Chapter 06
Starlight falls. Sharararara~
[You are swept away by violently surging hot spring water.]
In an instant, hot spring water that burst forth swallowed me whole, like the mouth of a whale.
[You have discovered hot spring water; your rank increases. ‘Beginner Hot Spring Owner (E)’]
Before I could even rejoice at rising one step from F-rank to E-rank, I sank into the water.
[You are submerged. HP decreases by 5 every 10 seconds. HP (15/30)]
I can’t breathe!
[Due to lack of oxygen, your consciousness is fading. Time remaining until death: 60 seconds]
[Due to lack of oxygen, your consciousness is fading. Time remaining until death: 59 seconds]
It even tells me how long until I die—what unnecessary kindness!
I flailed desperately, trying somehow to get back to the surface.
[Due to water resistance, HP decreases by 1. (14/30)]
[Due to water resistance, HP decreases by 1. (13/30)]
Why is my HP draining so fast?
At this rate, I’d die from running out of HP before I even ran out of breath.
Fine. Then I just won’t do anything.
As the urge to give up took hold, all the strength drained from my body on its own.
Ah……
Am I really going to die this futilely?
I’d planned to succeed with the hot spring, make money, hire capable hunters, and search for my missing parents.
Then Park Siwoo and Jiho wouldn’t have to live such dangerous hunter lives, always being chased like they are now.
I thought we’d all gather at this hot spring and live together again, smiling harmoniously like before…….
[Due to lack of oxygen, your consciousness is fading. Time remaining until death: 10 seconds]
Once it dropped into the ten-second range, I could feel my vision blurring.
Then, a bright light bloomed underwater and spread in all directions, and someone’s hand pulled me close and embraced me. Then warm breath was blown into my mouth.
Silver hair that shimmered and drifted mysteriously even underwater, and beneath long eyelashes that gently settled lay cold, sapphire-colored eyes.
The one breathing life into me mouth-to-mouth was the man known as the constellation “Ruler of the Hot Spring.”
[The constellation ‘Ruler of the Hot Spring’ imprints its owner.]
[By the breath of the constellation ‘Ruler of the Hot Spring,’ you can breathe even inside hot spring water for 60 minutes.]
I lived…….
The man held me in his arms and rose to the surface in an instant.
As fierce currents swirled violently around him, his sea-colored robe fluttered in disarray.
Strange.
Why does it feel like something like this happened before?
The vaguely visible man overlapped with someone from my long-held memories.
[The energy of the constellation ‘Ruler of the Hot Spring’ stabilizes the rampaging hot spring water.]
[Hot spring water fills the dried bath. Due to the hot spring effect, within the hidden field ‘Hot Spring (EX),’ HP recovers by 5 every 10 minutes.]
This isn’t the time for me to be like this……
“I need to eat pork cutlet for lunch……”
[You feel hunger after thinking of pork cutlet.]
[Due to hunger, HP decreases by 1. HP (2/30)]
“Get a hold of yourself, kid.”
A low, gentle voice echoed by my ear.
But my eyelids were heavy and wouldn’t open.
“Yeonggye…… baeksuk is good too……”
[Guide ‘Yeonggye’ becomes enraged after hearing the flow of your consciousness.]
And yet, my mouth is watering at a time like this.
[You feel hunger after thinking of yeonggye-baeksuk.]
[Due to hunger, HP decreases by 1. HP (1/30)]
[You have acquired the title ‘Pathetic Stamina.’]
I’m hungry, but sleepy……
Maybe because I hadn’t eaten properly all day and then fell into the water, my body felt chilled.
“I’m cold……”
Curling up, I instinctively burrowed into a warm, broad embrace.
“You really do everything, don’t you.”
I felt someone wrapping my body in something like cloth.
[Due to the effect of the title ‘Pathetic Stamina,’ you are forcibly put to sleep to protect your remaining HP.]
That was the last thing, and I lost consciousness.
The savory smell of fried food……
That’s definitely pork cutlet!
Drawn by the appetite-stimulating smell, my eyes opened.
“Huh? Where am I?”
I was lying in what looked like a guest room, tucked into bedding, having been changed into the clothes Yeonggye gave me earlier.
I think I fell into the hot spring water that suddenly burst out, flailed around, and then passed out……
No matter what, I’m F-rank—no, not anymore. I’ve grown to E-rank now, so I’m clearly an E-rank awakened!
How can my HP be only 30?
Even considering that I’m a hot spring owner and don’t hunt monsters, compared to ordinary E-rank hunters whose HP is close to 1,000, this was an extremely poor level.
While I’m at it, should I check my stats?
Maybe my eyes were mistaken for a moment.
Wanting to deny the fact that my HP was only 30, I opened the status window.
[Job: EX-rank Hot Spring Owner (E)]
[HP: 15/30 | Strength: 20 | Luck: 10 | Lock]
[Owned Skills: ‘Capitalist Smile (A),’ ‘Furious Pickaxe Swing (A)’]
[Hidden Skill: ‘Hot Spring Ticket Sales Desk (EX)’ / Lock]
[Title: ‘Pathetic Stamina’]
So my eyes weren’t wrong.
HP 30 and Strength 20.
I let out a deep sigh at the despairing numbers and shifted my gaze to the hidden skill window.
……I’d never even heard of hidden skills before.
And all the Hot Spring Ticket Sales Desk can do is sell tickets, yet it’s EX-rank?
Since the EX-rank hot spring was a hidden field, it seemed that all skills related to the job of hot spring owner were classified as hidden skills.
What is this lock?
Curious about its existence, I pressed it.
[This skill has not yet been unlocked. Unlock condition: Unknown]
Judging by the lock, it seemed there were more hidden skills.
There’s a lock on my stats too?
[This stat has not yet been unlocked. Unlock condition: Gain favor from constellations (Check progress 50%)]
So I need favor from constellations to unlock it?
But how could the progress already be at 50%?
It didn’t seem like any constellations felt particularly favorable toward me.
Ah—except for one.
The constellation that had been blatantly hitting on me.
The first one that came to mind was the constellation ‘Do You Believe in Fortune?’
Then who’s the other one?
Out of curiosity, I pressed the check button, and the progress of ‘Gaining Favor from Constellations’ appeared.
[‘Yama of the Underworld’ Yama (Incomplete)]
Well, Yama was an expected result.
Thinking about it again, the constellation name ‘Yama of the Underworld’—that naming sense really was on par with Park Siwoo’s Black Flame Dragon.
If it were the real King Yama, I’d accept it.
If not, then he was definitely suffering from chuunibyou.
Can even chuunibyous become constellations?
No, do constellations even have ages?
Since constellations were unknown beings, there was still a lot we didn’t know.
With those somewhat absurd thoughts, I looked elsewhere.
[‘Do You Believe in Fortune?’ Unsu (Incomplete)]
Huh? Unsu is incomplete?
Then who’s the one that has favor toward me?
He asked me to drink tea together and even wagged his tail…… so he really was a FOX after all.
Completely different on the outside and inside!
You’re on my permanent blacklist now.
Feeling a strange sense of betrayal at the unexpected result, I snorted and moved on down the list.
[‘Immortal Killing Demon’ Sharenian (Complete)]
The Immortal Killing Demon…… I haven’t even properly had a conversation with them yet.
Is this favor rating even accurate?
Thinking it might be an error, I closed the window and opened it again, but the result was the same.
Is what’s written next to the constellation name their real name?
Sharenian…… It feels like I’ve heard that somewhere……
I think Yeonggye mentioned that name too……
But I couldn’t recall exactly what it was about.
Well, it must not be important if I skipped over it.
I coolly moved on and checked the favor progress of the last constellation.
As I stared at the favor window with a face full of questions, I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.
I’d rather believe Park Siwoo is normal than believe this.
I closed the window at once as I heard footsteps approaching the room.
“So you’re awake?”
The one who slid open the door and entered was the Ruler of the Hot Spring.
Unlike before, he was dressed in a modernized hanbok similar to mine.
Is fashion really completed by the face?
Dark navy suits him well too.
Wearing darker colors made his pale white face stand out even more.
No—this isn’t the time to be admiring his face.
I’d been staring at him as if bewitched, but quickly returned to reality.
“As you can see?”
I shrugged with both hands raised.
The man lowered himself in front of me, placed his large hand against my forehead for a moment, and then immediately pulled away.
Did something just come and go?
The whole thing happened so fast that I could only blink blankly.
“Doesn’t seem like you have a fever.”
Muttering to himself, the man stared straight at me with cold eyes.
His gaze was so sharp it almost made my face sting.
“Why are you staring like that? If you’ve got a complaint, say it.”
“You……”
The man’s light pink lips, which suited his refreshing appearance, parted slightly.
“Have you ever met me before?”
“I awakened today, you know?”
“That’s true.”
Perhaps even he found it strange; his expression turned puzzled.
Seeing him ask such an unreadable question, the window that had briefly flashed through my mind earlier resurfaced.
[‘Ruler of the Hot Spring’ Haeryeong (Complete)]
“Are you, by any chance, a tsundere?”
“What’s a tsundere?”
Haeryeong looked at me with eyes full of questions.
“Well…… you know, that contradictory behavior where you act indifferent but still take care of someone. Like you’re prickly toward me, but actually have feelings for me?”
I only wanted to confirm what was shown on the status window.
But the moment I met Haeryeong’s eyes, it poured down on me.
[The constellation ‘Ruler of the Hot Spring’ spews harsh words with his eyes (★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆).]
Countless curses packed inside the stars.
