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If I hugged Seo Ga-yoon right now, she might get shocked and run away. But now that she'd joined my clan, there was no way I was letting her go. I decided to take it slow and steady so she wouldn't escape.
"Not now. Later."
"Aaah...! That's so unfair!"
As she stomped her feet, her massive chest bounced. Seo Ga-yoon puffed out both cheeks and stuck out her lip. It was cute how she threw a tantrum asking for something without even knowing what it was.
"Calm down and eat this."
I scooped up a spoonful of Cheongbong honey and held it out to her.
"Haa... I'm not a little kid who needs to be bribed with food..."
"Here. Say ah~"
After hesitating for a moment, she parted her lips slightly.
"Mmm... It's, it's delicious."
The frown she'd put on to act sulky slowly relaxed. Cheongbong honey is beyond premium — it's at the elixir level. A heavenly taste created by the Cheongbong bees, which are practically spiritual creatures. The subtle sweetness spread gently across my tongue. Truly a rich, luxurious flavor.
Seo Ga-yoon's body trembled slightly. She probably didn't even realize it, but the corners of her mouth lifted a little.
"Hmm...! Is this an elixir?"
"How is it? Pretty good, right?"
Chewing and savoring the taste, she gave a small nod.
"...It's nice. An elixir that actually tastes good."
"If you listen well, I'll give it to you sometimes."
"Wow, really? Thank you... Ah?! I mean, that's not what I... I want special training too!"
She clung to me more persistently than I'd expected. I casually pulled her closer and stroked her head for about a minute. Her face gradually turned bright red.
"Haaau..."
I gently caressed her head like I was petting her. Feeling the unfamiliar intensity, she seemed embarrassed and avoided my gaze. For someone so affectionate, she couldn't handle it when the mood got even a little heated. I definitely needed to increase physical contact slowly.
Lee Yeon-hee came to find me, clutching an alchemy book tightly to her chest. Her eyes were darting around nervously.
"This book is even more valuable than I thought."
"Oh, really?"
To summarize her explanation, every single magic circle drawn in this book was worth astronomical amounts. But originally, this was just a standard textbook you'd find at any bookstore. I'd assumed there wouldn't be any truly valuable magic circles in there.
Among the magic circles I'd flipped through without much thought, there was a mana-gathering circle. On the surface it looked decent, but it was the kind that made it hard to raise mana density to a meaningful level for training.
"A 1.05x mana density increase? And it has maintenance costs — does that even matter?"
"Yes! What's important is the very fact that it draws in ambient mana. If we research it properly, we could dramatically lower the maintenance cost of magic circles."
"Hmm..."
"It might turn every magic circle laid out across the world into obsolete relics. I mean, it could fundamentally change the paradigm of magic circles."
What she said made sense too.
'That could have more impact than I thought.'
Could I handle that? The answer came as soon as I considered it. Of course not. There were beings far stronger than me scattered all over this world. Especially here — if I died, there was no telling what would happen. Extreme aggro was too dangerous. I needed something moderate.
"Alright then. Pick out some things that have low impact but decent competitiveness."
"Huh...?"
"To put it simply, things that aren't worth powerful people or strong fighters targeting, but could still make some money?"
"Ah... I understand. I'll look for as many as I can."
"Good. By the way, how's the mana training going these days?"
With just that one comment, her face flushed bright red. The scholarly type who'd look right at home in a lab instantly transformed into a shy young girl.
"W-Well, about that..."
Lee Yeon-hee dropped her head low and glanced up at me sidelong. After hesitating for a moment, she spoke in a barely audible voice.
"I-I'm not really sure..."
"Is that so?"
I pulled her into a light embrace and injected some Mixed Energy into her. Her mana flow was perfectly fine.
"Eep...! Haaah..."
I kneaded the backside of this sly little alchemist. She was trying to hide the anticipation gleaming in her eyes.
"Then shall we head to the Special Training Room?"
"Y-Yes..."
Monthly settlement. Normally I'd just skip over it, but Han So-young looked like she had something to say.
"There've been people starting shit with us lately. Poking at us here and there, getting on our nerves."
"Oh?"
"Sometimes rift reservations get canceled too... And people cut in when we're selling byproducts."
Nothing major on its own, but the kind of petty harassment that just grates on you. Faces of people I'd crossed swords with flashed through my mind — Speedman, that spoiled brat from Kangjin Steel, and so on. But it wasn't them.
"I looked into it, and most of them are connected to the Danseong Guild."
I dug through my memories, but nothing came up. I had no idea who they were.
"What kind of guys?"
"A clan that recently got promoted to a guild. The rift cluster we visit often is in their territory."
The biggest difference between a clan and a guild is whether they have a designated area of responsibility. Guilds are obligated to clear rifts in their assigned zone. Protecting an area is a pain in the ass and a lot of work, so of course they get paid for it.
'Are they trying to squeeze tribute out of us?'
It wasn't unheard of for guilds to throw their weight around in their own territory. But if they crossed the line, hunters would just leave. Then they'd have to clear all the rifts themselves. That's obviously impossible, so most guilds actually treat hunters well instead — building convenience facilities, putting bounties on rifts, that kind of thing. But these guys were doing the opposite.
"Don't tell me it's just us?"
"Yeah. I thought that was weird too, so I looked into it, and I've got a suspicion. You know... Hwang Myeong-cheol. Turns out he's the son of the Danseong Guild master."
Hwang Myeong-cheol. The name didn't ring a bell at all.
"...You don't remember Hwang Myeong-cheol? That hunter who applied to the clan last time. The one we rejected in the document screening."
"Ah! That guy with the caterpillar eyebrows?"
Now I remembered. I'd rejected him on the pretext of his face reading. A guy I'd completely erased from my mind because I didn't care. It was suspicious that he'd applied to a small-to-medium clan when his own father ran a guild.
"He's doing all this just because he got rejected from a clan?"
"I don't really get it either... But there's nothing else we've got a grudge over, right? Should we just go somewhere else?"
It wasn't like that rift cluster was the only one around. But it was the closest to the clan house, so it was convenient.
"Wait. I'll go check it out myself. By the way..."
The fact that the clan was running smoothly even without me working was largely thanks to Han So-young. She managed it as diligently as if it were her own clan. I felt a surge of affection and wanted to hug her.
"Haak...! W-Wait a minute. I haven't finished the report..."
"Why? Is there something special going on?"
"Ugh... Hup! No, that's not it but... Haaah!"
I wrapped my arms around her from behind and slid my hand under her skirt. Even over her panties, I could tell where her clit was. I traced circles around her clitoris before pressing down firmly. The way she flinched every time was amusing.
"Eep... ♥"
A light climax. That might have been the fastest I'd ever made her cum. She'd been pent up since I hadn't held her in a few days. I was about to slide my fingers into her hole when she grabbed my wrist. Then she shook her head.
"Haaah... N-No, not here...! J-Just hold on...!"
"What's wrong?"
"Haa... Haaah... L-Let's do it when we get home. Someone might see..."
Hearing her use formal speech made my cock harden instantly. I hiked up her skirt right there and pushed inside.
"Aahh... ♥"
It had been nearly a month since I last went into a rift. I'd been so busy sparring with the clan members and teaching them basic combat techniques that I hadn't had time. Since I was going after a long while, I decided to take care of something I'd been putting off.
I swirled the shimmering liquid in the glass bottle. World Tree Sap. About two-thirds of the elixir I'd brought from Academy Earth was left. I poured half of that into my mouth.
'Hoo...'
Having consumed this elixir before, digestion was easier this time. The surging power throughout my body was electrifying. As always, the feeling of getting stronger was the best.
"Nice."
Bang! Bang!
I punched the empty air. I was checking the body strengthened by the elixir. I needed to clearly understand what this body could do now. Making a mistake in real combat could lead to a stupid death.
Swoosh. I pulled a sword from my inventory and carved a cross through the air around me.
'Hoo...'
I stopped once my body temperature had risen to a reasonable level. Right now, adapting to this body was what mattered. This was enough. For the remaining fine-tuning, I'd need real combat.
'Let's go.'
The rift cluster. I decided to check in person what kind of tricks the Danseong Guild was pulling. I geared up fully and headed to the lobby.
"Oh?! Teacher, are you going to a rift?"
Seo Ga-yoon had dust all over her, as if she'd just come back from one. Her eyes sparkling, she ran over to me.
"I want to come too!"
"Didn't you just come back from a rift? Aren't you tired?"
"I'm fine!"
Her peers nearby were staring at her like she was a monster. Having trained in martial arts since she was young and awakened early, her base stamina was extraordinary. She didn't even look exhausted.
"Alright. Let's go together. It's been a while — let me see how much you've improved."
"Hehe! Awesome. Let's go fast!"
Seo Ga-yoon linked her arm through mine and pressed close. Her soft breasts pushed against my arm. Maybe it was because she was an only child, but she was very affectionate. Since I was heading to the rift anyway, I figured I'd check how much she'd grown while I was at it.
I was looking at her bright, cheerful smile when a thought crossed my mind.
"Ga-yoon. Do you happen to know a hunter named Hwang Myeong-cheol?"
"Hwang... Myeong-cheol? Umm... I don't think so?"
"I heard he was your classmate at the academy. A C-class awakener with elemental manipulation abilities."
"Ah...! Him? Now that you mention it, I think I saw his face a few times at the academy."
"Not close, though?"
"Of course not? I didn't even know his name until just now."
"Is that so?"
The reason that caterpillar-eyebrowed bastard might have applied to my clan was standing right next to me.
'Did he follow Ga-yoon in?'
But Ga-yoon didn't even know the guy's name. I wondered if the guess that had suddenly occurred to me was wrong.
'No. He could have had a crush on her unilaterally.'
Looking at Seo Ga-yoon's voluptuous chest and delicately sculpted features, any man would fall for her. Naturally affectionate, pretty — there was no reason not to like her. Even more so if her breasts were that big.