Chapter 205. The Qualification of an Explorer (2)
The day we made our announcement, we received endless crude attacks from the press. Some denounced us, saying that what we said about other worlds, explorers, and world"s enemies was all made up, while some criticized us for monopolizing what should have been shared among all of humanity. Some also claimed that the dungeon was an enemy no different than the monsters, and that Revival was their vanguard. The sheer stupidity in that claim made us speechless.
When exposed to something they couldn"t understand, people easily denied or dismissed it as false. They wouldn"t be convinced unless the world"s enemy showed themselves in front of them. Although we showed them how the inventory worked and even showed ourselves going in and out of the dungeon, in the end, it wasn"t easy to accept the existence of the dungeon unless they personally saw it.
However, there still were people ready to adapt and progress. These were the people who applied to become explorers. Not to mention, there were more than just a small number.
Hwaya glanced over the computer screen and spoke with a smile.
"Shin, we"re being flooded with applications. I wouldn"t be surprised if there are over a million."
On TV, there were reports denouncing our claims as make-believe and untrustworthy. It was truly laughable. I retorted with a chuckle.
"We already decided anyways. The applicants we accept have to be at least S rank. That"s the best way for the explorer count will gain momentum."
"I know. Out of all the applicants, only 5 people meet that requirement. Still, so many people applied!"
With that, Hwaya pressed a b.u.t.ton and wiped the list clean. Immediately afterwards, the printer started spewing out five applications. She came over to hand them to me, but realizing that my hands were full, she made a wry smile and spread her arms out.
"Ina, come to Mommy."
"Un."
Ina, who was in my embrace, made a small nod and went over to Hwaya. Although I couldn"t compare her to my 9 year old self who was busy brandishing a wooden spear in the Amazon jungle, Ina liked to act spoiled too much. It was most likely because she lost her parents at a young age. Though I was happy to spoil her, as I couldn"t let her become a spoiled teenager, I"d have to fix her man… manners…
"No, but it"s cute, so it"s fine. Ina"s smart, so I"m sure she"ll fix it on her own when she grows up! Once she gets a boyfriend, I"ll kill… I mean, she"ll distance herself from Mommy and Daddy."
"Hm? There are two SS rankers? I recognize Laz Michel, but… who"s this woman?"
"She"s a Turkish ability user that recently became a SS ranker. I think she had a healing ability."
"Healing ability?"
Became a SS ranker? Doesn"t that mean her ability evolved? Feeling a bit surprised, I looked at her profile page. She was rather young and quite beautiful. Although I expected her to be brown, she looked Caucasian. Apparently, most Turkish people were like that. Mm, Turkish, how pretty.
"Shiiin?"
"N-Nothing. I was just wondering why all high-ranking ability users were so beautiful, like you and Ina."
"And this woman?"
"Y-You"re more beautiful of course!"
"I"ll take it for now, but I"m confiscating this. Ina."
"Un!"
At Hwaya"s command, Ina reached out and took the application from my hand. The two of them then began to give their impression of the healing ability user.
"What, she"s not even that pretty. Her skin isn"t that white, her eyes aren"t that big, her nose isn"t that high, and her b.r.e.a.s.t.s aren"t that big!"
"Her clothes are worn. I don"t like her earrings. Her hair is old-fashioned."
"I don"t like how she looks so naïve! She"s short, too! Ina, who"s prettier? This woman or Mommy?"
"Mommy is a lot prettier!"
"Ina is beautiful too!"
"Like I said, you"re both beautiful…"
I took my eyes off the two who were rubbing their cheeks against each other and examined the other four profiles. I first looked at Laz Michel"s. His ability being reevaluated to SS+ rank was especially eye-catching.
"He wants to join Revival? Hwaya."
"I"m okay with it. That oldie has manners and is sensible. Who knows, maybe he can give us advice when things aren"t going well."
"I"m okay with it too, but we should talk to everyone about it first. Let"s make him our first contractor. He"s an SS ranker, and if he joins Revival, we"ll gain credibility."
"Her too."
"Who?"
Hwaya lightly eyed Ina, and she handed me the paper she had crumpled up. It was the Turkish healer"s application.
"She wants to join Revival."
"Eh? Turkey will let her go?"
"It"s not like you have to abandon your country to join Revival. She can just join us for Event Dungeons or Event Raids as part of Revival without being tied to her country."
"It"s the same thing if she can"t prioritize her country. Of course, I"ll prioritize helping the countries of Revival"s members, but… Ah, I see."
She had a healing ability. In other words, even if she was an SS ranker, she had no ways to attack. Not everyone could be like Ludia who could both attack, buff, and heal by coming to Earth and receiving the power of earth.
"Interesting." I murmured and curled the corner of my mouth up.
"With her joining Revival, Turkey can borrow our strength for Event Dungeons or Event Raids they can"t handle. That"s quite smart."
Her name was Ilayda Van. She was 26 this year, a university graduate, and an active ability user. Apparently, her ability was still growing. She was quite outstanding.
Of course, Revival already had an excellent healer, Ludia. However, it didn"t hurt to have another healer, especially a high-ranking one. Who knew? Maybe there were some things only she could do.
"If she"s joining us for her country, she might not feel as committed… but I"m sure she"ll do her share of work. Alright, let"s accept her."
"Hm, Daddy"s being smart for once. Right, Ina?"
"Daddy"s always smart!"
"Ina"s the only one that knows me. Come here."
"Un!"
I decided to look at the remaining applications later, and received Ina from Hwaya"s arms. Ina laughed innocently as she played with my cheeks. She really was cute. I became more certain that I didn"t need to fix her manners.
Ina was important, of course, but I didn"t delay the explorers because of her. If we were going to accept the two SS rankers today, we wouldn"t have time for others.
As we decided to accept Laz Michel and Ilayda Van as Revival"s members, we had to see them in person. Without me having to do anything, Hwaya was already calling them. She truly was a reliable vice-guild master.
At that moment, a woman"s voice rang out from behind.
"Oh, this is the perfect family. I"m surprised you haven"t had your wedding yet."
"Mom! Don"t come out of nowhere!"
Hwaya, who was in the middle of calling someone, dropped her phone and screamed. The woman that appeared in the living room ignored Hwaya and put the plate of fruits she was holding onto the table with a bright smile. She looked like how Hwaya would look in 10 years. Although her beauty and youth made it seem as if she was only in her early 30"s, she was undoubtedly Hwaya"s mother.
"So, Son, when"s the wedding?"
"Um… Mother, you see…"
Didn"t I explain when I first met her!? The questions from Hwaya"s mother, Lana, made me sweat. When Hwaya suggested that it was rude not saying h.e.l.lo when I left Ina with her all the time, I agreed and came to visit Hwaya"s home. However, I didn"t think Hwaya"s mother would like asking so many tough questions.
"My, with how you appeared on TV, I thought you were full of experience, but you"re quite innocent. I didn"t know this was your type, Hwaya. Didn"t you like guys that played around when you went to school?"
"Mom!"
"My, look at you getting all mad. Ina"s going to learn bad things, right, Ina?"
"Mommy is nice. She"s just being shy."
"Aw, siding with Mommy?"
I smiled and patted Ina. Hwaya seemed to have given up on calling, as she sent text messages somewhere, then sat down next to me.
"You said you"d make lunch for us, right? Hurry up. We have to go soon."
"Tell me, what do you like about Son-in-law? Between Allen and him, who would you choose?"
"Mom, stop!"
"But my daughter is dating the world"s most famous man, I"m jealous! How can I not!?"
Devil, there"s a devil here…! I hugged Ina and shuddered. Unlike her gentle appearance, Hwaya"s mother loved joking. I told myself to remember it at all costs.
After eating the excellent Korean food she cooked for us, I circulated Peruta Circuit and warmed up my body. When I got up, Hwaya who was playing with Ina tilted her head and asked.
"Where are you going, Shin? We have to meet them in two hours."
"Two hours is enough to climb the 64th floor. I"ll be right back."
"You only need two hours to climb a floor? … Are you really human?"
"I"ve been wondering about that recently, but it looks like I"m human. There are still people stronger than me in the dungeon."
"Well, you"re only level 64… Huu, nevermind. Also, I should be able to enter the First Dungeon in a few days too. I"m at the end of the 79th floor now."
Although Hwaya spoke like it was nothing, it was a truly outstanding achievement. When she became a First Dungeon explorer… though she would become weaker for now, she would be able to become much stronger in the long-run. She would also get the opportunity to become a Beyond explorer.
"Congrats, Hwaya. Good job."
"Once I defeat the First Dungeon"s 50th Floor Master and obtain Dimensional Travel, I won"t need to send you off to other worlds alone anymore."
"Right… Were you thinking about that the whole time?"
"Hmph, I have to watch out for Daisy too. Right now, she"s the only one that can follow you to Dimensional Mercenary missions. It makes me jealous."
"If Daisy"s interested in me, it"s probably just my corpse, so don"t worry."
"That makes it sound like I"m worried that someone will steal you from me! I might be jealous, but I never even considered you being stolen by someone! Got it?"
I nodded with a wry smile at Hwaya"s temperamental shout. Really, I had to at least praise her heaven-piercing confidence.
Suddenly, Hwaya lowered her voice and spoke quietly.
"A-Also… what Mom said before… Allen is just a friend I used to know when I was a kid, so don"t worry. T-There"s really nothing more."
"Yeah, I know she was just joking. I don"t mind."
I thought I gave a 10 out of 10 reply, but Hwaya frowned and shouted as if I said something unpleasant.
"… You should mind it at least a little! How can you not care at all when another guy"s name came up?"
"Do you want me to mind it or not!?"
Really, women were as annoying as they were lovable!