After 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 others 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 of 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 saw it themselves.

However, there still were people ready to adapt and progress. These were the people who applied to become explorers. Not to mention, there was more than just a small number.

Hwaya glanced over the computer screen and said 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’ve already decided what the requirements will be. The applicants we accept have to be at least S rank. That’s the best way for us to speed up explorer recruitment.”

She nodded. “I know. Out of all the applicants, only five people meet that requirement. Still, so many people applied!”

With that, Hwaya pressed a button and wiped the list clean. Immediately afterwards, the printer started spewing out five applications. She came over to hand them to me, but smiled wryly and spread her arms out when she saw that my hands were full.

“Ina, come to Mommy.”

“Ok.”

Ina was in my embrace, and she nodded before going over to Hwaya. I couldn’t compare her to my nine year old self who was busy brandishing a wooden spear in the Amazon jungle, but I felt like Ina liked to act spoiled too much. It was most likely because she had lost her parents at a young age. I was happy to spoil her now, but 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.

I flipped through the papers. “Hm? There are two SS rankers? I recognize Laz Michel, but…who’s this woman?”

Hwaya explained, “She’s a Turkish ability user who recently became a SS ranker. I think she has a healing ability.”

“Healing ability?” I raised an eyebrow.

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. I expected her to have darker features, but she looked Caucasian. Apparently, most Turkish people were like that. Mm, Turkish, how pretty.

Hwaya narrowed her eyes. “Shiiin?”

I coughed lightly. “N-Nothing. I was just wondering why all high-ranking ability users were so beautiful, like you and Ina.”

“And this woman?” Hwaya prodded.

I sputtered, “Y-You’re more beautiful of course!”

Hwaya snorted. “I’ll take it for now, but I’m confiscating this. Ina.”

“Ok!”

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.

Hwaya commented huffily, “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 breasts aren’t that big!”

“Her clothes are worn. I don’t like her earrings. Her hair is old-fashioned,” Ina muttered.

“I don’t like how she looks so naïve! She’s short, too! Ina, who’s prettier? This woman or Mommy?” Hwaya suddenly asked.

Ina piped up, “Mommy is a lot prettier!”

Hwaya smiled broadly. “Ina is beautiful too!”

“Like I said, you’re both beautiful…” I said weakly.

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. The fact that his ability had been reevaluated to SS+ rank was especially eye-catching.

I looked up. “He wants to join Revival? Hwaya.”

She shrugged. “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 nodded. “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?” I asked.

Hwaya lightly eyed Ina, and she handed me the paper she had crumpled up. It was the Turkish healer’s application.

Hwaya stated, “She wants to join Revival.”

This was surprising. “Eh? Turkey will let her go?”

Hwaya explained, “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 way to attack. Not everyone could be an all-rounder like Ludia who could attack, buff, and heal after coming to Earth and receiving the power of earth.

“Interesting,” I murmured and smiled slightly.

Hwaya continued, “After she joins 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 twenty-six this year, a university graduate, and an active ability user. Apparently, her ability was still growing, so 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.

I scratched my head. “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?” Hwaya quipped.

Ina yelled out, “Daddy’s always smart!”

“Ina’s the only one that knows the true me. Come here,” I said indulgently.

“Ok!”

I decided to look at the remaining applications later, and took 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.

Since we decided to accept Laz Michel and Ilayda Van as Revival’s members, we had to see them in person. Hwaya was already calling them and making arrangements without me having to do anything. 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.”

Hwaya was in the middle of making a phone call, but she dropped her phone and screamed, “Mom! Don’t come out of nowhere!”

The woman who 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 ten years. Although her beauty and youth made it seem as if she was only in her early thirties, she was undoubtedly Hwaya’s mother.

“So, Son, when’s the wedding?” she asked.

I sputtered, “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 for me to never say hello 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?” Hwaya's mom asked mischievously.

Hwaya whined, “Mom!”

Her mom continued without batting an eye, “My, look at you getting all mad. Ina’s going to learn bad things, right, Ina?”

“Mommy is nice. She’s just being shy,” Ina explained helpfully.

“Aw, siding with Mommy?”

I smiled and patted Ina. Hwaya must have given up on continuing her phone call 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.”

Lana said with a wide grin, “Tell me, what do you like about Son-in-law? Between Allen and him, who would you choose?”

“Mom, stop!” Hwaya pleaded.

“But my daughter is dating the world’s most famous man, I’m jealous! How can I not be!?”

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 this part of her at all costs.

After eating the excellent Korean food she cooked for us, I circulated Peruta Circuit and warmed up my body. Hwaya was playing with Ina when I got up, so she tilted her head and asked, “Where are you going, Shin? We have to meet them in two hours.”

I explained briefly, “Two hours is enough for me to climb the 64th floor. I’ll be right back.”

Hwaya gave me a surprised look. “You only need two hours to climb a floor? …Are you really human?”

I grinned. “I’ve been wondering about that recently, but I think I’m human. There are still people stronger than me in the dungeon.”

She sighed. “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.”

Hwaya spoke like it was nothing, but it was a truly outstanding achievement. She would become weaker for the short-term after becoming a First Dungeon explorer, but 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,” I complimented her sincerely.

She nodded. “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.”

I scratched my head. “Right…Were you thinking about that this entire time?”

She shot me a glare and huffed. “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.”

I replied weakly, “If Daisy’s interested in me, it’s probably just for my corpse, so don’t worry.”

Her eyes flashed. “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 childhood friend, so don’t worry. T-There’s really nothing more.”

“Yeah, I know she was just joking. I don’t mind,” I reassured her.

I thought that I had given a 10 out of 10 reply, but Hwaya frowned and shouted as if I had said something unpleasant, “…You should mind it at least a little! How can you not care at all when another guy’s name comes up?”

“Do you want me to mind it or not!?” I really had no idea what she was fishing for! Really, women were as annoying as they were lovable!