14 chapter - Party Formation (3)

"Enemy spotted ahead!"

—Kaaaak!

A bat over one meter long spread its wings, and it felt like the entire cave was filled up.

At a glance, it looked like a very threatening scene—but this was actually one of the reasons why bloodsucking bats were easy to deal with.

"Im Jin-sol!"

"Yes!"

Compared to the size of the bloodsucking bats, the cave was far too narrow.

If Seong Yohan and I stood side by side, the tunnel would be completely full.

That alone was a massive penalty for them.

"Aim."

As Im Jin-sol spoke briefly, a glowing blue target appeared on the bat’s forehead.

Screeeeaaach!

The bat’s flying speed was quite fast, but in such a narrow space, there was a limit to how much it could dodge arrows.

The arrow Jin-sol fired landed precisely in the center of the blue target.

The arrow was deeply embedded in its forehead—an instant kill.

"Nice shot!"

We approached carefully and confirmed it was dead, then harvested the mana stone.

As if it were only natural, that role was taken on by Lee Yuna.

Im Jin-sol, watching Yuna clumsily cut open the bat’s belly, said:

"The mana stone in bloodsucking bats is located closer to the heart. You need to cut a little higher than that."

"Ah, thank you."

"Ms. Yuna, have you not been active as a Hunter for very long?"

It was a direct question.

"Ah, yes."

"I figured as much."

Though rare, bloodsucking bats were among the more frequently appearing monsters in F-Class Gates, second only to goblins.

If someone looked awkward while extracting a mana stone from one, it was bound to make them look like a rookie.

"I'm just asking out of curiosity, but... what’s your relationship with the party leader, Ms. Yuna?"

"Sorry?"

"You don’t seem related. Lovers?"

"A-Ah, no. It’s not like that…"

Im Jin-sol’s words weren’t really directed at Yuna.

By putting pressure on Yuna, she was indirectly expressing dissatisfaction toward me.

Every time bloodsucking bats appeared, Seong Yohan, Im Jin-sol, and Hong Soo-ah took turns dealing with them.

Yuna had never once shown her ability.

Aside from harvesting mana stones, she hadn’t demonstrated anything—so it was basically a way of saying, Did she get in through connections?

"Ms. Lee Yuna is a healer. She has a Recovery-type Trait."

"Recovery-type? Really?"

As soon as the word healer came up, Im Jin-sol’s expression changed completely.

That’s how rare and valuable Recovery-type abilities were.

Whether a party had a healer or not could drastically affect the survival rate.

"However, Ms. Yuna’s ability is a little special."

I took Yuna’s hand.

A faint light surrounded my entire body.

"As long as this light is active around me, any injuries I take will regenerate instantly."

I drew a knife and cut across my palm, showing it clearly to everyone.

The wound on my palm quickly healed and disappeared in an instant.

"As you can see, the efficiency is quite good."

Seong Yohan widened his eyes and said:

"At this level, it’s comparable to a C-Class Recovery Trait."

Hearing that, Im Jin-sol asked back:

"Really?"

"Yes. Because of my Trait, I’ve ended up in the hospital a lot while running tests, so I know these things well. At this level, it’s top-tier even within C-Class."

Looking at me, Im Jin-sol asked:

"So did you scout her from a hospital or something? I can’t imagine what someone like her would cost..."

Her tone of address instantly shifted to “this person.”

That’s the kind of status Recovery-type abilities had.

"Well then, why didn’t you say so earlier? You could’ve just left the mana stone harvesting to me."

She was being entirely humble now.

Lee Yuna waved her hands and said:

"It’s a misunderstanding. It’s a little different from what everyone’s thinking. My ability only works on Oppa."

"...Huh?"

Im Jin-sol looked at me with eyes clearly asking for an explanation.

"It’s a high-efficiency ability, but the conditions are a bit strict. Right now, I’m the only one who satisfies them."

"Ah, I see."

Yuna spoke quietly.

"I’m sorry. I know I’m not that capable, but I’ll try to do my part by harvesting mana stones, or…"

"No!"

Im Jin-sol, somewhat excited, continued speaking.

"Actually, that’s even better! This party is basically one where the party leader does everything. He’s the kind of person who took down a D-Class Gate boss all by himself!"

She was extremely blunt.

"From here on out, the strategy will have to center around the party leader. The rest of us just fill in where he can’t. In the end, we’re all just riding coattails!"

She was practically having fun saying it.

"If we’re all just spoons, then a healer whose ability is tailored to the party leader? If we’re plastic spoons, Ms. Yuna’s a golden one!"

Calling herself a spoon like that—even I found her bluntness almost refreshing enough to laugh.

"I think this test run is enough. Let’s clear the rest of this Gate quickly and go out for a team dinner."

As everyone’s eyes turned toward me, I casually pulled out a bottle of eyedrops from my coat and put a drop into my right eye.

Immediately, my right vision turned red, and the mana release started to heat up my body.

I had openly activated my Signature.

It was a kind of trust signal—a way to show them that I now considered them real teammates.

Earlier in the raid, I’d already dripped the bat’s blood into my right eye to activate my Trait.

Now, all that was left was to turn it into experience.

"Let’s go."

As soon as I took the lead, the Gate was cleared in no time.

"Good job, everyone."

That night, as usual, we had beef for our team dinner. And I couldn’t help but regret it a little.

The bill came out to over 500,000 won.

Im Jin-sol was an unexpected wildcard.

She could eat more than even Seong Yohan.

...Next time, we’re going to that unlimited pork belly place.

After covering the meal and giving everyone their share, I made no profit from this raid.

"That was delicious. We should just have all our dinners here from now on."

Im Jin-sol patted her stomach with a satisfied look on her face—it was annoying for no good reason.

"...I’ll contact you once the D-Class Gate schedule is confirmed. Please get home safe."

The five of us had now officially signed on as party members.

"Then, see you next time."

"See you next time, Party Leader!"

Seong Yohan and Im Jin-sol left in their own cars, and since Lee Yuna and Hong Soo-ah didn’t have cars, I ended up driving them home.

"Thanks, Oppa. I’ll message you."

"Sure. Get inside safe."

"Drive safe!"

After dropping off Yuna, I headed toward Hong Soo-ah’s place.

Coincidentally, she lived near me.

"..."

Unless she had to speak, Hong Soo-ah almost never said a word.

So I kept driving in silence—until I saw her staring at me through the rearview mirror.

It felt like she was glaring.

"Ms. Hong Soo-ah?"

"..."

"Is there something you want to say to me?"

An awkward silence followed, and then Hong Soo-ah finally forced herself to speak.

"...Don’t you remember me?"

The moment I heard that, it hit me.

Judging by her tone, she clearly knew the old Choi Changshik.

She must’ve had a really rough experience with him.

She already looked timid and withdrawn.

If she had met Choi Changshik in person, I could only imagine how he must have treated her.

And yet she volunteered to join my party.

She was someone who had contacted me directly—I hadn’t even scouted her.

Despite her impressive experience, which could’ve gotten her into any top-tier team, she came to me instead.

But if she was someone who’d suffered because of Choi Changshik, there was one possibility I could guess.

...Revenge.

The ice magic Hong Soo-ah had shown against the bloodsucking bats was powerful.

At this distance, if she wanted to, she could kill me in an instant.

What is she thinking?

If killing me were her goal, she wouldn’t have said something so loaded.

She could’ve just activated her ability the moment the opportunity came.

Whatever the reason, it means she’s not thinking about killing me right now.

Without showing it, I began to speak slowly.

“I’m sorry. The truth is… I suffer from amnesia.”

It was an excuse I’d come up with myself after running into people with ties to Choi Changshik’s past.

“...Amnesia?”

“Yes. It happened about a month ago. It was an F-Class Gate, but over a hundred goblins poured out. I barely made it out alive, but I lost a teammate and suffered a major head injury.”

“...”

“That’s why I don’t remember much from earlier times.”

It was a clumsy excuse in many ways—but not completely implausible.

After all, it was a hell of a lot more realistic than saying I died, turned into a slime, and crawled inside Choi Changshik’s corpse.

“I know that I used to be garbage. That’s why I want to apologize. I’m truly sorry.”

After that, Hong Soo-ah didn’t say a word until we reached her apartment.

A heavy silence settled inside the car.

You have arrived at your destination.

I turned on the hazard lights and parked in front of her apartment complex.

A security guard walked over and asked,

“Which building and unit are you here for?”

“I’m sorry. I’m just dropping her off. I’ll turn the car around and leave right away.”

Once the guard walked away, Hong Soo-ah finally spoke.

“...Even so, I can’t forgive you.”

And with that, she got out of the car and walked into the apartment complex.

Watching her retreating figure, I pressed my hands to my head.

What was she thinking when she approached me?

Should I break the contract and find someone else?

Someone with a grudge against Choi Changshik was basically a ticking time bomb.

If she suddenly attacked me mid-raid, it wouldn’t even be that surprising.

Still, having a magic-user is useful.

Sometimes, even in D-Class Gates, spirit-type or ghost-type monsters appear—ones that can only be hurt by magic.

A skilled mage was practically essential.

In that regard, Hong Soo-ah was too good to throw away.

The way she froze a bloodsucking bat in an instant had left a strong impression.

My head was a mess.

“Ah, fuck.”

After a long time deliberating, I made up my mind.

Yeah. I’ll keep her.

Honestly, the amnesia card seemed to have worked pretty well.

She had taken a long time to think about it before saying she couldn’t forgive me.

Which meant—she’d actually had to think about whether or not to forgive me.

With that kind of hesitation, she won’t be able to attack me.

Even blinded by anger, it’s not easy to actually kill or hurt someone.

When I was getting the shit kicked out of me by Choi Changshik, I hated him enough to want him dead—but not once did I act on it.

Hong Soo-ah won’t be able to attack me. She’s not that kind of person by nature.

From what I’d seen so far, that was the case.

If anything, she seemed fragile. Like someone easily wounded.

I’ll trust my instincts.

**

Something’s wrong.

Hong Soo-ah had hardened her heart when she approached Choi Changshik.

Just seeing him play the good guy on broadcasts had made her sick.

She had fallen so far, and yet the bastard who caused it was spreading his wings, ready to fly.

It was revolting.

I was going to kill him.

That’s why she joined the party, planning to take his life—and her own.

But…

Something had felt off from the very beginning.

That kind smile. His polite speech. The gentle demeanor.

It was like someone else’s soul had entered Choi Changshik’s body.

It’s definitely him, and yet… it’s like it’s not him at all.

She thought he was faking.

So she kept watching him. No matter how good the act, tiny things—speech patterns, micro-behaviors—always gave people away.

But no [N O V E L I G H T] matter how much she observed, there was nothing off about him.

So much so that she couldn’t believe he was the same person.

...Amnesia.

Could a person change this much just from losing their memories?

That doesn’t make sense.

Losing your memories shouldn’t change your core personality.

But…

It had happened.

After a long time struggling, she came to a conclusion.

I’ll wait until he regains his memory.

If he had changed because of memory loss, then once the memories returned, he’d go back to his old self.

Back to mocking people. Cursing. Letting his snake-like eyes crawl over her body.

The moment that real self came back—

When that day comes, I’ll kill him with my own hands.