Chapter 55
Chapter 55
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Special Training (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Cough, cough!”
Geon-ju, who had fallen into the valley and floundered before barely crawling back onto dry land, spat out the water he'd swallowed while propping himself up on the drenched ground. After one dip in the water and emerging, his upturned eye corners had softened, and his sharp irritability had vanished—it seemed Geon-ju's temper was highly water-soluble.
“Ugh, ack!”
“What, you act like you're dying just from going in and out of the water once?”
“My eyes… cough!”
“What?”
“I made eye contact with the… cough! Imugi… yeah.”
Whether it was hard to speak because of the coughing or not, Geon-ju grimaced, his words breaking every two or three syllables, before clutching his throat. He stared down at the wet ground, coughing a couple more times and gasping for breath. He looked like he could drop dead any second.
“You're freaking out just from locking eyes with a dead imugi?”
“Cough…”
Sa-yoon chided him, but Geon-ju either decided to ignore him or couldn't muster a response. After shuddering a few times, he finally lifted his drooping head. His eyes were bloodshot red.
Sa-yoon met Geon-ju's gaze and fell silent. The whites of his eyes were flushed red and brimming with moisture.
This is… pretty nice.
He didn't know if it was water in his eyes or if he was crying from the pain, but Geon-ju's eyes were misty and red-rimmed.
He'd thought he'd look pretty when crying, but seeing something similar now proved his imagination hadn't done it justice.
Was it the redness? His slightly swollen eyes and furrowed brows drew the gaze to the crease between them. His pained expression seemed almost poignant at a glance, and his wet face was beautiful. The water dripping from him after falling into the valley almost looked like tears.
How does a face like that even exist?
If something bad happened, he could probably sob his way to convincing someone half the time.
Sa-yoon had never considered himself sadistic before, but today he glimpsed an unknown side of himself. Geon-ju flinched slightly as he looked at Sa-yoon, like a frightened cat going on the defensive.
Cat, fox, puppy.
Snapping out of it, he realized he was likening every animal he liked even a little to Geon-ju.
I need to stop being so lenient just because I like his face.
What to do, though.
Brightening up at a pretty face was just his nature. No wonder his mother had said as a kid that Sa-yoon didn't have a poker face—he had a face that showed everything.
As he approached Geon-ju, who was still sitting on the ground, and reached out to wipe the moisture from his face, Geon-ju narrowed the space between his brows in displeasure and swatted Sa-yoon's hand away before standing up.
“What, give you a disease and then the cure?”
“Who told you to act so rude?”
“Does that mean you get to throw people?”
“Does that mean I can't kill you?”
“You're insane.”
Refusing to yield even an inch, Geon-ju shook out his wet hair to vent his frustration. Water flew everywhere as he flicked his straight, outstretched hand through his black locks. Some splashed into Sa-yoon's eyes, but he didn't show it, instead rummaging through his inventory and pulling out an artifact.
With a whoosh, he tossed the item. Geon-ju, who had been looking away but keenly sensed the aura of treasure, caught the flying accessory deftly. Seeing that, Sa-yoon figured Geon-ju was as thrifty as Jong-sik.
“Wet clothes weigh you down and make it hard to move, so wear this.”
“What's this?”
“Earrings with a drying function. Clip-on style, so you can use them even without pierced ears.”
“It's not anything weird, right?”
“If you're suspicious, check the item description.”
“Who makes earrings with a drying function?”
Geon-ju snorted skeptically and checked the item window. His dubious expression soon turned to surprise as he looked at Sa-yoon. He must have seen the description: 'Earrings woven from plants of the parched land, propagating the curse of the earth to the wearer.'
“It's really a drying function?”
“Why not just put them on and see?”
“……”
Glancing warily at Sa-yoon, he carefully clipped the earring to his unpierced ear. With a click as the screw tightened against his earlobe, the water visibly drained from his soaked clothes.
Red suits him well, too.
Sa-yoon admired the red cubic nestled against Geon-ju's soft-looking earlobe, then warned him.
“Take them off once they're dry enough. Leave them on too long, and they'll dry out your skin until it cracks.”
That was why the system called it a curse of the earth instead of a drying function. More curse item than everyday accessory, prolonged wear beyond three days would suck the moisture from your body, turning you into a mummy.
Since this guy didn't know moderation, he'd have to time it himself.
At Sa-yoon's warning, Geon-ju patted his clothes and jumped in surprise.
“It's real…”
“What, have you only ever been tricked?”
“When the guild leader says it, all I can do is agree.”
“Then just keep getting tricked by me.”
“……”
No reaction came to his shameless words—not even a hint of protest. Sa-yoon could finally understand why creators and celebrities said hate comments were better than none. The indifference really got under his skin.
“Don't ignore me—say something?”
“So, where to now?”
When pressed for a response, Geon-ju changed the subject entirely. It was cheeky, but considering Geon-ju had fought an imugi and fallen in the water, Sa-yoon let it slide and looked around.
Well… As he trailed off, Geon-ju picked up the conversation first.
“You done with whatever you had to do up top?”
“Monster extermination?”
“Yeah.”
“Done. Didn't you see the clear condition window?”
Sa-yoon casually mentioned what he'd held back to avoid sounding cocky, and Geon-ju confirmed he'd seen it. Sa-yoon squinted at the nonchalant reply.
“That's it?”
“What?”
“Your reaction.”
“Should I clap for you or something?”
Unable to hide his bafflement, Geon-ju clapped awkwardly, producing a dry smacking sound. It wasn't like he was prostrating in thanks. Look at that deadpan face and half-hearted gesture. Han Geon-ju? More like Han Dry-as-dust.
In the end, Sa-yoon pointed out that it was worse than nothing.
“So, with the applause over, what I mean is, do we really have to go back up?”
Coming down here was tough enough—going back up would be worse.
Geon-ju glanced upward with sarcasm. Sa-yoon knew it was aimed at him but responded with the same nonchalance Geon-ju had shown earlier. It had irked him when he was on the receiving end, but dishing it out felt pretty good.
“Unless you're looking for the base or hunting more dungeons, no need to go up for a while. I've mostly cleared things out anyway.”
“Cleared?”
“Monster numbers build up if you don't cull them periodically—it gets rough later.”
“……?”
“If they multiply too much, you get unscheduled monster waves with no prep time.”
When he'd first entered the field, Sa-yoon hadn't understood why waves kept happening whenever they had a moment's peace. He didn't know back then that spending five days without culling monsters past a certain number would pile them up so high that starting the next day, waves hit every twelve hours, turning it into hell.
If you didn't resolve the first wave quickly, in the worst case, overlapping waves would swarm you—a freak phenomenon. By then, it was too late to fight back, and you'd have to give up on survival.
Monsters swarming every visible spot—even the sturdiest base couldn't handle thousands marching on it.
When the overlapping waves hit, Sa-yoon lost all his field companions and died over twenty times before respawning his way out of the wave zone—that was his limit.
Handling thousands solo was questionable even with his current strength. He could manage ten thousand step by step, but all at once? Even Sa-yoon would struggle.
He liked tough fights, but overlapping waves weren't welcome. They were just mindless, brute-force repetition of slashing and killing monsters. And now with Geon-ju in tow, a wave like that would almost certainly cost him Geon-ju.
Recalling how Geon-ju had struggled even against A-rank monsters, Sa-yoon eyed the man whose clothes were nearly dry.
He wasn't expecting a fresh B-rank newbie to kill an S-rank monster right after entering the field. That would be weirder if he did. But providing timely support from behind and holding out? That much should be doable.
The problem was time.
He needed to double Geon-ju's strength within the five days before waves started—time was tight.
Thinking of the fastest way to level up and a spot where Geon-ju could gain combat experience without dying, Sa-yoon grabbed the wrist of Geon-ju, who was slyly trying to edge away, sharp as ever.
“What now?”
Having learned that Sa-yoon's touch heralded rough times ahead, Geon-ju raised his eye corners and asked. Sa-yoon tugged lightly on his hand, pulling his retreating body closer, then grinned.
“How about some special training, pretty boy?”
“Special training?”
Caught off guard by the unmentioned topic, Geon-ju blinked as he repeated Sa-yoon's words.