Flex: Kwaaaaaang!!

The fireball that dropped smack into the middle of the enemy formation detonated with a deafening Kwaaaaaang! The five men caught at the center of the blast collapsed instantly, their bodies completely engulfed in roaring flames. Sparks exploded outward and set even more enemies alight, plunging the entire area into pandemonium.

“Ugh!! Fire—I’m on fire!! Put it out, someone put it out!!”

“Roll, you idiot! Don’t come this way, roll on the ground!”

“Uwaaaaaagh! S-save me!!!”

Krr, the effect is killer. First strike delivered. Good enough. Time to start the real show.

“Juniel.”

“....”

Juniel stared at me with a blank expression.

“Answer me.”

“...Yes, Master.”

Aish, that attitude. I haven’t had enough time to train her properly yet. Whatever. I’ll deal with you later.

“...That axe of yours. It grows by drinking blood, right? Go feed it plenty and come back.”

At my words, Juniel’s face brightened just a fraction. She seemed genuinely pleased—after all, it was about nurturing the axe she babied like her own child.

“Understood, Master.”

“Ah, but don’t finish them too fast. I want to watch the clan leader fight too.”

Juniel gave a small nod, then leaped straight through the open Gate of Rest. She tore through the enemies still frantically trying to extinguish the flames on their bodies, swinging her axe in a whirlwind of violence.

“Gwaaaaaagh!!”

“Uwaaagh!”

“What the—what is that?!”

“Attack! You crazy bastard, stop retreating and attack!!”

The enemies were already disoriented from the fireball. Adding a red-haired madwoman into the mix left them completely unable to think straight. Instead of facing Juniel, they turned and charged the comparatively weaker members of the Hope Clan.

Seong-jun stood in a defensive stance to protect his people. Flames suddenly roared to life along his blade.

Oh, what kind of skill is that? A sword wreathed in fire… pretty damn cool.

Seong-jun swung the flaming sword to fend off the attackers. The rest of the clan members—except ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for Seong-jun, Yena, and Jin-su—appeared to be non-combat personnel. They couldn’t fight properly and were simply being shielded. Because of that, I hadn’t gotten a good look at Seong-jun actually fighting yet.

I spoke to Ji-yun. “Ji-yun, go help protect the clan members.”

“Yes, Oppa.”

Without hesitation, Ji-yun grabbed her shield and jumped out through the Gate of Rest. The moment she landed, she charged the enemies attacking the clan. Those enemies immediately pivoted, shifting their target to her.

Oh, is that the Provocation skill? I heard it works great on dumb monsters but might not affect humans… but it looks like it’s working pretty well? Or maybe these guys just have brains on the same level as monsters. Either way, once the aggro swung to Ji-yun, Seong-jun gained some breathing room and shouted to Yena and Jin-su.

“You two, help the shield-bearer! I’ll support the one fighting over there!”

Finished speaking, Seong-jun ran toward Juniel, who was in the middle of a massacre. When she saw him approaching, Juniel frowned and yelled.

“Get lost!! He’s mine!!”

Ah, this crazy bitch. She was so excited about feeding blood to that hand axe—Grantaile or whatever the hell it was called—that she was spouting nonsense.

Seong-jun didn’t seem to realize the words were aimed at him. He charged straight in and began cutting down enemies with rapid, precise slashes of his flaming blade.

Whoa, he’s fast.

Ji-su’s class was also Swordsman, but she simply swung her sword quickly thanks to raw stats. There was no real sense of swordsmanship. Seong-jun was different. His blade moved with elegant, flowing precision that genuinely looked like sword technique. Add the flames on top, and it became downright stylish.

As the enemy numbers dropped rapidly, an impatient Juniel tried to charge in again.

Stop. You’ve fed it enough blood. Leave the rest to the clan leader.

She froze, her face filled with clear dissatisfaction.

Hah, you crazy bitch. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠We’ll continue your education later.

While Juniel remained still, Seong-jun methodically cleaned up the remaining enemies. Juniel had already torn through most of them, so the numbers were low to begin with. The enemies Ji-yun had drawn away were quickly finished off by Jin-su and Yena as well.

Now only one remained—the leader who had opened fire at the start. He pointed a sashimi knife at Seong-jun. But anyone could see the blade trembling violently in his grip. Most of his subordinates were dead. The few still alive were crawling across the ground, bleeding heavily. Of course he was shaking.

Seong-jun stared at the trembling knife tip, let out a deep sigh, and lowered his sword.

“...Take your surviving subordinates and leave. There’s no meaning in continuing this.”

What? What the hell was this crazy bastard saying? Was he seriously trying to let them go? These were the same guys who had shot at us with clear intent to kill.

While I watched in disbelief, the leader began backing away hesitantly—until Juniel’s voice cut through the air.

“Not killing him? Then he’s mine!”

Her axe swung horizontally. The leader’s head flew off with a clean thunk. Blood fountained like a geyser as his body collapsed with a thud.

Krr, you crazy b— I mean, Juniel. You just poured ice-cold cider into what was about to become a frustrating sweet-potato drama. The training I had planned for you is canceled… Well, completely canceling it might be difficult, but I’ll at least lower the intensity a little.

Seong-jun stared at the leader’s corpse, eyes wide with disbelief. He looked ready to protest, but bit his lip hard and simply shook his head. If he had any sense left, he wouldn’t dare complain. Thanks to Juniel and Ji-yun, we had overcome a major incident without taking any damage.

I used the gate to exit the Cradle of Rest, then repositioned the sanctuary back to its original spot.

“Daejang-ajeossi, go downstairs and clean up. We’ve definitely paid them back for letting us use this building. Ah, Si-eun, go with him. While you’re talking with the clan members, see if you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠can find out the clan leader’s exact class. Don’t ask too obviously, though.”

At my command, Daejang-ajeossi and Si-eun headed down the stairs. I briefly considered taking Ji-su downstairs to flirt in front of the clan leader, but it seemed like too much effort. We’d have to move busily starting tomorrow, so I planned to rest properly today.

I flopped down onto the mattress. Today I just wanted to roll around endlessly like this.

Hmm. My arms feel empty. I had sent both Ji-yun and Si-eun downstairs, after all.

“Seo Ji-su, come here.”

At my words, Ji-su, who had been sitting quietly, approached. I pulled her into my arms and opened my status window.

I looked at the window floating before my eyes and couldn’t help but grin. Since I hadn’t leveled up there were no stat changes, but two things immediately caught my attention. The number of souls in the jar had broken past the three-hundred mark. Between constant monster hunting and the occasional human hunt like today, I could see the jar filling up more and more. Still, how many did I need before I could summon another Great Soul? That really was a sweet skill. Well, I’d just keep collecting for now.

The other change was even more dramatic. The amount of gold had skyrocketed. What had been just under eight hundred had jumped all the way to one thousand eight hundred. Five died by Si-eun’s hand today, and Juniel killed roughly ten. Those guys had been planning to enter the event dungeon, so each one must have carried at least fifty gold. How long had it been since my last several-hundred-gold shopping spree? And now this much had piled up again. It really seemed like hunting humans was far more profitable than hunting monsters. I hoped more trash would keep showing up in front of me.

Tonight I’d do some serious flexing at the shop. Last time I’d spent everything on equipment for Si-eun, Ji-su, and Ji-yun and hadn’t bought a single thing for myself. This time would be my turn. Jun was going to be absolutely thrilled.

While I happily pondered what to buy, Daejang-ajeossi, Ji-yun, Si-eun, and Juniel returned from downstairs.

“Oppa! We’re back!”

I rose from the mattress to greet the returning group.

“Our Ji-yun. You worked hard. You fought really well.”

“Ehh, all I did was block attacks with my shield.”

“Blocking is incredibly important, you know. Anyway, thank you.”

“Hehe…”

I stroked the head of a shyly smiling Ji-yun, then turned to Juniel standing blankly nearby. She was gently caressing her blood-soaked hand axe with loving eyes. The sight made her look every bit the madwoman she was.

Wait. That axe… It looks a bit bigger now, doesn’t it? It used to be a tiny hand axe around thirty centimeters long. Now it had clearly grown to about forty-five. So it really did grow in real time by drinking blood.

With a slightly awkward expression, I told her, “...Good work, Juniel.”

“....Yes, Master.”

Juniel gave a tiny nod. Well, the fact that she answered at all was enough for now. It wasn’t training time.

Daejang-ajeossi approached and reported.

“They thanked us repeatedly for our help. They were especially shocked by the skills displayed by Ji-yun and Juniel, as well as the ability that suddenly appeared from thin air. They even wanted to treat our whole group to a meal as thanks. I had a hard time refusing them.”

“What about the clan leader’s condition?”

“He seemed mostly fine. While expressing gratitude, his expression was a bit downcast… but he didn’t look deeply heartbroken or anything.”

Well, that made sense. It wasn’t like he had been dating Ji-su. It was barely even a fling. He should forget about it quickly and find another woman. Just stop coveting mine. I’d generously allow him to comfort himself by recalling the scene between me and Ji-su yesterday.

I looked at Si-eun. “Did you learn anything useful?”

“I went down, told them they worked hard, and chatted about various things. That… person named Jin-su who claimed to be my fan talked a lot, and…”

“...?”

Si-eun shook her head. “He spilled everything without me even asking. How the clan members met, how close everyone is, each person’s specialties, what they’re good at… He gave an incredibly strong sales pitch for the clan. Said we’d be extremely happy if we joined. And while doing that, he naturally told me the clan leader’s class as well.”

Wow. It really was a well-run clan. If someone didn’t do something about those Si-eun-obsessed brothers, they’d probably ruin it someday. Well, it wasn’t my clan, so it didn’t matter.

“So? What’s the clan leader’s class?”

“It’s a four-star class called Magic Swordsman.”

A four-star class. No wonder he seemed strong. It looked like he received bonuses to swordsmanship too. He was on a completely different level from Ji-su, who was also a swordsman but only had some trash skill. Anyway, at least he wasn’t a Hero. That was a relief. If a guy with such a pushover personality had been a Hero, even I would have found it exhausting.

I flopped back down onto the mattress. Now that I knew the clan leader wasn’t a Hero, my interest in this clan had cooled considerably. I’d just stay holed up here without getting involved and part ways tomorrow.

“It might get a little boring, but let’s not wander outside today. Stay inside the Cradle. With all the event participants gathering, it looks like quite a lot of chaos is breaking out.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. Daejang-ajeossi and Dong-seok went outside while I and the women spent the entire day lounging inside the Cradle of Rest, killing time. Occasionally I heard commotion and looked out the windows to see disputes breaking out between arriving participants and the groups already occupying other buildings. But not a single person came to pick a fight with us. The blood and corpses still strewn in front of our building were probably the reason. Thanks to that, we were able to enjoy a quiet, peaceful rest.

Time flowed by, and night fell. Tomorrow the event would finally begin. I turned off the lantern early. Since I couldn’t go yesterday, I had to go today. With my eyes closed, I accessed the shop. My consciousness awakened inside the familiar wooden space.

Jun’s cute face greeted me, a mixture of worry and relief in her eyes.

Oppa, what happened yesterday? I waited the whole time…

“Sorry. I fell asleep yesterday without even thinking about accessing the shop… I must have been more tired than I realized.”

Jun let out a sigh of relief.

…That’s good. I was scared something might have happened to you…

“Nothing happened. Don’t worry.”

To worry this much just because I missed one day. Well, if something ever prevented me from coming here, Jun would have to stay alone until the game ended. No wonder she got anxious over every little thing. Feeling a pang of pity for her, I reached out and stroked her head. Jun looked startled for a second, then closed her eyes, savoring the touch.

I had to make this pitiful Jun smile. Today, I was confident I could make her happy. After all, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I had quite a lot of gold saved up.

Now, it was time to flex.