Chapter 89

“So, I hope you’ll bear with some inconvenience for a while,” Jun-sang reiterated.

Heness shook her head and smiled. “The city was fascinating, but I’m still more used to this kind of scenery. As I said before, the air is much better here, too.”

“I’m glad you feel that way.” Even with her reassuring words, Jun-sang still felt a pang of guilt, knowing that once one tasted the comforts of civilization, it was hard to go back.

“Do you need anything else?”

Heness shook her head again. “No, I don’t even know what I’d need.” This wasn’t modesty. Over the past few days, Heness had acutely felt the civilizational gap between her home and this world. From soft, warm clothes to moisturizing cosmetics, there were simply too many fascinating items that, if circumstances had allowed, could have bought all the gold in her world. Take underwear, for instance. Not to mention bras and panties, there were girdles and negligees… items of such exquisite craftsmanship and beauty that merely looking at them would make one’s head spin. These were things that simply couldn’t be replicated in her world, even if they tried.

Heness’s Training Request

Anyway… Heness took another sip of tea and cautiously began, “Um…”

“Yes?”

“I… I want to train too.”

“…”

There was no reason to refuse. Jun-sang’s training basically involved pushing his body to its limits using activated regeneration while equipped with a Berserker-type combo. Therefore, for her to train with Jun-sang, she essentially needed a Berserker combo, which was now satisfied since he recently acquired a Hero-grade Frenzy card. If she possessed even half, or even a quarter, of Jun-sang’s abilities, it would be a huge help in completing quests. Unless he only summoned her for short bursts to use the Foul-mouthed Granny combo effect, he needed to protect her with wolves or spirits if he kept summoning her. If she could even defeat zombies on her own, it would minimize the need for such force dispersion. Moreover, while he had managed to push through missions on his own strength until now, there might be situations where two or more people physically combining their efforts would be indispensable.

“Hmm…” Since it was uncertain when they would return to her hometown of Ibelua or the nation of Delrodran, to which it belonged, possessing the ability to protect herself wouldn’t hurt. However, the problem was whether Heness, a gently raised young lady from a noble family, could endure Jun-sang’s harsh training.

“My training is very difficult.”

At Jun-sang’s words, Heness clenched her fists. “I’ll try. What should I do first?”

Jun-sang chuckled at Heness, who looked as if she were facing the most important decision of her life. “I plan to start training tomorrow, so there’s no need to exert yourself beforehand.”

“Ah…”

“For today, let’s first… organize and put away the things we bought and dry the laundry. You’ll help, won’t you?”

“Yes! Of course!”

After their tea time, Jun-sang and Heness began to take out the accumulated items from their inventory and store them inside the container house. Jun-sang took out all five of his existing cabinets and sorted the items stored within them. He combined items that could be quickly accessed in emergencies in the field, such as clothes and emergency rations, into one cabinet. The remaining cabinets were filled primarily with loot, and then one of the utility rooms in the container house was emptied to store them.

While organizing the loot, Jun-sang picked up a silver ring that increased vitality by 5%, then equipped a seed that added 7% more vitality, and called Heness.

“Heness!”

Heness was hanging laundry outside and immediately rushed over upon hearing Jun-sang’s call.

“Yes?” To a bewildered Heness, wondering what was happening, Jun-sang tossed the silver ring he was holding.

“Wear this.”

“…” Heness was startled when Jun-sang suddenly threw her a ring.

“Th-this is…”

“It’s a ring that increases vitality. It’s not much, but wearing it will help you train your body.”

“Yes…” Disappointed by Jun-sang’s words, which implied no special meaning, Heness unconsciously pouted, then suddenly, with a determined expression, held out both the ring and her hand, saying, “Put it on me.”

“What?” Jun-sang looked momentarily confused by Heness’s audacious request. But Heness repeated with a resolute voice, “Put it on me. Yourself.”

Jun-sang chuckled at Heness, who looked as if she was demanding money back, and reached out to put the ring on her left index finger. As the ring was placed on her finger, Heness felt a sudden surge of vitality throughout her body. With a combined 12% increase in vitality from the ring’s effect and the seed’s ability, it was a natural phenomenon.

“Done?”

“Yes!” Heness, seemingly overjoyed, fiddled with the silver ring on her finger, then quickly ran outside.

“That girl.” Jun-sang chuckled and continued organizing the loot.

“Lululu…” Heness, invigorated, unconsciously hummed the lively rhythm that had flowed from the TV last night. How should he put it? It felt strangely like the honeymoon life he had only heard about.

“Kyaa!” Heness, caught off guard by the word “honeymoon” in her head, clutched her flushed cheeks with both hands, at a loss. As she was hanging a full load of laundry on the line, feeling elated, the forest suddenly rustled, and a small creature popped out. The wolves, who had been lazily dozing on the terrace, raised their heads in unison. But the new arrival was none other than the pocket squirrel. The squirrel hopped onto the table, hummed a tune, and tilted its head at Heness, who was hanging laundry, as if finding her strange. Then it pulled out an acorn from its pouch and began gnawing on the shell.

Heness stopped doing laundry and turned her head at the gnawing sound. “Oh? When did you get here?” Heness asked, but the squirrel paid no attention, engrossed only in gnawing its acorn.

“…” How could it act so exactly like its owner? Heness sighed deeply at the sight of the squirrel ignoring her and just doing its own thing.

“Sigh…” As Heness sighed deeply, Jun-sang, who had just finished organizing the loot and was coming outside, asked, “Why the long face?”

“No reason. Are you finished with your work?”

“More or less. Is this all the laundry?”

“Yes.” Jun-sang hung his underwear, which Heness hadn’t dared to touch, on the clothesline and said, “What do you want for lunch?”

“Hmm… I’m not sure.”

“Do you not know the names of the food? Or do you not know what you want to eat?”

“Both.”

“Hmph.” Jun-sang smiled back at Heness, who replied with a bright laugh, then noticed the squirrel on the table, engrossed in peeling acorns, already on its nth one. He had told it to go play, so he wondered if it had perhaps raided another squirrel’s stash. Seeing acorns continuously spill from its pouch somehow reminded him of a cartoon character he used to watch. Come to think of it, he had promised to name it and had completely forgotten until now.

“A name, huh…” Jun-sang muttered, looking at the squirrel, and Heness immediately asked, “Huh? A name?”

“Yeah. I promised to name this guy and then forgot.”

“Oh, what are you going to name it?”

“How about ‘Mong’?”

“Mong?” Heness tilted her head, then said, “A single character seems too lonely.”

“Then?”

“How about ‘Mongmong’?”

“…” Whether it was “Mong” or “Mongmong,” he figured it was all the same. Anyway, he was just as unoriginal, having taken only the last letter from a cartoon character.

“Sounds good.”

“Hehe…” Jun-sang approached the squirrel, brought up its pet information, and engraved the name. “Alright, from now on, your name is Mongmong.” However, the squirrel looked at Jun-sang, tilted its head once, then pulled out a large chestnut from its pouch and began gnawing on it diligently again.

“Goodness, I wonder if it understands or not.”

“Hahahah!”

Public Disclosure and Continued Training

Anyway, by the time they finished organizing the luggage and drying the accumulated laundry, the day had flown by. Perhaps because she was a gently raised lady, Heness began to doze off after dinner, seemingly tired.

“Heness?”

“Hmm… Yes?”

“If you’re sleepy, go wash up and sleep.”

“Yawn… Yes…”

Heness stumbled into the bathroom with sleepy eyes and began to quickly wash herself. Jun-sang chuckled at Heness’s appearance, then got up, unfolded the bed stored in the wall, and placed a pillow on it. Heness washed up, changed into her pajamas, and exited the bathroom with half-closed eyes.

“Sorry. I’ll go to sleep first.”

“Okay.” Jun-sang glanced at Heness as she crawled into bed, then turned off the room lights and turned on the TV. Breaking news immediately came on.

“…XXX White House Press Secretary held a press conference this evening and disclosed information regarding the recent series of disappearances. Following the White House’s announcement, our government also made an official statement confirming the facts…”

It took a few more days than he expected, but indeed, the information was being disclosed. The revelation of what the returned individuals had experienced meant that Jun-sang’s actions, as the first returned person in Korea whose name was known through various media outlets, would also be re-examined.

“Things are going to get complicated, it seems.” Jun-sang muttered and changed the channel. But every broadcast was parroting the information released by the White House and Cheong Wa Dae. In particular, the focus was on the tutorial.

“Hmm…” Jun-sang frowned, somehow reminded of his own past experiences. In truth, explaining the tutorial in this way might be pointless. Unless they were fools, the tutorial content currently being revealed wouldn’t simply be repeated. A test existed to differentiate. If everyone already knew the answers to the problem, it was natural that further differentiation would be difficult to expect. However, even considering that, one couldn’t definitively say that reviewing previous test content was completely unnecessary. If one knew what the opponent demanded, it would be much easier to find a suitable solution. Unfortunately, such preparation wasn’t available this time, but if something similar happened again, more people would likely return alive. Jun-sang watched a little longer, wondering if there was any information he didn’t know, then finally turned off the TV.

“Hoo…” He went into the bathroom, took a quick shower, and then approached the bed. Perhaps the thick blanket felt too warm. Heness had kicked off the blanket, and her pajamas were askew, exposing her stomach.

“Unbelievable.” What was she relying on to be so defenseless? Jun-sang looked at Heness with a wry smile, then used Telekinesis to straighten her pajamas, took a thinner blanket from the closet, and swapped it with the original one. Then, he quietly got into bed and fell asleep.

The Next Day: Training Continues

Another day passed uneventfully, and morning dawned. Jun-sang opened his eyes as soon as it was light. He carefully went into the bathroom so as not to wake Heness, quickly washed himself, and changed into his workout clothes. When he came out of the changing room, Heness, seemingly hearing the noise, stirred with half-closed eyes.

“Yawn… Good morning.”

“Morning.”

“Where are you going?”

“To exercise.”

“Wait a minute… I’ll come with you.”

“…” Heness stumbled out of bed and approached Jun-sang.

“You can sleep more if you’re tired.” But Heness frowned as if asking what he was talking about and said, “We agreed to train together.” She then immediately went into the bathroom, quickly washed only her face, and came out in her workout clothes.

“Yawn…” Heness, with her hair in a ponytail, yawned languidly and linked her arm through Jun-sang’s. “Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

The two started with a simple mountain run. Of course, “simple” only applied to Jun-sang; for Heness, who was doing such strenuous exercise for the first time, it was a hellish experience.

“Gasp… gasp…” She soon sagged, emitting heat waves from her entire body, unable to go much further. Jun-sang looked at Heness, who was pale and sweating profusely, and said, “That’s enough. Today, ride the wolf and follow along.”

“But…”

“Listen to me.”

“Yes…” In the end, Heness had to watch Jun-sang run from the back of Crimson Wolf.

“Ugh… I’ve lost my appetite.” Her appetite had vanished due to the sudden strenuous exercise, but Jun-sang was relentless.

“Eat.”

“…” Seeing Jun-sang’s stern expression as he offered her a spoon, Heness regretted it then, but it was already too late. Fortunately, she benefited from the regeneration rate because Jun-sang had already changed her combo card to Berserker before training.

The training continued for several more days. Whether fortunate or unfortunate, no new quests appeared.

“Ugh… I’m going to sleep first.”

“Okay.” Jun-sang chuckled at the sight of Heness, utterly exhausted and practically crawling into bed, then realized that the deadline for claiming rewards was almost over. He had intended to save them for later preparation, but at this rate, it would just be a waste of time. Jun-sang clicked his tongue and claimed the rewards for the Harlagan Defense quest. Then, with a flash of light, a level-up occurred.

Reward Unboxing

As his fatigue vanished and his body recovered lightly, Jun-sang first opened the additional reward box of the Savior grade.

New Card: Mighty Bear Spirit

Card Information

Name: Mighty Bear Spirit

Level: 1Lv

Experience: 0

Grade: Super Rare

Category: Item

Growth: Normal (Large)

Attribute: Earth

Effect: When equipped, a powerful bear spirit possesses the user, greatly increasing defense and endurance, and additionally increasing resistance and attack power.

Cost: 30

Seed: 4 slots

“Super Rare?” Jun-sang frowned at the fact that the first card wasn’t Hero-grade. While its performance was definitely better than the Uncommon-grade card he had been using, he still felt somewhat shortchanged.

New Skill: Restrain

Card Information

Name: Restrain

Level: 1Lv

Experience: 0

Grade: Uncommon

Category: Skill

Growth: Normal (Medium)

Attribute: None

Effect: Grabs an opponent’s neck and lifts them, making them unable to move.

Cost: 15

Seed: 3 slots

“Restrain, huh…” It felt a bit subtle. Aside from the ability to immobilize an opponent, it didn’t seem particularly useful. Jun-sang clicked his tongue and checked the next reward.

New Item: Holy Water of Blessing

Item Information

Name: Holy Water of Blessing

Level Requirement: 10

Type: Potion

Grade: Uncommon

Effect: Increases resistance to all status ailments upon consumption.

Duration: 5 minutes

Cooldown: 10 minutes

Remaining Uses: 10 times

Description: This blessed holy water protects the user from all evil energies.

“Hmm…” It had its uses, but for a reward from a Savior-grade reward box, he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was somehow lacking. Was it because he opened the box late? Jun-sang even thought that, but he also checked the remaining hidden quest rewards, only to find another Uncommon-grade Dual Storm card and a Gentle Breeze card.

“My luck isn’t good today.” Jun-sang debated whether to draw a random card or not, but since only one was left, he just opened it.

New Skill: Bite

Card Information

Name: Bite

Level: 1Lv

Experience: 0

Grade: Rare

Category: Skill

Growth: Premature (Large)

Attribute: None

Effect:

1. Bites a target enemy, inflicting a bite wound.

2. Basic attack power increased by 10%.

3. Attack speed increased by 10%.

Cost: 15

Seed: 3 slots

A Rare card appeared, but it was Bite, which he hardly used anymore.

“…” For some reason, he hadn’t really wanted to do the quest itself, and now the rewards were all unsatisfying. At least the seeds and items he got were decent, so perhaps that was a relief? Jun-sang’s mouth felt dry. He felt like he couldn’t endure it without a drink.

“Beer…” He opened the small refrigerator in the kitchen and found a can of beer. Then he went outside and, for the first time in a while, stared at the moonlight while drinking beer. Come to think of it, it had been a long time since he had leisurely drunk alcohol like this. Jun-sang recalled the events that had transpired so far, then emptied the can, washed up, and went to bed.

It was three days later that a new quest arrived for him.