Embarrassment (1)

“What do you mean, a couple?”

This woman was a little smarter than I expected. No, to be precise, it wasn’t that she was exceptionally brilliant.

Still, her judgment in reading a situation, her decisiveness, and her ability to act were all decent enough.

She was sharp, too, and knew how to scratch exactly where it itched.

The fact that she’d tossed Jung Hayan over to my side, despite quietly keeping her under watch, made it easy enough to guess what she wanted.

I could see why Kim Hyunsung had put a group in her hands.

And if she’d gone out of her way to body-check me for no reason, it was probably because she wanted to hold on to at least a thin thread.

Of course, she might have had some other purpose of her own, but I didn’t need to know that.

I swallowed once and looked over Lee Jihye’s status window again.

Her growth rate wasn’t bad. Compared to the last time I’d checked, her stamina had gone up by 1, intelligence by 2, and luck by 3.

How exactly does this stuff rise?

What I really wanted to know was how stats increased in the first place.

At least in the case of intelligence, I could infer that it wasn’t based simply on raw thinking power or the amount of knowledge someone had.

Take Jung Hayan, for instance. She had high intelligence, and yet she still acted like an idiot more often than ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠not.

Lee Jihye was different. Even with intelligence lower than Jung Hayan’s, she was far more cunning.

Maybe intelligence was based on understanding magic or certain kinds of knowledge.

Luck was odd, too. The last time I’d checked, her luck had been 12.

I couldn’t make sense of how it had risen overnight.

I’d wondered whether her luck had something to do with me, since my own luck was high, but that was only a guess for now.

I’d need to think a little more about stats.

“You’re up early.”

“I had a few things on my mind.”

I noticed Lee Jihye staring at me from the side.

Her expression looked a little better, as if yesterday hadn’t been too terrible.

“Take care of Yoo Seokwoo on your own and keep an eye on Jung Hayan. If anything unusual comes up regarding Jung Hayan, report it immediately.”

“That seems like a strange thing to say to a woman you kissed…”

“Don’t say stupid things…”

“Fine, fine. I’ll handle it. I can sort of guess what you’re thinking, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but does that girl really have something going for her?”

Sharp little bitch.

“You don’t need to know, sister.”

“You!”

The moment I called her sister, her face went red.

She probably felt some stress over her age.

I could see Lee Jihye biting her lip slightly.

In the span of a single night, we hadn’t become a couple, nor had we turned into partners who could reliably watch each other’s backs.

It was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠still a contract.

We hadn’t drawn up anything as formal as the terms and conditions of a superior and subordinate, but we had silently agreed to use each other to a certain extent, and the contract had been struck.

Even if it was a contract that could crumble at any time, it would still amount to more than a speck of dust when it came to trusting each other.

The real problem was how long this relationship would last.

If we kept our lines and respected each other, there’d be no issue. But nobody knew what might happen down the road.

I let out a small sigh and spoke.

“But why did you choose me, Jihye?”

“I told you, Kiyoung oppa. I like ambitious men.”

I wasn’t the only one who had to live up to expectations.

Just as I could cast her aside at any time, she could cast me aside just as easily.

For now, what mattered most was my own growth and Jung Hayan.

Lee Jihye wouldn’t go around blabbing about what had happened between us.

That was in her best interest, too.

Still, she might give off the impression that something had happened.

What mattered was how that would affect Jung Hayan.

Being bad at relationships meant being bad at expressing and accepting one’s own feelings, too.

She had no parents, and it had been a long time since she’d been in contact with her older sisters.

In other words, Jung Hayan was not only inexperienced in forming relationships, but also highly likely ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to suffer from a lack of affection or something close to it.

She needed to cling to me a little more, rely on me a little more.

Lee Jihye would help make that happen.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

Things were handled faster than I’d expected. There wasn’t even enough substance in Yoo Seokwoo’s case to warrant a trial or anything similar.

Whether he’d caught on that Lee Jihye had sided with us, or just panicked when his footing shifted, Yoo Seokwoo quickly admitted he’d been in the wrong and received a punishment everyone could accept.

Of course, Lee Jihye’s influence had played a part in the process, but the interesting thing was that she kept insisting she had “no choice.”

She quietly pointed the arrow at me, and at the same time she started a campaign to shift some of the blame onto Jung Hayan.

It began to carry the nuance of:

“It couldn’t be helped because of Lee Kiyoung.”

“He’s fond of Jung Hayan.”

That sort of thing.

It was only natural that Jung Hayan ended up disliked by the members here, and in the middle of that public-opinion operation, I could feel that Lee Jihye was a slightly nastier woman than I’d assumed.

She’s a woman who’s mastered the art of making other people miserable.

If I had to express that as a talent stat, she’d probably be Legendary or above.

She never lifted a finger herself.

Instead, she succeeded in creating the optimal environment for Jung Hayan to be isolated and tormented by everyone around her.

There was no way Jung Hayan could do much when the whole world seemed to hate her.

In the end, the only place she could turn to was here.

Thanks to that, I’d been listening to Jung Hayan’s complaints for days now.

“S-so… hic….”

“Are you okay?”

“Y-yes. Y-yes… thank you. O-oppa. I’ve been talking about myself too much… I know you’re busy….”

“No, not at all. In fact, I’m grateful you’re telling me these things. If you keep working a little harder, I’m sure other people will come around too. Of course, I already know you’re working hard, Hayan.”

Honestly, acting like a decent person was hard work.

“Still….”

“It’ll be fine. We’ve already decided to go hunting together from now on. I’ve already spoken to Hyunsung, too….”

“I-is it really okay for someone like me…?”

“Of course.”

When I gently ruffled her hair, I caught sight of the small smile that flickered across her face.

If anything, that counted as progress.

Given how much she feared contact with other people, if she was reacting this way, then the time I’d spent so far hadn’t been meaningless.

Before we went outside together, I felt like stamping my approval onto her forehead.

But I already knew I couldn’t rush this.

Slowly.

I didn’t want a relationship that would collapse like a sandcastle.

Jung Hayan and I needed to become a little sturdier than that.

“I-I’m glad you’re here, oppa. If I were alone….”

“No, I’m the one who’s relieved to have you at my side, Hayan. More than that, how’s the mana control going? Any progress?”

“Y-yes. F-for now, at least. I think I can feel what’s inside me. When I send it down my arm, it feels like I’m getting a little stronger, too….”

“What about magic?”

“A-ah, I’m not really sure yet.”

In fact, I hadn’t been focusing only on Jung Hayan all this time.

Just as Park Deokgu was struggling to get used to his class as a shield warrior, I’d also found time to think a little more about my own class, mage.

Kim Hyunsung had also been going out alone more often lately, and it was probably because he wanted to give the rest of us more time.

Imagination.

Magic is the result of forming an image and stacking mana into it.

What helps make that image clearer is the medium of a spell.

I’d had a hell of a time pulling off my first spell, too. The basic theory was in my head, but finding the right answer had been a struggle.

I build a tower from the mana inside me. A solid tower with no gaps.

At the same time, I picture the magic I want to create.

What I imagine is a flame blooming from my fingertip.

“Respond to my voice, flame.”

At the same moment, a small fire blossomed from my fingertip.

Jung Hayan’s eyes widened as she stared at it.

“Wow….”

“The important thing seems to be what you picture in your head. If a spell is easy to memorize, that’s convenient, but if it isn’t, I don’t think it has to be short. The point seems to be what you imagine.”

The downside was that spells that were easy to imagine tended to be absurdly long and useless.

Thinking about those middle-schooler-tier incantations made my face grow hot for no reason.

“I see.”

“In my case, I’m not really imagining that I’m generating magic myself so much as borrowing power from somewhere else… so you’ll probably find your own method, too. No, it may feel difficult right now, but if you get a class, it’ll probably get a little easier.”

“I guess… that makes sense.”

Maybe she couldn’t use magic until she got a class.

Considering that even Kim Hyunsung, who had a tremendous amount of mana, couldn’t use magic, it seemed like the limits of one’s class couldn’t be crossed.

Even so, the reason I kept shoving magic knowledge at Jung Hayan was obvious.

Favorable impression.

There’s no easier way to get close to someone than teaching them something and learning from them in return.

Even if I was telling her in advance about things she’d learn later, I wouldn’t be losing anything.

“You might not be able to use magic until you get a class. Still, let’s keep practicing mana accumulation step by step.”

“Y-yes. Leave it to me. I-I’ll work hard, oppa.”

I nodded without thinking.

Nice.

“The more you use it, the more mana you’ll probably keep gaining. Personally, I’m really looking forward to it.”

“Y-yes.”

“Then should we stop here for today?”

“A-actually, there’s something I don’t quite understand….”

“Really?”

“Y-yes. W-well, my mana went up again recently….”

As I listened to her explanation, I found myself checking Jung Hayan’s status window without thinking.

I was curious how much progress she’d made.

What? Mage?

The thing that stood out was the class name: mage.

“My mana just doesn’t move very well.”

Jung Hayan’s bright smile came back into view.

What are you?

I had no choice but to realize that something was very wrong.