Chapter 06
Starlight Falls, Sha-la-la-la~
[You are swept away by the rushing hot spring water.]
In an instant, the surging hot spring water swallowed me whole like the gaping mouth of a whale.
[You have discovered a hot spring. Your rank has increased to ‘Novice Hot Spring Owner (E)’.]
I had no time to celebrate my promotion from F-rank to E-rank before I was dragged underwater.
[Submerged in water. Health decreases by 5 every 10 seconds. Health (15/30)]
I can’t breathe!
[Consciousness fading from lack of oxygen. Time until death: 60 seconds]
[Consciousness fading from lack of oxygen. Time until death: 59 seconds]
How unnecessarily considerate to tell me exactly when I’ll die!
I flailed desperately, trying to reach the surface.
[Health decreases by 1 from water resistance. (14/30)]
[Health decreases by 1 from water resistance. (13/30)]
Why is my health depleting so fast?
At this rate, I’ll die from lack of health before I even drown.
Fine. I give up.
As the sense of resignation settled in, my body naturally went limp.
Ah…
So this is how I die?
I had big plans—using the fortune I’d earn from running a successful hot spring to hire skilled hunters, find my missing parents, and finally create a place where Si-woo and Ji-ho wouldn’t have to live as hunters, constantly risking their lives.
I thought we could all gather at the hot spring, laughing together like before…
[Consciousness fading from lack of oxygen. Time until death: 10 seconds]
As soon as the countdown hit the ten-second mark, my vision blurred.
Just then, a radiant light bloomed in the water, illuminating everything around me.
Someone’s hand reached out, pulling me close, and then—warm breath was passed into my mouth.
Even underwater, his silver hair shimmered mysteriously, his long eyelashes casting delicate shadows over his cold sapphire eyes.
The one breathing air into me was none other than the man known as the Constellation ‘Ruler of the Hot Spring’.
[Constellation ‘Ruler of the Hot Spring’ has imprinted his master.]
[With the breath of the ‘Ruler of the Hot Spring,’ you can now breathe underwater for 60 minutes.]
I’m… alive…
Holding me in his arms, he shot toward the surface in an instant.
As powerful waves surged around him, his sea-colored robe fluttered wildly.
Something felt strange.
Why did this seem so familiar?
As my blurred vision made it difficult to focus, an old, distant memory overlapped with the image of the man before me.
[Constellation ‘Ruler of the Hot Spring’ stabilizes the rampaging hot spring water.]
[The dry hot spring is now filled with water. Due to the hot spring effect, within the hidden field ‘Hot Spring (EX),’ health will recover by 5 every 10 minutes.]
This isn’t the time to be like this…
“I was supposed to eat pork cutlet for lunch…”
[Thinking about pork cutlet has made you feel hungry.]
[Hunger decreases health by 1. Health (2/30)]
“Get a grip, kid.”
A low, gentle voice echoed in my ears.
But my eyelids felt too heavy to lift.
“….Ginseng… chicken soup is good too….”
[The guide ‘Yeong-gye’ is enraged after hearing your stream of consciousness.]
My mouth is watering even at a time like this.
[Thinking about ginseng chicken soup has made you feel hungry.]
[Hunger decreases health by 1. Health (1/30)]
[You have obtained the title ‘Pathetic Stamina.’]
I’m hungry… and sleepy…
I barely ate all day, and falling into the water had left my body feeling cold.
“Cold….”
Instinctively, I burrowed into the warm, broad chest that held me.
“You really do everything, don’t you.”
I felt someone wrapping me in what seemed like a cloth.
[Due to the title ‘Pathetic Stamina,’ your remaining health is too low. You are being forcibly put to sleep for protection.]
That was the last thing I remembered before losing consciousness.
♨
The rich aroma of fried food…
That’s definitely pork cutlet!
Lured by the delicious smell, I slowly opened my eyes.
“Huh? Where am I?”
I found myself lying on a futon in what looked like a guest room, now dressed in the outfit Younggye had given me earlier.
The last thing I remembered was falling into the suddenly erupting hot spring and struggling underwater…
Even as an awakened being—though only an E-rank one now—I couldn’t believe my total health was just 30.
Even considering that I was a hot spring owner and not a combat hunter, an E-rank hunter typically had at least 1000 health.
This was seriously pathetic.
Might as well check my stats.
Maybe I had misread them before.
Desperately hoping I had made a mistake, I opened my status window.
[Job: EX-rank Hot Spring Owner (E)]
[Health: 15/30 | Strength: 20 | Luck: 10 | Locked]
[Skills: ‘Capitalist’s Smile(A)’, ‘Rage-fueled Pickaxe Strikes (A)’]
[Hidden Skill: ‘Hot Spring Pass Sales Desk (EX)’ / Locked]
[Title: ‘Pathetic Stamina’]
So my eyes weren’t wrong.
Health of 30 and strength of 20.
I let out a deep sigh at the despairing numbers and shifted my gaze to the hidden skill tab.
…I’ve never heard of hidden skills before.
And all I can do with the Hot Spring Pass Sales Desk is sell passes, yet it’s EX-grade?
Since the EX-grade hot spring was classified as a hidden field, it seemed that all skills related to the hot spring owner profession were categorized as hidden skills.
What’s with this lock?
Curious about its presence, I tapped on the locked icon.
[This skill has not been unlocked yet. Unlock condition: Unknown]
Looking at the locks, it seemed there were more hidden skills.
There’s also a lock on my stats?
[This stat has not been unlocked yet. Unlock condition: Earn the favor of the constellations (Progress: Check 50%)]
I need the favor of the constellations to unlock it?
But how did the progress reach 50%?
I didn’t think any constellations had taken a liking to me.
Oh, except for one.
That constellation wagging its tail at me.
The first one that came to mind was Do You Believe in Luck?
Then who’s the other one?
Curious, I pressed the Check Progress button, and the favorability progress appeared.
[Yeomra, ‘Yeomra of the Underworld’ (Incomplete)]
Well, Yeomra was expected.
But looking at that name again… Yeomra of the Underworld?
It had the same naming sense as Park Si-woo’s Black Flame Dragon nonsense.
If he was actually the real Yeomra, fine.
If not, he was definitely suffering from a severe case of chūnibyō.
Can a middle schooler even become a constellation?
Wait, do constellations even have ages?
Since constellations were mysterious beings, there was still a lot unknown about them.
As I entertained these random thoughts, I shifted my focus.
[Unsu, ‘Do You Believe in Fortune?’ (Incomplete)]
Huh? Unsu is incomplete?
Then who actually likes me?
That guy invited me to tea and wagged his tail like a fox, but…
Turns out he was totally different on the inside.
I’ll never trust him again.
Feeling strangely betrayed, I scoffed and moved to the next name on the list.
[Sharenian, ‘Immortal Murderer’ (Complete)]
Immortal Murderer…? I haven’t even had a proper conversation with him.
Is this favorability thing accurate?
Thinking it might be a mistake, I closed and reopened the window, but the results were the same.
Is the name next to the title their real name?
Sharenian… I feel like I’ve heard that before…
Didn’t Yeong-gye mention it once?
But I couldn’t remember exactly what was said.
Well, if it wasn’t important, I probably let it slide.
Deciding to move on, I checked the final constellation’s favorability status.
Seeing the name, I couldn’t help but let out a laugh.
I’d sooner believe that Park Si-woo was a normal person than believe this.
Just then, I heard footsteps approaching the room, so I quickly closed the window.
“You’ve come to your senses?”
The one who slid open the door was none other than the Master of the Hot Spring.
Unlike before, he was now dressed in a traditional hanbok similar to mine.
So it really is true that a good-looking face completes any outfit?
That deep navy color suits him well.
The dark shade of his clothes made his pale complexion stand out even more.
No, now’s not the time to admire his looks.
I snapped back to reality after staring at him a bit too long.
“As you can see?”
I raised both hands and shrugged.
The man lowered himself to sit in front of me, placing his large hand on my forehead before pulling away almost instantly.
Did something just pass by?
The whole thing happened so quickly that I just blinked in confusion.
“No fever, it seems.”
Muttering to himself, he then stared at me with an icy gaze.
His piercing eyes were so sharp that they almost felt physically painful.
“Why are you looking at me like that? If you’ve got a problem, just say it.”
“You…”
His cool-toned lips parted slightly.
“Have we met before?”
“I just awakened today?”
“That’s true.”
He seemed just as baffled as I was, his expression full of doubt.
What kind of question was that?
Then, the window I had just seen flashed through my mind.
[Hae-ryeong, ‘Master of Hot Spring’ (Complete)]
“…Are you a tsundere by any chance?”
“What is a tsundere?”
Hae-ryeong’s eyes filled with curiosity.
“Well… You know, when someone acts indifferent but actually cares deep down? Like how you’re cold to me, but in reality, you’re interested in me?”
I just wanted to confirm what was on my status window.
But the moment our eyes met—
[Constellation ‘Ruler of the Hot Spring’ pours out harsh words (★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆) through his eyes.]
The countless profanities hidden behind the stars rained down on me.
Thank you for reading! ♡
