The next day, after healing the injured and resting, the team moved on without delay. Everyone looked tired because it was right after a tough battle, but it was definitely the healer team who looked particularly tired. Min Ah-rin stumbled with a pale face.
“Are you okay? Do you want me to carry you?”
With a tired smile to my worried question, Min Ah-rin said, “No, I’m not sick or anything… I’m just a little tired.”
“You don’t look too well, though.”
“Um, how should I say this…” Min Ah-rin pressed on her eyes with her hands. “Going to work the next day after working overtime? Drinking energy drinks and staying up all night for 3 days to finish a report?”
“…pardon?”
“It’s like that. My energy is running out, but I don’t have any pain…”
“I think I understand.” I nodded, barely understanding the explanation.
Min Ah-rin sighed and continued. “But this is good enough. If I use my ability more, I get a headache and it’s really exhausting to walk.”
“Come to think of it, I used my abilities a lot earlier and I got a headache.”
“It is one of the most common side effects. If it gets worse, you may vomit blood or faint, so be careful. If possible, it’s good to replenish your energy from the healer.”
“I see.”
I was perplexed inside. I thought it was just a headache and that it was a little hard to breathe, but you could vomit blood and faint?
I thought carefully about the contents of the novel, but nowhere was a scene written in which Ha Tae-heon vomited blood or fainted by using his abilities a lot. As you could see, he was definitely the main character.
Even if I read the novel, the main character Ha Tae-heon was the main focus, so I had nothing but this basic knowledge. With Han Yi-gyeol’s body, there were not enough people around to ask questions, so this unexpected information was very important to me. I admired Min Ah-rin.
“Min Ah-rin-ssi knows a lot of things.”
When I said it with a big smile, Min Ah-rin smiled and her ears reddened.
“Wh-what. This is…”
“Han Yi-gyeol.”
It was then Kim Woo-jin, who was quietly listening to Min Ah-rin’s conversation with me from behind her, suddenly interrupted, “What about me?”
“What about you?”
“Don’t you have anything to ask me?” he asked in a very unhappy voice. The way he pouted his lips, it looked like he was upset.
‘Suddenly asking such a question…’
I wasn’t curious about anything. What did I have to ask about? I scratched my head, pondered over it, and barely found something to ask.
“How are you feeling about coming to the gate?”
“…it sucks.”
“Right? It sucks, right? You must be thinking, ‘Ah, why didn’t I listen to that bastard?’ Right? You regret it, right?”
“No!” Kim Woo-jin shouted, as if I hit the nail on the head. It was like a kitten threatening a person. That was to say, he wasn’t intimidating.
“What do you mean by no? Your face says that you’ve had a hard time running away from monsters.”
“Uh, my face? Did I become ugly?” Kim Woo-jin hurriedly asked as he covered his face with his hands, surprised.
I grinned at the sight. “What a funny question, asking if you became ugly. You seem to think you were never ugly in the first place,” I teased, as Kim Woo-jin’s face quickly turned red.
“Oh my, how cute,” Min Ah-rin helped.
“Well. It’s not an ugly face.”
“Of course. Isn’t Woo-jin-ssi popular among young people? He’s exactly what an idol on TV looks like.”
“His style is definitely flashy. His hair is red; he has piercings.”
“Hey, shut up, will you?”
I sighed deeply and shook my head. “Aigo, look at the way he talks. That’s why he’s still single.”
“Wh-what?”
“No, Yi-gyeol-ssi. I heard it’s good to be a little rough these days.”
“Really?”
What was that? I tilted my head at the incomprehensible taste. Wasn’t it better to be kind?
“Yes. There is such a thing. A man who is warm only to his woman and harsh to others.”
“I’ve been wondering since you’ve mentioned it, how does a person like that have a social life?”
“I don’t know? I’ve only seen it in dramas, not in real life.”
“Stop it!”
Kim Woo-jin, with angry eyes, glared at me. Why only me…? Feeling a glare so cold like frost in midsummer weather, I felt like I was being unfairly picked on. Well, I teased him a bit, but I think I praised him too.
Contemplating a bit, I asked cautiously, “Hey, Kim Woo-jin… I’m just asking just in case.”
“…what," Kim Woo-jin responded with a slightly softened tone.
“Have you ever been in a relationship?”
“What?”
“I mean, I ask because… ah.”
Kim Woo-jin grabbed me by the collar with angry eyes that I had never seen on him before.
“You bastard… Do you really want to die?”
“Ack, let go first…”
I thought it would be easy, but his hands’ strength was no joke. I reached out to Min Ah-rin next to me for help, but she only looked at me with an interested expression and didn’t save me.
Ah, this feeling of betrayal. That’s why there’s no one to trust in the world…
Kugugung!
“……!”
“A monster appeared!”
“Get ready to rank it!”
The ground shook violently and Park Geon-ho, who was leading the team at the forefront, shouted. Everyone who had been joking around until now turned serious in an instant.
I hurriedly got away from Kim Woo-jin and flew into the air. A horde of monsters was seen pouring out from the west, blowing up dust.
“West, check it out! They’re S-grade!”
Were they only coming from the west? I dryly swallowed my saliva as my hair fluttered in the wind.
“No. This…’
I realized it intuitively. This attack.
“South, check it out! They’re S-grade!”
“East, check it out! They’re S-grade!”
“No, North, they’re… S-grade…”
It was different from before.
I turned counterclockwise. There were dozens of monsters running towards us with their mouths gaping open coming from all directions. There was no time. At that speed, we had to face the monsters in the next 5 minutes.
I came down near Cheon Sa-yeon and stood behind him. It was to check how we were going to organize our ranks. To the guild members who had gathered around him, Cheon Sa-yeon said, “The healer, the identification team, and the non-attacking personnel will gather in the centre, and take the following positions, in order from the inside: B-rank, A-rank, and S-rank.”
“We will distribute A-rank and S-rank evenly to minimize damage.” Park Geon-ho took over Cheon Sa-yeon’s words.
“Hmm.”
Cheon Sa-yeon looked back at me, touching his lips as if thinking about something. He looked as calm as when he found a grade S+ monster.
“Han Yi-gyeol, what about you?”
“Pardon?”
“Any ideas?”
When Cheon Sa-yeon asked me a question, all eyes turned to me in an instant. As I was facing the guild members who were bewildered as to who the Master was asking opinions from, a cold sweat broke out behind my back. Cheon Sa-yeon, you crazy bastard.
“……”
I pondered for a while. Of course… I had something in mind. However, I didn’t want to talk in a situation where the focus was on me. Anyway, it would be difficult for guild members to accept my proposal for the first time without any doubts.
“There is none,” I answered with a forced smile, after weighing what I should do. Please, let’s move on.
“Don’t lie to me.”
The corners of my lips trembled with all my might, whose hopes were being shattered. Stop. What do you want from me now?
“I really am not.”
“Really? What a shame.” While he responded with emphasis to each syllable, Cheon Sa-yeon nodded surprisingly easily.
Not, I thought to myself.
“Then let’s just move on. About half of our team members will probably be badly injured or killed, but it can’t be helped. Too bad, if Han Yi-gyeol suggested a good idea, no one would die.”
“This…”
Crazy bastard.
I let out a hot breath boiling in anger and bit my lips.
Among the confused guild members, Park Geon-ho, Kim Woo-jin, and Min Ah-rin could be seen.
Cheon Sa-yeon, who stood with his back to them, looked at me and smiled. The way he looked at me meant, “What do you want to do now?”
I was going crazy.
“…I have… an opinion.” I smiled, furious, at Cheon Sa-yeon.
Now that I was here, I just had to go all out.
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