Design

“I’m wondering whether that Kim Hyunsung fellow is all right.”

“He’ll be fine.”

After we managed to punch our way through part of the encirclement, Park Deokgu suddenly tossed the words out with a sideways glance.

He seemed a little worried. Hearing, right to his face, that Park Hye-young hadn’t made it back had probably left him feeling unsettled.

Since Kim Hyunsung had practically dragged every other monster away by himself, it was only natural that Deokgu would worry he might not return either, just like Park Hye-young.

But no matter how badly things might have gone, I couldn’t imagine Kim Hyunsung being torn apart by monsters.

When he moved properly, he was so fast you could barely keep up with him, so shaking off a few monsters would be nothing.

Chances were, by now, that man had already slipped out of that area and was worrying about us, too.

We’d gone through a lot to bring back this prey, and one of us had returned dead.

This would probably make everyone in the Shelter hunker down even tighter.

This expedition was supposed to end in absolute success.

Of course, Kim Hyunsung still didn’t know that Park Hye-young was dead, but even the fact that something had gone wrong would probably be enough to give him a headache.

“It’s a shame, I suppose. I wasn’t all that close to that Park Hye-young woman, but she did seem to be trying her best….”

“We were all nearly dead. If you ask me, getting off this cheaply is a bargain.”

“W-well, yes, but….”

“Right now, you should be grateful we made it back alive. It couldn’t be helped. She ignored what we said, went running around and drew aggro on herself, and then shouted loud enough for every monster nearby to hear it. If we’re being cold about it, if you or Hayan had died instead of her, I’d never have forgiven that woman.”

“Never forgive her” didn’t even begin to cover it.

I might have wanted to kill that woman myself.

That’s how valuable Park Deokgu and Jung Hayan were.

When I shifted my gaze, I saw that not only Jung Hayan but Park Deokgu as well were looking at me with strange expressions.

Jung Hayan looked as if she’d been moved to tears, while Deokgu seemed a little embarrassed.

“Ah….”

“W-well, I guess I would’ve felt the same way.”

In truth, it was Jung Hayan who’d killed Park Hye-young, but right now I didn’t feel like thinking about that at all.

Aside from Kim Hyunsung, the two people I could rely on most at the moment were these two.

Park Deokgu, my meat shield with high durability and stamina, and Jung Hayan, whose magical potential was difficult to measure.

The downside was that they both relied on me to some degree, but depending on how you looked at it, that was also an advantage.

The problem was that one of them was a bomb I couldn’t afford to handle carelessly, though given her nature, there was a good chance she’d end up being a force on my side.

“By the way, how are we supposed to explain this to the people in the Shelter?”

“Explain it? There’s nothing to explain. A mistake was made, and one person died. That’s all. If they’re frightened by that much….”

“If they’re frightened?”

“No matter how much this side wants to help them, they’ll still die in the end. We need to remember that this place is still the Tutorial. If we move on to the main game, the right assumption is that it’ll be several times more dangerous than this.”

Sometimes I forgot that what we were doing right now was still a tutorial.

It was because of the tension that came with the knowledge that one wrong move could get you killed.

We had only just begun.

Once we entered the real game, it was entirely possible there would be humans Kim Hyunsung couldn’t do anything about, and maybe even bastards who were nothing compared to the monsters we were facing now.

We can’t get comfortable.

If we settled down like the fools in the Shelter, we’d die.

Leaving aside Lee Jihye, who at least seemed to have some sense, most of the others were just idiots.

I was honestly baffled that there wasn’t a single one among them who was actually worth a damn.

It was hard to understand why Kim Hyunsung was so fixated on people like that.

I did wonder whether there might be some connection to his past life, but I didn’t have the luxury of digging into his history right now.

“We’re sleeping out here tonight.”

“We’re not heading into the Shelter?”

“It’s too far.”

“I thought we were almost there… Tsk. I don’t know how you can remember the way so well, hyung.”

“This is normal. I left markers, too.”

“You even left markers by now?”

This brat….

I hadn’t exactly expected Park Deokgu to be a genius, but this was practically proof that his brain was stuffed with muscle.

Just then, as if she’d noticed the look of utter disbelief on my face, Jung Hayan hurriedly jumped in.

“H-here.”

A wound, as if it had been lightly scraped by a spear.

A tiny mark on the wall stood out clearly in my vision.

“You knew about it too, then.”

“It’s better to pay a little more attention to your surroundings. What if we end up in a situation like before, where you and I have to split up…?”

“Ahem. I don’t think that’ll happen….”

Seeing the way he always trailed off at the end of his sentences, I felt a little thrown off.

He looked around awkwardly and settled himself in place, clearly embarrassed by being called out.

I had no intention of nagging him here, so I lowered myself onto the ground, tired as I was.

Jung Hayan clung to me like a cicada stuck to an old tree.

When Park Deokgu saw that, his expression turned faintly lecherous.

“Ahem, ahem… Hyung, I’ll take a quick look around the area.”

“No need.”

If possible, I wanted Deokgu to stay put.

“How’s anyone supposed to know whether there’s some monster nearby that this side missed?”

That wasn’t wrong.

“Besides, hyung, you’ve been using a lot of mana or whatever it is… I think it’d be better if the lady here looked after you a little….”

“Ah! Y-yes, l-leave it to me, Deokgu.”

“Don’t get lost.”

“I’ll just take a quick look around.”

I nodded vaguely.

Watching him wander off, I couldn’t help feeling uneasy about being left alone with Jung Hayan.

I knew she wasn’t so insane that she’d suddenly hurl magic at me, but the scene I’d seen earlier kept circling in my head.

Jung Hayan grinning, and Park Hye-young twitching on the ground with her limbs cut off.

There was no way I wouldn’t feel afraid.

Status Window.

When I casually called up my status window, my information appeared in my field of vision.

I had no idea whose opinions this overall assessment was based on, but I hated it.

Without this ability, I never would have made it this far, but that overall assessment alone made me want to do something about it.

Still, I couldn’t help feeling a little pleased at the growth in my stats.

Mana had gone up by 2, which stood out clearly.

It was obvious I’d been doing a lot of thinking, because my intelligence had risen far more sharply than my other stats.

I still couldn’t say for sure whether intelligence was a real stat or just some abstract concept, so I had no idea exactly what had improved, but my basic reasoning ability was probably a little better than before.

Luck.

The mysterious luck stat had also risen by two whole steps.

That made me feel strangely relieved, as if the condition Jung Hayan was in hadn’t been entirely bad for me.

Not bad.

For trash trudging along at the very bottom of the talent rankings, this was a pretty decent growth rate.

At this point, I couldn’t even say I was all that far behind ordinary people.

“Your stats… they went up?”

“Yeah. Did anything change for you, Hayan?”

“Ah, n-no. Not yet… but my mana did go up a little. My stamina and strength, too….”

“That’s a relief.”

I opened Jung Hayan’s status window just in case, but nothing had changed all that much from before.

The most notable thing was that her mana had gone up by 3. Her alignment, Pure Advocate, was still the same. Her current state was certainly pure enough to be called pure, so I had no complaints, though I did wish the system would mark things a little more clearly so I could understand them at a glance.

What’s with the overall assessment now?

For some reason, it carried an ominous ring to it.

“I-it’s all b-because of you, Oppa.”

“No. I didn’t really do much to help.”

I hadn’t contributed all that much to her growth in stats.

When I smiled softly, Jung Hayan’s face lit up, too.

Her smile looked a little frightening, but there was no way I could show it.

When I lightly patted her head, she lowered it so deeply that I could see the top of it in my field of view. The girl who had been laughing like a lunatic while cutting off Park Hye-young’s limbs was nowhere to be seen now.

Once again, I had no choice but to realize that she felt favorably toward me.

Right now, Jung Hayan was the person I was paying the most attention to.

I needed to make a bomb that couldn’t be controlled become controllable.

There are two options.

First. Push her away slowly.

That didn’t mean I’d shove her out of my arms.

It meant pushing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her down from a level of affection beyond that of an ordinary lover into the position of an older brother and younger sister.

In other words, reducing the intensity of the bond from romantic love between a man and a woman to familial affection.

Then no jealous rage would ever end with me being sliced apart by magic.

It was probably the safest method, and the most sensible ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one, too.

Second. Pull her in quickly.

The second option was to turn it into romantic love between a man and a woman.

To make her trust me, believe in me, follow me—enough that she would obey anything I said without question.

To be honest, it was an absurd idea, but looking at Jung Hayan’s current state, it didn’t seem impossible.

What ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I was really thinking, deep down, was the first option.

I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but there was still room to improve our relationship.

As I mulled over my options and kept patting her head, she reached up and took hold of the hand resting on top of her hair.

Honestly, I was a little startled.

“Ahem… ahem….”

Park Deokgu, who had gone out on patrol, was back.

“Well now, looks like the mood here is pretty nice.”

“What? What? Ah… n-no, that’s not—”

Jung Hayan was a little too flustered.

With that same sly smile from earlier, Deokgu opened his mouth toward her.

“I thought I told you to take care of hyung, but maybe you’ve got a bit of a mischievous side too, ma’am?”

“I-it’s not like that.”

Apparently feeling uncomfortable under Deokgu’s grinning gaze, Jung Hayan rose to her feet and drifted toward a corner.

Watching her, Deokgu only grinned wider and flopped down beside me.

“Did I come back too early?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You know, weren’t you and the lady getting along just fine?”

I had no idea what this idiot was talking about.

No, come to think of it, the guy was twenty-three and Jung Hayan was twenty-one.

I had no idea why he was calling her “ma’am.”

Anyone could see Jung Hayan looked younger than Park Deokgu.

“You do know Jung Hayan is younger than you, right?”

“Of course I do. Even so, what kind of little brother treats the woman his hyung’s going to marry like a kid?”

“What….”

I nearly blurted out that it was total bullshit.

Come to think of it, something really was off.

From the very beginning, what I’d wanted from Jung Hayan wasn’t romance, but a bond.

It was true that her environment had led her in some strange direction, but even so, there was still a puzzle piece that hadn’t clicked into place.

I felt like I’d finally found that last piece.

There was one.

Dammit….

A love wingman.

“Don’t forget this later if things work out. I didn’t say anything out loud, but after you told me to look after the lady, I’d been quietly giving things a push from this side too.”

“What… how exactly….”

“Ahem, ahem… I’d say things like how well-matched you two were, or that hyung might have feelings, and I’d casually test the waters with the lady, that sort of thing. There was so much of it I can’t even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠remember it all now… heh heh… you don’t need to thank me too much….”

“…….”

“I thought maybe your taste was a little unusual, but… ahem! If hyung says so, then of course it’s right for this younger brother to help! If you ask me, the finish line’s right in front of you. Honestly, I may look like this, but if you say ‘Park Deokgu, the Love Doctor of Gangwon,’ there isn’t a soul who wouldn’t know who I am.”

Whether he understood my mood or not, Park Deokgu kept grinning and showering me with self-praise.

I was so dumbfounded I couldn’t even speak.

I was forced to realize that distinguishing between the first option and the second option had been meaningless.

That pig bastard Park Deokgu….

A flawless dead end.

I couldn’t think of a single move that could stop the scheme of a pig with his head packed full of muscle.