Chapter 44
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Rival?
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"I'm here."
Putting her skilled driving skills on full display, Yerin headed straight for her boyfriend's place. It was the one-room apartment she'd gotten for him. The moment she opened the door, she caught sight of her boyfriend glued to his game.
AOS genre, right? It was a game with the childish name Heroes of History - Ethereal, where ten gamers battled it out. Lately, her boyfriend had been totally obsessed with it.
- Mid mid mid!
- Jungle incoming! Fall back! Fall back!!!
The women's voices blaring from the speakers, mixed with her boyfriend's excited outbursts depending on the action, didn't paint a pretty picture. Still, Yerin kept her expression in check and approached him with a bright voice.
"Honey, what're you up to?"
"You're here? Just gaming. Gimme a sec."
Yerin nodded at her boyfriend's reply, then set down the food she'd picked up on the way over—chicken, pizza, and pork belly wraps, all his favorites—on the dining table. She plopped down on the sofa as if it were the most natural thing and grabbed the remote.
A short while later, her boyfriend finished his game and came out, neatly arranging the food she'd brought.
"You're early today."
"We were supposed to have dinner together. I wanted to go out..."
"Too many eyes out there—it'd be awkward. Better to just eat here at home, right?"
"Y-yeah? Sure. I like it better here too. Just the two of us."
Noticing her boyfriend seemed a bit grumpy, Yerin agreed enthusiastically to smooth things over. No surprise, really—there were so few guys around that wherever they went, they got treated like monkeys in a zoo.
"Training was light today, just a briefing on the next dungeon we're tackling. Lucky for me, the raid leader pushed back the schedule."
"The next dungeon? That 【B-9】 one? The same old place you keep looping?"
"Yeah—no, actually. Tomorrow we're heading somewhere new. Oh, 【B-9】 Dungeon."
In truth, it was 【B-8】, but she couldn't just blurt that out. The clan had demanded secrecy. Soon enough, the food was set, and Yerin dug in with the utensils her boyfriend handed her.
Then, midway through, a sudden thought struck her. She looked at her boyfriend's face and said,
"You kept the day after tomorrow free, right? You said we had to go somewhere together."
"The day after? Oh... I can't make it. Got something come up."
"Wh-what?"
Yerin froze mid-bite with her chopsticks hovering over a piece of chicken, her face twisting in annoyance. They'd talked about this forever ago, and here he was casually making new plans and chowing down like it was nothing. Irritation started bubbling up thick and fast.
"What do you mean? It's the Hero Academy alumni meetup the day after tomorrow. We've been planning it for days—how could you book something else?"
Her voice rose as the frustration boiled over.
"Sorry about that. But this meetup got scheduled on my end too."
"What is it? What kind of meetup trumps something we've been talking about for days?"
"...Why? Why do you have to pry like that? You get to hang with your Hero Academy buddies, so I get some personal life too, you know? I'd appreciate it if you didn't poke into that stuff."
Her boyfriend shot back with wide eyes and a scoff, his tone anything but apologetic despite his words. Yerin bit her lip hard, her face flushing with anger.
Normally, she'd have swallowed her feelings, apologized, and fawned over him to lift his mood. That's how it'd always been. But not today. This alumni meetup the day after tomorrow was way too important to her.
- Seol-ah? She's in Memoria now. She was laughing her ass off when she saw you joined R’s. Probably 'cause Memoria ranks higher.
- Makes sense. Back at Hero Academy, you were top five, while she barely scraped into the top ten. But her clan's higher-ranked now, so she's gotta be feeling smug.
- She's bringing her boyfriend, apparently. Met him through the clan. Think he's in Cartel? Looks like he really likes her. No shock—she's one of the prettier heroines out there.
- What? You're bringing your boyfriend too? Oh man, that day's gonna be epic. Dress to kill, girl. Fix him up nice too. I don't wanna see that bitch strut either. Hey, lemme chip in some cash. Deck your man out in designer labels. Just crush her spirit flat!
The reason? That annoying rival from Hero Academy was showing up—with her boyfriend in tow. Not one to back down, Yerin had declared to the group she'd bring hers too.
"Sigh. Sorry for snapping. But couldn't we make it work somehow? The day after..."
"Drop it. You always gotta bring that up when I'm in a mood? We'll talk later."
"..."
Damn it. Yerin could only hang her head at her boyfriend's words.
In the end, she barely touched her food and left his place in a rush. Sighs kept escaping her lips at the sheer absurdity of it all. Irritation surged to the top of her head, but there was no outlet for it.
"Ugh, fuck."
Well, it wasn't the first time something like this happened. In a few days, an apology and some pricey gift would smooth it over.
"Asshole. Even so, why'd he have to schedule something that day of all days? I mentioned it so many times..."
She could already picture Seol-ah smirking at her showing up alone. Even her close friends would have nothing nice to say. Just imagining it pissed her off so much her fists clenched on instinct.
"God, I really don't wanna see that bitch grinning..."
But skipping the meetup would bruise her pride too much. Especially from someone who'd been mocking her over Memoria versus Rose Shield.
Even though her Hero Academy grades were five ranks higher. And maybe because that worry was dominating her thoughts? In the next day's 【B-8】 raid on "Executioner's Tomb," Yerin kept making uncharacteristic mistakes.
"Jeong Yerin! Block's late!!!"
"S-sorry!"
It was her job to block Sertan's scythe attack. But with the meetup nagging at her mind, she missed the timing, and the Executioner's Scythe swept past Hyun-ah.
Raid leader Han Minguk's heal kicked in right away, restoring the tank's shaky health to full.
'Shit, seriously...'
Mortified by her blunder, Yerin couldn't even look up. Her heart pounded at screwing up something so basic. The situation stabilized quickly, and Minguk's voice turned to her.
"Hero Jeong Yerin, your blocks keep coming late. Focus. This guy's not that tough."
"Sorry!"
That was all she could say to the raid leader's advice.
She desperately channeled her mana to attack the monster. Blue mana rippled as a barrage of ice arrows shot forward, slamming into Sertan.
How many hits had landed in a row? While checking her Hero Pad to squeeze out more damage, Yerin poured in even more mana.
- ...Duck!
Craaaack!
Minguk's voice grazed her ears just as chains wrapped around her body. Yerin's face went sheet-white.
She'd forgotten the raid basics—dodging the floor AoE—and eaten Sertan's Execution Chains full-on. The crushing pain made her scream involuntarily.
"Kyaaack!!!"
Minguk's barrier enveloped her instantly, easing the chain's agony. Moments later, freed from the binds and coughing, she received his recovery spell.
'Oh god, I'm screwed...'
The warm healing energy clashing with the black burn in her chest. She'd already botched twice big-time. At least she hadn't been in the direct front, so she didn't eat the scythe with the tank.
Beep!
▶ Cleared "Executioner's Tomb."
▶ +1 Achievement Point to Hero Pad.
▶ Hero Compendium entries updated.
One Try. Despite the mistakes, Team GGW handled Executioner Sertan without much trouble.
"【B-8】's no big deal? Even with a rank-4 monster freaking us out a bit, we tanked it easy."
Hyun-ah boomed with a hearty laugh, eyeing Sertan's corpse. Minguk chuckled at her.
It was only natural. With her full 【Gear Score – 200】 gear, Sertan's hits barely stung. Even the tank, 90 points lower, held up fine.
Not to mention their healer was a vet like him. Sure, the dealers—well, Yerin—had an off day with all those slips, but everyone's boosted specs made the clear a breeze.
"Ugh, sorry. So sorry."
Maybe from all the errors, Yerin kept bowing to Minguk and the team even after the raid wrapped.
But Minguk wasn't one to harp on it—grabbing her mistakes was a sure win, but nah. First time on the monster, so it was just adaptation time. No biggie.
More importantly...
Heroic feats under Chaos's watchful eye! Your loyal Ppuu congratulates Minguk on clearing the <【B-8】 Dungeon quest!
Check your rewards now!
[Objective] - Clear a 【B-8】 difficulty dungeon! - Achieved!
[Reward] - Two Gold Tickets from the final reward chest! (Anyone can open it!)
Confirming the quest complete, Minguk glanced at Hyun-ah beside him. She was rubbing her hands eagerly, waiting for the rank-4 monster's drab loot chest.
"...You know, with every piece of gear at score 200, you really care about the loot chest? 【B-8】 only spits out up to 120s, right?"
"Duh. Opening loot chests is fun in itself. And..."
"And?"
"If you're super lucky, a ticket drops? Like a Gold Ticket."
Minguk's face lit up with mischief at Hyun-ah's hopeful Gold Ticket dreams. Thanks to the quest reward, this chest was guaranteed to drop two Golds, no matter who opened it.
"Yeah, hope a Gold pops. They go up to 230 score, right? That'd..."
"Carry you through 【B-5】 without swapping gear."
"Whoa, fingers crossed."
Everyone was thinking along those lines. They'd stocked up on good gear from the auction house upon hitting 2-star hero, so a 120 piece wasn't a must-have. Nice if it filled a gap, but no guarantees.
'Time to mess with her a bit?'
Minguk planned to open it himself, snag the Golds, then tease her. His luck sucked anyway, so better someone else. That's when—
"R-raid leader!"
Quiet Jeong Yerin among the team shot her hand up.
"If I open the loot chest and pull a Gold Ticket, c-can you grant me one wish?"
She declared it with surprising force. Caught off guard by the intensity, Minguk nodded without thinking.
Ah, the "any wish granted" deal. He secretly hoped her wish was some skinship. They still hadn't even kissed—after dodging it so many "aww" moments, bringing it up felt awkward now.
But it was about time to loop Yerin into Cartel anyway.