Chapter 92
Chapter 92. Advice
After Kazimir left the hospital, Min Yu-ri approached Yoo Ji-han, who was left alone.
“Hmm? You’re out.”
“Did, did Kazimir leave?”
“Yes. He said to let him know if you need more lotion.”
“……”
Min Yu-ri glanced at Yoo Ji-han’s eyes, unable to understand what that statement meant. Why did he tell Kazimir that? She couldn’t make sense of it at all.
“Yoo-ri.”
“Yes, yes?!”
“Kazimir was asking if you wouldn’t consider registering Min So-yeon as a cooperative patient at the Hero Department Research Institute.”
Min Yu-ri paused for a moment, surprised but quickly steadied her heart. Hearing about the cooperative patient system, she nodded. If there was any clue to treat her younger sister, she was willing to do anything, even grasping at straws.
“Then I’ll let him know that we will.”
“Thank you so much for this. You’ve done so much for us.”
Min Yu-ri expressed her gratitude to Yoo Ji-han. If he hadn’t introduced her to Kazimir, she wouldn’t have even been able to touch her sister’s hand. She wouldn’t even have been aware that such lotion existed. It wasn’t information that was known even in the community where guardians of those with Magic Discoloration Syndrome gathered.
“You promised at the start, didn’t you? That the entire guild, including me, would help you.”
“Right.”
Min Yu-ri nodded slightly. It was an empty promise. Yoo Ji-han was different from those who made such promises.
“However, it seems Kazimir hasn’t found any clues about treatment yet.”
“……”
“He said he’ll let us know if he has any good news. We should keep our spirits up.”
“Got it.”
Their brief conversation ended, and just as Yoo Ji-han was about to head home, Min Yu-ri hesitated for a moment in front of him before speaking.
“Ji-han.”
“Yeah.”
“By the way, about what you said earlier…”
“Which one?”
Min Yu-ri swallowed hard. It wasn’t something directed at her, rather something she overheard during his conversation with Kazimir. Eavesdropping on them made it a bit awkward to ask directly.
“……No, it’s nothing.”
She shook her head, feeling flustered inside. There would be many opportunities to be together in the same party with Yoo Ji-han going forward. There was no need to rush.
*
A few days after Yoo Ji-han’s party entrusted Nam Ho-yeol with making Chilla’s armor, the news came that Chilla’s armor had been completed.
Yoo Ji-han and his party members headed to Incheon’s Open Market.
“I’m always in your debt.”
“So am I.”
“I’m more comfortable driving myself.”
On their way to the open market, the driving responsibility fell to Min Yu-ri, who brought the vehicle. It was like assigning a new employee the driving duties at a company. But she was a veteran driver, far from comparing to Yoo Ji-han, who was a licensed driver in name only. Thankfully, she was glad that she preferred to drive Chilla’s vehicle herself.
“The equipment needs to fit well…”
After parking the car, they moved to Nam Ho-yeol’s workshop.
Nam Ho-yeol greeted them warmly as they entered.
“Here’s the completed armor!”
Nam Ho-yeol showed off Chilla’s armor, which was on a wheeled cart. It looked like a sturdy silver special plate armor. It was divided into a helmet that could be worn on the head and body-protecting sections, large enough to cover Chilla completely. The belly area was particularly bulging and wouldn’t have trouble accommodating Chilla’s substantial belly.
“Basically, I mixed various monster materials, as far as the budget allowed, over steel, and coated it with magic.”
“Looks great!”
“It might be heavy compared to premium materials, but it should be just fine to wear.”
Kim Si-hu, who had been admiring the item with his eyes, reached out to touch the helmet.
“Hmm? The inside of the armor is softer than I expected?”
“Remember the Jelly Pig used in the shield?”
“Yes.”
“We used it as the lining for the armor too. I came across information in my research that tamed pets really dislike having clothes that don’t fit or are uncomfortable. So I designed it to ensure Chilla would be as comfortable as possible. There’s no issue with the armor’s strength at all, so don’t worry.”
“Wow, you really worked hard.”
Nam Ho-yeol had designed and crafted the armor with careful consideration for the wearer’s feelings. Yoo Ji-han felt he made the right choice entrusting the creation to him.
“The only downside is that I had no choice but to use steel…”
Nam Ho-yeol licked his lips as he looked at the armor. There were countless ways to create sturdy armor suitable for tanks in the world of equipment crafting. It wasn’t uncommon to use monster bones, and there were many materials even more useful than steel. Using ordinary steel was a bit traditional for the time being. Nevertheless, with budget constraints, it was impractical to use better materials at this moment.
“I’ll make more money next time.”
“Haha. I’d appreciate that.”
Yoo Ji-han stepped outside with Chilla’s armor. Chilla stood at the door, looking at him blankly.
Clang!
Under Min Yu-ri’s instructions, the armor was slowly donned onto Chilla. Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any issues with the measurements.
“Is this it?”
“Yes. You can insert your arm into that hole. The one at the back is for your tail, and the one on your back is for securing the shield…”
It was Nam Ho-yeol’s first time crafting equipment for a pet. After finishing various explanations, he looked at Chilla with a bit of nervousness.
Moments later, when the helmet was placed on Chilla’s head,
“Wow.”
“Looks amazing.”
“Eek!”
A tank clad in silver armor was born in the alley of the open market. Chilla struck some impressive poses and seemed quite pleased.
Min Yu-ri clapped her hands unconsciously as she circled around Chilla.
‘Indeed, a tank relies on equipment to shine.’
No doubt, a tank benefits more from equipment than any hero.
Yoo Ji-han thought he made a great decision in having the armor made.
*
Yoo Ji-han’s party paid the remaining balance and received the armor. After purchasing Chilla’s first equipment, they headed to the training center, riding that momentum.
“Chilla!”
Immediately upon arriving at the training center, Yoo Ji-han aimed a sword at Chilla as a test.
“Eeek, eeek!”
Swish!
Upon spotting the sword, Chilla swiftly pulled the shield from its back using its long tail. Then it took a defensive stance against Yoo Ji-han.
It appeared that Chilla had been through some repetitive training before.
“Excellent.”
“Eek.”
Thus, a tank equipped with armor was completed. One could expect further achievements moving forward.
Just then,
“Wait? Chilla?”
“Hello.”
Go Mina, who was at the training center, approached them. She had spotted Chilla from a distance and intentionally came over.
“Wow!”
“You’re wearing armor?!”
“So cute!”
“Eek!”
Go Mina’s party members each chimed in while looking at Chilla. Chilla seemed to puff up a bit in pride at their reactions.
Yoo Ji-han said to Go Mina, who was petting Chilla’s armor, “Were you training?”
“Yes! After getting feedback last time, I felt there were many things I was lacking, so I’m concentrating on training rather than actual combat for a while.”
“I see.”
“By the way, there was someone who gave us pretty harsh feedback back then, you know? I was so frustrated after seeing that!”
“……”
Go Mina pouted while expressing her frustration. During the initial feedback based on the video, Go Mina’s party had received sharp criticism from a particular party. The writer of that critique was none other than Yoo Ji-han’s party.
“What do you know? I couldn’t even sleep well that night.”
“R-really?”
If it affected her sleep that much, it felt excessive. Yoo Ji-han felt a stir of guilt.
“But I just couldn’t counter that feedback at all. It all felt spot on…”
“If you accept it, it could be very helpful, right?”
“That’s true. I actually printed it out.”
The documents that Go Mina brought in her bag were the feedback written by Yoo Ji-han’s party. She seemed to have taken that feedback quite seriously.
Yoo Ji-han gazed at the documents she pulled out for a moment before saying, “How about we have a light sparring session?”
“Sparring?”
“We just came back from equipping Chilla with armor for the first time. We might be able to help each other.”
“Uh, sure! Is that okay with you guys?”
“Yes!”
Go Mina’s party accepted Yoo Ji-han’s proposal. Although it was sudden sparring, Kim Si-hu and Min Yu-ri had no objections. They moved to the training arena prepared at one corner of the training center.
The sparring arena had a system similar to that of the Dice Training Center.
Thanks to the arena being empty, they could use it as soon as they requested it from the management.
“The first side to score 10 points wins.”
After finishing the sensor setup and explaining the rules of the sparring arena, everyone moved to their positions.
Chilla, donned in armor, stood at the forefront of the party.
“Chilla! Just follow what I taught you.”
“Eek eek.”
A moment later, the sparring began. Both sides stood still, engaging in a war of nerves.
Yoo Ji-han, wielding his sword, kept his eyes on Go Mina on the opposing side.
‘Go Mina’s party emphasizes speed.’
A setup of 5 heroes consisting of 4 warriors and one ranged dealer that launches shurikens like a ninja with special tools attached to her wrist.
It was a typical party composition, but one peculiar feature is that Go Mina’s party pursued a very fast-paced combat style. They preferred to sneak up quietly and incapacitate the enemy as quickly as possible without drawn-out battles, much like assassins.
Even the equipment that looked like tights, which he had seen in the videos, aimed to enhance mobility.
However, attempting an ambush in such a public sparring session was probably going to be difficult.
“Attack!”
Go Mina shouted, extending her twin blades forward to command her party members.
In response, all the warriors except her surged forth first.
“Eek!”
Chilla, holding its shield, stood firmly to block the arrows being prepared by Min Yu-ri.
With its large physique clad in armor, it was as if Min Yu-ri was entirely hidden behind it from the perspective of the opponents.
“Did you think we’d let you off for being cute?”
“It’ll sting a bit!”
Go Mina’s party warriors charged at Chilla.
Targeting the ranged dealer was indeed the best option, but the purpose of this sparring was to score points, so any target would do.
‘Leaving the back to my party members.’
While there was an option to stand and block the warriors, Yoo Ji-han ignored it and moved toward Go Mina, who was standing near the ranged dealer.
He dived into the opponent’s territory while leaving the other dealers to the protection of the armored Chilla, testing its mettle.
Seeing that, Go Mina warned him, “You’ll regret that choice!”
“Not really.”
<—Probability of Chilla blocking those warriors: <82%>
Now that the calculations were done, it would be interesting to see who would truly regret it.
With a smirk on his lips, Yoo Ji-han turned his attention to the opposing ranged dealer.
‘Hmph!’
Noticing Yoo Ji-han’s intent, Go Mina attacked him first.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The red twin blades moved dazzlingly, striking Yoo Ji-han’s sword with fervor.
She swung from below to above then suddenly aimed for his waist, putting her full strength into a downward strike with the twins.
It seemed her standing as the captain of a party that passed the Hero Academy exam wasn’t just for show; her finesse was immensely flashy.
“……?”
However, as the exchanges continued, Go Mina felt increasingly off.
Despite her best efforts, every attack she made was easily blocked.
‘How can this be……!’
It felt as if all her blows were being read by Yoo Ji-han.
With gritted teeth, Go Mina’s twin blades were infused with red magic.
[Dance of the Red Rose]
In her hands, a beautiful sword dance was about to unfold as if dancing.
Clang—!
“Ugh!”
“Too slow.”
Due to Yoo Ji-han’s interference, Go Mina’s balance was severely disrupted.
As a result, her skill activation failed.
Yoo Ji-han seized the opportunity and attacked her.
<—Attacking Go Mina’s arm will have an effective hit probability of: <91%>
Beep! Beep!
[2:0]
The deliberately weakened attack penetrated deeper than Yoo Ji-han had anticipated.
Go Mina’s equipment, which resembled tights, was made of high-quality material.
However, the sensors of the sparring arena recognized Yoo Ji-han’s strike as effective.
Consequently, Yoo Ji-han’s party’s score began to rise steadily.
“Eek!”
Even the warriors from Go Mina’s party fighting at the back were being attacked by Min Yu-ri and Kim Si-hu.
Though entry was blocked by Chilla, they were still taking on all incoming attacks.
“Uh? Uh?”
The situation quickly turned unfavorable for Go Mina’s party.
The ranged dealer was frantically trying to assist Go Mina, who was close to him.
But between all the tussling, Yoo Ji-han deliberately tangled himself with Go Mina.
Beep!
[10:0]
The sparring wrapped up quickly after that.
It took slightly over six minutes to reach ten points.
An overwhelmingly one-sided, almost anticlimactic win for Yoo Ji-han’s party.
“Ugh, not a single point….”
Go Mina knelt down, feeling defeated.
Surely, both parties should have been of similar standing, having both passed the Hero Academy.
However, the skill differences were glaring.
Yoo Ji-han sheathed his sword and spoke.
“Mina, I’d like to offer some words of comfort, but…”
“……”
“If this were a real battlefield, Go Mina’s party would have been utterly annihilated.”
Go Mina hung her head low at his sincere advice.
What had started as a casual sparring session had not yielded a light-hearted result.
Go Mina’s party was indeed skilled at hunting monsters.
If the opponents had been monsters, the outcome would have been vastly different.
However, if they were to consider intruders, there wouldn’t be much of a difference compared to now.
“Shall we point out some issues?”
“Yes?”
Yoo Ji-han reached toward Go Mina.
As she lifted her head and took his hand, she slowly rose.
“Why did you send the warriors out first in the beginning?”
“To score points quickly…”
“While the intention is good, our tank managed to block several attacks. If I were you, I’d have recalled the party members while they were making meaningless attacks.”
“Ah…”
“It’s great that everyone follows your orders, Mina, nhưng if they only follow blindly, it might not be beneficial. They should consider falling back a bit or changing formations…”
Yoo Ji-han mixed his words with appropriate advice, ensuring not to upset her feelings.
For someone with countless experiences, these were fundamentals of the game.
The somber atmosphere surrounding Go Mina’s party eased as they began to listen intently, nodding their heads.
“In particular, that one couldn’t do anything from behind.”
“I’m sorry…”
“There’s nothing to apologize for to me. In situations like earlier, where the warriors are pressed up close, it’s better to…”
“Wait a moment!”
Go Mina pulled out a notepad and began jotting down his advice with a pen.
Such precious advice was hard to find even if you wanted to pay for it.
