The Three Are Problem Children but the Strongest #3

"Hey! Namjin! You okay? You actually ate a monster!"

Geum Taeseong came sprinting over, checking the size of my pupils and snapping his fingers in front of my face to test my consciousness. I was perfectly fine. My solar plexus felt tight like a bad case of indigestion, but it was nothing I couldn't handle.

Twitch. Twitch—. The real problem was Ing-ing refusing to stay still inside my stomach. The little guy kept squirming around like he was trying to throw a party in there. I felt like I was about to hurl, but I had to choke it down somehow.

"I'm—urp—fine!"

"My friend! Excellent work! Those two million points belong to us! Successfully hunting monsters twice in a row during practice? This is a first for our D-class!"

While Choi Changsik was celebrating, Yu Yeoleum and her team members lingered, clearly reluctant to leave. Having their monster-hunting credit stolen didn't sit well with them.

Beep-beep—

Right then, the smartwatches on our wrists rang with an alarm announcing the end of the training session. All we had to do now was find the Exit marked on the map and we'd be done.

"Next time I won't let you take it."

Yu Yeoleum left that blunt remark in her usual stoic tone before vanishing into the distance with her team. I also figured I'd better get out of here quickly if I wanted to calm my rampaging stomach, so I started moving.

"The nearest exit seems to be in the building where we started. Let's head there."

Since we were just retracing our steps, finding the exit wasn't hard. But a small problem popped up. Of all the rotten timing, we ran into those annoying punks right in front of the exit gate.

"You son of a bitch! Ha Namjin!"

The guy had sharp, sly features and an overall thin build that made him look like a weasel. What was his name again?

"Mantis?"

"It's Sama Jun!"

Right, that was it. The punk I'd met in Seo Gaeul's party. Wang Ja-hyun's lackey? His errand boy? Either label worked. Speaking of which, where was Wang Ja-hyun? Actually, that didn't matter right now.

To run into these clowns while Ing-ing was throwing a rave in my gut. Was this Baek Yeoul's Bad Luck at work?

I glanced at the Door installed beside them. Going through there would take us back to the school. But Sama Jun clearly saw this as his golden opportunity and started acting like a total thug.

"We've claimed this door, got it? If you want to leave, find another one. Of course, the next closest one is over ten minutes away! If you've got a problem with that, how about you fight us instead?"

Asking us to walk ten extra minutes when the exit was right in front of our faces? It was pure provocation. He ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was obviously still holding a grudge from last time. Not very manly of him. If I'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠known this would happen, I should've crushed that bead last time and turned him into a girl for good.

Actually, this was the perfect chance to firmly establish that mantis-looking guy's gender identity. I was thinking exactly that when Baek Yeoul suddenly shouted.

"I-if you want to fight us, we won't just stand here! I'll curse you! The Curse of Bad Luck! I don't even know what'll happen! Consider yourself warned!"

Curse of bad luck? Since when could Ppang-daeng-i do something like that?

Baek Yeoul glanced at Oh Deokhui, then whispered, "Deoksoon! Remember that plan we talked about yesterday at Changsik's house? I think it's time! When I shout, erase all the sound around us!"

"...Are you really going to do it? And I'm not Deoksoon, it's Deokhui…."

I had no idea what they were planning, but it looked like Ppang-daeng-i and Deokhui had already coordinated some kind of operation beforehand. What the hell were they about to do? I was getting more nervous by the second when—

Tap tap tap—! Ppang-daeng-i suddenly sprinted straight toward the F-class students.

The F-class kids burst out laughing. "Puhaha—!"

"Baek Yeoul? What are you even gonna do when you can't control your own power properly? I'm Sama Jun! Sama Jun of Torch Lighter! If I just blow a little wind, these flames—"

"Deokhui, now!"

Baek Yeoul's sharp cry cut him off. Immediately, Deokhui started doing some ridiculous random dance with an expression that screamed whatever, let's just get this over with. And just like that, all the noise around us vanished completely. Absolute silence.

In that perfect quiet, we could see Baek Yeoul frantically moving her mouth like she was shouting something at the top of her lungs, while Sama Jun and his F-class teammates wore completely dumbfounded expressions.

About twenty seconds passed. Once Deokhui's bizarre dance finally ended, she stood there huffing and puffing. The F-class guys immediately started yelling.

"A letter that started in 20th-century Britain? If you don't send it to seven people, misfortune will strike? What kind of nonsense are you babbling about?"

"I thought you were actually gonna do something big!"

What on earth had just happened?

Deokhui, finally catching her breath, explained in a small voice. "Yeoul recited the lucky letter. The one where if you don't send the exact same message to seven people, your whole day becomes insanely unlucky… but she only let them hear it."

In other words, while Deokhui put up a soundproof barrier around us, Baek Yeoul had mouthed the 'lucky letter' so that only those guys could hear. Did that kind of thing even work? Deokhui herself shook her head and muttered, "Honestly, I don't know how effective it actually is…."

But Ppang-daeng-i was brimming with absolute confidence.

"You guys are gonna have terrible luck for the next few days! The only way to fix it is to send the letter I told you about to other people! I've warned you!"

Looking at her now, Baek Yeoul's eyes were half-glazed over. She'd completely lost it, like someone high on drugs. Was the pink hair dye really the problem after all?

"Fuck this. I'm done playing along."

Sama Jun seemed to have given up on entertaining this bizarre performance. A flame roared to life above his palm. So the guy was a firestarter? No wonder he came off as so annoying.

"…W-what do we do?"

"My friend! This is a crisis incarnate!"

Deokhui and Changsik were both useless in a fight. And as for Ppang-daeng-i—

"I warned you people! You should write that letter right now while you still can!"

—she was clearly not in her right mind. I guessed it was up to me to step in. I was just about to move when—

"Namjin, you stay back and rest. Your body's probably messed up after fighting Yu Yeoleum."

Thud. Thud.

Geum Taeseong stepped forward. The moment he did, a flicker of tension crossed Sama Jun's previously relaxed face.

"Geum Taeseong. I heard you decided to stop fighting altogether?"

"I never heard anything like that."

Geum Taeseong casually hooked his foot around Sama Jun's ankle.

"Whoa!"

Sama Jun went down hard, perfectly caught by the sweep. Unfortunately for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠him, there happened to be a sharp rock sticking out of the ground right where his head landed.

Thud!

"Kyaaaack!"

Sama Jun's eyes rolled back white as foam bubbled from his mouth.

"Majun!"

"You bastard!"

His friends immediately tried to rush Geum Taeseong for revenge, but the lump of flame still clutched in Sama Jun's hand caused its own problems.

Whoosh—! Booom—!

"Aaaargh!"

"Yaaaah!"

In the end, Sama Jun and his entire group got blasted by their own flames and went flying into the distance. Talk about terrible luck.

"See! What did I tell you? I said you'd have bad luck! Tahaiaaaat!"

So Baek Yeoul's 'lucky letter' had actually worked? Honestly, even I was starting to wonder if there was something to it.

"First place in this training session goes to The Day With No Leftovers. To think that students from the D-class I'm in charge of would ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠succeed in hunting monsters two times in a row. Ha Namjin, what kind of sorcery did you pull off?"

"It wasn't sorcery, it was leadership. Though honestly it is mostly thanks to my outstanding leadership skills. But saying that wouldn't sound very humble, so I'll generously share the credit with all my teammates."

I awkwardly rubbed the bridge of my nose with a finger. Everyone was clapping for us, and it felt amazing. So this was what popularity felt like? I finally understood why everyone dreams of becoming a celebrity.

Hmph—

Ms. Corgi, who had been watching me with clear displeasure from the side, let out a loud snort.

"Must've been luck. Or maybe you just got lucky with your teammates."

Ms. Corgi had already moved over to Geum Taeseong. She stroked his forearm with her palm and let out a coquettish little nasal sound.

"Taeseong, why don't you transfer to F-class? With my recommendation and your grades, you'd adapt just fine."

I was supposed to be the leader of our team, yet Ms. Corgi seemed far more interested in Geum Taeseong. He simply shrugged like he couldn't care less.

"I like D-class."

"You've got good fighting skills too. Only four people have lasted more than a minute against our Yeoleum in a spar. You're one of them. Even though you're a problem child, I value that talent. That's why I'm specially offering to take you in."

Ms. Corgi's eyes narrowed as she stared at him. She looked exactly like a predator at a marriage market trying to sink her claws into a decent younger man.

But Geum Taeseong wasn't one to be pushed around.

"I won't be doing any more fighting. Besides, Teacher, don't you have something to say to Namjin instead of me?"

Exactly. Ms. Corgi was supposed to have business with me, not him. I walked right up to her and puckered my lips like an octopus.

"W-what are you doing?"

"You promised to give me a kiss if we won. So? Kiss."

"…Don't you smell? After rolling around in the sewers all day! And you want to kiss me with the same mouth that ate a monster? No chance! At least go brush your teeth first!"

"Teacher, are you really going to go back on your word? You're an educator who teaches Awakened students! What kind of example does that set for the kids watching you break promises?"

"Grrrrr!"

Ms. Corgi's face turned bright red as she snorted angrily through her nose. She must've been so excited about kissing me that she was embarrassed. Women really can't be honest about their feelings.

In times like this, even if I'm the younger one, a real man should take the lead, right?

I wrapped my arm around her waist and planted a firm kiss right on her lips.

"Eek!"

Ms. Corgi looked completely flustered by how fast it happened. She immediately started wiping her lips with her palm, spitting repeatedly like she'd been wronged.

"That was my first kiss!"

I ignored her complaints and raised both arms high like a champion lifting a trophy.

"I am first place! Long live D-class! Long live D-class independence!"

"Woaaaah!"

"Woah! Wait, what independence?"

"Long live D-class!"

The D-class students started clapping enthusiastically. Of course, some people looked devastated. Mostly the male students from F-class.

"Our Ms. Moon's first kiss… with a guy like that…."

"Majun, cheer up. It was just a kiss. Not even a real one."

"Shut up!"

Good. Good. Today's protagonist was me, as expected.

Glurp. Glurp—

Suddenly my stomach lurched violently.

"Uh, excuse me for a second. Gotta use the bathroom."

I quickly hopped down from the podium set up on the training field and hurried behind the nearby auditorium. Then, with every intention of emptying everything inside me, I opened my mouth wide!

"Urrrgh!"

Kyu-ing.

The only thing that came out of my stomach was Ing-ing. The little blue slime. The moment I saw him, the tight, heavy feeling in my chest vanished instantly, and I felt refreshed.

"Ing-ing! Good to see you, buddy! As expected, I'm one lucky guy!"

Why was I lucky? Because now that Ing-ing was here, I could finally make use of the Nose concept stone and Eye concept stone I'd obtained from monsters before!

Since the topic had come up, no time like the present. I took the concept stones out of my pocket and held them out to him.

Ing-ing had been watching me warily ever since I'd swallowed him earlier, but the moment he sensed something from the stones, he slowly crawled onto my palm.

Kyu-ing.

Then he absorbed the concept stones straight into his body.

Squirm squirm—

After trembling on my palm for a while, Ing-ing finally spat out a small, perfectly round bead. It was as if he'd extracted only the useless nutrients for himself and ejected the rest.

"The Eye and Nose concepts didn't suit you, huh? Yeah, I guess a slime wouldn't really need eyes or a nose."

Kyu-ing.

When monsters consumed concept stones, they only absorbed the concepts useful to them. Anything unnecessary got partially digested for nutrients before being spat out like this. Those nutrients were beneficial to monsters but toxic to humans.

In other words, the bead Ing-ing had spat out was a purified concept stone with all the toxins removed. Not only that, it was a fused concept stone combining both the Eye and Nose concepts.

If I'd sold this at the old market, I could've gotten at least a thousand bottle caps for it. That kind of money would've let me live safely in a shelter for several weeks with clean water and uncontaminated food. It was an incredibly high value.

But there was no longer any market that would accept it.

So the question was—what should I do with it now? Should I eat it myself? Or give it to Seo Gaeul to help strengthen her?