Meeting the Team Members (2)

Flames surged into the sturdy horns that had grown stronger at level 9.

Once again, I felt a sense of omnipotence.

But I had learned that this omnipotence was not, in fact, all-powerful.

The wings that blossomed spectacularly behind my back might have looked like they had a skeletal structure, like a bat’s, but their essence was magic, condensed to the point of being visible.

Extending into the air, the faintly glowing wings acted like a second nervous system, sweeping through the surrounding area and combing through the flow of magic.

It was a sensation on a completely different level from when I had first manifested my horns.

“Hah…”

A sigh escaped my lips at the feeling.

Every gate is screwed. Just you all wait.

“Whoa~ I guess they don’t call you a rising star for nothing. That’s seriously cool. Man, I should’ve dragged you over to the Expeditionary Force back then.”

“Don’t you go trying to steal him. He’s one of ours, from Elemental.”

“Can’t take a joke, can you?”

I looked at the target on the far side of the room.

The moment I did, flames erupted from it.

“Your Elemental Arrow has reached its peak.”

Crack!

A flash of light, and the already wobbling target went flying.

“…And even the notoriously difficult lightning element… With that level of control, it would pair well with my water element.”

“A-rank is no joke!”

“Thanks.”

Yang Geun-tae, who was standing next to her, suddenly intercepted Cheon Yu-hwa’s compliment.

“I wasn’t talking to you, Geun-tae. But now I see why the spirit chose you, Team Leader!”

“Th-thank you.”

As I said my thanks, the spirit popped out with a pong.

To be honest, I had felt that it wanted to come out. But when it didn’t, I just figured it was sulking. So it came out after all.

The spirit, fascinated by my new magic wings, hopped around them.

‘Wow…’

Its exclamation echoed faintly in my mind.

The spirit, which came up to about my hip, poked at my wings a few times before grabbing on and dangling from them.

“Oh my, how cute… Team Leader, by the way, can you fly with those wings?”

“Uh… not yet. It’s difficult.”

“Phew, what a relief. Flying is my only real talent, so I’m glad you didn’t take that from me.”

Cheon Yu-hwa smiled and stretched out her arms.

Feathers sprouted from both of her arms, transforming them into the wings of a giant bird.

The spirit, still swinging from my wing, took an interest in the other set of wings. It seemed fascinated by the feathered wings, so different from my own bat-like magic ones.

“I’ll just transform this much, okay?”

With only her arms transformed into a harpy’s, she kicked off the ground.

Whoosh—she soared up near the facility’s ceiling, flying about. After a brief acrobatic flight, she descended again.

Hiss—Feathers fell to the ground, dissolving into dust and scattering away.

I could feel the spirit looking back and forth between her wings and mine.

Sorry, I can’t fly with these yet. I’ll give you a ride when I can…

“I’m mainly in charge of reconnaissance and relaying information. Or sometimes, a surprise charge from a blind spot? Just to draw their attention.”

Next up were Kim Ji-min and Choi Seong-hyun.

Choi Seong-hyun attacked with his water element, and Kim Ji-min defended by cutting the water with her sword.

The spirit, apparently disliking water, let go of my wing and scurried back into my horn. As it was going in, I asked if it wanted some Innate Vital Energy. It hesitated, so I just fed it about 20 points and let it in. I was worried it might refuse since I was practically forcing it, but it gulped it down without complaint.

They must be a couple. It seems they don’t care much for the old saying about ‘cutting water with a sword.’ They were slicing right through it.

“Is it my turn now?”

Some of the numerous tattoos covering Yang Geun-tae’s arms began to glow, each with a different color.

One arm produced the crisp sound of metal striking metal.

The other arm bent at an unnatural angle, making a whooshing sound.

Soon, the glowing tattoos changed.

This time, one arm caught fire. Or rather, it was ‘coated’ in fire. On the other arm, frost began to form.

“It’s always amazing watching Geun-tae do his thing,” Cheon Yu-hwa remarked, and everyone except Yang Geun-tae and I nodded in agreement.

It wasn’t that I didn’t find it amazing. I just missed the timing to nod because I was focused on the flames on his left arm, wondering if I could do something with them.

“…That’s incredible.”

A tip from ‘Tip) How to be a Team Leader, Part 3.’

Praise your team members. Not too much (important).

It said that for Awakeners, praise from other team members or the team leader was important as it was tied to their reputation.

But regardless, what was incredible was incredible.

There had to be something special about those tattoos…

“They’re Ma-mun.”

“Sorry?”

“These tattoos. They’re called Ma-mun. Magic patterns. I engrave the form of a magic circle onto my body, then channel magic into it when needed to activate the effect.”

“…Is it okay for you to tell me this?”

“This? You’ll find out eventually as an Awakener anyway. You should pick a few you like, too.”

“Hyung, don’t recommend weird stuff.”

“Oh, I shouldn’t?”

“I wouldn’t recommend it. It’s fine for Geun-tae-hyung because he has a related trait, but for others, it could conflict with their own magic. Elemental probably wouldn’t look kindly on it either.”

“That’s right. To be honest, I don’t really recommend it either.”

“…Then why?”

“Because it’s cool.”

“Geun-tae gets those tattoos because he wanders into unexplored gates and could drop dead at any moment. Gotta have some way to identify his body when he dies.”

“Hey, Yu-hwa-nunim, that’s harsh. Though I can’t say that’s not part of the reason.”

Yang Geun-tae let out a hearty laugh, amused by something.

“…So, how should we plan our strategy?”

As the team leader, I probably shouldn’t laugh at that joke, right?

“That? Ah, in the ‘Expeditionary Force,’ we just roughly decide on a front and rear line. No need to stress over it.”

“Well… I was thinking Mr. Yang Geun-tae and Ms. Kim Ji-min could take the front, Ms. Cheon Yu-hwa could handle reconnaissance, and I, along with Mr. Choi Seong-hyun and Ms. Min Yu-in, who isn’t here, could take the rear, but—”

“Just drop the formalities and call us hyung and nuna. And inside the gate, just use our first names. Oh, and you’ll need to memorize the signals I send when I’m in harpy form.”

“…Got it.”

“And what Geun-tae said about ‘just roughly deciding on a front and rear line’ isn’t a bad thing. We don’t know what variables we’ll face inside, so being too rigid can be a problem. Besides, at our rank, we can cover pretty much any variable that comes up.”

“Okay.”

“Well, if that’s everything… shall we go for a company dinner?”

*

A company dinner was a serious matter.

Especially for a guild like the ‘Expeditionary Force,’ which constantly entered unexplored gates.

A company dinner, signifying the end of something, was a chance to release the tension that had been building throughout the gate conquest, and at the same time, an opportunity to spend the money they had earned to their heart’s content.

‘Tip) How to be a Team Leader, Part 3’ also stressed the importance of company dinners.

And the fact that the team leader had to be the last one to leave…

But we had just finished our meet-and-greet, not a gate conquest.

“Aww! Our Han-gyeol is so cute!”

“Watch out for the harpy, Han-gyeol. She’ll snatch you up in an instant.”

Third round.

The ‘water-cutting’ couple left hand-in-hand after the second round, so now it was just me, Cheon Yu-hwa, and Yang Geun-tae.

Ugh… can’t I just go home?

But if I left, it felt like the party would be over. The only two people left would already know each other, and one of them even had a girlfriend (Yang Geun-tae).

Contrary to my first impression, Yang Geun-tae was a devoted boyfriend.

“Hey! Get lost, you couple-person! Isn’t your girlfriend calling for you?”

“I told my girlfriend I’d be late tonight. If I leave, who’s going to protect Han-gyeol?”

“Ugh… Protect me from what…”

“See, nuna? I told you to be sweet to your boyfriend. Huh? Sweet~”

“I don’t know! That feather-fucking bastard…”

Thud—Cheon Yu-hwa slammed her head on the table and passed out.

…Honestly, she brought it on herself.

She was making ‘feather liquor’—dropping a feather into a beer glass and filling it with soju up to the tip… Is that a soju bomb, or just straight soju?

I guess it was a relief that she was the one who drank it.

“Ah, what’s with this nuna again? You’ll have to understand, Han-gyeol. She just broke up with her boyfriend after he cheated on her.”

“…Still, she’s taking it so… calmly? Is calmly the right word? My words are getting twisted. But isn’t this reaction a good sign? You see all that stuff on the news about dating violence.”

“She was about to attack her ex, but his new girlfriend was stronger than her, so she just ran away.”

“…”

Ah… this company dinner is exhausting.

“That’s just how it is in the Expeditionary Force. It was a pretty tough gate back then, so it took a while. Guess he couldn’t wait.”

“…Is that all there was to it?”

Someone had just said she should have been sweeter. Honestly, that’s not something you say to someone who just got cheated on—

“Of course not. Transformation-types are a bit… how should I put it? Their personalities tend to change when they transform.”

“Ah…”

“It’s usually not a problem if you don’t transform, but her ex-boyfriend just had to… he insisted on doing it with her in her transformed state.”

“…”

“As far as I know, that bastard’s new girlfriend is also a transformation-type.”

“Hmm…”

“Tsk… what was it? What did that woman transform into? It was something weird. I laughed my ass off at that bastard’s strange fetish. Ah… what was it?”

This information is completely useless, but now I’m curious…

“Anyway. Let’s call it a night here. We can just dump this nuna somewhere in the Expeditionary Force building.”

“What?”

“There are plenty of cots there, so we can just set one up and put her on it. That’s what they’re for. Luckily, since this nuna can turn into a harpy, she doesn’t puke.”

…Just what kind of place is the Expeditionary Force…

Just as we paid and were about to help Cheon Yu-hwa up,

Beeeep—

An alarm blared from Yang Geun-tae’s phone.

“Ah… shit.”

“What? What is it?”

“A gate ruptured. Ah, seriously… Huh? The location says it’s unregistered?”

“What?”

“Who the hell ruptures a gate these days…? And an unregistered one at that. Are they morons?”

Gate accidents are almost unheard of these days, aren’t they? And criminal organizations would guard an unregistered gate with their lives, wouldn’t they? What kind of organization would be stupid enough to let one burst…

“Sorry, Han-gyeol. You’ll have to dump nuna at the guild and head home. I’ve got to go check this out.”

“Do you have to go?”

“It’s mandatory for government-certified A-ranks and above… You could go too, but why would you? They give you contribution points, but you have to take care of nuna. Ugh—I’m sleepy.”

*

After Yang Geun-tae left, I took a taxi to the ‘Expeditionary Force’ guild building.

…It’s a good thing Yu-hwa-nuna is light.

Is she this light because she’s a harpy?

No, don’t superimpose her transformed self onto her current one. I’m the one who loses the most from thinking like that.

“Nuna, do you have your card?”

“Hmm?”

“Your card, your card. Your guild ID.”

“Umm… here…”

I tapped her card and entered the guild’s break room, which was indeed filled with stacks of cots. Even now, a few people were sleeping on them. It was a sight that probably would have lowered the recruitment rate if they’d shown it to new applicants.

I grabbed one of them—

“Not here…”

“Huh?”

“My private room is next door… no, I’ll go myself. Thank youu.”

…Anyone could see she was about to fall. Oops, she tripped.

“Nuna, don’t be like that. Lean on me.”

“Heehee, you’re so nice…”

There really was a private room. But it didn’t seem like every guild member was given one. I decided not to think about how many nights she must have slept in the break room to be given her own room.

First, I placed her bag on the vanity.

Then, I laid her down on the bed.

…She’s not letting go of me.

“Han-gyeol.”

“Yes?”

“My sweet Han-gyeol… Want to sleep here tonight?”

“What?”

“Whyyy… Don’t you like me?”

It wasn’t that I didn’t like her. In fact, she was quite pretty. To the point where I was curious about her ex-boyfriend’s sexual preferences, wanting her to transform into a harpy despite her looks.

“Nuna… we just met today…”

“Aww… what does that matter! If the sparks fly, you just go for it…”

“Even so…”

Her half-lidded eyes slowly closed.

A relief, if you could call it that.

I may still be inexperienced, but I’m a team leader, right? If a team leader sleeps with a team member on the very first day they meet… that’s not right.

It could just be an impulsive act, coming so soon after a breakup and with alcohol involved. If I were to just gobble that up… even if things went well, it would be what it was, but if things got complicated…

…

…If she’s truly interested in me, today won’t be the only day.

By the way, is it because I ate so much?

My clothes feel a little tight.

In the reflection of the vanity I glanced at,

there was Seo A-gyeol.