Ho, Ggyu, and Sso
Tang Gyu-young and Zhuge Soso engaged in a fierce tug-of-war across the closed door.
"Come on, you could’ve at least texted me first!"
"As if you don't barge into my place without a word all the time!"
Judging by the sheer casualness of it, forcing their way into each other's rooms seemed to be standard operating procedure between the two of them. It proved just how close they were, but at the same time, this felt like Tang Gyu-young reaping what she had sown.
Still clutching the doorknob with white knuckles, Tang Gyu-young called out,
"Look, Sso, I'm really sorry, but I don't think we can eat together tonight. I'm just not feeling great."
"What? Open up. Where does it hurt?"
"Everywhere, pretty much. Just go on back."
"Hey, I told you to open up! Let me see your face first."
Holding out any longer would only make her look more suspicious, so Tang Gyu-young cracked the door open halfway. Zhuge Soso's voice drifted through, far clearer now.
"You look completely fine to me."
"I’m not. I'm exhausted. I just want to crash."
"Eat first, then crash. I bought that thing you like."
The faint rustle of plastic suggested Soso had indeed brought late-night snacks of her own. Even so, Tang Gyu-young held her ground.
"Sorry, but really, not tonight. Why don't you go eat it with Paeng?"
Detecting that something was off, Soso's tone sharpened.
"Why do you keep stonewalling me? Is someone in there?"
"What are you talking about? Who could possibly be in here?"
"No, this is shady. And you're definitely not dressed for bed. You actually dolled yourself up a bit!"
"I told you, I'm going to sleep!"
A brief silence fell.
Though I couldn't see them from where I sat, an intense stare-down was clearly unfolding in the doorway. Eventually, Soso let out an audible sigh and took a step back.
"...Fine. I'll take off for tonight."
"Yeah. Thanks, and sorry."
"Can I just step inside for a second, though? That's fine, right?"
Turns out that single step back had just been winding up for a leap forward. As expected of the former vice head of the Swordsmanship Club, her tactical instincts were vicious.
Caught completely off guard, Tang Gyu-young stammered,
"N-No! I'm going right to bed!"
"Not even for a second? Ggyu, are you really doing this to me?"
"Just for tonight, okay? Just tonight!"
At that desperate plea, Soso's presence seemed to drift slightly further away. But in the very next instant—
Tap-tap!
Like a lightning bolt, she burst into the room. She had literally deployed high-level footwork just to blow past Tang Gyu-young.
"Sso—!"
"Heheh!"
Soso flashed a triumphant smirk over her shoulder, leaving Tang Gyu-young's cry in the dust. But the next second, her eyes locked with mine, and she froze stiff as a marble statue.
The takeout bag slipped from her fingers, dropping to the floor with a dull thud.
When she remained utterly motionless, I took the initiative to break the suffocating silence and gave a polite nod.
"Good evening, Sunbae-nim."
That seemed to snap her out of her stupor. Soso regained her composure in an instant, smoothing her expression into her usual gentle smile.
"...Kim Ho. You were here."
"I'm sorry. I kept pestering her because I really wanted to see what her room looked like."
Rushing in behind her, Tang Gyu-young nodded vigorously in agreement. Of course, Soso didn't look convinced in the slightest. She had clearly caught on that I was trying to cover for her friend.
She shot Tang Gyu-young a piercing glare.
"Ggyu, you're going to get yourself kicked out of the dorms at this rate!"
"If I get kicked out, I'll just rent a room in the Downtown Commercial District. Or pitch a tent in the woods. I can sleep pretty much anywhere."
Come to think of it, Tang Gyu-young was an aspiring camper at heart.
Soso shook her head in disbelief.
"You still have to follow the rules, you know! You can't be doing this. Send him back right now."
"Alright, I will, I will! But since he's already here, let's at least feed him before he goes. Look at him, he went through a lot today."
"...Good grief."
With an exasperated sigh, Soso began unpacking the snacks she had brought onto the wooden table. Then, she fixed Tang Gyu-young with another suspicious squint.
"You weren't planning on doing anything bad with him, were you?"
"What do you mean, 'bad'?"
"You know what bad means! Why are you playing dumb?"
"I really have no idea what you're talking about. Either way, the answer is no."
Tang Gyu-young feigned total innocence while Soso repeatedly tried to cross-examine her.
"Really? Truly?"
"I said no! Stop asking."
Even as she snapped back, Tang Gyu-young subtly averted her eyes. Then she hastily changed the subject.
"Let's just eat while we talk. It's getting cold."
We gathered around Byung-cheol's wooden table, officially kicking off our late-night snack session. What Tang Gyu-young had ordered was bite-sized boneless fried chicken. What Soso had brought was an order of Inferno-grade spicy tteokbokki smothered in mountains of melted cheese.
I popped a rice cake into my mouth and immediately had a thought.
Wow, this has a serious kick.
I had heard it was roughly on par with the Inferno pizza bun sold in the commercial district, but enduring the heat was no easy task. My tongue felt half-paralyzed after a single bite. How on earth had Ahn Jung-mi polished off an entire pizza bun by herself?
While trying to nurse my scorched taste buds back to health, I brought up a question that had been lingering in my mind.
"I knew you two were close, but I didn't realize you were on pet-name terms."
"We're childhood friends through and through."
"Known each other since we were five."
They answered almost in unison.
The Zhuge Clan and the Tang Clan were both prestigious martial lineages with a long history of exchanges, and the two of them were no exception. Even though Tang Gyu-young's standing had grown somewhat ambiguous after she renounced her claim as a direct descendant, their bond remained as steadfast as ever.
Tang Gyu-young pointed back and forth between herself and Zhuge Soso.
"So that makes me Ggyu, and she's Sso."
She then turned to me, the corners of her mouth curling into a mischievous grin. Her eyes were positively brimming with anticipation.
"Go on, try it."
"I don't know, doesn't really feel right."
"Come on, just once. Please? Pretty please?"
I declined a couple of times, but Tang Gyu-young was utterly relentless. Since she wanted to hear it this badly, I figured there was no harm in indulging her. Besides, with Soso watching, saving her a bit of face wasn't the worst idea.
Looking her straight in the eyes, I muttered softly,
"Ggyu."
"...!"
Tang Gyu-young's face instantly lit up like a Christmas tree.
"Do it again! More!"
"Ggyu-Ggyu."
"More, more, more!"
"Ggyu-Ggyu-Ggyu."
"Heheheh."
Tang Gyu-young nodded in sheer satisfaction, grinning ear to ear.
"Nice. You're calling me that from now on."
"Absolutely not."
"Ah, why?!"
"I just don't want to. This was a one-time courtesy."
"See what I mean? He never listens to me!"
As Tang Gyu-young pointed an accusing finger at me and whined, Soso looked back and forth between us with an unreadable expression. Then, wearing a similar playful smile, she chimed in,
"Is it really that nice? Now I'm curious. Kim Ho, do it for me too."
"Hold on, no way!"
Tang Gyu-young cut in with a deadly serious face. Soso blinked, looking genuinely baffled.
"Why not?"
"Do you have any idea how much blood, sweat, and tears it took me to get here? You think you can just skip the line and reap the rewards? Not a chance!"
Tang Gyu-young protested that it wouldn't be fair. Soso, however, brushed it off as no big deal.
"What's the harm? It's just calling a nickname once. Kim Ho, just once, please?"
She tried to coax me with sweet tones, but I offered an apologetic smile and declined.
"I think I have to take Noona's side on this one. Please understand."
At those words, Tang Gyu-young's stern expression melted into pure mush. She reached over and began vigorously mussing up my hair and squishing my cheeks.
"Aww~ Look at our adorable Kim Ho! We must protect and cherish him at all costs! Want some tteokbokki?"
"I'd prefer chicken, please."
"Right, right, chicken it is! Open wide, say ahh~"
She popped a piece of boneless chicken straight into my mouth. Soso, on the other hand, smacked her lips in disappointment.
"...Tsk, harder than I thought."
She watched us for a few more seconds before shifting gears to the next topic.
"Can I ask you something else, then?"
"Sure, go ahead."
"Near the very end, all those portals opening up to the boss room... was that your doing?"
Tang Gyu-young turned her gaze toward me as well, clearly curious herself. If it had been anyone else, I would have played dumb to the bitter end, but these two were exceptions.
Tang Gyu-young had earned my complete trust by going through thick and thin with me. Zhuge Soso had also proven her discretion by keeping entirely silent about the Black Snake Chamber incident. Furthermore, since we had all entered the hidden room together inside the Transference Labyrinth, there was no reason to withhold the rest of the story.
I produced the Crow Branch and set it on the table.
"Yes, that was me. I used this."
I explained that I had used the broken skill [Kka-ak!] to open Gathering Portals, and that since it was a one-time-use item, it was essentially just an S-rank crafting material now. Tang Gyu-young and Zhuge Soso nodded in comprehension, but a moment later, another question seemed to dawn on them simultaneously.
Both of their gazes narrowed in unison.
"Wait a minute, Baby Monarch. Why didn't you mention any of this beforehand?"
"Indeed, Infant Monarch. You just went in all by yourself without uttering a single word."
"We were terribly worried, Baby Monarch!"
It seemed they were still harboring some hurt feelings over how I had stepped through that solo boss portal without giving them a proper explanation when the talking Ooblecks opened it up.
Tang Gyu-young and Zhuge Soso grabbed one of my cheeks each and began tugging in opposite directions.
"Explain yourself, Baby Monarch!"
"Yes, Infant Monarch! Speak up this instant!"
"Awright, awright, I'll 'splain, juss lemme go!"
Only then did their hands retreat from my face. Even so, their fingers remained curled like hawk talons, looking ready to launch a synchronized Ggyu-Sso pincer attack at a moment's notice.
I hurried to explain before they struck again.
"I did it to minimize unexpected variables."
Back when I played Dragon Slayer Academy as a game, the Witch of Rot had primarily occupied B-rank dungeons. But this time around, perhaps due to the influence of the reincarnation quest, she had shown up in the Transference Labyrinth instead. Because it was an A-rank dungeon, my current self couldn't guarantee one-hundred-percent survival, and there were far too many wildcards regarding how the Ooblecks would act.
For example, take the late stage of the raid, where the talking Oobleck knight had simply let me pass without a fight. To account for unpredictable factors like that, I judged it best to conceal the existence of the Gathering Portal until the decisive moment.
Tang Gyu-young tilted her head.
"What does keeping secrets have to do with reducing variables?"
"If I told you beforehand, who knows? You might have insisted on taking the branch and going in my place."
"...Well, yeah, probably. Would that have been so bad?"
"It would have been terrible. You don't have Immunity to Ten Thousand Poisons."
The sole reason I had been able to sit face-to-face with the Witch of Rot and casually sip her tea was because I possessed absolute poison immunity. Had that not been the case, my only window to cast [Kka-ak!] would have been the split second I crossed the threshold—and the risk of failure would have been massive. For that matter, if I hadn't been fully prepared, I wouldn't have stepped through that solo portal in the first place.
"You always try to shoulder everything on your own."
Tang Gyu-young clearly understood my logic, but a pout lingered on her lips nonetheless.
After chatting about all sorts of trivial nonsense, the pile of boneless chicken and the bowl of Inferno tteokbokki were picked completely clean. By the time we finished, night had bled past the small hours, teetering on the edge of dawn.
Tang Gyu-young glanced out the window, then turned to Zhuge Soso.
"Let's wrap things up here for today. I'm going to walk him out."
"Sounds good. I need some sleep too."
Sharing the sentiment, Soso helped tidy up the remnants of our feast before stepping out into the hallway. She offered a soft smile and gave a wave.
"Get back safe, Kim Ho."
"Good night, Sunbae-nim."
I bowed in farewell and fell into step behind Tang Gyu-young. Since I had sneaked in under the cover of darkness, sneaking back out required equal stealth. Tang Gyu-young unleashed her shadow magic at maximum output once again, clearing a path through the dorm corridors.
Before long, we slipped quietly out of the building. Tang Gyu-young glanced up toward her room's window and let out a soft chuckle.
"I was hoping it'd just be the two of us eating quietly, but Sso had to come crashing in out of nowhere."
"It was still fun. We'll have plenty of other chances to eat together, just the two of us."
"Heheh, right?"
Just as I was about to say my goodbyes, Tang Gyu-young brushed past me, walked a few paces ahead, and then spun around to face me.
"I want to walk a little further."
We could have easily parted ways right here, yet she insisted on walking me all the way back to the men's dormitory. Looking at her expression, it seemed she still had something she wanted to say. That was probably the real reason she had invited me up to her room in the first place.
Figuring it would be best to hear it out tonight, I gave a nod.
"Let's do that."
With that, I fell into stride alongside Tang Gyu-young, our footsteps matching rhythm under the quiet night sky.