章 5: Chapter 5
Nakki were considered more dangerous than goblins due to their venomous bite. Their poison could kill an ordinary person within ten seconds, and even hunters who protected themselves with mana could suffer severe injuries if left untreated.
However, it was not just their venom that gave Nakki their infamous reputation.
Their ability to hide was exceptional.
They were small, well-camouflaged, and could blend seamlessly with their surroundings.
Nakki were extremely difficult for even hunters with superhuman senses to detect.
But if one could detect them in advance…
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
"Krik!"
"Ugh!"
Nakki were actually very easy to deal with if one knew they were there.
Go Yoon-seo dashed forward and swiftly dispatched the two Nakki.
She returned with the magic stones and shells from the Nakki, her face still bewildered.
"Wow, what… how did you know, Jin Yuha?! I thought you were talking nonsense earlier…"
"Go Yoon-seo. Think before you speak."
"Hmph!"
Lee Yoo-ri glared at her, and she quickly covered her mouth, realizing her mistake. I smiled and replied.
"I have a trait called Perception."
"...Wow! You have that rare trait?!"
"Yes, I just got it recently."
"Whoa, Soup was right! It's clear that Velvet Academy doesn't let men in just because they're men!"
Suddenly, my conscience pricked me.
"Uh, well… I was just lucky."
"Hey, traits aren't something you get by luck! They reflect your habits and attitude! It's not something you can achieve without a lot of effort!"
Go Yoon-seo, who had been anxious just moments ago, was now excitedly chattering, and Yuna and Choi So-yeon also looked at me with newfound respect.
And Lee Yoo-ri…
"...You have Perception?"
"Yes, Team Leader. I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier."
I bowed my head in apology, and Lee Yoo-ri waved her hand dismissively.
"No, I wasn't trying to blame you. It's true that we should be careful with status window information, especially since we just met today."
"If it's Team Leader, I'd be happy to share my status window with you."
"...Really?"
Lee Yoo-ri's eyes widened, and she swallowed hard.
'Ah, I shouldn't tease her. This is serious.'
I felt a sudden urge to mess with her, but I held back. It was still early in our relationship, and we hadn't even gotten to know each other yet.
'Ah, this is a big problem. Every time I see her, I just want to tease her.'
Lee Yoo-ri was known for her tank-like durability and satisfying combat feel in the game.
I stifled the smile that threatened to escape.
"...So, how far can you detect with Perception?"
Lee Yoo-ri asked with a sullen voice.
"About a hundred meters."
"...That will be a huge help."
Honestly, Perception wasn't that impressive of a trait to me. In Velvet School Life, I had encountered several overpowered traits, and Perception seemed rather ordinary in comparison.
'It has clear limitations, too.'
Range: 100m.
Most hunters rarely failed to detect enemies within a 100-meter radius.
However, Perception was particularly useful in this dungeon, the Carmel Forest. The forest terrain limited visibility, and the Nakki were stealth-specialized monsters, making them a bit tricky for newbies without a Perception character.
'But with Soup, they would have detected the Nakki as soon as they got close anyway. She spotted them when they were just 10 meters away, didn't she?'
Lee Yoo-ri probably would have discovered the Nakki even without my help.
But Lee Yoo-ri didn't see it that way. She shook her head.
"No, this will significantly reduce my burden as the tanker. Now I can say this with certainty."
"Yes?"
"After this raid, I'll add you as an emergency recruit and make sure you get a little extra in the settlement."
Lee Yoo-ri spoke with a stern expression, not leaving room for argument. The other party members nodded in agreement.
I smiled and accepted.
"Thank you for your consideration."
"Then, let's get going again."
With my Perception trait, the dungeon raid gained momentum.
One of the biggest obstacles in the Carmel Forest raid was now gone, making the progress much smoother.
"Nakki, one. About a hundred meters to the right diagonal."
"Ney!"
"Two Nakki, left side."
"Yup!"
"Nakki, one. It's following us from behind."
"Got it!"
Whenever a Nakki entered my 100-meter radius, I would speak up, and Go Yoon-seo would dash out to take care of it.
Goblins, on the other hand, were easily spotted by Lee Yoo-ri without the need for my Perception.
"Three goblins confirmed. Go Yoon-seo, stand by."
"Yes!"
I stood next to Yuna and watched the battle unfold.
Lee Yoo-ri charged forward alone, shield in hand. The goblins swung their crude weapons with all their might.
Whoosh!
The heavy sound of the wind as the weapons swung through the air.
But Lee Yoo-ri never backed down.
Instead, she moved closer, getting within striking distance.
This caused the goblins' attack patterns to overlap, and their swings lost power due to the limited space.
Lee Yoo-ri displayed her skill, deftly dodging attacks that could be avoided and blocking the unavoidable ones with her shield, never letting the goblins escape her grasp.
In the meantime, Go Yoon-seo, who had been lurking in the shadows, seized the opportunity.
Screech!
"Kieek!"
Screech!
"Kek!"
In an instant, two goblins fell to Go Yoon-seo's blades. However, the remaining goblin's aggro shifted to her.
Then…
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Lee Yoo-ri tapped her dagger on her shield.
"Look at me!!!"
'Ah, that's a taunt skill.'
The motion and the shout were familiar.
[Shield's Resonance], a wide-area taunt skill.
It was a mana-based skill, and the goblin's gaze and attacks, which had been directed at Go Yoon-seo, shifted to Lee Yoo-ri without fail.
Screech!
Go Yoon-seo took advantage of the distraction to finish off the last goblin.
The battle concluded smoothly.
As I watched, I felt a fresh sense of shock.
'So this is how they really fight.'
I once again realized the difference between the game and reality.
No matter how flashy the combat animations were in the game, they inevitably fell into repetitive patterns.
'In reality, monsters don't follow set patterns. They employ a variety of attacks, and hunters adjust their movements accordingly, dodging, turning their heads, and wielding their shields.'
'Soup is even more impressive than I thought.'
As I marvelled at her skills, a voice spoke up as if reading my thoughts.
"My sister is amazing, isn't she?"
I turned to see Yuna, grinning at me.
"Yeah, she doesn't get hit even when she's that close."
"Hehe! My sister's a genius! I bet she wouldn't be out of place even at that famous Velvet Academy!"
Yuna beamed with pride, proud of her sister's accomplishments.
"Definitely."
I agreed wholeheartedly.
After all, she was a 3-star among 5-star students.
Her evasion and taunt abilities were exceptionally powerful for someone of her background.
"Yuna! Get the magic stones and goblin fangs!"
"Yes, coming!"
And so, we continued our raid, losing track of time.
.
.
.
Before we knew it, lunchtime arrived, and we set up a base camp.
"Haa, I'm exhausted!"
Go Yoon-seo flopped onto the ground, lying flat on her back.
Clap!
"Ouch!"
"Stay still! I can't heal you if you keep moving around. Why do you keep getting hurt, Go Yoon-seo?"
Choi So-yeon scolded Go Yoon-seo as she smacked her on the back.
"Hehe, I was just trying to keep our healer entertained!"
Go Yoon-seo retorted playfully.
"Agh, you take more damage than the tanker! Today was really something! We've never cleared this fast before. Hyeji would be so jealous if she saw this! This haul is incredible!!! Those expensive Nakki magic stones, we got so many!"
"...That's true."
Go Yoon-seo's excitement was contagious, and Choi So-yeon glanced at me with a strange look.
'Hmm, she does seem a bit tired. I wonder if it's the fatigue from the battles or the absence of another dealer.'
Go Yoon-seo's frequency of getting injured had increased.
On the other hand, Lee Yoo-ri still seemed fresh, perhaps because the party wasn't fully utilizing her capabilities.
'I should probably step up now.'
My original role was to protect Yuna, but so far, all I had done was use Perception.
I had been helpful in detecting the Nakki in advance, but it felt like I had just been riding along, doing nothing.
And one of my goals for coming to this dungeon was to gain experience in monster extermination.
It was time for me to join the battles.
'I should let Soup know first. I don't want to act on my own and get glared at.'
"Unnies! Oppa! Lunch is ready!"
Yuna, wearing an apron, called out, and we gathered around.
With a motherly smile on her face she gave me a lot of food on my plate with her small hands.
"Enjoy your meal, Oppa."
Yuna ladled out soup as she spoke.
"Hmm? Where's Team Leader?"
But as we lined up for our food, Lee Yoo-ri was nowhere to be seen.
"...Hmm, she always eats separately during lunch. She says she can't calm down if she eats something other than what she usually has in the dungeon."
"Ah, I see. Thanks."
I took my plate and stepped aside.
'Where's Soup? I need to ask her about joining the battles.'
I activated Perception, and I sensed her sitting alone a short distance away.
I walked over to where she was.
And there she was, sitting behind a large tree, staring blankly at the sky with a transparent plastic bag in her hand.
It was the so-called "plastic bag meal" from the military.
At a glance, it seemed to contain only rice and gochujang (Korean spicy sauce) . It was a meager meal.
'...Ahhh, she's doing this again.'
I had expected her to eat better since we weren't at the expensive Velvet Academy, but apparently, she was still skimping on meals.
'She's saving on food expenses to pay the party members and repay her debts. She's not taking care of herself at all.'
There was no need to send all the money she earned to her family. Personal expenses weren't that high unless one dined at expensive restaurants, but she was saving every penny.
'Repaying debts isn't about how much you eat for a single meal.'
Soup seemed to be savoring her food, chewing each bite for a long time.
I quietly sat down next to her, and she slowly turned her head towards me.
Chew, chew…
She stared at me with her cheeks puffed out from the food in her mouth.
Chew, chew…
Then she tilted her head to the side.
"...!?"
For a few seconds, she stared at me with wide eyes, and they suddenly widened even further.
"Ack!"
She seemed to be choking, and she started pounding her chest.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
But the sound of steel rang out as her chest was protected by a steel-reinforced outfit.
'Silly.'
I patted her back gently and handed her the water I had brought.
Lee Yoo-ri eagerly opened the lid and drank.
Gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp!
"Ji, Jin Yuha!? Wh, what are you doing here!?"
Lee Yoo-ri wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and spoke with a flustered expression.
It was like a replay of our first meeting, and Soup's clumsy side was truly endearing.
"I came to talk to you about something."
"H, have something to say…?"
She tensed up, thinking I was going to ask for more money or make some kind of demand.
"Hmm, before that…"
Whoosh!
I grabbed the plastic bag from her hand.
"My, my rice…"
Soup looked as devastated as a raccoon whose candy floss had been washed away.
I added half of my lunch to her plastic bag—the side dishes and rice received by Yuna. Well, I couldn't add the soup; otherwise it would become a mess.
"...?"
"I can't eat all of this. Yuna probably gave me more because I'm a guy."
"But, but you must be tired today… You need to replenish your energy…"
"You are a woman. You have to take care of your body."
First of all, it's a reversal between men and women, so I tried to convince her like that, but will it work?
I handed the plastic bag back to her.
Lee Yoo-ri cautiously took the now much heavier bag.
"Is, is that so? Ah, but…"
"It's fine. You worked the hardest today."
She held the bag as if it were precious, and a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
"Eat up."
"...Thank you."
Lee Yoo-ri's face reddened, and she nodded, expressing her gratitude.
"But you said you had something to tell me?"
Lee Yoo-ri fiddled with the plastic bag, her mouth full.
"Yes, I want to participate more actively in the battles from now on."
"...? You're already participating."
Lee Yoo-ri's eyes widened in confusion.
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