joohyuk, she smiled kindly at Yisun.
“I like bread, Restorer Yisun.”
“I like it too, hehe. There are all kinds of bread and they taste so good. It’s the best!”
Na Gunwoo seemed to have noticed the situation and added a few words in as well. Unsure of how to react in this situation, Yisun could only nod awkwardly. They went out alone again, saying they needed to eat more bread as if to prove their words;Ki Joohyuk hurriedly left, saying that he would also eat another plate. He seemed so rushed when he only just came back with a plate a few moments ago.
At the table where only he and Yisun remained, Sa Hyeon asked, “Do you feel a little better?”
Faced with such a candid question, Yisun pondered on which part to address. He thought that mentioning how he felt overwhelmed would hurt the cooks somehow, so he carefully chose his words before speaking.
“ I like the smell of bread… but normally, would you rent a whole hotel lounge to bake….”
“Yisun-ssi is an S-class Restorer, there’s no way you’d be treated according to normal standards?”
“….”
“I was told that the analysis results came out early this morning, and Yisun-ssi tends to get lonely quite easily, so I decided to set up a Chord meeting here. Was it too noisy? Next time, if it bothers you, just say it and I won’t call the rest of the team, so please feel free to tell me.”
The words “Please don’t rent the entire hotel breakfast area” hovered at the tip of his tongue, until eventually escaping with a sigh. Although he already knew that their thought processes were very different, he felt just how futile it felt to try to have a conversation with Sa Hyeon all over again.
Sa Hyeon abruptly leaned in close to Yisun, startling him. Yisun flinched at the proximity of their upper bodies, when Sa Hyeon asked him, “Do you feel worse?”
“… Is someone’s mood a mathematical formula that gets better or worse just because you do one thing?”
“That’s a negative response.”
It was obviously a calm answer, but Yisun was surprised and quickly added, “The food wasn’t bad. The bread was really delicious, but…”
“But?”
“…No, I feel a little bit better.”
Hearing the reluctant answer, Sa Hyeon raised his eyebrow and smiled. After a moment’s hesitation, Yisun asked why he was smiling. Sa Hyeon answered in a gentle voice.
“I was wondering if it would make you feel better if I pretended to be deceived by that lie.”
… In the end, Yisun decided to stay quiet. Sa Hyeon had told him several times that he would take care of him until his Restoration ability recovered to its fullest, but he didn’t know it would be in this kind of way. It was a little, no, quite burdensome.
But if he were to be honest, as much as he felt burdened, he did not hate the current situation. Human beings were simple creatures—once their senses, that of smell particularly, were pleasantly satisfied, a person’s low mood would slightly improve.
In addition, the Chord hunters seemed to quite enjoy having a meeting in such a fancy place. They’d never met outside the guild building, and when they’d left, their faces were filled with joy.
Moreover, the Hunters in the hall heard from Ki Joohyuk that it was because of Yisun that they enjoyed this privilege, so they occasionally looked in his direction and thanked him. Although the attention troubled him, there was also a strange feeling that came with it.
Yisun found the kindness of others extremely unfamiliar. He had always avoided people’s gazes because it felt uncomfortable, but by now, he had somewhat gotten used to the Chord Hunters, and their gazes brought about a different feeling. As Yisun fiddled with the napkin on the table, Sa Hyeon suddenly reached out his hand.
Yisun held the outstretched hand by habit before he realized it, and only felt strange after. Why the hell did they hold hands so naturally? Was this because of habitual repetitive behavior? Conditional reflexes? Yisun looked down at their hands in confusion. Sa Hyeon spoke softly.
“You have to be honest about how you feel, Yisun-ssi. Your well-being is my top priority.”
“… There is no need to take care of me excessively.”
“As I said before, Yisun-ssi, you’re an S-class Restorer, so this is not excessive at all. Rather, this much should be taken for granted.”
At that, Yisun stayed silent for a moment. He’d been working as an S-class Restorer ever since he awakened at 20, but he had never considered that this kind of treatment was natural. While burdened by debts to the Honshin Guild, he had never received any special treatment. Rather, the guild leader undermined his abilities, and even pressured him by constantly reminding him that he still had a long way to go to pay off his debts.
“In the third dungeon, I noticed that Yisun-ssi is exceptionally skilled at using his abilities. You have a high level of understanding, a keen sense of judgment, and an overall good grasp of the situation…”
Sa Hyeon, who spoke in a calm tone as if reciting objective facts, met Yisun’s gaze and smiled. Yisun knew that it was his habit to make eye contact when talking to people, and he also knew that what he said a while ago was also an objective analysis based on efficiency. Even in a situation where he couldn’t fully demonstrate his Restoration ability, he still accomplished that level of work, so Sa Hyeon was anticipating his performance at 100%.
Even though he knew all of that, Yisun could only blink slowly at the unfamiliar feeling. He really didn’t want to admit it, but Sa Hyeon seemed to always manage to poke his weak spots so casually.
“So, Yisun-ssi, think of more things that will make you feel better.”
Min: Soo, maybe I lied when i said weekly updates ;-; but don’t blame me, blame university… I had to rewrite some stuff before submitting it and am now preparing for the thesis denfense :sweats: I’m cursing whoever invented higher ed fr… I hope you enjoy the chapter and counting on your prayers. Alsoo aaa can’t wait for their first date(?), coming up soon.
As always, so grateful for Spade, Roki, and Sapphire for the thorough flawless editing.
Thanks for the update ❤️❤️❤️🤣❤️❤️❤️
Thanks for reading 🌸💕☺
Oh, Don’t hate inviter of higher education! Them created social elevator, so now you can change your social status and not to live all my life in one estate and die in it. They did a pretty good job, I think.
Thank you for your translation 🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍
inventor*
I knoww … I mean, it would’ve served a fairer purpose if we had lived in a meritocracy, but rn its just means to find some good capitalist slaves… sigh actually im just bitter bc the field ive majored in is very competitive and its making me anxious ig 😔😔
Sorry, professional deformation.
And in general, I agree that higher education often sucks
That’s as realistic a take can go, I totally agree! What I meant is that ideally, in a world not as flawed as ours, higher ed would serve a better purpose if we lived in a real Meritocracy, the one that’s unrealistic, and that doesn’t serve as an excuse for structural inequality under a capitalist system. Idk what i’m talking about at this point ( how did we get here)
We are here because our higher education is not just a piece of paper with grades, but real knowledge and analysis! That is why all of us here in the comments under the book about natural class inequality (literally classes) gathered to talk about the possibilities of reducing inequality!!!
.
Real reason of course hot gay korean men, why am I trying to lie myself?
Thank you for reaadiing~<3🌸
I got a feeling that Yisun will keep on eating bread until he got more things that make him feel good
Thanks for the chapter
Helpjgdf I just realized “bread” was mentioned like 28 times in the chapter…
Thank you for reading ~<3
Good luck man ….I had to rewrite mine 5x before I could pass