SSS-Rank Talent (2)

I watched Yoo Sangah's behavioral patterns and combat style for a while from a slight distance.

"………(contented)."

Yeah. I couldn't help it—I was observing the combat suit clinging tightly to her body.

Moved by that sexy combat suit of hers, I covered my mouth and muttered under my breath.

"I don't know who designed it, but I want to praise the hell out of them for a job well done. No—I want to pay coins and commission them. Tell them to make more outfits like that…."

"“…………….”"

I felt contemptuous gazes from the window beside me pricking at my body, but I deliberately ignored them and kept my eyes locked on Yoo Sangah.

"Kyaah! That cute Miss Yoo Sangah wearing something so sexy. I'm truly happy."

Shut up. I'm deliberately not looking.

But still…

I temporarily set aside filling my personal desires and watched Yoo Sangah's combat. The members of Antinus's group were all being swept away by her mana threads.

I took in the sight of Yoo Sangah seizing aerial dominance with Hermes' Walking Method, which called to mind the Moonwalk from One Piece, and the cruel way she bound mana threads to her dagger, flung it among the group members, then wrapped those threads around their necks and dropped them all at once.

A merciless touch completely different from the usual Yoo Sangah, movements without a single wasted motion.

Even if she had grown quickly with support from Olympus—one of the giant nebulae among the constellations—Yoo Sangah possessed talent incomparable to ordinary incarnations.

…By the way, has Yoo Sangah changed this much in just two days?

It was a bitter reality if one chose to call it that. That kind and gentle person was now killing people without hesitation.

"Park Jinwoo."

Kim Dokja's voice came from the window beside me. She had only called my name, but I easily grasped the meaning behind it.

"Got it. I'll bring her."

I approached Yoo Sangah, who was now engaged in close combat with the group members using her dagger.

"Sangah!"

She flinched!

Yoo Sangah's body jerked at my voice from behind. She turned her head slightly to look at me and muttered with a startled face.

"…Jinwoo? How in the world did you get…."

Grab.

"Excuse me~"

"Wh-what…? W-wait a moment, Jinwoo…?!"

Without any hesitation I lifted her body and slung her over my shoulder. Then, flipping off the group members who were staring at us with blank expressions, I said,

"We've had our fun~"

"…What the fuck?"

One of the men among the group members tilted his head at my words and spat a curse.

I ignored both their reactions and Yoo Sangah thrashing on my shoulder while shouting to be put down, and walked in the direction the wanderers had fled.

"Y-you idiots! What are you doing?! Kill those two bastards right now!"

"Huk…! Y-yes!"

Thud-thud-thud-thud!

When the man who seemed to be the leader among the group members shouted, the others finally came to their senses, grabbed their weapons, and charged at us.

I let out a small sigh at the sight of the group members rushing toward me and Yoo Sangah, then pulled out needle darts made from small conch shells from My Room.

"These bastards, I swear…."

I was trying to spare them, and this is the crap they pull.

When I activated the skills, white pure energy rose on the needle darts made from small conch shells. Blackening compensated for the needles' insufficient attack power, Path of Wind made up for the lacking throwing speed, and since my throwing technique still wasn't that proficient, Deadeye filled in the missing accuracy.

Preparations complete to wipe out the trash, I began firing the needle darts at the group members.

"Muda muda muda muda muda—! Mu! Da!!"

Pew-pew-pew-pew-pew!

"Kyaaaaagh?!"

"Ke-kehek…!?"

Group members lucky enough to take needles in their limbs screamed loudly, while those who got them in the eyes or throat clutched the hit spots and collapsed to the ground.

I looked down at the scene and muttered quietly.

"Hmm… is this the maximum power with my still-lacking throwing technique?"

"Kk-kkuk…."

"Or is it because I'm not using my waist while carrying Sangah on my shoulder?"

Just then, Yoo Sangah, still slung over my shoulder, pounded my back with her fists and shouted.

"Put me down already, Jinwoo!"

"Eeeh~"

"It's not 'Eeeh~'!"

"Alright, alright."

I finally gave in to Yoo Sangah's fretting and carefully set her down on the ground. Once her feet touched the floor she let out a small sigh of relief and glared at me.

"It's been two days. Have you been well?"

"Me? Well… by the way, how did you get here, Jinwoo?"

"I just found a new little sister, wandered around with her, met Dokja and a pretty girl named Han Sooyoung, saved a beast that was collapsed on the ground, and then wandered some more."

"…I don't really understand what you're saying, Jinwoo. But you met Dokja?"

I pointed a thumb at the window beside me toward the startled Yoo Sangah.

"Ah… right. You have My Room, Jinwoo."

"I got to live comfortably thanks to this. Looks like you didn't, Sangah."

I spoke while looking at the area around her eyes. Yoo Sangah touched her eye area with her hand at my gaze and words, then gave a bitter smile.

"Well, go on in for now. I'll clean those guys up a bit and come in."

"…Ah. If it's alright, I can help too…."

"I'm not the kind of man who would overwork a beauty who's developed dark circles in just two days."

Clunk.

"J-Jinwoo…?!"

I created the door to My Room beside me, slipped my arms under Yoo Sangah's waist and the backs of her knees, and took a princess-carry stance with her.

When I suddenly princess-carried her, Yoo Sangah looked up at me in great fluster.

I grinned at her flustered face after two days, ordered a new bed from the General Shop, and gently tossed her toward the spot where that bed was placed.

Yoo Sangah's eyes went round as saucers in panic when I threw her.

"E-eh?!"

"Catch the guest!"

Bang!

Having safely deposited her into My Room (?), I brushed my forehead with a hand, turned my body, and glared at the group members staring at me in shock.

"Look at these bastards? You should've felt the skill gap bone-deep earlier. And not a single one of you ran?"

I smiled while glaring at them and pulled out a kunai made from a small conch shell from My Room.

"I'm not going easy anymore?"

Perfect timing. I needed to get a feel for throwing techniques and dagger arts with these guys.

I spoke as I walked toward them.

"If you run, I'll kill those bastards first. Anyone who charges gets the same."

Clack.

I raised the hand holding the kunai and aimed it at the group members as I continued.

"The only way you live is by killing me."

"…Kill that bastard fir—"

Thud!

I gently planted a kunai in the forehead of the leader who was about to give orders while looking at me after my declaration.

"Mm! Ten out of ten!"

Right in the exact center.

Thud.

"Huh…?"

"L-Leader? That's a lie, right…?"

The group members looked down at the fallen former leader with greatly flustered expressions when their leader's life thread was cut in that brief moment.

I shrugged at their flustered faces and whispered.

"Why so serious?"

Pop!

I used Path of Wind toward the kunai stuck in the leader's forehead and brought it back onto my hand.

"Hm? What, why are you all frozen like that? Earlier you were charging like you wanted to kill me."

"U-uuu……."

I smiled while glancing at one man who was frozen in a terrified expression as he stared at me.

"Aha! You're scared, my friend?"

Slash.

I sliced the scared man's neck clean through with the kunai in one stroke. His head dropped to the floor with a thud, and the headless body collapsed.

"So what am I supposed to do about that?"

Should I go easy just because they're scared? On the bastards who attacked my companion?

I jabbed at the group members who remained coldly frozen even after their companion died.

"Hey, you gonna die without even resisting? Then that's fine by me."

"U-uaaaaagh!!"

One man standing blankly in front of the group members moved his arm at my jab and swung a nail-studded baseball bat at me.

The moment the man swung his weapon, I immediately activated Path of Wind. Target: his weapon.

Whooooosh!

"Wh-what?!"

The wind pressure from Path of Wind forcibly twisted the path of the attack heading toward me. The man wore a flustered expression when the attack he swung went into empty air instead of the direction he wanted.

Thud!

"Guh, huk…?!"

"Too bad! You missed? Aim better in the next life!"

A man with a kunai stuck in his neck let out a short scream, and another one departed for the underworld.

"My skill experience… no, no. You heinous bastards who targeted our Sangah! Don't just stand there—hurry up and attack!"

I need to raise my skill levels!

"Why the false accusation? When did I ever say that?"

"Must be a hearing problem. Go get checked by the physician god of your mythology."

"Why are you sympathizing with my enemies?"

While briefly chatting with the constellations, I spotted a few group members at the very back slowly stepping backward.

"Whoosh~♪"

I activated Path of Wind on the kunai. When the kunai floated gently upward thanks to Path of Wind, I whistled softly, and on my signal the kunai flew toward the group members who had started to flee.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

"Keheok?!"

"Uheok…!"

"Kyaaagh!"

When I dropped three people at once with a single kunai, I wore a deep smile.

"Whoosh♪"

Thud.

I settled the kunai back onto my hand with Path of Wind and beamed a smile at the group members staring at me with dazed expressions.

One of the group members muttered while looking at me.

"Th-that just now… from Marvel…?"

"Ding-dong-ding, correct! It's the technique of that blue alien friend from Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy. Or rather, more accurately, an imitation?"

I decided to kindly explain for the group members staring blankly at me.

"Skills have ranks, you know. From minimum D-rank up to maximum SSS-rank. Naturally, the better the rank, the better the skill's effect, right?"

I continued the explanation while spinning the kunai with Path of Wind.

"But does that mean low-rank skills are useless? That's not it either. I don't have any D-rank skills so I don't know much about those, but I have a few C-rank skills, and I use them pretty well."

For example, the C-rank skills I currently had were Tough Skin, Agile Footwork, and Rapid Fire.

"So what's the conclusion? It's very simple. In the end, skills depend on the user's hands."

If the user has good imagination or brains, or good utilization ability, they can combine multiple skills and use them appropriately well.

Just like how I turned on Flight Maneuver earlier and used six additional skills to arrive in Gangdong District.

"Of course, using skills with bad combinations wouldn't be great."

"Th-then… is the skill you're using right now low-rank too?"

"Hm? Ah~ you mean Path of Wind?"

I answered with a grin to the group member asking me the question.

"Nope, this is an S-rank skill though?"

"………Ha?"

I shrugged at the constellations sending me messages and the group members staring at me with dumbfounded expressions.

"I was about to tell you that now."

I pressed my middle finger next to my thumb, taking a finger-flick stance. At the same ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠time I purchased a single steel marble from the General Shop.

I raised the steel marble purchased from the General Shop in front of the hand preparing to flick. Then I activated the skills in succession.

Preparations complete, I released the hand holding the steel marble and at the same time flicked my finger toward it.

Snap!

Pew! Pew! Ting! Pew! Ting! Pew! Pew!

The steel marble, launched with speed and power unbelievable for the force contained in such a small marble, pierced through the group members' foreheads, bounced off the weapons of those behind them, and continued piercing through the heads or bodies of yet more group members.

Just like a pinball.

A moment later, I looked at the corpses of the group members who had all collapsed onto the cold floor with small holes punched one by one through their bodies.

"The conclusion I wanted to make was that even low-rank skills can display outstanding power if you combine and use them appropriately well."

But unfortunately, only you constellations heard those words?

"Well, cleanup finished either way~"

I flew to a nearby high-rise building with Flight Maneuver.

Arriving at the high-rise, I immediately opened the door to My Room and stepped inside, only to see Han Sooyoung and Yoo Sangah glaring at each other with cold eyes.

When I casually shifted my gaze, I saw Kim Dokja standing between Han Sooyoung and Yoo Sangah with an expression of not knowing what to do, and Shin Yooseung plastered tightly against the bed where Yoo Joonghyuk was lying, reading the three women's moods in the chilly atmosphere.

When I entered My Room, Kim Dokja and Shin Yooseung urgently requested help with their eyes. I nodded at their requests for help and carefully started backing out of My Room, but—

"Hey, Park Jinwoo. Perfect timing that you came in."

Fuck….

Han Sooyoung specifically called me out. I let out a small sigh, raised my head, and looked at Han Sooyoung and Yoo Sangah glaring at me, and finally at Kim Dokja cursing me with her eyes for trying to escape.

Han Sooyoung walked toward me frozen in front of the My Room door and said,

"Park Jinwoo. Aren't you curious too about why that woman suddenly got so strong?"

"About what?"

"You know I'm the First Apostle, right? I know full well that I'm a bitch too, but judge carefully. From what I can see, she seems a bit shady behind the scenes."

"You…! Are you trying to gaslight even Jinwoo now?!"

"Gaslighting? Speak properly. Wouldn't you be suspicious if you were me?"

"That's…."

At Han Sooyoung's words, Yoo Sangah closed her mouth and fell silent. Even she herself couldn't deny that her current appearance looked suspicious.

"I first met that woman in Chungmuro. When I saw her back then, she wasn't this strong. Park Jinwoo, Kim Dokja. Doesn't it seem a bit strange to you two as well?"

At Han Sooyoung's words, Kim Dokja and I looked at Yoo Sangah. Han Sooyoung stood at an angle and glared at Yoo Sangah as she continued.

"Even with a Fable-grade constellation as a sponsor, you can't achieve explosive growth to that degree in a short time. Unless she has an SSS-rank growth acceleration skill…."

"I gathered a million coins without even having a sponsor?"

"……………."

"I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pride myself on being the second strongest in Seoul Dome after our Joonghyuk…?"

"…Shut up. You're a mutant so it's possible for you. Other people aren't like that."

"Hey, Sooyoung? Calling a person a mutant is a bit much even so…."

"Be quiet. I'm talking."

"Yes…."

When Han Sooyoung glared at me quietly and scolded me, I shut my mouth tightly and stood still.

"…Hoo. Well, anyway, excluding this mutant freak next to me. How many constellations in Korea could support a woman named Yoo Sangah to get that strong all at once?"

At Han Sooyoung's words, My Room sank into silence. Kim Dokja rolled her eyes and carefully looked at Yoo Sangah.

Crunch crunch.

And then the sound of someone eating something was heard in My Room.

It was me.

When I watched the three women while eating popcorn, Han Sooyoung next to me glared at me with an incredulous expression.

"…What are you doing?"

"I'm hungry so I'm eating popcorn."

My stomach had been demanding food for a full forty minutes already. At the sudden severe hunger, I had quietly ordered caramel-flavored popcorn from the General Shop and was eating it.

I held out the popcorn to Han Sooyoung who was glaring at me and asked,

"Want some?"

"You can get popcorn down in this situation?"

"Mm~ delicious."

"……Being with you chips away at my mental strength in real time."

Han Sooyoung pressed one hand to her head and let out a long sigh. I looked at her and said,

"That's a compliment, right? Thanks."

"Does this sound like a compliment by any common sense?!"

As expected, Han Sooyoung was fun to tease.

Well, jokes end here.

I handed the popcorn I was eating to Shin Yooseung, who was hiding beside the bed reading the room, and continued speaking.

"Your claim is right too. I'll admit that."

"Then…!"

"But Miss Yoo Sangah is our companion. I trust Sangah."

"What are you going to do if you get betrayed after spouting that kind of thing so casually?"

Han Sooyoung asked with a scrunched face. To her perfectly natural question, I grinned and said,

"Then my eyes were wrong, that's all."

"Jinwoo…."

From behind, Yoo Sangah's quiet murmur of my name reached me. She seemed a little moved by the sight of me trusting her.

"……Haa."

At my irresponsible words, Han Sooyoung let out a deep sigh. Then she turned her back and grumbled quietly.

"Ah, whatever. Do as you like. Get betrayed and die or what…."

Grab.

"Aww~ is our Sooyoung sulking?"

"Who's 'our Sooyoung.' Let go of this."

She doesn't refute the sulking part?

I hurriedly wrapped an arm around the thoroughly sulky Han Sooyoung's shoulder and spoke in a sly tone. In response, Han Sooyoung scrunched her face hard and replied in a sunken voice.

"Heh heh! How long has it been since you met me, Dokja, and Yooseung, and you're already worrying about us?"

Whip!

At my words, Han Sooyoung quickly turned her head to open her mouth and refute me.

"Who's worrying about who? I'm just doing it for my own safety!"

"Really~?"

I stared hard at Han Sooyoung while making the ^o^ face that was the epitome of peak irritation, the face of a goddamn badger bastard.

Thwack!

"Ack?!"

And I hurriedly grabbed my leg after the joint kick launched by the thoroughly pissed-off Han Sooyoung.

"Sooyoung… so you kick oppa's shin…."

"Shut up, who's oppa."

Han Sooyoung grumbled something and started walking toward the location of the bathroom in My Room.

I sprawled out on the floor of My Room and let out a small sigh.

Stopping the war of nerves between two people with insanely strong auras is also insanely hard.

While sprawled on the floor, I rolled my eyes to look at Yoo Sangah and Kim Dokja. Yoo Sangah sent me a moved gaze for trusting her, and Kim Dokja looked at me and gave a small nod.

For now I had taken the side of our companion Yoo Sangah, but a little later I would have to feed Han Sooyoung something delicious to soothe her sulking.

I'm the only one stuck in the middle suffering.

Still, me, atmosphere-maker 'Park Jinwoo'.

If my suffering improves the relationship between the two even a little, this sacrifice will be noble.

Gurgle.

At the sound of my stomach throwing a tantrum for food again, I opened the shop window of Shop User.

That one-legged dokkaebi bastard still hadn't shown up, so I should eat first. And soothe Han Sooyoung's sulking at the same time, of course.