43. My Buff is a Drug
43. My Buff is a Drug
"There's a stream over here!"
"I, this vessel, have located a trove rich with dry branches!"
Evening had fallen.
With bedtime approaching, the group was deep in serious survival preparation.
The party clustered together in a small clearing by the stream.
Flick, flick!
Choi Ah-young struck a lighter over the dry branches everyone had gathered.
Apparently, for all the wondrous things in this world, there was no portable camp fuel that burned indefinitely on mana.
'Or is it just too expensive to bother with?'
Seated around the campfire like this, it really did feel like a proper campfire gathering.
"There's a decent stream nearby, so this will work just fine."
"Just wondering. Is it really necessary to sleep inside an Encounter Zone? I heard that once you kill a monster, they stop appearing."
He followed Choi Ah-young's lead without question, but Hye-yong still asked about the things he didn't know as they came up.
"No, that's not how it works. Given enough time, monsters can reappear at any moment."
"Then wouldn't it be safer to sleep outside, just in case? We could get help from other parties there."
"That's true in one sense, but there's something else we have to watch out for."
Ah. Of course.
So we have to be wary of the other students.
"Our supplies could get stolen."
"Wait, stealing other people's supplies is allowed?"
"You'd earn resentment, but the facility won't punish you. I actually suspect they might be encouraging it. So if you can swipe something without getting caught, that's the best move. Plus, there are bound to be students who don't care about alienating our party. They might just brazenly rob us."
So they don't exactly discourage competition...
Once again, he was reminded that this was no ordinary school.
Was this a training facility for adult Awakened or what?
"In that sense, Encounter Zones aren't safe from monster attacks, but we barely need to worry about our supplies getting stolen."
"I get it. Right. Since dying in the Otherworld isn't real death, there's no guarantee anyone will come help you either."
"If there's no personal connection, it could definitely happen."
Guess I should be grateful we've got somewhere to hide.
"Alright, let's tally up today's results and move on."
Choi Ah-young rummaged through her backpack and pulled out the mana-filled capsules.
"Today's count is four. I can't say for sure what rank they are, but at this pace, filling all fifty capsules is going to be rough."
Honestly, four kills was the hard-won result of strenuous effort.
Enough to leave everyone exhausted and completely wrung out.
Wandering all day with heavy backpacks and clearing four raids far exceeded our usual workload.
Fifty in one week was kind of brutal from the start.
"Still, it's probably only this bad because it's the first day. The load'll lighten and we'll adapt as the days go on. Let's all give it our best for the rest of the evaluation period."
"Ooh!"
The ever-energetic Chae Hwa-ra raised a fist in answer.
And with that, the real preparations began.
"Ha-yoon, get the tent out."
"Yeah!"
Tent?
For a second, Hye-yong wondered whether they'd actually bought one.
"Did you all go buy something else without me?"
"Uh... yeah."
Choi Ah-young answered, flustered.
"That's a little disappointing. Aren't I a party member?"
"I... I'm sorry."
At Ah-young's apology, Hye-yong chuckled and said:
"I don't know what you bought, but after the exam's over, add my share to the bill. Same party, we split the costs."
"Hehe. Sure. Got it."
Choi Ah-young smiled back at him.
He wasn't sure why they hadn't called him along, but a tent did seem essential for camping.
"So where's my tent? I'll get mine set up."
"Huh?"
"It's a five-person tent. Buying individual ones would've been a waste."
Seo Ha-yoon asked back, and Na Hee-yeon answered.
'Wait. Does that mean...'
I'll be sleeping crammed into the same tent as the girls?
'God exists and he loves me.'
Hye-yong offered a standing ovation in his heart and wept silently.
This is why being the only guy in the party is fucking awesome.
Imagine if there'd been another guy in the party.
There would have been a nerve-racking fight over who gets the corner spot.
Actually, we'd probably have ended up splitting into a two-person and a three-person tent.
"Buying a whole separate tent just for you felt weird... Is it uncomfortable after all? I should've asked..."
Seo Ha-yoon spoke cautiously, gauging his reaction.
'No! If that had happened, I'd have been genuinely devastated!'
Hye-yong waved his palm emphatically.
"No, no. I'm not uncomfortable at all! I was just worried you might be."
"That's fine. We all agreed. We decided to put up with a little discomfort."
Choi Ah-young, who'd been watching the exchange, smoothly stepped in.
"We don't mind at all! Right, Hee-yeon?"
"Yeah. It's fine sleeping next to me."
It's fine sleeping next to me.
It's fine sleeping next to me.
It's fine sleeping next to me.
The words echoed three times in Hye-yong's skull.
'Whew. That's dizzying.'
Looked like it was going to be an enjoyable week, exactly as he'd hoped.
"Shall we have dinner?"
Perfect timing, since everyone was hungry. They each pulled out their food.
They prepared the meal by boiling stream water in a pot and using it to heat their instant rations.
Compared to their usual life in the facility, the taste and the conditions were pretty dismal.
'Well, that's the exam for you.'
For dinner, he sampled the canned hamburger he'd been curious about... it wasn't very good.
"Guys, have some of this."
After finishing his meal, Hye-yong opened a packet of cookie-type snacks he'd bought and handed them out to his party members.
"Ah! Hye-yong bought snacks!"
"Thanks."
"Hmph... you have prepared an offering. I shall accept it out of regard for your sincerity."
"I'll enjoy it."
Mmm, sweet.
Either way, worth buying.
"So, how about washing up? Me first? Or you guys first?"
At those words, the girls exchanged glances.
Then each of them nodded, and their gazes settled back on Hye-yong.
'What? What did they just plot?'
Choi Ah-young spoke up.
"It's fine. We can wash together."
"Wh-What?"
Ah.
He should've kept that thought internal, but his surprise let it slip right out.
"We prepared for this so you wouldn't be uncomfortable. Go ahead and wash up first. It's okay if you're just in shorts, right?"
"Uh, yeah. Got it."
Prepared something... could it be...?
Hye-yong put on shorts and a T-shirt, gathered his toiletries, and headed to the stream.
As he waited, the girls emerged from behind the foliage.
'Oh. Ooooh...'
He'd half-expected it, but he couldn't help being impressed.
Swimsuits!
Every girl in the party had come out wearing a swimsuit.
Seo Ha-yoon and Choi Ah-young wore bikinis that weren't too revealing.
Chae Hwa-ra wore a one-piece.
Na Hee-yeon wore a suit that looked like a sports bra, probably for chest compression.
'Wow... they even bought swimsuits because of me?'
No wonder the four of them had gathered without him.
They couldn't exactly drag Hye-yong along when they went to buy swimsuits.
They probably decided on the tent on a whim then too.
'This is why there are so many single-gender parties. Not for nothing.'
Having the opposite sex around could all too easily create these kinds of romantic situations.
But more often, it leads to exactly these sorts of awkward complications.
'Because there's more shit to worry about.'
Naturally, it's bad for performance, so parties with a single female or single male member were rare.
But to Hye-yong, who wasn't all that concerned about grades, it was nothing but a pleasure.
"Y-You meant swimsuits? We could've just washed separately..."
Choi Ah-young, looking a touch embarrassed, shook her head.
"No. We're party members. We'll be living similar lives for a week, so we should offer each other whatever consideration we can."
Wise words!
We should offer whatever consideration we can!
Splash.
"It's cold, cold!"
Seo Ha-yoon dipped a foot in and immediately made a fuss.
"Guys, come in, come in! It's cold and so refreshing!"
"Hehe. I, this vessel, shall enter!"
In an instant, an out-of-season water fight broke out.
"Come, come! Can you withstand this onslaught, these raging waves?!"
Splash, splash!
"Eek, Hwa-ra, cut it out!"
The stream was still only up to their calves, so it was perfect for splashing each other and messing around.
"I'll join in!"
Splash, splash!
The water fight grew fiercer the moment Na Hee-yeon joined.
"Ahahaha!"
Splish-splash!
Watching Na Hee-yeon's midriff jiggle, Hye-yong reflected that this situation was a wholly undeserved gift.
'A feast for the eyes...'
Ah-young came and stood beside Hye-yong as he watched the girls play with a deeply pleased expression.
"It's an exam, but we've got to have some fun too, to keep morale up. Right?"
"You're definitely right about that."
"We bought the swimsuits partly so we could all play together, so don't read too much into it."
Hye-yong was not currently reading into anything at all.
"Kyaa!"
He looked at Na Hee-yeon, glanced briefly at Seo Ha-yoon and then Chae Hwa-ra, and hurriedly snapped his eyes back to Hee-yeon's midriff.
'Huh. Why are the tits getting closer?'
Splash!
Water sprayed over Hye-yong and Ah-young.
Na Hee-yeon had closed in and splashed them both.
She smiled softly.
"Don't just stand there. Come play with us."
Hye-yong clenched his fist.
"Alright. I'm coming in!"
He rushed over and cut in between Chae Hwa-ra and Seo Ha-yoon, sending both of them into giggles.
"So you have come as well! To this unspeakably horrific 「Field of Blood」!"
"Hye-yong joined in!"
Na Hee-yeon, who had been watching, turned her head and called out to Choi Ah-young.
"Ah-young, you too. Come on."
"Can't be helped..."
Splash splash splash!
After the fun evening, night drew close.
Once we'd roughly washed up and changed, the party gathered in front of the campfire again to discuss the night watch.
"Normally we'd set two people on watch, but... with our numbers this low, we've got no choice but to have one person keep watch over the fire."
"Figured as much."
Hye-yong definitely would have preferred two, but it couldn't be helped.
With this headcount, if two people stood watch, we'd end up with the disaster of getting less than six hours of sleep each.
We've got to fight every day, so we need at least six hours, right?
"For the watch order... it all evens out anyway, but shall we decide with rock-paper-scissors?"
"Sure."
And so began the five-person rock-paper-scissors.
Rock, paper, scissors!
Rock, paper, scissors!
Rock, paper, scissors!
Five people meant a lot of draws, as expected.
But a winner emerged fast enough.
Chae Hwa-ra threw scissors while everyone else threw paper.
"Ah."
She stared at her own hand, dumbfounded, for a beat—then, maintaining the scissors gesture, raised her right arm in a victory pose.
"Fuahaha! Did you witness it?! My 「Perfect Foresight」!"
"Amazing, Hwa-ra."
Seo Ha-yoon deployed her service smile and hyped Chae Hwa-ra up on cue.
"Hwa-ra, which slot do you want?"
Tch!
As if she'd just accomplished something monumental, Chae Hwa-ra raised her index finger and thrust her right arm skyward.
"Having claimed first place, it is only natural I take slot number one!"
"If you go first, you'll have to stand watch again right away tomorrow. If you pick number five, you don't have to go at all tonight, you know?"
At Ah-young's words, Chae Hwa-ra brought her raised finger beside her left cheek and waggled it as if the notion were pitiful.
"Hmph. Would I, this vessel, bend to such trivialities? I walk only the path I choose."
Ooh... impressive, Chae Hwa-ra.
Though it all evens out in the end anyway.
"Then let's go again."
Rock, paper, scissors!
Rock, paper, scissors!
And just like that, the order was set.
#1 Chae Hwa-ra #2 Choi Ah-young #3 Na Hee-yeon #4 Choi Hye-yong #5 Seo Ha-yoon
"Ehehe. I came last, but it doesn't feel like losing."
Since they were just filling slots rather than everyone gunning for the best one, last-place Seo Ha-yoon ended up with the optimal shift.
Though as noted, by tomorrow it'll all be the same anyway.
The night deepened before we knew it.
Each of us pulled our bedding from our backpacks.
Blankets vacuum-packed in plastic using a clothing compressor.
They were all thin thanks to volume constraints, but better than nothing.
"Hye-yong, I brought yours too!"
"Oh? Thanks."
As expected of Seo Ha-yoon, who thinks of others before herself and has a naturally kind heart.
She'd looked after it for him without even being asked.
He'd completely forgotten about it, so that worked out.
'Wait... is this actually a good thing?'
Could that have been a missed chance to share a blanket with someone?
'No... let's not go there.'
We spread a blanket across the tent floor, and the five of us climbed inside. The space was exactly right, comfortably snug.
"Not bad at all."
"Y-Yeah."
Hye-yong had entered first and tucked himself into a corner. Na Hee-yeon settled in next to him, and the rest filled in beside her.
Meaning the spot right next to Hye-yong was Na Hee-yeon.
Lying on her side, the soft squished mound felt even larger than usual.
'If I died in my sleep tonight, I'd have zero regrets.'
His heart was hammering tonight, making it hard to drift off.
"This is... kind of romantic, isn't it?"
Seo Ha-yoon seemed especially excited—maybe she just loved the idea of friends all sleeping together in one tent.
Honestly, it was thrilling.
We chatted idly about this and that until 10 p.m.
Once Chae Hwa-ra headed out for watch, the atmosphere shifted to trying to sleep.
'Guess I really was tired. Sleep does come after all.'
The cozy atmosphere, more pleasant than I'd expected, quickly lulled me under.
How much time passed?
Just as I'd dozed off smoothly, I opened my eyes just as smoothly.
'What time is it...'
I checked the cheap wristwatch Choi Ah-young had given me: 3:53 AM.
Woke up at a pretty convenient time, I thought.
'Na Hee-yeon isn't here.'
She had to be in the middle of her watch shift.
Figuring I could head out early so she could turn in early, I carefully slipped out of the tent.
Crackle, crackle.
Past a patch of bushes outside the tent, I spotted Na Hee-yeon keeping watch over the fire.
"You must be beat. Go on in and sleep. I'll take over."
At the sound of my voice, Na Hee-yeon turned around, smiled faintly, and prodded the fire with the branch she was holding.
"I should at least finish my shift."
Well, it's up to her when she goes.
I sat down beside Hee-yeon.
Crackle, crackle.
The only sound was the campfire crackling.
Five minutes of silence passed.
'Hm... this is awkward. Nothing to talk about?'
As I was mulling that over, Na Hee-yeon spoke up.
"Hey."
"Hmm?"
"This is going to make me look like such a weirdo if I keep bringing it up, but... I'm saying this after working up some nerve. Do you still not remember me?"
Ah.
I realized it in a flash.
I'd forgotten to tell her it was a joke!
Saying it was a joke now would, understandably, probably just piss her off.
'I'll just say I remember now.'
Mind made up, I slowly opened my mouth.
"I remembered."
"......!"
Na Hee-yeon looked at me with startled eyes.