Chapter 157: Revenge
Chapter 157: Revenge
“…so that's what happened yesterday.”
Grind.
“S-Sara?”
“…What is it?”
No, this is terrifying.
Guwon was currently reporting to Sara about the events of last night.
Although I was taking the lead on almost everything since we decided to follow the plan I came up with, this revenge was Sara's. Naturally, Sara needed to be aware of every detail of the process.
So, after Diana woke up, I left the room first to report to Sara that I had slept with another woman, but… the look on Sara's face was absolutely terrifying.
Those were eyes that could kill with a single glance.
Grind.
And from between her fine lips, an unsettling sound escaped.
“Sara? You know this is all part of the plan, right? You're the one who told me to do it.”
At Guwon's words, Sara's venomous expression instantly melted into one of sadness.
Oops. Was that too cowardly of me? Sara probably hadn't chosen this method because she wanted to.
“I know. I know, but…”
“I'm sorry.”
Guwon pulled Sara into a hug and gently patted her head.
“Still, you don't have to look like that. When I was with Kate yesterday, it was honestly surprising how little I felt. Doing it with her is just a necessity. For me, it's only you girls.”
“…In a situation like this, shouldn't you say 'it's only you,' not 'you girls'?”
“Ah, no. That's…”
Guwon was slightly flustered by her unexpected words.
For her to be so direct.
Before, it felt like Sara was trying to hide her own feelings for some reason, but lately, she seems to have suddenly become more assertive.
“…Well, fine.”
Sara said, pulling away from Guwon's embrace.
Her face had returned to its usual cool expression.
“Anyway, thank you for telling me. Let me know if there are any more developments.”
“Don't thank me. It's only natural. Leave it to me.”
As he and Sara were waiting in the dining hall, Diana and Leia soon came down as well.
The moment Diana entered the dining hall, she flinched slightly and scanned her surroundings. After confirming Kate wasn't there, she seemed to relax, then quickly rushed over and glared at Guwon.
Hey, I said I was sorry.
As soon as he woke up this morning, Guwon had gotten an earful from Diana.
It was definitely my fault for opening the door while we were still connected, especially knowing Diana's particular tastes, so Guwon meekly accepted her criticism. However…
“To think you even thrust your hips in that state! Are you in your right mind? Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to hold back…?”
I couldn't stand being blamed for things that were a distortion of the truth.
“No. You were the one moving your hips, you exhibitionist. The moment someone was watching, you lost your mind and started grinding against me. And what do you mean, 'hold back'? You were making all sorts of… I'm sorry. It was all my fault.”
When Guwon attacked her with facts, tears began to well up in Diana's large eyes. So Guwon had no choice but to meekly apologize again.
Isn't it cheap to pull that whenever she's at a disadvantage? How am I supposed to win?
“That's right! It's all your fault!”
Diana continued to berate Guwon for a good while after that.
But looking at her expression now, it seemed she still hadn't completely cooled off.
Still, this was better than yesterday, when she wouldn't even look at me.
One way or another, it seemed our conversation yesterday had been effective, which satisfied Guwon.
“Don't worry. Kate didn't see your face, so she won't know who it was. How could she possibly identify you from such a high-pitched moan?”
“I-I did not make such a high-pitched moan! And even if she doesn't know it was me, she'll still think it was one of the three of us here!”
“So what? If anything, it's a way to show off how close we are…” “Is that the only way you can think of to show off?!”
A very valid point.
“Guwon-ssi? What are you talking about? Moans? Showing off?”
Leia, who had been listening quietly, finally couldn't contain her curiosity and asked.
“Ah, no. It's nothing. It's just that last night, we were a little…”
At Guwon's response, Leia pouted slightly.
Cute.
“Hmph. Are you leaving me out again today? Yesterday it was with Sara-ssi. Today it's with Diana-ssi…”
No, if we're talking about intensity, the times with Leia are the wildest.
You're conscious these days, so you know, don't you? Just how incredible you are in your Gumiho state.
“W-Well then, we'll just have to be so intense tonight that we can have this kind of conversation with Leia tomorrow! Then there's no problem…” “That's nothing but problems!” “Are you an idiot?!”
The retorts came simultaneously.
But Leia seemed satisfied with Guwon's answer, mouthing something with a small smile.
Reading her lips, she said:
“Is that a promise?”
Of course, Leia-nunim! I love you!
“…Do you have a moment?”
As they were fooling around, someone suddenly spoke from behind him.
Turning around, he saw Kate standing there with a complicated expression.
The moment Diana saw Kate, she flinched and buried her face in Guwon's chest.
Hey, doing that just makes it more obvious you were the one from yesterday.
Guwon patted Diana, who was hiding in his arms, and spoke.
“No. I'm having a meal with my girls right now. Sorry, but there's no room for another woman to squeeze in…” “Get over yourself! I'm eating with Pots! I just have something to say to you, just the two of us!”
Kate shot back, looking annoyed.
Looks like her heat has subsided and she's feeling much better.
“Just the two of us?”
“Y-Yes. Is there a problem?”
“Well, fine. I'll be back after we talk.”
Kate led Guwon to a corner of the inn.
“So, what did you want to talk about?”
“…Don't get the wrong idea.”
“Huh? What's that all of a sudden?”
“I was drunk last night and not in my right mind. So don't get the wrong idea. I don't have any feelings for you. And everything I said yesterday was just drunken nonsense. Forget it all. Nothing happened between us yesterday.”
I see. So she plans to blame everything that happened on the alcohol.
Well, it doesn't matter. No matter how she justifies it to herself, the outcome will still follow my plan.
“You're the one who shouldn't get the wrong idea.”
“…What?”
“Why on earth would I get that idea? Do you think I have feelings for you or something?”
As Guwon spat out the words coldly, Kate looked flustered.
“B-But yesterday, you were the one who…” “I told you. Because of my job, I can't help but notice people who are sexually frustrated. I was just helping someone in need who happened to be in front of me. Think about it. If someone was drowning right in front of you, and you could easily save them just by reaching out your arm, you'd do it, right? It's the same thing. Sorry, but I have no feelings for you whatsoever.”
At Guwon's words, Kate's expression became complicated and subtle.
Guwon's response was exactly what she'd wanted to hear, but being told so directly that he had no interest in her must have wounded her pride as a woman.
But Guwon had no intention of being sweet and accommodating with Kate like he was with his girls.
“W-Well, that's great then. So nothing happened between us yesterday. You understand?”
“That was my plan from the start. We both have our own partners, don't we? Let's just forget what happened yesterday and be good to them.”
“I-I was going to do that even if you didn't tell me to!”
“Good. Then we're done here, right?”
Leaving Kate to nod behind him, Guwon returned to his table.
“What did you talk about?”
As soon as he returned to his seat, Leia asked Guwon.
Diana, while pretending to be uninterested, kept glancing his way, clearly curious.
Sara probably already guessed what they talked about. She wore a slightly bitter expression.
“Nothing much. She said we were too loud when we slept the night before and last night. She told me to keep it down because it was so noisy she could hear it in the next room.”
“Hmph!”
At Guwon's words, Diana silently started patting—or rather, hitting—his arm.
I'm telling you, hitting me like that will only hurt your own hand.
“Is that so? Then we should restrain ourselves today.”
No, Leia-nunim. If you could restrain yourself just by deciding to, we wouldn't have had so much trouble all this time. Are you even capable of restraint?
“No. I won't bow to foreign pressure. Tonight, we'll be so intense they can hear us in the next room…!” “That's something you should bow to!”
After their noisy breakfast, the party set out to hunt, deciding to look for a Transcendent Species today.
After all, the groundwork with Kate had been laid. It was time to start focusing on hunting again.
So, Guwon teleported to the Guild and bought a map of the 2nd layer. The Guild's maps also marked the locations of Transcendent Species.
However, it seemed the map for the 2nd layer wasn't particularly helpful.
Being a map of a vast desert with few landmarks, its accuracy was said to be significantly lower than that of other layers.
Still, since Guwon had his own cheat-like map, just knowing the approximate location of a Transcendent Species was a huge help.
“By the way, what kind of monster is the Layer Boss here?”
Honestly, the thought of a Transcendent Species didn't make him nervous at all. He'd already faced several Orc Transcendent Species during the Orc subjugation.
He planned to keep them sealed if possible, but if things got truly dangerous, he could just use his Saint skills to neutralize the threat. Thinking that, he had no reason to worry.
“A giant Sand Worm.”
“Oh? How big?”
“Hmm. Let's see. Its body circumference is just under 10 meters.”
That's… damn big.
That means if it opens its mouth, it could swallow me whole from the side.
“How are we supposed to beat something like that?”
“Hmm. A close-quarters fight would certainly be difficult. Usually, several tankers stand at the front to block it while ranged attackers finish it off. The tankers have a tough job. Some of its attacks are truly dangerous.”
The strategy itself wasn't much different from our party's basic strategy.
So the tanker is important. Looks like it's my time to shine again.
But for today, we're starting with a Transcendent Species.
Guwon looked at the map and headed toward the location of the closest Transcendent Species to the town.
“But why did it have to be them…?”
“You're the one who led us here, aren't you?”
Well, yes, that's true. But seeing them up close makes me not want to fight.
In the distance, a massive black cloud was approaching.
It wasn't that the number of individual mosquitos making up the cloud was larger. The cloud was bigger simply because the mosquitos forming it were larger.
According to Diana, since mosquitos naturally travel in swarms, this Transcendent Species didn't lead a separate group of normal mosquitos. This was in contrast to other Transcendent Species, which always led regular monsters.
Instead, you could think of every single mosquito making up that black cloud as an enhanced Transcendent Species, stronger than a normal one.
“If they are too troublesome to deal with, I shall step in.”
Seeing the unpleasant look on Guwon's face, Diana prepared to cast a spell.
But Guwon raised a hand to stop her.
“No. We'll try it first. Diana, you be ready just in case.”
We're fighting a Transcendent Species to check how much we've grown and to raise our job levels.
That's why I only planned on using one Saint skill, Holy Ground Proclamation, just to draw aggro.
I can't start relying on Diana already.
Guwon steeled his resolve and approached the Mosquito Swarm.
And once he was a certain distance from the party, he used Holy Ground Proclamation.
Come on, you bugs! My Martial Artist level is pretty high now! I won't go down without a fight!
The moment he used Holy Ground Proclamation, the Mosquito Swarm surged toward Guwon like a tsunami.
As his entire field of vision turned black, Guwon thought.
Actually, I might go down.
“Aaaaaah!”
Guwon flailed his arms as if performing an exorcism.
At a glance, it looked like he was just waving them around randomly, but as his Martial Artist level had risen, Guwon had become quite proficient in martial arts. His hands were certainly imbued with enough power to crush any mosquito they touched.
However, the number of mosquitos sticking to his body and sucking his blood far exceeded the number being crushed by his hands.
“Wouldn't it be better if I helped?”
Diana called out from a distance, but Guwon waved his hand.
“No! I haven't had a chance to get hurt lately, so this is perfect! If anything, this is a great opportunity for Leia to grow, too! We'll take them down ourselves!”
Guwon still hadn't even used Saint's Touch.
This is what you call pointless stubbornness.
But between Sara's attacks and Guwon's, the swarm's numbers were definitely dwindling.
“Hahaha! See that, you bugs! I did it!”
And after brawling for a while, the very last mosquito finally fell to the ground.
“Why go through all that trouble? In terms of growth efficiency, wouldn't it have been better for me to dispose of them quickly so we could fight something else?”
Diana had hit the nail on the head, but Guwon casually ignored her.
“With things like this, the sense of accomplishment is what's important. We can now beat enemies we couldn't have fought this way before. Isn't that what drives us to grow?”
“Hmm. I see. Though it seems this method worked less because of your growth and more thanks to the increase in Lady Leia's healing output.”
“Alright, let's hurry up and harvest the magic stones!”
Unable to withstand Diana's factual assault any longer, Guwon changed the subject.
Normally, people don't bother harvesting magic stones from mosquito swarms, but these were a Transcendent Species, after all. It would be a waste to just leave them.
As he separated the magic stones from their bodies, another item dropped—one that didn't come from normal mosquitos.
It was a Mosquito's Tail.
“What's this? What am I supposed to do with something like this?”
“Hmm. Items from mosquitos are rarely useful in the first place.”
“Should I just toss it?”
Even if his inventory was infinite, Guwon wasn't the type to carry around every useless thing he found.
Tossing the Mosquito's Tail up and down in the air while debating whether to throw it away, Guwon accidentally dropped it.
The Mosquito's Tail happened to land on a nearby cactus, and suddenly, a massive tremor shook the ground.
“W-What is this?!”
“D-Don't ask me. What did you do?!”
As the tremor grew more intense, the sand beneath their feet suddenly began to swirl into a vortex.