Return

"I'm back."

"Minjun! You're back?"

After leaving the deep layer and returning to the waiting room, our Saintess smiled brightly when she saw me.

Haha, I love that innocent smile. It's so healing.

"Black Dick, you bastard. You're a little early today?"

As expected, our Crimson Flame Witch was desperate to get her hands on me.

"Huh?"

However, the two women, who had been excitedly running toward me, stopped short when they saw Han Sohee glued to my side.

A brief silence.

The Saintess blinked repeatedly, while Shin Seoyeon's brow furrowed deeply.

"Oh, for fuck's sake. I let this damn bastard off the leash because he was pretty, and he shows up with another bitch?"

Shin Seoyeon openly displayed her hostility. Han Sohee, however, did not back down and answered in kind.

"How vulgar. Judging by that filthy mouth, I can tell exactly what sort of person you are."

"What? What do you mean, what sort of person? Hey, say that again. What did you just say?"

Whoosh! Shin Seoyeon set fire to the air, while Han Sohee raised her chin and looked down at her arrogantly. Their gazes collided in midair.

'Damn, so this is how it was going to turn out after all.'

Whenever a new person joins a group, there is bound to be a period of adjustment. It is not easy for everyone to start getting along from the very beginning.

When Shin Seoyeon strode forward as if she might hurl flames at any moment, Han Sohee also stepped forward without backing down, creating a tense standoff.

"You resort to violence at the slightest provocation, and even your behavior is vulgar. I cannot fathom why my lord travels with someone like you."

"My lord? Black Dick, what the hell is she talking about?"

I didn't know either.

She had suddenly started saying it while we were walking together.

-Calling him husband is too soon, while calling him honey is too frivolous. Besides, calling him Kang Minjun would reveal his identity to others, which would be unwise…. Thus, I shall call him my lord.

...That was the unilateral announcement made by the young lady from a chaebol family.

"Since you are the owner of this body, is it not proper for me to call you that?"

As she said that, Han Sohee grabbed my right arm and wrapped it around her waist.

Huh? Shin Seoyeon shot me a sharp glare, while the Saintess covered her mouth with her hand and hiccupped.

'...It was a good thing I sent Kim Yoorim and Joo Ahyeon back.'

Even this much had shocked our Saintess. Imagine if they suddenly pulled down my pants, started sucking my dick and balls, and said, 'Oppa, let's fuck again today!'

Phew, I felt dizzy just imagining it.

"Anyway, you're comrades from now on, so all of you should get along."

"Get along, my ass! Hey, if you were me...!"

Shin Seoyeon was about to argue, but when I reached out, pulled her against my side, rubbed her butt, and gazed at her steadily...

Ugh....

She blushed, fidgeted awkwardly, and turned her gaze away.

"You're going to get along, right?"

"...I-I don't know. I'll try."

This is why sex bonds are so scary. Who would have thought that the Crimson Flame Witch would suppress her temper and obediently go along with this?

I was certain that to her, I was a very useful dildo and an irreplaceable sponsor.

"But where did you pick up this rich young lady?"

Shin Seoyeon asked in a somewhat calmer voice, though her face still showed that she was displeased, as she glared at Han Sohee standing on my right.

Judging by her tone and attitude, she already seemed to know who Han Sohee was. Well, she had always been interested in that sort of thing, so it was only natural.

"I found her stranded down there and brought her back. I couldn't just leave her to die."

As I looked toward the Saintess, ah...! Her face had lit up completely.

The Saintess, who had been unable to approach us and had remained off to the side, timidly trying to assess the situation, hurriedly took a canteen out of her backpack and brought it over.

She handed it to me, her eyes sparkling brightly.

"Mr. Minjun is such a good person! You helped me back then, and now you've helped someone again! You're truly a kind person, just as kind as ever...!"

Her bright, trusting eyes were a little burdensome, but the sincerity in them was genuinely healing.

As expected, our Saintess's doting was the best.

"Ah, my name is Song Hana. Here, you should have some too."

"I'm Han Sohee. Thank you."

When a completely harmless-looking creature handed her water with an innocent smile, Han Sohee finally lowered her guard.

After drinking the water, she asked curiously,

"But does my lord always go around helping other people?"

"Yes! I was abandoned too, left all alone, but someone helped me! Seoyeon says she received lots of help from him too. Whenever she was having a hard time because her family was poor, he would come over as if it were his own problem and give her money to spend!"

...Huh? Had that ever happened? The story seemed to have been distorted quite a lot.

"Unni!"

Shin Seoyeon, who had been glaring fiercely at Han Sohee, suddenly flinched and stammered.

"Why, why would you bring up something so useless in front of everyone?"

Her face was completely flustered. It was understandable. When I stared at her, our Crimson Flame Witch could not meet my eyes and looked away.

It seemed she had a conscience after all.

Anyway, the sharp tension within the group vanished completely because of that.

'There was never anyone besides Shin Seoyeon who could act as the old-timer in our party to begin with.'

The Saintess was too kind, so no matter who joined, she would always end up in the weaker position. As for Isera, she was a ninja who operated as if she were there and not there, so there would be no clashes with her either.

"I see. And you possess virtue as well.... You truly are an attractive man."

Unaware of the circumstances, Han Sohee gazed at me with heated eyes for a moment, then slipped her hand over mine and laced our fingers tightly.

She then cleared her throat and formally introduced herself.

"As I said earlier, my name is Han Sohee. I look forward to working with you. I will strive to become a comrade you can safely entrust your back to."

"I'm Song Hana. Let's get along from now on."

"...I'm Shin Seoyeon."

The Crimson Flame Witch gave a brief introduction and made a subtle attempt to provoke her, but Han Sohee did not take the bait, as if she had lost interest.

Tsk. Shin Seoyeon clicked her tongue and redirected her frustration at me.

"But tell me straight. Is she the only one? Are there any other bitches?"

...Her instincts were incredible.

Before Han Sohee could open her mouth, I hurriedly made a fuss and herded everyone toward the corner.

"All right, all right, enough talking. Let's prepare to hunt. Isn't it about time for the mobs to respawn?"

"Ah, right!"

We went into the corner of the waiting room. The barricade set up there was almost completely destroyed, so Shin Seoyeon did not throw any fireballs.

「Blood... Graaagh!」

Flames erupted from Shin Seoyeon's outstretched palm like a flamethrower, engulfing the skeleton and burning it up in an instant.

"You don't even throw fireballs anymore?"

"Yeah. There are so many items on the floor that throwing one would cause a huge mess. The explosion sends sharp fragments flying everywhere. It's a little more annoying this way, but I decided to go with it. This is more stable in several ways, too."

Just then, a skeleton sprang out right in front of us.

I instinctively reached for my sword hilt, but waited to see how my comrades would respond.

Whoosh!

The Saintess swung her club and smashed the skeleton's skull.

Thwack-thwack-thwack!

「Graaagh.」

After a series of consecutive blows, it collapsed and was unable to rise again.

"Nice. Good job, Unni."

"Yeah!"

"……."

I silently looked down at the skeleton remains sprawled across the floor.

What a pointless way for a healer to kill an enemy. It was a rare sight, one I had not even seen during my first run.

"Amazing."

Han Sohee, who had witnessed the scene—or, more precisely, the Saintess and Shin Seoyeon hunting—let out an exclamation of admiration.

Of course, seeing more than a hundred skeletons being herded together and slaughtered so easily was not something one could witness just anywhere.

I pulled a longsword rolling around in my inventory and handed it to her.

"You help out too. Your role is to protect these two."

Han Sohee gripped the sword, swung it around a few times, and nodded.

"Looking at the party composition, I am the tank."

"Exactly. Hana is wielding a club instead of healing for now, but going forward, you must protect these two no matter what happens."

"I see."

As if she now understood her role, Han Sohee nodded.

...In truth, I had someone else in mind for the role of tank. But I had no idea when I would meet that person. We could not operate the party without a tank until then.

'But this woman, who possesses [Sword Master], is more than capable of serving as our protector.'

「Why did the light abandon us….」

Whoosh. While the Saintess swung her club and dealt with one skeleton, another appeared right beside her.

Shk.

In that instant, Han Sohee approached from behind the Saintess and thrust her sword through the gap beneath her arm.

「Graaagh.」

"Huh?"

The Saintess belatedly noticed the skeleton and whipped around, but by then the thrust sword had already slipped back out from beneath her arm and returned to its original position.

'Stabbing a sword through someone else's armpit is an incredibly dangerous move, but the support provided by someone with [Sword Master] can be trusted.'

That was only natural. At least when it came to swordsmanship, she knew everything.

The instant she gripped a sword, she perfectly understood and was guided in everything: when to swing it, how to maintain her balance, and so on.

'No wonder a complete ability is so overpowered.'

The hunt began and ended smoothly, without a single crisis.

"It was a little precarious with just the two of us, but with everyone together, it's incredibly stable."

The Saintess seemed to feel the same way and said so with an innocent smile. Shin Seoyeon also glanced at Han Sohee and agreed.

"…Hmph. She is somewhat useful."

"You two are useful as well."

"Of course. I'm the core DPS of our party. Without me, we couldn't hunt like this."

"It certainly appears so."

Huh? When Han Sohee readily nodded, Shin Seoyeon showed a faintly flustered expression.

"Between your healing and your fire magic, I understand why I need to take on the role of tank. It is more efficient than having me fight all day."

"Uh...."

"In any case, I will take responsibility for your safety from now on, no matter what happens. So do not worry about that."

"Uh, yeah...."

The person who had been bickering with her moments ago was now showering her with praise and promising to protect her, leaving Shin Seoyeon staring at her blankly in a daze.

It seemed she had the mindset of acknowledging what deserved to be acknowledged.

Shin Seoyeon scratched her head and said,

"Hmph, f-fine, whatever.... But Black Dick! Why have you been slacking off since earlier? Are you just going to stand there and watch?"

"As if."

When she redirected her frustration at me, I shook my head.

"I'm going to another waiting room to lure the mobs over, so get ready."

"What? Is that really necessary? I just want to rest for a while."

"Our Seoyeon doesn't have time to play. We need to fill that backpack with gems, right?"

She froze.

Shin Seoyeon shouted.

"Fuck yeah, let's go!"

And so the money-making grind began.

We hunted mobs like mad and farmed items like mad.

"I'm going again."

Each waiting room contained more than a hundred skeletons, so we were hunting hundreds per hour.

Maybe that was why?

[Achievement unlocked!]

[Light to the Skeletons (Advanced): Deals 100% additional damage to skeletons.]

The achievement notification appeared when the number of skeletons we had hunted surpassed one thousand. That was not all I obtained.

[Exorcist (Common): Deals 30% additional damage to all undead.]

A title appeared as well.

That meant I had accomplished yet another goal.

'Most dungeons are inhabited by undead. Even their trial difficulty is high, so the rewards are greater.'

In short, I would have plenty of chances to hunt undead in the future, and this would make that work considerably easier.

It seemed I was not the only one who had obtained the achievement, because my comrades began chattering to one another with somewhat surprised expressions.

"Achievement?"

The Saintess and Han Sohee widened their eyes as if they had just encountered some newfangled technology.

"Hng. What, you're only getting achievements now? You'll get a title next too. That's the real deal."

"Is that true?"

Shin Seoyeon, who had already beaten countless undead to death, stuck out her chest and boasted.

"I got mine two days ago already!"

"Seoyeon is amazing...!"

"Hmph. What's the big deal?"

At the Saintess's sincere praise, Shin Seoyeon puffed out her chest and acted as if she wanted even more compliments. She kept glancing at me too, so I sighed and said,

"Yeah, yeah, you're amazing."

"See? I'm this kind of woman. Black Dick, consider yourself blessed to be traveling with me. If you want, I can adjust my strength and help you get the last hit too."

As she clung to me and kept rubbing her breasts against me with a suggestive look, I said,

"You already have one, so you can stop bragging."

"What? W-when did I brag? And you haven't even killed that many mobs, so when did you get a title?!"

Because I killed a hell of a lot of Specters.

Achievements can be earned by killing many of a single type of enemy, while titles are more comprehensive.

Whether they are skeletons or Specters, killing one thousand undead is enough to earn one.

Therefore, except in special cases like ours, it is actually faster to obtain a title than an achievement.

"Let's call it a day and head back."

"Huh? We're not doing more? We still have about two hours left, but you're ending early today."

When I declared the hunt over, the group finished farming and prepared to return.

As we walked around the waiting room along the wall toward the entrance, Shin Seoyeon clicked her tongue.

"But wow, there are a fucking lot of them."

The stone floor of the waiting room had been shattered and blackened by explosions and soot, and was now almost invisible beneath the items.

Cheap equipment like daggers and clubs, which we had given up on taking because there was no room in our inventories, had piled up into a massive trash heap.

There were so many that even respawned undead tripped over the items we had left behind as they charged toward us.

...And my inventory was completely full now too.

Longsword × 99

Short spear × 99

Two-handed sword × 99

Mace × 99

.

.

I had thought I could put items in endlessly, but I was wrong. There was a quantity limit. And now I could not carry any more items, no matter how much I farmed.

"Food is running low too."

We returned to the banquet hall, bathed in soft moonlight, and the Saintess spoke while preparing the meal.

It meant that the time to leave this place was drawing near.

Swish.

While secretly taking a chocolate out of my backpack to avoid the others' gazes, Isera, hidden from sight, took it and slipped a pouch into my arms before leaving.

The pouch was far lighter than it had been the day before. That meant the stat fragment farming was over too.

'Still, I raised my stats a lot.'

<Status Window>

Name: Kang Minjun

Level: 1

Strength: 51 (+4)

Agility: 42 (+5)

Vitality: 52 (+8)

Intelligence: 36 (+20)

Almost every stat except Intelligence had increased by nearly twenty. Since they had risen by a total of 59, I had ended up six levels ahead of everyone else.

"Black Dick, shouldn't we be moving on soon?"

"We should. Everyone, get ready. We're leaving this place tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

While stopping the Saintess from washing the rice, Shin Seoyeon said,

"Do we really need to? You said we'd obtained the remains. Why don't we move on right now? We've farmed enough."

Shin Seoyeon grinned broadly, brought over her sack of gems hidden in one corner of the banquet hall, and gave it a few taps.

I had lifted it earlier, and the weight was no joke.

"Huh? Why does this feel so much lighter?"

Even after Isera had taken nearly half of it, there was still so much left.

She was puzzled for a moment, but when she confirmed that it was still quite heavy, Shin Seoyeon smiled happily again.

"So let's move on now. We'll have a splendid dinner. My treat, so let's go all out tonight!"

"Yay!"

The Saintess cheered, but I waved my hands and reined in the excited mood.

"No. Before that, there is something we have to do here."

"What is it? Is it more important than having a delicious dinner? Can't we just skip it?"

"Yes, we have to do it. We need to finish it before moving on."

I had come all the way down to the deep layer for this. And I had gained confidence that it was possible.

'The difficulty of a boss can be estimated by looking at the difficulty of the mobs around it.'

Hunting the raid boss was possible for our party as it was now. Of course, we needed a little preparation first.

"So tonight, do not waste your energy on anything unnecessary. Get plenty of rest."

I flinched.

It worked out well that we had one more person to stand watch at night now.

As I massaged the butt of the chaebol heiress pressed snugly against my side and brimming with curiosity, I reviewed my plan one last time.