Chapter 24 - ...Again?
[ ...Again? ]
=== ...Again? ===
Faint morning sunlight filtered through the curtains, softly illuminating the room.
The moment I opened my eyes, the first thing I felt was a heavy yet soft weight resting on top of me.
"...Mmm."
I lifted my head slightly to check who it was. Of course, it was Yoo Ra-eun.
I didn't know when she had crawled into bed, but she was half-sprawled over me, her arms wrapped tightly around my neck.
Her silver hair was scattered across the pillow. Still half-asleep, she blinked slowly, looking down at me.
"Mmm... Oppa..."
Her voice was thick with sleep.
"...Are you awake?"
"Yeah, just woke up."
Ra-eun replied, shifting her weight slightly.
As she moved, the blanket slid down with a soft rustle, exposing her bare skin to mine. Her warmth transferred to me instantly.
"...It's morning, though."
"...Yeah."
Her reply was short, but her next move was anything but.
Ra-eun shifted, straddling my waist and pressing her body flush against mine.
Her breasts pressed flat against my chest, soft and warm.
"...Is it hard already...?"
She asked, smiling playfully.
Ra-eun narrowed her eyes and let out a soft chuckle.
"Pervert."
"..."
I couldn't deny it.
Seeing my reaction, Ra-eun giggled, finding it even more amusing, and slowly leaned down.
As her face drew closer, her silver hair cascaded over my chest.
"...Ah, right."
Looking at her, yesterday's events suddenly flashed through my mind.
Going to the training grounds with Han Cho-yeon. The sensation of channeling mana into the blade for the first time as I swung at the training dummy.
Even though the cut had been jagged and messy, it was definitely Aura. I had spent the entire day practicing it.
'...Do you even know what you just did?'
Cho-yeon's words still rang in my ears.
I wrapped my arms around Ra-eun's shoulders and spoke.
"...Ra-eun." "Mmm?"
Ra-eun tilted her head, looking up at me.
"...Yesterday, I went to the training grounds with Cho-yeon—the girl I mentioned before—and somehow, I managed to manifest Aura."
"...W-What? Aura?!"
Ra-eun's eyes went wide. She pushed against my chest and sat up abruptly.
"Really?! You did, Oppa?!" "Yeah. ...Though it's not perfect yet."
Ra-eun stared at me blankly, her mouth slightly agape, before her face suddenly lit up with a bright smile.
"...Wow, you're seriously amazing, Oppa...!"
She wrapped her arms around my neck, nuzzling her cheek against mine as she showered me with praise.
I explained how to open the status window—which I'd figured out yesterday—before getting to the main point.
"...So, about that." "Yeah? What is it?"
"Could you teach me how to use a sword?"
Ra-eun's eyes instantly lit up.
"...Of course I'll teach you, Oppa! Since I'm an S-class now, I'll be the perfect teacher for you! ♡"
She bounced up and down on top of me, giddy with excitement.
As she rocked gently on top of me, her soft weight pressed delightfully against my lap.
"...Hmph. Han Cho-yeon, was it?"
"Yeah. ...Why?" "...No, it's nothing."
Ra-eun pouted slightly, but her bright smile quickly returned.
"Hehe... but since you love me, Oppa, I don't care! ♡"
With that, she pounced on me again.
Smooch! ♡ Smooch! ♡ Smooch! ♡
She rained kisses all over me—my cheeks, my forehead, the tip of my nose, and finally my lips.
Ra-eun's hand slid down my chest, slowly tracing lower.
"Oppa... ♡ I... want to do it again..."
She placed her hand over my pajama pants, rubbing her palm against my already erect cock and pressing down gently.
"Hehe... ♡ You want to, too, Oppa—"
Just as Ra-eun breathed into my ear, grabbing my cock to line it up with her hole—
Knock, knock, knock—!
"...!"
We both froze instantly.
...
After a tense moment of silence, Yoo Seo-rin's quiet voice drifted through the door.
"...Um, breakfast is ready."
Ra-eun and I stared blankly at each other.
I muttered inwardly.
'...Her timing is unreal.'
She had interrupted us right before we could do it yesterday, too. Today was a repeat performance.
Ra-eun blinked, startled.
"..."
Then, the corners of her mouth twitched upward.
She let out a soft, amused snort.
"...Pfft."
"...?"
"Hmph, it's nothing."
She called out a half-hearted reply to let her sister know she heard, then slipped off the bed.
"...We shouldn't keep Sis waiting. Oppa, I don't have any plans today either, so I'll make time this evening to teach you how to use a sword! ♡"
She pressed a light kiss to my cheek.
Smooch! ♡
"I'll text you. It's a promise! ♡"
I nodded.
"...Yeah. Promise."
Ra-eun stood up and adjusted her clothes.
After watching her for a moment, I threw on the clothes I'd worn over and slipped out of the house using Intangibility.
"...No way. What on earth is this?"
Kang Seo-yoon, an S-class Hunter, was out for a leisurely jog in her usual secluded spot.
Her footsteps slowly ground to a halt.
Her expression, which had been relaxed as she maintained a steady breathing rhythm, stiffened.
"...Again?"
She turned her head.
Her gaze drifted toward the direction where she had felt that strange wave of mana before.
A few days ago...
She had felt a strange surge of mana nearby.
She had definitely detected an energy close to S-class level inside that bizarre, box-like space.
Her face flushed slightly as she recalled the incident, but she quickly shook it off and focused.
"...No way."
Seo-yoon's eyes narrowed.
And then...
She felt it again.
Just for a fleeting moment.
A subtle tremor in the air, carrying a distinct flow of mana.
"...Ha."
She let out a soft, disbelieving chuckle.
"...What on earth is going on here?"
There was nothing special about this area.
The only dungeons nearby were low-to-mid rank, and there weren't any major guild headquarters around.
It was just a quiet neighborhood with a few remote training facilities.
And yet...
"...Why does it feel like unregistered S-class Hunters keep popping up?"
She muttered, lost in thought.
A newly Awakened Hunter, perhaps?
Or a hidden card being kept under wraps by a guild?
She weighed the possibilities, but—
"...Still, it doesn't make sense."
An S-class Hunter couldn't easily stay hidden.
At the very least, rumors would have started circulating.
After pondering a moment longer, Seo-yoon changed direction.
"It'll be faster to just go look."
She picked up her pace, tracking the faint trail of mana.
A moment later, near a private training ground.
Seo-yoon stopped a short distance away.
"...Is it here?"
A very faint residue of mana still lingered in the air.
And—
Inside the training ground,
she saw two people.
"...?"
Seo-yoon's eyes widened slightly.
A man stood holding an iron training sword.
And,
a silver-haired woman was clinging to his side like a koala, her arms wrapped around him.
She blinked, dumbfounded by the absurd sight.
"...Who on earth trains like that?"
No, more importantly...
"There's more than one of them...?"
Seo-yoon watched them in silence.
Even from a distance, she could see what they were doing.
The woman was clinging to him, eagerly explaining something, while the man swung the longsword with one hand, completely unfazed by her weight.
Her gaze drifted between the two of them.
Their posture.
The flow of their mana.
The subtle vibrations in the air.
The woman caught her attention first. The density of her mana was extraordinary.
Though it didn't seem entirely stable yet—
"...She's an S-class."
Since the woman wasn't making any effort to hide it, there was no doubt.
But—
Seo-yoon's gaze naturally shifted to the man.
"...Wait."
She narrowed her eyes.
"...What's with that guy?"
His mana was unstable.
The flow was completely inconsistent.
And with a woman hanging off him, his posture was a total mess.
Yet, the sheer pressure he exuded was almost at the level of an S-class.
"...No, he looks like a complete novice, but if he's actually S-class..."
she muttered under her breath.
"In this neighborhood..."
She stared at the pair once more.
"...Two unregistered S-classes?"
...No, maybe three.
An S-class Hunter's intuition was rarely wrong.
"I should at least memorize their faces."
There was no need to approach them and cause a scene right now.
Besides—
"...I'll run into them again."
With that quiet conviction, Seo-yoon took one last look before turning around and slipping away.
My training session with Ra-eun yielded great results.
My form had noticeably improved, and my control over mana was starting to feel much more natural after some practice.
Though it was still a far cry from a perfect Aura—
at least I was heading in the right direction.
"...That's enough for today."
I hung the sword back on the rack and left the training grounds.
Ra-eun was still clinging tightly to my arm.
"...Hehe. You're a really fast learner, Oppa."
"Am I?"
"Yeah. You're the absolute best..."
Ra-eun smiled proudly.
Then, she gave my arm a sudden tug.
"...Hey."
"Yeah?"
"Come over to our place today, Oppa."
"...So suddenly?"
"Let's have dinner together."
Ra-eun spoke as if it were already decided.
"...Sis will be happy to see you, too. It's been a while, you know?"
"Will she?"
"Yeah!"
She didn't have a single doubt in her mind.
In the end, I let myself be dragged along by her.
At the dinner table.
"...Huh?"
Yoo Seo-rin's eyes widened slightly.
A flash of surprise crossed her face when she saw me walk through the front door.
"...Ga-on?"
"Hi, Noona."
"...Hi."
A brief, awkward silence hung in the air, but once Seo-rin composed herself, I spoke up.
"I dropped by to have dinner. And to see you, of course."
"...Okay."
Ra-eun chimed in nonchalantly.
"We trained together today."
"...Really?"
Seo-rin's gaze swept over me.
"...That must have been tough. Though, since you're a support type, I'm not really sure what kind of training you'd even do."
"...Uh..."
"Let's eat!"
With that slight misunderstanding hanging in the air, we dug in.
Before long, the warm, cozy dinner came to an end.
We headed off to our respective rooms.
Even though I lived on my own now, they still kept a room set aside for me here, so I headed inside to relax.
As I lay on the bed, enjoying the lazy, comfortable warmth—
Ding!
[A new quest has been issued.]
[Quest]
- Stroke Yoo Seo-rin's hair for 10 minutes.
Reward: Slight increase in 'Snail Husband' mana, massive increase in Yoo Seo-rin's concentration
Penalty for Failure: Bladder removal
"......"
The quest targeting Yoo Seo-rin had officially begun.