Chapter 7: The D-Rank Guild Leader of the Number One Guild
I showed Lirit the ability I had unlocked next.
Lirit gazed at me with awe but mumbled blankly.
“Until your name was called on the broadcast earlier, I wasn’t sure…… To think it was really you.”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
“Awakening was a stroke of luck, but how could you let yourself get so hurt?”
Lirit was scolding me but eventually started tearing up. Reading the room, I quietly gulped down a stamina potion.
It was true that I made her cry, but this wasn’t exactly my fault, was it? So I had no choice but to leave her to calm down on her own.
If she was crying like this even seeing me now, she probably would have fainted outright if she’d seen my condition at the very beginning.
“By the way, what was with that guy?”
My body had recovered quite a bit, so I changed the subject and asked about the man who had been scuffling with Lirit in the cave earlier.
“I think he wandered into the cave by chance. He was surprised to see me there first, then started attacking me to steal my things.”
“That was close.”
Fortunately, Lirit had listened to me well and stayed inside the cave without budging.
So what had happened earlier wasn’t because Lirit had done anything conspicuous—it was simply an unfortunate coincidence.
“Lirit, our position is exposed now, so we can’t stay here. Since I’m the only one who unlocked a unique ability, someone will latch onto us wherever we go.”
“I see…… I’m glad, but I’m worried this will be hard on you.”
“Are you only worried about me? Worry about yourself, too. We’re in the same boat. So that means you’ll be suffering alongside me.”
“Huh? Yeah……”
Lirit worried about me like that while hardly paying any attention to herself.
“Anyway, we’ll have to live as drifters now. The only time we’ll be able to hide and rest is during the night settlement.”
“I understand. And, um, thank you for keeping me with you even though I must be a burden.”
I should be the one thanking you. You don’t take my protection for granted and always say you’re grateful.
Thanks to that, I feel energized.
* * *
After that, I continued wandering around with Lirit, searching for supply crates.
In case Lirit became dejected thinking she wasn’t any help, whenever I spotted a supply crate in the bushes, I would deliberately dawdle and act distracted.
Until Lirit found the crate.
So when she called out to me, bouncing around and shouting, “Look! A crate!”, I would pretend I had just noticed it and exclaim, “Lirit, you have such sharp eyes!” acting all amazed.
Lirit was as innocent as a child, so she never caught on.
But the viewers could probably see right through my act, so I hoped they would at least see me as a generous character.
While wandering, I could feel eyes constantly following me.
Perhaps because a new rumor had spread about how I killed someone with flames, this time they didn’t openly interfere like before—they just hovered around.
‘They’re observing me, investigating me, trying to dig out how I unlocked my unique ability by any means.’
But I wasn’t just wandering around aimlessly, either.
I knew that starting from Round 2, guild battles would take place. In other words, it was advantageous to start screening allies from now.
So I was deliberately walking around conspicuously and scanning the area, but it didn’t seem like there were any suitable people here.
I might have considered someone smarter and more unusual, but characters who could only creep around gloomily behind me were all out.
“Wait.”
Just before entering a forest, I grabbed Lirit, who had been about to walk ahead.
The entrance between two large trees was suspiciously flat and level, looking almost artificially constructed—it was quite jarring—
Instead of stepping on it, I casually tossed a stone. With a thud-thud-clack—! a hidden mechanism activated, hoisting a snare net up into the tree.
Had someone set a hunting trap to catch me and Lirit? Who?
“What’s this? Fascinating.”
“A hunting trap.”
“Ah, then Rudel, you threw a stone and ruined their chance to catch a rabbit! The trap owner must be sad. But the poor rabbit gets to live……”
I didn’t bother enlightening the innocent, oblivious Lirit about what this trap was truly meant to catch…….
As expected, I need a reliable companion.
As long as I wasn’t going around swinging fire and dancing with blades, tiny Lirit and I would be constantly underestimated.
If possible, a burly, rugged companion with a massive frame that would make anyone cower at first sight would be ideal.
But a character like that wasn’t going to pop out just because I wanted them to.
While I was agonizing over it, the sun had already set.
Since we’d traveled quite far, just as regions have their own characteristics, the movements of the characters here were somewhat different despite being the same jungle.
Our original location had been rife with murder scenes, perhaps due to Iseupan’s influence.
But here, the atmosphere was more one of moving cautiously in groups.
To the point where our party was the smallest; everyone seemed to move around in groups of at least three.
Perhaps after witnessing the power of play points, this seemed to be a zone where people chose uneasy peace over turning everyone into enemies to chase kill points.
“That girl is the one who unlocked the unique ability.”
“She looks totally unremarkable though? How did she unlock it?”
Whenever Lirit and I passed by, the characters stopped in their tracks. And whispered.
“Should we try offering her weapons in exchange for telling us?”
“A unique ability is the best weapon. Why would she even glance at other weapons? Let’s try with food.”
“She’s not even big. Do you think she’s a glutton?”
“Then what should we do?”
“Ah, let’s seduce her! Let’s try seducing her! You’re pretty handsome, you try it.”
What?
The characters who had been deliberating about me for some time finally approached, putting their looks to work.
“Hi there? I really like you, so how about traveling together?”
A few male characters tried such worn-out lines on me, but I ignored them all and walked past.
After this happened a few times, one character, seemingly frustrated, lashed out from behind.
“Ugh, if I were even half as good-looking as Unhar, I could’ve seduced a girl like this instantly!”
Good grief.
The guy who had just approached me had been quite handsome himself. So just how handsome was this “Unhar” guy? Was he some kind of heavenly beauty?
Lirit clung tightly to my arm, looking around anxiously as we walked. She seemed very tense because of the hostile gazes fixed on us.
“Rudel, I don’t think there are any supply crates here. Looks like they’ve already cleared them all out-.”
Lirit grabbed my arm, suggesting we find a place to rest, when at that moment, a figure approached from the opposite direction.
“Ah, it’s Unhar.”
I told Lirit the moment I saw him.
Lirit’s eyes went wide.
“Unhar? Who’s that? Do you know him?”
“Not exactly……”
A striking man walking toward us wearing the setting sun like a halo.
‘If a man that handsome isn’t Unhar, then who else would be?’
The moment our eyes met, I knew for sure. That guy was the so-called “Unhar.”
Of course, he might not be Unhar, but if not, so what.
But my prediction was right.
“Hello, I’m Unhar.”
A man with features as refined as Lirit’s slightly bowed at the waist and greeted us sweetly.
With our path blocked, Lirit and I had no choice but to stop obediently and look up at him.
He was even more handsome up close.
Sparkling blond hair scattered loosely over his healthy, rosy skin, making for an extremely handsome young character.
He exuded a mature atmosphere, seeming a year or two older than me.
“Would you introduce yourself too?”
The man’s baritone voice tickled my ear, and before I knew it, I had told him my name.
“Rudel.”
“So you’re Rudel. I’ve heard rumors about you. That despite being so frail, you possess a tenacity like blazing flames, and so you eventually reaped the fruit of that effort.”
Who had described me in such flowery terms? Unhar seemed to be distorting the rumors.
I recalled the male character who had been pestering me earlier.
‘He had definitely complained that if he were even half as handsome as Unhar, he would have succeeded in seducing me.’
So that’s why he had mentioned this man so suddenly—
“Honestly, I’m envious of what you have. That’s why I want to be by your side—won’t you allow me?”
So he was a habitual womanizer, as I could see now?
Along with his sweet voice, the way he naturally pulled my hand and placed it on his palm looked quite practiced.
Very clever. A dazzling appearance could become an excellent survival tool if used well.
‘Of course, in Lirit’s case, she’s not shameless enough to charm men and use them, so it wouldn’t be of much use to her.’
If he had put on airs claiming it was love at first sight, it would have been unpleasant; since he was refreshingly honest about coveting my unique ability, it seemed slightly better.
Or was it because he was so confident in his looks that he didn’t need to lie?
……He had every right to be.
The saying “just looking at that face fills your stomach” must have been coined for someone like him. If he asked anyone for anything with that face, they’d probably want to give him everything.
Before I knew it, I swept my gaze up and down Unhar’s entire body. He was tall with broad shoulders. His physique was quite alluring too.
Unhar’s eyes lit up with heat, as if my gaze delighted him.
Hmm, I’m done admiring now.
“Thanks for delighting Lirit’s and my eyes for a moment, but that doesn’t give us reason to travel together, so we’ll be going now……”
I quickly checked Unhar’s status window just in case, then grabbed Lirit’s hand and pulled her along. Lirit hurriedly followed after me.
Lirit didn’t seem particularly swayed by him either; she simply tossed a polite “Bye.” and diligently chased after me.
As expected of my wise friend. I’m so glad my first companion is you.
I turned around to check if Lirit was following well, and saw Unhar behind us wearing an expression so disappointed it made my chest ache just to look at.
His sorrowfully drooping eyes tugged at my heart, but I was sure this too was part of the seduction he had orchestrated.
“Can’t I at least watch you from afar?”
He pleaded in a cracking voice, as if he were truly heartbroken.
In other words, he was prettily packaging the fact that he would follow us from behind, wasn’t he?
Having seen through to the essence of it, I felt inwardly appalled.