The reason Seo Ryeong had turned around…
<Choose an option from below>
The problem was what it was asking him to do.
▶ Kiss (Available)
Kissing her out of the blue? How was that any different from the people who’d assaulted her just now?
▷ Hug (Available)
Can’t choose that, either. It’s not like he wasn’t tempted to hold her, but she’d barely escaped from one emergency. What if she took it poorly and started hating him? Seol-Hwi was no madman.
Wait, maybe this is it.
▷ Kiss (Available) ▷ Hug (Available) ▶ --- (Available) ▷ /-//-- (Unavailable) ▷ /=/!!## (Absolutely Not Available)
The third option seemed fine. It seemed like the most dangerous option, so it was probably the least dangerous option. If the first option was a kiss and the second was a hug, then it followed that the third option would be milder than a hug. Seol-Hwi figured that it would be something like holding hands or flirting.
But why are the fourth and fifth options unavailable? If they were less drastic than hugging and kissing, then why did it say they were unavailable? The “Absolutely Not Available” made him very nervous.
“Why is this happening?!”
5… 4…
Ahhhhh! What was he supposed to choose now? He couldn’t take the first option, so he had to go for the hug or “—”.
I can’t hug her!
<You have selected “---”>
Seol-Hwi watched Seo Ryeong’s expression carefully, hoping he’d be able to figure out what he’d just said based on her reaction.
Her body trembled and her eyes shrank smaller and smaller.
“What did you just say?”
…He had no idea!
“Are you serious?”
What did he choose?
Seo Ryeong walked right up to him and silently peered into his eyes.
There has to be someth—ugh! Seo Ryeong’s slap spun his head around.
She slapped him!
W-What was that?
“How can you say such vulgar words…” Her voice dripped with disgust. “I’m very disappointed.”
“W-Wait a minute.”
She turned away.
“What did I say…?”
Seo Ryeong didn’t turn around.
<Seo Ryeong’s favorability has decreased by 76> <Favorability has changed from “Admiring” to “Uncomfortable”>
He couldn’t believe it. All the favorability he’d accumulated had disappeared—he was worse off than he started.
“I don’t know! I don’t know!”
Despite his angry shouts, nothing changed.
<Seo Ryeong’s favorability> 66%[↓-10%], Admiring [↓Uncomfortable]
“Wh-what did I say?!?! I don’t know what I said—!”
But the only response he got was more choices.
[Where would you like to go?] ▶ Unit Training Room
All it gave him was a task for him to do.
Now he had to teach them. How was he supposed to face her? It was so unfair—there should have been some indication of what he said to her.
He wanted to skip time.
But instead of the month passing in the blink of an eye, he was presented with two middle-aged men.
[Part 2: The Private Guards Captain Appears]
When Seol-Hwi’s vision cleared, he saw that the two men were accompanied by the fallen 3rd and 4th members of the Private Guards. He followed their gaze and saw himself and Seo Ryeong six stories below them.
Were they watching Seo Ryeong from here?
“You’re late, captain. I was about to go out when an unexpected person appeared…” This man had a square face and a small stature.
Bu Yeong [Vice-Captain of the Private Guards] Health: 3.01 million Internal Energy: 2.40 million Combat Power: 4.9 million (+7% for special skills)
“It isn’t their fault.” This man had a face full of knife scars.
Bigun [Captain of the Private Guards] Health: 5.5 million Internal Energy: 4.2 million Combat Power: 6.37 million (+12% when enraged)
An expert. His health and internal energy and, most importantly, his combat power, were extremely high. As expected of a captain.
“How pathetic. They can’t even carry out their orders because they’re intimidated—and on top of that, we can’t go out there because a stranger showed up out of nowhere.”
They were planning to come out? It didn’t make sense to Seol-Hwi. That would mean they weren’t trying to bully here, but why would they want to help her? For what?
“It’s my mistake. I didn’t think they’d be so stupid. If you would leave this to me…”
“Seriously. We won’t be able to convince her anymore. Now her talent just has to rot in that lousy unit. Tch tch.”
Now he knew. These men were trying to show Seo Ryeong that the command unit was incompetent so they could poach her into their own unit.
“Wouldn’t it be better if there wasn’t any evidence left over?”
“Captain!” Bu Yeong looked shocked. “You don’t need to directly— …I understand.”
Bu Yeong withdrew, leaving Bigun alone to watch the man in the tiger mask disappear.
“But…” Bigun whispered. “I need to introduce myself properly.”
Seol-Hwi’s vision brightened again as time began to tick again.
[Day 1: Teach the Hidden Truth Squad's Iconic Demonic Martial Arts <Advanced>]
Seol-Hwi was lucky. He didn’t have to see Seo Ryeong’s face because time skipped past it.
[Day 2: Teach the Hidden Truth Squad's Iconic Demonic Martial Arts <Advanced>] [Day 3: Teach the Hidden Truth Squad's Iconic Demonic Martial Arts <Advanced>]
…
The others’ expressions became brighter and brighter, but Seo Ryeong’s expression never changed. Well, time was passing and it wasn’t as embarrassing as the first time.
…
…
[Day 30: Teach the Hidden Truth Squad's Iconic Demonic Martial Arts <Advanced>] [Day 31: Teach the Hidden Truth Squad's Iconic Demonic Martial Arts <Advanced>] [All courses for the month have been completed] <Monthly Results> [Yorim’s favorability has increased by 5%] [Jeok Seong’s favorability has increased by 5%] [Yong Jin’s favorability has increased by 4%] [Seo Ryeong’s favorability has increased by 15%]
Huh? Her number is the highest!
The next window confirmed it.
<Vice-Captain’s Favorability> Yorim: 20% [Interested (↑)] Jeok Seong: 21% [Interested (↑)] Yong Jin: 19% [Curious (—)] Seo Ryeong: 5% [Curious (↑)]
Suddenly, his vision dimmed again.
“What is this?” Seol-Hwi found himself in the unit office. It was evening, and the sky was full of stars. Normally he’d wake up in his room after a month, so why was he here?
“I need to get home, quick.” He leapt into the air and climbed up the wall, then onto a higher building and then jumped off the roof.
Come to think of it, it would be pretty embarrassing if the Private Guards caught him jumping on the walls.
“Wait…” Seol-Hwi paused to look at the sparkling stars. “It’s been a long time.” His life had been moving at a breakneck speed. He realized that he’d never had a chance to take a break between his struggles to live. These days, though, his life seemed different. He actually had time on his hands for once. A great crisis was surely coming soon, but what was the point in living such a hurried life?“
“I ought to see things. Play a little, too.” Not trample people. Seol-Hwi could fight without constantly taking hits now. That was good. Refreshing.
“I hope Seokdu is doing well.” If he had to point to a good memory, going around with the innocent carpenter was one of them. The training was another.
“Next month, I’ll skip teaching and do Warrior training…” One mission ate two of his lives. He might die for nothing, so he wanted to spend a month or so relaxing in the field doing normal training. “I’ll soak in warm water and relax my muscles—”
“What are you doing here?”
“—Eh?!?!” He spun around. “S-Seo Ryeong? Why are you here?” He didn’t feel her presence until she spoke.
“The vice-captain is the one who came here. I’m always here.”
“Oh.” He was lost in the moment and hadn’t looked around. Or rather, he hadn’t expected to find someone sitting on the roof.
“What’s warrior training?”
“Oh, that? Um, nothing.”
“…Huh?” Seo Ryeong looked puzzled, but Seol-Hwi didn’t care.
He couldn’t care—something that shouldn’t be here was butting in.
<Choose an option from below>
“Oh no!”
▶ (´▽`)ﾉ (Available) ▷ *˘◡˘* (Available) ▷ Kiss (Available) ▷ /-//-- (Unavailable) ▷ /=/!!## (Absolutely Not Available)
Fucking window!
