Chapter 44 – LV.Fourteen Warrior Oh Haengbok – [Three]

I said I was fine, but in reality, I wasn’t.

It was also my first time being shot. The bullet hurt when it went in, but it was even more horrifying when they had to pull it out for treatment. They had to use tweezers to pry open the wound to prevent regeneration while extracting the bullet that had already fused with the flesh. Damn it, how much happier would I have been if they had at least given me anesthesia?

I had experienced even worse pain not long ago. When my entire body’s skin was burning and a thick spear blade pierced through my shoulder blade, I desperately wished everything would just end right then and there.

‘It would have been easier if I had just died back then. Why didn’t I die?’

I thought I could handle pain well, but even though I used to calmly self-harm in the past to show Kim Jihyeok how the world had changed, the pain I’ve been experiencing lately has been excessive. Too frequent, too severe.

Seo Yun frowned, turning her head so Kim Jihyeok wouldn’t see. Would she have to suffer like this in the future too? If so, when would it end so she could rest?

A voice tinged with tears came from beside her.

“It’s home.”

Seo Yun looked and saw it was the boy from the neighboring village. Seong Juri, sitting across from him, chided him.

“It’s still far to your village. We’re not even in Incheon yet.”

“No, not there. Our old house is over there…”

Following the boy’s gaze, she saw a collapsed multi-family house. It probably wasn’t a great building even when it was standing, but the boy was staring at the ruins as if looking at a palace.

The boy then turned his head toward Seo Yun. As could be heard from his voice alone, his face was tear-streaked.

“Thank you.”

“Huh?”

“Really, thank you. All of this…”

Seo Yun chuckled. This kid isn’t using honorifics now.

“Yeah. Make sure you remember this favor even if you die a hundred times.”

Seo Yun said it playfully on purpose, but the boy answered seriously.

“Yeah. I’ll never forget it.”

Feeling awkward in this situation, Seo Yun roughly patted his shoulder and looked back.

Behind them, Oh Haengbok was following on the monster bike that had been broken last time. His characteristic eye light left a red trail behind him.

That guy’s gaze… Seeing it after so long, it felt truly ominous.

How long had they been driving? The Two-and-a-Half-Ton Truck and Oh Haengbok stopped.

Tents hidden among the collapsed buildings came into view. It seemed to be the campsite of the Happy Village Players.

“What’s this?”

The Happy Village Players approached and belatedly recognized the passengers. One Warrior shouted.

“Huh? Over there!”

Oh Haengbok got off his bike. The Happy Village Players approached. They looked back and forth between Oh Haengbok and Seo Yun.

“You actually rescued them? How?”

In response to one Player’s question, Oh Haengbok shook his head.

“We didn’t rescue them. They got out on their own. Hmm, since we’re on the topic, let me ask. How did you escape? Did the Military Grunts let you go?”

Seong Juri answered that question.

“The soldiers did cooperate a bit, but honestly, you could say Seo Yun did it all by herself.”

“How did she do what?”

“So, Seo Yun…”

After the explanation ended, Oh Haengbok and the gathered Happy Village people all looked at Seo Yun simultaneously. Seo Yun said modestly.

“I was a bit awesome.”

Since Han Siwoo was staring at her with a strange expression from behind, she decided to hit him later. Seo Yun continued, pointing at Seong Juri.

“And it wasn’t just me who suffered. Juri here also went through a lot. Thanks to her, I was saved from the brink of death. Look. She’s suffered so much she’s not even human anymore.”

“Not human anymore? What do you mean?”

Oh Haengbok, looking at Seong Juri’s face, asked.

“Juri, why is your eye color like that?”

“I became a Dwarf.”

“A Dwarf?”

“Well, as Seo Yun said, I did my part too.”

Seong Juri shrugged her shoulders and smiled slightly. It was probably a smile laden with many emotions, but Oh Haengbok focused on something strange.

“If you’re a Dwarf, shouldn’t you not lose weight? Even in illustrations, whether male or female, they’re all muscular and broad-shouldered…”

At Oh Haengbok’s words, Seo Yun muttered to herself. Crazy bastard. Is that important right now?

Indeed, Seong Juri seemed disappointed that the Chief she respected didn’t ask about her hardships or praise her, but she still spoke in a calm voice.

“Well, it’s fine. It’s not an era to care about appearance anyway. As a Dwarf, you get a +1 bonus to Health and Spirit, right? So it’s specialized for Tanks? I guess I won’t have to complain about dying while carrying military gear anymore, so it’s all good. But Chief?”

“Yeah?”

“Chief, your eye light somehow feels even redder. It glowed red before too, but now it feels like it’s emitting light into the air…”

Oh Haengbok scratched the fang protruding from his mouth.

“Ah, this? It’s from developing Vampire abilities.”

“Vampire abilities?”

“Thermal vision. With this, I can see objects even in pitch-black darkness and see those under Invisibility? It’s something you can use when you raise your Vampire level. I hadn’t been raising it, but I did this time.”

“Why? Ah, because of that incident last time…”

Seo Yun suddenly recalled the soldiers who had attacked while under Invisibility.

Oh Haengbok seemed to be thinking the same thing.

“Back then, instead of capturing them nicely, I should have just smashed all their heads in. Bastards.”

The moment Oh Haengbok muttered, Seong Juri, standing in front of him, trembled. The content of his words was chilling, but that wasn’t the only frightening thing.

Right now, Oh Haengbok’s voice not only carried an infrasound quality but also vibrated like a beast’s growl.

Even his breathing had changed.

Amidst everyone around them directing their gaze here and keeping their mouths shut, only the sound of an excited Wolf panting escaped from Oh Haengbok’s mouth.

The already ominous Vampire’s eye light now flashed red like a laser, piercing the surroundings. Just looking directly into those red eyes was painful.

Seo Yun, half-closing her eyes, thought.

That guy used to have outbursts often, but this is the first time I’ve seen him suddenly act like this in the middle of a normal conversation. Come to think of it, did he charge at the soldiers we just drove off earlier? We were only apart for about three weeks, but it seems his ability to control his emotions has deteriorated during that time.

Amidst this, the surrounding Players couldn’t even bring themselves to say “calm down.”It was shocking. How often had such fits occurred over the past few weeks for things to be like this? Just by the current atmosphere, one could guess how many people who tried to intervene each time must have suffered.

Only after several dozen seconds did Oh Haengbok’s gaze settle down.

Was he slowly coming back to his senses? Oh Haengbok let out a deep sigh and removed his dark, ominous-looking helm. A complex expression, as if feeling anger, relief, and other emotions simultaneously, was revealed.

“Anyway, really… you’re back safe.”

The next moment, a weight pressing down on her shoulders made Seo Yun’s eyes widen. Oh Haengbok pulled both Seo Yun and Seong Juri toward him with his long arms at the same time, hugged them, and muttered.

“My kids.”

And Seo Yun thought. He’s not trying to sneak in some skin contact under the guise of a touching reunion, is he?

Only after tightly hugging even Kim Ak did Oh Haengbok finally, belatedly, pay attention to the surrounding gazes.

It seemed he saw the boys staring blankly in their direction. Oh Haengbok pointed at Han Siwoo and the boy from the neighboring village—those not from Happy Village—and asked.

“Are they the ones we rescued this time?”

“Yes. Should we send them back soon?”

“For now, let’s all go to our village together. Everyone must have had a hard time; we should treat them properly.”

Oh Haengun asked with a laugh.

“Shall we slaughter a chicken?”

Oh Haengbok nodded with a solemn face.

“All the village chickens are dead.”

After running for about another hour, they arrived at Happy Village. Seeing all the villagers gathered at the fortress wall entrance, Seo Yun laughed incredulously.

“Juri!”

They couldn’t have contacted by phone, so one person must have arrived quickly to deliver the news, and they all rushed out in a hurry? They must have had a hard time in the early morning. Thinking about the background of what should have been a touching scene made it funny.

On the other hand, others didn’t seem to feel that way. Seong Juri, who ran to her parents, started sobbing while being hugged by them. Seeing even the grown-up Kim Ak crying in the arms of his shorter father made Seo Yun feel awkward.

Seo Yun was from an orphanage and didn’t have a very good relationship with the childcare teachers from her childhood either. It was hard to empathize with such sentimentality.

So, as she continued observing, Park Taeyang’s group came into view.

Lee Jongho, who made eye contact, wiggled his eyebrows, hesitated a bit, and then waved. Park Taeyang and Jeon Sangguk standing next to him also awkwardly waved. Seo Yun already disliked seeing their faces, but she still gave a slight smile, waved back, and turned her head.

She saw a primate that had almost become human.

Seeing Gaeulbi starting to run toward them, Seo Yun finally grinned. She turned her eyes to the flustered Han Siwoo.

“Uh…”

Whether it was the bracelet’s effect or not, Gaeulbi, who closed the distance at about three times the speed of others, hugged Han Siwoo’s waist. Han Siwoo, unable to withstand the impact from that speed, fell back, but Gaeulbi didn’t care. She continued clinging to his waist, not letting go.

“Han Siwoo!”

As Gaeulbi sobbed, Han Siwoo stammered.

“I, I lost all my stuff. The bag and everything inside.”

“Is that important right now…!”

It was understandable why that girl was in Happy Village. She must have had the Bag of Infinity and its contents stolen. She probably also lost the artifact that supplied Nutrient Porridge, so she would have had no way to get food.

After crying for a long time, Gaeulbi raised her head, looked around, and asked.

“What about Seo Yun? Did she come too?”

Oh, she remembers my name too. As Seo Yun was surprised, Han Siwoo pointed at her. Gaeulbi looked at Seo Yun with a face streaming with snot and frantically waved her hand.

“Seo Yun, you too, come here!”

“Why me?”

Gaeulbi, still sniffling, shouted.

“You don’t have parents either, right? I’ll hug you, so hurry up!”

Seo Yun, very suspicious that she might try to wipe her nose on her poncho while doing this, cautiously approached. Perhaps finding that frustrating, Gaeulbi stretched out her uniquely long arm, grabbed Seo Yun, and pulled her in.

As Seo Yun went “Whoa,” Gaeulbi started crying again. After crying for another long while, she shouted.

“You’re back safe!”

Since it was dawn, everyone needed to sleep and wake up.

Seo Yun also lay down in her own tent to rest. Over the past few weeks, this body had repeatedly recovered and regenerated from injuries. Fatigue had accumulated even in this inhuman body with 11 Health. Lying down, her mind grew hazy, likely because of that.

As her consciousness sank, Seo Yun was surprised. Was she really about to fall asleep? Could this body even sleep? How could this be?

At this moment, Seo Yun thought again of what she had thought during her military training camp days.

It would be nice if I just closed my eyes and never woke up again…

But just like in the training camp, Seo Yun eventually opened her eyes and was disappointed that a new day had dawned.

‘At least that damn reveille isn’t blowing.’

Seo Yun slowly got up.

The moment she stepped out of the tent, a smell wafted over. It was the smell of food. Something seemed to be boiling, grilling, and stir-frying. Indeed, as if preparations for something were in full swing, the people of Happy Village were all busy carrying food or setting up tables.

Seo Yun walked past them to wash her face. As she did, people’s gazes poured toward her, and she was sighing over the fact that this new body had 10 Charm.

“The feast preparations are almost done; should we wake everyone up?”

At an auntie’s words, Oh Haengbok replied.

“Wake them up? What for? Let the kids sleep more!”

Even that sounded like a growl, making Seo Yun’s nerves stand on end.

Wondering why he was like that, she listened to the conversation and found it was really nothing. The auntie had asked if they should wake the rescued Players to participate in the feast, and Oh Haengbok had merely replied that they must be tired and should sleep more.

Was he emitting such infrasonic waves over just that? Seo Yun reaffirmed her speculation that this orc’s emotional regulation ability had deteriorated.

Oh Haengbok stopped mid-sentence and turned his head. He smiled as he made eye contact with Seo Yun.

“Ah, our pretty one.”

As Seo Yun stood blankly, Oh Haengbok approached.

The height difference was so great that Seo Yun could hardly look at his face. So, while cursing “you bastard” inwardly, Oh Haengbok bent down.

Matching his eye level with Seo Yun’s, Oh Haengbok spoke.

“I’m sorry.”

“Huh?”

“I’m really sorry.”

Just as she was wondering why he was like this again, Oh Haengun, who had quietly approached, whispered into Seo Yun’s ear.”It’s such a relief you’re both back. Do you have any idea how much that guy pestered us, insisting we charge in to rescue you?”

It seemed he wanted to emphasize that Oh Haengbok hadn’t been at ease, but had been deeply worried about their situation.

Seo Yun looked at Oh Haengun, trying to manage a smile that said she understood completely. The smile she attempted to form vanished from her lips.

With an utterly grave expression, Oh Haengun muttered.

“I really thought I’d go crazy, really. Really…”