Forest and Trees (1)

The academy's short break had arrived. Both Choi Ahyeon and Han Yuri had returned to their family homes. Choi Ahyeon went to see her family, while Han Yuri needed to reorganize the Portan Guild. 'She mentioned she'd appoint a temporary representative, right?' The vice guild master would handle the details while she gave general directions and orders. Her official appointment as guild master would come after academy graduation. Anyway.

Thanks to the two of them being away for various reasons, I could comfortably recuperate at home. Just as Eve had said, letting everything go and resting properly seemed to help my soul recover a little. Not that it was much more than a mouse's tail's worth, though.

A week passed like that. And now we were at the C-rank assignment, the Troll's Sanctuary.

A troll drooling from its gaping mouth. I raised my mana.

'Thunder God.'

The moment I tried to use Thunder God, my body froze and my vision went white. The strain from overdoing it against Han Jaehyuk was still burdening my body. I had no choice but to use something else.

'Your Majesty.'

'Synchronization is no longer possible.'

'Just once, please.'

'Tsk! Do you want to collapse like last time?! It's not allowed anymore!'

'Tch.'

Having both synchronization and Thunder God taken away made me feel like my combat power had been cut in half. In the end, I had to use a different method.

In an instant, I closed in on their backs and swung EVE. Even without synchronization, the blade was already soaked in my blood, so it sliced them clean in half with one strike.

"Grrrk!"

The moment I took down one, the others screamed at me.

"Krrrk!"

"Karaaak!"

'Aggro.'

I drew their attention even more clearly, then leaped backward with all my strength.

"Meteor Shower."

Meteors with tails of light rained down and pierced the trolls. At the same time—

"Hup!"

Choi Ahyeon swung her Wind God-enhanced dagger, and heads fell one after another. Four trolls down in less than thirty seconds.

Excited by the achievement, Ahyeon danced around like she was celebrating.

"Wow! At this rate, can't we go for C-rank now?"

"There you go getting cocky again? They're just trolls, so don't let your guard down."

"Han Yuri's right. If you take away their regeneration, they're weaker than ogres."

At our combined scolding, Choi Ahyeon clicked her tongue and turned her head away.

"Why does it feel like you two are even more in sync these days?"

"It's just your imagination, right?"

"...Yeah."

Han Yuri brushed her side hair and subtly averted her gaze. Choi Ahyeon poked my side with a sly expression.

"Oho. What's this atmosphere? Don't tell me you two are dating?!"

"You damn romance-obsessed pest. Want to get scolded once?"

"Eek! Seonghyun's mad!"

Choi Ahyeon darted away using Wind God. I sighed and looked at Han Yuri. Her usual haughty expression. On the surface, she seemed to be functioning normally, but I could see it. She was barely keeping her emotions under control.

"Then I'll go water the flowers real quick!"

"Sure. Don't go too far."

She must have been in a real hurry, because she used Wind God to vanish into the distance. Han Yuri let out a long sigh and closed her eyes. She was trying to rest for a moment. Managing her emotions while killing monsters must be exhausting.

I picked up a drink to cheer her up and pressed it against her cheek. At that moment—

"Hey. Drink this and get some—"

A sticky killing intent washed over my body.

"I don't need it."

Swish!

Han Yuri slapped my arm, knocking the drink away. The liquid spilled all over my shirt. Seeing that, she looked completely flustered.

"S-sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"......"

She immediately began carefully wiping my shirt with a handkerchief. The way her killing intent and guilt kept fluctuating told me everything.

'She must still be struggling.'

Her hatred toward me had reacted first. Only afterward did her reason ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠return. Human emotions really are strange. You can't control them at will.

After she had been wiping my clothes for a while, Choi Ahyeon returned.

"What are you two doing?"

"Making a baby."

"Ehh?! For real?!"

"Just kidding."

Her expression flipped back and forth at my joke. She was so easy to fool that I couldn't help but chuckle.

"If you're all rested, let's go. We need to finish the assignment quickly."

"Yes!"

"Okay."

After finishing the assignment, we were in the living room of my house. Four people total. Our party of three, plus Shin Suyeon.

"Unnie, what brings you here?"

"This is really shameless of me, but I have a favor to ask..."

This morning, Shin Suyeon had called me.

'Seonghyun... I need to do some field observation. Could you possibly help me?'

She sounded incredibly apologetic, like she was asking me to co-sign a loan. Field observation was mandatory in curse research studies. There was a limit to what you could learn from theory alone. So she had asked me to accompany her to the site.

The problem was that the site was—

'D-rank. The Forest of Shadows.'

It was a field dungeon, and she couldn't enter without us. I was fine with going, but I needed to ask the others' opinions first. That's why I'd set up this meeting.

As Shin Suyeon nervously explained the plan, Choi Ahyeon clapped her hands in delight.

"Then doesn't this mean we can legally skip class?!"

"Well, yeah."

"Let's go! We have to go!"

"The person who's usually obsessed with attendance is suddenly acting like this?"

"Field observation counts as attendance! This is a golden opportunity! A chance for all of us to go on a trip together!"

She was incredibly excited.

"What about you?"

"......"

Han Yuri had been making a sour face the whole time. She and Shin Suyeon had never gotten along particularly well. She let out a sigh and nodded.

"If I refuse here, I'd be the only bitch. Fine. Let's go."

She agreed reluctantly. Still, we'd cleared the biggest hurdle.

"Thank you so much, all three of you."

"Aww, unnie, what are you saying between us!"

"......"

And so we headed to Incheon. At a beach in Incheon, we first secured a hotel. It was one owned by the Portan Guild.

"Miss, welcome back."

"Give us all single rooms."

"Understood."

Choi Ahyeon's eyes sparkled at the sight. Was she impressed by how Han Yuri ordered the staff around like servants?

"...Nice! Saved on lodging costs!"

"......"

As if that were the reason. We checked in and unpacked. As expected of a Portan Guild hotel, the facilities were incredible. After a quick look around, we stood before the entrance ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to a dungeon.

"Ahyeon, focus on protecting Suyeon. Yuri and I will handle all the damage dealing."

"Roger that!"

After waiting about ten minutes, our turn came and we entered the dungeon.

D-rank. Forest of Shadows. Also known as the Forest of Death. Despite being D-rank, its low difficulty and non-aggressive monsters meant it was always crowded with people.

Inside, dying trees and dozens of hunters in the middle of combat greeted us.

"The atmosphere feels pretty gloomy."

"That's because all the trees are cursed."

Cursed trees, huh...

'We have one in our party right now, too.'

After that, we escorted Shin Suyeon in the direction she wanted to go. When the trees extended their roots to attack, I cut them away with EVE and suppressed them with Meteor. Thanks to that, Shin Suyeon began writing something in her notebook with a serious expression.

'I've never seen her make that face before.'

She was usually either adorably clumsy or had a face that made you want to tease her. It felt like I'd discovered a new side of her.

As I stared at her, Han Yuri poked my side.

"Stop staring. You're going to bore a hole through her face."

'Hey, I can look at someone's face if I want to.'

She was sensitive. Very sensitive.

When we were about halfway through the dungeon, Shin Suyeon's movements suddenly stopped. One minute, two minutes—she kept staring at one spot. It was a sight I'd seen once before.

'Back at the Hall of Challenge, wasn't it?'

She'd had the same reaction when looking at an S-rank assignment.

"Is something wrong?"

"Um... don't you hear that sound?"

"Sound?"

Even when I focused mana into my ears, I didn't hear anything unusual.

"I don't hear anything?"

"...I must have misheard then."

She slapped her own cheeks as if trying to wake herself up and went back to her investigation. After roughly finishing the observation, we returned to the hotel. Since we planned to investigate the remaining half of the Forest of Shadows tomorrow, we decided to rest today to manage our condition.

The moment I finished washing up and threw myself onto the bed—

Ding.

A message arrived.

'I'm bored.'

Han Yuri was rolling around on the bed. She was bored. No, this wasn't just boredom. It was compulsion. Ever since her father died, whenever she stayed still, memories of that day kept resurfacing. If she didn't do something, she felt like she would go insane.

'Let's go mess with Lee Seonghyun.'

Since he was the one who made her like this, this was self-defense. Yes, self-defense.

She went to his room and pressed the doorbell.

"It's me."

No response.

'Did he go out?'

But then a sinister thought flashed through her mind.

'No way...'

Was he sucking face with Shin Suyeon? Her insides began to boil. Before her head could even process it, her body moved first. Using the master card—something only the guild master possessed—she opened the door and entered.

'He's not here?'

It seemed her paranoia had been unfounded after all.

'Ha. Why am I like this lately?'

As she turned to leave the room, she heard footsteps outside the door. And familiar voices. It was Lee Seonghyun ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and Shin Suyeon. In that instant, without realizing it, she hid herself inside the built-in closet.

The door opened and the two entered.

"Mmm... Seonghyun, I told you not to touch me outside..."

"Why? You ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠liked it, didn't you?"

It felt like the blood in her body was freezing solid. Her heart pounded violently. She slightly opened the closet door and peeked out.

"Mmph...!"

"Slurp..."

The two of them were devouring each other's bodies.