She’s The Protagonist’s Sister

"If anyone hears that, they'd think that the younger sister did nothing."

"I know you can't do it because you don't have time. If you have time, you do housework. I'm telling you not to skip breakfast just because it's hard to wash the dishes."

Thoughts of her oldest brother passed along with the chicken and got caught in her throat.

Lee Bobae couldn't stand it and said.

"Can't you stop being a porter? You don't have to work dangerously, even if it's for the youngest brother. It's not like our house is really at a loss. Use our savings, and if there's extra income, collect it little by little. Even if I don't get a promotion, they take care of my salary, so my salary will keep going up. Are you saying that hunters these days don't even treat you like porters? If you want to be a good porter, I'd rather introduce you to our guild."

"Idiot. So prices don't go up? Prices go up more than salaries. And hunters are sensitive about cracks. People's lives depend on it. Doctors also become sensitive when they enter the operating room, but Hunters are terrifying. You know that I didn't join the Four Seasons Guild on purpose right?"

Even if he made a mistake, it may affect Lee Bobae. Lee Haegi deliberately avoided the Four Seasons Guild.

"More than anything else, I can't put the burden on you alone. Are you going to live like this for the rest of your life? You need to meet a man and get married."

Lee Haegi swallowed his saliva as if he was being strangled.

"Somehow, when the famous daughter of the Lee family was drunk, she talked about marrying a man who would make her like a princess and then treat her as a queen. That way, mother and father can close their eyes comfortably."

Lee Haegi swallowed the Coke instead of tears. He smiled as if not to worry.

"Don't worry too much."

"How can I not worry?"

"You've never been into a crack before. It's not as dangerous as you might imagine. These days, the system is well established and the hunters are proficient. There is more information about cracks than before. And I don't go into cracks just for money. It's for my dream. My dream is to become a hunter."

"That's fucking bullshit. My second brother's dream is to be a novelist."

"That was when I was in middle school."

As Lee Bobae knew, Lee Haegi's dream was to become a writer. He especially liked fantasy novels. He recommended his favourite works to his family.

Lee Bobae thought that her eldest brother's willingness to enter the unfamiliar job of a hunter must have been partially influenced by the novel recommended by Lee Haegi.

"Somehow, I feel good this time. I didn't want to say anything because I thought I was overconfident, but I think I'll awaken this time."

"How do you know that?"

"It's just a feeling. Anyway, I'm in good shape, so I'm fine."

Having said this, even for Lee Bobae, there was nothing she could do. Lee Bobae took out a potion from her inventory.

Previously, she had given potions to her second brother. Most of the time they were defective ones so she left them out, but this time it was different.

It was a C-Rank recovery potion made by pouring out all of her mental power and mana over a few precious holidays.

Don't be fooled by the name C-Rank.

Just as C-rank Awakeners were treated as high-ranking Awakeners, C-rank recovery potions were also of high value.

There was no case of successful production of Rank-A potions, and they were only given in treasure chests in cracks or as strategy rewards. So, although B-Rank potions were the best, they were also monopolized by high-ranking hunters and were not released on the market.

C-rank recovery potions were the highest-rank potion that an individual could obtain from the market. Naturally, the price was high, but Lee Bobae did not make C-rank recovery potions often.

Since there was no material at hand, it must be made with only mana and mental power. But Lee Bobae, who always overworked herself, had no means of doing so.

This C-rank recovery potion was a very rare emergency fund that Lee Bobae made during a vacation forced by the company. It should be seen that life was exchanged for money.

The C-rank potion that Lee Bobae made by giving up her health was different in colour. Lee Haegi's eyes widened.

"I don't believe in feelings. The day my eldest brother disappeared I felt the same as usual. I'm scared because second brother said he felt good. So take this. I don't have a good feeling about you and you have a good feeling about this."

"Put it back. You should use it if there's something like this."

"'Don't use it for your second brother. Don't give this to someone else, you should use it.' I know you gave all the potions to others. Hell, the potion maker is your younger sister, so what are these scars on your body?"

Lee Bobae pointed to the small scars left on Lee Haegi's body. They were scars that did not exist before Crack Day.

Even if a potion was a defective product, a potion was a potion. A small scratch would have healed. If Lee Haegi used the potions he received to take care of himself, it wouldn't be that bad.

Lee Bobae's smart second brother had a good personality. In the past, it was fine, but in this day and age, it was difficult to see it from a family's point of view.

Lee Haegi smiled kindly.

"Bobae..."

"I don't want much. You just have to come back."

Lee Haegi wiped Lee Bobae's forehead. Lee Bobae was fed up and shook her second brother's hand, which was covered in chicken oil.

When she was full, the eyelids she had been holding up started to come down.

"Good night."

Lee Bobae scrambled to her room. Opening her door, she heard Lee Haegi behind her.

"I'm leaving early tomorrow, so I can't make you breakfast! I'll take out the side dishes, so make sure you eat breakfast!"

"Yeah."

Lee Bobae answered dryly and lay down on the bed. As soon as her head touched the pillow, she lost consciousness.

'....What.'

Lee Bobae, who had been sleeping well, sensed something. She woke up abruptly with a disturbing feeling.

There wasn't a battle, but someone came. Lee Bobae's senses were more sensitive than ordinary people.

When she opened her eyes, she immediately noticed something bothering her. Her second brother had opened the door to her room.

'I'll see you before I go out...'

The atmosphere was strange.

It was dawn, but it was dark inside and the second brother's face couldn't be seen. However, even with her eyes that were not awake from sleep, his tightly closed mouth was particularly conspicuous.

In addition, the atmosphere surrounding Lee Haegi was different from usual.

She wanted to know more, but her body suffering from fatigue wanted sleep.

What if something happened? It wouldn't be dangerous for her second brother. As soon as she was sure it was safe, her eyes started to close again.

She could see his mouth, which was tightly pursed, moving through her blurred vision.

"This time, I must..."

'must...?'

The voice was so low that Lee Bobae couldn't hear what followed. To her second brother who quietly closed the door, Lee Bobae greeted him in her sleep.

"You have to come back."

"I'll definitely come back."

Lee Haegi's figure was gradually moving away from the room. Going to the front door, picking up the luggage packed the day before, putting on shoes and opening the front door.

The sound of the door closing was heard. Lee Bobae buried her face in the pillow.

Today would be another day to endure just like yesterday. She had to sleep to survive.

***

In the end, Lee Bobae went to work without eating breakfast. It's not that she overslept or couldn't be bothered to do the dishes. She felt bloated, wondering if it was wrong to eat chicken before bed. She believed in her awakened body, but it must have been difficult to eat oily food after being overworked.

As soon as Lee Bobae went to work, she checked the materials and equipment. No one would have touched them anyway after she got off work, but it was a pre-work ritual of her own.

There were three major methods of making potions known so far.

The first way to create was by consuming mana and mental power without using any materials.

Potions made in this way could not exceed the skill level. Even producers were tired enough to have to take a break for at least two to three days. It consumed mana, mental power, time, and stamina. It was a wasteful method, so it was rare for a person who has just awakened to try it to check their skills.

Lee Bobae, who made potions for emergency funds on holidays, was a special case.

The second was to familiarize yourself with the recipe, then arrange the materials and equipment necessary for potion production and use the skill.

This way, you could save a lot more mental power and mana than the first. With the second method, the quality of the recipes and ingredients used, the skill level of the person using the skill, the skill rank, etc. affect the potion grade. Like with the first, potions higher than the skill level could not be crafted.

This was the most preferred method because it could craft potions of stable quality in large quantities.

The third and final method was the so-called golden spoon or gifted ability method that only the select few could do.

An Awakener who had a skill capable of crafting potions with materials and equipment directly. If you boil herbs, boil them, if you stir-fry them, stir-fry them, and then make potions according to the recipes taught by the skill or the recipes people discovered.

The third method produced different results depending on the producer. If a person trusts only the ingredients and made it roughly, a low quality product will come out, and if a talented person put their heart and soul into making it with low-grade materials, a high quality product will come out. If you had talent, you could also create a potion with a higher level than your skill level.

Every famous alchemist had his or her own workshop. Even if they belonged to a guild, it was possible to make homemade potions if their abilities were recognized.

It was natural that they were handmade rather than industrial products, and custom-made rather than mass-produced products. Hunters, who were the main consumers of potions, could not escape that perception.

Hunters preferred the third form of potion. However, they couldn't use it often because it was expensive.

In the end, most hunters' used potions that were mass-produced using the second way.

Since the Four Seasons Guild was a large guild, there was a lot of demand for potions. While supplying potions from an external workshop, a potion team was also placed within the guild.

As the guild grew, 1 potion team was not enough, so it increased to 2 teams, 3 teams, and 4 teams, but team 1 had the highest status in the guild. And Lee Bobae was the first person who made a breakthrough in raising the status of her team in the guild.

In other words, she was also called a desirable slave.

Lee Bobae, a desirable slave of potion team 1, focused on potion making. During her work, no one touched her due to her sensitive reaction. Because she was rumoured to have burned those who did several times in the beginning.

"Miss Lee Bobae!"

Until today.

"What."

Lee Bobae suffered from a chronic lack of sleep, mana and mental power. Lee Bobae's eyes and mind were very sharp and irritable.

Lee Bobae stared at the person who called her. It was the team leader who was her boss, but she called someone who was concentrating, so she thought it was cheap even as she stared at them.

"Lee Bobae, over here."

The team leader, who was scouted from the outside, had a good relationship with Lee Bobae. It was fine in the early days of joining the company. However, their relationship deteriorated when Lee Bobae refused to go to a dinner party at her own expense.

Since then, the team leader did not look at Lee Bobae nicely. But today, the look on her face was soft.