Chapter 619: Honest Sho |
A few more days passed, and Seo Ye-in’s ultimate move penalty was finally lifted.
On top of that, her clinginess had eased considerably as well, since the side effects of “Dang Eun-bi Potion No. 2” had worn off.
The problem was that the energizing effect had disappeared too.
In one corner of the training grounds, a sloth was sprawled face down.
“……”
Beside her, the hologram Seo Ye-in was crouching down.
Challenge Hardship had made a comeback once again.
She poked the sloth repeatedly and asked,
– Are you not going to do it?
Ahn Jeong-mi also added a comment in a deliberately stern tone.
“Young miss, did you not make a promise? That you would work hard.”
“I wanna go home……”
She seemed to have become so lazy that conditions and rewards no longer mattered.
Besides, winter break was already well underway.
Ahn Jeong-mi tried persuading her again.
“Kim Ho-nim is watching as well. Please try to hold on just a little longer.”
“Later……”
The fact that even this didn’t work meant she truly couldn’t be bothered anymore.
At this point, there was nothing more Ahn Jeong-mi could do.
Watching the scene, Dang Gyu-young and Jegal So-so exchanged words.
“And thus, the era of ‘No, he’s mine…’ has come to an end.”
“With the competitor voluntarily dropping out.”
“At long last, the age of Sho-Qyu has arrived.”
“No? It’s the age of Sho-Sho.”
“……?”
Dang Gyu-young narrowed her eyes.
Then, in a calm tone, she warned her,
“Jegal So-so, if you keep stabbing me in the back like this, our friendship won’t last forever.”
“Dang Gyu-young, as you know, I don’t have much time left. This time, you should be the one to yield.”
“I don’t have time either. Winter break is already short enough as it is.”
Dang Gyu-young grumbled.
Since she still had to deal with getting hired as a guard for Dragon Slayer Academy and handling her reenrollment, she was planning to enter Dungeon Island before the break ended.
Jegal So-so responded,
“Even so, once the semester starts, you’ll still get to see Kim Ho. I won’t.”
“……”
Dang Gyu-young fell silent, apparently thinking she had a point.
Jegal So-so smiled brightly and said,
“I’ll borrow him for a bit.”
“……Hold on a second. Why should I be the one lending him out? This isn’t the Kim Ho Bus or anything. You’re basically freeloading here.”
“……You’re annoyingly quick to catch on!”
“You always do this!”
The two of them started bickering again.
I stepped in between them and asked Jegal So-so,
“Do you have something you wanted to talk about?”
“Mhmm. At least once before I leave.”
“Once is fine.”
I happened to have a few things I wanted to ask too.
So after getting permission from the now-pouting Dang Gyu-young, we found a separate place to sit down.
After quietly sipping coffee across from each other for a while, Jegal So-so seemed to regain her usual calm and gentle demeanor.
As if she felt the same herself, she let out a bitter smile.
“If it were normally, I would’ve explained things properly and Qyu would’ve understood, but somehow we always end up fighting. I end up acting childish for no reason.”
“Doesn’t that just mean you’re that close and comfortable with each other?”
“Mhmm. She’s an irreplaceable friend.”
Jegal So-so nodded with a smile.
Then, with a subtle expression, she continued,
“As for this whole ‘Kim Ho Bus’ thing, I honestly think she’d accept it if we talked seriously about it. We’d probably squabble a bit first, though.”
“She probably would.”
“So what do you think? About the relationship between the three of us.”
In the end, the most important opinion belonged to me, the one supposedly running the Kim Ho Bus.
I answered casually,
“I don’t really stop people from coming aboard. That said, I’m not just accepting anyone without judgment either.”
“……So basically, you don’t dislike the idea?”
The corners of Jegal So-so’s lips curved upward while I returned the question to her.
“What about you, noona? Sometimes I honestly can’t tell whether you’re joking or serious.”
“……”
For a while, Jegal So-so silently sipped her coffee.
Then she turned her head to gaze into the distance before finally speaking.
“……Honestly, it’s both. It’s fun, and I do like you. But I’m not really sure myself yet.”
“That’s just how people’s hearts work.”
“Mhmm. Which is why I think it’s a shame. If I had a little more time, there would’ve been more chances for me to figure things out.”
“If I’d become certain, maybe I would’ve reenrolled with Qyu too~?”
Jegal So-so added the last part playfully.
I nodded in agreement.
“Still, there’ll be chances to see each other from time to time.”
“Come visit. Whether it’s during break or on dispatch missions.”
“If I end up heading to the Murim Alliance, I’ll contact you.”
At my words, Jegal So-so narrowed her eyes.
“……Somehow that sounds very ‘if it happens, it happens’. Is this because you think I’m already a fish you’ve caught?”
“You have to set priorities clearly.”
For the sake of world peace, there were too many places I needed to go. I couldn’t just spend all my time visiting the Murim Alliance.
“You can be surprisingly cold when it comes to things like this.”
“The situation is what it is. Besides, won’t we probably see each other more often later on?”
“Why later?”
“World peace might arrive. Or we might graduate.”
Jegal So-so narrowed her eyes again.
“Are you telling me to wait two years?”
“As I said before, it could happen sooner than that.”
“But I still have to wait either way.”
“If you can’t wait, then there’s nothing I can do.”
Neither of us was fully certain about our feelings yet, so it wasn’t like I could force anything recklessly.
Naturally, Jegal So-so looked highly dissatisfied.
She folded her arms and shot me a glare, then suddenly raised an eyebrow as though a thought had occurred to her.
“Kim Ho.”
“Yes, noona.”
“Then let’s confirm one thing.”
“What is it?”
Jegal So-so leaned her body toward me and stuck out her cheek.
“Give me one kiss.”
“What does a kiss have to do with waiting?”
“It has a lot to do with it.”
Jegal So-so’s expression turned unexpectedly serious.
“Seeing how much Sloth and Qyu liked it too, I thought maybe if I got a kiss too, I’d lean more toward waiting.”
“That sounds pretty forced.”
“Hurry up and do it! I don’t have much time!”
Jegal So-so repeatedly pointed at her cheek with her finger.
At the same time, she added sound effects with her mouth.
“Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock~”
There wasn’t even one percent of a romantic mood in the air, but it wasn’t like I couldn’t give her a simple kiss.
Especially considering our relationship up until now.
So, pushing aside my doubts about whether this was really the right thing to do, I lightly kissed Jegal So-so on the cheek.
“……”
“……”
Silence lingered in the air for a while.
Jegal So-so unnecessarily pulled out her fan and slowly fanned herself.
I asked her,
“So? Do you feel like waiting now?”
“About six months? No, actually, I’ll generously give you eight.”
“Why eight months?”
Covering her mouth with the fan, Jegal So-so replied,
“Come renew it before then.”
***
Just as Moyong Jun had said, the Murim Alliance delegation left the Dang Clan not long afterward.
Until the very last moment, the Sword Saint treated me with the utmost respect, while the expressions of Sama Gyeong, Moyong Jun, and the others remained indescribably complicated.
As for Jegal So-so and Dang Gyu-young, they exchanged a hug filled with genuine reluctance when it came time to say goodbye.
No matter how much they bickered, best friends were still best friends.
And just like that, the once lively Dang Clan grew quiet again.
We, meanwhile, returned to our usual routine.
Which meant practically living in the training grounds while cultivating.
Even while making it painfully obvious how bothered she was, Seo Ye-in ultimately managed to clear the Challenge Hardship Quest, and the reward she received was, as expected:
[Legendary Unique Skillbook Fragment C]
Unfortunately, C wasn’t the end of it, but at least judging by basic human decency, it would probably finish somewhere around D or E.
Dang Gyu-young also improved her specs through Challenge Hardship and even used the Necromancer Grimoire she had received from the Elder Council Head.
▷ Shadow Extraction [4/5]
1. Lab Director (A)
2. Shadow Commander (A)
3. Blood Sword Commander (A+)
4. Demon Ghost (A)
5. (Empty)
I also experienced some growth myself.
[The rank of ‘Sylphid’ has increased. (B+ → A+)]
[The rank of ‘Movement Command’ has increased. (D → C)]
▷Ignores 2 ranks of forced movement resistance
▷Every 3→1 minutes, ignores an additional 2 ranks
The penetration power itself remained unchanged, but the cooldown had been drastically reduced, allowing the additional penetration effect to activate far more frequently.
Meanwhile, time continued to pass quickly.
It was that vague period where winter break clearly felt like it was nearing its end yet wasn’t quite over.
Dang Gyu-young slowly began preparing to leave.
She needed to enter Dungeon Island early in order to handle her reenrollment process.
Because of that, the rest of the group also began discussing their schedules.
After all, they had originally come here following Dang Gyu-young, so it would have felt strange for only us to remain behind.
Ahn Jeong-mi made a suggestion to Seo Ye-in.
“Young miss, how about spending the remainder of the break at Hye-seong?”
“That doesn’t sound bad……”
“Your mother also plans to stay there for a while.”
“Mom too.”
Her gray eyes sparkled.
Although she chose to follow me first, it seemed part of her still wanted to spend time with her family.
At the same time, she clearly had no intention of giving me up either, as she tugged lightly on my sleeve.
“Come with me.”
“We’ll see.”
But I held off on answering.
Blindly following along would be the worst option.
Even if only for a short period, if there was a more efficient way to use the time, then it made sense to pursue that instead.
To confirm something first, I asked Ahn Jeong-mi,
“Would it be possible to contact the Underworld Dragon King?”
“He is currently unavailable.”
“Is something going on?”
At that, a strange look crossed Ahn Jeong-mi’s face.
“From what I’ve heard, he went to gather materials. Apparently, he intends to make an item for you, Kim Ho-nim.”
I was already promised a time-related item.
Which probably meant he was out terrorizing nearby boss monsters again while “collecting” materials by force.
I nodded and asked another question.
“Did he mention when he would return?”
“He did not.”
In that case, the odds of receiving the item before winter break ended were extremely low.
There was no guarantee the Underworld Dragon King would return in time, and that wasn’t even considering the crafting time itself.
If I went to Hye-seong right now, I’d just have to make another trip later.
It’d be better to go somewhere else instead.
I began thinking over the places I planned to visit eventually.
At the moment, there were three major options: the Ruby Magic Tower, the Topaz Magic Tower, and the Emerald Magic Tower.
The last two aren’t urgent.
The tutoring reward I was supposed to receive from the Song father-and-son duo could simply be delivered through Song Cheon-hye.
As for meeting the Thunder Lord, it would be better to grow stronger first.
Going to the Emerald Magic Tower was practically just an excuse to meet the Mountain Giant Dragon residing nearby.
More specifically, it was for the sake of strengthening the Crow Tree.
But even that was premature since I still lacked some materials, and there was no chance the Mountain Giant Dragon would meet me just because I showed up unannounced.
So postponing that was also the better option.
Ruby seems like the easiest choice.
There wasn’t anything specifically promised there, but if I went, Father-in-Law (maybe number 3?) and Hong Yeon-hwa would definitely welcome me.
If things went well, I might even pick up a hidden piece or two.
First, I should contact Hong Yeon-hwa.
I pulled out the crystal orb.