Ace Party (1)
"Ugh!"
Seo Yejin let out a painful groan as she regained consciousness.
"Are you okay, Yejin?"
"Y-Yeah…"
She waited for a moment, but the system notification that should appear after hunting a mid-tier vampire didn't show up.
There were two possibilities.
One, the vampire who inhaled the poison gas had died, but since there were no citizens or Seo Yejin's mice (who shared senses with her) present at the location, the system couldn't register the kill.
The other, was that the vampire hadn't died.
But then—
[You have hunted a Low-tier Vampire (Lv. 28).]
[You have hunted a Low-tier Vampire (Lv. 29).]
Since the messages indicating the defeat of low-tier vampires were still appearing, it was clear the location was within the influence of the Homebase Territory.
That meant kills were being registered even if there were no citizens present.
'It wasn't that far from the expanded territory!'
Which unfortunately pointed to the latter possibility—
That none of the mid-tier vampires had died.
There had been three mid-tier vampires in that area.
'Not even one of them was killed.'
It seemed only a few low-tier vampires who had been slow to react had inhaled the poison gas.
'What a shame.'
She had hoped to eliminate all of them before they caught on to her tactics.
Now, the enemy would realize that the poison gas was extremely dangerous—
And more importantly, that it was being produced by the mice.
'Not sure they'll stay cooped up in a sealed space again.'
They'd probably react aggressively to any nearby mice now.
'Might even change their base.'
He spoke to Seo Yejin, who was sweating from the strain.
"Yejin. Can you just monitor whether they move to another location?"
"Understood. Phew."
"Don't push yourself."
"O-Okay."
Thanks to Yoo Hyerin's poison gas, they had still managed to take out a good number of vampires.
Now, only the ones in that conference room remained.
But those were all elite-level enemies.
'Only one party can handle them!'
Ha Donggun's party.
If it wasn't them, taking those enemies down without serious losses would be impossible.
'I could send the mice again… but that would put too much strain on Seo Yejin.'
These were foes who had already experienced the mice once.
If they spotted one again, they might attack viciously.
Given how mentally taxing it was for Seo Yejin each time a mouse died, this wasn't a plan they could recklessly repeat.
While Seo Yejin tracked the vampires' movements, he decided to check in on Ha Donggun's party.
'Eye of the Absolute.'
The first he checked on was the leader, Ha Donggun.
"Huff, huff."
He was lifting weights at the gym.
Next to him was Kim Gayoung, dressed in leggings, working out alongside him.
Considering he had been holed up at home since returning from Jangjeon-dong, this was a very positive sign.
'He's doing a lot better.'
Even when expressionless, his eyes had once seemed filled with sorrow. But now, that atmosphere had lightened considerably.
No doubt, it was thanks to Kim Gayoung staying by his side.
'Thank goodness.'
He watched them for a moment.
"How's the weight?"
"Feels way too light, honestly."
"…That's light?"
Ha Donggun was undeniably in great shape, but the weight he was lifting so casually was an astonishing 350 kg.
350 kg bench press.
An almost impossible feat for an average human.
Even if someone among Earth's 8 billion people could lift that weight, they'd need an outrageously muscular physique to do it.
And even then, they wouldn't casually say it felt "too light."
At level 45, his physical stats had clearly surpassed the limits of human strength.
"Wanna give it a try?"
"…Me?"
"I'll help you."
"…Huh?"
Kim Gayoung looked at Ha Donggun for a moment as he stood there casually, then sighed softly and lay down on the bench.
She probably didn't actually intend to lift it—just going along to humor him.
She grabbed the barbell, and Ha Donggun assisted as if spotting her.
"Ready?"
"Yeah."
"Go for it."
"Mm."
Kim Gayoung matched his timing and began to push.
"…Huh?"
Surprisingly, the barbell—loaded with thick plates—lifted smoothly in her hands.
Her arms didn't even tremble.
Kim Ga-young blankly stared at the barbell she had just lifted, then turned to look at Ha Dong-geon.
"Are you the one holding it?"
"No."
"Don't mess with me."
"I'm serious."
With that, Ha Dong-geon completely let go of the barbell.
"W-Wait! Are you kidding me?"
Kim Ga-young lowered the barbell and lifted it again.
And then she gave a simple reaction.
"…Is this for real?"
"I was surprised too. Didn't expect it to be like this."
Though she was at a lower level than Ha Dong-geon, Kim Ga-young was still a monster who had reached level 40.
And in her case, her powers weren't even focused on strength—they were maximized for vision and agility.
Even so, she was displaying strength far beyond that of an ordinary human.
"Now you get why I said it felt light?"
"…Yeah. You weren't joking."
Just then—
"What on earth are you people?"
"Huh?"
A middle-aged man approached them with a look of shock on his face.
He was the only one who directly spoke, but everyone else in the gym was clearly focused on Ha Dong-geon as well.
"Is this some kind of hidden camera prank? This thing's fake, right?"
The man pointed at the barbell, disbelief written all over his face.
"Can I try lifting it?"
"It could be dangerous."
"I just can't believe it otherwise."
Insisting stubbornly, the man eventually lay down on the bench.
Then—
"Hrngh! Hrrrrgh!"
He strained with all his might, his face turning bright red, trying to lift the barbell.
But it didn't budge.
Even though his body was bulkier than Ha Dong-geon's.
He hung his head, his face now pale.
***
"I'm sorry for doubting you."
Ha Dong-geon smiled and accepted the apology.
"It's okay."
As he watched, he thought to himself:
'Looks like they're ready now.'
After confirming Ha Dong-geon was in decent shape, he checked on the other party members.
Kang Deok-soo and Kim Geon, who had fallen into despair and alcohol, were now hunting goblins together.
Half a dozen goblins charged at them, and Kang Deok-soo shouted:
"Arise!"
His skill proficiency had clearly improved.
A knight was summoned right in front of the goblins and swung his halberd.
Slash!
A goblin's head was taken off in one clean stroke.
At the same time, iron knights summoned behind the goblins thrust their halberds into their torsos.
"Kyeeeek!"
The movements of the steel knights were much smoother than before.
And it wasn't just Kang Deok-soo's skill use that had improved.
Cawww!
A much larger crow flew through the narrow cave and dove onto a goblin.
Without Kim Geon having to do anything, the now bigger crows were steadily reducing the number of goblins.
'No need to worry anymore!'
Dragging Kang Deok-soo to the goblin lair had turned out to be more effective than expected.
Even Kim Geon, who had been drinking in despair, had shaken it off and gone out for a simple hunt.
Though it was two high-level individuals at level 45 and 40 beating up goblins that weren't even level 10, it was still encouraging that they were hunting together at all.
Kang Deok-soo turned to Kim Geon and asked:
"How is it?"
"…It's not bad."
"Feels nice to be out after a while, right?"
"Taking a stroll through a goblin den? You've got some twisted hobbies, senior."
"Hahaha! Okay, okay. But doesn't it feel kind of good?"
Kim Gun smiled slightly as he watched Kkamang snap a goblin's neck.
***
"It's not bad. It's been a while since we hunted, and it seems like Kkamang and the others are enjoying it too."
The dungeon was far too easy compared to their level, but it was perfect for a change of pace.
Kim Gun spoke.
***
"Senior, how about going on a real hunt for the first time in a while?"
Kang Deoksoo tilted his head and replied,
"A hunt? We're hunting right now, aren't we?"
"…I mean not this kind of goblin hunt. A real hunt. Actually, I haven't just been drinking this whole time."
Kim Gun gave a meaningful smile and whistled.
Fweeeet!
At that, Kkamang flew toward him.
Kang Deoksoo, who had been watching without much thought, panicked when he saw Kkamang picking up speed. It was flying just as fast as when attacking goblins.
Heading straight toward its master, Kim Gun.
But before he could say anything, Kkamang, now at full speed, crashed into Kim Gun.
"Gun-ah!"
At that moment—
"Don't worry, senior."
Kim Gun's appearance, now buried under Kkamang, had changed drastically.
"…You, you!"
Not just Kang Deoksoo—I was surprised too.
What the heck?
And for good reason: Kim Gun looked completely different now.
Kim Gun slowly spread his arms.
"!!"
No, by now it was more accurate to call them wings.
"This is something I can do now."
Kkamang and Kim Gun had merged into one.
"So let's go outside. Somewhere better than this cramped cave."
A new skill?
I hurriedly opened the vassal management panel and checked Kim Gun's info window.
"Crow Resonance?"
What was once called Crow Control had now changed to Resonance.
The description said this kind of fusion was possible only with a target whose affinity level had reached 100.
"My god."
To think a skill could evolve through personal effort…
Thanks to Kim Gun, I learned something new.
If he could fly in that form, his scouting range would increase dramatically.
There were monsters in the sky, but the mobility was on a whole different level compared to moving on the ground.
"This is going to make things way easier!"
I had been thinking of ways to make better use of Kim Gun's crow—like maybe having it carry Seo Yejin's mouse on its back or something—but now, there was no need for that.
"Nice."
From the looks of it, both Kang Deoksoo and Kim Gun were ready.
"Let's check in on Moon Byungho's group too."
Moon Byungho, Oh Eonju, and Kim Dajeong were currently out on a hunt.
"I heard they've been going pretty far out lately."
I focused the Eye of the Absolute on Moon Byungho's party.
Vwoooom—
I saw Oh Eonju driving.
It looked like they were just returning from a hunt.
The road they were on had been cleared on one side—I remembered hearing that Oh Eonju had physically moved the cars herself.
Moon Byungho, sitting in the back seat, let out a small sigh and said,
"Gun and Deoksoo are probably just getting drunk again today, huh."
"Leave them be. They'll come around when the time is right."
"You think so?"
"Yeah. They're strong guys. Let's give them a bit of time. Time heals more than you think."
As Oh Eonju said, I wanted to give them more time to recover from their wounds. But no matter how I thought about it, there was no other party capable of facing the vampires.
Ha Donggun, Kim Ga-young, Kang Deoksoo, Kim Gun, Moon Byungho, Oh Eonju, Kim Dajeong—
Among the parties currently under my command, this one had received the most investment and possessed overwhelming power: the ace party.
I activated the Ring of Communication toward them.
[It's been a while, everyone. Have you all been resting well?]
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : http://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]