Chapter 18

Jeongeun headed to the training ground located underground.

If it hadn’t been for Heero today, Jeongeun would have been killed instantly by Semi’s attack. He was aware that he had become weaker, but experiencing being completely at someone else's mercy made him realize the gravity of the situation.

‘In this state, I can’t even serve as a bodyguard properly.’

There could be worse consequences than just being a hindrance due to slow running. If he made a mistake now, Dasol could get hurt. Not only that, but Heero would also feel indescribable sadness and pain.

The invincible hunter, the strongest in the country, a born solo player. The titles that had been attached to Jeongeun until a year ago were no longer his.

Right now, he was weak. He was afflicted with a condition, and his stamina was below that of an average person. And above all...

‘Don’t touch my teammate.’

He was no longer alone. He was a member of Heero’s team.

‘I need to save money to go to the hospital. I should buy some potions too.’

Even if another hunter released their aura or Dasol healed him, his mana would recover, but it seemed difficult to ask either of them personally. The former would likely see Jeongeun as a pervert, and the latter... judging by past experiences, Dasol seemed like the type who wouldn’t heal outside of dungeons unless it was a special situation.

In any case, receiving treatment at a hospital would be the fastest and most reliable option, so there was no need to beg guild members for help.

‘Anyway, what I can do now is stamina training.’

The underground training ground was divided into two floors, with strength training and cardio available on the first floor, designed like a typical gym. The second floor was a simulation training area where combat training could be conducted in a virtual dungeon environment.

Today, Jeongeun would use the first floor for training. After warming up with some stretching, he began his strength training.

Starting with light weights, he reminded himself to take it slow and steady without getting anxious.

He repeated this mantra to himself as he continued to exercise for over two hours. Just as he finished his chest workout and stood up to use the treadmill...

“Um, excuse me, Hunter Kim Yibak.”

A familiar voice called from behind. Startled, he turned around to see Dasol standing there with a cold expression, holding a small shopping bag.

“Hunter Seo Dasol, how are you?”

“...Do you have a moment?”

“Yes.”

It was already evening, with the sun set and the sky darkening. Jeongeun followed Dasol to a corner of the training ground, still feeling puzzled.

“Here.”

As soon as they stopped at a suitable spot, Dasol abruptly handed over the shopping bag.

“What is this...?”

“I asked you to fill in for me on short notice today. Thank you for going out.”

Inside the department store shopping bag was a beautifully packaged set of three A-rank mana potions.

“Potions...”

Jeongeun was so surprised that he couldn’t say anything and stammered, prompting Dasol to respond curtly.

“It’s not that expensive. I noticed something was off with your mana flow when I healed you last time. Just think of it as a nutritional supplement.”

“Really... thank you. You already gave me a gift coupon, and now potions too...”

As Jeongeun couldn’t take his eyes off the contents of the shopping bag, Dasol’s voice became even more gruff.

“It’s nothing special. Well then.”

Dasol said what he needed to and turned away without hesitation.

“Um, Hunter Seo Dasol...!”

Jeongeun called out to Dasol urgently. Hesitating under Dasol’s questioning gaze, he carefully spoke.

“Today, the Guild Master... was very upset. I appreciate this, but wouldn’t it be better to give it to the Guild Master instead of me? I apologize if that was an overstep.”

Jeongeun felt uneasy about how Heero had frozen when he saw Dasol, then smiled as if nothing was wrong, and how he had accepted his proposal after initially rejecting it.

Even though he hadn’t done anything wrong, it was pitiful that he was trying to correct his actions. Trying to gain someone’s favor was something Jeongeun had done for almost his entire life. He guessed that even if Heero was smiling, he would still feel a pang in his heart.

“If Hunter Seo Dasol could just say one word of apology, the Guild Master would be happy right away.”

“No... what happiness...”

Dasol muttered in disbelief but soon rubbed the back of his head and said,

“I was actually thinking of calling later. I had an urgent appointment that came up suddenly today. You can drink that potion, Hunter Kim Yibak. I’ll treat the Guild Master to a meal separately.”

Dasol quickly took the elevator and disappeared. Left alone, Jeongeun looked back at the potion set in the shopping bag, immersed in a strange emotion.

He had received a gift coupon and potions in return for a request that wasn’t even difficult (it was even a reward for him). He had taken the time to come and thank him. While he had often done things for others, it was the first time he had received such gratitude. So, he felt immensely thankful and moved, but...

Feeling that Dasol was both externally and internally wonderful and lovely brought a contradictory sense of sadness and despair.

Dasol matched so well with Heero. If he hadn’t canceled his appointment with Heero today and had gone shopping together, everyone would have implicitly thought of them as a couple.

Today, Jeongeun would have heard sincere blessings and compliments rather than just business lines.

‘...I’m really pathetic, Jeongeun.’

Jeongeun bit his tongue as a habit and pulled out one potion from the shopping bag.

「Mana Recharge Potion (A): Drinking it restores 20% of your mana.

(*This value applies only to awakeners of A rank or lower.)」

After reading the friendly explanation card attached to the bottle cap, Jeongeun immediately downed the potion in one shot.

‘Let’s not think about unnecessary things and focus on healing my body.’

He steadied his mind and waited for the potion’s effects to kick in. Before long, a status window appeared before his eyes.

The mana damage rate decreases to 51.2%.

It seemed that since Jeongeun was S-rank and his mana vessel was broken, he wouldn’t be able to restore the full 20% as stated in the instructions. However, Jeongeun was satisfied with the potion’s effect.

He drank the remaining two bottles in succession. Although a warning about resistance appeared, ultimately, his mana damage rate dropped to 42.5%. He felt a slight lightness in his body as well.

He finished his cardio workout and returned to his lodging, took a cold shower, and lay down on his bed. Sleeping was the best way to clear his mind when he had too many thoughts.

However, just before he turned off the light, his phone vibrated. Thinking it might be an SNS notification, he picked up his phone, but his hand froze in mid-air.

A series of Hunter Talk messages arrived from Heero. Jeongeun held his phone with trembling hands as if it were a sacred object, then snapped back to reality and replied to Heero.

Almost immediately, a heart appeared on Jeongeun’s last message. He silently stared at the heart and then subtly pressed the capture button. With a click, the Hunter Talk window with the small red heart was saved.

‘I’m glad I joined the Sooryun guild...’

After that, Jeongeun read and reread Heero’s messages for a while before finally falling asleep past midnight. The strange sense of melancholy he had felt earlier had long since evaporated.

**

The next day, Jeongeun received a text about a meeting for Team 1 and went up to the conference room.

“Did the gate open?”

“No, I told you. They called us to eat.”

In response to the questions from Soohyuk and Rina, Heero shook his head cheerfully. He placed several shopping bags on the conference room table.

“I called you all to give you gifts. I did some item shopping for our team members yesterday. The delivery came this morning.”

“Wow, S-rank items!”

“Oh, thank you!”

“Are they all different?”

The team members excitedly lifted their butts to peek into the shopping bags. Heero smiled as he handed out gifts to each of them.

“This one is for Soohyuk. It’s gloves that increase attack power and control rampage. Rina, yours are gloves too, but for archers... and Yejin, yours is a cloak with a lightweight spell that reduces casting time, so I bought it. This one...”

Heero paused for a moment before continuing.

“It’s a ring, but it has a limit of once a day. However, once activated, it prevents mana loss for 15 minutes. I thought it would be perfect for a healer, so I bought it.”

Dasol’s gift was an item in the shape of a ring, but it was overwhelmingly effective compared to the others, even though it was also S-rank. Even Dasol, who usually seemed indifferent, was holding the shopping bag with a fluttering expression.

So that was the main point. Jeongeun realized that Heero had had a separate gift he wanted to give to Dasol all along. However, he likely bought gifts for the other team members too, fearing that giving something just to Dasol would make him uncomfortable.

To hide his sinking feelings, Jeongeun deliberately put on a more stoic expression. Even as the other team members chattered excitedly, unwrapping their gifts and getting ready to head down to the training ground to test their new items, Jeongeun remained seated quietly.

As Yejin was preparing to go out with everyone, she noticed Jeongeun.

“Kim Yibak, would you like to go down together?”

Jeongeun slowly stood up. He couldn’t sit there with a gloomy face forever. Just as he was about to respond affirmatively...

“Oh, Yibak, you stay for a moment and talk to me. Everyone else can go ahead.”

Heero held Jeongeun back.