Chapter 103

“Ah, damn it, you scared me.”

Cho-i Hyeon frowned, looking at Taehyeok Sa, who had approached silently.

“When did I ask you?”

“It seems like your aesthetic sense has a problem, so it’d be better to listen to me.”

“What are you talking about? She looks good in anything!”

And then Gihyeon Park intervened between them again. Cho-i Hyeon was extremely annoyed by this situation. How could she have known? That they would both rush over like this if they knew she was with someone. The employee was smiling brightly next to them. I’m sorry. It must be hard to make a living, right? Me too. Cho-i Hyeon sighed deeply and said,

“Give me the Entity too.”

Then Taehyeok Sa said,

“Why don’t you just do that instead?”

“What?”

“From here.”

Taehyeok Sa pointed his finger to the end of the showroom, then continued to point all the way to the other side and said,

“Give me everything up to there.”

“That’s enough, you rich guys. Seriously, you both have the same mindset. There’s no difference.”

Cho-i Hyeon grumbled, but the two men seemed serious and kept asking. First, Gihyeon Park.

“But are you really okay with just buying two outfits? Take them when I offer to buy them for you.”

“No, I’m fine. I have enough money to buy this much here.”

“It’s not that you don’t have money, it’s that you’re accepting it from me that’s important.”

Then, Taehyeok Sa frowned and said from beside them,

“Why would you accept something from him when I’m here?”

“What are you talking about, suddenly crashing our date?”

As Gihyeon Park replied with a genuinely annoyed tone, Taehyeok Sa frowned and spoke to Cho-i Hyeon.

“A date?”

Cho-i Hyeon shrugged, as if it was no big deal.

“If a man and a woman go out together, just the two of them, what else would it be but a date?”

“Really?”

Taehyeok Sa narrowed his eyes. Cho-i Hyeon found that amusing, so she crossed her arms and snorted.

“I know you feel a sense of responsibility towards me, but you know very well that doesn’t mean I should only accept what you give me, right?”

“…I know.”

“Then why did you follow me all the way here?”

“Because I have to take you.”

“I’m going to eat with him too.”

“I’ll join you.”

Gihyeon Park cut in, sounding dumbfounded.

“What do you mean ‘join’? You bastard!”

Gihyeon Park said, sounding dumbfounded. Cho-i Hyeon found Taehyeok Sa’s sudden behavior strange. He was usually the type to let her do as she pleased without much interest, so why was he acting like this? As if reading her expression, Taehyeok Sa said very boldly,

“Me letting you go free only applies when you’re in my hands. It’ll be a problem if you try to go to another guy.”

“Are you a goddamn possessive freak? You’re really annoying me.”

Cho-i Hyeon glanced at the skill window. Sanity Paralysis had been off since she came out of the dungeon. Cho-i Hyeon smiled sweetly and turned towards Taehyeok Sa.

[Casting Sanity Paralysis!]

And then she immediately delivered a low kick to Taehyeok Sa’s calf. A loud thud was heard, and his body staggered. Cho-i Hyeon caught him with a wide smile, as if doing a princess carry. Taehyeok Sa landed in Cho-i Hyeon’s arms with wide eyes, and Gihyeon Park was silent for a moment before bursting into laughter.

“Hey, I guess you’re past your prime.”

“…That just now.”

Cho-i Hyeon said with a smile.

“The thing you said was a problem.”

She made a V-sign with her fingers right in front of his nose and said,

“I’ve at least solved it a little bit.”

Then, with an “oof,” she helped him stand up. And Taehyeok Sa smiled quite tenderly and said,

“I think my shin bone is broken.”

“Hey, don’t say that just because I kicked you a little hard.”

“Look at him exaggerating, huh?”

Gihyeon Park and Cho-i Hyeon said with a laugh. Then Taehyeok Sa tilted his head slightly and asked,

“Does this look like a joke to you right now? Maybe not for Cho-i Hyeon, but for you, who got beaten up by ‘the Entity’ yourself, I don’t think you should take it as a joke.”

At the mention of the Entity, Gihyeon Park briefly looked back at Cho-i. Cho-i blinked innocently and said,

“Oh, I can use that skill now without losing my mind.”

“Then kicking my shin just now…”

“I kicked it while using the skill.”

“…It deserved to break.”

His shin, that is. Gihyeon Park said as if dumbfounded, and Cho-i Hyeon stared at him silently, then raised her foot to step on Gihyeon Park’s foot. Gihyeon Park saw Cho-i’s action and quietly moved back. It seems he doesn’t want his instep crushed.

“Cho-i Hyeon, turn off the skill first.”

Said Taehyeok Sa, whose calf was broken but fortunately could stand perfectly fine because his ability was Telekinesis.

“No.”

Cho-i Hyeon refused outright. And then Gihyeon Park asked curiously,

“Right. If you don’t lose consciousness, when does the skill turn off?”

“Well, I turned it off when I came out of the dungeon earlier, but maybe it turns off after a certain amount of time?”

“Is that so. Turn it off for now.”

At Taehyeok Sa’s words, worried about what else Cho-i Hyeon might break besides her calf, Cho-i proudly crossed her arms and raised her chin.

“Hey, do you really think I can’t control this? It’s my power, after all. I know how to handle all of this.”

Saying that, Cho-i then spoke to the staff member who had been holding the clothes until now.

“Oh, I’ll wear this one, and please package that one.”

“Would you like a case for the clothes you’re wearing too?”

“No, it’s fine. And I’ll look at a few more.”

Cho-i approached the showroom where the clothes were displayed and picked up a dress she liked. Or rather, she tried to pick it up. If only the rod from which the clothes were hanging, which she grabbed instead of the hanger, hadn’t made a crunching sound and broken. And soon, with a crash, the clothes fell to the floor.

“Uh…”

Cho-i quietly looked at the clothes scattered on the floor. The staff member, flustered, asked her,

“Are you alright, customer?”

“Exactly.”

Then another crashing sound was heard. Another clothes display rack connected to that rod collapsed. Crash, thump, bang, thud. Watching the clothes racks tumble down, Cho-i laughed, “Haha.”

“Give me everything from here to where it collapsed over there.”

“…”

“…Turn off your skill.”

“Oh… I guess I should.”

***

Cho-i Hyeon asked for the clothes to be sent by courier and then rushed out of the hotel. She hadn’t even made it to the hotel restaurant. As she was about to get back into Gihyeon Park’s car, Taehyeok Sa shamelessly got into the passenger seat first.

“Hey, why are you getting in here?”

Even though Gihyeon Park spoke as if dumbfounded, Taehyeok Sa remained silent, arms crossed, staring straight ahead. Cho-i Hyeon had no choice but to get in the back seat and said to Gihyeon Park,

“Driver, please take us to Paehyeok.”

“Wow, now I’m a driver?”

“What’s the big deal? We should just drop that guy off at Paehyeok.”

“That’s true.”

Gihyeon Park grumbled and drove the car. Soon, as the car sped down the road, Taehyeok Sa said,

“You cause trouble wherever you go.”

“Shut up, I wouldn’t have caused trouble if it weren’t for you.”

“You’re good at making excuses.”

“Ah, you’re really making me mad. Find a dungeon by this Saturday and let’s have a really intense date.”

“A date?”

Gihyeon Park said, looking like he had never heard such a thing before.

“A dungeon date? I’ve never heard of that in my life.”

“I’m the boss monster, you jerk.”

“Oh, that’s exciting?”

Gihyeon Park chuckled. Taehyeok Sa pondered for a moment, then replied,

“Alright.”

Cho-i Hyeon leaned against the back of the passenger seat where Taehyeok Sa was sitting and said,

“You know what kind of trouble you’ll be in if you come?”

“Yes.”

Cho-i Hyeon hummed, then leaned back fully in the seat, crossing her legs. She quietly stared at the back of Taehyeok Sa’s head, wondering what he was thinking.

‘I can’t figure him out at all.’

Cho-i Hyeon thought that he would come with some level of determination. Well, he should, considering what he had done. She hummed a tune and looked out the window. Paehyeok was getting closer. Gihyeon Park dropped Taehyeok Sa off in front of Paehyeok. Gihyeon Park and Cho-i Hyeon’s kindness was evident, implying that whether his wrist or ankle was broken, he should go home on his own. As soon as Taehyeok Sa got out, Cho-i Hyeon rolled down the window and said,

“See you next Saturday.”

“What time?”

“You should tell me that. You have to find the dungeon.”

“Alright. I’ll contact you then.”

“Do that.”

As soon as Cho-i Hyeon finished speaking, she quickly rolled up the window and the car drove off. Taehyeok Sa was reflected in the rearview mirror, standing on the edge of the sidewalk for a moment, watching the car. Cho-i Hyeon let out a hmph and said to Gihyeon Park,

“Why do you think he’s doing that?”

“Well, because he’s sorry?”

“If he was sorry, he shouldn’t have done it in the first place.”

“There are more people in the world who regret things after they do them than you think. You’re not really any different, are you?”

“I don’t regret anything. But, so you’re saying I should be the Dragon of the West Sea?”

“No, not really. Actually, I did something similar to you, and it’s strange that you’re so open with me.”

“It’s different with you. You just fought me fair and square, one-on-one, but that jerk threw me among monsters to die when I was weak.”

“Ah, hearing it like that, it’s definitely different.”

“Right?”

Cho-i Hyeon slowly began to think about how she would deal with him on Saturday. Perhaps she had been waiting for a day like this. Taehyeok Sa was right. Cho-i doesn’t know how to respect herself. But regardless of the Entity, an enemy is an enemy.

Cho-i sincerely wished Taehyeok Sa would die. And she slowly closed her eyes. Since he killed her so many times, it was only right that he should die just as much.

Gihyeon Park took Cho-i Hyeon home, and Cho-i Hyeon went inside after thanking him.

“But how does that bastard know where I live?”

Cho-i Hyeon clicked her tongue as she watched Gihyeon Park’s car disappear into the distance outside the window.