Max Talent Player

Chapter 123: Cross the Ravine of Fire (2)

...Hello

Ahn Seohye greeted me with a face frozen with obvious tension. After I gave her a casual greeting back, she expressed her thanks with a halting and strained voice.

I dont know why you helped me like this, but Thank you so much.

I felt her emotions through Eye of Perception. She was scared of me, but her feelings of gratitude were real. And through Observers Eye, I saw through the true nature of the fear I was feeling.

Darkness.

There was intense darkness in the depths of Seohyes eyes. The wounds and pain inflicted on her over many years were ingrained deep in her heart, creating a pool of inky darkness so deep I thought for a moment it would swallow me whole.

She didnt use a debuff skill on me or anything.

And yet, the wounds engraved on this childs very existence were so grave she had something close to a debuff effect on me. Eye of Perception and Observers Eye gave me a keen sense of just how many injuries this young lady had suffered and endured.

Physical contact, like a handshake, was utterly out of the question. We began to talk, and thanks to Yeonseo and Sunhwa being there, our meeting went on harmoniously.

After some time, I asked the question that was on my mind.

Id like to hear a little about the Predator Tree Colony.

About that

Seohyes explanation went on, and it was shocking to the extreme. I already knew she had been to the Predator Tree Colony multiple times, but that wasnt all.

For a moment, I was speechless.

...

Seohye stared at me with slight fear. She had an intense fundamental fear of men. My silence must have scared her. Noticing that, Yeonseo patted Seohyes shoulder.

Dont be frightened. Its alright. That guys someone wholl start meditating in the middle of a raid. Sometimes he gets crazy focused and goes radio silent like that.

I was actually silent because of shock rather than being focused, but Yeonseos consoling words and smiling eyes seemed to reassure Seohye.

...Youre not mad, right?

No.

I wasnt mad. Far from it. I was super happy.

So basically, you have a special quest.

And the name of that quest

Called Find Charles?

She had a quest called Find Charles! And I had a quest called Find Charles Owner.

Yes. But theres only about one week left to clear it.

I see. Where is his owner?

Hes in the Predator Tree Colony. In a mansion connected to it.

My quest also had about one week left. We both got the quests at similar times and were tackling it from different ends with different methods.

Did the former Ahn Seohye also have this quest?

That, I didnt know. But I had a hunch the former Ahn Seohyethe one before meeting mewas unable to complete this quest.

Things related to Ahn Seohye are changing.

I also told her honestly.

Actually, I also have a quest.

I shared the quest contents with her, and her eyes grew wide. She was just as surprised as me. Yeonseo made a fuss next to us.

Wow. This is amazing.

Our interests were perfectly aligned.

Boss. Tell me honestly. Did you help Seohye because you knew this?

As if.

No matter how broken my Eye of Perception might be, I couldnt see what quests others had.

Yeonseo grinned. It wouldve been a bit disappointing if you said yes.

There seemed to be some kind of weird magic in Yeonseos smile. The darkness I was picking up from Seohye with Eye of Perception brightened a little every time it came in contact with Yeonseos smile.

Yeonseo gave me a light wink, as if to ask, I did good, right? Seen another way, it also looked like she was explicitly asking for praise.

Yes, yes. Thanks.

I just threw her a word of praise in my heart. Yeonseo had asked me this on purpose to show that I didnt help Seohye because I wanted something from her or because there was profit to be had. Her question was meant to console the heart of a child fearful of society and adults.

After some more chatting, I called Seohye earnestly.

Seohye.

Yes?

Ill speak frankly.

Sincerely, without lies. I decided to drop all pretenses in front of this girl who was deeply wounded and feared the world.

Id like to cooperate with you. Theres something I want, and you can also clear your quest through me.

Simply put

Were in a you scratch my back, Ill scratch yours position. A win-win trade.

I didnt think dumping a whole load of goodwill on this child would make her open her heart. And I doubted she would say yes if I skipped directly to ask, Will you go on a raid with me? This was better. I frankly stated that we both had something to gain, so if she was willing, I wanted to work with her.

But I wont force you.

The Predator Tree Colony and Find Charles Owner werent originally in my plans. It would be awesome if I could clear them, but it couldnt be helped if I couldnt.

...

I wont ask you to respond right now.

We were still in the process of building trust, after all.

Please give me your answer within the quest time limit. Ill respect whatever decision you make.

* * *

* * *

One day passed, and I got a call directly from Seohye. I could feel from the way she spoke that she was really struggling to talk to me, but it was still very encouraging that she personally called me.

Um

After a long moment of hesitation, she continued.

Ive decided to do as you suggested, sir.

I wasnt particularly displeased by that stiff sir. She had never called anyone Oppa in her life. Sunhwa told me it was because her mouth wasnt used to it, or something like that. Her way of address wasnt that important, and I was more than willing to be considerate of this child.

Its not that shes intentionally trying to distance me. Its just that this is extremely hard for her.

The important thing was something else.

Is it really possible to keep up a party, no, a good relationship, with the Red Demon?

There was deep darkness in her heart, a pool so deep my Eye of Perception couldnt see the bottom of it. I was more than willing to cooperate with Seohye, but that didnt mean I would 100% trust her.

I cant completely let down my guard around her.

I helped change her living situation. But that alone wouldnt change everything. What if she started acting like the Red Demon I remembered? What if that was her true nature?

Then

I might end up killing her. I couldnt let the tragedies the Red Demons rampage created repeat themselves. We were working together now because our interests aligned, and I was only giving her the consideration she deserved.

First, the Predator Tree Colony.

I decided to start by checking out the Predator Tree Colony with her. Once again, we met in front of a fast food restaurant. That alone was major progress. She was willing to meet me, a man, alone.

Lets eat before we go.

While we were eating, Choi Sung-gu also arrived. After ordering four hamburgers, he sat down, sweating.

Oi. Are we really gonna go there? With just this kiddo?

Her registered age was 18, and her actual age was 19. She was a little too old to be called a kiddo.

You have a map, too.

I mean, I dont want to go.

Predator Tree Colony. A place with a swarm of Predator Trees.

Shell be our guide. Shes already been there several times.

Thats cause she has a special class. Im fucking scared of Predator Trees, man. We barely killed one, and you really want to go to a place with more? Cant you just let me off this once, my friend, my boss, my guy?

Nope. It would be a huge loss to leave a top-class magician like Choi Sung-gu behind. I was about to tell him as much when I noticed Seohyes eyes growing wide.

You hunted a Predator Tree?

Yes, we goddamn did. The two of us nearly burned to death back then.

I remembered the heat created by the oil and magic flames synergizing, plus the Rot Water and the decomposition poison on top of that.

Seriously, I was scared for my fuckin life, dammit. It was fucking HOT.

Seohye had a look of disbelief on her face. But I was told a Predator Tree was impossible to hunt at my level.

Whats your level?

Because Sung-gu asked so casually, Seohye just blurted it out without thinking.

34.

Then, she made a look of oops, which she quickly hid. However, she wasnt so fast that she could escape my Observers Eye.

Is she not allowed to disclose her level?

Did her Guardian instruct her to not tell anyone? Or her Streamer?

Come to think of it

I couldnt feel her Streamer at all. She was at this level at this age. That was a ridiculous growth speed. In addition, a special barrier was concealing her Guardians name. She was definitely hot topic material, so why? Why hadnt any Intermediate Administrators made a contract with her yet?

I butted into the conversation, taking advantage of the fact that Sung-gus jaw was on the ground.

Next time, dont say your level honestly.

...

If she was in that kind of situation, I just had to turn the situation to my advantage. I wasnt saying that I would make use of her, but that I would make use of the situation. I was sure of it. She hadnt reached that level on her own.

Your level is completely outside the realm of common sense.

The top Rankers were currently level 30-31. A young girl who hadnt made full use of her barrier yet and hadnt fully participated in any real raids was level 34?

I took a bite of my hamburger, then continued talking like I was discussing the weather.

You might have realized it yourself, but youre an Irregular.

She was no ordinary Player.

Its possible that someone forcibly adjusted your level.

To do that, an extremely strong Guardian would have had to incur a huge sacrifice. There were almost zero Guardians who would go that far.

Or it could also be that your starting level was different from others.

For example, she might have started at level 30.

And Im sure your Guardian doesnt want that fact to be revealed.

...

I could see from the expressions flashing on her face that she was terrible at lying.

So my advice is to be careful of what you say from now on.

...Yes. I understand.

Sung-gu shook his head while munching on his third hamburger. This monster of a Player. Jeez. Im tired of it, like seriously. Can you just see from A to Z after hearing a few words? Sometimes, you scare me. Do you even know, bro?

...

I ignored Sung-gus nonsense like water off a ducks back. After our meal, we went to a specific clearing.

This is where I usually activate the gate.

Ah.

It was a childrens playground, a place with stones, lumps of dirt, and steel structures like monkey bars and swings.

All those elements are important for barrier magicians.

That was why Seohye chose a place like this to activate the gate.

Did you pick this place?

...

That looked like a no. That special Guardian must have told her.

Just who could it be?

The Red Demons Guardian was never discovered. No matter how favored Seohye was, it was still amazing there was a Guardian out there pouring everything they had for her.

It would be good if I could find out who it was.

There werent many Guardians as devoted as Seohyes. That was the kind of Guardian you had to nab, because they would give you blind love and devotion.

Forget it. Dont answer me.

I turned my gaze from her to Sung-gu. Youve got your map, yes?

Yeah. This is my lifeline, so of course.

The map was marked with the locations and even the spawn times of the Predator Trees.

Ah. Your crazy must have infected me. To think Id be walking into hell with my own two feet The world is truly strange.

To my amusement, Sung-gus lighthearted attitude was helping Seohye relax. She was going into a field with two men, she could go in with her heart just a little more at ease. Sung-gus whining was good for something, at least.

Though that wasnt his intention.

Seohye picked up a few pebbles. She took out a shovel from her Inventory and piled up a few clods of dirt here and there.

Red threads.

She also took out red thread and scattered it in several places.

Ill begin now.