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Chapter 16
Pa-at—!
The senior who had kicked off the ground leaped into the air and boldly plunged into the wall of waves. At the same time, the monsters that had been leisurely swimming revealed their sharp teeth and began charging at him.
Using the wave walls on both sides, the number of monsters flying toward the senior as they crossed left and right was so great it couldn’t even be counted by eye.
I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
A gate was a place where a single second of carelessness or mistake could mean the difference between life and death. I was anxious, worrying whether he might get injured somewhere, or be swept away by the waves as monsters attacked from all directions.
Maybe my emotions were plainly visible on my face as I followed the senior, now reduced to the size of a fingernail.
Hyungtaek, who had been humming beside me, spoke up.
“Healer noona, don’t worry. That guy is a real monster.”
Only then did my gaze finally move away from the senior.
When I lifted my head to look at Hyungtaek, he was chewing on a chocolate bar with a playful smile on his face.
“Oh, should I call you hyung instead?”
Munch, munch.
With one cheek puffed out, he suddenly widened his eyes and blinked.
“Wait, don’t tell me you don’t know me? Rookie S-rank Oh Hyungtaek?”
“I know you.”
“Phew, that scared me. I was wondering if there was a Korean woman who didn’t know me. I almost thought I’d have to work even harder.”
I already knew about his shameless personality from the media. Meeting him in person made me keenly realize that his confidence wasn’t baseless.
True to his background as a model, his tall height and slim build were a given, and his fair skin and sharp features didn’t look typically Korean. With his hair dyed red and piercings in, he gave off a strong foreign delinquent vibe.
Of course, that was a compliment. It meant he was radiating the mood of a charming bad guy.
“You’re the first woman who doesn’t blush when she sees me, noona.”
Out of the blue, he leaned his face right up close to mine.
The sweet scent of chocolate drifted over.
“I’m really curious what you look like without these.”
You look like you’d be pretty.
Tap—he lightly touched my glasses.
Bold and shameless. In that instant, I completely understood why he was so popular with women.
“You’re really quiet.”
When I stepped backward to move away from him without replying, he straightened his bent waist and smiled broadly.
“Noona, what’s your name?”
“It’s Yebin.”
“No, I mean your real name.”
At that moment, the senior—who had still been faintly visible—disappeared.
As I stretched my neck forward and narrowed my eyes, Hyungtaek alternated his gaze between me and where the senior had been.
“Oh Hyungtaek’s pride just cracked.”
He muttered something, but it didn’t reach my ears.
I had instinctively realized that the oil bottle the senior had been holding had shattered.
“Noona, watch closely.”
Swaaak—! Kugugung.
Along with an enormous gust of wind that suddenly blew in, a thunderous sound of something breaking echoed from far away.
“Ugh!”
As I bowed my head under the wind so strong I couldn’t even open my eyes, Hyungtaek stepped in front of me to shield me.
“You know my skill is Blade Wind, right? Look over there. Even if my wind splits that huge wave wall into dozens of pieces—”
Splash—! Splash—!
“—it just sticks right back together like that.”
Wind and water—what a bad combination.
Hyungtaek continued explaining.
I wondered why he was even showing off his skill, but with his final words, I understood his intention.
“But Jinseo hyung turns anything into dust, no matter what the target is. So.”
“……”
“Don’t worry.”
I stared blankly up at Oh Hyungtaek.
Despite his light words and actions, maybe he was someone with more depth than I’d thought.
I felt I needed to reassess my opinion of him.
“Hug me.”
It was noisy and chaotic.
The sound of propellers, the strong wind blowing, and the woman right in front of him.
Jinseo reached out his hand toward the woman trembling before him.
When her thin fingers hesitantly reached out and touched his fingertips, a pain more intense than any monster’s attack shot through him.
The noise inside him grew even louder.
As her slightly lower body temperature was transmitted through his neck and chest, he bit down on his lower lip.
‘Have we ever been this close before?’
Even at the training institute, and even after graduating, there had always been an unreachable wall between him and her.
There was a realistic wall, but an old emotional debt also prevented him from approaching her.
But now—
They were close enough for their breaths to mingle.
“……Keep your eyes closed.”
He could feel a fierce pounding of a heart.
He couldn’t tell whether it was his own, or that of the woman trembling in fear.
Wherever his gaze moved, it brushed against parts of her—her softly swaying hair, her snow-white skin, her slender neckline……
Each time, Jinseo let out a faint breath and tightened his fist.
Was becoming close to this woman a blessing, or a misfortune?
“Entering the gate.”
As always, Jinseo—the one called the gate-clearing machine—entered the gate without any emotion or thought.
The cheers and expectations of others had no effect on him. He didn’t clear gates to meet their expectations; he simply thought of it as doing what needed to be done.
The only thing that plagued him was the chronic loneliness of solo play.
But today was different.
The small bottle of lavender oil clenched in his left hand.
Jinseo felt as though he had gained a small companion.
Even when sharp-toothed monsters lunged at him, even when bone-chilling waves covered his body, the fact that he had a companion with him gave him an overwhelming sense of stability.
He walked forward.
At the moment he was heading toward the massive wave wall—
He had no choice but to stop. A status window had appeared before his eyes.
^[Stat adjustment complete, mana addiction progression calculation complete]^
^[Strength, Agility, Stamina, Intelligence, Luck +30%
Mana regeneration speed +30%
Immunity to all status ailments and debuff effects
Item drop rate 100% and additional 30% coin acquisition
One-time only, all physical and magical damage 100% nullified]^
^[‘Kang Jinseo Part-Timer’ mana addiction progression: 83% (high-risk group)]^
“……”
No hunter could know their own addiction progression. Not even a saintess, nor the items of even the most renowned enchanters.
Yet here it was, quantified and displayed.
And that wasn’t the end of the shock.
^[By contract, mana addiction is alleviated by 10%.
‘Hunter Kang Jinseo’ mana addiction progression: 82.9%……]^
“Ha, haha……”
The moment he saw the number steadily decreasing, a surge of emotion rose from deep within his chest.
Even when Professor Sung said it wouldn’t be strange if he died at any moment, Jinseo washed his blood with holy water and forced himself to ignore the horrific pain.
If he died from addiction and that was his fate, he was prepared to accept it.
Because without this life of using mana and suffering from addiction, he couldn’t find a reason to live.
And yet—seeing the number decrease filled him with elation.
‘Ah.’
It seemed he wanted to live after all.
Jinseo turned around to look at whoever had gifted him this feeling.
A laugh burst out of him. It was an unfamiliar emotion.
He drew up the mana he had been suppressing.
Normally, he would have held back out of concern for his mana addiction—but not now.
Even though he used mana without restraint—
[ Mana addiction progression: 82% ]
—it had no negative effect on the number. No, it had actually gone down compared to before.
“Haa.”
How long had it been since he’d felt such liberation?
He unleashed the mana boiling up from his very blood without hesitation.
As if venting all the resentment he had built up, wherever his steps and hands reached was broken down into particles finer than dust.
Psssh, psssh!
The fish monsters charging at him turned to dust starting from their teeth, disappearing into the air.
Watching even the wave wall begin to turn into particles, Jinseo clenched his fist.
Clink.
When the oil bottle shattered, an unbelievable sight unfolded before his eyes.
A blue haze that formed in midair surged forward rapidly, as if guiding the way.
“……”
Jinseo stared blankly at the light.
It was the moment he gained a perfect companion—one that wouldn’t be destroyed by his skills and that showed him the way forward, to someone who was prone to getting lost.
