Chapter 33

“You did well without anything to improve.”

“…Why are you suddenly acting like this?”

“What?”

“Why are you suddenly touching me and gazing at me intently? It’s making me uncomfortable.”

It was an amusing remark coming from none other than Geon-joo. Whenever he tried to fluster him with an oddly friendly tone, he was on guard and made a fuss. What a selectively cat-like fellow.

No, this was closer to a fox.

But what did it matter either way? If he had the ability, that was all that counted. Sa-yoon, stuck in a mindset of ability supremacy, merely smiled slyly.

“Do I need a reason to treat you well?”

“Don’t speak so romantically. It’s not the right mood for that.”

“Yes, yes.”

He didn’t care if he made a tepid expression and felt burdened, or if he looked at his with strange eyes as if he were crazy.

Sa-yoon’s mind was solely focused on quickly getting this cutie out of the gate and taking him to the next one.

“Since you’ve killed three, rest for a bit. I’ll go finish half and come back.”

“What?”

“After resting, let’s move right away and clear it quickly. Seeing your speed, if you adapt a bit more, we might be able to clear it within 20 hours.”

“Huh?”

“Try going up there and resting. If you get involved, you might die unnecessarily.”

Sa-yoon, smiling while speaking brutally, pointed to the tree he had been sitting on earlier. Geon-joo blinked vacantly, unable to keep up with the flow of the conversation. Finding it a waste of time for him to hesitate, Sa-yoon abruptly picked him up.

“Ah!”

“Don’t fall.”

“Are you seriously crazy?”

“Hey, go sit over there.”

“Is he really insane…?”

Words similar to what he had heard in the morning were whispered. Sa-yoon, taking it as a compliment, thanked him and leaped up to the tree, setting him down. Compared to when he had recklessly thrown him before, it was an exceptionally mannerly and gentle treatment.

“Call me if it gets dangerous.”

“…You know that I really don’t understand you, right?”

“Who, me?”

“Yes.”

“That’s good. I don’t understand you either.”

“You know that’s not what I meant, right?”

“What do you mean it’s not? Take this chance to seriously think about sticking to me. Then I’ll know you, and you’ll know me. Isn’t that killing two birds with one stone?”

On top of that, if I make you an S-grade, activate the Resistance, and even make you an executive of the Night Rats Guild, it’s killing four birds with one stone.

Sa-yoon swallowed the latter part of his words, where his desires were blatantly exposed. No matter how excited he was, he knew that if he said this now, Geon-joo would become wary.

As Sa-yoon faced him, filling every word with sincerity, Geon-joo moved his lips, then touched his forehead. He sighed and waved his hand. It was a signal to go and finish what he had to do first. Satisfied with that, Sa-yoon jumped down from the tree.

Then, he unleashed the frost energy he had been suppressing without limitation.

Swish.

The chilling energy quickly spread from Sa-yoon’s feet to every corner of the gate. The spread was intense. By the time the ground froze and was covered in white snow, Sa-yoon’s eyes turned blue.

Kwajik!

A hundred spears sprouted from the frozen ground, striking various plants, flowers, and animals. In an instant, the beautiful garden transformed into a garden of wailing filled with screams.

-Kieeeek!

-Kiaaaa!

-Kraaaa!

The cries of Falsirocus were heard from here and there. He had expected half of the hundred to be hit, but it seemed that quite a large number were correct, as the creatures that popped out seemed to number around sixty.

“This might be a bit much.”

He had to leave some for Geon-joo to kill as well, but he might have called too many. Recognizing the excess, Sa-yoon decided to keep it in mind for the next attack and snapped his fingers.

Poof!

-Kiiii….

The spears that had erupted from the ground pierced the hearts of all sixty Falsirocus. This time, there was no need to show them how to fight, so it was efficient to end it swiftly.

Thud, thud, thud.

The ground shook as Falsirocus fell in various places. It wouldn’t have been surprising if an earthquake had occurred, given how many had fallen simultaneously.

If the ground trembled this much, there were creatures that reacted.

Feeling a huge vibration from the deep ground, Sa-yoon judged that at least thirty Crazyworms were rushing in and furthis intensified the frost energy.

Crack, crack.

The whole world froze. Except for two places, where Sa-yoon and Geon-joo were, everything else froze mercilessly. Eventually, snow began to fall from the sky. As the world turned completely white, giant worms erupted from the ground.

―Graaaah!

Their momentum was good, but their lives wouldn’t last long.

Crack, crack―.

As soon as they popped out of the ground, the entire bodies of the Crazyworms froze.

One, two, three, four.

The creatures that came up one after another froze and solidified in the air like ancient animals displayed in a museum.

Was it a little over forty?

About half of the quota could be filled in this attack. Sa-yoon tapped the frozen ground with his shoe. Everything that had been frozen shattered and exploded.

Along with the sound of sharp objects shattering, the corpses of the monsters scattered in all directions.

Ding-ding-ding-ding.

The monster kill count in the clear conditions rapidly increased. Due to the temperature dropping to minus 20 degrees Celsius, the flying monsters that had been soaring in the sky also began to fall.

[Flying Monster Kill Count 102/300]

[Crazyworm Kill Count 57/100]

[Falsirocus Kill Count 65/100]

Compared to before, the numbers had risen significantly. It was a record Sa-yoon had set in less than 3 minutes. After waiting for a few more flying creatures to fall, Sa-yoon filled the 200th flying monster kill count and finally withdrew the frost energy.

The place that had briefly experienced a chill similar to the first S-grade unexplored gate, “Frozen Traces of Antiquity and Burning Flames,” slowly regained its original warmth.

As if time had reversed, flowers bloomed again from the ground, flying monsters soared in the sky, the falling snow ceased, and the sun rose.

Geon-joo, unable to believe the magical sight even after seeing it with his own eyes, gazed at Sa-yoon standing at the center of the place where the remnants of the frost energy, not yet fully withdrawn, were shining like ice debris, as if entranced by something.

Sa-yoon, who had neatly dealt with the monsters, wore a satisfied expression. Now he felt a bit refreshed.

“……”

“Why do you have such a blank expression?”

Sa-yoon, who had returned to Geon-joo’s side while feeling pleasure, asked in bewilderment upon seeing his expression. The person who had given him a look as if asking if he didn’t know soon inhaled.

“…You’re stronger than I thought.”

“Stronger than you thought? This is just a mere C-grade gate. If you can’t do this much, you can’t be called an S-grade anywhere.”

It was a space he could finish and leave within 5 minutes if he wanted to. However, because Geon-joo was with him, and he had to match his pace, Sa-yoon had set the stay time to 20 hours. When he sent him an absurd gaze, Geon-joo gripped his sword.

“…Just a mere…”

“……?”

“…If you become an S-grade, will everyone become as strong as the guild leader?”

“They’ll become similar. After all, the grade is the same.”

The grade is the same, but the level is different. As he swallowed those words, Geon-joo, seeing the corpses of the monsters still remaining, opened his eyes straight and climbed down from the tree.

“Shall we go right away, Guild Leader?”

“Suddenly becoming friendly, huh?”

“I just thought I’d try to have some reverence.”

The guy who had been suspicious, wary, and uncomfortable just a moment ago, asking why he was treating him so well, was now smiling and calling out to him.

Sa-yoon could be certain that the one he really couldn’t understand was Geon-joo.

Every time he called him crazy, but in Sa-yoon’s eyes, he was a prospective madman who would succeed him.

“Does he have like six personalities or something?”

“Pardon?”

“Talking to myself.”

Sa-yoon, who had given a simple reply, scanned the inside of the gate and stepped back a couple of steps.

“You can think of filling the remaining quota all by yourself.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll stay back as much as possible since this gate is for you to gain experience, so call me if it gets dangerous or difficult.”

“Yes.”

“Let me know if you need anything too.”

“Yes.”

How satisfying.

Perhaps because he had shown him the difference in power, Sa-yoon, pleased with Geon-joo’s docile answers, nodded and pushed his back, telling him to try it on his own.

The person who had taken a deep breath immediately started searching for Falsirocus and began combat.

“Looks like we’ll be seeing the night.”

Sa-yoon, calculating the approximate clear time while looking at the remaining quota and Geon-joo’s speed, gazed at the still clear sky. Still, it seemed like they would be able to clear and leave within 12 hours.

That’s what he thought, but.

“It’s over.”

“…What should I really do?”

“What is it again?”

This crazy bastard Geon-joo finished everything in 5 hours. At first, he struggled a bit while dealing with them one by one, but after a few rounds, he even called four or five creatures and fought them all at once.

Sa-yoon covered his mouth at the sight of the person who had cleared the gate swiftly.

He was indescribably admirable.

As expected, he had to keep him by his side for life, make him an executive of the Night Rats Guild, and have him work like a slave. If he was at this level, even if the system told him to activate the Resistance and kill them, he would hesitate a little.

Sa-yoon, moved to tears by the surging desire for talent, patted the shoulder of Geon-joo, who was looking at his with eyes that said he was doing it again.

“Good job.”

“…You too, Guild Leader.”

He responded a bit awkwardly and tepidly. Sa-yoon, who had ruffled his hair, finished praising him and prepared to return. That’s when he felt a strange sign.

Rumble rumble rumble―.

The ground shook. It shook with a sound that was incomparable to the mediocre vibrations experienced so far, a sound that literally required a 100-story building to jump around to make.

At that ominous sound, Sa-yoon turned his head.

“What… is that?”

Geon-joo, who had turned his body along with him, fell silent for a moment and asked in a small voice. Sa-yoon, who had confirmed the existence filling his vision, soon distorted his face.

“Fuck….”

Why is that appearing here?

Because his pretty boy had done something pretty, he had completely forgotten about it.

The fact that his life was fucking miserable.

“Run.”

“Pardon?”

“I said run until the gate closes!”

They had to run away from that.

Sa-yoon grabbed Geon-joo’s arm, pulled him in front of him, and urgently shouted as he pushed his back.