Three Problem Children, But the Strongest #2

Yu Yeoleum was invincible. Kidnapping her meant certain death. In other words, it was obvious that Seo Gaeul, locked away in the basement, was planning to kill me by borrowing Yu Yeoleum's hand. But a man's stubborn pride surged up inside me. Who the hell did Yu Yeoleum think she was? If she was human, she had to have at least one weakness, right? So I aimed for the exact moment when she would be the most off guard.

Whoooosh— Flash!

I had curled my body to the absolute limit and launched it like a spring straight at Yu Yeoleum's back.

"Namjin Kick!"

"Hey! W-what the—!"

"Yeoreum! Watch out! That crazy bastard—."

"Hiek...!"

Everyone trembled as if completely panicked, but my body was already a fired arrow that could not be turned back. This was the full deployment of my Leap after reaching Level 2. No matter how invincible she was, even Yu Yeoleum would not be able to dodge such a fast surprise attack. Now that it had come to this, I would thoroughly uncover her weakness—right as I made that vow.

Slide—

In that instant, Yu Yeoleum's white-glowing eyes snapped toward me. She raised both arms and took a perfect guard stance.

In this pitch-dark underground waterway, she reacted to my speed?

Clang—!

The moment I collided with Yu Yeoleum, I was genuinely shocked. It felt exactly like kicking an iron pillar. At the same time, she grabbed the leg I had extended, slammed me straight into the floor, and drove her fist into my chest as I lay sprawled in the filthy sewer water.

Boom—!

It hurt. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠It hurt enough to knock the breath clean out of me.

"Just stay down. If you come at me again, it won't end like this."

"Yeoreum, are you okay?"

"What the hell is that crazy bastard doing all of a sudden?"

"As expected, the D-class kids are nothing but problem children...!"

"The monster up ahead is ours!"

As Yu Yeoleum and her team members splashed away into the distance, I could not move a single finger. It did not feel like a punch. It felt like I had been hit by a train.

From that little spar, I learned something. Even for me, kidnapping a monster like her would require at least five lives. In other words, if I had five lives, kidnapping Yu Yeoleum would actually be possible.

"...She's seriously incredible. That's the F-class president? I had no idea our Namjin wouldn't even stand a chance."

"I'd only heard the stories, but seeing her shoot heat vision from her eyes in person is my first time. I'm genuinely shocked."

"In my opinion... at that level, there probably isn't a single active explorer who could take her. From what I heard, one of her concepts has already reached Level 5. Ah, s-sorry. I talked too much...."

"Anyway, the door is open! My fortune-telling was right, wasn't it? See? The power of my Bad Luck after reaching Level 2! Hey! Ha Namjin! What are you doing! Get up already! We need to go too!"

Those were the impressions of Geum Taeseong, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Choi Changsik, Oh Deokhui, and Baek Yeoul, in that order. With so many people, even a single comment echoed loudly through the underground waterway.

For reference, the total number of members in our "No Leftovers Day" party—including me—was exactly five.

Five. Five lives.

As expected, I am a math genius!

Thud—!

Having derived such an excellent answer, my aching body rose on its own in a miracle of pure willpower.

"Let's go too! We can't let them steal the monster! Puhahahahat!"

"Hey! What's wrong with you? Did getting hit scramble your brain?"

"Miss Yeoul, that's not quite accurate. Isn't our friend a little strange from the very beginning?"

"You idiot. Go ahead and die."

In the basement where a single bare bulb flickered from the ceiling, Seo Gaeul lay in the cool, damp darkness and pictured the struggling male student's face.

She had presented him with the condition of "Kidnapping Yu Yeoleum" like some kind of request. The male student seemed unaware of how utterly stupid and suicidal that condition was, but Seo Gaeul knew perfectly well that it meant 'death.' In other words, she was trying to kill the male student by borrowing Yu Yeoleum's hand.

She felt like she would only feel satisfied after tearing apart the male student who had locked her in this place and forced her to taste such 'humiliation.'

"Try as hard as you want. As if you could ever kidnap Yu Yeoleum."

Pfft— Puhahahahat—

Just imagining the male student getting a hole burned through him by Yu Yeoleum made laughter bubble up uncontrollably. How long had it been since she laughed so freely without caring about anyone else's gaze?

But the laughter did not last long.

"Yu Yeoleum...."

The moment she recalled that tanned face, Seo Gaeul's expression twisted into something vicious. Anyone who saw it would have taken several steps back. It was a terrifying look no one would ever imagine on the face of Seo Gaeul, the princess of the Seonam Group.

Fortunately—or unfortunately—the only person in this place was Seo Gaeul herself. So she did not need to hide her true feelings.

"Fucking bitch."

Seo Gaeul hated Yu Yeoleum. From the very first meeting, she had instinctively known she could never get close to that woman. She hated how Yu Yeoleum stood out more than her. She hated that relaxed, enlightened attitude that made it seem like she was humbly showing off how superior she was to everyone else.

Seo Gaeul was the type who could not tolerate anyone being above her, so she hated Yu Yeoleum—but she had never actually done anything to her, nor had she planned to. To be precise, she could not.

Seo Gaeul recalled the 'spar' she had fought against Yu Yeoleum during special training. That was the first time she had ever lost. It was also the first time she realized just how hard the ground could feel.

The humiliation of having everyone's attention and focus stolen away from her. For the first time, she had wondered if she might not actually be the 'protagonist' of this world.

In that sense, Seo Gaeul felt a small flicker of sympathy for the male student named Ha Namjin. If he experienced that overwhelming 'wall' from Yu Yeoleum, his spirit might break.

For young Awakened who all believed themselves to be the 'protagonist' of their own lives, despair was more poisonous than actual poison.

Therefore, kidnapping Yu Yeoleum was absolutely impossible.

Thinking that, Seo Gaeul closed her eyes.

Grumble—

She was hungry. The hungrier a person became, the more sensitive their nerves grew. Then a presence reached her ears.

Ding-dong—

The sound of a doorbell. It was from next door.

—Ha—jin, are you—.

A man's voice in his forties. Seo Gaeul realized a golden opportunity for escape had arrived. She opened her mouth wide and—.

"Ah, shit. It really feels like I got hit by a train. Is my chest still intact? Huh? It didn't get a hole and turn into a donut, did it?"

I took off my top and showed everyone my chest. Baek Yeoul and Oh Deokhui turned their heads away in embarrassment at seeing a man's upper body, but Geum Taeseong diligently felt around my chest.

Stroke, stroke, stroke stroke—

He was examining me with true sincerity. His sense of responsibility as our party's healer was tremendous.

"Doesn't look like you're actually injured anywhere. Amazing. I thought at least a few ribs would be cracked."

"The floor was damp. That made it slippery, so there wasn't as much force behind the punch."

Until a moment ago I had thought walking through this damp underground waterway was the worst thing imaginable, but those same conditions had actually worked in my favor.

Soon the bread butt who had been giggling spoke up.

"Bad luck turning into good luck! So it's all thanks to me, right? Say it!"

After dyeing her hair pink, bread butt's personality had gotten weird. I was seriously starting to wonder if the pink dye had seeped into her brain through her scalp and caused some kind of mutation.

Anyway. The important thing was that I had tasted a 'fragment' of Yu Yeoleum's true skill. The difference in power was overwhelming.

If I had been an ordinary kidnapper, I would have fallen into despair right here and shouted, "Yu Yeoleum kidnapping failed! Story over!" But I am a man who does not know the meaning of giving up.

For malang-malang. To give Seo Gaeul—who would never believe I could succeed—a refreshing smack to the face—. And if I actually managed to kidnap Yu Yeoleum and make her Seo Gaeul's roommate? The way her face would twist would be absolutely spectacular. Just imagining it made my tailbone tingle so much it might actually get hard.

Even without that, I had the feeling that "this is doable." Because there had been no killing intent in Yu Yeoleum's attack. Since I knew her fist would not actually kill me, there was no reason to be afraid.

A drug-crazed robber with a knife was far scarier. From experience, it was best to never fight people whose eyes had rolled back like that.

In that sense—.

"Hey everyone, let's defeat Yu Yeoleum's team in this training. I took a hit, so we need to pay them back, right?"

I decided that raising our party's teamwork came first. If we could take first place in the group assignment, our five lives could combine into one and make the 'kidnapping operation' possible.

In other words, this group assignment was the perfect rehearsal for the big event ahead.

Choi Changsik was impressed by my bold declaration.

"To keep your fighting spirit even after battling a monster who shoots beams from her eyes. My friend, your unyielding heart is the greatest of anyone I know. Honestly, I thought we would just give up on this training."

Give up? Why would I do that? If I had given up on everything in life, would I have met Seo Gaeul in that shack that day? Would I have received a second chance?

"No one knows what life holds until you go all the way to the end. Until the nails are hammered into your coffin! So ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠don't you dare get frustrated just because the wall looks high."

You really cannot get frustrated. Because all of you have important work to do with me in the future.

First, I needed to help them forget their fear and terror of Yu Yeoleum. If we took first place in this training, they would think "Yu Yeoleum isn't all that!" and their hearts would grow lighter, right?

With that thought, we continued following Yu Yeoleum's team deeper into the underground waterway. After walking down several forked paths, a strange monster popped out in front of us instead of her group.

"It's a monster! Namjin! A monster!"

"It doesn't look very strong! Still, the points should be two million!"

"...An amorphous monster.... The 'Water Drop' concept? Or perhaps..."

"See! The power of my spit-trail navigation? It's strong, right? Crazy, isn't it?"

It really was crazy. Did something like 'fate' truly exist in this world?

—Kyuing.

Looking at the blue slime monster the size of a baseball, tears suddenly welled up in my eyes.

"Ing-ing...."

It was Ing-ing. My friend Ing-ing! My emergency food! My family! To meet here of all places!

Just as I reached out in emotion—

Ziiiiiiing—!

An intense heat ray shot from behind me and scorched Ing-ing.

—Grrrrr...!!!

Ing-ing suffered a massive injury in an instant. Its body half-melted from the heat. Right as my hair was about to stand on end, the summer team that had appeared out of nowhere shouted.

"It's a monster! Yeoreum! We can't let another team steal the points!"

"Y-Yeoreum?"

"Yeoreum!"

"Yeoreum-noi!"

When I turned my head, Yu Yeoleum—with eyes glowing pure white—was striding toward us. Her gaze was locked onto Ing-ing as it writhed in agony on the ground.

"All monsters must be killed. Every single one."

Despite her hot name, Yu Yeoleum muttered in a voice as cold as ice. Her eyes were filled with killing intent, as if she would fire a death ray at any second. They looked exactly like the eyes of someone who had completely lost it on drugs.

Ziiiing—

Yu Yeoleum's heat ray finally aimed at Ing-ing.

But the blue slime Ing-ing did not evaporate.

By the time I came to my senses, I was already cradling Ing-ing in my arms.

"What are you doing right now, Ha Namjin? Are you planning to spare that monster?"

Yu Yeoleum asked me. Her voice, usually cynical and indifferent, now carried a sharp, fierce will.

"Namjin! What are you doing! We have to kill the monster before Yu Yeoleum does!"

"Two million points!"

"Yeoreum! She's going to steal it!"

"We need to take it down first!"

"Defeat that monster...!"

In the middle of all the chaos, I looked down at Ing-ing in my arms.

—Kyuing....

If I said something like "This guy is a good monster so we have to spare it!" everyone would look at me like a freak with expressions of utter disbelief. Then they would snatch Ing-ing away, stomp on it, and melt it with heat rays. Honestly, I did not want to see that.

If they all killed Ing-ing, I would never be able to like any of them again.

Here was the problem. When you do not want to lose either your new friends or your old friend Ing-ing—.

—What is the most correct thing for the weirdo Ha Namjin to do?

Answer: "I will now clearly show you all why they call me a 'weirdo.'"

I opened my mouth wide.

Geum Taeseong seemed to realize what I was about to do and cried out in horror.

"W-wait! Hey! Namjin!"

"Stop! What are you trying to do! You! My friend!"

I shoved Ing-ing's squishy body straight down my throat.

Gulp—

For some reason, my emergency food Ing-ing tasted like grapes.

"There. Now it's done, right? The monster was ugh—taken care of by our 'No Leftovers Day,' by me, Ha Namjin. The points belong to us now. If you're upset, go ahead and roast my stomach with that fancy heat vision of yours."

"You..."

"That crazy bastard. He actually ate the monster!"

"Why are all the D-class guys like this?"

"Then what happens to the points...? Did we just get them stolen...?"

Burble, bulge—

Something was rampaging inside my stomach, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but I could endure it. Ing-ing, just hold on inside my belly for about two hours!