An Unpleasant Gaze

Heejin and Kim Seojeong flinched hard at the sound of their names.

"I-I don't need to catch one!"

"Me neither… I don't think I really have to…"

"Hurry up! You won't get another chance like this!"

I just shoved them forward and barked the order. That was the only way I could naturally get my hands on their chests. But raw pressure alone wasn't enough to move a pair of terrified girls.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Ah. So that's about your limit."

"…What?"

"……"

"Never mind. Just stand there and watch. I wasn't expecting much anyway."

I didn't even bother looking disappointed. Just a blank face. I pulled my gaze off Heejin and Kim Seojeong without a single expression and spoke.

"Younghoon. Choi Junseok. You two finish this."

"Yes."

"Yes."

If they truly intended to cling on and survive without contributing a thing, they wouldn't react. But Heejin, who'd been watching from the side, and Kim Seojeong, who already had a decent read on my personality from the webtoon, were the same type. Scared, yes—but when it counted, they wanted to be useful somehow. So their reaction was only natural.

"I'll do it."

"Heejin, you don't have to force yourself."

"No. I'll do it. I'm doing it."

"What do you mean, 'that's about your limit'?"

"Seojeong…?"

"Stay back. I'll handle it. I can do this."

Good. I'd gotten ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Heejin and Kim Seojeong moving. Next was figuring out the identity of that unpleasant gaze.

"……"

But was there even a gaze unpleasant enough to notice? I was fighting the Lickers alone, and everyone was watching me do it. There was nothing remotely unpleasant about any of those stares. Could there be someone else here besides us?

"Kyaaaaah!!!!"

"Kyaaak!!!"

"Kyaaaaaah!!!!"

That was unexpected. I'd figured intelligent creatures like these would bolt the second I looked away. Instead, all three charged at once. Did they think simultaneous attacks gave them a shot? Or had they simply decided escape was impossible? Either way, it didn't matter. Attack or run—the result wouldn't change.

I kicked off the floor and slid back. The moment I slipped past the Lickers rushing in from both sides, the one that had launched itself into the air came down like a scorpion, slamming its tail toward its own head as it landed on all fours.

The tail punched into empty floor. Instantly the creature shoved off with both hands and both feet and rocketed toward me at terrifying speed. Was this some new method of suicide?

Muk swung faster than the Licker launched like a slingshot, smashing into the back of its skull and bursting it open on impact.

The other two Lickers burst out from either side, one clawing for my head with razor nails, the other lashing its tail at my chest. Claws and tail carved empty air. I'd already left the spot they'd been aiming for—no, I'd already slipped into the guard of the Licker that had left itself wide open swinging those long arms.

I seized its throat with my left hand, hooked its knee with my left leg, and slammed it into the floor. Purple blood sprayed from its gaping mouth as its head hit first—and a heavy whoosh cut through the air.

This one would be hard to dodge cleanly.

I twisted, caught the incoming tail on Muk held upright in both hands, and was thrown backward. Even if they were juveniles, taking three at once was no joke.

"Kyaaaah!!!!"

Thinking it had the upper hand as I flew, the Licker roared, dropped to all fours, and charged with savage force. My body slammed into the wall. The instant both feet touched the ground, the Licker's hands shot for my face and throat—huge hands and long claws that could shred a human body in a heartbeat. But the trajectory was so blatantly obvious that simply tilting Muk, raised to face height, was enough to block it.

Even a juvenile hit hard. Stronger than me, even with my Strength stat raised to fifteen. So when the Licker wrenched Muk free and flung it aside, I didn't fight it. Muk, seized in both of the creature's hands, went flying and buried itself in the wall—and in the same instant its tail speared toward my chest.

Power enough to crack the wall. But the Licker's tail punched into the wall instead of my chest. I clamped my left arm tight around the tail that had slipped under my armpit and drove my right fist upward.

A clean uppercut snapped its head back. Timing the fall, I kicked off the floor, leapt, and drove my knee into its jaw a second time. The Licker's body went briefly slack from the impact. I didn't waste the opening—I grabbed its hand and jammed those razor claws straight into its own eye.

I shoved the Licker that had just died on its own claws aside and kicked off the floor again, racing toward the one swinging its nails at Kim Seojeong, who had drifted into an awkward position.

"Seojeong!!!"

"No…!"

"Kyaaaaah!!!!!"

The best move here would have been to kick the Licker clear. I chose the riskier option instead. For the quest.

I locked my arms around Kim Seojeong and spun like a top, whirling us clear of the Licker's strike. Absolute chaos—and in the middle of it I lifted the left hand that had been holding her midsection.

I grabbed hold. Squeezed.

So Kim Seojeong had been hiding her assets. Better grip than I'd expected. Soft—firm pressure…

I properly savored the feel, then planted my foot and killed the spin.

"Ah…"

Whether from relief at still being alive or from the shock of having her chest groped, a small sound slipped from Kim Seojeong's lips. I didn't flinch. I pressed down on the crown of her head with my right ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hand and dropped low fast.

A tail whooshed over our heads. I released her scalp and the breast I'd been holding, then drove my fist into the Licker's gut. Rising, I hopped slightly and put rotational force into a reverse roundhouse that sent the Licker flying—straight toward Heejin.

"Kyaah!!"

Busy. So damn busy.

Heejin saw the Licker tumbling toward her and darted sideways just in time—but I sprinted at her in a full panic act, arm outstretched. Straight for her chest.

Squeeze…

Less give than expected. Not much impulse to keep holding. I shoved the breast I'd pressed into with my hand—just enough to look accidental—and shouted.

"Heejin, get back!"

"Ah…!"

"Kyaaaaah!!!!"

Lucky. For a split second Heejin's startled eyes locked on me, but the Licker immediately heaved itself up and screeched, letting me slip free of that stare. Still, I needed the situation to feel even more desperate—so it would read as pure accident, pure coincidence.

"Baek Sihyeon!"

At my shout, Baek Sihyeon—already close from trying to save Kim Seojeong—sprinted in. I shifted to the Licker's flank and completely reversed my line of sight.

Baek Sihyeon vaulted onto the Licker's back and swept his blade clean through its neck.

The whole thing ended almost too fast—which only made it more disorienting. From Kim Seojeong and Heejin's perspective, the entire sequence had flashed past before they could process any of it. And I had groped both of them without giving either a single glance. As if nothing had happened at all.

"Hoo… Still too much for you two. Sorry. That was my mistake. I apologize."

"…What?"

"Ah… n-no, it's fine… Thank you for saving… me…"

Heejin was still dazed, just blinking, but Kim Seojeong actually thanked the guy who'd just manhandled her chest. She did pause mid-sentence and tilt her head a little, though.

So the unpleasant gaze hadn't mattered after all?

I hadn't figured out a single thing about the unpleasant gaze, and the quest still cleared. And Baek Sihyeon—this bastard really was a pervert. Another man just groped his best friend's girlfriend's chest and he got admiration from it?

"Baek Sihyeon, did your quest clear?"

"……"

"Baek Sihyeon!"

"Huh??"

Baek Sihyeon, who'd been staring blankly down at his left hand—the one that wasn't holding the blade that had just taken the Licker's head, the one that kept clenching and unclenching for no reason—jerked his head up in surprise. This guy must have been seriously impressed watching me work both Kim Seojeong's and Heejin's chests with my left hand.

"I asked if your quest cleared."

"Ah… yes… w-wait, no!"

"Is that a yes or a no?"

"I-it didn't clear! Not yet…"

"Kim Seojeong, yours didn't clear either?"

"Huh?? Mine cleared, though… Sihyeon, you really didn't??"

"Uh, uh… mine still…"

Because he was the protagonist, maybe he'd gotten a different quest? Then it might be about hunting the Licker we'd run into earlier, not these small fry. That one would have gotten a lot stronger by now.

Anyway, seeing something useless was still bugging me. What the hell was that "unpleasant gaze" even talking about?

There were a lot more Lickers under two meters than I'd expected. Not dozens, but counting the two that had just shown up, this made eight. Lickers needed a human host to spawn new ones—so where the hell had they found hosts? We'd killed every soldier who'd been turned back then.

"Jeongcheol-hyung."

"What?"

"Did a lot of soldiers die in the bank back then?"

"No. Not a single one. We opened fire and ran straight out."

"So the bank operation kept going after that?"

"Hell if I know. We just did what we were told."

"Hmm…"

Had there been other survivors inside? Or were there still survivors now, watching us in secret? Nah. That didn't make sense. With Lickers roaming like this, no way survivors were still around.

That aside, I was getting used to handling juvenile Lickers. Hands, tails, teeth—all of them weapons—plus enough intelligence to make them trickier than expected, and I was still managing.

"Eunseol, that's enough! Leave this one to Seojeong!"

"I'll just finish it myself."

"No! Seojeong needs a turn too! S-Seojeong! Try it this time!"

"Why me again?! Gyeongsu and Jeongcheol-oppa haven't even caught one yet!"

"Don't worry, just be brave! Junseok and I will back you up! Right, Junseok?"

"Huh?? Uh… yeah. Seojeong, give it a shot."

"Seriously…!!"

Don't tell me Baek Sihyeon—no. No way. I'm imagining it, right?

Baek Sihyeon, who'd deliberately handed the finishing blow of the Licker he'd been fighting over to Kim Seojeong, pressed hard with vicious sword swings. Choi Junseok stabbed in with his spear to draw its attention, and Yu Eunseol harassed it from behind so the tail couldn't target the other two. Then Baek Sihyeon's blade punched through the Licker's forearm.

"Seojeong, now!"

"Ugh…!!"

At Baek Sihyeon's signal, Kim Seojeong charged the Licker with her spear leveled. But that was way too obvious, you idiot!!

"No, Seojeong! Not yet!"

"……"

He actually did it. Reaching out to catch the person in the passenger seat during a hard brake—that much was still within the realm of understandable. But Baek Sihyeon went one step further. While everyone else was perfectly calm, he alone shouted in frantic urgency and clenched his hand around Kim Seojeong's breast. With her boyfriend standing right there. And his biggest mistake: the second he grabbed her chest, he turned his head to check her reaction.

"S-Seojeong…"

Baek Sihyeon's face, turned toward Kim Seojeong, snapped the other way in an instant—accompanied by a crisp, wet crack.

Kim Seojeong dropped her spear, slapped Baek Sihyeon clean across the cheek, covered her groped chest with her left arm, and backed away. In the gap, Suho and Jaeyeol finished the Licker that had come to help.

"S-S-Seojeong…! I-it was a mistake! A misunderstanding…"

"Shut ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up! You pervert bastard!!!!"

"Have you lost your mind?!!!"

"N-no, Junseok! It's a misunderstanding!!"

Baek Sihyeon, collar seized by his best friend Choi Junseok while he scrambled for excuses, almost looked pathetic. But this wasn't something you could just brush off. If his hand had merely brushed her chest, the "misunderstanding" defense might have worked. They were close enough, trusted each other enough. But the cupped hand—and immediately checking her face afterward. Those two actions crushed any claim of accident flat.

"You son of a bitch…!!!"

"Junseok, I swear it's not…!!"

And why the hell was he looking at me in the middle of this? Baek Sihyeon stared at me with eyes full of resentment and injustice.

That was when it hit.

I flinched.

I felt it. A gaze so unpleasant it raised goosebumps across my entire body.

I whipped my head toward the direction my instincts locked onto—and our eyes met. A thoroughly unpleasant stare, as if it were boring straight through me.

"……"

"……"

What the hell are you?