Chapter 37: The Chosen One (2)

"KangWoo hyeongnim!! Over here!!"

The next day...

KangWoo went to where he had promised to meet up with Seol-ah and TaeSoo.

TaeSoo, who had already arrived near Dongincheon station, shouted and waved his hand after seeing KangWoo.

"Lower your voice."

KangWoo frowned after seeing that everyone around them was looking at TaeSoo.

"Hahaha. Did the thing you had to do last night end well, hyeongnim?"

"Yes."

"I'm glad to hear that! Ah! Hyeongnim, these two are the players that I said I'd present to you!"

TaeSoo pointed toward a girl with brown hair and a young man who had a sword on his waist.

'Oh, my god.'

KangWoo's eyes widened after looking at the young man.

He was so good-looking that the expression 'handsome like a sculpture' felt ridiculous.

He was so handsome that his surroundings seemed to shine if you looked at his face.

"The handsome hyeong is called Kim ShiHoon, and the little kid is Choi EunBi."

"Who are you calling a kid?!"

"Haha. If you aren't a kid, then what are you?"

"Hmph. You talk too much for someone who looks over 40."

"Wh-what?"

Choi EunBi, who was talking to TaeSoo, turned around to KangWoo.

With her eyes shining, she approached him and asked for a handshake.

"You're the oppa that TaeSoo oppa has talked so much about, right? I've heard a lot about you! Oh, also, you can talk to me comfortably, KangWoo oppa!"

'Is she another TaeSoo?'

KangWoo laughed and looked at EunHa.

It was impressive how friendly she was.

"Okay. First, tell me the rank of your attribute, and..."

"Kyaa! Are you the healer onni?! Woah, you're really pretty!! Woah, your chest is amazing. You're like Cerberus. You have three faces!"

"H-huh? Th-thank you...?"

"Onni, let's take a selfie!! I'm going to brag to my friends!"

"..."

KangWoo hadn't been able to finish what he wanted to say. He looked at EunBi, dumbfounded. She had grabbed Han Seol-ah's hands and was taking her somewhere.

She extended her hands toward KangWoo as if she were a deer being dragged by a lion.

At that moment, the man with the sword on his waist approached him and extended his hand.

"Nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you from TaeSoo. My name is Kim ShiHoon."

"Oh, yes."

"I'm currently level 12. After finishing the second Awakening, I unlocked an A-rank attribute. As you can see, I'm a knight.'

He was educated and cordial.

Not only that, but he told him the information KangWoo was the most interested in.

'He's like the protagonist of a manhwa.'

KangWoo shook Kim ShiHoon's hands while looking at him.

He felt kind of envious after seeing that he wasn't just good-looking, he was also very well educated and talented, but he would be very helpful as an ally.

'It seems like there isn't anyone similar to the members of the Andras Guild.'

KangWoo checked out the desire coming from their bodies.

Thanks to his body being closer to a demon's, he could see the type of desires each one had.

He couldn't feel any weird or bad desires coming from them.

He wasn't sure why they hadn't joined a big guild, but it seemed like TaeSoo wasn't lying when he said that they were trustworthy people.

"And EunBi is a B-rank attribute magician."

"Ah, thanks."

"She's a bit too energetic... Sorry."

"It's okay."

He was talking to Kim ShiHoon when TaeSoo approached them with a proud expression.

"What do you think, hyeongnim? They both look trustworthy, right?"

"Yes, you're right.'

"Hahaha. See? I have a good eye for people."

"And yet, last time, you almost died because you chose the wrong party members."

"Th-that..."

TaeSoo didn't know what to say at the sharp remark and avoided KangWoo's gaze.

"Those were all the heavens' doings so I could meet hyeongnim! Yes! That's it!"

"..."

KangWoo looked at TaeSoo as if he'd said something nonsensical.

TaeSoo coughed and changed topics.

"Ehem. But more than that, what do you think about this party?"

"Well, first, the composition is perfect."

One tanker, two damage dealers, and someone who could heal and buff.

He had nothing to say in terms of team composition.

'Not only that, but they can deal close and long-range damage.'

It wasn't just the formation that was good.

In the second Awakening, two people had gotten an A-rank Attribute and two had gotten a B-rank one.

Their specs were so high that if he said they were a bus party, he would've believed them.

'Not bad.'

KangWoo looked at the four of them with sparkling eyes.

Even at first glance, it was obvious that the party of those four people had great potential.

Even for KangWoo, who used to have strong demons like Balrog as underlings, they were talented people he wished to have around.

'Although I still have to watch them a little bit more.'

Just because they were talented and the formation was good didn't mean they were a good party.

There were lots of things that needed to be taken into consideration—like basic battle sense and the ability to make decisions.

'But they're still worth raising.'

If they could keep growing steadily like that, they would probably be of great help in the future.

"I'm going to follow you guys on today's hunt."

"Huh? Hyeongnim is also coming?"

"Yes. I'll watch and tell you what you need to correct."

"Oh! Your advice is welcome!! Thanks, hyeongnim!!" TaeSoo said with an excited voice.

'This is investing.'

* * *

KangWoo thought while looking at the four.

He was sure that investing in the four of them would give him a huge return.

It was understandable that he was so motivated.

"Then let's go to the gate. Oh, I'm only going to participate if there's a dangerous situation, so do your best."

"Hehe. Understood, hyeongnim!"

TaeSoo picked up the giant shield and walked toward the gate.

As they began moving, everyone's attention was centered on them.

"Woah, look at that person. He's really handsome!"

"Is he a celebrity?"

Everyone's attention was focused on Kim ShiHoon and Han Seol-ah.

It wasn't just the two of them that grabbed people's attention.

There was someone else who had the most eye-catching appearance.

"Aaahhh! A m-monster!"

As TaeSoo, who was over two meters tall, walked by, a little girl near them began crying.

"E, eh? I-I'm not a monster, little girl."

TaeSoo, who didn't know what to do, approached her, but that only made her cry even louder.

TaeSoo turned around.

'Why are you looking at me?'

He didn't have the power to make a little girl stop crying.

But there were too many people around looking at them to ignore her.

KangWoo sighed and was about to walk toward the crying little girl...

But Kim ShiHoon approached her first.

He kneeled and patted her kindly.

"It's okay."

"Sniff."

"Even though he looks like that, he isn't scary."

"R-really...?"

"Yes. So don't cry."

"Hehehe. Okay! Understood, good-looking oppa!" The little girl said with a smile on her face.

Kim ShiHoon left the kid to her mother, who came running toward them. He stood up with a smile on his face.

Even though it was a normal situation, because Kim ShiHoon was the one in the middle of it, it looked like a movie scene.

If it were KangWoo who had done that, it wouldn't have looked so cool.

'This brat...'

KangWoo looked at Kim ShiHoon with a gloomy look.

'He's too much of a protagonist.'

* * *

"Pshht! Pshht!"

Orcs with green skin waved the clubs they had in their hands.

The average size of an orc was 160cm.

Although they were smaller than the average adult male, because they had muscular bodies, they couldn't be taken lightly.

But...

"Hmph!"

Clang-!

"Pshht!"

TaeSoo pushed back three orcs charging toward them simultaneously with his shield.

After being pushed by someone with a height of two meters who had a body that was more muscular than theirs, the orcs fell to the ground.

"Hahaha! How about that?!"

After feeling the chilling sensation from having pushed away three orcs, TaeSoo burst into laughter.

The orcs stood up from the ground as if they were people who had just been hit by a car.

"Lightning Shock!"

Bzzt-!!

At EunBi's shout, the mana stone at the end of her wand shone.

Blue lightning shooting from the mana stone hit the orcs.

"GRAAAARR!!"

"TaeSoo oppa! There are five more behind us!"

"Okay!"

TaeSoo grabbed the shield even more tightly and stomped.

"It's this way!"

After he shouted, his shield shone.

The orcs were attracted by the light and charged toward TaeSoo.

"Energy of Light!"

"Oh! Thank you, sister-in-law!"

A light shot by Han Seol-ah entered TaeSoo's body.

After buffing him, Han Seol-ah shot arrows made of light toward the orcs.

"Hop!"

"Kuoo!"

After receiving the buff, TaeSoo had become as strong as an average C-rank monster.

Kim ShiHoon charged toward the orcs that had been pushed away.

Slash-! Stab-!

Kim ShiHoon's sword drew a line and cut the orcs.

His appearance aside, his sword skills were also pretty neat and looked like something from a drawing.

The five orcs soon lost their lives at the hands of Kim ShiHoon.

"Woah! KangWoo hyeongnim is great, but you're also quite good! Did you do kendo before becoming a player?"

"Oh, yeah. I've done it a little bit as a hobby."

"That's not on the level of a hobby," TaeSoo said, impressed by Kim ShiHoon's picture-like perfect sword technique, as he turned to KangWoo.

"How about that, KangWoo hyeongnim? Isn't everyone quite good?"

KangWoo nodded at TaeSoo's words.

Just like he said, everyone was so good that it was hard to believe that they had just reached the second Awakening.

"Hehehe. What did I tell you? I, Kang TaeSoo, have an eye for—"

"First, I'm going to make some observations."

KangWoo cut short TaeSoo's words and spoke with a calm voice.

The party's potential was quite high because they all had high-ranking attributes.

But it wasn't like there wasn't anything they had to correct.

'No, there are many things they need to improve on.'

With sharp eyes, KangWoo kept talking.