5. My Buff is a Drug
5. My Buff is a Drug
Choi Ah-young gave out her last instructions.
"Ha-yoon, if you see any blood from the shrew, just look away, okay? You don't have to stand there and take it..."
"Uh, uh, uh-huh. I-I-I'll do that. Uh-huh, I-I can do it."
"Geon-hu, did you bring enough food?"
"Huff... Might be a little short."
Short on food?
Perfect timing.
Hye-yong pulled out five chocolate bars he'd bought and held them out to Han Geon-hu.
"You like these?"
"Huff, 7 points."
"Out of 10?"
Han Geon-hu nodded.
So he liked them pretty well.
Kind of a pain in the ass, but at least the guy was easy to read. Hye-yong liked that.
"I bought these because they looked good, but they weren't really my thing. Thought you might like 'em, so I brought them."
"Can't be helped. I'll eat them for you."
Han Geon-hu took the chocolate bars.
'You little shit, this is where you say thank you.'
The words made it all the way to the back of his throat, but he swallowed them down.
"Hye-yong looks fine. Cast your buffs on Ha-yoon as much as you can."
"Leave it to me."
"Hwa-ra, you'll do well too, right?"
Chae Hwa-ra struck a chuuni-esque pose and answered.
"Heh heh, no need to worry. Today, 'That Person's' voice rings clearer than ever. There is no doubt they intend to bestow a new revelation upon me."
Haah.
A small sigh escaped Choi Ah-young.
Hye-yong understood exactly how she felt.
Hang in there, Choi Ah-young.
He cheered her on silently.
"Let's all do our best."
The party headed for the teleport crystal inside the waiting room.
The portal to the otherworld.
Choi Ah-young pressed a small stone, about the size of two fingers together, against the teleport crystal. The crystal swallowed the stone, radiating light.
The light soon swallowed Hye-yong and the other three as well.
When he came to his senses, the surroundings had completely transformed into a forest.
After a short walk down the narrow forest trail, they'd find the giant Deep Forest Elephant Shrew waiting for them in a clearing.
"Ha-yoon."
"Uh, uh, uh-huh?"
Seo Ha-yoon was so tense before the raid that she flinched and stuttered violently the moment her name was called.
Hye-yong had one thing to tell her.
"Today, you'll be fine even if you see blood. Fight with confidence. Confidence! Got it?"
"Uh, uh... uh-huh... th-thanks, thank you."
Choi Ah-young shot Hye-yong a look that said, 'What the hell are you talking about?' but Hye-yong just smiled quietly.
Choi Ah-young looked away, visibly uneasy, but it didn't matter either way.
She'd see for herself soon enough, even without an explanation.
The party walked down the trail and soon faced the giant Deep Forest Elephant Shrew.
"The power of the great 'That Person' upon this body!"
With those words, Hye-yong watched a faint power settle over Chae Hwa-ra's body.
Her skill, Body Enhancement, had activated.
He was briefly amazed—'Oh, I can see that'—but the thought was cut short.
"I will now demonstrate this newly granted power!"
Chae Hwa-ra was about to charge in recklessly.
'Knew it.'
Hye-yong decided to go with what he'd prepared.
"Wait, Chae Hwa-ra!"
Freeze!
Chae Hwa-ra stopped dead in her tracks, still in her charging stance, and stared at Hye-yong.
The other members' eyes locked onto Hye-yong too.
Honestly, it was fucking embarrassing, but he had no choice.
Hye-yong swept his right hand over his face and stood at an angle.
"Has 'That Person's' revelation not yet reached you? For They told me They would grant me a new power to unlock your potential."
Chae Hwa-ra stared at Hye-yong with a look that said, 'Did he eat something weird today?'
'Hey, you're not supposed to react like that!'
Maybe his thought got through to her somehow?
"Huh? Ah, aha...! I-it reached me just now too! That was a close call. To grant me yet another new power... this foe must be no pushover!"
Hye-yong breathed a sigh of relief.
'Almost made myself look like a complete fucking idiot.'
Still, looking at Chae Hwa-ra's face now, she seemed pretty happy about it.
Hye-yong decided to take that as some small consolation and cast a buff on Chae Hwa-ra.
"Go, Power Surge!"
[ Power Surge ]
Strength stat increased by 4 levels
Chae Hwa-ra's eyes went wide as she received the buff.
"This power...! G-good. Infinite power surges within me! With this, nothing can stand against me!"
Chae Hwa-ra charged again.
Her charge carried a force completely unlike before.
This time, Hye-yong shouted toward Seo Ha-yoon.
"Ha-yoon, the shrew's about to go berserk! Keep your head straight and block it!"
"Uh, uh, uh-huh! I-I c-can block it!"
[ Flower's Feast ]
Cognitive filter applied
Stamina stat increased by 2 levels
Defense stat increased by 1 level
There. He'd cast the buff, so the blood problem would be dealt with.
"Certain-Kill Instant Beheading! Mega Slash!"
SHING!
Chae Hwa-ra slashed deep into the shrew's flank.
Hot, vivid crimson blood burst into the air!
Seo Ha-yoon stared at it blankly.
"Heh... it's a flower field..."
SKREEEEEEE!
But the moment the shrew started thrashing in pain, she snapped to attention and took a defensive stance.
THUD!
She was knocked slightly airborne by the giant Deep Forest Elephant Shrew's body slam, but Seo Ha-yoon landed without losing her balance.
"I-I blocked it! I did! P-properly!"
Thanks to that, Chae Hwa-ra found an opening to dodge as well.
"You didn't think a sluggish attack like that would hit me, did you!?"
The flow of battle had already shifted completely!
While Seo Ha-yoon was cheering, Han Geon-hu prepared his magic.
"Huff, Wind Blast!"
Bang!
The Wind Blast Han Geon-hu fired struck the shrew right in the head.
It flinched, so Hye-yong figured it packed at least the impact of a solid punch.
"Hungry..."
Han Geon-hu was about to pull a chocolate bar out of his pocket and start eating.
"Wait, Han Geon-hu."
Hye-yong cast the buff he'd prepared for Han Geon-hu as well.
[ Feeling of Fullness ]
Induces a feeling of fullness
Magic Power stat increased by 2 levels
"Hey... do you really need to eat that? Aren't you full right now?"
"Huff..."
Huff, huff, huff.
At Hye-yong's words, Han Geon-hu took three deep breaths.
"I think... I'm full..."
"Then you can cast magic again, right?"
"Well... dunno."
"Nah! You got this!"
Maybe the encouragement gave him a boost?
"Wind Blast!"
Bang!
Hit by consecutive Wind Blasts, the shrew toppled sideways.
"Wind Blast! Wind Blast! WOOOOO!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Han Geon-hu kept firing Wind Blast like he'd gone berserk.
"Uh..."
Choi Ah-young, who had been watching this whole situation unfold, was simply bewildered.
'...What the hell is going on?'
She was supposedly the party's greatest combat asset, and yet here they were completely overwhelming the raid monster while she did absolutely nothing.
Enough to make her wonder if she was even needed here.
Choi Ah-young's gaze drifted naturally toward Choi Hye-yong.
He was watching the rampaging members with a deeply satisfied expression.
It was strange.
Everything was unfolding exactly as he said it would.
Chae Hwa-ra, who always got hit first and collapsed, was darting around slicing up the shrew like she'd genuinely gained new power. Seo Ha-yoon, who always complained of dizziness and collapsed at the sight of blood, was holding her shield firm even while watching fresh blood splatter everywhere.
And what about Han Geon-hu?
No matter how much he ate, he was always starving again after firing a single spell and busy stuffing his face. Yet now, with just one comment asking if he wasn't full, he was going wild, spamming magic with both hands.
Choi Ah-young had known Wind Blast was technically a spammable spell, but she'd never imagined Han Geon-hu could actually do it.
Just then, a buff settled over the dazed Choi Ah-young.
[ Power Surge ]
Strength stat increased by 4 levels
'This buff... the one he shouted at Hwa-ra earlier? Strength stat level 4 is pretty...'
After checking the buff, her eyes moved back to Choi Hye-yong.
Their eyes met, and he just gave a light smile.
'He's become a completely different person. What happened to him?'
She grew curious about what on earth could have caused it, but soon another thought surfaced.
Her body felt inexplicably light.
The power of the blessing dwelling within her.
This atmosphere where everyone was fighting so hard...
She felt like she had to do something too.
'I'm still the leader. I can't just stand here.'
Choi Ah-young gripped her sword tight and charged.
The party, having successfully—and very easily—hunted the giant Deep Forest Elephant Shrew, was in incredibly high spirits.
"We did it!"
Seo Ha-yoon, perhaps because the tension had released, spoke without stuttering.
"Did you witness it? This body's power! Hmph, of course, that 'Power Surge' was considerable help as well."
Chae Hwa-ra was always high-energy, but she seemed especially pleased right now.
"Huff, I don't feel hungry for some reason."
Even Han Geon-hu, for once, didn't have food in his hands.
'I never thought it'd go this smoothly with these members.'
As the heat of battle faded, Choi Ah-young actually felt dazed.
Enough to wonder if this was a dream.
"Everyone did great. Ha-yoon was brave, Hwa-ra fought well. Ahem! 'That Person' praised you too. Geon-hu, you just have to keep doing that from now on."
This is all... it's all...
Choi Ah-young stared blankly at Hye-yong, who was busy praising each party member one by one, and thought.
"Ah-young, you too..."
She'd definitely have to ask him later what had happened.
"Choi Ah-young?"
"Huh? Wh-what did you say?"
"I said you worked hard too. Let's check our rewards. You're the leader, so you should do it."
"Okay. I'll check."
The giant Deep Forest Elephant Shrew met its death and dissolved into powder, vanishing.
That was the nature of the otherworld.
Where the shrew had disappeared, a box that looked like it was made of packed dirt sat waiting.
It was about the size of a human torso, which raised expectations that something good might be inside, but a dirt box was the lowest tier. It was almost certainly nothing special.
Choi Ah-young carefully opened the box.
Inside were a well-trimmed hunk of meat strung on straw rope, and a white stone emitting a silvery glow.
"Rewards look like shrew meat and a soul stone."
Leaving the meat aside, Choi Ah-young examined the soul stone.
"Still, we can probably get about 80 points for the soul stone."
For reference, the chocolate bar Hye-yong had bought for Han Geon-hu cost 1.5 points each.
Considering a chocolate bar seemed to be worth roughly 1,500 to 2,000 won, 80 points was about 80,000 won.
Split five ways, that'd come to less than 20,000 won each.
"Even pulling a score doesn't earn much, huh."
"Originally, these hunting grounds are for chasing a lucky break, not reliable income."
Choi Ah-young smiled bitterly.
"Shall we head back, then?"
"You're not taking the meat?"
In a game, you could sell the meat for money.
"It's not really worth anything. Who's going to eat shrew meat?"
Hye-yong accepted Choi Ah-young's answer immediately.
Well, that was that for today.
The party retraced their steps and returned to the otherworld waiting room.
"I'll settle the points tomorrow. Good work, everyone."
Just as they were all about to disperse.
Choi Ah-young cautiously added one more thing.
"Uh, guys. Tomorrow... do you want to try a more difficult otherworld?"
Everyone looked at each other at those words.
They seemed to be gauging each other's reactions.
'Guess I'd better speak up first.'
Hye-yong cleared his throat and spoke.
"Today's raid was way too easy. At our level, we can handle a tougher spot just fine."
As if she'd been waiting for someone to say it first, Seo Ha-yoon chimed in.
"Y-yeah. I can do better."
"Indeed! To properly display this body's power, I need a suitable stage. I agree as well!"
"Huff, I don't care either way... I'm hungry again, so I need to go eat..."
And so, everyone agreed.
"Then I'll find a decent entrance ticket. See you tomorrow, guys."
As everyone headed toward the dormitories, Choi Ah-young remained alone in the waiting room, watching Choi Hye-yong's retreating figure and thinking.
'For a person to suddenly change like that. What could have happened?'
It was a strange thing, in many ways.