Chapter 3: Meeting with Renata (1)
Chapter 3: Meeting with Renata (1)
[You have obtained the daily reward!]
It has already been three days since I met Eunhwa.
In the morning, even without anyone waking me up, I wake up to the notification provided by the system.
When 9 AM hits, 100 Jewels strictly roll in.
Do I have to gather this for 30 days just to do a 10-pull?
The future looks bleak.
I brought up the party window.
[Party Member List 1(+1)/10]
[Expand Party Members+]
The party member list is literally the list of characters I possess.
A party member list that can hold up to 10 members.
Moreover, unlike in the game, it wasn't a system where you could only pick 5 members no matter how many party members you had.
Meaning, the more I expanded the party member list, the stronger my overall combat power became.
However, in life, things don't go so easily.
Expanding the party members required Jewels. I was already short on Jewels, and now I was going to be even shorter.
Especially!
Name: Eunhwa +0
Level: 200
Type: Attacker
HP: 36,156
ATK: 2,536
Do you see the +0 mark next to Eunhwa's name in her status window?
Even the transcendence system, an absolute essential for gacha games...!
Since I had to pull the gacha to transcend characters while also expanding the party member list... there was no way Jewels wouldn't be scarce.
The only saving grace was the fact that Eunhwa had reached the maximum level achievable at 0 transcendence.
It was truly fortunate that I didn't need to use the other enhancement materials that came out when I pulled Renata from the gacha a few days ago.
"Unlike other men, you are quite diligent. Most of the men I could see in the Fortress were ones who only woke up around noon."
"Ha, hahah! I-I am quite diligent, right...!"
In truth, I was only able to wake up on my own thanks to the system notification... but there was no need to lower Eunhwa's evaluation of me by telling her that.
Let me raise her affection level here...!
"My body feels better now, so I'll help you too."
"Eung? Commander, you may stay inside the house, you know? There's no need to go out of your way to get blisters on a man's delicate hands."
"Still, it feels disrespectful to just stay like this. I may not look it, but I'm quite strong!!"
I stretched both arms sideways and bent them, striking a pose to flex my biceps.
Having lived comfortably in the city, I had no visible biceps... but I was still a healthy man who had served in the military.
Meaning, I was stronger than average women.
"Puhuup... If you put it that way, perhaps I shall ask a favor of you as well."
As if she liked my actions, Eunhwa spoke with a bright smile.
"Yes, please order me to do anything. Eunhwa-manim!"
"... Manim?"
Ossak.
In an instant, I felt a murderous intent as if bugs were crawling all over my body.
An overwhelming sensation where I couldn't even move a single finger properly.
Eunhwa's terrifying expression glared at me, enough to make me realize instantly that I had made a mistake.
"Come to think of it... there hasn't been an instance where you addressed me. I would appreciate it if you refrained from using expressions like manim."
"Ah... yes."
Mmm... judging by her tone, she seems a bit sensitive about her age.
It seems my joke of calling her manim touched a sore spot.
By the way, I hadn't properly addressed Eunhwa all this time.
It couldn't be helped, as there was no particular reason to call her, so I had just replied to whatever she brought up.
It would be better to decide what to call her on this occasion.
"Should I call you Eunhwa noona?"
"..."
She looks somewhat displeased.
Her expression shows she doesn't like noona either.
However, calling someone who is way older than me by just her name out loud, even if it's fine in my head, is a bit...
"I would prefer it if you just called me Eunhwa."
"Yes."
However, seeing the incredibly fierce look on Eunhwa's face, I had no choice but to nod.
Even though I knew well that she couldn't harm me... scary is still scary.
As I followed Eunhwa outside like that, I unknowingly raised my hand to block my eyes from the dazzling sunlight.
"Eut...! You really need to be a bit careful."
Eunhwa covered me by pulling up the hem of my clothes near my armpit.
"Thank you?"
Who would even look at a man's armpit for her to react so fussily?
Still, it was something to be grateful for.
After all, it was true that she covered an armpit that would be embarrassing to show anyone.
Anyway! A golden field was spread out outside the house.
Eunhwa stepped into the wheat field, which was not huge, but spacious enough to secure plenty of food.
"All you have to do is neatly tie up the stalks of wheat I cut and stand them upright. Simple, right?"
"Yes."
When Eunhwa, holding a sickle, cut down the wheat, I gathered a bunch of those stalks, tied them, and stood them up.
Did they call these sheaves of grain?
Anyway, standing these sheaves of grain like this so they catch plenty of sunlight is all it takes.
"It seems better to take a short break before continuing."
"... Yes."
Right around when I had made about five sheaves of grain.
Eunhwa, who had already cut down the entire wheat field, patted my shoulder.
As expected of the max-level A-factor Awakener.
A B-factor Awakener like me couldn't keep up.
Mmm, having confidently said I'd help out, only to be of little help, makes me feel a bit uncomfortable.
I even think it would be better if a few mutants attacked.
If that were the case, I could at least use a Unique Skill to be helpful.
Cheolkeok.
"Mutants."
"Huh?"
Was it because I had such a thought?
Eunhwa summoned her sword and held it with a tense expression.
"The number is roughly around 100... Furthermore, someone is being chased. If we conceal our presence like this, they will likely pass us by..."
"..."
If they would just pass by if we concealed our presence, honestly it would be better to just stay hidden, but...
'Someone is being chased?'
However, the words that someone was being chased bothered me.
"Eunhwa. Can you win?"
"I can win, but... Commander, you might be put in danger. Even so, do you intend to go?"
"I would have died too if it weren't for Eunhwa. Even if I'm not a good person, I'm someone who knows that I should at least pass along the favor I received to others."
"Huhut. I see. Then let's go."
"Eo-eo!?"
After lifting me up in a princess carry, Eunhwa immediately headed toward where the mutants were.
With the sound of wind whipping, Hwik-! Hwik!, the scenery before my eyes rapidly changes.
U-ung! Ung!
Because we were moving at such high speed, perhaps putting a strain on my body, a translucent blue barrier appeared before my eyes and disappeared.
Bringing up the window to look at my status window, my HP stat was wearing down along with my commander level.
Even though there was only one party member, seeing that the decrease was minuscule made me realize that she was indeed the max-level Eunhwa.
Since a B-factor's HP follows the total sum of the party members' HP stats.
"Heok... heok. Is this as far as I go?"
When we arrived where the mutants were, I saw a woman running with her blonde hair neatly tied back, her chest bouncing.
'That person?'
I knew who the person running away right now was.
It was definitely Renata, the character I pulled yesterday using the beginner benefit gacha.
From the teardrop mole under her eye to the weapon and outfit she was holding.
There was no way a person could be this identical.
"Commander-! Trigger my Unique Skill immediately."
"Yes!"
Just as Eunhwa shouted, I immediately touched Eunhwa's pelvis floating in the air.
Since the Unique Skill triggers no matter where I touch.
"Heuuuuut?! C-Commander, where are you touching!"
"Eora?"
Judging by that reaction, it seems she can feel where I touched.
'I'm screwed.'
Her affection level is definitely going to drop because of this...
*
[Enhancement materials have been recovered]
[You have been expelled from the party]
Renata, who had lost her way and was wandering aimlessly, gave a bitter smile at the notification window floating before her eyes.
In the past, recovering enhancement materials would have been unthinkable, but things were different now.
Thanks to Arcadia, one of the Five Families, developing technology to enhance B-factors about 70 years ago, it became possible to recover enhancement materials like this.
Renata had thought that recovering enhancement materials invested in an Awakener whose life or death could not be confirmed before they vanished was rational, but...
Now that she became the target herself, she felt a bit bitter.
"It can't be helped."
However, Renata composed herself.
She wasn't dead yet. As long as she returned to the Fortress, she could rejoin her squad and regain her original level.
Besides, recovering enhancement materials required 50 Jewels, which dropped from mutants only very rarely.
As long as she made it back alive, the rookie commander who uselessly wasted Jewels would be punished.
Since he was a member of the Five Families, he wouldn't receive that severe of a punishment, but a replacement to another commander might still be possible.
"Keureuk?"
"Ah..."
However, to Renata, whose level was currently reset to 1, even zombies classified as lower-tier mutants were dangerous beings.
She was spotted right then by a group of zombies that had wandered out of a Hive.
Without looking back or firing her gun, she just ran recklessly.
She could easily escape against zombies with slow movement speed, but the problem was something else.
It was the fact that the Hive mutants that had been chasing her hadn't stopped their pursuit yet.
Hearing the zombies' screeches, the mid-tier mutants ended up finding her location.
To think she would engage in a chase again with mutants she had somehow shaken off.
Even worse, her level was now 1.
She couldn't run fast like before.
She had only run a little, but her legs were already trembling.
She gritted her teeth and tried to keep running, but...
Teok!
In the end, her legs, drained of strength, collapsed straight onto the ground.
"Heok, heok. Is this how I die?"
For the Fortress.
For humanity.
Even though she did her best.
To end up with a demise like this.
-If you only care about the mission like that, you'll end up dead.
Why did the words of her friend reprimanding her for only pursuing missions pop up at a time like this?
"Chaaaaap-!!"
It was at that moment.
A woman wearing a bamboo hat over beautiful silver hair leapt between the mutants while swinging her sword!
She moved so fast that not even afterimages could be seen properly.
Chwarak! Chwak!
Every time she swung her sword, the horde of mid-tier mutants fell like autumn leaves in the wind.
Though there were no large-sized ones and only small mutants, the speed was exceedingly fast.
"Phew. Swinging a sword for the first time in a while, my body isn't moving properly."
Chieeik.
As smoke created from even her sweat vaporizing blocked her view, Eunhwa waved her hands rapidly and then extended a hand toward the fallen Renata.
"Are you alright?"
"T-Thank you."
"Direct your thanks not to me, but to the Commander over there. If not for the Commander, I would not have helped you."
Even though Eunhwa said so, she would have saved Renata even if it wasn't Kim Junhyuk.
Because the reason she left the Fortress to live outside was that she believed the Five Families were complacent with the current situation and cared only for their own safety.
'He passes.'
In that sense, Kim Junhyuk possessed sufficient qualities to become Eunhwa's commander.
For a man, despite hearing that it might be dangerous, to say without hesitation that since he received help, he should help someone else.
Eunhwa could not tell whether the heat currently in her lower abdomen was the aftermath of using her Unique Skill or... another reason.
