004. Gukbap Tank Lee Yu-ri (2)
004. Gukbap Tank Lee Yu-ri (2)
"Huh?"
Jin Yu-ha, sounding flustered, asked again.
"I just don't think you'd need to be a hunter... I was just curious why you were doing it?"
The moment she heard that, Lee Yu-ri's face hardened.
'You don't think he needs to be a hunter, when he came here to help us out? What kind of bullshit is that.'
That bitch of a Damage Dealer had gone and spouted useless crap at the person they'd called in for help.
Lee Yu-ri was already feeling sorry that she couldn't take better care of Jin Yu-ha.
Lee Yu-ri tightened the arm she'd slung around the woman's neck and whipped around.
"Ow ow ow! It hurts!"
"Come with me for a second. You too, So-yeon unni and Yu-na."
Lee Yu-ri spoke with an icy face.
"I'm sorry, Jin Yu-ha. I just remembered something we need to discuss among ourselves. Can you wait here for a moment?"
"Ah, yes... Understood."
Lee Yu-ri got Jin Yu-ha's consent and then gathered her party members quite a distance away.
*
"Go Yoon-seo. Are you out of your mind? You say that kind of crap, right off the bat, to the person who came to help us today?"
"Nooo. I'm just saying, he's suspicious..."
Her yellow ponytail drooped limply down.
This was the Damage Dealer of the team.
"Haah, and on top of everything else we have to be extra careful because he's a guy. You go over there and apologize properly."
Go Yoon-seo bobbed her head, but her pouting lips made it clear she still had complaints.
Lee Yu-ri massaged her throbbing temples, pressing hard to suppress her headache.
"What's the problem? Spit it out."
"He's suspicious... Gukbap, aren't you suspicious? Why would someone with a face like that be a hunter? And they said he's poor! How is someone with those looks poor!? Even if he just sat on the street like a beggar doing nothing, the line of women offering to take him in and keep him would stretch around the block!"
Go Yoon-seo defended herself resentfully.
"Keep your voice down, you idiot. We had no choice but to tell you about his situation to convince you yesterday, but do you want to advertise that we shared Jin Yu-ha's private information or something?"
"...No, but stillll."
"If you're so curious about that, why don't you go ask why he's poor, too?"
"It's just, I don't get it, so..."
Even under Lee Yu-ri's scolding, Go Yoon-seo couldn't let go of her suspicion.
To be honest, Lee Yu-ri secretly agreed.
Because even when she'd looked over the resume and checked the photo beforehand, she'd thought it wasn't exactly a plain face.
She just hadn't believed it was his real face at the time.
'Of course I thought it was a fake photo. Who the hell would think that was a real face...'
On top of that, since he'd be a guy who likes to doll himself up, she'd assumed there'd definitely be some editing.
But what had happened earlier, when she actually met Jin Yu-ha at the station?
Lee Yu-ri hadn't recognized him.
Because he looked completely different from the face in the resume.
Either he was terrible at photos, or the picture hadn't captured a single ounce of it.
The one unexpected thing was that the resume had lost?
The moment when their lips almost brushed flashed through her mind and she shook her head wildly.
"Honestly, I don't think Yoon-seo is wrong either. It is true that he's suspicious."
"Right? You think so too, unni!?"
Choi So-yeon, the Healer, who had been listening beside them, spoke in a gentle voice.
"I also wonder if he's lying about being a prospective Velvet Academy cadet. I've heard a lot of guys these days approach Hunters like this and latch onto them."
"Why hunters?"
Lee Yu-ri's younger sister, the Porter Lee Yu-na, reacted to that.
"Hunters die fast. If you marry one, you get hazard pay, and if they die, you get the life insurance payout."
"Eek!"
Lee Yu-ri shook her head back and forth at her party members' absurd suspicions.
She understood.
Dungeon clearing isn't a game.
It might be called an E-Rank Gate, but it was dangerous work where anyone could lose their life if they let their guard down.
A single, truly minor mistake could mean one of today's party members comes back tomorrow as a cold corpse.
'But the person we brought along has something special about his gender and looks, so this is how they're reacting.'
They wouldn't usually be like this.
But the entire party was excessively on edge right now.
Because of the Damage Dealer who had ditched them the day before.
'I understand. But this isn't good.'
With the dungeon clear about to begin, it was time for her to get the situation under control as team leader.
Lee Yu-ri organized her thoughts and opened her mouth.
"So you guys think Jin Yu-ha's identity is suspicious? His career too."
The party members nodded their heads.
"Then if that's cleared up, your suspicions will be eased for the most part?"
"...For now."
Choi So-yeon gave a small nod.
"For starters, the fact that Jin Yu-ha is a prospective cadet at Velvet Academy probably isn't a lie."
"How do you know that...?"
Yu-na asked.
Lee Yu-ri pointed at Jin Yu-ha, who was standing off in the distance.
"Look at his clothes. We have that at home too. It's the training uniform they send when you get into the academy."
"You hid it away so carefully I never even got to see it...? You said I'd jinx your nice uniform and wouldn't let me anywhere near the closet."
"Th-that's..."
Lee Yu-ri's face flushed hot.
At that, the party members cracked up—pfft.
At least the mood had loosened up a bit.
Ahem, ahem—!
Lee Yu-ri coughed awkwardly and then continued.
"A-anyway!! That uniform is something the academy issues. No matter how much lower the acceptance criteria is for male cadets than for women, they don't just pass you for the sole reason of being a man."
Of course, they had passed Jin Yu-ha. For that exact sole reason that he was a man.
"And drop the prejudice that just because someone's exceptionally good-looking, he's the type to use his looks for personal gain. Men like that are only a tiny minority."
Of course, Jin Yu-ha had spent his whole academy life mooching meals off female students. Switching women every time.
"He definitely has special skills. He'll at least pull his own weight."
Of course, the original Jin Yu-ha's specialization rank had been a worthless E.
By the time she'd finished that much, the suspicion was slowly fading from the party members' faces.
"And... Jin Yu-ha can't be worse than that bitch Hye-ji."
Finally, Lee Yu-ri dropped the bomb.
The Damage Dealer who had bolted. 'Hye-ji.'
The party's atmosphere changed in an instant.
"...Now that you mention it, Hye-ji, that fucking bitch. She never paid her Gate entry fee either, right!? Gukbap paid it for her, she said she'd pay her back later, and then she stabbed her in the back!? What a piece of shit!"
"I never liked her. She was a Damage Dealer trying to get carried, and she had nothing but complaints whenever I healed her."
"I-I didn't like her either... She looked down on me for being a Porter..."
As expected, nothing united the mood like a common enemy.
Once the atmosphere settled like that, Lee Yu-ri breathed a sigh of relief internally.
"Right. Jin Yu-ha is the one who came to clean up the shit Hye-ji left behind. Even if he only does half a person's share, we should be bowing to him in thanks."
"Hmm, when you put it like that... you've got a point! Honestly, going with super-hottie Jin Yu-ha instead of that leech Hye-ji who just gets carried might be straight-up heaven...?"
At Go Yoon-seo's usual fanatic fawning, Choi So-yeon and Yu-na also burst out laughing.
"Good. Now let's go make introductions and get ready to head right in."
"Sounds good, team leader!"
"Yes, team leader."
"Okay, sis!"
* * *
The party members had left me here and gone off for their girls' talk, taking a good while to come back.
Still, I hadn't been bored.
One of the traits I had awakened yesterday, 「Detection」, let me focus my hearing and catch every word of their conversation.
Gukbap lived up to her name this time too.
She settled down party members who were uneasy about my gender and looks, and created a common enemy to unite them—dependable.
'And the party members don't seem like weird people, either.'
Fundamentally, they had high trust in their team leader, and even when they raised complaints, if they were convinced, they accepted the situation.
Didn't the Great Sage once say that whenever five people gather, one of them is bound to be trash?
Seems that trash was that woman, Hye-ji, who'd bolted yesterday.
The party members finished talking and came back.
"Sorry about that, Jin Yu-ha. The talk dragged on because of the person who bailed yesterday."
It was a way of speaking that was considerate of my feelings.
Since it was a problem related to yesterday's team member, it would look weird for me to be included in that circle.
"Yeah, no problem."
I'd heard everything, but I nodded like I hadn't.
"Alright, I'll just introduce the party members and then we'll head out right away."
First, Lee Yu-ri introduced herself.
"I'm Lee Yu-ri. I'm the team leader for this party. My role is Tank."
Once Lee Yu-ri's introduction was over, the next person to speak was Yellow Ponytail.
"Hello! Jin Yu-ha! I'm the Damage Dealer and my name is Go Yoon-seo! Please forget what I said earlier, since it's our first meeting! I have this habit of blurting out whatever's on my mind. Earlier, it was because you were just way too good-looking! I'm sorry!"
Go Yoon-seo bowed at a perfect 90-degree angle as she apologized.
"It's fine. I'm actually grateful you see me in a good light."
"Heh, a good-looking person with a nice personality too."
Go Yoon-seo joked around.
She seemed like the kind of clean, straightforward personality with no lingering grudges.
"I'm Choi So-yeon. My role is Healer."
Next, the brown-haired woman spoke softly and then immediately closed her mouth.
"I-I'm Lee Yu-na, Yu-ri's younger sister. I-I'm the Porter!"
Lee Yu-ri's younger sister?
So the small-size Gukbap?
This definitely piqued my interest.
She was a face I'd never seen even in Lee Yu-ri's personal story, which made her rare.
I fixed my gaze on her and observed.
She was like Lee Yu-ri, but scaled down and with long hair.
"You really do look alike up close."
"Huh...?"
"Ah, they said you were team leader Lee Yu-ri's little sister, so I was looking because I was curious. Sorry if it bothered you."
"Ah, no..."
With that, Yu-na's face had turned bright red, and the party introductions were wrapped up.
"Nice to meet you all. I'm Jin Yu-ha. I'm a Damage Dealer, and I use a sword. I know this is sudden, but I look forward to working with you."
Clap—!
The moment I finished speaking, Lee Yu-ri clapped her hands.
"Alright, we're heading out right now. The time's just about right."
We each got our gear equipped.
As for me, well, just hanging my sword at my waist pretty much finished it.
Lee Yu-ri led us toward the female soldier conducting the checkpoint.
"We're the team booked for eight. Team Leader Lee Yu-ri."
"Yes, Lee Yu-ri. Confirmed. Your clearing time is 10 hours. So you must be out before 6 p.m."
"Yes, understood."
We passed through the checkpoint and headed toward the Gate.
The Gate was an oval ring emitting a blue light.
It was just the right size for a single person to pass through.
"I'll head in first. Follow in right after me."
At Lee Yu-ri's words, we nodded with tense faces.
And then we moved our feet toward the Gate.
* * *
Inside the Gate, another world was spread out.
The city buildings that had been visible were completely gone, replaced by endless thickets of brush and trees forming a dense forest.
Perhaps because hunters periodically passed through and cleared it,
a dirt path had naturally formed.
"Agh, man. No matter how many times you pass through a Gate, you never get used to it."
"...Seriously."
When Go Yoon-seo said it, shaking her head back and forth, Yu-na grimaced in agreement.
"Alright, keep quiet. Everyone, check your positions and formation!"
Still, watching them immediately move into position at the team leader's words, they really were pros.
Just as explained on the way here, Lee Yu-ri, the Tank, stood at the very front, while Go Yoon-seo and I stood on either side behind her.
At the very back was the Healer, Choi So-yeon.
And in the center of our formation, the Porter, Lee Yu-na.
My role here was to protect Lee Yu-na.
'If I screw this up, I'm gonna make a bitter enemy not just of Yu-na, but of Gukbap, too.'
Since Yu-na was Gukbap's little sister. I didn't even want to imagine the grudge that'd come back at me if something went wrong.
'First, let's start with Detection.'
I activated the trait I'd just checked a moment ago, 「Detection」.
Tsssss—
As I focused my mind, my five senses sharpened, and information flooded in from all directions.
The scent of grass grew denser, and the sound of wind brushing against leaves was noisy.
Even the heartbeats of the tense party members.
Thump, thump—
I readjusted my grip on my sword hilt
and followed behind Lee Yu-ri.
After about ten minutes,
Slip—
In an instant, Detection picked up something moving.
Tap. Tap.
I tapped Lee Yu-ri's shoulder as we'd previously agreed, and then spoke.
"Two Nakey ahead of us."
At that, Lee Yu-ri, who had narrowed her eyes and was surveying the front, tilted her head.
"...Ahead where?"
"Roughly a hundred meters ahead. Directly in front."
Nakey were small. And they were monsters that were not easy to spot, since they camouflaged and moved through the underbrush.
Lee Yu-ri turned her head, a look of disbelief in her eyes.
She looked like she couldn't believe I'd detected a Nakey over a hundred meters away.
"You saw Nakey a hundred meters ahead?"
"Yes. About ninety meters now."
"Hmm... Well, I'll take your word for it for now. We'll confirm it when we get there anyway."
Lee Yu-ri tightened her grip on her shield again and advanced forward.
And soon enough.
"Ten meters ahead! Two Nakey spotted! Go Yoon-seo, attack!"
Lee Yu-ri had spotted them and called out.
"Ehh, what the... It was for real?"
Go Yoon-seo looked at me with a dazed expression as she drew her twin swords from her waist.