Chapter 21
Chapter 21
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Endure Dun's Attacks
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Dun chugged a stamina potion and got into position to start running. As he properly tensed his body, the energy swirling inside him created a faint breeze that enveloped him. It was a clear day without a hint of wind, yet his hair fluttered gently around his face.
Whoosh—
With a massive gust of wind, Dun kicked off the ground and bolted forward.
Catching up to Yoo-hyun, who was sprinting like his feet were on fire, was a piece of cake. Yoo-hyun clearly hadn't expected Dun to keep pace, because when he saw Dun running alongside him, his eyes went wide.
"!! You're really fast."
Yoo-hyun asked with an expression like he was about to burst into tears. His neat features, all scrunched up by the wind, looked pretty hilarious.
"I'm dying here, so stop running. Slow down a bit."
"I'm trying, but I can't stop!"
"If I grab you at this speed right now, you're dead. Still, give it a try. Slow down just a little, and I'll catch you. You whiner."
Was the stamina potion's effect only this much? His breath started coming in ragged gasps like mad.
"Uwaaaah!"
"Ah, hurry! I'm dying here!"
"Just a second!"
Yoo-hyun ducked his head and started rolling his body. Spinning like a pro ball, he shouted again.
"I think I'm gonna puke..."
"I'll catch it if you do, but try puking on me!! I'll kill you, quest and contract be damned!! Fuck, I'll really kill you!"
Dun yelled, his face drained of color. Nina Pinta was a game where even players could feel nauseous and actually vomit.
His lungs felt like they were flipping inside out from the shortness of breath, but he gritted his teeth, sped up a bit more, and reached out toward Yoo-hyun, who was tumbling ahead.
Dun carefully scooped him up with his hands to avoid internal injuries and gradually slowed his running speed.
Even after all that, Yoo-hyun's HP had taken a huge hit. The scrap debris he'd crashed into while running had chipped away at it.
"Hey, you... this... huff... huff..."
This crazy bastard. How old are you, anyway? You fucking...
He couldn't finish his sentence from the heavy breathing, but inside, he was hurling every curse in the book at Yoo-hyun.
Having run to his absolute limit, Dun collapsed on the ground and stared up at the sky. It was a brilliant yellow. The bitter aftertaste of the stamina potion lingered in his mouth.
Yoo-hyun wasn't faring much better. He lay sprawled out far away, playing dead.
Dun opened Yoo-hyun's status window to check, and all his stats were nearly at zero.
"I got a little carried away..."
Yoo-hyun said, trembling as he opened his mouth. His mental fortitude to smile even now was impressive.
Dun, in a near-exhausted state, crawled over on all fours and shoved a recovery potion into his mouth.
"This is just the beginning. Get up."
* * *
Yoo-hyun threw himself diligently into speed control training and, within two days, managed to adjust his speed enough to move around normally.
Every day, he walked, did sit-ups, and push-ups, giving it his all just to control his speed.
It seemed simple, but regulating your strength while doing something was incredibly difficult.
Now able to lightly jog in front of Dun, Yoo-hyun shouted brightly.
"Check this out. I'm running well, right?"
"Yeah."
"I can go even faster. Watch me again. Look here."
Yoo-hyun tensed his legs and circled around Dun, running faster with him in the center. He started sprinting in laps around Dun.
"Cut it out."
"You're so dizzy, you look all blurry, haha. Is this what Sonic felt like?"
Feeling woozy, Dun stuck out his foot to trip him. Yoo-hyun tumbled far away, rolling a few times after getting caught.
"You're way more childish than you look."
Dun walked over to his side, shoved his hands in his pockets, and spoke.
"People say you get childish once you get close."
"Act your age a bit."
The player Yoo-hyun felt a bit more naive than the Yoo-hyun Association Chairman Dun remembered.
There was something about him that felt like a kid...
Dun didn't want to feel like he'd really gone back in time in a place like this.
"Gasp, that's too harsh! You act all young, so of course I wanna play together..."
"Are you really trying to match my age level?"
Yoo-hyun, sprawled on the ground, turned his head and pondered.
Being around Dun made him unconsciously think of his little sister, even though their personalities weren't similar. Maybe because they were around the same age, his attitude toward them became similar.
His speech got softer, he pulled childish pranks, he felt at ease.
Sometimes Dun looked like he had no thoughts at all, but other times he seemed utterly enlightened.
Forcing the mood up to make Dun laugh strangely lifted his spirits.
Figuring Dun would absolutely hate hearing this inner truth, Yoo-hyun changed the subject.
"Maybe it's because I worked at a daycare, but kids like you make me wanna play together."
"You were always good with kids."
"Huh?"
Dun chuckled dryly at the question and shifted topics.
"Anyway, you've got speed control down decently, so let's move to the next stage."
Yoo-hyun's level was now a whopping 42. He was leveling up at breakneck speed, so it'd hit 50 soon. Dun's goal was to get him to level 50 within these five days.
After 50, they'd move to a new hunting ground to keep leveling.
Normally, from level 30 on, leveling slowed down, leading to plateaus, but this method would break through without stagnation.
This hyper-speed leveling trick was something Seol Do-yoon had taught him back then.
He'd been too proud to try it at the time, but revisiting those hunting spots after rebirth, he saw they were unavoidable for fast growth.
They were extreme, but effective.
"Did you make everything I asked for last time?"
"Yeah, but why this...?"
Yoo-hyun handed Dun a water bottle backpack. It was a backpack made from water bottles, with a long straw connected to the opening. Yoo-hyun slipped the straps over Dun's arms.
Dun, now wearing the water bottle backpack, filled it to the brim with leftover pink stamina recovery potion. He'd entrusted the drugs to Rihaowel and changed them to strawberry milk flavor, making them palatable now.
He took a gulp to test the water bottle backpack's performance and nodded in satisfaction.
Even after jumping and rolling a few times, it didn't leak and held up well. Pretty well made.
"Alright, this is the final quest in this hunting ground."
"Already? My level has gone up a lot, sure..."
"Complete this quest, and you'll be level 50."
Yoo-hyun blinked slowly in disbelief. At this point in time, level 50 made you a top-tier gamer. They said going from 30 to 40 was tedious, but 40 to 50 was pure hell.
Yet Yoo-hyun was skipping both stages relatively easily in just about a week.
"Wow, Dun Coin is insane."
"What?"
"Haha, nothing. But I'm kinda nervous—what's the last quest?"
Knowing that everything came with a price, Yoo-hyun asked with slightly trembling pupils.
"It's simple. By my standards, anyway."
[B-Grade Quest: Endure Dun's Attacks]
Content: Endure Dun's attacks until the agility stat boosted by the drug wears off!
Reward: 800 exp
Failure: Death
Refusal: Soul Contract Penalty
Yoo-hyun's face paled slightly as he checked the quest.
"Ah... Hold on, just a sec."
Knowing Dun's skills roughly, Yoo-hyun stretched out his hands and backed away.
"What're you doing? No running."
Dun chuckled and savored Yoo-hyun's scared look for a moment.
"I've given you plenty of time to prepare."
Grinning refreshingly, Dun clenched his fist and swung moderately down at Yoo-hyun.
Even a simple punch whistled through the air—zwaaack—with a fierce wind.
Yoo-hyun barely dodged with Escape, but Dun followed with a light tap from his right leg.
Unable to evade the follow-up, Yoo-hyun took it on the shoulder.
Even after pulling the punch, his HP dropped to just 13. Coughing up blood, Yoo-hyun pulled a recovery potion from his inventory and chugged it down.
Dun gave him just enough time to drink and pressed the next attack. With the water bottle backpack letting him sip stamina potions nonstop, he could maintain intense movement for quite a while.
Dun chased the fleeing Yoo-hyun and kicked his back to send him sprawling. Yoo-hyun chugged another recovery potion and quickly twisted his head to dodge the fist coming down at his face.
Surprised he'd dodged clean, Yoo-hyun lit up with a bright expression. Seeing that dumb look like he was about to say something, Dun cut in first.
"Careless."
Dun grinned back brightly and raised his fist again.
"No no."