EVS Chapter 32

“Smiling…?”

Sa-yoon felt his mind going blank at the sight of Geon-joo calmly smiling in a situation where his neck could fly off at any moment. And then, Geon-joo firmly gripped the sword with both hands and jumped down.

The sword embedded in the Falsirocus was still not pulled out.

Chwaaaaak-!

-Kieeeeek!

The sword, with a performance close to an S-grade, tore through the Falsirocus’s skin in a straight line as it descended.

As he neared the ground, friction reduced the speed. Thanks to that, Geon-joo landed steadily and pulled out the deeply embedded sword.

Chwak!

The blood on the sword splattered everywhere. At the same time, blood spurted from the torn skin of the Falsirocus.

Geon-joo, not wanting to be hit by the blood gushing like a fountain, stepped back. As the Falsirocus groaned and started searching for him with bloodshot eyes, Geon-joo avoided it, grabbed a tree, and climbed up. As if he had been a monkey in his previous life, his skill in stabbing the tree with his sword and climbing up was exceptional.

Having climbed up to a place with dense foliage, Geon-joo clicked his tongue at the still mismatched eye level and kicked the tree. As the Falsirocus turned around, he drove his sword into its back.

The sword that had torn the front now tore the back. Using the same method as before, Geon-joo scratched down the creature’s skin and landed. As he pulled his body out, the creature, trembling and enduring the pain, finally tilted forward.

Kwaaaaang!

The massive body collapsed with a heavy sound.

Sa-yoon, who had directly observed the entire situation up close, couldn’t say a word.

“……”

Forgetting that he had come down to help, he stared at the man who was wiping the blood off his face, unusually dumbfounded.

Geon-joo, having wiped off the blood and sweat, took a breath and immediately cut another plant without any break. Sa-yoon had no chance to stop him.

-Kiaaaa!

This time, he succeeded in hitting monsters consecutively. The plant cut by Geon-joo’s sword screamed and wailed. It increased in size. This one was also a 1st-grade.

Geon-joo, not committing the underhanded act of attacking during transformation like before, charged at the roaring creature.

Kwajik! Kwajik! Kwajik!

As if he had grasped the pattern after seeing it once, the plunging vines failed to hit Geon-joo and struck the ground instead. Smoothly dodging all the attacks as if he had predicted the trajectory in advance, Geon-joo went straight to the Falsirocus’s feet.

Whoosh!

He greatly pulled back his shoulder and raised his sword upward.

Kwak!

With a brutal sound that made it hard to believe it was a stab with a dagger, the sword pierced the top of the 1st-grade Falsirocus’s foot.

-Kieeeek!

An ear-splitting scream rang out. Unfazed by it, Geon-joo tightly gripped the sword stuck in the top of the foot, gritted his teeth, and jumped, drawing a red line up to the Falsirocus’s heel. It was an attack that revealed a tenacious determination to thoroughly target the next most vulnerable part if the eyes weren’t an option.

Geon-joo, not minding the blood splattering on his clothes, turned around and strongly stabbed the location of the Achilles tendon a couple of times as if striking a tree, then hastily retreated.

Swish!

The Falsirocus’s hand, belatedly trying to grab Geon-joo, narrowly brushed his black hair. whether he had no fear or not, Geon-joo continued to move swiftly and boldly as if he had nine lives.

The best defense is offense, and the Geon-joo in front of his eyes was demonstrating the true value of those words.

Geon-joo, who had been chaotically pressuring the creature by alternately attacking both feet, seized an opening and climbed up the Falsirocus’s body, swinging his sword. Midway, the 1st-grade tried to attack by raising its hand, but Geon-joo dodged it by jumping around like an agile flying squirrel. Then, he attacked the second 1st-grade in the same way as before.

The 1st-grade, which fell faster than the first one, added vibrations to the space. Reacting to those vibrations, a Crazyworm abruptly erupted from the ground.

Geon-joo, who had been panting for breath without a single moment to rest, spotted the enemy and leaped from the ground. Then, just as Sa-yoon had done, he drove his sword into the creature’s mouth and tightly strangled the Crazyworm’s neck with a vine that had been attached to the Falsirocus’s corpse, which he had obtained at some point.

Kku-uk.

The tough vine dug into the creature’s tender skin. However, the Crazyworm was not an opponent that would quietly endure it.

-Grrraaah!

The wailing creature shook and twisted its body like a madman. It coiled up like a twist bread, then shook up and down, hitting the ground with a bang! bang! Geon-joo, who had nearly been thrown off once, was unluckily crushed under the Crazyworm’s body and coughed up blood.

That looks dangerous.

He might suffocate like that. Although the Crazyworm immediately lifted its body and flipped over to the other side, considering its size, it wouldn’t be surprising if a rib or two were broken.

Thinking that was enough, Sa-yoon was about to call out to help his pretty boy when Geon-joo, who had been coughing up blood, desperately grabbed both ends of the vine and tightened it. Maintaining the confrontation, Geon-joo gritted his teeth. The Crazyworm wriggled, and Geon-joo’s arms were also trembling.

-Grrr….

After an endurance battle lasting a little over 5 minutes, the one that collapsed was the Crazyworm. Thud. The corpse of the gigantic Crazyworm was placed side by side with the corpse of the 1st-grade Falsirocus.

“……”

Silence descended upon the gate where the vibrations had subsided. Sa-yoon alternately looked at the corpses of the three monsters slain in an instant and Geon-joo, who was coughing while pulling out the sword from the Crazyworm.

After retching up blood a few more times and wiping away the sweat that had flowed down, he brushed back his wet hair and turned to Sa-yoon. Although his face was tense, there was no sign of exhaustion. Sa-yoon’s mind spun at the sight of his clean face, showing no sign of fatigue even after slaying three creatures in an instant.

B-grade.

A newbie who had just graduated from being a beginner.

C-grade monsters he was facing for the first time.

Sa-yoon, recalling each of those facts one by one, met Geon-joo’s eyes and swallowed.

He hadn’t had much expectation, but Geon-joo had slain three monsters in an instant. All by himself, without any support.

He had shown amazing judgment and sense without being taught by anyone. Especially the application of using the Falsirocus’s vines to strangle the Crazyworm to death was so brilliant that he wanted to record a video and show it to the other guild members.

Sa-yoon, who had been staring at Geon-joo as if he were an unknown creature, briefly trembled his lips at his heart beating faster than usual. It was beating so fast and loudly that others might even hear his pulse. Pressing his lips together, Sa-yoon couldn’t help but let out a smile.

He couldn’t deny it.

His tendency to act like he was the only one in the world wasn’t just empty boasting.

It was fortunate that he had the Genius’s Eye skill.

If he hadn’t had it and hadn’t discovered his pretty boy, allowing another guild to snatch him away, he might have gone crazy seeing his sense and started a guild war.

Even if a hundred of his guild members died, he would have tried to get Geon-joo out. He would have used any means necessary, even if it was underhanded and ugly, to snatch him away.

That was his talent. A talent that if he couldn’t get his hands on, he would shed tears of blood.

He wasn’t just called a pretty boy; he was truly a pretty boy. A bundle of luck that had rolled in, roots and all.

Until now, when he looked at Geon-joo, his thoughts were limited to him being pretty and handsome, and that he would be useful for scamming. But now, he truly looked pretty to him. Not just his appearance, but his face, actions, and even his impudent words all looked pretty.

So what if he was a bit cheeky?

Originally, talented people were worth their salt. Wasn’t he the same?

If Jongsik had heard, he would have fainted, but Sa-yoon was confident. Sa-yoon’s principle was that if you had the ability, you could be worth your salt. And from that perspective, Geon-joo was very valuable.

If properly nurtured, he was someone who could grow to the level of a guild leader. He could see his potential.

“You did well.”

Sa-yoon, freed from the emotions of admiration and joy, cleared his throat a couple of times and approached Geon-joo, speaking to him. Perhaps because of the ability he had just witnessed, when he called out to him in a particularly gentle tone, Geon-joo immediately noticed the abnormality and distanced himself from him.

“What is it again?”

“What do you mean? It’s a compliment.”

“……”

“Where did you learn to deal with them like this? If anyone asks, tell them you learned it from me, pretty boy.”

“The guild leader hasn’t taught me anything yet, right?”

“I’ll teach you everything from now on, so say you learned it from me.”

When he smiled brightly but widened his eyes, delivering a threatening remark, he nodded his head with a sigh, saying, “Ah, yes.” His intention to give a rough answer and forget about it was clearly visible, but he wasn’t annoyed.

“Yes, you should be worth your salt if you’re talented.”

Rathim, he looked admirable to him.

From Sa-yoon’s perspective, it was better if Geon-joo was a bit cheeky. other guilds might not covet him if his personality was nasty and underhanded, right?

Considering that aspect, even an unbearable personality seemed fine.

Unaware that Sa-yoon was harboring such thoughts, Geon-joo asked if there was any advice regarding the earlier battle.

It was a request to point out areas for improvement, but there was nothing else to say.

Geon-joo had done well.

He had made the best attacks he could in that situation, so Sa-yoon merely patted Geon-joo’s head. It was as if honey was dripping from his pretty boy’s body.