Chapter 180: Mid-Level Boss (2)

After helping rescue the residents of the Patera Dimension and scouting the city outside the massive castle where the First Mechanical Monster was expected to be, Kim Ji-Hee's main responsibilities in the S-Class Gate clear were basically finished.

She yawned and glanced at the Gate. Her tasks were done, but instead of heading back to the hotel to rest, she stayed at the entrance, waiting for it to be cleared.

"Ji-Hee."

She turned at the sound of a familiar voice and responded, "Min-Ji unnie."

"Should we head back to the hotel?" Cha Min-Ji asked.

"No."

It had been ten days since the clear began. Everything had seemed to go smoothly until recently. Now, waves of injured Hunters were emerging from the Gate, and reinforcements were being rushed in. Something had definitely gone wrong.

Kim Ji-Hee, now an experienced Hunter, felt it instantly. Maybe Mister wasn't in immediate danger, but there was a real chance he'd come back badly hurt. That was reason enough for her to stay. She might still be young and technically uninvolved in the clear, but she knew her abilities weren't ordinary, especially not with someone like Kim Ki-Rok reminding her of it every chance he got.

"Unnie, you go back to the hotel," Kim Ji-Hee said.

Cha Min-Ji shook her head. "Hey, I can't do that."

"You can't fight."

"Huh! I can too. Ji-Hee, who do you think I am?"

"You're the Donation-mancer."

Cha Min-Ji was momentarily speechless. "Who told you that?"

"Mister did. He said: 'Our Min-Ji is a Donation-mancer, a

Donation-mancer

I say.'"

"

Ha,

wow. Even though I might look like this, I'm one of the top technical Hunters in the DG guild..."

"You are now, but in the past, he said you were a money-gobbling Donation-mancer," Kim Ji-Hee replied.

He wasn't wrong. Cha Min-Ji knew Kim Ki-Rok called her "Donation-mancer" because of the expense reports he showed her every month. Although she had managed to shed the nickname now, her close friends still used it to tease her from time to time.

"Unnie."

Cha Min-Ji tilted her head. "Hmm?"

"What about Ajumma?"

"She's over there making potions."

With so many injuries from battle, the Potion Brewers were busy. Although they had some pre-made potions, they had resumed production to be safe, as the number of injured personnel kept rising.

"What about you, Unnie?" Kim Ji-Hee asked.

"I just need to make Physical Reinforcement scrolls," Cha Min-Ji said. In truth, she had more free time than most technical Hunters, since combat and magic scrolls weren't part of her workload.

Cha Min-Ji dragged over a chair and sat down next to Kim Ji-Hee with a grunt, eyes fixed on the Gate. She didn't offer comfort or platitudes. She just sat there in silence as they watched together.

A moment later, an Association employee who was clearly not a Hunter rushed out of the Gate, uninjured but breathing hard. He pulled out his phone, then suddenly froze with wide eyes upon noticing the two women.

The employee hurried toward them, shouting in Korean, "Hunter Kim Ji-Hee!"

"Huh?" Cha Min-Ji tilted her head at him while Kim Ji-Hee stood up from her chair, letting the stuffed rabbit on her lap fall.

"Is Mister hurt?" Kim Ji-Hee asked, worried that they had called her because something had happened to him.

The employee shook his head. "No. Hunter Kim Ki-Rok is fine."

Kim Ji-Hee let out a sigh of relief and looked at the Association employee again. "Then, what is it?"

"Hunter Kim Ki-Rok has requested support from you."

Request my support?

she thought.

Kim Ji-Hee reached into her subspace pocket—a gift from the High Elf—and pulled out a spirit mana stone where she kept her spirits.

𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Archmage Kan Cho-Woo popped out from the spirit mana stone. "Hmm? Ji-Hee. What's the matter?"

Pegasus Mandong emerged from his spirit mana stone, spread his wings wide, and let out a cry.

"Hmm? What's going on so early in the morning?" Raident von Schutzendier Huntvar Agnilli Arghan Kashmaria, also known as Maria the Vampire, appeared from her spirit mana stone.

High Elf Aylphirane and the third-youngest Sword Master, Ainess, also emerged and stood around Kim Ji-Hee.

The Korean Hunters Association employee gulped. Thanks to the Permanent Gate, he had easily gathered information on Kim Ji-Hee, the DG Guild mascot, and her contracted spirits. The Association had been shocked to confirm the existence of the spirits contracted with Kim Ji-Hee. Her spirits were equivalent to at least Level 120 Hunters.

***

Since they couldn't just sit around waiting for Kim Ji-Hee, Kim Ki-Rok decided to do whatever he could in the meantime. Working with Ji Seok-Hyun and Jeong Man-Kook, he investigated the Aberrant Humanoid Mechanical Monster.

—Hunter Kim Ji-Hee has arrived.

After hearing the report in the command room, Kim Ki-Rok stepped back.

"Holy..."

With his enhanced senses, he could clearly see her even from a distance. Kim Ji-Hee sat tall on Pegasus Mandong, surrounded by her spirits and radiating confidence.

"Oh dear... This isn't something a growing child should be seeing."

He was a bit worried, since the hundreds of monsters had injured many of their people, but Kim Ji-Hee was a seasoned Hunter who had been participating in Gate activities with him and the other DG Guild Hunters since she was young.

While Kim Ki-Rok was easing his own worries, a red-haired spirit ran toward him from Kim Ji-Hee at high speed.

"Mr. Ki-Rok," the red-haired spirit greeted.

"Oh! Miss Raident von Schutzendier Huntvar Agnilli Arghan Kashmaria."

"Wow! You haven't forgotten. Even my closest friends sometimes get my full name wrong." After a moment of admiration, she turned to look at the Aberrant Humanoid Mechanical Monster. "We came because we heard you needed Ji-Hee's help."

Kim Ki-Rok nodded. "Yes. We need Ji-Hee's help."

"Do you want us to join the fight?" Maria asked.

"No. It's a monster with a very high mana-resistant metallic body."

Maria tilted her head, looking back at Kim Ki-Rok. "Then why did you call us?"

"Because we need help."

"With what?"

He pointed at the Aberrant Humanoid Mechanical Monster. "We need to check the inside of the monster."

"What?"

"Of course, it would be tough for you to infiltrate its insides since you'd be borrowing Ji-Hee's mana, but you all can freely shrink and enlarge your bodies."

Kan Cho-Woo and Pegasus Mandong sometimes shrank themselves down to doll size and wandered around Kim Ji-Hee. If it was impossible to enter the monster's innards due to the high mana resistance of the metallic body, they could simply reduce their size to avoid the metal's mana resistance and slip inside. Even if they came in contact with Patera metal, its mana resistance repelled external mana, so the spirits wouldn't suffer significant damage.

"So..." Maria paused for a moment and stared blankly at Kim Ki-Rok. "You want me to shrink and inspect the inside of the monster?"

"Yes, that's right," Kim Ki-Rok replied.

"Um... Does it have to be me?"

"It could be anyone, as long as it's not Pegasus Mandong," Kim Ki-Rok said.

"Why?"

"Mandong has poor memory. After inspecting the inside of the monster, we need the spirit to check whether the same mechanical device is present in the pre-secured and disassembled Animaloid and Humanoid Mechanical Monsters. So, we need a spirit with exceptional memory who can remember the monster's body while moving around inside it."

"In other words, anyone else can do it?" Maria asked hopefully.

Kim Ki-Rok nodded. "That's right."

"As long as it's not Mandong," she confirmed one more time.

"Yes, but who do you think will end up going?"

"Huh?" Maria asked.

Kim Ki-Rok gave her a gentle smile and slowly explained, "If you go and tell this story, who do you think will end up going?"

It wouldn't be Kan Cho-Woo. As Kim Ji-Hee's first spirit, the Archmage was too valuable to risk on something as messy as dissecting monster corpses. Pegasus Mandong couldn't remember where he left his own hooves, let alone vital monster anatomy. Aylphirane might have volunteered, but she was a

High Elf

whom Maria shared a history with. None of them fit.

"Lady Ainess?" Maria suggested.

"Oh! You think she'd be willing to do that?" Kim Ki-Rok exclaimed, feigning surprise.

Ainess was the first royal knight commander and a Sword Master. Even without a physical body, she trained every day using Kim Ji-Hee's mana. Maria, though older, still found her intimidating.

***

—Ji-Hee, stop sharing my vision.

Kim Ji-Hee tilted her head.

Why?

she replied, the thought slipping back to Maria.

—I've just gotten a request from Mr. Ki-Rok... I need to go inside a monster to check its insides.

Hearing Maria's response, Kim Ji-Hee opened and closed her mouth a few times, then quietly nodded and disconnected the shared vision.

—Right, our Ji-Hee should only see good things while growing up...

Still watching the battle from above with Pegasus's help, Kim Ji-Hee tilted her head at Maria's comment but stayed quiet. She had a sinking feeling she would need to look through Maria's eyes again, this time from inside the monster.

"What kind of help did he say he needed?" Kan Cho-Woo asked.

Kim Ji-Hee immediately blocked the other shared senses and answered, "She needs to check the insides."

"What?"

"The insides."

"Of what?"

"Of the monster..."

Kan Cho-Woo slowly turned his head away, while the other spirits avoided Kim Ji-Hee's gaze. Even if it was a Mechanical Monster, the idea of inspecting its insides clearly unsettled them.

"Uh... Um... Ji-Hee..."

"Yes, grandpa?"

"When you have time later, you should take Maria to... what was it, an amusement park? She's mentioned wanting to go. Make sure you go with her. I'll keep the others in check somehow. Promise me you'll take her... okay?"

***

Maria spent a long time wandering inside the monster, not only moving about but also memorizing the locations of the mechanical devices that corresponded to organs. By the time she returned, her eyes were unfocused, her expression dazed.

Kim Ji-Hee stepped forward and pulled her into a warm hug.

"

Eeeek!

Jiiii-Heeeee!" Maria wailed.

"Yes, Unnie."

"It was disgusting. There were too many mechanical devices. It was disgusting."

"Yes, yes, Unnie. Let's go to the amusement park together after we're done," Kim Ji-Hee soothed her.

"

Eeeek!

" Instead of answering, Maria burst into tears and nodded.

Kim Ji-Hee made Maria's body a little smaller than her own and descended to the ground, holding Maria in her arms.

"Uh, Unnie..."

"Yes, Ji-Hee," Maria sniffled.

"Ummm..."

Maria, still nestled in Kim Ji-Hee's arms, lifted her head and looked up. She saw Kim Ji-Hee with an awkward smile.

Why? What's with this pitying gaze and her smile?

"Ah..." Maria murmured as the realization hit her.

Mandong doesn't have a good memory,

Kim Ki-Rok had explained.

After inspecting the inside of the monster, we'll need to compare it with the parts from the Animaloids and Humanoids we've already secured. So we need a spirit with an exceptional memory, someone who can remember everything inside the monster while moving through it.

That's right. Kim Ji-Hee knew Maria's work wasn't over yet.