Chapter 43

[Damn, no lie, there was a halo behind his face, lol. Seriously, when he was blowing up rat heads and his hair was fluttering, it looked like a shampoo commercial? When the rat’s eyeballs burst, all I could see was H.C.Y.’s face. If you haven’t seen him in person, don’t argue.]
└ If all you can see is his face when a rat’s head bursts, isn’t there something wrong with your brain? Can you function in daily life?
└ Seeing him say ‘rat, rat’ makes it obvious he’s a hunter, and this guy looks like he’ll cross the River Styx while staring at someone else’s face.
└ Damn, I want to see H.C.Y.’s face too!!! I want to see him blowing up rat heads!!!
└ Who is this guy again?

It was a funny result that came out almost like her true feelings after racking her brain for ideas. Cho-i didn’t think much of it, but compared to other fake scribbles, it was a truly sincere post. There were already several comments. Cho-i indifferently looked at only three or four comments and pressed the back button. She simply wanted to torment Ganansu and wasn’t interested in her own positive story post. Late at night, Cho-i returned to her house and started looking for Nara Shim like a father who came home drunk.

“Nara, Daddy’s home!”

“What, did you drink? Are you crazy?”

“Yes, I’m crazy about you.”

“Oh, damn, how much did you drink? This crazy bitch evolved into a completely insane bitch.”

“Nara, I’m not drunk. Do you want to die?”

“…No, Unnie, you’re here?”

Nara Shim, who was wearing a facial cleansing headband, slowly got up and greeted her. Cho-i replied with an ‘Oh yeah,’ then lay down on the sofa, propped her feet on the backrest, and lay upside down.

“Where did you go again? You didn’t cause any trouble, did you?”

“Do you think I only cause trouble?”

“Yes.”

“Climbed,”

“I did, didn’t I?”

Nara rubbed her hands together with a face that said, ‘What kind of fate is this?’ Cho-i chuckled and closed her eyes.

“I’m going to just stay put and do nothing for a while.”

“What are you talking about? You have to go to a dungeon on April 2nd. You also have to see your party members before that.”

“Oh, right.”}]}“`ப்பாக“`json{

I completely forgot. Just then, my smartphone rang.

[Welcome to my team.]

Cho-i looked at her phone and let out a hollow laugh.

***

After the sun rose, Cho-i headed to Paehyeok. She had to meet the A-Rank hunters who would be working with her in the dungeon this time. In particular, Suui Kim, with whom she had worked in a previous dungeon, seemed very excited, saying it was a good thing. After passing through Paehyeok’s lobby and taking the elevator to the company cafe, she saw familiar faces in the distance.

“You’re here?”

First was Suui Kim, a dealer who had been troubled by Cho-i during the B-Rank testing ground, where he had suddenly risen to A+ Rank.

“It’s been a while.”

Next to him was the gunner, Namsu Kang. And a somewhat unexpected face was also present.

“Wow, so you really were A-Rank. I thought it was a lie.”

It was Yeonwoo Han, the renowned healer of Paehyeok whom Cho-i had seen in the sleeping room. These three were gathered. Cho-i casually walked over to them. She plopped down in an empty seat and immediately showed interest in the cake they had ordered.

“Eat, eat.”

“Okay.”

Suui Kim said with a look of disdain, and Cho-i, without hesitation, began to scoop chocolate cake with a fork, not knowing whose it was. Then, with her mouth full of cake, she asked.

“S-sho, why’d you call?”

“Finish eating before you speak.”

Cho-i cleanly swallowed the cake and asked again.

“So, why did you call?”

“Well, we called you because it’s our first time with you, so we wanted to get in sync.”

“It’s just an A-Rank dungeon, isn’t it?”

Suui Kim crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, as if he hadn’t expected such a reply.

“It seems your standards have risen because you’ve been to an S-Rank dungeon with the Guild Master, but an A-Rank dungeon isn’t that easy.”

“So what?”

Suui Kim was serious, but Cho-i was not particularly so. Since she wouldn’t die no matter how many times, she wasn’t scared if it was a place she could clear alone. Only S-Rank was a bit troublesome. Because no matter how many times she died, she wouldn’t be able to win. Ah, if her rank went up while fighting, maybe it would be different. Suui Kim rubbed the back of his neck for a moment, looking as if his blood pressure was rising, then spoke.

“Your job isn’t to lead the charge and defeat monsters, but to protect us. It seems the Guild Master also assigned you to us for that reason.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

“No, it’s different.”

“Kill the enemy before they hurt our teammates.”

“No, it’s not.”

Suui Kim stood up.

“First, let’s go to the training ground….”

“I haven’t finished eating yet.”

Cho-i said, still shoveling chocolate cake into her mouth. Suui Kim felt the air hiss out of her and sat back down in her seat.

“Fine, eat. Eat….”

So the three of them had no choice but to wait until Cho-i finished her cake. After Cho-i put down her fork, she looked towards the counter with a regretful expression, but unfortunately, Suui Kim’s patience did not allow it.

“Let’s eat after practice.”

“Oh, my cake!”

“Don’t act like a seven-year-old!”

“I’m twenty-six!”

“Just!”

When Cho-i threw a tantrum, Suui Kim just picked her up and started carrying her. Cho-i, slung over his shoulder like a piece of luggage, seemed to find it amusing in her own way and no longer brought up the cake. Namsu Kang playfully poked Cho-i, who was being carried like luggage, and Cho-i grabbed his finger.

“Stay still.”

“Hmph.”

“What did you do?”

The place Suui Kim arrived at, carrying Cho-i, was a place they had been to before. It was the training ground beneath Paehyeok. The place where they fought the Dummies. Suui Kim put Cho-i down on the floor and said,

“We’re going straight in. Get ready.”

“Ha, that was fun.”

“I’m not your plaything.”

“Ahahaha.”

Cho-i clapped her hands and laughed. Then she looked down at the training ground and asked,

“But are we practicing here? It doesn’t seem like it’ll help much.”

“Do you really think so?”

Suui Kim grinned and adjusted the difficulty level at the entrance of the training ground to A-Rank. Once adjusted, the entrance leading downstairs opened, revealing a staircase.

“We’ve been working together all this time, so there won’t be any problems. The problem is you.”

“Why does everyone say I’m the problem?”

“Put your hand on your heart and think about it yourself.”

At that, Cho-i put her hand on her heart and thought deeply. She thought so deeply that she even closed her eyes and really strained her brain to think. Then she said,

“I don’t know!”

“That’s the problem, you idiot!”

Suui Kim pointed her finger at Cho-i and spoke, and Cho-i bit the pointing finger hard. Naturally, it bled.

“Aargh!”

More than the pain, Suui Kim’s blood pressure rose, and she lunged at Cho-i Hyeon, but Namsu Kang grabbed her, and Yeonwoo Han intervened. It was a scene they had seen before. Cho-i grinned and ran down into the training ground. Inside the training ground, Dummies were already prepared to match A-Rank. On the left were Blue Dummies, and on the right were White Dummies. The White Dummies resembled four-legged beasts, as if imitating monsters. The Blue Dummies were humanoid.

“So what am I supposed to do?”

“Try to fight while protecting three Blue Dummies from being destroyed.”

“Oh, that’s easy.”

Cho-i said, rolling one arm, and Suui Kim immediately started the practice mode. The entrance to the stairs going up was blocked, and the Dummies began to move. Cho-i considered this game very easy. After all, as long as she had the skill called Shout, the monster Dummies would not attack the stationary blue Dummies.

—!!

Cho-i’s shout echoed loudly through the training ground. It was so loud that it made the ears of the three people outside the training ground tingle. Namsu Kang covered his ears and said,

“I can never get used to that skill, no matter how many times I see it.”

“It’s what makes Cho-i Hyeon a great tank. I’ll admit that. But the specific movement Cho-i Hyeon makes the moment he uses it is the problem.”

“What is it?”

Suui Kim said, looking down with her arms crossed.

“He goes into the middle of the monsters alone.”

With a loud roar, the dummy monsters’ animosity focused on Cho-i Hyeon. Cho-i, as usual, jumped among the dummies and began to beat the entities. Thump, clang, thud! The dummies, being A-Rank, did not break easily from Cho-i’s attacks. And while that was happening, blue dummies began to attack the outer white dummy monsters surrounding Cho-i. But Cho-i was in the middle of the dummy monsters. His vision was not well secured, so he didn’t notice that the blue dummies on the outside had started attacking.

“Huh?”

And by the time he noticed it, one dummy monster whose aggro had shifted was already rushing towards the blue dummy.

“Ah, you didn’t tell me they were taking the aggro!”

“Do you need to be told that, you idiot!”

“Reflect!”

Cho-i immediately pushed off the ground and lunged at the dummy monster rushing towards the blue dummies. But by a hair’s breadth. Clang! The dummy monster’s claws tore through the blue dummy’s body. It was by a hair’s breadth. If it weren’t for the other monsters holding him back, he might have reached it! The practice ended there, and Cho-i stomped his feet.

“That’s unfair!”

“What’s unfair about it! This is where your problem is revealed, you punk!”

“Suui. You seem too excited dealing with a kid.”

“Is he a kid? He says he’s twenty-six.”

“You’re thirty-one, you know?”

“That’s why you and I are friends.”

“Oh, really.”

Namsu Kang shook his head, and Yeonwoo Han, who was watching, said,

“Ah, so, that’s the chronic problem with Cho-i Hyeon the tank, right?”

“Yes. It’s a side effect of his good attack power. He always dives into the monsters’ midst when excited, instead of staying by his teammates’ side.”

“In a real dungeon, if a teammate gets hurt by a suddenly appearing monster, and he’s that far away, the formation breaks down. The possibility of an accident is high.”

Cho-i, who was just coming up from the training ground, seemed to have heard that and grumbled.

“I can just kill them all first. They’re not like dummies that can’t defend themselves.”

“A tank must protect their teammates at all times. You never know what will happen in a dungeon. So tanks should generally not go beyond a certain radius.”