I became a member of a new party. (3)
I became a member of a new party. (3)
"Siwoo-ya, Pai keeps talking about some stone—what does she mean?"
The day after enjoying stormy sex with Seo-in in the health room, on the way home from school.
A-young asked me.
"I had no idea what she was going on about, so I couldn't give her a proper answer, and she told me to ask you. What happened when Leisha came by the other day?"
At that time, A-young had fallen asleep midway while lying in an uncomfortable position in the wardrobe.
Come to think of it, I hadn't properly told A-young about what happened back then.
I'd forgotten to tell her amid the sex and conquering the Glass World, and she hadn't asked me about it either.
"What happened was..."
I told A-young about the conversation I had with Leisha that night.
First, about the party invitation.
"Our classmate Leisha, one of only three B-ranks among the first-years, right...? For a girl like that to tell us to form a party together..."
Even though less than a month had passed, was she happy that we'd climbed from F-rank to here?
A-young's expression grew brighter and brighter as she listened to me.
"Yeah, and our party lacks a frontliner, right? Seems like perfect timing— what do you think?"
"I think it's great. Unlike Leisha or Chloe or the others, she didn't look down on us for being F-rank."
I agreed with that.
Leisha and Chloe had shown thorough indifference.
"And also... Lately, Siwoo's gotten way better than before, so it's getting harder for me to keep up—wouldn't it be good to have two more people?"
A-young asked, glancing at me.
She was probably like that because I'd refused to keep expanding the harem.
"A-young-ah, do you love me?"
I asked her a bit abruptly.
Having lived in a monogamous world, her actions, which were a bit different from my common sense, sparked a tiny speck of a thought: Does she not love me?
Of course, I knew it was a pointless suspicion.
But I didn't want to leave even the smallest doubt behind.
"Huh...? S-suddenly...?"
A-young's face flushed as she asked back at my sudden question.
"W-what...? Of course I love you..."
Unlike when she'd shouted that she loved me on the bed, right now A-young's voice grew smaller and smaller, like she was shrinking away.
"Yeah, me too."
I said, taking A-young's hand.
Her face was getting redder by the second.
"Th-then, that Spirit Stone...? What's that?"
A-young quickly changed the subject.
"That's..."
I felt a bit embarrassed by the situation too, so I went along with her topic shift and told her about the stalking.
A-young's face, which had been flushed with embarrassment, gradually hardened, and when she heard about the lingerie store, a thick disgust rose on her face.
"He really went that far, huh..."
A-young said, as if she hadn't imagined it'd be to that extent.
"What do you mean?"
"Back at the start of the semester, there were all these bad rumors among the girls. That he kept staring right through their chests or up their skirts. I felt that gaze sometimes too."
Suddenly, I had a solid reason to catch that bastard and beat the crap out of him.
Looked like I needed to start the pursuit tonight.
"It was just a common story among friends. Not anymore, though..."
A slight bitterness clouded A-young's expression.
She was probably thinking of her old friends who'd started ignoring and excluding her like the other students once she became F-rank.
"A-young-ah..."
"But it's okay now...! I've got you, Siwoo, right?"
A-young said, linking her arm with mine.
I could feel the softness of her breasts, but that wasn't important right now.
"A little pervy and clingy, but..."
A-young poked my side as she said it.
I gave an awkward laugh.
"Anyway, if we catch that stalker, we get that Spirit Stone, right?"
"Yeah, planning to start tonight."
It was an item I had no use for anyway, so I'd decided to give it to A-young.
In exchange, I'd gotten a wish voucher for one favor from her.
'This is basically a 3P ticket...!'
I'd definitely complete the request and ask A-young for a 3P.
The proportion of my personal desires was negligible.
This was all just for efficient Vitality gain.
'Yeah, right.'
I nodded to myself as I thought it.
"Siwoo-ya, you're thinking something weird again, aren't you?"
"Nope."
When A-young shot me a glare, I calmly denied it.
"Hmm... okay. Is there anything I can do to help?"
A-young asked, clearly not wanting to just sit around waiting.
"Nah. This time, I think I need to move alone."
Han Geon-woo had used Search Skill to always flee before Leisha could approach him.
That meant he was watching her from quite a distance, and to catch him—who could detect even Leisha hiding her presence with a pretty high-level Search Skill—bringing A-young would honestly be unnecessary.
I could use Invisibility Magic, but she had no way to hide her presence.
"Hmm... You think I'd get caught by his Search Skill, is that it?"
A-young said to me with a confident look, clearly thinking the same thing.
"Yeah, got any way around that?"
"If I ask Wendy, hiding presence is a piece of cake."
Wendy.
The name of the lower-level wind spirit she'd contracted.
"Oh, yeah, definitely..."
I fell into thought.
Unlike magic, Spirit Arts had endlessly versatile applications.
"Wanna see?"
When I nodded at A-young's question, her eyes turned a clear jade color, and I felt the surrounding wind gathering toward her.
"Ooh..."
Her presence really vanished.
"Our little ones can do stuff like this."
As expected, she hadn't slacked on training even when I wasn't around—A-young said it to me with a confident expression.
"Then let's test the performance. For starters... level 4 Search Skill?"
"Yeah!"
The test method was simple.
I'd turn my back and use Search Skill, and she'd use Wendy's Light Footsteps skill to touch my back without me detecting her.
Since I'd used level 7 Search Skill in dungeon exploration and gotten called a Pathfinder better than Han Geon-woo, his Search Skill or similar was probably around level 5-6.
"Starting now."
As soon as I said it, I activated Search Skill.
Level 4 Search Skill, boosted to 3 levels higher with Buff Skill.
No presence at all from behind, and soon I felt a hand touch my back.
"Wow..."
I made a surprised face since I hadn't expected it to really work, and A-young shrugged proudly.
"How was it?"
"Didn't feel a thing. Let's try level 5 next."
"Yeah."
Still no presence this time.
Same for level 6, and only at level 7 did I barely sense something and grab her hand as she tried to touch my back.
"This means I can help too, right?"
A-young said proudly.
"Yeah, but A-young-ah, what level's your Spirit Arts at?"
"Hmm... 6, I think..?"
"Already...?"
It'd only been two weeks since she got Spirit Arts, and already level 6. I couldn't help but be shocked.
"Do you know the max level by any chance?"
"Hmm... Like other skills or abilities, probably 30?"
Like stats, skills and abilities require Awakening from level 11 and Transcendence from 21 to reach higher realms.
Awakened Spirit Arts can handle intermediate spirits, and Transcendent Spirit Arts can deal with advanced and top-tier spirits.
Talent is scary, huh.
Even if we got the Spirit Stone, I thought it'd be a useless lump for another 1-2 years until her Spirit Arts reached Awakening, but her growth speed surpassed my expectations.
This must be what it takes to become the final boss of the future.
"Yeah, I think it's fine to go resolve the request together. Even my level 7 Search from the last dungeon exploration could barely detect you."
"Yeah! Pai's happy. Great. Right?"
A-young brightly smiled and talked to the air.
"Y-yeah...? Um... Maybe you guys can go anytime..?"
She was already starting to get swept up by the spirits, though.
∴
-Come to my dormitory room.
Just before 12 o'clock.
I messaged Leisha.
To use her as bait.
What we needed to catch right now was Han Geon-woo, who was stalking Leisha.
So she needed to play the bait role.
Of course, I could've discussed it with Leisha beforehand and then executed, but I wanted to deal with that guy as soon as possible.
I was curious, for one.
What Leisha was hiding from Han Geon-woo.
Gamers had all sorts of predictions flying around, but nothing official had been announced.
But this wasn't a game—it was reality.
My gamer instincts were urging me to accomplish what other players couldn't.
And Leisha's trust.
Succeeding the request faster would naturally earn more trust.
And above all...
'3P ticket...!'
I was going crazy anticipating the 3P from the wish voucher I'd gotten in exchange for the Spirit Stone.
Purely for the goal of gaining higher Vitality.
...Though I did kinda want to fuck until my dick wouldn't get hard anymore.
I used Search Skill from a spot a bit away from the B-dong Dormitory where Leisha lived.
I started sensing the presences of Leisha and Chloe emerging from the B-dong Dormitory entrance, and soon another presence followed.
Location: between the alleyways on the right.
"Siwoo-ya, can you find him?"
A-young, using Light Footsteps, asked me, who was using Invisibility Magic.
"Yeah, that alley you see over there? He's in it."
A-young gave a small nod after checking the direction I pointed.
After that, we tailed Han Geon-woo, who was following Leisha and Chloe as they headed toward my dormitory.
Until a good shadow appeared.
And about 5 minutes later.
"A-young-ah, now...!"
"Yeah...!"
With our presence-hiding skills active, A-young and I dashed forward.
Han Geon-woo was chasing after them, snapping photos with his Cube Watch.
-Chal-kak.
He'd put some thought into the camera angle.
To capture Leisha and Chloe clearly, and his act of covertly photographing them, all in one shot.
The Invisibility Magic didn't hide the camera shutter sound, so as soon as Han Geon-woo heard it, he whipped his head toward where A-young and I were.
"Request's a total breeze."
I sneered at him, and his face filled with despair.