Chapter 14
Nothing particularly notable happened after the cave incident.
I occasionally went out hunting, fetched water, saw off the S-ranks searching for an exit, and spent about two days like that.
If there were any differences in these two days, they would be,
- The little wolf’s gift-giving stopped.
- Things got awkward between Baek Doha and me.
That’s about it.
I sighed as I scribbled on the sandy ground with a tree branch.
‘The first one doesn’t worry me too much.’
The wolf pup’s gift-giving was probably to repay me for saving it.
And that repayment ended when it saved me from the spider monster.
Of course, I was a bit worried that it might be chased by other creatures, but…
It’s not something I can keep and raise, so it’s best if I don’t get more involved.
The real problem was the second one…
‘I’m fine with it, so why is he so concerned?’
Baek Doha seemed to feel guilty and treated me quite awkwardly. It would be a lie to say I wasn’t uncomfortable, considering Baek Doha was the one who had been explaining situations to me.
‘Ah, come to think of it…’
I suddenly remembered Cha Si-hyeon telling me to learn how to shoot from Baek Doha.
I was going to ask him then but didn’t. Should I try now?
Just as I removed my hand from my chin and stood up abruptly.
“Where are you going?”
Thud, something caught on my back. I turned my head and met Baek Doha’s eyes.
‘Ah.’
He was the person I was looking for, but his unexpected appearance made me hurriedly erase the writing on the sandy ground with my foot.
“I’m not going anywhere, I just have a favor to ask.”
“A favor? From Cha Si-hyeon?”
“No, not him. From you, Doha-ssi.”
Me? Baek Doha tilted his head. What is it? As he asked, I spoke without hesitation.
“Can you teach me how to shoot a gun?”
If I could mend our awkward relationship and learn to shoot well, wouldn’t that be killing two birds with one stone?
💎
“Sure, why not.”
Saying that, Baek Doha took me to a forest a little away from the cave.
He added that he’s been training here himself lately.
I was surprised by his immediate agreement, but I followed Baek Doha, feeling a bit dazed.
“Last time I saw you, you were unnecessarily putting too much mana into a single shot.”
And I was criticized from the start.
“Unnecessarily…”
“You’re wasting a lot of mana, your grip on the gun is weak, and your accuracy isn’t great either.”
In short, he’s saying I’m doing everything wrong.
As if the awkwardness had never existed, Baek Doha grinned at my sour expression. He seems to think it’s okay to just smile after throwing such harsh words.
“But before we start, can I ask you something?”
“Is it important for teaching me?”
When I asked back, Baek Doha thought for a moment and said,
“Not really.”
“Then don’t ask.”
“You don’t have many attack skills, do you?”
Completely ignoring my answer, he threw the question.
“Why are you curious about that?”
“I thought we’ve become quite close, but are you still wary of me?”
Who was it that abandoned their close friend and ran away? I grumbled inwardly, slightly annoyed at Baek Doha speaking with an unwavering expression.
Then, as I squinted my eyes, Baek Doha spoke softly, as if making an excuse or explanation.
“It’s just… you seem weak for a C-rank.”
Suddenly, Cha Si-hyeon’s voice echoed in my head.
“Are you really a C-rank?”
Come to think of it, Cha Si-hyeon had doubted me too. We barely got past it then as if it was a joke, but to think even Baek Doha was suspicious.
I couldn’t exactly understand what he meant by ‘aura’, but I could guess to some extent.
After all, I could instinctively feel how strong Cha Si-hyeon, Im Yoo-chan, and Baek Doha were.
Their presence felt completely different, as if proving their S-rank status.
“What you see is what you get.”
I couldn’t say I had nothing, so I just left it ambiguous.
Fortunately, Baek Doha didn’t probe further.
“Hold the gun. And fire once.”
Instead, he immediately had me hold the gun.
I took out the gun I had put in my inventory, pondered where to shoot, and fired at a tree opposite me.
Whether due to nervousness or just my skill, the bullet grazed past the tree trunk.
“Well, I hit it anyway…”
“It looks like you just grazed it by chance.”
Yeah, I know. You don’t have to say it.
As I grumbled with a complex feeling, I heard a sigh from above.
“Hold it like this and keep it steady.”
Then he corrected my posture.
“When you shoot, gather your mana and release it all at once. You’re releasing raw mana, which is why it’s not smooth.”
“……”
Is there raw mana and smooth mana?
I wanted to ask, but I swallowed the question, anticipating a look of disdain.
‘Release the mana all at once…’
I gently placed my finger on the trigger.
“Don’t just shoot recklessly. Shape the bullet before firing.”
I imagined the perfectly shaped arrow in Baek Doha’s hand.
Smooth, and more real than any actual arrow—an arrow.
Thinking about it, I sort of understood what he meant.
“Remember when I helped you before?”
“If you mean when you covered my eyes, I remember.”
“Right. Focus solely on the gun, just like then.”
That one shot I fired accurately with my eyes closed.
Considering how perfectly I shot then, it must have been because I was focused solely on pulling the trigger, with my eyes covered.
I stretched out my arm like before. But this time, I pulled the trigger without closing my eyes.
Bang! The gunshot filled the surroundings.
When the deafening sound subsided a bit, I looked up.
“Oh…!”
And I saw it. The tree with its center perfectly pierced.
This is a good shot, right?!
Turning back excitedly, I saw Baek Doha’s somewhat surprised face.
He looked at the pierced tree and muttered,
“I didn’t think you’d understand so quickly…”
Wasn’t that explanation meant for me to understand?
Seeing my disgruntled expression, Baek Doha grinned.
“It’s better than I expected. I’ll teach you more tomorrow if you can come.”
It was an unexpected offer. I glanced at Baek Doha’s expression.
“Sounds good.”
And I accepted lightly.
‘He doesn’t seem to be as concerned about me as before, maybe because he’s focusing on teaching me to shoot.’
With a somewhat refreshed feeling, I stretched and started walking back to the cave. This much is satisfactory.
However, the next day.
“This is…”
I stared blankly at the familiar object placed in front of the cave.
“Berries?”
The wolf pup’s gift-giving spree had started again.
💎
“You want me to eat this?”
Cha Si-hyeon looked at the purple berry offered to him and then raised his head.
“It looks poisonous to anyone who sees it, doesn’t it?”
“…”
Yoo Yi-joo, the one who offered the berry, averted her gaze.
‘Huh…?’
Of course, Cha Si-hyeon, being S-rank, didn’t miss that movement. He chuckled and asked,
“You want me to eat it and see if it’s poisonous?”
“…Of course not.”
Yoo Yi-joo answered, but the long silence before couldn’t be ignored.
“This is from that wolf pup, right?”
“Yes. It disappeared for a while, but then brought these again.”
Noticing Yoo Yi-joo’s strangely relieved expression, Cha Si-hyeon felt a moment of doubt. She added,
“I’ve received these berries several times before… I just wanted to know, I wasn’t asking you to eat them.”
Cha Si-hyeon roughly knew about the wolf pup’s existence as it had been frequenting the area, except for the past few days.
Hmm… After contemplating the berry for a moment, Cha Si-hyeon picked one.
“Huh?”
And immediately put it in his mouth.
“If, if you really eat it…”
Yoo Yi-joo stuttered in surprise.
Regardless, Cha Si-hyeon chewed the berry and then made a puzzled expression.
“This is actually quite edible?”
It was an unexpected result.
“Maybe it’s a berry that monsters eat separately. Anyway, it’s not bad for something I’ve never seen before.”
“It’s edible…?”
“Yeah. Try it. It doesn’t seem poisonous.”
As Cha Si-hyeon said this and reached for another berry, Yoo Ijoo looked at him suspiciously before turning her gaze to the berries.
‘Really?’
Just as Yoo Yi-joo was reaching out with idle curiosity, she suddenly paused as a thought occurred to her.
“But… I heard S-ranks are resistant to poison.”
Cha Si-hyeon’s hand, reaching for another berry, also stopped mid-air.
“…Ah, right.”
Ah, right?
‘Are you kidding me?’
They say you can’t speak when you’re too shocked, and Yoo Yi-joo looked at Cha Si-hyeon as if she had been betrayed.
She was dumbfounded. It meant she could have died if she had eaten it just now.
Unable to withstand her gaze, Cha Si-hyeon shifted his eyes to a corner and hastily said,
“Hey, hey, I just forgot for a moment. Even if it’s poisonous, the berry is small, so the chances of it being a very small amount are high, okay?”
“A very small amount…”
“Stop tormenting her, Cha Si-hyeon.”
Just as Yoo Yi-joo was muttering blankly, Baek Doha’s voice was heard.
Yoo Yi-joo looked up with round eyes and a welcoming expression.
“What do you mean, tormenting?”
“Weren’t he tormenting you?”
“Ah, he wasn’t tormenting…”
“Then what?”
“He almost killed me.”
💎
Thank you for reading! ♡
