Chapter 181 – The Druid of Yangchon Village (3)

I sat down before the country-style meal the grandmother had prepared.

“There aren’t many side dishes, but please, eat up.”

“Not at all. This is a feast. Thank you for the meal.”

Seo Hyun-ji’s lips trembled, wanting to tell him not to eat.

No normal person could stomach a meal after witnessing what she had just seen. But Hyunbin was eating as if he knew nothing.

“It’s been a while since I’ve had my grandma’s cooking.”

No, the grandmother hadn’t lifted a single finger.

The monsters inside the mansion had torn off pieces of their own bodies to cook.

“Hyun-ji, you’re not hungry? Are you on a diet?”

“Ah, yeah… I’ve gained a little weight recently.”

Seo Hyun-ji saw the grandmother shoot her a glare, but she forced a smile and answered Jini.

“You’re nothing but bones. Why are you doin’ that die-et thing anyway?”

“Grandma, everyone on TV has to do it.”

Seo Hyun-ji couldn’t bring herself to eat. She glanced over at Hyunbin, who was scooping up rice with gusto.

The image of the monsters cooking wouldn’t leave her mind. No matter how starved she was, she couldn’t eat something like this.

“My, my, the young man must’ve been hungry. Want some more?”

“Wow, this rice is delicious. Is this what they call a grandmother’s touch?”

It wasn’t a grandmother’s touch, but a monster’s.

“That’s right, that’s right. A man who serves his country needs his strength. Goodness, such a hearty eater for a young man. He’d make the perfect grandson-in-law.”

The grandmother lowered her sunglasses, once again revealing her ambitions for Hyunbin.

“Oh, Grandma. Vinnie-oppa is super popular. He’s out of my league.”

“What’s wrong with my granddaughter? Isn’t that right, young man?”

“Of course. Jini is pretty and kind; any man would be lucky to have her.”

Hearing Hyunbin’s empty pleasantries, the grandmother beamed with genuine delight.

Jini, not looking displeased either, twirled a strand of her hair around her finger.

“I’m just going to get some fresh air.”

Seo Hyun-ji decided to excuse herself for a moment.

It wasn’t that she was jealous of Hyunbin and Jini getting along.

She was just hungry but couldn’t eat, which had put her a little on edge.

In times like these, getting some air was the best remedy.

Hyunbin didn’t stop her. In that time, he asked for another bowl of rice.

Seeing him like that made her wonder if he and Lee Seo-yeon were actually blood-related.

Stepping outside into the chilly air made her feel a bit better.

The frantic plant and insect monsters she’d seen earlier were nowhere in sight.

‘To think no one finds this strange after seeing all that.’

The five-story building was lit up with dazzling neon signs.

It had the atmosphere of a massive nightclub.

‘Every other time, I’d be praying for something to happen to him, but he’d infuriatingly dodge it all.’

Seeing the man she believed to be invincible acting as if he were brainwashed, Seo Hyun-ji felt a sense of frustration.

‘Wait, could it be…?’

A thought suddenly struck Seo Hyun-ji. Hyunbin had become unusually close with Jini.

Was the Hyunbin she knew really that sociable?

No, he wasn’t.

The Hero she had seen in the other world was always surrounded by people, but he preferred to be alone.

She knew this well, as it was how she had been able to become his friend.

‘Jini…?’

There were humanoid monsters—Villains.

The probability was low, but it wasn’t an impossibility.

This was a world where the absurd happened on a daily basis.

In a world like this, thinking in ordinary terms was, in itself, abnormal.

“Hyun-ji.”

“Jini?”

Seo Hyun-ji turned at the sound of Jini’s voice behind her.

What if she was the mastermind behind all of this?

That’s how it always went in dramas and movies.

Clichés weren’t used for no reason. They were repeated because they were plausible.

Seo Hyun-ji tensed up without realizing it. Thinking that Jini’s bright, guileless smile might all be an act sent a shiver down her spine.

“Hyun-ji, Hyun-ji.”

“Yeah?”

“Hey, Vinnie-oppa is *that* guy, isn’t he?”

She had never once called him ‘oppa.’

No, considering their age difference when they first met, ‘ajeossi’ would have been more appropriate than ‘oppa.’

“*That* guy?”

Distracted by the term ‘oppa,’ she didn’t catch Jini’s meaningful question.

“The one you were always so worried about, right?”

“What are you talking about?”

Seo Hyun-ji flinched involuntarily.

She had once confided in Jini about her worries.

She wasn’t looking for any grand solution, but it had come up naturally in conversation.

“He seems like a really great person.”

“Great? You say that because you don’t know how devious he is.”

To the public, Hyunbin was a hero for the ages. But anyone who had dealt with him directly would say the same thing.

He was a sadist who enjoyed working people to the bone.

“Devious? He didn’t seem that way. Oh, is it because he kept looking at me?”

Jini covered her mouth and smiled knowingly.

“Oppa wasn’t looking at my chest. He was only looking at my arms.”

“?”

“I asked him earlier. Why he kept staring at my arms. He said he wanted to see what my big three lifts were. Said there’s nothing more satisfying than seeing someone who couldn’t do anything gradually build muscle.”

“…”

For a moment, Seo Hyun-ji was at a loss for words.

Jini had a rather impressive figure.

Well aware of this, she tended to prefer more revealing clothes.

And yet, Hyunbin had been contemplating how to work her to build muscle.

‘He’s insane, truly.’

It seemed best to tell Jini to run.

Now that she’d caught the sadist’s eye, there was no telling when she’d be sweet-talked into being worked to death.

“Looks like you found a good one, Hyun-ji. I was worried, but I’m so relieved.”

“What are you… What do you mean, ‘found’?”

“Vinnie-oppa was really defending you.”

“He was?”

Seo Hyun-ji scoffed as if it were impossible.

“Yeah. Grandma hates it when people don’t eat. But Hyunbin-oppa really stood up for you.”

“…”

“The way he looks at you is so tender.”

“…Whatever.”

Seo Hyun-ji snorted.

Impossible. Not that sadist.

It wasn’t that she disliked him. He was her first love, after all. But that was all.

It was just a foolish, childish emotion.

Jini was grinning at her.

Seo Hyun-ji felt her lips twitching uncontrollably, moving up and down.

She was about to correct Jini’s misunderstanding when…

“I see some unfamiliar ladies.”

A deep, yet greasy voice drifted over.

Seo Hyun-ji was stunned when she saw the speaker.

A unicorn, known as a one-horned beast, had just jumped over the grandmother’s fence. It was now striding toward her, haughtily shaking its horn.

“Wow, it’s a unicorn! It’s so pretty!”

Jini, fascinated by seeing a creature she’d only heard of in stories, approached it.

“Hyun-ji, look at its mane. It’s so soft!”

“…”

At Jini’s touch, the unicorn bared its gums in a wide grin.

“So cute.”

“…”

Seo Hyun-ji felt as if her entire value system was crumbling.

She couldn’t tell who was stranger: Jini, who was stroking a unicorn’s mane in fascination, or herself for being so wary.

“I shall grant you the time to ride upon my back.”

“Really?”

“Jini…”

“For it is my destiny to carry beautiful maidens.”

The horse, speaking in a tone straight out of an 80s movie, grinned with its gums showing and lowered its body to make it easier for Jini to mount.

Riding a horse (a unicorn) for the first time, Jini excitedly waved at Seo Hyun-ji.

“Hyun-ji, Hyun-ji! Go get my camera!”

Jini, a vlog enthusiast, immediately wanted her to start filming.

Seo Hyun-ji hesitated, unsure whether to stop her or not.

“As a special offer, I shall accept only five sugar cubes.”

“I don’t have any sugar cubes.”

The unicorn’s mood shifted.

“Then so be it. Three sugar cubes. No less.”

“I don’t have any sugar cubes???”

At Jini’s words, the look in the unicorn’s eyes changed.

“You mounted my back without a single sugar cube!”

The enraged unicorn reared up on its hind legs. Just as Jini let out a short scream and fell, Seo Hyun-ji quickly summoned a wind spirit to cushion her landing.

“H-Hyun-ji…!”

In front of the frightened Jini, the wind spirit contracted to Seo Hyun-ji stood, blocking the unicorn.

The unicorn snorted, *pfft!*, then glared at Seo Hyun-ji.

“Cut it out and go back. I’m an S-rank hunter.”

Seo Hyun-ji warned the unicorn. But the unicorn only sneered.

“There are two kinds of horses in this world.”

The unicorn began to walk forward.

“Horses that get their necks cut, and horses that don’t.”

The unicorn began to run.

“I am a horse that does not!”

As the unicorn charged, spouting nonsense, Seo Hyun-ji formed a hand seal and drew a pattern from top to bottom.

*Fwoooosh!*

A fire spirit materialized before Seo Hyun-ji and slammed into the unicorn’s body.

The unicorn, caught mid-sentence by the searing heat, shrieked in terror.

Struck by the blazing flames, the unicorn collapsed to the ground, sobbing weakly.

“Hey, hey, are you for real?”

“You actually took it down?!”

“Monster…! Get out of our village…!”

Seo Hyun-ji looked around.

The atmosphere among the monsters had changed.

“H-Hyun-ji…”

“Jini, get behind me.”

Seo Hyun-ji stood in front of Jini.

The Cerberus, which had been lying quietly in its doghouse, dropped the roll of toilet paper it was chewing on and rose to its feet.

The mushrooms, trees, grass, and insects growing on the walls—even the very air—seemed to press in on Seo Hyun-ji with hostility.

This was a crisis.

There was someone to protect behind her, and she was surrounded by monsters.

She couldn’t rely on Hyunbin.

The thought sent a wave of dizziness through her.

‘Since when did I start relying on others?’

Seo Hyun-ji’s mind cleared in an instant.

At some point, she might have developed a habit of depending on Hyunbin.

She wasn’t weak.

Her stamina used to be abysmal, but thanks to Hyunbin, both her mental and physical strength had grown.

As that realization hit, her eyes sharpened.

“You’d do well not to underestimate me.”

Seo Hyun-ji declared confidently.

Seeing the ants ignore her warning and move forward, she summoned her fire and wind spirits and faced the monsters.

Previously, Seo Hyun-ji could only summon one spirit at a time. Her mind couldn’t handle summoning more than one. But now, thanks to Hyunbin’s training, she had overcome that limit.

“Kiyooooo!”

Despite her warning, the monsters charged.

The spirits rushed toward the monsters that showed hostility to their master.

As the spirit of pure flame charged, the monsters couldn’t face it head-on and scrambled to get away.

*Fwoosh!*

Ants caught in the surprise attack writhed on the ground, trying to extinguish the unquenchable flames.

Meanwhile, the wind spirit unleashed sharp, slicing gusts in all directions.

There were four fundamental elements that formed the basis of spirits.

Some, like fire and water, were opposites. Others, like fire and wind, complemented each other perfectly.

Like a storm of flames, the two spirits incinerated the charging monsters.

“H-Hyun-ji!”

“It’s okay, Jini! I’m pretty strong!”

“No, what are you going to do if you burn down Grandma’s house!”

“…I’ll remodel it for her!”

“Oh, okay then!”

In truth, the grandmother’s house hadn’t been remodeled; it had been turned into a dungeon.

There was no time to explain such things.

Nor did she have the ability to perform such delicate control.

Just summoning two spirits and having them fight in tandem was taking all the strength she had.

“Kieeeek!”

An ant broke through the storm of flames and lunged at Seo Hyun-ji.

Indeed, intelligent monsters knew a summoner’s weakness.

Summoners were vulnerable to attack because they focused all their mental energy on controlling their spirits.

“H-Hyun-ji, watch out!”

Even before she heard Jini’s scream, Seo Hyun-ji’s body was already moving.

She dodged the creature’s sharp, spiny claws and, pulling a jackknife from her inventory, sliced at the ant’s neck.

*Kieek!*

The ant shrieked in pain.

‘It’s just a reflex now.’

Seo Hyun-ji let out a quiet sigh.

—If there’s no one to guard you, a summoner just gets stabbed. *Stab*. It’s over! If it were me, I’d go for the mage-types first. Ms. Seo Hyun-ji, what do you have to do to not get stabbed? That’s right, good job. Okay, one more time. Let’s go. Hey, you have to dodge. Uh-uh, you have to block!

For a moment, the memory of being worked to the bone by Hyunbin made her flinch.

She was a magic-user, so she was naturally weak in close combat. But she had managed to overcome that to some extent.

*Swoooosh!*

The wind spirit mercilessly slaughtered the monster that had dared to attack its master.

Seo Hyun-ji was dominating the battle.

“Wow…!”

Jini didn’t know much about hunters. She had only vaguely seen videos of them.

—Um, excuse me. It’s nothing, but.

Suddenly, she remembered her first conversation with a younger Seo Hyun-ji, back when she was still a trainee.

—Do you know how to use this?

It was just a simple meal ticket machine.

You touch the menu you want on the panel and pay with a card to get a ticket.

But Seo Hyun-ji had been blushing with embarrassment as she asked.

Jini had laughed and asked if she was from the countryside as she helped her, to which Hyun-ji had replied sullenly.

—We didn’t have things like this where I lived.

After that, she learned that Seo Hyun-ji was terrible with technology.

She didn’t even know how to use a cell phone and would jump in surprise every time it rang.

*Fwoosh.*

Following Seo Hyun-ji’s commands, the spirits burned and tore apart the charging ants.

The horrific scene was less frightening and more beautiful.

To Jini, it looked as if Seo Hyun-ji were dancing a waltz of flames.

Seeing the girl who couldn’t do anything without her help now standing tall as a hunter made her feel a lump in her throat.

It was at that moment.

“Hyun-ji!”

A spider that had been clinging to the roof ambushed her, lunging down from above.