To be honest, the relationship between Ahn Do-hoon and I was so poor that it was embarrassing to even say that it was a bad relationship.
It must be so, because he and I had only a handful of ties, and even that was not directly related.
Because of the incident of Il-jun Na in the past, and at the time of the guild invitation, he designated me, but the raid happened and it was fuzzy.
That was only twice.
Since then, we have never seen each other face-to-face, nor have we ever had anything to do with each other.
If I had to pick the person I was most associated with Ahn Do-hoon, would it be Choi Hyun-woo?
To say the least, as they were rival gimmicks in the original, the two were steadily building up a competitive relationship while opposing each other.
In fact, if I had to pick the person who competed the most with Ahn Do-hoon, I could pick Choi Hyun-woo.
By the way.
Why the hell are you asking me to fight you out of the blue like this?
“I’m just saying this just in case, but I didn’t do it with strange intentions. I really just want to fight with you purely.”
Ahn Do-hoon was still looking at me with a cautious attitude as if he had guessed my thoughts.
“May I ask why?”
“Because you are stronger than Choi Hyun-woo.”
For a moment, I wondered what nonsense he was talking about.
When I looked at Choi Hyun-woo to ask, “What nonsense is this guy talking about now?
Then when I looked at him, he had a look on his face, wondering what the problem was.
“why? It’s true.”
“… Could it have been what you said?”
“yes? Ah oh. let me ask you all of a sudden To be honest, Jihyuk said you were stronger than me.”
“… … .”
As I was staring at him at a loss for words, Ahn Do-hoon fixed the lance with a rattling sound.
Then he said to me as if he already knew.
“… I am well aware that you are outnumbered by Choi Hyun-woo in close combat. Of course, it will be pushed to me as well. I’ll be the worst match for you, wearing armor and armor.”
“I know. If I fight with you, I will almost lose 100%, so do I really need to fight? What, are you trying to embarrass me?”
“It’s not because of that low-key reason.”
Ahn Do-hoon showed a fierce momentum for a moment as if he had been insulted.
“Nevertheless, Choi Hyun-woo, that guy asserts that you are stronger than him… … If the guy who now admits he’s stronger than me can say that, I just thought that there was definitely something to learn. There is no other meaning.”
Ahn Do-hoon said so and fixed the lance once more.
“… … .”
It was as Choi Hyun-woo said that it was definitely different from before.
In his eyes, he could see a pure fighting spirit, not to ridicule and trample anyone he had seen in the past.
Did the constant conflict and competition with Choi Hyun-woo draw something out of him?
I don’t know exactly what it was, but at least I knew it was leading him in the right direction.
And his growth was also what I wanted.
It was a time when I was trying to get into a position because I thought there was nothing I could do.
“for a moment.”
Jin Ye-seul gently leaned her body in front of me.
Then he moved his body as if blocking me and tilted his head towards Ahn Do-hoon.
“Am I going to do it with Jihyuk first? You have to follow the order.”
“… You haven’t done it yet. And since you’re in the same class, you’ll have more chances than me. Could you please give me a little bit this time?”
In response to Ahn Do-hoon’s request, Jin Ye-seul pretended to ponder for a moment before answering.
“Um, don’t you?”
Saying so, she gently raised her one-handed sword.
“If you want to decide, try defeating me first.”
“There’s not much time left for class now, so if I hang out with you, I don’t think I’ll have enough time.”
Then, Jin Ye-seul smiled brightly.
“Turn it off if you don’t like it.”
“ha… … .”
Ahn Do-hoon let out a small sigh.
Anyone could see that it was a sigh that barely contained anger.
I carefully grabbed Jin Ye-seul’s shoulder.
“It’s okay, come out. I will always do it with you later.”
“No, it’s okay. Ji-hyuk. It will be over soon.”
“No, because I’m fine.”
Even with that said, Jin Ye-seul was immovable.
Then, I was throbbing and the scar on the back of my neck was aching.
“… … .”
I let out a small sigh, and I felt annoyance creeping up.
Still, it was the car that I felt that I needed to change my relationship with her.
If you just keep going like this, maybe really… … .
“Jin Ye-seul.”
When I called her name in a low voice, she screamed and trembled.
She hesitated, turned around, and looked at me with some trembling eyes.
“Yes… ?”
“I said I was fine.”
“Oh, uh. that, that… … .”
He looked at her in a hurry and gave a short shot, and clenched his fists.
“come out.”
“Yes… … sorry… … .”
Jin Ye-seul hurriedly came out in front of me and ran to Choi Hyun-woo’s side.
And then he exhaled a little.
For some reason, she looked at me with a busty look and muttered something softly.
… For some reason, Jin Ye-seul’s face seemed a little red, but I wanted to believe that it was just her mood.
“Thank you for accepting the request.”
Ahn Do-hoon looked at me standing in front of him and bowed his head briefly.
Then, holding the lance, he lowered himself and looked in a typical position.
I could tell that it was a posture to check the opponent’s skill, not the charge.
“Let’s go fast, let’s go fast. This is a piece of glass in close combat.”
Saying so, he carefully fixed the two daggers.
As he said, my relationship with him was the worst.
If so, the first thing to do was to find the gap of the opponent.
“Ugh!”
player win.
It was this one that ran first.
At that sight, Ahn Do-hoon gently swung his lance with his eyes lit low.
As if he was performing a stunt, Ahn Do-hoon looked surprised for a moment when he avoided it by a single sheet of paper.
And shortly thereafter, he smiled a warlike smile.
* * *
“Ouch.”
“Mi, I’m sorry! Are you in a lot of pain?”
Jin Ye-seul, who was pasting the paste on her back, asked me, more than usual.
I beckoned ok and started buttoning my half-naked clothes.
“So I do it… … .”
Jin Ye-seul muttered as if upset.
The confrontation with Ahn Do-hoon ended in vain than expected.
It was good to dig through his gaps and hit a few hits, but there was no way he could pierce the armor without using mana on the dagger for supply with the veiled blade.
Knowing this, Ahn Do-hoon did not panic and calmly and skillfully checked this side and gave several effective hits.
It was a time when the two of them got entangled and exchanged workshops.
As long as the distance has been narrowed once, it is advantageous to this side.
And it was a fact that both of them knew well.
Therefore, Ahn Do-hoon hung a lance on my body to widen the distance, and flew it away.
That in itself was not a problem.
The problem was that someone and I accidentally bumped into each other while trying to figure out our poses in the air.
A student who had been competing in another place had accidentally crossed over to this area.
Thanks to this, he couldn’t properly hold his posture in the air and fell off his back and shoulders.
It wasn’t a big wound, but I couldn’t help but feel a bitter taste in my mouth.
Ahn Do-hoon and Choi Hyeon-woo took me to the infirmary together, and they said it wasn’t a big deal, so they left to take classes again.
‘Thank you for today. which… … I’d appreciate it if you do it again next time.’
Ahn Do-hoon left with the words to take good care of himself, speaking like a thrower.
At the same time, the way he naturally said something to Choi Hyun-woo, I just felt that he had changed a lot even if something changed.
And for some reason, Jin Ye-seul stayed in the infirmary with me, pretending to be sick too.
When we were left alone in the spacious hospital room, she secretly approached me.
“Hey there, Jihyuk.”
“why?”
“Uh, I’ve prepared almost everything you asked for.”
To be honest, I couldn’t help but be surprised by that.
When I looked at her with surprised eyes, she smiled mischievously.
“Well, to be honest, people are still in the process of choosing, but I got all the rest. Shall I send you to my room later?”
“Yes, thank you. But have you already saved them all in one day? Isn’t that too much?”
“Ah, it’s not like that… … .”
She mumbled in a shy voice, as if embarrassed.
“I spent a little bit of pocket money, but I’ve saved up a lot so it’s okay.”
“… Well, of course I was going to pay for it.”
“uh… … .”
Jin Ye-seul hesitated for a moment and then came a little closer to me.
When I was startled, she shook her head slightly and whispered.
“I won’t do that anymore.”
Then he whispered in my ear how much it cost, and when I heard the amount, I was terrified.
“What, crazy… … Did you hear that?”
“Yeah, I guess I’m just trying to save someone… … In such a case, just because you want it blindly doesn’t mean you can get it.”
“her.”
It was an amount beyond imagination.
It was a time when I was dazed at the amount that was not enough to just say thank you.
“Well, I won’t tell you to pay it back, so you don’t have to worry.”
“No, it’s because it’s not an amount that can be passed on like that.”
“then… … .”
Jin Ye-seul’s eyes lit up a little.
“Instead of that, what… … Won’t Ji-hyeok tell you one secret?”
“secret?”
“yes.”
Jin Ye-seul nodded her head.
Being naturally wary of the word secret, she shook her head as if it wasn’t such a grandiose thing.
“Because anything is good. Tell me one secret that only you know and no one knows.”
After staring at her for a moment, I told her something that happened in the original world.
“Do you have ice cream when you have a lot of stress? I used to walk around the room with it and ate a whole bottle by myself.”
At that, Jin Ye-seul nodded her head as if curiously.
“Does anyone know about that?”
“right.”
Because my brother didn’t know either.
Thinking like that, Jin Ye-seul was making an expression that seemed to be genuinely satisfied.
Then, as if she had forgotten, she took a candy out of her pocket and showed it to me.
“What?”
“Look carefully.”
She grabbed the candy with both hands.
After a while, she closed her eyes and opened her eyes, and when she opened her eyes, to her surprise, there were two candies.
I knew what this was.
A skill that can be obtained with Mirage Gloves.
It was a simple yet highly useful skill that could replicate objects almost semi-permanently.
“I’ve been working all night.”
Jin Ye-seul said so and handed me a candy.
I nodded my head as if it was a good thing, seeing her as if wishing for a compliment.
“great job. … Trusting you was the right answer.”
With those words, Jin Ye-seul suddenly opened her mouth as she opened the candy package.
I looked up to see what she was doing, and Jin Ye-seul tapped her lips and touched her lips with her finger.
“Ahh.”
“… … .”
I tried to pretend I didn’t know, but when I saw that there were blood vessels in Jin Ye-seul’s eyes, I let out a small sigh.
After listening to it, I noticed that her face was somehow more frizzy than usual, and she looked quite tired.
When she quietly put the candy in her mouth, she gave a blank expression as if she didn’t know if she was really going to do it.
“why.”
“Oh, no… … .”
She covered the ball with both hands with a sound as if the wind was blowing away.
Then he grumbled and began to carefully suck the candy, and seeing it, I wanted to do this, and pulled out the pendant from the shadows.
“Can you duplicate this too?”
“Yes?”
Jin Ye-seul, who carefully shredded the candy, accepted the pendant I showed her.
Then, as if to try, he grabbed it with both hands and closed his eyes.
Jin Ye-seul, who was holding it without saying a word, was able to see the magical energy rising around her.
At one point, Jin Ye-seul, who was sweating in a cold sweat, opened her mouth and a helpless moan came out.
“Ah, uh… … No, Mana… … .”
With those words, she stumbled and fell to the floor helplessly.
Reflexively, she reached out and managed to catch Jin Ye-seul, who was about to hit the ground with her head first.
“What is it, hey? Are you okay?”
“Well, it’s just magic… … A little… … .”
Jin Ye-seul mumbled hard, but I wondered if this was the magical exhaustion I had only heard in words.
While supporting her, only a small portion of the pendant was found to have been duplicated.
… I know that the amount of magical power required for each duplicated object is different, but even if Jin Ye-seul pours out enough magical power to exhaust himself, only that amount will be realized.
The first thing to do was to put Jin Ye-seul, who was exhausted and droopy, on the bed.
In that brief moment, her body was drenched in cold sweat, and her lips were blue.
I was embarrassed and said it as if it was absurd, without even realizing it.
“No, you can stop on the way. What if you foolishly pour out your magical energy until you burn out?”
“Not so… … .”
Jin Ye-seul mumbled as if making an excuse.
“Jihyuk asked you to do it… … .”
Then, immediately, he started crying.
First of all, it was time to find a towel because I wanted to wipe the sweat from my forehead first.
“My satan… … uhhh… … .”
candy?
When I turned my head to look at the floor, I saw a lollipop rolling around as if she had just spit it out without me knowing.
“Shut up, whoops. I even fed him… … .”
“… ha.”
I picked up the candy that had flowed out of her pocket, sobbing and crying as if it was really sad, and tore the wrapping paper.
As she waved in front of her with tears in her eyes, Jin Ye-seul quickly stopped her tears and looked at it.
“Come on, open your mouth. ah.”
“Ugh, ah… … .”
Jin Ye-seul opened her mouth again as instructed, and then took it and ate it.
Then he mumbled the candy in his mouth, sniffling and muttering.
“It’s delicious… … .”
“There was no case of temporary infantile regression among the symptoms of magical exhaustion… … .”
I muttered out of absurdity, but at first it was because of me, so I carefully wiped her forehead with a towel.
Then, with a bang, the door to the infirmary opened.
“Jihyuk, I heard you were hurt… ?”
Han Soo-young, gasping as if she had been running without a break, caught her breath, and when she saw us, she tilted her head.
“… Why are you nursing?”
“That’s right.”
Han Soo-young took a few breaths and came over to me.
She, who was coming next to me, paused on the way, sniffed her clothes, and turned around and walked to the other side.
“Are you really sick?”
Han Soo-young, who looked at Jin Ye-seul, muttered as if it was surprising.
Then he looked a little more and tilted his head.
“Is it magic exhaustion?”
“right.”
In response to my answer, Han Soo-young reached out and carefully placed her hand on Jin Ye-seul’s heart.
And after a while, her hands began to shine brightly, and Jin Ye-seul’s complexion began to soften little by little.
Han Soo-young, who simply accomplished what was known as advanced technology, nodded.
“done… … I’ll be fine with this for a while. But why was it only you?”
“Since you came, you weren’t there from the beginning.”
“Uh… … .”
Han Soo-young nodded and reached out to me.
“I’ll take care of Yesul. Stop it now.”
“Oh, I’m fine. Aren’t you really busy?”
“Because I’m fine. It’s like going back to class anyway.”
Saying that, Han Soo-young narrowed her eyes slightly and looked at this side.
“Rather than that, Ye-seul needs to clean her body, so you’re going to do it?”
Raising my hands as if knowingly, I approached her and handed her a towel.
Then, instead of taking the towel, Han Soo-young reached out and carefully grabbed my wrist.
“… What’s wrong?”
“What?”
“Aren’t you going to do something alone again?”
Han Soo-young said so and looked at me worriedly.
“Promise, don’t forget.”
“then.”
Saying so, I handed the towel to her and pulled out her hand.
I don’t know anything else, thinking that I will never be able to tell her this time.
“Wow… … .”
Meanwhile, Jin Ye-seul, who was lying on the bed, muttered quietly.
“What are you two doing now… … Whoops!”
“Oh my, Yesul. what?”
What Jin Ye-seul was trying to say, Han Soo-young covered her mouth with a towel and covered her mouth.
I stood up at the sight of her holding back her trembling body.
“okay. Then I’ll just go.”
“Hey, goodbye, Jihyuk.”
“Wow! Oops!”
“… And don’t bother too much. First of all, I am a patient.”
A picture of Han Soo-young sending magic to Jin Ye-seul.
Then, thinking about how to constantly supply magic to Jin Ye-seul, I opened the door and went outside.
* * *
“… … .”
As Yoo Ji-hyeok closed the door and left, Jin Ye-seul, who was struggling, and Han Soo-young, who was suppressing her, stopped moving almost at the same time as if they had matched her words.
“Would you mind putting this away? I’m out of breath.”
“Oh yeah.”
When Jin Ye-seul asked in a calm voice, Han Soo-young nodded her head as if she understood and lifted the towel.
It is true that he was exhausted due to depletion of his magical powers, but at best, Jin Ye-seul was not the only one who would lose that much strength.
However, it was true that she was drowsy, so she did not stand up and looked at Han Soo-young while lying down.
“Can I ask you just one thing?”
“What?”
Jin Ye-seul tilted her head at Han Soo-young’s question.
“Jihyuk, what’s wrong?”
In response to her confident question, Jin Ye-seul silently rolled the candy in her mouth with her tongue.
There was a rattling sound, the candy and the teeth clashing.
“Well… … .”
Jin Ye-seul smiled slightly, and showed her the candy that she had bitten with her teeth as if fixedly, and said.
Then, secretly turning around, the necklace hanging from his neck shimmered in the light.
“I don’t even know?”
Han Soo-young just smiled at those words.