The President, the Vice President, and the Expedition Leader

Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity was, of all things, an S-Rank trait.

Of course, it wasn't going to be handed over as easily as the name made it sound.

But I was confident that more than half the preparation was already done.

There were two main paths to achieving it.

The first was the honest route — climbing the ladder step by step: Hundred Poisons Immunity → Thousand Poisons Immunity → Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity.

The second was fusing Thousand Poisons Immunity with another poison-related trait.

And that other trait was none other than,

'Poison Resistance.'

If I locked in the S-Rank Poison Resistance I'd copied using a Fixing Pin and reached Thousand Poisons Immunity, the two traits would merge on their own and carry me over into Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity.

So how did I get the most crucial piece, Thousand Poisons Immunity?

I had acquired Hundred Poisons Immunity by ingesting the inner core of the Poison-Sensing Black Blood Serpent, at a certain probability.

Thousand Poisons Immunity worked the same way.

Keep consuming the inner cores of venomous beasts, or poisons that 'Hundred Poisons Immunity couldn't block,' and at a certain probability the trait would rank up.

The only difference was,

'The odds are a whole lot lower.'

Since it was a B-Rank trait, one or two poisons wouldn't even come close to cutting it.

Which was exactly why I'd prepared so much.

I opened the wooden cases handed over to me by Mr. Jang and Mr. Wang.

The stench of blood and bitterness immediately flooded my nose.

Each and every one of them carried serious value — a fair trade for my chance at Ghost Without Shadow.

Add in all the poisonous ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠herbs I'd dug up from the weed field on top of that,

'Should clear 10%, at least.'

Granted, at 10% the odds of failure were still far higher.

Even so, I was looking at the situation rather optimistically, and the main reason was that the probability accumulated.

The very first inner core started from a fraction of a percent — barely a sliver of a chance — but as the cores and poisons piled up in my body, the odds climbed steadily: 3%, 5%, 8%, and so on.

Sooner or later I was bound to reach Thousand Poisons Immunity; once the accumulated probability passed 10%, it became a genuinely meaningful gamble.

'My mana should build up quite a bit, too.'

Poisons carried potent energy, just like elixirs did.

The difference was that this energy harmed the body before it could ever be mastered — but I could nullify the damage with Poison Resistance, and my hoodie even came with a 'harmful effect removal' enchantment on top of that.

Success or failure, I'd be banking a considerable amount of mana either way.

'Alright, let's do this.'

I settled into the center of the Mana Cultivation Room and tipped one inner core into my mouth.

It tasted like a sock left soaking in a drain, but I gagged it down and swallowed.

Then I slowly began circulating the mana inside my body.

Paeng Mi-ryeong was fast asleep in her dorm room.

It was the weekend, so her plan was to catch up on all the sleep she'd been putting off.

But that plan didn't last long,

because someone started hammering on her door.

- Knock knock knock knock.

Paeng Mi-ryeong's eyes fluttered open, and irritation surged through her.

Why can't I even rest on a weekend?

Can't people just leave me alone for five minutes?

- Knock knock knock knock knock.

Oblivious to her mood, the knocking kept coming.

Through the closed door, a familiar voice drifted in as well.

"Hey, Paeng! Open up!"

It was Dang Gyu-young.

Truthfully, she'd half expected this.

Very few people were close enough to barge into her room even on a weekend.

On top of the knocking, messages started flying in.

- BANG bang BANG bang BANG!

Dang Gyu-young pounded on the door even harder.

There was almost a rhythm to it.

Drifting along to that rhythm without meaning to, Paeng Mi-ryeong suddenly realized something.

Wait, that's not just one person.

Yes, Dang Gyu-young could summon shadow hands — but this felt far more like actual fists.

She had a decent guess who else it might be, and the next message confirmed it.

Hellfire Cheese Waterfall tteokbokki — spicy rice cakes smothered in an avalanche of molten cheese. Just hearing the name made her mouth water.

Her drowsiness retreated a few steps, and Paeng Mi-ryeong dragged herself out of bed and headed for the door.

By then the pounding had switched genres from rock to heavy metal.

- BADABADABOOOM!

"Enough. Enough knocking."

When Paeng Mi-ryeong said that and opened the door, sure enough, Dang Gyu-young and Jegal So-so stood in the hallway.

They looked barely different from how she herself had — no trace of their usual neat, put-together appearances, just comfy sweatpants and T-shirts.

Not that any of this was unfamiliar to Paeng Mi-ryeong.

The two of them invading her dorm room like this was far from a one-time event.

Dang Gyu-young frowned slightly.

"Why didn't you open up sooner?"

"Maybe call before you come ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hunting someone down."

"Then you'd just sleep right through it."

"Ugh."

Knowing Dang Gyu-young would push her way in no matter what was said, Paeng Mi-ryeong resigned herself and let the two inside.

The three of them dragged a small table together, sat around it, and set the tteokbokki in the middle.

Warmth radiated off it even before anyone touched it, and Paeng Mi-ryeong's mood improved a notch.

"Who picked this up?"

"Byung-cheol ran the errand."

"Kid's pretty sharp."

"First-round draft pick when it comes to errands."

This was one of the perks of being friendly with the Thief Club president — she had an errand prospect she could deploy for tteokbokki deliveries.

The moment they opened the takeout containers, all three of them gasped in unison.

"Oh."

"Whoa……"

Rice cakes the red of hellish lava sat before them, and a sharp, fiery aroma billowed out.

Paeng Mi-ryeong gave the ladle a light stir and let out another sigh of admiration.

"Wow, the cheese is no joke."

"We told you. Waterfall."

The three of them fell upon the Hellfire Cheese Waterfall tteokbokki, every shred of decorum abandoned.

Even Jegal So-so, usually so prim and composed, was forking food at alarming speed.

Occasionally fanning her mouth with her hand, no less.

"……"

Amid it all, Dang Gyu-young gazed down at her own plate, a faint smile playing on her lips.

There was something oddly wistful about the look, so Paeng Mi-ryeong asked.

"Why are you getting all sentimental now?"

"Hey, wouldn't this taste amazing with some dumplings?"

"Are you a genius?"

Come to think of it, dipping fried dumplings or tempura into it would be perfect.

While Paeng Mi-ryeong resolved to order those next time, Jegal So-so tilted her head.

"But why are you being so wistful about it?"

"It's just… Kim Ho and I went out for dumplings once. Got me thinking about it."

"……"

Paeng Mi-ryeong and Jegal So-so exchanged a glance.

Lately, Dang Gyu-young had been bringing up Kim Ho — praising Kim Ho — at a noticeably higher rate.

And today it looked like the engine was warming up again.

Still, even the two of them were genuinely curious about the 'duck egg dumplings' Dang Gyu-young claimed to have eaten at the tail end of the expedition.

Paeng Mi-ryeong had been in the same dungeon yet never even laid eyes on that legendary eatery, so her envy boiled over into a pointless little sulk.

"Why didn't you tell me about it?"

"Would you have come if I had?"

"……Fair point. No."

She was the expedition leader.

Responsible for more than a dozen people, she hadn't had a single moment to spare.

Right up to the end, she'd been busy combing every inch of the Blood Demon's Secret Cave.

No matter how good the dumplings were, the rare opportunity came first.

Dang Gyu-young said, "Come to think of it, you never did get to look around. What'd you get?"

"One martial arts manual. And this."

A thick ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠saber emerged from Paeng Mi-ryeong's inventory.

A crimson aura coiled along the blade, from hilt to scabbard.

"……Whoa."

"Worth every bit of the effort."

Paeng Mi-ryeong smiled with satisfaction and slid the Blood Ghost Saber back into her inventory.

Then she turned the question back on Dang Gyu-young.

"You two didn't exactly come back empty-handed either, right?"

"Mm, this and that."

When Dang Gyu-young glanced over, Jegal So-so also produced a weathered old book.

The very one Dang Gyu-young had handed over the Heaven-Rummaging True Interpretation the moment they'd met.

Naturally, the price she'd paid had more than satisfied Jegal So-so.

Afterward, they planned to study it as the Phantom Demon's formation art through Kim Ho as well.

Paeng Mi-ryeong marveled, "That kid is unbelievable. Where does he even learn all this stuff?"

"Supposedly he's graduated over two ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hundred times."

Dang Gyu-young answered as if it were nothing.

Naturally, none of the three was naive enough to take that at face value.

It was far more realistic to assume Kim Ho had some powerful backer among the graduates.

But as for who that backer was — which faction — they hadn't managed to catch so much as a tail.

So rather than stew over an unsolvable mystery, Paeng Mi-ryeong decided to satisfy a different curiosity.

Namely, the nature of the relationship between Dang Gyu-young and Kim Ho.

"So, what exactly are you two?"

"What do you mean, what? Just good senior and junior."

"You went on a same-day camping trip with him the other week, though?"

"That's allowed. And when did I say it was just camping? We popped into a dungeon and took a quick break while we were at it."

Dang Gyu-young shot back with an incredulous tone.

At that, Jegal So-so and Paeng Mi-ryeong traded looks, then each dropped a remark in dead-serious voices.

"Sso, seriously — no matter what, you don't go camping alone with a junior."

"I've never even entered a dungeon with him."

But even under the joint assault of the Swordsmanship Club executives, Dang Gyu-young didn't budge.

"Come on, if you're fond of a junior, going out for fun together is normal, right? Am I the only one?"

Just as Paeng Mi-ryeong opened her mouth to reply, Yes, you're the only one, Jegal So-so held her back for a moment.

Then she posed another question in that same grave tone.

"Sso, then be honest with us. Would you go out and have fun with Byung-cheol too?"

"……!"

Dang Gyu-young flinched and clamped her mouth shut.

Watching her, Paeng Mi-ryeong nearly broke into a standing ovation.

Truly a Jegal — that blade cuts deep.

Dang Gyu-young couldn't say 'Shin Byung-cheol isn't a junior I'm fond of,' nor could she say 'Kim Ho is special.'

And in a moment like this, silence was itself an answer.

Dang Gyu-young seemed to know it too — her lips slowly pursed into a pout.

Jegal So-so chose to take a step back at this point.

Push and pull — that's the key here.

Press too hard, and Dang Gyu-young might slam the door on her heart altogether.

Then they'd lose one of their small, delicious pleasures — a net loss.

So Jegal So-so pretended to come around.

"Hmm, thinking about it, that could be true. Just a senior-junior bond a little closer than most?"

"……Right? Right."

The phrasing seemed to sit well with Dang Gyu-young; her expression softened a touch.

Seizing the opening, Jegal So-so casually lobbed out the next question.

"So — what would you say your junior's most charming point is?"

Deliberately emphasizing 'your junior' to keep the question from sounding loaded.

Dang Gyu-young fell silent, brow slightly knit.

Truth be told, she had never given the matter any serious thought herself.

At length, the answer that left her lips was:

"His eyes are cute."

"Huh?"

"What?"

Jegal So-so's and Paeng Mi-ryeong's expressions blanked for an instant.

Kim Ho's face surfaced in their memories.

The fierce eyes. The predatory eyes. The eyes layered thick with schemes. The dark, calculating eyes of a schemer plotting his next move.

……That's cute?

Seriously?

Since when did she have that taste?

Or has she fallen past 'taste' into full-blown possession?

Blissfully unaware of their inner turmoil, Dang Gyu-young beamed and added,

"The more you look, the cuter they get, I'm telling you."