Chapter 19 Part6 (2/2)

After he had roughly explained the location, as well as their objective there, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo lightly kicked off the ground and embarked on Jin's back. Jin turned his body to the direction of their destination, even as he sighed. Due to the a.s.similation skill, he didn't need to be told where to go.

”With your speed, it shouldn't even take a few hours.”

”Hoo, is this really a good idea...”

After the two skeleton heroes were finished with everything, they finally left Kehebe. Due to Jin's speed, the sight of the city quickly became distant, and eventually, around the time they could only see it as a speck, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo sighed (that kind of feeling); the sigh was mixed with both regret and relief.

In a short time, they had not only purified the city, but also discovered a winery nearby, met an elf hero, and even exterminated a corps under the direct command of one of the 12 generals. However, to Lee s.h.i.+n Woo the most important moment was when he exchanged information and knowledge with Kratia.

'Because of her, my magic fundamentals increased significantly too.'

It also wasn't bad that he had secured an ally in a talented hero. Furthermore, Jin, who was in a similar situation to him, gained a sense of emotional stability, as well as other emotions from her due to their talks; though he wasn't able to tell her that because he was shy, she played a huge part in helping him.

Though he had become a Joker who fabricated his own feelings, it didn't mean that he didn't need his feelings. Rather, it was because he had to do so that the exchange of feelings was so important. Kratia had filled in that deficit for him.

”You're thinking about Kratia right now, aren't you?”

Then Jin, who had silently been running, suddenly opened his mouth and spoke. Because they weren't deeply using the a.s.similation skill, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo responded a bit surprised.

”You're really sharp...”

”...”

”The fact that you're talking about Kratia means that you like her, right? Ah, what is it? Why are you shaking?”

”The ground's just b.u.mpy, that's all.”

Jin lied unconvincingly and hara.s.sed Lee s.h.i.+n Woo. As expected, did Jin have some sort of complicated feelings for Kratia? The feelings didn't seem romantic, but he couldn't really make any sort of guess.

With those complicated feelings, he accessed the chatting channel. It had halfway become a habit to access the chatting channel when he travelled long distances.

[Mr. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo has entered.]

[Lloyd H.K.: Oh, I was worried, but you came out safe.]

[Lee s.h.i.+n Woo: It's a relief that you're safe, Senior. I was able to escape beforehand because of Senior Erian.]

No matter how complicated he was feeling, as soon as he accessed the chatting channel, he would unhesitatingly and skillfully begin to lie. If he were to say 'actually, I killed them all', it would become quite troublesome.

[Prince Altania: I would've been able to take care of them.]

[Lloyd H.K.: Though you might be able to inflict a lot of damage with a preemptive strike, it would be difficult for you to win against the entire corps. You're still quite a ways away from level 7, right? Let's not be unreasonable until we hit level 7.]

[Prince Altania: Ugh...]

[Yasunori Akira: It requires quite a bit of courage to realize that you can't do something and back off. Good job, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo.]

He didn't even run, yet he was being complimented for running; Lee s.h.i.+n Woo wanted to get out of this situation as soon as possible. However, he had just entered, so he couldn't just exit immediately with the excuse that their attention was too burdensome on him. Like always, he would need to bear with it a bit more so that he could hear what's going on from his seniors. However.

[s.h.i.+no Rendu: But there are also situations where you can't run away, no matter how much you want to.]

[Lloyd H.K.: s.h.i.+no?]

[Mentes Orun: ...Are you in danger?]

Ah, a senior he'd never seen before had appeared! Moreover, he seemed like quite the veteran! However, now didn't seem like the time to introduce himself and say that it's nice to meet him. s.h.i.+no Rendu's voice was unusual.

[Prince Altania: Hey, it hasn't even been very long since Ye Jin Jin almost died. I thought you were good at running away.]

[s.h.i.+no Rendu: Those pointless provocations of yours feel quite warm right now... But I don't think I'll last very long this time. I think I've been caught by one of the 12 generals.]

[Lloyd H.K.: What? You...]

[Mentes Orun: You should all know that the undead communicate with each other, starting from the level 3 danger zones. It's possible to get caught by one of the 12 generals if they're close by. And we've already told you guys about that once.]

[s.h.i.+no Rendu: I'm not trying to blame you, Senior. Honestly, I'm not trying to blame anyone.]

[Yasunori Akira: You musclehead...]

Even Yasunori Akira, who always spoke coldly, spoke in a withdrawn voice. So much so that Lee s.h.i.+n Woo could even hear his voice break. The mood was becoming the same as when Ye Jin Jin requested for help.

Of all the times that Lee s.h.i.+n Woo could enter the chatting channel, this was the worst. He clicked his tongue. Moreover, he was caught by one of the 12 generals, so no matter who went, no one would be able to help him.

[s.h.i.+no Rendu: Newbie... No, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo.]

[Lee s.h.i.+n Woo: Yes, senior.]

[s.h.i.+no Rendu: Don't die like me. Don't overdo it for the sake of quickly advancing. Since the only thing on our side here is time.]

[Lee s.h.i.+n Woo: ...I'll keep that in mind.]

[s.h.i.+no Rendu: Is Seira not here right now... Someone please tell Seira that I always yearned for her. I know her heart's frozen and she won't accept anyone, but in the end, I...]

[Prince Altania: You surprise me, even to the very end. That's the kind of thing that hurts people the most, you idiot.]

[s.h.i.+no Rendu: And... no, that's enough. At any rate, I was given a second chance at life. It's been great.]

With that, s.h.i.+no Rendu left the chatting channel. No one said anything, but then, Prince left without a word. Following him, Akira left, and then Lloyd. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo was about to leave the channel, but the final remaining senior stopped him.

[Mentes Orun: You're Lee s.h.i.+n Woo, right? When you hit level 6, send me a private chat. ...I'll tell you about some level 3 danger zones that you can go through relatively safely.]

[Lee s.h.i.+n Woo: Thank you, Senior.]

[Mentes Orun: It's been a long time since I last entered the channel, but I feel really s.h.i.+tty... I'm going to go drink the wine that's new at the shop now. d.a.m.n it.]

Finally, that senior left as well. This senior wasn't superfluous, nor did he have any sort of suspicious, secret plan; he just purely wanted to help his junior as much as he could.

The fact that that senior was so sick of entering the chatting channel must have meant that countless heroes have died in the Empire. Then...

'Ah, there's another one now.'

There was another mark indicating a new undead hero on his minimap. He would be able to get there in two days with Jin. And that meant that it was highly likely that s.h.i.+no Rendu was killed by the Mercenary King, Metafel, of the 12 generals.

'I can't go that way for now.'

To think that he was thinking this way, despite the fact that s.h.i.+no Rendu, a senior that he'd conversed with a few times, had died. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo was surprised by his composure, and smiled bitterly; then, he left the chatting channel.

There was still a bit of distance remaining until he reached the forest containing the trees that spewed Acid Poison.

[1] T/N: It's an idiom regarding his liver again (being bold/reckless/gutsy). The second part is referring to the fact that Jin is belatedly remembering that Lee s.h.i.+n Woo doesn't have a liver.

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