Chapter 117

“The video you are seeing now…”

With the reporter’s agitated voice, a video of the monster flower, seemingly shot with a mobile phone, appeared on the TV screen. At first, it seemed relatively clear, but then, with the scene of tentacles erupting, the screen shook violently and then switched to footage taken by another person.

“They’ve gathered quite a lot in that time.”

It was unclear if they hadn’t actively controlled the information, or if they were intentionally not controlling it, but seeing the monster flower’s video being broadcast unfiltered like that gave an idea of the government’s stance. The bare upper body of the woman was still pixilated amidst the chaos, so perhaps it should be considered somewhat filtered. Changing channels, he could see gathered videos being replayed everywhere. However, amidst all this, there was still no official government announcement.

Henes, who was massaging Jun-sang’s shoulders from behind, asked in a subdued voice, “Did you… fight that monster?”

“Yes.”

“Did monsters appear here too?”

“Something like that.”

Jun-sang raised his hand and gently stroked Henes’s hand, which was massaging his shoulder, and continued, “Don’t worry.”

“Okay…”

Jun-sang gently stroked Henes’s hand, enjoying its soft touch, then sent a brief message to Seo-yoon. ‘Drop by again tomorrow if you have time.’ Then he quietly got up from the sofa.

“Will you wake me before dinner?”

“Yes. Leave it to me.”

Jun-sang went to the bed, lay down, and closed his eyes. How much time had passed? Jun-sang, who had drifted off to sleep, slowly opened his eyes, realizing something soft was held in his arms. He looked down and saw that Henes had somehow snuggled into his embrace and was sleeping soundly.

“…” She must have washed while he was asleep, as the subtle scent of shampoo emanated from Henes’s hair. At first, she was so awkward even just lying in the same bed, but now, falling asleep in his arms had become commonplace. Jun-sang quietly reached out and stroked Henes’s soft hair. Henes, who had been lightly asleep, quickly reacted and jumped up.

“B-but it’s already this late… I’m sorry. You asked me to wake you.”

“…” Henes, flustered, tried to get straight out of bed, but Jun-sang pulled her arm and embraced her.

“J-Jun-sang?” Henes called his name in surprise, but Jun-sang just silently stroked her hair. At first, Henes was flustered and didn’t know what to do, but then she quietly closed her eyes and accepted Jun-sang’s touch.

Jun-sang held Henes quietly in his arms for a long time, and only when the surroundings were completely dark did he slowly rise. “Sorry, aren’t you hungry?”

“Oh, no. It’s okay. I’m not hungry at all.” Jun-sang chuckled, watching Henes quickly get up and say that, then slowly rose from his seat.

“Get dressed. Let’s go out and eat something delicious.”

“I-it’s okay.”

“I’m hungry.”

“Okay…”

Henes pouted her lips with an expression that seemed to indicate her expectations were dashed, and then slipped out of the bedroom to get her clothes.

“Whew…” As Henes left the bedroom, Jun-sang unconsciously sighed. This cute brown-haired lady sometimes exuded a surprisingly feminine aura, and every time, Jun-sang had to expend considerable mental effort to suppress the desires boiling within him. To be honest, it had been quite dangerous just now. Jun-sang got out of bed to clear his head and did some light stretches. Then he put on his clothes, turned on the light, and went into the living room. He saw Mong-mong rolling around on the table.

“…” Jun-sang extended a finger and lightly pressed Mong-mong’s belly, which was round and protruding as if it had swallowed a ping-pong ball.

Squeak?

Mong-mong reached out its front paws and firmly gripped Jun-sang’s finger. When he lifted his finger, it dangled like a fish on a fishing line. As he played with Mong-mong, lifting and lowering his finger, Henes, dressed, came out into the living room.

“I’m ready.”

“You can take your time.”

“I’m hungry.”

“…” Jun-sang nodded at Henes, then put the pot-bellied Mong-mong into his jacket pocket and stood up.

“Let’s go.” As Jun-sang said that and extended his hand, Henes smiled brightly and took his hand.

They headed to the restaurant area adjacent to the amusement park. Perhaps because of the monster flower’s appearance nearby, the amusement park was quite deserted, but thanks to that, the two could enjoy their meal in a somewhat relaxed atmosphere. After finishing their meal, the two returned to their room, took a quick wash, and went to bed.

Jun-sang tried to go back to sleep, but Henes, who had snuggled into his arms, suddenly rose and looked at him, saying, “Jun-sang.”

“Hmm?”

“Can I ask you for one favor?”

“Tell me.”

Henes hesitated for a moment, then quietly said, “Just one kiss, please.”

“…” Did this girl truly not know how tormenting it was for a man to just give one kiss and move on, while lying in the same bed, feeling each other’s body warmth? Jun-sang sighed deeply, then pulled her face closer and gently kissed her moist lips.

“Done?”

“Yes!” Henes blushed and leaned her face against his chest with a happy expression.

And at that very moment. A message appeared before Jun-sang’s eyes, who was trying to fall asleep.

Congratulations! Pet 'Henes Brea's Affection has reached 100. :The higher the Affection, the faster the pet's growth. -Affection can increase up to a maximum of 120. -If Affection is 100 or higher, certain abilities may be amplified depending on the pet's attributes.

“…” Jun-sang was dumbfounded and let out a hollow laugh. He didn’t particularly like the idea of human emotions being quantified, so he was about to simply close the window when another message appeared in his vision.

Congratulations! :You have reached Pet Affection 100 for the first time. -Celebrating your achievement, you are granted the title 'Too Cool Master'. [Click here to view detailed title information.]

“…” It was getting more and more complicated. Jun-sang chuckled and checked the title’s information.

[Too Cool Master] :A title granted to the first person to reach Pet Affection 100. -Effect: The number of simultaneously summonable pets increases by 1. -The effect of the title is automatically applied upon acquisition.

The number of simultaneously summonable pets had increased by one again. This meant Jun-sang could now summon a total of three pets simultaneously. While he was at it, Jun-sang took a quick look at Henes’s information.

Pet Info Name: Henes Brea Species: Hiddixian Level: 8Lv Experience: 1572 Grade: Unknown Category: Composite Growth: Precocity (Large) Attribute: Water Skills: Negotiation 7Lv, Connections 4Lv [Info] Affection: 101 Loyalty: 81 Card Slots: 5 [Info] Description: Born in Deloran, located in the southwest of the Central Continent of Planet Hiddix. Born as the youngest daughter of the Brea family, the de facto rulers of the walled city of Ibeluha, which faces the Forbidden Forest, and currently attending the second year of Linderzel Boarding School, renowned for its high-level education for young ladies of prestigious families. Her high negotiation skills based on natural affinity and her ability to build and utilize relationships through such negotiations are particularly noteworthy among her abilities.

Due to various events, her level had risen quite a bit. While he was at it, Jun-sang also checked Mong-mong’s information.

Pet Info Name: Mong-mong Species: Pocket Squirrel Level: 13Lv Experience: 6211 Grade: Rare Category: Composite Growth: Normal (Medium) Attribute: Earth Skills: Insight 11Lv, Storage 8Lv [Info] Affection: 81 Loyalty: 89 Card Slots: 2 [Info] Description: This cute squirrel with a belly pouch is a magically transformed rare species, possessing the ability to recognize valuable items and an extradimensional pouch to store collected items. This pouch can fundamentally store items up to 1 cubic meter in volume, with no restrictions on the type or number of items that can be stored within the allowed volume.

In Mong-mong’s case, unlike Henes, its Loyalty was higher than its Affection. Moreover, its level was an astounding 13. It was significantly higher than Henes’s, and proportionately, its skill levels were also quite high. Considering that his own Insight level was only about 5, Mong-mong’s Insight level was truly formidable.

Come to think of it… It was Mong-mong who first sensed the presence of the Dark Seed in the amusement park.

“So that’s why.”

“Yes? What is?”

“Just talking to myself.”

“…” Jun-sang closed the message window in front of him, then gently stroked Henes’s head and tried to sleep.

Thus, a day passed, and it was the next day. Again, they were eating a late brunch when a knock came at the door. Henes, wearing a gown and with a towel wrapped around her head, was eating honey bread and exclaiming with delight. Hearing the knock, she jumped in surprise and quickly fled into the bedroom.

Jun-sang chuckled silently at her reaction, then quietly replied, “Come in.”

Then, just like yesterday, Seo-yoon and his four guild members entered the suite. The only difference from yesterday was their grim, exhausted faces. He didn’t know for sure, but they must have had a rough night.

“You look very tired,” Jun-sang said, gesturing to the seats. Seo-yoon sat down and replied, “It just kind of turned out that way.”

“You worked hard.” Since he already knew the situation, there was no need for long explanations. Jun-sang got up, took out a cabinet from his inventory, and handed a stack of documents to Seo-yoon.

“What’s this?” Seo-yoon asked with a surprised expression. Jun-sang, after taking out all the documents and returning the cabinet to his inventory, sat down and replied, “These are the documents that were in Kim Jong-kyung’s safe.”

“What?” Seo-yoon gasped in surprise and quickly checked the contents of the documents. Jun-sang quietly watched him and continued, “I didn’t know what any of it was. But if they were kept in a safe, they’re probably not ordinary items.”

“Th-that’s true.”

Then, Jin Se-ah, sitting next to Seo-yoon with dark circles under her eyes, picked up a document with a questioning expression and then her eyes widened. “Oh! Th-this is…” She quickly flipped through the documents, then ground her teeth. “These bastards… after denying everything like that… Ugh, it’s infuriating.”

Jun-sang watched her and then spoke again. “Will it be useful?”

“Useful? It will be more than that. This will shut the elders up for a while.”

“That’s a relief.”

Kim Jong-kyung had been dealt with by Jun-sang, but with the appearance of the monster flower, politicians’ attention was once again focused on the abilities of returnees. Some were even arguing for the creation of special forces composed of returnees, like China and the United States, and Seo-yoon and his guild members were being pressured to act as spearheads in pushing such initiatives. But if they used these documents as a weapon, they could at least be somewhat free from such pressure for a while.

Jun-sang spoke again. “I saw on the news. There’s discussion about forming a special force?”

Seo-yoon sighed deeply and replied, “Yes. That’s actually the biggest headache. They’re talking about following the precedents of China and the United States, and problems like this make it seem like your patriotism is questionable if you refuse, so public opinion…”

“You don’t need to worry about that.”

“Huh? Why…”

“China and America’s attempts have already failed. They’re hiding it, but there are ways to confirm it, so use that.”

At Jun-sang’s words, Seo-yoon replied with a surprised expression, “If that’s true, it would be a huge help. But… is it really reliable information?”

“Of course. I saw it directly.”

“You… saw it directly?”

“Yes.”

The others looked confused, but Seo-yoon was so surprised he couldn’t close his mouth. Previously, Jun-sang had told him not to rely too much on guns and to investigate the situation in the United States. Taking that opportunity, Seo-yoon had gathered information about returnees in other countries and, in the process, discovered several patterns. One of them was that quests were, as much as possible, performed by people from the same country. However, Jun-sang was saying he had seen people from other countries in a quest, disregarding that pattern. If this was true, it meant Jun-sang was an entity that could disregard even the general rules of quests.

Seo-yoon thought for a moment, then asked again, “Don’t tell me… that monster that appeared yesterday was also part of a quest?”

Jun-sang replied immediately, “That’s right.”

“So it was.”

Watching Seo-yoon nod, Jun-sang spoke again, “Therefore, you all need to become stronger in the future.” The other guild members, with sleepy faces, looked bewildered at Jun-sang’s words, and Seo-yoon again questioned Jun-sang on their behalf. “What… do you mean?”

Jun-sang quietly replied, “Your existence hasn’t been announced to the media yet, but that’s something they’ll find out with a little investigation.”

“Yes, well… a formal announcement will probably go out tomorrow. We barely managed to prevent our names from being directly revealed, but if someone is determined to find out…” Seo-yoon, who had been speaking, made a startled expression and then said in a trembling voice, “Don’t tell me… you mean those guys might come looking for us?”

Jun-sang nodded heavily. “Probably.”