112. I liked him first
112. I liked him first
Time rewinds...
"To our newly met comrade, cheers everyone!!!"
"""Cheers!!!!"""
-Waaaaah!!!
-Gulp! Gulp! Guuuuh!!!!
It all started when Yang Hae-yeon, trying to act all high and mighty, set up this drinking party.
'These bastards... Chugging honey mead like it's not their money...'
She smiled on the outside, but inside, her guts were a total mess from the internal injuries.
She had no idea what technique had shattered her insides like glass.
Ryu-o, the guy who'd wrecked her like this, awkwardly raised his glass and grinned innocently, hehe.
The women seeing that...
'They've totally lost their minds.'
Women are all the same.
No matter how lofty and unapproachable their reason seems.
The moment they get face-to-face and tilt their glasses together, that 'maybe...?' feeling pops up.
And behind that 'maybe,' they're fantasizing about making that innocent face pant and gasp.
Of course, Yang Hae-yeon herself had fantasized about bearing Ryu-o's child the instant she grabbed his hand...
'I like guys weaker than me... And...'
She recalled the internal injuries flipping her guts and Arin's emotionless gaze.
That gaze that saw everything but her disciple as worthless.
A gaze that could kill her like swatting a fly anytime.
No way she saw Ryu-o like a son, given how doting she was.
What need was there to split the feeding and fucking with Hae/yeon?
'And I've never even done it...'
She didn't want to risk her life for her first time.
Yang Hae-yeon glared at the women risking their lives to fuck Ryu-o.
"Wow~ Nice to meet ya, newbie! I'm Larin, a Silver-rank adventurer! You were awesome earlier!"
"Ah, nice to meet you, Larin-ssi!"
"Hey hey! Get that ugly mug outta here! You're scaring the newbie! I'm Michelle, same Silver-rank adventurer as this bitch..."
"Haha... Ugly? No way..."
"Have a drink, newbie!!"
Yang Hae-yeon was dumbfounded watching these lowlifes fawn over the newbie, feeding him booze.
Even Ryu-o chugging it straight down without question was ridiculous.
What if one of these dumb bitches gets excited and starts groping him...
"Heeey... Newbie. Such perfect shoulders for wielding a sword... Mind if I just check real quick?"
-Gulp gulp... Huh? Ah... Sure, whatever..."
Sure enough, one of them was already pulling some sleazy move.
They should've just stuck to drinking games instead of losing all sense over a hot guy.
'Tsk tsk. He's letting her do it too? Must be scared to go out alone.'
Yang Hae-yeon didn't realize it, but she kept paying attention to Ryu-o.
An inexplicable irritation bubbled up in her for no reason.
"Hey! Enough already. Let's just drink and have fun."
At the Gold adventurer's threat, the bold bitches shrank back.
"Whoops... Just kidding! Haha..."
"Yeah. Let's end the good day on a good note, okay?"
As the crazed bitches backed off, Ryu-o looked at Yang Hae-yeon with sparkling eyes.
"......"
'W-What... Did I just look kinda cool?'
Yang Hae-yeon felt her internal pain melting away sweetly.
She decided to show a serious side, different from the other women.
"Just drink enough to feel good, moderately. I'm worried."
"Worried...? Thank you!"
Yang Hae-yeon instantly fell for her own role as the 'serious senior showing a different side from the other women.'
She flashed a sly smile and nodded.
"Oh yeah, I haven't introduced my comrades yet. Hey! Get over here now that the request's done!"
Yang Hae-yeon, who'd been grabbing stuff from the receptionist, saw her comrades approach.
"No, we had to report to the master and collect the request fee..."
Ryu-o suddenly choked.
Everyone's eyes locked on the handsome guy's blunder.
"Cough! Hack hack! Kuh!!"
"Y-You okay?"
"Aigoo... Drink slower..."
"Wow, wasting that precious stuff on the floor..."
"???"
He heard some weird comment, but Ryu-o was too busy.
"I-I'm fine. Cough... By any chance, the master..."
"Huh? The master? She's upstairs, need something?"
"...N-No, nothing."
Yang Hae-yeon and her comrades tilted their heads, then smirked.
"Wow~ Nice to meet you, superstar! Heard sooo much about ya?!"
Seeing the woman trying to change the mood, Ryu-o bowed politely.
"Hello. I'm Jang Ryu-o."
"Of course we know! I'm Enak! From the West, handling the front line for the party!"
After their handshake, the introductions flowed smoothly.
A short brown-haired woman with freckles greeted Ryu-o brightly.
"Nice to meet ya~ I'm Daisy! The party's scout! Wow~ Never thought I'd see a hottie like this up close."
"Nice to meet you, Daisy-ssi."
A short red-haired guy glanced jealously at Yang Hae-yeon and Ryu-o as he greeted them.
"I'm Kellan..."
"?? Nice to meet you, Kellan-ssi."
"Hmm? Why so down?"
"Dunno. Probably not getting laid lately."
"Shut your trashy mouths, bitches!!"
"Kekekekeke!!"
The party members looked super tight-knit at a glance.
Ryu-o smiled faintly at the fun vibe.
The women seeing his smile amped up their reactions, voices getting louder.
The perfect rowdy drinking party scene.
Except everyone around kept sneaking glances at Ryu-o.
Dying to join that table.
Yang Hae-yeon... felt great!
Then Kellan looked at Yang Hae-yeon and sneered.
"Hmm... Feeling extra good today, huh?"
"Hm? Yeah, the mood's nic—"
"Because of the new guy?"
"Uh... Not really?"
"Not really? We can all see your lips twitching up? What, happy 'cause there's a hot guy?"
The forgotten pain of her internal injuries crept back up.
She was enjoying herself, so why start shit all of a sudden?
As the mood soured between them, the two women who'd been clowning to make Ryu-o laugh cleared their throats.
"Ahem! Yang Hae-yeon! When'd you get so strong?"
"Yeah! If it'd been exploration instead of escort, we'd know for sure!"
Yang Hae-yeon read the room and laughed.
"Easterners always train together. The sharpest thing shouldn't be your sword—it's yourself."
"What bullshit... Heh heh heh!! But results are results, can't argue!"
"Doing it again, puhahaha!!"
What a wrinkle-free bunch.
Ryu-o's cheeks flushed as he nodded.
"Indeed... That's the mindset to emulate...!!"
It would've chilled him to the bone earlier, but now it sounded so good...
-Hehe hehe...
"To stay sharp yourself... is how you uphold your convictions..."
"Convictions..."
Yang Hae-yeon found Ryu-o's focus adorable.
She suddenly went into overdrive.
"Yeah, convictions. To uphold your beliefs, you need strict standards! To achieve your goals! To not bend to circumstances, you gotta build power!"
Ryu-o nodded vigorously, clearly moved.
"Yes! To achieve goals! To not bend to circumstances!!"
"What bullshit."
The sharp words cut through the heated mood.
In the splashed-with-cold-water party, all eyes turned.
"Convictions? Easterners always yapping about convictions. What if you gotta look away from them?"
Yang Hae-yeon thought she might be too drunk, but glanced at the pondering Ryu-o and spoke.
"Don't break, even if you bend. Don't look away saying it's unavoidable. Even if you tumble forward, thorns underfoot. You push on with the mindset to uphold your convictions. Then... failure's fine anytime. Better to die than let your soul die."
-Gulp gulp! Guuuuh! Fuck... Dunno what it means but you're hot today!!"
-Gulp! That's our party leader! Ahahaha!!"
Ryu-o, a bit drunk, muttered to himself.
"Convictions... Convictions..."
Kellan, drunk too, flushed and turned away.
"Idiot..."
After that, tons of stories flew back and forth.
"Slurp! Senior... Got a question..."
"Hm. Ask away."
"No priest in the party, how'd you rank so high?"
"Oh~ I'll explain! Priests can't keep up with our level, and we don't want good ones dying pointlessly."
"Senior, how do you do Training exactly..."
"Senior, trolls on 30s floors, how bad..."
"Senior..."
"Argh! For real!!"
Another cold splash.
"How long you gonna suck up calling me senior? Huh?"
"Slurp! Suck up...? Did I say some—"
As the mood got weird...
"Whew! Everyone's had too much! C'mon, let's head out!!"
"Yeah yeah, great food Hae-yeon! Escort your junior home, dark night and all!"
"What? Why Yang Hae-yeon for this punk..."
"Tch... Use some judgment."
The higher-rank adventurers showed perfect tact, bailing out.
Survival of the fittest, shown right there.
And so the party fizzled out messily.
'Ugh... Did I overdo it?'
Laughing and chatting with internal injuries and booze... What the hell is a woman's pride?
Yang Hae-yeon considered another top-grade potion but put it back.
'No point drinking it...'
She glanced up slightly at Ryu-o, the guy who did this to her.
'...Not even mad.'
First impression wasn't bad... right? Anyway... His slightly stumbling steps were kinda cute.
"Junior. Where's your place? I'll walk you—"
-Grab...
"Wh-Wha... ???????!??"
Yang Hae-yeon stared with trembling eyes at Ryu-o pressing her shoulder firmly.
Big height difference between them. Looked like Ryu-o was about to devour Yang Hae-yeon.
Couldn't see shit without Ki Sense.
Then, rough breathing came from behind Ryu-o.
"Shiiiit... Shiiiit!! Krgh!! Idiot!!! Die!!!"
-Thud thud thud!!
'Kellan? Didn't he... leave?'
Yang Hae-yeon gawked, frozen, as Ryu-o shook his head.
"Whew... Sorry. I'm a lightweight."
"H-He's f-f-fine..."
Ryu-o released her, cool night air waking her up.
"Huh... W-What...?"
She'd totally forgotten Kellan by then.
Feeling trouble brewing, she urgently called Ryu-o.
"Junior! D-Do you know how to sober up?"
"Ah... Meant to learn, kept putting it off..."
No way, not knowing that at his level?
Anyway... Yang Hae-yeon hurriedly explained.
"Ahem... Could be. First, circulate your internal energy to awaken your senses."
"Yup."
-Hummm hummm
'Holy shit...'
Seeing Ryu-o circulate internal energy instantly, Yang Hae-yeon sobered up instead.
"Th-That... What was it? Ah! Expel the toxins from your fingertips..."
Suddenly, Ryu-o covered her mouth.
-Mmph!
"???????????????"
"Shh... Senior... Feel that?"
Yang Hae-yeon couldn't feel anything but her heartbeat.
Why the sudden fuss? Internal injuries?
Wow, but damn... This blushing hottie under moonlight, right in her face...
"You felt it. Gotta check it out."
Yang Hae-yeon, daydreaming their wedding, blinked.
Then Ryu-o stepped into footwork...
-Whoosh!
"Huh? N-Not drunk?"
Clutching her aching gut, she dashed after Ryu-o.
There he was, hand over mouth, shushing quietly.
'Shh...'
'?'
-Crunch... Crunch...
The two turned dead serious at the creepy sound.
Hand on sword hilt, peering into the alley between buildings...
-Crunch... Squish~ Plop!
"Phew..."
The Dark Elf... sucking in two people? Mashing them?
Something a monster would do.
But the Dark Elf's eyes gleamed beautifully in the moonlight.
The stark contrast mesmerized them, zoning out...
-Swoosh!
They missed the movement.