103 – A New Persona – 3

Ji-hye slammed the table with a bang and shouted.

“Another solo action? Do you know we haven’t even acted together once since we formed our party?”

“What do you mean? Just a short while ago, we acted as a party and successfully completed our objective.”

Gi-jun replied slyly with a grin and offered her the end piece of the gimbap he had just sliced.

“Eat this first and calm down.”

“I’m not a child to be bribed with food— *nom*.”

He had expected her to take it with her hand, so he was a bit surprised when she ate it directly with her mouth.

While the eyes of the group gathered on her, Ji-hye, who had thoroughly chewed and eaten the gimbap, spoke with a dissatisfied expression.

“Why is this so delicious?”

“That’s because the ingredients inside are good.”

No matter how active Turis was as a trading city, it was bound to lag behind compared to the heart of Gratia, the metropolis of Cor.

Gi-jun had swept up premium seafood from a grocery store in Cor, including lobster, tuna, salmon, sea urchin, and fresh, high-quality seaweed that only fairy merchants could supply.

Coincidentally, since the reward money had come in and he had plenty of funds, he had no reason to hesitate, and the fact that the prices of seafood in Leta were set lower than expected also played a big role.

The reason it was cheap… was presumably because the tricky distribution issues inherent to seafood had been cleanly resolved by the presence of fairy merchants and the summoned.

“Since I got seafood for the fillings anyway, I tried making this too.”

“Is it different?”

“Try it.”

Gi-jun sliced a gimbap rolled with similar ingredients but different rice, and offered her the end piece this time as well.

Ji-hye quickly took and ate it, her eyes widening, and after chewing and swallowing it, she clapped like a seal and shouted.

“This is sushi!”

“The first one you ate was Korean gimbap with sesame oil, sesame seeds, and salt in the rice, and this one has vinegar and sugar in the rice. It’s the Japanese futomaki version.”

“Ugh, to create such a different feeling just by changing the rice. It’s frustrating, but I have no choice but to acknowledge Oppa’s solo action…!”

“Were you judging me this whole time?”

“Ju—Jun-nim!”

While Gi-jun was grinning as he watched Ji-hye declare defeat in front of the delicious gimbap and futomaki, Lora poked her head forward right in front of his eyes.

“I, I… want to eat too!”

“Huh? I wrapped these to make lunchboxes for you all… but if you want to eat, feel free to have as much as you want.”

“…….”

Even though there was sliced gimbap right in front of her, Lora simply kept a strange silence and stared at him.

When he picked up a piece of gimbap and offered it to her, just in case, Lora opened her mouth wide as if she had been waiting and accepted it.

Gi-jun felt a little embarrassed.

“Wait a minute. You were perfectly fine when you fed me, Oppa, so why are you shy with Lora?”

“No, it’s just, suddenly…”

“*Munch, munch*… Jun-nim, the next one too.”

“Again?”

Gi-jun shuddered at the mysterious competitive spirit Lora was burning against Ji-hye, but he still picked up a futomaki and fed it to her.

Whether it was because it was extremely delicious, Lora’s eyes curved into happy crescents.

“Are you satisfied?”

“Yes……”

“Alright, now about the dungeon you guys are going to… Huh?”

“…….”

As if taking turns with Lora, who stepped back in satisfaction, Tilla poked her head forward.

Only after feeding her the gimbap and futomaki as well, with the mindset of a mother bird feeding her chick, was he finally able to get to the main point.

It was a relief that even Gin did not rush in to be fed.

“Wow, according to these documents, it’s really an incredibly good dungeon. There are no traps, it’s overflowing with monsters, and even the rest areas are properly placed… It’s almost like someone made it that way.”

The party members who checked the documents Gi-jun presented all admired it, but Ji-hye, who had been wandering around searching for dungeons as part of Ye-min’s party, had a particularly special reaction.

Gi-jun chuckled and said.

“I obtained this to raise your level quickly, Ji-hye.”

“Finally, my level-up is unlocked……!”

Before starting Ji-hye’s leveling, what absolutely had to be done was raising her Strength and Endurance to the Uncommon rank.

Since she had accomplished that much more easily than expected thanks to the recruitment of Tilla, whose skills were on par with Gi-jun’s, she would not suffer any loss in stats even if she leveled up without any worries.

“But you probably already know this, right? Growing a stat to the Legendary rank is by no means an easy task. If you believe that you will eventually reach it just by raising your level like before, you’ll be in for a rude awakening.”

“Oppa, I have confidence. I have no intention of losing to anyone when it comes to understanding mana.”

Ji-hye replied with a serious expression.

Gi-jun also nodded, sensing the powerful mana circulation taking place inside her body even at this very moment.

Had she mentioned that she had learned a Unique-rank Mana Circuit during the second round of the tutorial and grown it all the way to the Legendary rank?

With that level of ability, as long as her body supported it, she would be able to grow her mana without much difficulty.

“Do not neglect your physical training just because I’m not around. Originally, I wanted to raise all of your physical stats to the Rare rank, but since doing that would take years, I simply compromised.”

“Ugh, I get it……”

Although she made a grimace, unable to deny his words, Ji-hye ultimately smiled as she recalled her own stats, which had changed to an incomparable degree compared to when she had belonged to Ye-min’s party.

Gi-jun also chuckled, took his eyes off her, and looked back at the rest of the group.

Gin and Lora, whose race ranks had already reached Rare, also had somewhat tense expressions ahead of their journey to the dungeon.

“Gin, Lora. I am sorry I cannot go to the dungeon with you.”

“No, Jun-nim. Even up until now, we were able to become strong because you looked out for us. We will become even stronger!”

“M—Me too. Once I grow in this dungeon and come out… will I be able to stand by Jun-nim’s side then?”

He held the hands of the two, who always said such admirable things, and made eye contact with them.

“You are different from before. You have become much stronger, and you will become even stronger. You are already indispensable assets to the party. This time, I am only going to clear a ruins that I must conquer alone, so let’s truly move together once I return from there.”

“Clear alone……”

Gin, who had handed the key over to him, nodded with a gleam in his eyes as if he understood what that meant.

“I leave it in your hands, Jun-nim.”

“Yeah.”

Next was Nabinya, who had become his vassal separately from Gi-jun’s party.

“Can you not move without me, nya! Have I received a great favor from Master, nya. Will I assist Master by his side from now on, nya!”

“Nabinya.”

“Nyat……!”

Nabinya was making a firm expression, declaring that she would follow Gi-jun this time, but as soon as he scratched her chin, her face softened in an instant.

“I have important work to do alone. In the meantime, protect my party members in my stead, Nabinya. I am counting on you.”

“In Master’s stead……”

The effect was excellent.

Nabinya drew the high-quality-looking rapier hanging at her waist, which Boots had probably bought for her, and shouted bravely.

“Will I protect the party in Master’s stead, nya!”

“Right, please.”

“Will you trust and leave it to Nabinya, the Puss in Flats, nya!”

The party members watched Nabinya, who had been swayed so easily, with warm smiles.

Gi-jun cast a final glance at Tilla, who had ultimately failed to resist her impulse and hugged the creature, petting her wildly, and spoke.

“I’m counting on you for a bit, Tilla.”

“You must come back quickly.”

“I will.”

After the conversation with his party members was mostly wrapped up, Gi-jun neatly sliced the large quantity of gimbap and futomaki he had rolled, making a massive amount of lunchboxes.

Since having only gimbap would be a bit plain, he also fried up a mountain of food and packed it separately.

Of course, he also boiled various types of soup to go with it, poured them all into thermoses, and distributed them to his party members.

“For the fried food, I prepared beef, chicken, and pork with various sauces. Same for the soup.”

“If I had packed a lunchbox like this when going on school picnics, I really would have ruled the entire school……”

Gi-jun smiled at Ji-hye’s words and stood up from his seat.

Of course, this was after he had packed his own share of the lunchbox into his inventory.

“Then I will leave now. Contact me immediately if anything happens.”

“Return safely, Jun-nim……!”

It was still midday.

Coming out of the lodging, he nimbly mounted the back of the griffin, Fortis, who was waiting for him while monopolizing the attention of the other guests.

—Kieee……

Ur, who would have taken that spot had Fortis not been here, cried out as if feeling a bit left out, but even though he had reached the Unique rank, there was no way he could keep up with the travel speed of the griffin, who was called the Sovereign of the Sky.

Patting Ur to comfort him, Gi-jun pulled out the vibrating blood-colored key from his chest and said to Fortis after checking it:

“Go in the direction where the vibration gets stronger. You can do it, right?”

—Piiiiiii!

Spreading its wings wide, Fortis kicked off the ground and soared into the sky.

Whether it was because his title had grown or because he had officially become Fortis’s master, a smile naturally spread across his face at the speed, which felt much faster than before.

He quietly looked down at the key in his hand.

The ruins for the Vampire Hunter, which he only knew was located somewhere in Gratia.

He squeezed it tightly in his palm, slowly closed his eyes, and then opened them.

After two full days of flying from then, he finally reached his destination.

* * *

Ye-min’s party, who had received a handsome reward for their request from the guild, had their achievements recognized and actually secured the exclusive rights to a dungeon.

It was a right that allowed only Ye-min’s party to explore the dungeon for a short period, and since the boss there had not been defeated yet, they might strike it big if they were lucky.

“Of course, it’s not that there were no parties that challenged the boss. The fact that the boss is still alive means that those parties were wiped out.”

Bella, who said she was heading back up to Cor after handing over the rewards, kindly explained the dungeon to them and smiled as she added a story that sent a shiver down the spine of those listening.

“We expect it to be at least a mid-tier Unique rank. There is also a high possibility that it possesses unconfirmed titles and skills. Will you still challenge it?”

“Of course.”

Ye-min replied without a single moment of hesitation, her eyes sparkling.

“Because there is someone I must catch up to… someone I want to stand beside.”

“I see who you are talking about. Since I made a mistake first, I will keep my mouth shut.”

Bella chuckled and handed them several documents and certificates.

Finally, she set down a leather pouch full of gold coins and let out a deep sigh.

“Although we put out the immediate fire thanks to cutting down the enemy spies early on, the invasion could still begin at any moment. I only hope that reliable talents will grow even a little faster. Can I look forward to it?”

“Of course.”

Ye-min, who exchanged a firm look with Bella, took all the rewards and left the room with her party members.

“Let’s go to the dungeon right away.”

“Aren’t you in too much of a hurry?”

“It’s not that I’m impatient, the situation is urgent.”

Speaking flatly, Ye-min bit her lip.

“Uncle Su, you saw it too. How incredibly strong Jun-i Oppa has become.”

“I did. Some shield flew faster than a missile and swept everything away, it was just crazy.”

“Maybe some kind of special reward was given to the hero who survived until the end. Honestly, during the second round, I was worried that we would be the only ones to grow too strong and leave a gap between us and Jun-i Hyeong, but that was an absurd delusion.”

As Mok-su nodded and spoke, Eun-shin chimed in with a bitter smile.

Ye-min also recalled Gi-jun’s appearance back then vividly, and her eyes widened.

“Right. If we go on like this, we will only hold Oppa back. I can never accept such a situation. Besides, Jun-i Oppa is already leading another party. We might lose our spot to them.”

“Come to think of it, that’s true……”

Mok-su also belatedly realized the seriousness of the situation.

Of course, Gi-jun himself had told them that it was a party he formed to resolve this incident, and that he would join them once the vampire raid was resolved, but……

If the capabilities of Ye-min’s party were too lacking for them to keep pace with Gi-jun…

No matter how good of a person Gi-jun was, he might be reluctant to party with them.

No, if such a situation arose, they themselves would not be able to bear it, even before Gi-jun did.

“I absolutely cannot stand by and watch that happen. Even at this very moment, those sly foxes in the same party might be aiming for Oppa……”

“……Huh? Hasn’t the story changed a bit, Min-i?”

“Uncle.”

“Yes!”

At Ye-min’s cold voice, Mok-su stood at attention and replied.

“You know you’re the one in the most urgent position, right, Uncle? I will somehow grow you to the Rare rank as quickly as possible. And after that, us too.”

“Understood, Nuna. Let’s prepare for the expedition and enter the dungeon right away. Uncle Su?”

As Eun-shin placated Ye-min and gave a look to Mok-su, he also hurriedly nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, I will work hard too, so don’t worry too much. What kind of woman could seduce Jun-i anyway? Even our Min-i hasn’t been able to do it yet.”

“……Uncle.”

“Hee-eek?!”

It was too late.

He could not be saved anymore.

Eun-shin pressed his hand to his forehead, stepped back, and prayed for Mok-su’s soul.

* * *

[Ye-min (Leta): Jun-i Oppa, I’m asking just in case, but how many women are in your party right now?]

[Ye-min (Leta): Ah, three including Hye-ji. Still, none of them are closer to you than me, right?]

[Ye-min (Leta): Right?]

[Ye-min (Leta): Ah… You say they follow Oppa well.]

[Ye-min (Leta): I see… Ah, what about aside from your party members? Is there any other woman you are close with?]

[Ye-min (Leta): ……Oppa?]