Chapter 112
Chapter 112
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 112
Chapter Title: Chapter 22: Party Play (3)
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Thinking back, he couldn't believe he hadn't realized it sooner.
'K's with Palau—that's common knowledge.'
It had even caused a rush of hopeful recruits to Palau at one point.
Of course, the entry exam was tough enough that only a handful actually made it.
Back then, he'd just found it amusing that someone named K could cause such a stir.
'Now that I've seen it myself, I get it.'
K's fighting was on a whole other level compared to any other player.
The flashes of light every time he swung that spear were still vivid in his mind.
Everyone chanting "K! K!" made perfect sense now.
Yang Tae-ho let out a hollow chuckle as he checked his mana, which had jumped by over 20,000 in a single day.
In the old days, he'd have been floored by something this absurd.
Now, even the unbelievable felt routine.
That didn't mean he was taking his own situation lightly, though.
He stole a glance at the man walking half a step ahead.
K's expression, strolling right through the heart of the contaminated zone, was calm bordering on bored.
'Anyone who didn't know better would think he was out for a casual walk.'
Sure, the purification was mostly done here, but hadn't they just fought a 4-star evolved monster?
If it were Yang Tae-ho, he'd still be on edge.
This nonchalance from K was nothing new, though.
He'd been the same way after absorbing over 5,000 mana from that 4-star kill.
'Since it gets split in a party, that means that one bastard alone had over 10,000 mana.'
Yang Tae-ho had been stunned when he realized.
It was the first time he'd seen a monster with that much mana.
But K hadn't shown a flicker of surprise.
'Not just the way he plays—the level he plays at is different altogether.'
K's knowledge base put every other player to shame, too.
"So, that means the higher-level contaminated zones are opening soon?"
"Yes. The Seven Churches have already reached an agreement on it."
It had started feeling off when K explained the Cairo Kingdom incident.
From their talks, K seemed to know even more about contaminated zones.
And he appeared to have tight ties with the churches, too.
Proof? He knew internal church info that hadn't even been released yet.
Truly astonishing. Yang Tae-ho had only ever met a handful of church priests or holy knights—maybe just during his entry exam?
"Damn..."
K defied Yang Tae-ho's common sense in every way.
For a guy like that to recruit him?
"Ahem."
A surge of pride welled up unbidden.
'It means I caught his eye.'
Yang Tae-ho's mouth kept twitching into a grin the whole way back to the outpost with K.
But excitement brought tension, too.
This golden opportunity had come out of nowhere—would it slip away just as fast?
He found himself treading carefully without realizing it.
The last thing he wanted was to get kicked from the party for acting rashly.
'He don't seem to like nosy questions, so gotta watch that.'
No prying into secrets out of idle curiosity.
'Just stick close by his side.'
Days like today would come again eventually.
Yang Tae-ho wasn't greedy enough to hope for this every day.
Once or twice a year, like a lucky windfall—that was plenty.
The spoils from K had fired him up.
And with his mana skyrocketing, he felt like a rookie employee full of fresh zeal.
As Yang Tae-ho clenched his fists, steeling himself—
The outpost came into view in the distance.
He and K reached the entrance soon enough.
"Ah."
Right after passing the log fence, K stopped short and turned to him.
"Got any special plans after this?"
"Nothin' set in stone..."
He truly had no fixed schedule.
But he wanted to get back to Earth ASAP.
That way, he could sell the loot and take his wife to the hospital.
'Even just today's haul covers the surgery and then some.'
This time, he'd drag her kicking and screaming if he had to.
'Surely he's not plannin' to hunt right away?'
Should he tag along? What about his wife?
Yang Tae-ho hemmed and hawed for a moment.
Finally, he decided to just speak up.
'We're gonna be runnin' together from now on anyway.'
Not some one-off; better to be upfront about his situation and ask for understanding.
"If ya could wait a couple days... See, my wife's got..."
Once he finished explaining her illness and the surgery, K's expression shifted oddly.
Was it too hard to adjust schedules?
Before Yang Tae-ho could anxiously blurt something out—
"Nah, why ask permission for that?"
Yang Tae-ho's eyes went wide, and K let out a dry laugh.
"You think I look like some ruthless boss to you?"
Now that he thought about it, he'd made it sound like K was forcing hunts without regard.
Flustered, Yang Tae-ho waved his hands frantically.
"N-No, that's not it, just... ya hunt harder than most, so I figured time might be tight..."
"Even if I'm hunt-crazy, I'm not holding you back when your wife's gotta have surgery."
Luckily—or not—K didn't seem too offended.
"Besides, church business means we can't move together right away. That's why I asked."
"Oh."
"So, handle your personal stuff first. We'll start character building after."
Yang Tae-ho's face lit up.
"Alright, see ya in Havon two days from now. You said moving bases is fine?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'll hustle back quick."
"I'll leave my spot in the chat window."
"Much obliged."
"Wishin' your wife a speedy recovery."
Having naturally set their next meet, Yang Tae-ho turned to hurry off.
"But..."
Before he could take a step, K nodded toward something over his shoulder.
"Over there."
"Huh?"
"Looks like they've got business with you."
Yang Tae-ho's face soured the instant he looked where K pointed.
A group was heading straight for him, staring him down.
"Th-Those..."
It was Phoenix's party.
Just hours ago, thinking of being left alone amid the monsters made his blood boil.
What they'd done wasn't just stranding him.
'They used me as bait.'
Leave one behind, and the monsters would stop to eat the corpse.
'No matter how precious life is, no decent person does that.'
He was human, too—he wanted to call them out, expose their bullshit.
Get a real apology in the process.
'But I'll hold it in.'
He'd just joined K's party.
Starting a fight right off the bat didn't seem smart.
It could even drag K into trouble.
No point dealing with these nobodies anymore—step in shit and move on.
Yang Tae-ho snorted and turned away sharply.
Phoenix's group reached them right then.
"Mister, glad you're safe."
Her voice was all soft and sweet, but it twisted his face anyway.
After hoping he'd die, now playing polite.
Sharp words nearly spilled out, but he swallowed them.
He'd decided to ignore them completely.
"Let's get goin'. They said they got schedules too, right?"
He nudged K's back to leave.
But Phoenix blocked his path desperately.
"Wait, just a sec!"
He probably stopped without shoving her aside out of foolish hope.
"I get you're mad, but you're fine, right? Let's forget today and get along again?"
That stupid hope she might actually be here to apologize.
"If word spreads, it hurts us and you—nothing good comes of rumors."
They said getting mad made you calm, and damn if it wasn't true.
He was so pissed he couldn't even yell.
Phoenix's crew wasn't here to apologize.
'They wanna shut me up.'
If their stunt hit the community, they'd be marked as a party to avoid among mercs.
Harder to recruit then.
If their codename got out, disbanding and joining elsewhere would be tough.
Hence the ballsy request.
'Shamelessness has limits.'
Yang Tae-ho steeled himself to ignore them again and turned.
But her next words shattered that resolve.
"We didn't do great, but ignoring us like this ain't right!"
"We were out of it too."
"It was unavoidable—try to understand."
"The hell!"
No trace of "sorry" anywhere.
Hell, they were justifying it as inevitable.
"You're safe, so let's drop it quietly. We'll settle the loot fair. Deal?"
"You...!"
Yang Tae-ho's face flushed red and purple.
The casual charity in her tone filled him with contempt.
Truth be told, he'd forgotten about any owed loot from them.
K's haul dwarfed anything they could offer.
No lingering regrets there.
But this? Treating his life like something they could buy off.
He ground his teeth, trembling.
Outrageous as they were, he'd chosen patience—nudging K again.
"Let's bounce."
K exhaled sharply. "Go? Now? Leave these assholes?"
He repeated it in disbelief.
"Yeah, they said they're busy too? Wasin' time here..."
"You're losin' it."
Yang Tae-ho trailed off, face blank.
"There's shit you endure and shit you don't. Letting these pricks walk beats handing over Velego's vault."
No time to ask what Velego's vault was.
"Word is, you've got a talent for fresh bullshit."
K brushed his hand aside, cracked his neck side to side, and turned to Phoenix's group.
Her face crumpled.
"What's your deal? Butt out if you don't know shit."
She glared aggressively.
"Others' business..."
K looked like he was enjoying this.
His lips curled higher.
"If we're splitting hairs, not really."
Laughter tinged his voice for some reason.
"Thanks to you, I partied up with him."
"What the...?"
"Thank her now. For ditching my bro."
Sarcasm like a pro.
Different from the meticulous, calm K Yang Tae-ho knew.
'What the—why's he goin' off like this?'
As Yang Tae-ho reeled, Phoenix ground her teeth, shaking.
K had scratched her raw.
Yang Tae-ho's eyes darted between them.
The air turned razor-sharp suddenly.
His own anger cooled; now he fretted K might get hurt over him.
He moved to pull K away—
But a strange voice cut in first.
"Isn't that K?"
"Yeah."
"What's he doin' over there?"
"K!"
All eyes snapped to one spot in an instant.
Damn System