Three Nymphs Together Can Do Anything! #1

Slip—.

Yu Ari picked up Keongkeongi, the dog-squirrel, in her hand.

She checked him over—running her fingers down his tail, peering into his mouth, prodding here and there—before gently setting him back down on the floor.

━Woof-woof…!

"So? How's he looking, Ari? You think Keongkeongi's in good shape? I've been channeling mana into him, so I was a little worried."

"Animals aren't exactly my specialty, so I can't promise certainty, but from a light examination I don't see anything unusual at all. He's in wonderful health, and his coat is gorgeous."

There it was.

Keongkeongi was perfectly healthy, then.

Yu Ari added with evident pride, "For anything more detailed you'd have to ask the vets at an animal hospital, but I imagine they'd tell you the same thing I just did."

She really was useful in all sorts of ways!

Then a phrase Seo Yerim once said floated back to me.

Whatever goes out must come back in.

Right—that was how business worked.

"Ari, I feel like I'm always taking from you and never giving back. There has to be something I can offer…. Hold on, just wait here. Oinoi! Isn't there another ripe apple?"

The golden apple.

I'd recovered another one of those not long ago.

"Oinoi, didn't you put the apple in the fridge?"

"That was an apple being saved as a gift for Kore Yerim…! It is most certainly not an apple meant for a nymph-phobic one…! The nymph-phobic one should hurry off somewhere far away…!"

Oinoi was on high alert.

I opened the fridge, and sure enough, two golden apples sat snugly inside.

"These go bad fast, you know. Eating more than one is pointless anyway."

"That is… indeed true…!"

"Here, Ari. Take this one. You'd better eat it soon, apparently—it spoils quickly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and reeks something awful when it does."

"You'd really give something this precious to me? You don't have to go this far! The checkup was nothing—I only learned it from watching you, Senior, so it was just my small way of saying thanks!"

"No, if you take this, then I can keep asking you for favors down the road without feeling bad about it."

Slip—.

At my words, Yu Ari accepted the apple.

And tucked it neatly into her sensible-looking eco bag.

Now my conscience felt a little lighter.

Soon Yu Ari spoke up again.

"In that case, I should probably throw in a little extra service. You know I consult awakened people on their career paths, right? Well, looking at him, I think I could consult on how to train Keongkeongi, too."

She could advise me on how to raise Keongkeongi, the dog-squirrel?

Wasn't that an absolutely fantastic offer?

Yu Ari soon pulled a tablet out of her eco bag.

Swoosh-swoosh—.

She began filling in a chart of some kind.

"This is the quick checkup sheet I put together for Keongkeongi. I formatted it like a game screen to make it easier for you to understand, Senior—does it work?"

Sure enough, it looked just like a stat chart from a video game.

Everything went down smooth as silk.

Yu Ari jotted more notes on the tablet's sketchpad as she went on.

"Keongkeongi has a beautifully balanced spread—speed, strength, durability, all of it. However you raise him, he'll turn out a solid all-rounder. I suppose he takes after you a little in that regard, Senior."

━Woof-woof…!

Scurry—.

Keongkeongi scampered up onto my shoulder.

While I was gazing at the little guy, Yu Ari delivered her verdict.

"My read is that Keongkeongi is still a very young specimen. With the right training and experience, he might even awaken a signature special technique, the way awakened humans do."

"Oh, seriously?"

Besides Keongkeongi's Squirrel-G Dive.

To think he could learn other special techniques on top of that.

That was a big deal.

"Could he shoot a destructive beam out of his mouth, too?"

"Hmm, I can't speak to that, exactly…."

"Then what about Angangi? I'd love to show Angangi off, too."

Angangi had vanished somewhere into the backyard by now.

Probably off digging tunnels in the rice paddy or the vegetable garden.

Digging holes and hauling back pebbles and loose coins was his hobby, after all.

A shame, but nothing to be done.

"Then how about we check Oinoi's condition? You looked after Coris, the ice-water nymph, last time, remember? What's the verdict on Oinoi?"

I'd been quietly worried about Oinoi's health as well. She ate pretty much the same diet I did, and I'd been wondering whether that was actually good for a nymph.

Peek.

Oinoi poked her face through the crack in the door and met my eyes.

She declared:

"This Oinoi is in perfect health…! No examination of any kind is required…!"

"But Oinoi, if your health goes bad, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you might have to take bitter medicine. Real bitter, nasty-tasting stuff—and shots, too. Lots and lots of shots."

"Hyeeek…!"

Oinoi trembled violently.

Call it five minutes later.

Oinoi shuffled unsteadily out into the living room.

Gripped in her hand was an electric bug swatter—a genuinely menacing weapon.

"Oinoi does not trust the nymph-phobic one, but Oinoi trusts the master of this house…! However, should anything suspicious occur, this Oinoi shall swing the thing called an electric bug swatter, so be prepared…!"

"Very well, Oinoi. Now, give me your wrist."

Slip—.

Oinoi extended her wrist toward Yu Ari.

Yu Ari rested her fingers on it, then nodded. "Mm, as expected—."

So what was the verdict?

"How does she look?"

"Perfectly healthy. Although… it does seem she's taking in a bit too much sugar. Are you feeding her a lot of candy, snacks, or soft drinks by any chance?"

How on earth did she know?

Lately Oinoi had been gobbling up candy from the neighborhood grandmas and draining the "10 Percent" drinks I bought in bulk as if they were water.

She'd been raving that "this drink called 10 Percent tastes just like the ditch water back home…!"

And Yu Ari caught all that from a pulse reading.

Yu Ari continued, "I'd recommend cutting it in half. Otherwise she's going to have a health scare."

"Hyeeek…! To think this Oinoi must reduce her candy and soda consumption…! This nymph-phobic one is clearly scheming to be cruel to Oinoi after all…!"

And so, for the sake of her health, Oinoi resolved to cut her sugar intake in half.

Not that her resentment toward Yu Ari didn't swell to well over twice its previous size in the process.

"Oinoi, what are you doing? Come on, hurry up."

"This Oinoi must play Mechanical Snail 2 with the coins she picked up recently…! Oinoi has a feeling that this time, at long last, she can push past stage 3…!"

I took Oinoi out for a loop around the neighborhood.

According to Ari, Oinoi's exercise levels were running a bit low?

It was true that ever since the game console had entered the house, Oinoi spent most of her hours planted in front of it.

And she kept finding coins somehow to feed the machine.

Were the neighborhood elders giving them to her?

Anyway.

As Oinoi's guardian, I had a duty to keep her healthy.

"This Oinoi is getting tired now…."

"You're winded after a measly 10 kilometers? That's what happens when you game all day and live on soda. Keep this up and you'll turn into a Stagnant Water Nymph—what then?"

"Hyeeek…! Anything but becoming a Stagnant Water Nymph…! But this Oinoi truly has no strength left in her body…!"

"It's just one more lap. Fine, have it your way. Mana Unfold—."

Shwaaa—.

I released my mana.

Its range now extended to roughly fifty meters.

A fairly generous swath of territory had become my domain.

"Ahh, somehow it's so warm, and strength is welling up…!"

Oinoi, who'd been dragging her feet mere seconds ago, suddenly recovered her vigor and went bounding this way and that. Only recently had I discovered that my mana had a warming effect on everything around it.

Which meant it recharged Oinoi's energy, too.

The same went for Keongkeongi.

━Woof-woof…!

Keongkeongi hopped left and right as he ran, clearly delighted by the mana thickening the air around us.

Our experiments had shown that, in this Mana Unfold state, Squirrel-G Dive's power rose by a factor of about 1.2.

1.2 times.

It sounded trivial, but it was a tremendous effect, honestly.

Say a C-rank's attack power was 100, and B-rank started at 200.

A veteran C-rank sitting at 170 who gained a 1.2-times boost would hit 204.

In other words, while still C-rank, he'd carry firepower in B-rank territory.

"Enhancer types are always in demand when you're building a party. Ah, man, I want to get to a rift and test this out already!"

Vvvvmmm—.

Just then, I heard a sound like a helicopter taking off.

━Zzji.

I turned my head to find Angangi the emperor ant spreading his wings like a chafer beetle and taking flight.

At his usual size, Angangi could maybe glide for five seconds at best—but within my mana domain like this, he flew around with impressive freedom.

━Zzji…!

He looked like he was having the time of his life up there, zipping this way and that.

Pat—.

Keongkeongi landed on Angangi's back.

Soaring high into the air at last, Keongkeongi hurled himself toward the ground.

He spun through the air like a top.

And then he slammed into the earth.

━Krrrung…!

KA-BOOM—!

The spot where Keongkeongi struck caved inward.

Crack-crack-crack.

The fractures spiderwebbing across the ground looked like lightning had struck.

In raw technique power, it seemed even stronger than Squirrel-G Dive.

"Not bad at all!"

Maybe I'd name this technique Ram-G Thunder.

That was when it happened.

━Krrrung…!

Keongkeongi's fur bristled straight up, and he bolted off somewhere in a flash.

I was wondering what on earth had gotten into him when I found the gaming spider Kwangkwangi crouched near my feet.

"Oh, hey. When did you get here?"

━Hio-ong…!

Kwangkwangi held something clutched in his forelegs.

Curious what it could be, I looked closer—a ball of spiderweb shimmering in shifting RGB colors. It was wound like a skein of silk thread, yet strangely not sticky at all, smooth as pure satin.

"Ghost spiders expel the mana inside their bodies in the form of silk…! Kwangkwangi, having bathed in the mana the master of the house released, has unmistakably produced web of his own…!"

I see.

Clothes woven from this web were said to stay cool in summer and warm in winter—perfect underwear, basically.

Apparently you could make protective charms from it, too.

A smooth, productive maintenance session all around.

Loosening up like this made me ache to get back out into the field and run a real mission again.

Here I was with B-rank staring me in the face.

I wanted to build ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my skills fast.

Maybe I'd text Lee Jina and ask if she wanted to hit a rift together?

"I see. I wanted to get some field work in, too."

"Why would I ever work with gangs?"

"Coris?"

Vrrrooom—.

Just then, a luxury sedan glided into our neighborhood.

A car parked right in front of our house.

Out stepped a pair of girls—one with orange hair, one with blue.

"Oinoi! It is this Illinoi who has come to see you…! Truly, this nature-embracing environment is the home ground of the Oinoi sisters, and this Illinoi is most pleased by it…!"

"It is this Coris who has come as well…! This Coris wonders whether there might be a water purifier in this vicinity…!"

Three nymphs gathered in one ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠place.

Until just recently, Oinoi had been the only nymph around, after all.

Thud—.

Seo Yerim shut the car door and stepped out.

"Ugh, Illinoi wouldn't stop whining about needing to see her sisters. Fine, Illinoi—you wanted to meet them, so sort yourselves out! Got it?"

"Muh-heh-heh, Kore Yerim truly understands business, it is plain to see…! Now then, where might that berry funny game called Mechanical Snail be…?"

"Ahh—! This Oinoi shall serve as your guide…! Three of us racing mini-cars together is bound to be tremendously fun…!"

"When three or more nymphs band together, nothing is impossible…! Today we shall clear stage 3 and beyond, no matter what…! However, Mechanical Snail is a two-player game, and—hyeeek…!"

Chatter-chatter—.

The nymphs came flooding into our yard in a giddy rush.

Utter chaos.

Soon Seo Yerim asked, "Yu Ari came and went already, right? What did she say?"

"Nothing much. Something about me being on the verge of B-rank? The imprinting procedure costs a fortune, so she suggested I sign on as an instructor at the officer academy and cash in the benefits."

"…Officer academy instructor!? That's a closed recruitment—you can't just walk in off the street. Yu Ari… what kind of connections is she planning to pull for that?"

Seo Yerim's eyes narrowed to slits.

Soon she asked, "You don't have 300 million won on you, do you?"

"Where would I get that?"

"If you genuinely make B-rank, Telos can cover the cost of the procedure. How about it? The catch is you'd have to go corporate. You'd be working with the Illuminators."

So Seo Yerim was offering me 300 million won—there had to be strings attached. She wanted me to become a corporate-affiliated awakener.

She meant taking me onto the strike team, then?

"This isn't an opportunity you hand out to just anyone, you know. Do you have any idea how many people write up résumés and come begging for this exact job? You'd flip if you heard the average salary an Illuminator team pulls in."

The money would be generous, no question.

It was tempting—but I mustered what I'd call superhuman patience and turned her down anyway.

"I'll have to pass, really. If I owe you, Seo Yerim, I'd have to pay back every last cent, thoroughly. Corporate life just isn't in my nature. I like being free, exactly like this."

Clocking in and out at the same time every single day.

Collecting a paycheck.

That sort of thing just wasn't in my temperament.

"Then what exactly do you plan on doing?"

Seo Yerim's eyes narrowed again.

I stepped into the yard.

"Hey, Oinoi. Do you nymphs have training camps, too?"