Week 9 Midterms (9)
Hong Yeon-hwa trudged along, alone.
Baek Jun-seok had been ruled combat-incapable and ejected from the dungeon. The two of them had had the misfortune of running into not one but two teams at once, forcing a fight at two against four. As a sword-and-shield warrior, Baek Jun-seok was no slouch at defense, but in the end he couldn't hold out against a concentrated assault from four opponents and had gone down.
In exchange, Hong Yeon-hwa had burned every one of their attackers to ash with overwhelming firepower — so judged on results alone, it was a landslide victory. The crystals and survival items stripped from the losers had made for a tidy bonus, too.
The problem was what came after. Anyone ejected from the midterm dungeon had to wait six hours before re-entering, and darkness was already settling thick over the forest. Which meant she would have to get through tonight entirely on her own.
So much for today's sleep...
Yesterday she and Baek Jun-seok had taken turns standing watch, but with him gone, she would be wide-eyed until dawn. If she so much as dozed off and got ambushed, she wouldn't have the slimmest sliver of a chance. Still, it would have been nice to at least find somewhere to sit or lean. That was why Hong Yeon-hwa was still wandering aimlessly even with the night this deep.
Rustle.
!!
Leaves crunched underfoot somewhere not far off. Hong Yeon-hwa tensed and snatched up her staff, already chanting, ready to loose a fireball at a moment's notice—
Rustle.
Then she spotted a squirrel scampering up a tree trunk. At the sight of it, all the fight drained out of her and she canceled the spell on the spot. An inexplicable wave of self-pity followed, and she heaved a long, deep sigh.
What kind of sorry state is this? Jumping out of her skin at nothing more than a squirrel. The fatigue and hunger creeping in on top of it only made her feel more pitiful still.
She was trudging along again when she stopped dead in her tracks.
Oh.
She had felt it — the brush of something magical, as if she'd disturbed a tripwire. Some kind of alarm spell, most likely. Hong Yeon-hwa whirled to run, then hesitated.
Too late already. Whatever was out there was closing in far faster than she'd expected. If she was going to be caught either way, preparing now and meeting them head-on gave her slightly better odds.
Hong Yeon-hwa began casting at once. Several crimson magic circles drew themselves across the ground, their purpose plain: to erupt in unison the instant her opponent showed their face.
But the moment she laid eyes on who it was, Hong Yeon-hwa turned to stone.
"..."
Kim Ho stood staring at her in silence. Hong Yeon-hwa could only lament her wretched luck.
Why me, of all people...?
Had it been anyone else, she would at least have put up a fight. So why did it have to be that monster of a human being? From this moment on, her fate rested entirely in Kim Ho's hands.
Kim Ho's gaze left her; he took his time surveying the area as though searching for something, then asked,
"Where's Baek Jun-seok?"
"He's not here..."
He would have understood perfectly well what "not here" meant. Hong Yeon-hwa ventured a question of her own.
"Um... where's Seo Ye-in...?"
"..."
Instead of answering, Kim Ho tilted his head toward something over his shoulder. The air at the end of his gaze shimmered, and Seo Ye-in faded into view. She had been lying in wait all along in her optical camouflage ghillie suit — her listless gray eyes, and the rifle in her hands, aimed squarely at Hong Yeon-hwa.
At that point, Hong Yeon-hwa gave up cleanly. She understood now that running was pointless, and so was resisting.
"..."
Kim Ho looked at her and slowly beckoned. It seemed to mean come here, so Hong Yeon-hwa inched toward him, careful, halting step by halting step.
"H-here..."
With trembling hands, she fished out her crystal and held it out. It was her own token of good faith: take the crystal, and let me go with my skin intact.
"..."
Kim Ho studied her for a few seconds, then turned his back and started walking, leading the way.
"Follow me."
"...?"
Crystal still extended, Hong Yeon-hwa could only blink at his retreating back.
He's not going to do anything...? He isn't even taking the crystal...? And now he's telling me to follow him... Presumably he meant for her to rest with them at their camp.
Hong Yeon-hwa felt tears sting her eyes.
He's so kind...!
He held absolute superiority over her, and he was still the one extending a kindness first. Even as she was moved, a flush of contrition followed. Here was Kim Ho treating her this well — and hadn't she spent this whole time nursing her prejudices, half avoiding him at every turn? She resolved to be as warm to him as she could manage from now on.
That resolution lasted all of a moment. Following Kim Ho, Hong Yeon-hwa arrived at the foot of a small mountain of stacked branches. One look told her they had been piled up for a campfire. Kim Ho pointed at them and said,
"Get the fire going."
"..."
Hong Yeon-hwa just stood there, blinking dumbly. She was too dumbfounded for words. She was the direct heir of the Ruby Magic Tower, the treasured jewel of the Hong clan — a girl raised on deference, coddled from the day she was born. Being used like a human lighter was a first in her entire life.
The indignity that fear had been holding down finally raised its head. Here, she needed to protest — clearly and firmly. You extended your goodwill first, so I intend to help however I'm able. But I am a person, not a tool! You do not get to treat me like this!
Her perfect simulation complete, Hong Yeon-hwa parted her lips to speak—
Kim Ho's eyes glinted.
"Fire."
"..."
Fwoooosh!
A moment later, Hong Yeon-hwa found herself diligently lighting the campfire.
The protest... can wait. There was no pressing need to do it this very second, was there? She'd have plenty of opportunities later. And come to think of it, was it really worth getting worked up over? Having thus wrapped up her rationalization at record speed, Hong Yeon-hwa was done.
When Kim Ho handed her a golden, perfectly grilled fish, even the last sliver of her discontent vanished down her throat along with it. Nibbling away daintily, she thought, So tasty.
With a single deft swirl of her staff, Hong Yeon-hwa lit the campfire — then went a step further and fine-tuned the flames to exactly the right heat for grilling fish. Before long, forearm-sized fish were crisping up a beautiful gold, and each of us took a skewer and set to.
Cooking really is half ingredients, like they say. With ingredients this superb, there was no way it could taste bad. Exhibit A: Hong Yeon-hwa attacked her grilled fish with the single-minded focus of someone who hadn't eaten in days, and even Seo Ye-in's nibbling pace was quicker than usual.
Once the meal was done, we sat across the campfire from each other and talked. The topic, naturally, was the state of the midterms.
"Your crystals?"
"Right now... I've got these..."
At my question, Hong Yeon-hwa dug out every crystal she was carrying and showed them to me. The blue and the yellow were fully charged, with two more blue ones that hadn't lit up yet.
Huh. She pulled nothing but blues.
When I looked down at them without a word, Hong Yeon-hwa kept glancing at my face, then nudged the crystals a little closer.
"Here..."
"I'm not asking for them."
I raised a hand to stop her. Seriously, she kept trying to hand me things — at this rate I'd start looking like the villain of the piece. Instead, I fished out a few uncharged crystals, red and green.
"Here, trade."
"R-really...?"
Hong Yeon-hwa's eyes went round. If she took mine in exchange and charged them, she could complete a full set, clean and simple. I nodded as if it were nothing.
"We finished ours already. Anything else we pick up now is just a duplicate."
"Th-then... thank you."
Beaming, Hong Yeon-hwa made the exchange. From where I stood it was neither profit nor loss, but for her — picking out exactly the colors she wanted — the gratitude ran a good deal deeper.
No downside to being generous. The Ruby Magic Tower would repay the favor in kind, after all.
My sister says thank you — and asks that you stop by the clubroom sometime when you have a moment...
Hong Ye-hwa had already told me to drop by once, and all for nothing more than helping her get decent results during mentoring week. People who didn't forget a debt like that would certainly see fit to reward any help given during the midterms, too.
I made Hong Yeon-hwa one more offer.
"Let's move together tomorrow. There are two more of us besides."
"Six of us?"
"Yeah. You've probably noticed already."
On the first day, almost everyone had stuck strictly to pairs. Today, day two, we were starting to see teams of four — and some had swelled to as many as six. The original point of keeping to team size had been to search for crystals efficiently, but today the monsters had grown in both quality and quantity, and crystals had become comparatively easy to come by.
"In exchange, charging them turned into a blood sport."
"Right."
Take the mill we'd hit last today: the competition there had been so brutal that the place was a war zone. Forget charging up — you'd count yourself lucky just to leave with the crystals you walked in with. Hong Yeon-hwa herself had crossed paths with a four-person team, and Baek Jun-seok had gone down for it. And tomorrow, the contest was only going to get fiercer. Stronger monsters meant a correspondingly higher crystal drop rate.
So whether the goal was charging up in peace or simply protecting what you already held, moving as a group of six was the better play. Hong Yeon-hwa nodded along in agreement.
"Okay. I'll talk to Baek Jun-seok."
"When's he back?"
"About... five more hours left...?"
"Right. Let me know when he shows up."
Turning to see what Seo Ye-in was up to, I found her nodding off by the fire, head bobbing. With the night this deep, we decided to turn in as well.
While we were tidying up our spots, Hong Yeon-hwa spoke up carefully.
"Um... I'll take the night watch."
"Appreciate the offer, but there's no need."
I tipped my chin toward the forest beyond.
"There are alarm traps laid all around. The one you stepped on earlier."
"Oh...!"
"So just get some sleep. And look — we've got a spare sleeping bag."
"...!"
When I handed her the sleeping bag, Hong Yeon-hwa looked very nearly on the verge of tears. She had volunteered for watch duty of her own accord, and now not only was she free to rest, she'd even been handed a bed — no wonder she was moved.
With the site cleaned up, we made for the cave tucked into the crevice of the rocky hill. Hong Yeon-hwa, apparently fascinated by how seamlessly the entrance hid itself away, kept craning her neck this way and that; then, seeing how pitch-black it was inside, she rattled off an incantation.
Fwoosh!
Several embers the size of fireflies drifted up into the air and began floating about the cave. Small as they were, they filled the place with a surprising warmth, and a glow that was neither too dark nor too bright lent everything a cozy air. It was a complete transformation from yesterday, when the red crystal had turned the cave into a slaughterhouse.
Fireflies hovering about her, Hong Yeon-hwa spread her sleeping bag to one side, still wearing the look of someone who couldn't quite believe her own happiness.
Seo Ye-in, meanwhile, dragged her own sleeping bag right up next to mine, settled in close, and stared straight up at me.
I had no choice but to ask.
"And why, might I ask, are you coming this close?"
"Sleep together."
??? ???
Hong Yeon-hwa's gaze darted every which way, with nowhere to land.