EVS Chapter 64

—Kieeeeeek!

The fourth aberrant that Sa-yoon had brought collapsed with a scream.

“Ha, haah…”

Geon-joo wiped the sweat trickling down his chin with the back of his hand as he caught his ragged breath.

Four.

After dispatching a total of four aberrants over the course of about two hours, Geon-joo showed signs of exhaustion and slumped to the ground. Sa-yoon’s eyebrow twitched as he spoke.

“There’s still one left, pretty boy! Aren’t you getting up?”

At the shout, Geon-joo’s trembling hand pressed against the ground. With a strained face, he stood up and immediately gripped his sword as he saw another aberrant being thrown towards him by Sa-yoon.

His body, which had been slumped just moments ago, moved swiftly as if nothing had happened.

—Kiiii!

He dodged the aberrant that charged at him with a cry and stabbed its exposed back with his sword. The aberrant writhed and tried to strike Geon-joo with its sharp hands, but it wasn’t easy. Geon-joo arched his back, narrowly avoiding the attack, then tripped the creature’s feet and pulled out his sword.

The aberrant was sturdy enough not to fall, but it did stagger momentarily from the sudden trip.

Thwack!

Geon-joo seized the opportunity and kicked the aberrant’s back.

—Kiek!

The aberrant flew and tumbled to the ground, writhing. Geon-joo shook the blood dripping from his sword and watched the movements of the aberrant as it charged towards him with a roar.

As the creature tried to ram into him like a bull, Geon-joo moved to the side, causing the aberrant to barely graze past him. It was at the moment when the opponent realized it had missed and tried to change its trajectory.

Before the creature could fully turn its body.

That is, while it was still running in the direction of its initial charge, unable to control its speed, Geon-joo lifted his foot. Swish! His foot hooked around the aberrant’s neck from behind as if it were a sickle. Successfully wedging the aberrant’s neck between his legs, Geon-joo threw his full weight into it.

Kwang!

Pinned down with its neck caught, the aberrant collapsed to the ground under Geon-joo, unable to move. It struggled to shake off the human on top of it. Given its immense strength, it would have been able to throw Geon-joo off if given just a little more time.

Geon-joo, having accurately gauged his opponent’s abilities through multiple battles, didn’t give it that time. He tightly bent his knee, constricting the creature’s neck even more, and in that position, he aimed for the underside of the aberrant’s jaw and plunged his sword in.

As the sword sank deep, the aberrant made choking sounds. With its vocal cords damaged, it couldn’t even scream properly. When Geon-joo pulled out the sword and attempted another attack, the creature twitched and then died.

Geon-joo didn’t relax his body until the movements of his opponent pinned beneath him completely stopped. Only after a full minute had passed since the aberrant ceased moving did he unsteadily release his posture. Having sacrificed one knee to subdue the creature, his kneecap was completely scraped, leaving him unable to walk properly.

Despite an injury that should have elicited screams, Geon-joo bit his lip hard to suppress any sound as he sat down and treated his wound. Sa-yoon, seeing Geon-joo’s body become clean and uninjured thanks to the potion’s power, didn’t hide his smile as he rushed towards his pretty boy.

“What did I tell you, pretty boy? You can do it when you try!”

Bang bang! Sa-yoon patted Geon-joo’s back.

Subdue five A-rank aberrants within three hours. Without sustaining any fatal injuries.

That was the condition for Geon-joo to graduate from special training. To meet that condition, Geon-joo had fought aberrants since the evening of the fourth day of special training, and after facing about forty of them, he finally succeeded in meeting Sa-yoon’s condition. It was impossible not to hug him and pat his back, praising him for a job well done.

Even as Sa-yoon hugged him tightly and patted his back hard enough to hurt, Geon-joo showed no reaction other than sighing. He moved his lips with difficulty, as if they were stuck together.

“…This is the end, right? That’s what you promised.”

“Yes, yes.”

Sa-yoon smiled at Geon-joo, who, at any other time, would have pushed him away and said all sorts of things like asking if he was crazy, but now said nothing. It was clear from his expression that he didn’t even have the strength to move a finger, let alone get angry.

Geon-joo’s face said, “I have a lot to say, but I don’t have the energy, so I won’t,” as he let his body go limp.

From the evening of the fourth day until now, their fifth night in the field, he had repeated battles and training without proper rest, trying to dispatch aberrants according to the conditions. At the end of it all, as Geon-joo closed his eyes during this hard-earned rest time, Sa-yoon took out a coat from his inventory and covered Geon-joo with it so he could rest comfortably.

With this, Geon-joo’s special training was completely over.

In the span of two days, Geon-joo had experienced another stat change, gaining a ‘B++’ agility stat. Probably after enduring the wave and conquering the dungeon, both his agility and strength stats would rise above A, and his hunter rank would increase by one level.

It was such rapid growth that if it didn’t increase, one could say the system had gone mad.

“You’re quite tenacious, quite tenacious indeed.”

Sa-yoon muttered, glancing at Geon-joo who had already fallen asleep as if utterly exhausted.

To be honest, it had been grueling training. It was the kind of training that would make even his guild members give up with complaints, but Geon-joo had persevered to the end, sighing and cursing, achieving results that satisfied Sa-yoon. Although he had used tens of billions worth of potions to heal Geon-joo’s wounds, it didn’t feel wasteful. Geon-joo, who had diligently followed through despite his verbal complaints, truly looked pretty to Sa-yoon.

They say people live up to their names.

Calling him “pretty boy, pretty boy” had made him keep climbing, and in the end, he did pretty things.

If he followed his heart, Sa-yoon wanted to rush in and challenge him to a sparring match to enjoy this happiness, but considering that Geon-joo must be tired after staying up all night, he held back.

Where in the world would you find such a guild master?

If Jongsik saw this, he might cry tears of joy.

Sa-yoon gently laid Geon-joo, who had fallen asleep in his arms, on the ground covered with clothes, and then called up the system window. Looking at the gate clearing conditions, he had filled quite a lot while Geon-joo’s training was in progress.

[Survive for 15 days 5/15]

[Secure a base 0/1]

[Raid a base 0/1]

[Handle monster waves 0/3]

[Monster kills 408/1,000]

[Achieve perfect escapes 14/100]

[Defeat boss-level monsters 0/3]

[Discover a dungeon 0/1]

[Conquer a dungeon 0/1]

The remaining monster kill quota would naturally be filled while progressing through the waves.

Geon-joo’s skills had also improved as much as targeted. Sa-yoon observed Geon-joo, who had fallen into a deep sleep, unaware that the events to come would be even more arduous than what they had experienced so far, as the clearing conditions pointed to the next goal.

Steady breaths escaped between his lips.

It wasn’t like Sa-yoon had never seen someone sleeping before, but Geon-joo’s sleeping face felt particularly fascinating.

Seeing Geon-joo’s fatigue even in his sleeping face, Sa-yoon took out a perfume from his inventory. It was the same perfume that helped with comfortable sleep, which he had sprayed in the car before.

As a reward for successfully completing the special training and to ensure he could function properly the next day, Sa-yoon sprayed the perfume. Geon-joo’s expression, which had been slightly frowning while sleeping, relaxed.

Sa-yoon put the multi-purpose perfume back in his inventory and checked Geon-joo’s status window. Having witnessed a stat change once, checking Geon-joo’s status window whenever he had time had become a new hobby recently. It was quite fun to look for changes or additions and check the detailed information.

‘Flower in the Mud(A)’

This special ability, which had quietly filled the end of the special abilities section that was full of obnoxious things, was particularly liked by Sa-yoon. It seemed to have appeared after entering the field, and unlike other titles or special abilities that screamed “I’m a genius,” Flower in the Mud was an achievement of Geon-joo’s efforts after entering the field.

[Flower in the Mud(A)]

Your talent blooms regardless of time and place, but whatever overcomes hardship and blooms is the most beautiful. You will become even stronger through trials.

– When your health falls below 50%, the special stat ‘Mental Strength’ is activated. While Mental Strength is active, you don’t easily tire even when struggling.

– If all health is depleted, Mental Strength substitutes for your health. You can endure for 30 minutes with Mental Strength after health depletion. After 30 minutes, you fall into an exhausted state for 1 hour.

It was quite a decent special ability. The name wasn’t obnoxious, and the ability was useful for an A-rank. Geon-joo’s weakness had been tiring quickly during prolonged battles, but this special ability would compensate for that weakness until he became S-rank.

Somehow, exactly what was needed appeared at the necessary timing. The claim that he was blessed by the gods didn’t seem entirely wrong.

Although, considering that despite being blessed, he still ended up in front of Sa-yoon, it seemed the gods didn’t have such great personalities either.

“Even if you feel wronged, endure it. Your fate can’t be more arduous than mine.”

It would have been better if he hadn’t caught his eye in the first place. But what could be done now that he had already entered his sight?

He had seen hope to change his miserable life, and he had no intention of letting go of that thread of hope.

Reminding himself once again why he had brought Geon-joo, Sa-yoon gently stroked Geon-joo’s hair, who had been following the grueling schedule better than expected, and brought up a window he had forgotten about for a while.

+++

[Quest – The Second Step Towards Activation]

‘Maintain a close relationship with the Disposition holder.’

Note: Maintain the relationship until the Disposition holder reaches S-rank. If the relationship deteriorates, it may affect the activation.

Reward: ?

Failure: Unable to activate One Who Resists

Current relationship: Disillusionment and Admiration

+++

Disillusionment and admiration?

He wondered if those two words could coexist. After working this hard, it seemed like he should have shown some liking, but his pretty boy who didn’t do so was a bit vexing. As Sa-yoon was thinking about pulling out all of Geon-joo’s hair, he sensed monsters approaching from the surroundings. Shaking his head once at these troublesome creatures that were causing problems despite having cleared the area, Sa-yoon emanated an S-rank aura.

Even if he was a bit displeased, completing the special training was still admirable, so unlike before, it seemed he should properly stand guard this time.