Awkward Relationship
Awkward Relationship
"Stop moving."
Every time Reed twitched his body, the bandage I was wrapping kept getting crooked.
Perhaps his injury was that painful.
Thinking I might not have been considerate enough, I loosened my grip and wrapped the bandage with truly gentle movements.
"...Ugh."
At that, Reed's flinching grew even more pronounced.
'What's wrong with this bastard all of a sudden?'
When I stared at Reed with a sullen look, he actually avoided my gaze.
'Well, I'll be!'
Now he's outright trying to reject me.
That cheeky fellow needed a punishment.
I deliberately tied the almost-finished bandage tightly with a snap at the very end.
At the pressure of the bandage, Reed let out a pained groan.
"Kueuk!"
"Re-Reed...!"
"It's done. And there aren't many Golems left anyway, right? You stay out of the fight."
I said that to Reed, then chugged down my last Mana Recovery Potion.
"Mari, I'll leave the byproduct collection to you."
"Y-Yes? Wait a moment, are you going to do it alone!?"
"It can't be helped. He can't even hold a sword."
I picked up my Staff and went to find the remaining Golems.
"W-Wait. Lunia-ssi...! It's dangerous!"
.....
"Ah, damn it. Why did I do that?"
I had caught a total of two Golems, and after defeating the last one just now, I was resting a bit until Mari arrived.
So currently, I was replaying the feelings I had just experienced.
Why did I feel that way?
Reed wasn't avoiding me just because of the pain.
I could be sure of that.
But honestly, what did it matter to me whether Reed was reluctant or disliked me?
Rather, if Reed disliked me, I should have felt good.
Because I didn't want attention from men.
If it were a woman, maybe, but from a man, it's a bit...
If that's the case, why was I angry that Reed avoided me a little?
Because I thought we were close colleagues, but I was betrayed?
Because I thought we were good friends, but it seemed only I thought that?
It wasn't either the former or the latter.
And no matter how much I thought about it, the feeling I felt wasn't anger.
Actually, I knew what kind it was, but...
'Am I upset? Am I sulking?'
I simply couldn't understand it.
Honestly, I've been feeling these things a lot lately.
My mood would suddenly change drastically, and my tone of voice had softened a bit.
"Huuu..."
It was hard to adapt to these somewhat clumsy emotional changes.
And just as I was deep in thought, on the verge of finding the answer, I saw Mari picking up the byproducts of the fallen Golem.
##
After that, I took on numerous Dungeon requests.
Surprisingly, there were a lot of Dungeons in this world.
I even got to see Kobolds, famous monsters indispensable to fantasy settings.
There were Goblin Dungeons too, but I'd already seen plenty of Goblins, so whatever.
Like that, I took on about eight Dungeon requests over roughly a month.
And during that month, my Level also rose quite a bit.
ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ
Level:12
Health:2
Mental Power:7
Stamina:7
(Creampie Point:1)
ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ
As I raised my Level, I eventually figured out what kind of stat Mental Power was.
Mental Power seemed to literally be in charge of mental aspects.
When I raised Stamina and Mental Power together,
the magic generation speed became slightly faster, and the damage also seemed to have increased very subtly.
So, when I first maxed out Stamina to 7, I immediately raised Mental Power to 7 as well.
From now on, I'll probably raise them together at a 1:1 ratio.
By the way, the stat I haven't raised until now is Health...
What kind of stat is Health, then?
If I raise Health, will I survive even if I get stabbed in the stomach?
'It really might be...?'
It's one of the stats I'll have to raise eventually anyway.
Because if a stat exists, there's no way a useless stat would exist.
However, deciding when to raise it was the charm of stat-distribution RPGs.
It seems once I judge that Mental Power and Stamina have been raised enough, I'll have to focus solely on Health from then on.
For now, becoming strong is the top priority.
Though, at this rate, it seems I'll need to raise Mental Power and Stamina by at least 15 stats each.
'But seriously, Leveling up is damn hard.'
I hadn't heard it was such a difficult game.
Is that why they added a system in the Mod where you get stats if you receive a creampie?
Because there isn't enough time to run around Dungeons when you're enjoying naughty activities.
'Then if I played as a male character, would I get stats every time I gave a creampie? Wow, fuck!'
My longed-for harem life!
Sigh, what's the point of regretting it now?
My body is already female.
Rather than regretting the past like this, it's more meaningful to worry about the future.
"Ah... how can I really Level up quickly?"
As expected of an RPG, the higher the Level, the more experience points it demanded.
Actually, such a system would be essential even if it weren't an RPG.
In the end, the conclusion I reached after going in circles again was,
"Is there really no other way than a creampie...?"
No, no, no.
It's not like that.
I mean, it's not that I want to *receive* a creampie.
Since it's that kind of Mod anyway, I was just wondering if there was any other way to get stats, you know?
'But who am I talking to, as if making excuses...?'
There's no one to listen anyway.
"Haaah..."
Is there really no other way?
##
And so, after clearing countless Dungeons and reaching Level 12,
my relationship with Reed, who I had surely completed numerous Dungeon requests with, was still awkward.
"Hey, are you listening? I'm explaining about the Dungeon we're going to this time."
"............Uh."
It's obvious he wasn't listening to the explanation.
"Haaah... Please pay attention. Anyway, to explain again, they say there are almost no monsters in the Dungeon we're going to this time."
"What? A Dungeon with no monsters?"
Mari was the only one who reacted to my explanation.
"There are monsters, but from what I hear, there are only creatures like Slimes."
"Th-Then............"
I answered with a rather serious expression.
"Yes, the reason the reward is high is because it's a Trap-type Dungeon."
A Trap-type Dungeon.
According to observed records, it somehow looked completely different from existing Dungeons, and its structure also seemed different.
However, contrary to worries, it wasn't a Dungeon that would necessarily be life-threatening.
Nevertheless, the reward on the guild's bulletin board was quite high.
The reason was that it was a Trap-type Dungeon, and unlike regular Dungeons, it took a long time to clear.
The time it usually took us to complete Dungeon requests suitable for our Level was about half a day.
That time was solely for entering and exiting the Dungeon, and if you added the travel time from Riverrun and back to Riverrun, it easily took two days.
So, taking on a Dungeon request was like going on a business trip of at least two days and one night.
If the Dungeon was far from Riverrun, it could become a three-day, two-night trip, or even a four-day, three-night trip.
Of course, we haven't been to a Dungeon that takes four days and three nights yet.
But for this Trap-type Dungeon, the basic estimated duration alone was four days.
The pure time to complete the Dungeon request had to be considered two days.
If by any chance one of the party members fell into a Dungeon trap, it could turn into three or four days, which was precisely why the reward was high.
That's why I was explaining the plan so passionately right now.
And yet, that Reed fellow............
..................
He was still taking a stance of avoiding me.
'Hmph! I don't care anymore! Do whatever you want, whether you get hurt or not!'
And so, Reed and I set off towards the Dungeon without any conversation.
##
"Um... should we look for a place to camp around here?"
Mari was the first to break the awkward silence.
She probably noticed that I harbored some resentment towards Reed.
Indeed, I wasn't even trying to hide how angry I was, so it was perhaps natural for Mari to notice.
But even so, Reed and I didn't want Mari to get involved.
Perhaps we understood each other on that point, as we began setting up the camping tent without a word.
Despite that, my nerves were at their peak, so even Mari seemed hesitant to speak to me.
'I feel bad for Mari for no reason.'
She doesn't need to be so careful around me.
It seems Mari has become the shrimp whose back breaks in a whale fight.
Of course, those two aren't even whales, they're probably just mackerel-level.
Hmph.
.....
···
Jjir-reu-reu-reu...
Deep night.
The grasshoppers chirped their presence, like an alarm.
What time is it...?
Perhaps due to a habit from before my possession, the lingering habit of searching for a clock.
Because of it, I fumbled around, then realized there was no clock and flopped back down.
'Uuugh............'
I had to stand Night Watch soon, and waking up in the middle of sleep was the worst.
In times like this, forcing myself to sleep a little more was the best method.
So I squeezed my eyes shut, trying my best not to even think, but
I couldn't fall asleep because of the voice that followed.