24
Chapter 24
The three of them caught their breath after somehow managing to take care of all the Sand Dwarfs.
"Haa, haa."
Yuna wiped her sweat while exhaling hot breaths, and...
"......."
There was Mina, already in a state of Depletion, sprawled out with her face buried in the sand.
Joohyun let out a sigh as he looked at the two of them.
'Yuna has great stamina but is a bit simple-minded, while Mina's understanding of Magic is fast, but her stamina is just abysmal.'
Compared to how constantly she used high-firepower skills, Yuna was relatively fine, whereas Mina hadn't even used hers a few times before laying there like that.
'We have a long way to go.'
Joohyun shook his head at the thought before suddenly chuckling.
'Well, it's pretty impressive that they achieved this much despite the bad matchup.'
They were lacking, but they had still done well in their own way.
If it were any other Awakener, they definitely wouldn't have been able to do what these two did.
They probably would have left the tower immediately after realizing their attacks weren't working.
[Defeat all the Sand Dwarfs! 15/15]
[Congratulations! You have cleared the 4th Floor!]
[Basic Reward for a Magical Girl : Sand Dwarf's Straw (Suck up blood with the straw to transform it into a Health Potion! Warning! Can only be used once a day.)]
[Reward : Sand Dwarf's Sand (Characterized by its sparkle.)]
[Calculating rank.]
Just then, a window appeared in front of the three people lying there.
Joohyun immediately checked the rewards they received.
"Hmm. Suck blood?"
An artifact that could recover health.
Looking strictly at the item's performance, it definitely seemed broken.
After all, health potions were items that only guys who practiced alchemy could make.
That was why they were so expensive.
They weren't something you could easily get your hands on.
Joohyun couldn't even imagine just how much value this thing held.
If there was a problem...
"Where do I even get the blood?"
Exactly.
He couldn't think of a proper way to get blood.
Blood wasn't something you could easily obtain just because you wanted to.
It wasn't like he could rob a blood donation center, either.
While having such thoughts, an idea flashed through Joohyun's mind.
"But, it doesn't specify human blood, so would animal blood work?"
It was worth a try.
If it was possible with animal blood...
'I can stockpile potions.'
Joohyun decided to think more about how to use this artifact when they got back, and for now, he put it into his Subspace Pouch.
The Slime-shaped Subspace Pouch instantly absorbed the Sand Dwarf's Straw.
'It really is convenient.'
Joohyun smiled inwardly as he looked at the Subspace Pouch hanging around his neck.
Even in the tutorial stage, amazing rewards like this kept dropping.
He was already looking forward to what kind of ridiculous rewards would appear as they continued climbing the tower.
[Rank calculation complete!]
[SSS Rank.]
[Providing magic stones!]
"Oh?"
Joohyun couldn't help but be startled when he saw the magic stones come in.
A whopping 130 magic stones had come in.
It was an even larger amount than last time.
'It gives this much?'
Joohyun had received a lot of magic stones, but he felt somewhat unsettled.
It was because the sight was far too unrealistic.
That didn't mean he felt bad about it, though.
Rather, it was great.
'It really feels like it doubled from last time......huh? Doubled?'
Joohyun looked at Mina, who was still lying with her face buried in the sand.
'No way, is it because we added one more person......?'
Reaching that conclusion, Joohyun's body began Trembling.
"This is an absolute jackpot!"
Filled with joy, Joohyun jumped up and down on the spot in sheer delight.
He wasn't entirely certain, but there was a strong possibility that the amount of magic stones had increased because Mina joined them.
As that thought crossed his mind, Joohyun couldn't contain his joy.
Startled by the noisy sound of him jumping around, Mina raised her head and looked at him with an odd gaze.
"......Joohyun is being weird. He's loud."
At Mina's words, Yuna shook her head from beside her.
"He's probably just happy because he received a lot of magic stones."
"......What a money grubber."
Yuna and Mina both looked at Joohyun as if he were pathetic.
Completely unaware, Joohyun happily bounded around all on his own.
'That wasn't just a pipe dream!'
Joohyun recalled the strange dream he had this morning.
The dream where he became Nouveau Riche.
'Dreams have a way of becoming reality.'
Joohyun was Snickering, and Yuna and Mina stared at him for a long while before letting out a chuckle.
"......Joohyun is weird sometimes, but I think he's still a good person."
Mina smiled Contentedly as she watched Joohyun.
She recalled the incident with Suhyun.
There was the option to kill Suhyun instead of trying to Capture Alive, but Joohyun didn't do that.
He figured out a way to save Suhyun no matter what.
Mina didn't quite understand how he could go to such lengths for a complete stranger.
That was why she had subtly asked Joohyun about it while she was drunk last night.
"......Joohyun. Why did you save me, Master, and Suhyun?"
Hearing Mina's question, Joohyun picked his ear with an expression that seemed to say, 'Why are you asking me that?'
"......It just seemed like the best option at the time. I don't know. Anyone would have done the same in that situation, right?"
With that, Joohyun went back to drinking as if it was no big deal.
Mina let out a loud laugh at his reaction.
Mid-drink, Joohyun looked at the suddenly laughing Mina in disbelief.
After laughing until tears pricked her eyes, Mina threw out a single remark.
"......You're an idiot."
"A-an idiot? You little...!"
Joohyun snapped in anger, and Mina watched him affectionately.
'......Idiot. Anyone would have done it? You acted like that because it's you.'
She hadn't realized it.
The fact that Joohyun was slowly filling up her heart.
She became curious.
About what kind of person Joohyun was.
"......It's fascinating. He seems like a snob down to his bones, but he also feels like a warmhearted person. ......The more I look at him, the more curious I get. Aside from research, this is the first time...... I've been this interested in something."
Yuna's Chest felt heavy as she watched Mina look at Joohyun with such sweet eyes.
'Why am I like this?'
Joohyun was undeniably cute to look at, so it made sense for her to make that kind of expression.
Didn't people naturally soften their expressions when looking at a cute animal?
It was an incredibly natural reaction.
However.
She couldn't help the heavy feeling in her Chest whenever someone else looked at Joohyun with such a sweet gaze.
'The CEO has always been popular with women, after all.'
Joohyun had always been popular with women due to his handsome looks.
Of course, he kicked away all the women who hit on him, claiming he was married to his work.
'Why am I suddenly having these thoughts? What does that have to do with me?'
Yuna shook her head back and forth, erasing the thoughts that threatened to pull her in deeper.
Oblivious to Yuna's turbulent feelings, Joohyun was walking toward the two of them with adorable steps.
"Now, you roughly got a feel for it today, right? How to use Magic efficiently."
At Joohyun's words, Mina nodded and spoke.
"......Yeah. I roughly got the hang of how I should use Magic."
"Really? That's a relief. Also, you need to build up some stamina. Let's start exercising from today."
"......I hate exercising, though."
"Tsk."
Mina looked like she was about to cry at Joohyun's reaction.
She was the type who would rather die than exercise.
Leaving the drooping Mina aside, he looked at Yuna.
Perhaps because Magic was brought up, she looked dispirited.
'Seeing her earlier, it seems she's feeling a bit of an inferiority complex towards Mina. My eyes can't be deceived.'
Taking care of a Contract partner was the CEO's job.
He couldn't neglect this.
Joohyun let out a sigh at her appearance and called out to Yuna.
"Accountant Yuna."
At Joohyun's call, Yuna looked at him.
"Yeees......."
"Crouch down and lower your head a bit."
Yuna was puzzled but soon followed Joohyun's words.
Joohyun placed his hand on Yuna's head and patted her.
"!!"
Startled by the sudden action, Yuna looked up at Joohyun.
Seeing her like that, Joohyun chuckled and said.
"Accountant Yuna, you did well too. Even if you face a seemingly impossible opponent like today, don't resort to Giving Up and look for a way. Then, there will definitely be a method to fight back."
"CEOOO......."
Just as Yuna sniffled and tried to lift Joohyun into a hug.
A notification popped up.
[The Magical Girl has defeated the forces of evil! Encourage each other for the hard work with a hug! (Death upon failure!)]
"Seriously, that thing pops up every time we come to the tower!"
Joohyun spoke in annoyance, and as soon as the text appeared, Yuna hoisted him up.
"CEOOO~."
Yuna immediately rubbed her face against Joohyun's belly.
"......Yeah, yeah. Good job."
Already Giving Up, Joohyun patted Yuna's head.
"Huh?"
Just then, he felt a force pulling him from behind.
It was none other than Mina.
Mina was tugging at Joohyun from the back.
"......I need to hug you too."
"......Right."
It was true that Mina could die as well if she didn't hug him.
And they couldn't have that.
So Mina gently pulled Joohyun closer and rubbed her face against his back.
"......So fluffy."
While she was pleasantly rubbing her face against him, Yuna yanked Joohyun back toward her.
"Huh?"
As Joohyun was suddenly pulled away from her cheek, Mina looked at Yuna in confusion.
Yuna gave Mina a quick glance before resuming rubbing her face on Joohyun's belly.
"......Ugh."
Seeing this, Mina applied more strength and snatched Joohyun back.
"Kuh!"
Having Joohyun taken away, Yuna exerted herself to pull him back again.
And so, the two of them continued their tug-of-war to claim Joohyun.
"Both of you, stop it~!"
Joohyun's desperate cry echoed throughout the tower.
* * *
The three of them exited the tower.
As soon as they got out, Joohyun sat alone in his room, frowning and Deep in Thought about something.
'What was that?'
The phrase written on the last window he saw before leaving the tower kept popping up in his head.
[Beware of the pursuer.]
'The tower spoke to me?'
Joohyun had tried talking to it afterward, but there was no response.
He concluded that he couldn't converse with it and was forced to ponder on his own.
'This is the first time something like this happened. And what the hell is a pursuer?'
While he was pondering like that, Yuna suddenly approached Joohyun in a flurry.
"CEO, we have a huge problem?!"
"Huh? What's going on?"
Joohyun looked at Yuna, puzzled by her behavior.
What Yuna held out to Joohyun was a single Letter Envelope.
There was no name written on it.
"What is this?"
Joohyun pointed at the Letter Envelope in confusion.
"Inside, inside......!"
Yuna couldn't even finish her sentence, overwhelmed by whatever shocking thing was inside.
"What is it to make such a fuss?"
Saying that, Joohyun opened the already torn Letter.
Inside it.
[I know your Identity.]
Along with those words.
There was a vivid photo of Yuna, Mina, and Joohyun stepping out of the restroom as they De-transform from their Magical Girl states.