Chapter 59: Bait (2)

After leaving his house, Kim ShiHoon took the subway toward Mok-dong.

It was a gate KangWoo had hunted in the past.

'Although it hasn't been long enough to call it the past.'

It hadn't been a month since KangWoo leveled up while hunting trolls.

'After encountering the hellhound that day, I've grown at an explosive rate.'

The demonic monster he'd met at the C-rank gate...

After eliminating it, he began receiving the support of the Red Rose Guild. And thanks to that, he had grown at an explosive rate.

'But the fact that they came to a C-rank gate means...'

KangWoo looked at Kim ShiHoon, who was walking out of Mok-dong station, with great interest.

That meant that all the party members had reached level 20 and completed the third Awakening.

'Fast.'

It couldn't be compared to KangWoo, but Kim ShiHoon's party was leveling up at an incredible pace.

KangWoo smiled in satisfaction. After hiding his presence by using an Authority, he followed Kim ShiHoon.

"Good morning."

"ShiHoon oppa~!"

"Good morning, ShiHoon hyeong!"

After coming out of the station, Kim ShiHoon was greeted by the other party members.

Unlike the awkward greeting when they'd first met each other, they seemed to have gotten closer.

"Ms. Seol-ah, why are you so down?"

Kim ShiHoon, who had approached TaeSoo, turned his head toward Han Seol-ah while tilting his head.

Han Seol-ah had her head down with a gloomy atmosphere, and she was scratching the floor with her feet.

TaeSoo grabbed Kim ShiHoon's shoulder, pulled him away from Han Seol-ah, and spoke in a low voice.

"I heard KangWoo hyeongnim hasn't returned home in about a week because he's busy."

"Ah..."

A short exclamation came out of Kim ShiHoon's mouth. He nodded as if he'd understood what was going on.

'Ms. Seol-ah likes Mr. KangWoo, after all.'

Unless you were dumb, it was obvious to catch onto.

While taking a break from hunting, she often talked about KangWoo, and while talking about him, she often blushed and seemed to be having fun.

'So Mr. KangWoo hasn't returned to his home for a week...'

He was a high-level player.

It could be perfectly possible for him not to return to his home for a week.

"He hasn't been contacting her?"

"No, that doesn't seem to be the case. It seems like he has been sending messages and calling from time to time, but according to him, he's in a situation where he can't move."

"Hmm... Then he isn't in a gate."

It was obvious, but you couldn't make calls inside the gates.

For making calls between the inside and outside of a gate, you needed a special device that used mana stones.

"It seems he didn't tell her even after she asked."

"Haha... Then it's understandable why she's so depressed."

Kim ShiHoon looked at Han Seol-ah while making an awkward smile.

"Seol-ah onni~ Don't be so sad. I'm sure KangWoo oppa has his reasons."

"Haha. Yes, I guess so..."

Han Seol-ah sighed with her head down. She mumbled while scratching the floor with her feet.

"Did he get tired of the food I prepare...? Or maybe he got another girl..."

She wanted to think positively, but as time went on, she was starting to get more anxious.

It hadn't been long since she met him, but in that short period of time, her daily life had changed so much that she could no longer think of the time when KangWoo was not in her life.

It wasn't just her who was sad.

Echidna was in a worse state than her.

"Onni, you told me that you live with him. Right?"

"Y-yes."

"Hehe. Isn't it that maybe oppa is struggling to hold himself back?"

"Hold himself?"

"KangWoo oppa is a young man. Living under the same roof with a girl as pretty as onni... Hehehe. Oppa's neo-Armstrong Zenon..."

"Stop."

Kim ShiHoon slightly hit EunBi's head, who was enjoying making fun of Han Seol-ah.

While smiling brightly, he turned his head around to Han Seol-ah.

"Don't worry about EunBi's words. Mr. KangWoo probably has his own reasons. Unlike us, he's a player with a high level."

"Ah, yes. Probably..."

"To hunt along with Mr. KangWoo, we must keep hunting and increase our levels."

"Ah..."

Han Seol-ah's expression changed. You could see the determination in her eyes.

She agreed with Kim ShiHoon's words while nodding.

"Then let's enter."

After saying that, Kim ShiHoon entered the C-rank gate. TaeSoo, Seol-ah, and EunBi followed him.

"Hng."

KangWoo seemed troubled.

* * *

'I'm feeling guilty.'

It was an inevitable situation, but seeing her like that made him feel guilty.

'Echidna is probably in a worse state than her.'

Echidna was too dependent on him.

Because he knew that, he tried to contact her frequently, but the effects of it seemed to be getting weaker.

'I also want to finish it as soon as possible.'

KangWoo sighed while walking toward the gate.

It had been a week since he had eaten kimchi stew, and he hadn't been able to sleep in a comfortable bed.

After all, losing something you have is more painful than not having it at all.

Trying to resist returning immediately to the daily life he had experienced for the first time in ten thousand years was hard.

'But I can't just leave the fishing rod alone after dropping the bait.'

Being careless was a poison with no cure.

Losing Kim ShiHoon because he had gone to relax would be stupid.

"Should I go...?"

After finishing some checks, KangWoo entered the gate.

* * *

Stomp-!

"GRRRR!!"

"They're stupidly strong!" TaeSoo exclaimed after defending an attack from a troll.

"Ha-ab!"

Smash-!

As TaeSoo smashed the feet of a troll, its feet got stuck in the ground.

The troll lost its balance and trembled.

"Ms. Seol-ah!"

"Yes!"

After checking out that the troll had lost its balance, Kim ShiHoon leaped forward.

At his signal, Seol-ah used the magic she'd prepared.

"Boost!"

A white light came out from Seol-ah's body and entered Kim ShiHoon.

His movements became faster.

Kim Si-hoon crouched down and abruptly stepped forward.

His footprints were engraved on the ground while making heavy sounds.

Clang-!

'Sleeping Dragon Sword Style, 2nd Form. Sky Dragon Flash.'

A force spread from his feet to the rest of the body, and Kim ShiHoon used that force to twist his waist and raise the Qi from within his body.

Sky Dragon Flash.

Like a dragon crouching inside a lake suddenly rising to the sky, he hit the troll with his sword.

The sword technique that Kim ShiHoon received from the soul of the martial god Cheon TaeHwang appeared in real life.

Slash-!

"KUOOO!"

From the calf to the armpit...

The troll, whose body had been cut in half, fell to the ground while making a grotesque scream.

Because of its monstrous vitality, even though it had been cut in half, it violently twisted its body.

"Lightning Spear!"

Even if it twisted its body violently, it couldn't do anything against long-range attacks.

EunBi's attack penetrated the troll's chest.

"Kuooo."

The troll finally lost consciousness, and black smoke came out of its mouth.

"Oof. As expected, C-rank monsters are strong."

"We could comfortably hunt up to five lizardmen. But I think more than three of these guys will be dangerous."

It seemed like TaeSoo's hand had become numb after blocking the troll's attack—he kept clenching and stretching the palm of his hands.

"But it's still amazing that we became strong enough to catch a troll in just a month."

"Hahaha! This is all thanks to ShiHoon hyeong. Ha... I had a good feeling from the moment we created the party, but I never thought we'd reach a C-rank gate in just a month."

TaeSoo shouted excitedly as if he couldn't believe they had just caught a troll.

"If it weren't for everyone, I also wouldn't have been able to reach the C-rank gate so quickly," Kim ShiHoon said while nodding with a smile.

"Let's take out the mana stone and keep moving."

"Ah, I heard that the stagnant blood near the troll's heart can be sold for a high price since it's often used for potions, so let's take that as well."

After taking the stagnant blood and the mana stone from the troll's body, they began moving in search of the next target.

"Woah."

KangWoo's eyes shone after looking at them.

'They've become better.'

The party's movements had improved.

Each member clearly knew and fulfilled their role correctly.

'Seol-ah's place would've been weird if she could only heal, but that's not the case.'

In a party that was too strong, the place of the healer was a bit weird.

In a strong party, the members often didn't receive much damage.

But Han Seol-ah was an all-around supporter who could heal and buff.

Her place wasn't ambiguous, even if she was in a party strong enough not to receive damage.

'I wonder if there's a need for me to bus party them.'

KangWoo followed the party with a smile on his face.

'That's that.'

KangWoo clicked his tongue.

"It should be about time they move."

It had been a week.

There wasn't much time left before the time in which they were planning to summon would take place.

It was about time they acted because they couldn't resist the temptation.

KangWoo used the Authority of Observation and looked around Kim ShiHoon's party.

'Huh?'

At that moment, KangWoo felt the presence of two people approaching Kim ShiHoon's party.

The Mok-dong C-rank gate was a popular hunting place, so it wouldn't be weird for them to meet another party.

But...

'They're approaching them after killing a troll with just one hit.'

While walking toward Kim ShiHoon's party, they had each killed one troll that they met on the way. They kept walking toward his party without even picking up the mana stones.

"This..."

KangWoo's eyes shone.

The reward he'd been waiting for over a week for was finally getting closer.

"So you took the bait."

While licking his lips, KangWoo followed Kim ShiHoon's party, which had just seen the two people approaching them.