Song Hana

Song Hana.

Among the S-ranks known as stars shining in the night sky, she was by far the brightest.

Whether in character or skill, this benevolent goddess had nothing one could criticize.

It was only natural, in a way, that she had earned the nickname Saintess.

'I never thought I'd actually meet her like this.'

Who could have imagined I'd run into one of the only 100 S-rank players in the tutorial?

'What are the odds? Since this place is limited to ten people, is it one in 400 million if the population is four billion?'

I'm bad at math, so I don't know.

They said tutorials were grouped by country and region, so the odds might be a little better than that, but they certainly weren't easy odds to beat.

In any case, it was unbelievable luck. Almost impossibly so.

'I absolutely have to bring Song Hana onto my team.'

Her healing ability was unmatched.

Even just counting healing output, she was better than ten other healers combined, and unlike Shin Seoyeon, she was an exceptionally kind woman with no flaws to speak of.

'She helped me so many times before my regression.'

-Don't worry about the money. A single word of thanks is enough.

-Please tell me anytime you need help.

'What a shame. Such a terrible shame.'

I clicked my tongue in regret. I wanted nothing more than to approach her immediately and suggest that we travel together.

But we were complete strangers, and the supplies I'd brought weren't quite enough for two people. I'd come here planning to grind alone from the start.

'Who could have expected us to meet in the tutorial?'

So I had to raise Song Hana's favorability here somehow, so that I could recruit her as a companion whenever we met later.

Fortunately, things were unfolding in my favor.

"Ugh. It's fucking cold. Why are they telling us to catch foxes in a place like this? Ms. Hana, I'm so cold—could you take off your coat and give it to me?"

"Ms. Hana. I need sneakers. I've been walking around in heels all day, and my toes hurt so much I can't take it anymore."

They had no shame. Did they not realize that if they were cold, everyone else was cold too?

Even more absurdly, they were already wearing suit coats and had the audacity to take someone else's coat to wear over them.

'Wow, even after ten years of being hardened by my first run, I have to admire that level of selfishness.'

"Ms. Song Hana, what are you doing? Hurry."

"H-here."

But Song Hana obediently handed over her shoes and coat.

In fact, that could be called her only flaw.

She had enough potential to become an S-rank saintess, but she was timid and easily taken advantage of.

Shiver, shiver.

Even when people made unreasonable demands, she would only feel troubled and could never bring herself to refuse.

Aside from sexual propositions, I had never seen her refuse another request.

'In a way, she was a total pushover.'

If she'd been a man, Shin Seoyeon would have fleeced her down to her last pair of underwear; but this woman, trembling beneath a pair of massive tits, paradoxically became the brightest star of all precisely because she was a woman.

In any case, this was my chance. I approached Song Hana.

"Excuse me."

"Y-yes?"

"You look awfully cold. I have spare gloves, shoes, and a coat. Please use them."

"Ah, um…."

"I'm not giving these to you. I'm lending them to you, so use them and return them afterward."

As I placed a thick set of cold-weather gear in her hands, Song Hana clasped both hands together, her eyes glistening with tears.

"Th-thank you."

She looked moved, as though no one had ever treated her so warmly before.

Seeing her like that warmed my heart too.

'No need to thank me. I'm the one who's more grateful. I can finally repay you.'

My left arm blown off, fingers severed, a hole in my stomach, both legs cut off….

She had done so much for me. That was why my desire to help her was completely sincere.

-I'll definitely repay you once I get stronger.

Whenever I said that, she would smile gently and reply, 'Yes, I'll wait.' But I had failed to help her until the very end.

Because when all the trials ended, I was the only human left standing there.

'But this time will be different.'

Seeing her moved expression, I gave her a gentle smile in return.

But our touching moment froze solid as if doused in cold water when an interruption barged in.

"Ms. Song Hana? What's that?"

Song Hana stiffened. Her coworkers noticed the cold-weather gear in her hands, approached, and looked at me.

At once, sly, malicious smiles spread across their faces.

"Oh, what's that? You only gave it to Hana?"

"Give us some too."

I really hated that smile.

What gave them the nerve to demand it so brazenly and shamelessly, as if I'd been holding their belongings for them?

Of course, I wasn't exactly innocent of shamelessness myself.

"Sorry, but this is all I have."

"I'm so cold. Could you at least give me the one you're wearing?"

"I'll take the gloves."

These bitches were even more shameless and brazen than I'd expected.

"It's fucking cold. I feel like my ears are going to fall off. Can't you hurry up and take it off?"

"Hana, give that to me. I'll wear it, so wait and take it back later."

"Oh, that sounds good. Then I'll take the gloves, Hana."

What kind of bitches were these?

I was seriously about to throw a punch.

If Song Hana hadn't been there, my fist would already have been buried in one of their stomachs.

"Um, excuse me."

If this dragged on any longer, I really might swing, so I stepped between them.

"I'm not lending my things to you."

"What did you say?"

"Why not? Why won't you lend them to us?"

I didn't answer. Ignoring the two women, I looked at Song Hana.

"Put them on."

"Huh? Ah, yes, yes."

"And since I've lent them to you, don't ever give them to anyone else even if they ask. I lent them to you, not to someone else. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Yes."

Song Hana, bundled in the thick cold-weather gear and wearing the gloves and shoes, nodded slightly with a somewhat relieved expression.

The two women beside her protested my emphatic warning.

"What! Isn't it awful to discriminate against us?"

"Exactly. Why are you only looking after Song Hana? If you're going to take care of someone, take care of us too. And, bluntly speaking, however Song Hana uses it is her business. Hana, hurry up and take that off for me."

When they rushed to snatch it away, I quietly raised the bloodstained axe and pointed it at them.

The women finally seemed to grasp reality and backed away, stammering.

'Words only go so far.'

All the more so with twenty-first-century Earthlings whose minds had grown bloated from a long peace.

I spoke to the two women whose brains had only just begun to return to normal.

"Since I lent out this cold-weather gear, what I do with it is my decision. It's none of your business as third parties. Anything else?"

"Y-you crazy bastard. Ugh, this is so annoying. Why is today going so badly? Mihee, let's go."

"Ptooey. If we were on Earth, I'd call the police and have them throw you in jail. I'll remember you."

Reciting lines straight out of a morning-drama villain's script, the women walked away.

Their eyes were fairly murderous, but I didn't particularly care.

'I don't remember those women.'

They would probably be eliminated before long.

I gave Song Hana a slight bow and resumed hunting foxes.

Whoosh—thunk!

The snow-covered mountain.

The snow that should have crunched beneath our feet had been trampled over and over until it hardened solid.

But the owners of those footprints were all gone, leaving an empty void hanging over the tutorial area.

Now there were only three women and me here.

'Hm?'

Or so I thought. As it turned out, only Song Hana and I were left here.

Song Hana timidly approached me.

"Um, excuse me, by any chance…."

She looked as though she might burst into tears at any moment.

"Could I join you too?"

After a brief hesitation, she asked cautiously.

"What about the others?"

"Well… They suddenly distanced themselves, told me not to follow them, and left together."

Ah, with her inability to refuse people, that made sense.

As I remembered it, she struggled terribly until she met the guild master of the Sea God Guild.

I silently looked at the twenty-three-year-old saintess, who waited for my answer with her head bowed deeply.

To be honest, it was unfortunate for her, but I had partly been counting on this situation.

I had expected the other two to get angry and ostracize her if I took care of only her out of the three.

'If that happened, my kindness and their cruelty would stand in stark contrast. My kindness would naturally shine.'

I thought Song Hana would realize something and voluntarily leave that awful group.

'I never expected them to abandon her themselves. That saves me some work.'

Did they know that the person they had abandoned would later awaken and become the S-rank saintess—the named character everyone would want as their number-one companion?

'If they survive until then, they'll regret it bitterly.'

Assuming they survive, anyway.

In any case, now that she had come under my wing, I had no choice but to accept her as a companion, even if my supplies were a little lacking.

"Have you caught all the foxes?"

"Yes, just now."

After briefly introducing ourselves, I explained the situation to her.

"See? I'm grinding to obtain this accessory."

"Ah."

Song Hana stared blankly at the Snowfield Necklace for a moment, then asked me,

"Then what can I do to help you? You wouldn't have explained everything unless there was something I could help with."

As expected, she couldn't refuse people, but she wasn't stupid.

"When I catch a fox, go over, reset its corpse, and bring back the drops."

"Ah, I understand."

And so, in the snow-covered mountain with not another soul in sight, we became a team and continued working.

Whenever a fox appeared, I threw and retrieved the axe, while Song Hana frantically ran around during that interval, resetting the corpses and collecting the items.

[First Trial : Defeat foxes. (359/2)]

"Shall we call it a day?"

"Are we moving on to the next region now?"

"No. We won't be moving on for a while."

"Then?"

I cut branches from a tree standing tall on the snow mountain and gathered them to build a campfire.

Normally, I would have needed to do prep work like finding a place to sleep and preparing a spot for a fire, but thanks to the chaebol heiress who had passed through earlier, I didn't need to do any of that separately.

"You brought a tent too?"

"Yes. I brought it just in case, and it looks like it came in handy."

"That's amazing. When I heard Earth was ending, I just ran around in a panic, and before I knew it, I was inside here."

Wouldn't anyone have done the same?

If anything, the chaebol family members who had entered this place fully prepared were the unusual ones.

Thud. Thud.

I took a tent from my backpack, laid waterproof plastic over the snow, and then spoke to Song Hana, who was warming her hands by the fire.

"But there's only one sleeping bag, so we'll have to share."

"Ah."

"Would that be all right? If you're uncomfortable, I'll sleep outside."

"Ah, n-no. It's all right. Don't worry about it."

In that case, then.

"Come inside now. It'll get cold quickly once it gets dark. The sleeping bag is narrow, so I think it would be best to take off our coats."

"Y-yes, yes."

So we put the thick sleeping bag inside the tent and got in together, wearing only thin cold-weather clothing.

Since our noses were close enough to touch if either of us lowered our head even slightly, Song Hana, who had been lying face-to-face with me, flushed and turned over to face the other way.

Warmth. The places where we touched felt hotter than a heat pack; it couldn't have been just my imagination.

"Um, Mr. Minjun."

"Yes."

"There's something hard touching my butt. I think you should take it out and put it outside the sleeping bag. It might be uncomfortable while we're sleeping…."

"That's my dick."

"Yes…. Huh?"

"The thing touching your butt is my dick."

"H-huh?"

Song Hana was flustered.

Seeing her unsure what to do, I couldn't help but laugh.

"You're attractive, Song Hana, so I couldn't help it. But I'm not actually going to do that, so please bear with me for a little while. It'll go down again once you fall asleep."

With that, I closed my eyes while holding Song Hana in my arms.

"Um, excuse me…."

Song Hana was still stammering in embarrassment, but I wasn't joking and had no particular intention of doing anything.

Throwing axes all day in the cold had left me tired, and if I forced myself on Song Hana at this point, I might cross a point of no return.

'I could finish the tutorial and flee to the next region before even having sex. If that happened, I'd build dislike instead of favorability and get branded a villain.'

So for now, rather than acting rashly, it was time to rest comfortably. After a little while, I heard Song Hana's relieved voice.

"Ah… It softened."

***

Early the next morning, I woke to rustling and found my hand massaging Song Hana's breasts.

The scent of a woman beside me must have made me habitually slip my hand inside her clothes and fondle her in my sleep.

"A-are you awake?"

"Ah, yes."

"Then could you move your hand now…."

"I'm sorry."

When I apologized and pulled my hand away, Song Hana climbed out of the sleeping bag first and got dressed, her face bright red.

'She's not going to get dressed and flee to the next region, is she?'

I grew worried a moment too late, but fortunately, that didn't happen.

"Then I look forward to working with you today as well."

"Yes, I look forward to it too."

Maybe it was because it was our second day.

We had grown accustomed to hunting as a team.

We were quite a well-coordinated team.

I had ten years of combat experience, knowledge of the future, and the confidence that came with them, while Song Hana had thoughtfulness and a sharp mind.

Whoosh—thunk!

Patter-patter!

Whenever I acted confidently, Song Hana intelligently supported me without complaint.

As a result, our work speed increased dramatically.

"Let's take a short break."

"Yes."

During the break, we dried our clothes and shoes by the campfire and ate food we'd brought from Earth.

"Here."

As we ate, Song Hana handed me a heavy pouch. In short, these were the items we'd picked up while working that morning.

Our kind saintess had been unable to refuse when I told her to bring back every item we farmed, and was really bringing all of them to me.

'She could easily have pocketed one or two.'

But she wouldn't regret it. I intended to take equally good care of her.

"Take these and equip them."

Of them, I handed Song Hana two earrings, one necklace, and two rings.

"Am I supposed to wear one ring on each hand?"

"Yes. You can wear several on one hand, but the efficiency drops."

Apparently, their mana waves canceled each other out or something.

Someone had told me that before, but to cut to the conclusion, wearing two on one hand cut each one's effects in half.

With three, the effects became one-third. Only one of the special options would activate as well.

'Wearing more only makes your hands uncomfortable, so people generally wear just one on each.'

"Thank you."

"What are you thanking me for? We worked together."

"Ah."

"And don't worry. I'll sell these for a good price later and give you a share too, Ms. Hana."

"Ah, n-no. I only went around picking them up, and I just kept receiving clothes, shoes, food…."

She added,

"I won't ask for anything else, so please don't discard me just because I'm useless. Please keep taking me with you."

"……."

To think that the woman who would become an S-rank saintess was begging me not to abandon her.

This was why you could never predict the future.

Who could have imagined it?

Han Sohee, heiress to the powerful Cheongseong Group on Earth, would later fade away into obscurity, while Song Hana, used by everyone at the bottom of society, would rise as the hero who saved humanity.

"Don't worry. I'll never abandon you."

"Thank you."

Yet she still looked at me anxiously, making it seem that our saintess, still in her prime, needed faith and trust in me.

So, perhaps a little early, I reached out, pulled Song Hana close, and planted a kiss on her lips.

"!!"

Song Hana opened her eyes wide and didn't know what to do, so I pulled away and said,

"I want us to be close, Song Hana."

"Ah, huh?"

"If that made you uncomfortable, I apologize. But I wanted to show you how I feel—that I'll never abandon you."

"Y-yes…."

But had that been too forward?

After that, Song Hana avoided me for about three days.

There wasn't much she could avoid when we were the only two people there, but she barely spoke during meals or at bedtime.

Whenever our eyes happened to meet, she would quickly look away.

'Damn, was I too hasty?'

Even so, Song Hana didn't leave me. If she was uncomfortable, she could have moved on to the next region, but she continued hovering around me until the end.

And then came noon on the fourth day.

As usual, Song Hana was startled and quickly looked away when our eyes met, but when I happened to see the tips of her red ears, I finally realized.

'Ah, so that's what it was.'

I sat close beside Song Hana while she ate. Then, when she flinched, I pulled her close with one arm and rubbed her butt.

"……."

Even then, our saintess didn't resist and sat there demurely.

I grabbed the saintess by the chin and pressed my lips to hers.

"Stick out your tongue. Spread your legs."

"Y-yes, yes. Mwah. Mwah."

The saintess obediently spread her legs.

Ah, this is nice.