Chapter 37: Guild Quest
Chapter 37: Guild Quest
And so, lost in pleasure, Guwon and Sara craved one another, tangling together madly all through the night.
Not only Sara, whose level was far lower, but even Guwon found himself thrusting away mindlessly until, at some point, his memory cut out. When he came to, it was already morning.
When the hell did I fall asleep…?
The pleasure of sex was one thing, but seeing the usually cool Sara completely let go had made me lose my mind. On top of that, to prevent her from fainting like Diana, I’d avoided using my skills as much as possible, which only made us drag it out even longer.
Having just woken up, Guwon was staring blankly at the ceiling with a groggy mind when, as his consciousness slowly returned, he finally noticed something resting on top of his body.
He reached out a hand and felt the smooth, firm skin of a woman.
“Mmm…”
A warm breath tickled his chest, accompanied by a sound like Sara murmuring in her sleep.
Lifting his head, he saw Sara sprawled on top of him, her face buried in his chest, breathing softly as she slept.
“Nngh…”
The sight was so lovely that he gently stroked her soft hair, careful not to wake her. As if she enjoyed it, Sara rubbed her cheek against his chest and hugged him even tighter.
At the same time, a powerful sensation of pleasure shot through Guwon’s member.
Whoa… Come to think of it, it looks like we fell asleep with me still inside her…
It meant that yesterday, unable to fight off our drowsiness, we had kept having sex right up until we passed out.
Guwon finally pulled himself out.
He couldn’t see it, but he could feel the slick wetness on his lower body. It seemed they had really gone at it.
Wait, then how much did her level go up?
Guwon used Analyze on Sara.
Level: 28
Job: Hero / Archer / Hunter / Adventurer
…What the hell. What is this?
There were so many surprising things that he didn’t know what to be shocked about first.
First, it seemed his Analyze skill had leveled up, as he could now see not only her level but also her jobs. That wasn’t a problem. In fact, it was something to be purely happy about.
The problem was Sara’s level and job.
He’d felt it before, but Sara’s growth rate was absurd.
They might have had sex all night, but it’s not like Guwon was a premature ejaculator who’d finished ten or twenty times. Even considering the level difference between them, her level rose that much in a single night?
If that were possible, women would be snatching up high-level men left and right, and every Tom, Dick, and Harry would be a high-leveler.
This growth rate was definitely strange.
But the key that unlocked this mystery was Sara’s job.
A Hero? As in, the kind of Hero who goes around fighting to subjugate the Demon King? That one?
That overpowered, protagonist-exclusive job that could use magic, heal, and fight in close combat.
If she was the kind of Hero that Guwon knew from common knowledge, then all the questions he’d had about Sara until now would be answered.
Her growth rate, which couldn’t be explained by common sense. Her attitude of saying she didn’t need to have sex even though she wanted to get stronger.
All his questions were resolved.
At the same time, Guwon finally understood the source of the faint sense of unease he’d felt whenever he heard about Sara’s personal history.
How did I not notice this sooner?
A girl who lived in the countryside with just her grandfather suddenly leaves her village one day to fight and become stronger.
That’s the classic Hero origin story.
If it followed the cliché, Sara’s peaceful, quiet country village was probably razed one day by a sudden invasion of monsters led by the Demon King. Her grandfather, who raised her alone, managed to hide Sara away before being killed by the monsters. And Sara, who was actually a descendant of a Hero, sets off on a journey to seek revenge and defeat the Demon King.
The more he thought about it, the more perfectly it fit.
Huh? So what? This world has a Demon King, too?
And my position is Companion A, the first person the Hero meets after starting her journey?
Is the dungeon just a means to get stronger, and from now on, I have to go on a journey with Sara to defeat the Demon King?
This is on a much bigger scale than I thought.
Come to think of it, even the party composition was perfect.
A Hero. Guwon, who, while unconventional, could become incredibly strong thanks to the Saint’s traits. And an Archmage.
It was the very definition of a Hero’s party, straight out of a fairy tale.
The fact that the Hero wielded a bow instead of a sword was a little unusual, but hey, stories like that could exist.
Since this world was just like the game, he’d naturally assumed the dungeon was the main focus. To think the dungeon was just a side dish and the main objective was to defeat the Demon King…
The reality suddenly thrust upon him made Guwon’s head start to ache.
Is this… something I just have to accept?
He had already resolved to help Sara anyway. Even if he hadn’t, he wasn’t callous enough to just turn a blind eye now.
There would surely be immense hardships ahead. It would be incomparably more difficult than seeing it in a game or reading it in a book.
But I have abilities that are practically cheat codes.
Right. If I make good use of these abilities and work with my companions, we can definitely overcome it!
And so, we’ll become a new legend!
“Mmm…”
Just as Guwon made his firm resolution, Sara finally fluttered her eyes open.
She looked at Guwon with sleepy eyes and smiled faintly, but then her eyes gradually widened, her pupils darting back and forth.
“Kyaaah!”
“Agh! You scared me! Why?! What?! What’s wrong?!”
“Why, why, here… N-No. It’s nothing.”
Sara quickly sat up, wrapped the blanket around herself, and scrambled to the edge of the bed, letting out a scream. Seeing Guwon’s surprise, she seemed to slowly grasp the situation, her face turning red as she hung her head low.
“Are you okay? I’m sorry. You must be tired.”
He hadn’t treated her as roughly as he’d first intended, but he had still pushed her quite hard. To go at it all night with a girl who’d only just lost her virginity.
“Huh? N-No. I’m fine. I don’t feel a thing.”
But Sara truly did look like she was fine.
Is this the power of a Hero, too?
Come to think of it, Guwon also felt perfectly fine for someone who’d been at it all night. No, if anything, he was in better condition than usual.
Ah, don’t tell me…
He remembered they were still joined when they fell asleep.
Did Healing Sex activate all night long?
Honestly, he’d thought it was a pretty useless skill, but he’d just discovered another unexpected benefit.
As Guwon was figuring out the cause, he snapped back to reality and saw Sara staring at him.
We’re not even a couple, so this is super awkward.
“Ah… um… W-We should wash up, right?”
“Y-Yes. We should.”
“Want to wash up together?”
“Wh-What are you saying?! Hurry up and get dressed and get out!”
The atmosphere was so awkward that he’d just tried to make a joke, but Sara’s face flushed as she resisted vehemently.
Tch. So in the end, it was just sex for leveling up. One day, I’ll make sure your feelings are genuine.
Of course, that was for later. For now, pushed by Sara’s glare, he had to quickly pick up his clothes, which were strewn carelessly on the floor, and hurry out of the room.
Even during breakfast, Sara maintained a strange atmosphere.
She would stare intently at Guwon, and whenever their eyes met, she would blush and turn her head away.
Well, he could understand.
For Sara, this was practically her first real experience. It would be stranger if she wasn’t conscious of it, even if it was for leveling up.
It wasn’t a bad feeling.
If we keep sharing our bodies like this, won’t feelings start to grow?
Her reaction made him hopeful.
But to think a girl like this is a Hero…
Sara hadn’t shown any signs of it so far. She didn’t seem like the type to just up and leave once she got strong, either. She was a bit prickly, but she was loyal. She even had a strangely earnest side to her.
Is she just not finding the right time to tell me?
Alright. Sara will tell me herself one day. I’ll wait until she does.
Until then, he would steadily prepare to fight the Demon King, and the moment Sara confessed she was a Hero, he would nonchalantly offer to help. Wouldn’t that be cool enough to make even the prickly Sara fall for him?
Yeah. It definitely would.
Alright. My future objective is now crystal clear.
“Ahem. Did you two just ignore what I said yesterday?”
“Huh? What was that?”
“Could you tone it down a bit? You two are practically oozing sweetness. You must have had a lot of fun last night, hmm?” Diana said with a pout.
She was like this yesterday, and now she’s trying to tease Sara again.
“N-No, it’s not like that!”
“Right. It’s not like that.”
“Eh?!”
Well, it wasn’t entirely untrue, but I was just making a resolution for the future.
When Guwon denied it, Sara somehow became even more flustered.
I was helping you out, what are you so surprised about? Did you think I’d just watch with a pleased smile like yesterday?
“Hmph. Well, anyway, you. You know, right?”
“Yeah. I told you I get it.”
Worried that I might go to Sara again today, Diana sought reassurance once more.
She fainted back then, so she doesn’t know what excuse I gave Sara. If she knew, she wouldn’t be so worried.
Still, it was cute, so he decided to keep quiet.
After a boisterous breakfast, they headed to the dungeon as usual.
Come to think of it, Kanna’s group said they were taking a break in five—no, four days now. That meant they were resting periodically at set intervals.
Our party should probably set a rule like that soon…
For now, he decided they would also rest in four days, and they could talk about it then.
First things first, the guild quest was the priority.
Guwon went to the guide lady, received the reward for the guild quest he’d reported yesterday, and while he was at it, got detailed information on the known path to the lower floor.
He’d expected it when the guide lady was so surprised yesterday, but as it turned out, there was no goblin settlement on the path the guild originally knew about.
But it was a place where a huge number of goblins had been gathered. There had to be a path connecting to it somewhere, even if they hadn’t found it yet.
“Let’s take the official route down today.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Hmm. Let’s do that.”
Come to think of it, he and Diana had been whispering to each other yesterday, so Sara didn’t know the situation yet.
When Sara saw Diana’s knowing reaction, she pouted and looked at Guwon, as if feeling left out.
“I couldn’t explain properly yesterday because Kanna and her friends were there, but I think the goblin settlement might be connected to this route, too. If my guess is right, we could hit the jackpot.”
“You think so? And even if it’s true, it’s a path that people haven’t found despite traveling it so much.”
“Don’t worry. Just trust my sense of direction.”
Though, to be precise, it was the map’s ridiculously overpowered nature.
So today, as they took the official route down and passed through the area that could be considered the beginner zone, they encountered a monster they had never seen before.
“Oh? It’s a deer.”
“Mm. Normally, fighting these is the standard approach. You lot who were fighting wolfdogs were the unusual ones.”
He had to admit, the way those things called their allies with a howl was a real pain.
Of course, just because it was a new monster didn’t mean it was a match for Guwon’s party. It was on the same level as a wolfdog, anyway. They dispatched it with ease and harvested its magic stone, and a deer antler dropped.
“This looks more useful than leather or fangs.”
“Mm. The horns are good for making bows, so they’re quite in demand among adventurers.”
“Really? Hey, Sara. Want to make a bow with this?”
“Huh?! Ah, but…”
He’d suggested it thinking that a bow made from dungeon materials would have better performance, but Sara looked down at the bow in her hands with a conflicted expression.
Does that bow have a story?
It was probably the bow she’d carried ever since she left her razed village alone.
“If the bow has a story, you can take it to a blacksmith along with the materials to have it reinforced,” Diana advised, seeming to have guessed the situation as well.
Reinforced… You can do that? Then again, in a world with magic, what wasn’t possible?
“…Is that so. Yes. I understand. Thank you, Guwon.”
Sara still seemed hesitant about modifying a bow with such history, but she must have realized she would have to either change or reinforce her bow eventually as they descended the dungeon, so she finally agreed.
Moreover, she even gave Guwon, who had made the suggestion, a gentle smile and a word of thanks.
Ooh. Is this what they call affection born from intimacy? Sara’s gotten a little softer.
After descending for a while longer, they finally reached the area where goblins appeared.
Alright, this is the crucial part.
Please, let my guess be right.
Praying inwardly, Guwon zoomed in on the map, turning it this way and that to examine it.
And then, he saw an illuminated area far off in the distance on the map.
“Yes!”
It was quite far, but after examining the shape of the map, he was certain it was the same place where the goblin settlement had been. There was no way he could mistake such a maze-like terrain.
“What’s wrong?”
“My guess was right! I think we can get to the goblin settlement from this path, too!”
“Hmm? How do you know that?”
“Didn’t I tell you to trust my sense of direction?! Alright. Everyone, follow me.”
Guwon puffed out his chest and, with a dignified stride, walked toward the illuminated part of the map.