"Hmm-hmm. Hm-hmm-hmm. Hmm-hmm. Hm-hmm-hmm."
The next morning. The group was huddled around a table, waiting for breakfast. Normally, they would be chatting and making noise, but today, everyone was silent. And they were all looking at Go Yeon-Joo with puzzled expressions.
But completely unfazed by their stares, Go Yeon-Joo was diligently bringing out the food.
"Hm-hmm-hmm. Hmm-hmm. Hm-hmm-hmm. Hmm-hmm."
Go Yeon-Joo was humming with a big smile on her face. Somehow, I felt like I knew why, so I pretended not to and turned my gaze away.
"Breakfast is here~."
Go Yeon-Joo spoke in a voice twice as soft as usual and began placing the dishes on the table. As the delicious-looking food she had made came out one after another and was eventually all laid out on the table, the group let out gasps of admiration. That's how different the food she served today was compared to usual.
Our usual breakfast was Course A. Course A included things like bread, soup, and stew—a fairly simple set. I always ordered Course A in the mornings. If I got too full, it could interfere with the morning activities that marked the start of the day.
But today's food was much richer and more extravagant. The dishes served today even seemed to go beyond Course C in lavishness. Finally, when a steaming hot steak was brought out, Shin Sang-Yong gave a slightly awkward smile and spoke to Go Yeon-Joo.
"Player Go Yeon-Joo. You seem to be in a particularly good mood today."
"Oh my, do I? Hm-hmm. Hm-hmm-hmm."
"It's impressive that you made all this by yourself. Thanks to you, we're having a really lavish breakfast today. Haha."
"Hoho. It's not every day you get a spread like this. Especially you male players—make sure to eat a lot. I put in plenty of things that are good for your stamina. Eat up, and maybe you'll be able to make more progress next time, hmm?"
"Ahem. That's a bit... embarrassing to say out loud... Anyway, progress? What do you mean by—"
"Ahem."
At Go Yeon-Joo's cheeky comment, Shin Sang-Yong scratched his head with an awkward expression. When I cleared my throat, she gave me a quick wink and took the remaining seat. Suddenly, the kiss we had shared the night before flashed through my mind. What I remembered first was the warm, soft feel of her lips. I gently touched my lips and picked up my spoon. (As a side note, the fact that I always started eating first and the rest of the group followed was something I just couldn't fix.)
Just as I was about to take a spoonful of soup, the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs echoed along the railing.
Tap... tap... tap... tap…
The moment I heard Yun-Jung's footsteps, a faint smile crept onto my face. If you listened closely, there was a slight pause between each step, and unlike before, she wasn't stomping down hastily. She had found some composure. Even though I gave her time to think, it seemed like she grabbed the Sculepf right after I left.
The rest of the group seemed to hear the footsteps too—all eyes turned toward the stairs. And just as expected, the one coming down was Lee Yun-Jung.
She was the last to appear, her face looking drowsy. The sharpness that used to be in her eyes had softened a little, and her hair seemed to carry a faint reddish glow. Seeing her like that, I smiled quietly to myself. It felt like she'd made a bold decision, realizing she couldn't just stay still any longer. When I glanced over at Go Yeon-Joo, she too looked surprised, a curious sparkle in her eyes.
Eventually, Yun-Jung reached our table, looked around at everyone once, and gently sat in an empty seat. The others also seemed to pick up on the change in her aura, their expressions unfamiliar as they looked at her. If the old Yun-Jung had the vibe of a tomboyish troublemaker, the Yun-Jung now gave off a dreamy, subtly sensual kind of femininity.
After a moment, An-Sol, who had been cautiously watching her, finally opened her mouth in a hesitant voice.
"U-unnie. Did you sleep well?"
"Yeah. Did you sleep well too?"
"Y-yeah…"
Yun-Jung replied in a calm voice. It was rare for someone's personality to change drastically after taking up a demonic sword. Rare meaning, of course, that it did happen sometimes—depending on the person. And Yun-Jung was showing early signs of becoming one of those cases. Could it really be that Sculepf had already accepted the current Yun-Jung as its owner…?
An-Sol tilted her head, confused by her response. While her behavior would be considered normal for a female, seeing Yun-Jung acting this way was too strange for her to accept. And it wasn't just her—An-Hyun felt the same. He'd been staring at Yun-Jung with a blank look for a while, then finally spoke in a voice that sounded forced and picking a fight, like he couldn't take it anymore.
"Whoa there. What's gotten into you, showing up on time and everything? Not like you to sulk like a kid. So what, you feeling better now or wha—"
"Hey."
"Huh? Wh-what?"
Yun-Jung cut off An-Hyun mid-sentence and stared him down quietly. An-Hyun flinched slightly at her gaze. There was clearly something different about her from usual—but he couldn't quite put his finger on what. The only obvious change was that the Yun-Jung who would have usually exploded with curses by now was actually holding her tongue. And that alone was enough to make the whole group feel a strange sense of awkwardness.
Eventually, Yun-Jung slowly opened her mouth to speak.
"How about you stop flapping your mouth and eat already? Don't ruin the mood first thing in the morning."
"W-what did you say?"
"Oppa, did you pick up your spoon yet?"
An-Hyun asked back in a flustered voice, but Yun-Jung ignored him and turned her head toward me instead. I gave a wry smile at her response and nodded.
"Yeah. You should start eating too."
"Mm. Wow, what a feast today. Looks delicious. You enjoy your meal too, oppa."
"Yeah, yeah. Alright then, everyone—let's eat."
Watching the others still sitting there with blank expressions, I made my declaration and cut a piece of steak to put in my mouth. As the chewy texture filled my mouth, I felt a deep sense of satisfaction.
Honestly, I'd really had my doubts. Even though I was there, I couldn't help but worry that, since it is a demonic sword by nature, Yun-Jung might change in a strange way. But almost as if to laugh at my worries, their compatibility seemed much better than I had expected. Of course, we'd have to wait and see how things would develop from here, but at least the start wasn't bad.
"Oppa, try this one."
Seeing Yun-Jung place a nicely cut piece of meat on my plate, I gave a pleased smile.
"Hehe. I'm so full. I'm happy."
"I think I ate too much this morning, Master."
"It's fine~ It's fine~."
Vivienne tapped her slightly rounded belly with a happy smile on her face. Ah... I kind of wanted to tease her—no, I mean. Anyway(!), next to her, Shin Sang-Yong let out a chuckle and sipped his tea.
There were four players, including myself, sitting at the table. After breakfast, the group usually acted according to the orders I gave, but today, a few people seemed to be hesitating.
The player who pleased me the most, without a doubt, was Ha-Yeong. After breakfast, just like always, she dragged An-Sol upstairs. She had surely noticed the change in Yun-Jung as well, but seemed to judge it as a positive one. That's why she didn't question it further and simply took An-Sol with her. A rational decision—very much in line with Ha-Yeong's nature.
And Go Yeon-Joo, once everyone had finished eating, naturally began clearing the dishes. As she carried some of the dishes into the kitchen, Yun-Jung, who had been deep in thought, picked up her own dishes and followed her inside. The other players looked on in shock and confusion, stammering, but I just kept a calm expression.
After that, Yun-Jung didn't come out of the kitchen, and I didn't know exactly what happened in there. (Of course, I could've found out if I wanted to—but I didn't feel like it.)
I did get a glimpse of Yun-Jung's face as she entered the kitchen, and in her eyes too, there was a faint red glow. It was progressing faster than I'd expected. A little time passed, and Go Yeon-Joo came back out to fetch the remaining dishes. There was a noticeably deeper smile on her lips than before.
Some of the others, curious, tried to stop Go Yeon-Joo and ask her about it, but each time I raised my hand and silenced them. Since things had already come this far, I figured I'd just let Go Yeon-Joo have her way for a while.
"Ugh... I seriously don't get what's going on. Hyung, what's up with Lee Yun-Jung all of a sudden?"
An-Hyun tilted his head back and forth for a while, then scratched his head furiously and grumbled. Watching him, Vivienne replied with a long yawn.
"Haa~mm. Yum yum. That was tasty. Who cares? From the looks of it, she's changed for the better. Isn't that a good thing?"
"I mean, yeah… but ugh, you don't get it. I've known her since the beginning, and how do I put this… today's the first time Lee Yun-Jung actually felt like a woman. It was so awkward I thought I was gonna die. Ughhh."
Sip. I took a sip of tea as I watched them. It was about time to start wrapping things up. No telling when Yun-Jung would come out, and we couldn't just sit around forever.
"An-Hyun. You don't exactly have time to be lounging around right now, do you?"
I said, looking at him with a relaxed tone. At the sound of my voice, he quickly looked up and swallowed hard.
"Huh? What do you mean, hyung? What don't I have time for?"
"You know why Yun-Jung followed Go Yeon-Joo into the kitchen, don't you?"
"Well, obviously… it's because of that thing you asked her to do the other day, right? I mean, she should've just said she'd do it from the start. Made everything tense for no reason and then acted like she was the one left out. Tsk tsk."
An-Hyun was shaking his head as he spoke, but underneath his words, there was a strong sense of pride in his role as an Energy Spearman. It was fine to have pride—but if it went too far, it turned into arrogance, and arrogance led to carelessness, a dangerous state of mind. It seemed like An-Hyun could use a bit of a wake-up call.
"Heh. Anyway, the important thing is that Yun-Jung was fired up enough to act like that. Go Yeon-Joo's a player whose skills are recognized by everyone, including herself. Plus, I gave Yun-Jung a powerful weapon last night. You'd better start putting in some effort too. Keep slacking off like this, and she'll catch up before you know it."
At first, An-Hyun looked indifferent, but as the conversation went on, his expression grew increasingly serious. Especially when he heard the phrase 'powerful weapon', he looked at me with a face full of disbelief.
"Hyung, that's not fair. Why are you showing Yun-Jung special treatment?"
"…What? You little punk. You've already got a spear and a rare class, and that's what you say?"
"Ah. Now that I think about it, I guess I did go a bit overboard. But hearing you say all that makes me anxious. I thought I was already working hard, but I guess I need to push myself more."
"That's not a bad mindset. Some rest is important, but since you're still in your zero year, no amount of training is ever really enough. And luckily, you've got that handy manual—the Records."
"Oh, right! I finished reading the translated version last night. Perfect timing. Vivienne?"
"Hmph."
An-Hyun called out to Vivienne, and she immediately made a pouty face. She was probably annoyed at being disturbed while still basking in the afterglow of a full stomach. An-Hyun looked back at me, and I shifted my gaze toward Vivienne. Under my steady look, she stuck out her lower lip and reluctantly stood up. As she did, Shin Sang-Yong also rose from his seat to follow.
I began gathering everyone's teacups and spoke up.
"Just leave your cups. I'll take them to the kitchen. We'll be holding a meeting soon about the next objective. Even though it's technically our maintenance period, I'd prefer if everyone didn't get too relaxed. With that, I hope each of you has a productive day ahead."
"Yes, hyung."
"Understood, leader. I'll do my best."
An-Hyun and Shin Sang-Yong responded cheerfully, but Vivienne just nodded with a sullen expression. She probably thought I was singling her out. In any case, after sending the group back upstairs, I picked up the teacups and walked into the kitchen.
"Hmph. At least it looks like things are falling into place."
After stepping into the kitchen, I glanced around and muttered to myself. Come to think of it, this was probably the first time I'd actually been inside Go Yeon-Joo's kitchen. The dishes were still piled up, unwashed. Figuring they'd get cleaned eventually if I just placed the cups on top, I was about to set them down when—
Bang!
"Ack!"
There was a door inside the kitchen. From what I knew, Go Yeon-Joo lived in that room. And just now, something had crashed loudly against that door. I instantly had the feeling that Yun-Jung and Go Yeon-Joo had already started training.
"Not gonna get up on your own? Do I look like Kim Su-Hyeon to you? Get up within one second."
"Nngghh… Haaaahh!"
"I told you not to swing so wildly."
Thud! Slam!
"Guh! Urk, bleghhh—"
"...."
Go Yeon-Joo's voice overlapped with Lee Yun-Jung's cries of pain. Then came the sound of retching. The hits and crashes had already become background noise. I knew she was going to teach her—but I hadn't expected this kind of teaching. It left me feeling a little uneasy.
Starting off with a beating? I sighed at such a brute-force approach. Still, I found myself thinking that maybe Go Yeon-Joo was simply throwing herself into the lesson with her own kind of passion. And really, considering she was a renowned
Despite my moment of internal conflict, I decided to stick to my original stance.
After quietly watching the door from where the sounds came, I set down the teacups in silence and stepped out of the kitchen.
.
.
.
.
You can read advance chapters and view R-18 images of the characters on pat reon page.
pat reon.com/GreenBlue17
200 Power Stones for 1 extra chapter.
5 New reviews for 1 extra chapter.
Goal refresh every week.