episode_0098

Living a life where you are constantly being chased is terrifying in itself, but the process leading up to such a life is equally dreadful.

Being chased means you have run away, and running away means you couldn’t endure it.

Therefore, it must have been an incredibly difficult experience for Nir and Mary to the point where they couldn’t bear it, and the hypersensitivity due to clapping must have stemmed from that traumatic experience.

If a single clap can trigger such a strong reaction, one can only wonder what kind of past events led to this…

It was clear that they must have experienced something so dreadful that even an ordinary person like me couldn’t imagine.

Although we had just met yesterday, for some reason, Nir and Mary didn’t seem like strangers at all.

I couldn’t help but feel drawn to them for no apparent reason.

And so, seeing them react so strongly to a single clap, a surge of anger towards whoever made them like that rose within me.

Well, even though I may be a Grade F, I am an awakened individual. I once aspired to be a hero. I may have failed, but I did graduate from a hero-level training camp. So, if the person who made Nir and Mary react like that with just one clap comes looking for them, I will definitely give them a piece of my mind.

I may have never hit someone out of spite, but I had learned how to use my fists in real combat during my training, so I was somewhat confident in a fight against an ordinary person.

Of course, if the person who made Nir and Mary like that is an awakened individual, the story would be different, but even so, I wouldn’t just stand by and watch. I have decided to live life on my own terms.

Having fought so hard to regain my freedom, I didn’t want to do anything that I would regret in the future.

Ignoring someone who made my people suffer for no good reason would definitely be something to regret, so I looked at the two in front of me, who had now become my people, and made a firm commitment as I spoke.

“If you react so strongly to a single clap… you must have had a really hard time. But it’s okay now. There’s no one here who would make Nir and Mary suffer. And even if that person shows up, I will step in first, so don’t worry. I am the one who hired you all, and it is the duty of a leader to protect their subordinates.”

A resolute promise with no hint of falsehood.

This was a promise to Nir and Mary and, at the same time, a promise to myself.

To break a promise made to three people, one would have to lose a lot.

For someone like me, who had very little, it became an unbreakable promise.

“Ah…”

“Ugh…”

But why do they seem so awkward in their response? Was this too sudden…?

However, my firm resolve and commitment did not elicit as big a response as I had expected.

They simply exchanged uneasy glances, not even uttering a word, their lips slightly trembling as if unsure of what to say.

“Ugh…”

As someone who had made a heavy promise and a firm decision, the only natural response was a rise in temperature on my face.

I had been too complacent, thinking that they would accept my sudden outburst just like before… I should have known that it would lead to such awkwardness eventually! What a foolish idiot I am!

Horror-stricken by the cold reality I was facing, I couldn’t help but shudder and feel a sense of disgust creeping over me as I reflected on the words I had just uttered.

I had mistakenly assumed that Niir and Mary also felt the same familiarity towards me, even though my affection and attention were solely directed towards them.

It was a reckless attempt to bridge the distance that would only be awkward and uncomfortable from the other person’s perspective unless one was a complete loner.

Despite the overwhelming sense of shame, I couldn’t bring myself to apologize and my lips remained sealed, unable to utter a word of regret even though I should have done so immediately.

As a result, I missed the timing to apologize to Niir and Mary.

“Uh, um… Thank you for your concern, Stay. It was just a reaction to the applause earlier, so there’s no need to worry. You don’t have to pay attention to such things because there was nothing to be concerned about.”

In the end, I received empathy from Niir, who still had an awkward expression on his face.

“Yeah, that’s right! Niir… I mean, Niir unnie, there was nothing like that! And anyway, it’s almost impossible for Stay to do anything to the person who made us like this. We don’t wish for such things to happen, so just think of Stay as refraining from clapping in the future and stop fueling revenge against the person who made us like this!”

Following that, Mary even received a confirmation shot saying, “You weak, pathetic coward can’t do anything about the person chasing us.”

By the way they spoke, it seemed like the relentless pursuer who could make both of them flinch with just one clap was an awakened individual with abilities beyond what an ordinary person could handle.

If such an awakened individual was the opponent, there was no way I, with just a low-grade F ability, a small café in a remote village, a status bar that could only be used for personal use, and skills that surpassed cognition, could stand a chance.

In the end, I blurted out words that were beyond my responsibility and control.

Although it didn’t lead to the worst outcome of betraying expectations due to them giving up on assessing my abilities quickly, it was still a huge mistake.

It was all because of my off-topic behavior that I wasted four years of my life.

I had arrogantly overestimated myself and paid a huge price for it, yet here I was repeating the same mistake again, leaving me with nothing to say.

Should I just hit my head against the wall and knock myself out? At least then, I wouldn’t feel embarrassed or self-loathing.

“Sigh… I’m sorry. I spoke out of turn about something I can’t even keep. I’ll be more careful to avoid such incidents in the future. I really will.”

However, realizing that the situation could worsen if I made such drastic moves in front of the already troubled Niir and Mary, I suppressed the urge to faint and first offered them an apology.

Let’s make sure this doesn’t happen again. Stay focused and live properly, Stay.

※

At this point, where Stay had become the most embarrassing and pathetic person in the world, Mir Ryuin and Mei Luiyna were feeling unsure about what to do.

Of course, this dilemma was not caused by Stay’s sudden outburst as he thought, but for a different reason.

And that reason was this.

“How can Stay, the person who led us to the brink of defeat with just one clap, seek revenge against himself? That’s absurd. It’s impossible.”

I’m glad you couldn’t figure out our true identities, but… Is Stay too insensitive? No, no. Should I say she’s kind here? Because she’s worrying this much about someone she just met yesterday. But now that I think about it, it’s a bit annoying. She’s so sincere to someone like Mary whom she just met today, but she leaves without a word to me, who she’s known for quite a while. Ugh…

The reason Stay made the two people clap their hands in an overreaction was because Stay herself was the one who made them overly sensitive with her words.

Protecting the other person from themselves was a situation that might come from an erotic novel, not something that made sense in general. Furthermore, the two people here wanted Stay to not block them and take over, so Stay told them not to do such things.

However, since their perspectives and thoughts were different, Stay ended up feeling embarrassed and self-conscious, and the two people were at a loss as to how to handle the situation.

“Phew… Ah, I’m really sorry. Really.”

‘Hmm, I don’t really want to see Stay in this crumpled state. We can’t reveal our identities, but maybe we should spare her a bit? …Heh. As expected, there’s nothing else to do but hug her to spare her.’

“Stay… Even when you were working as a janitor in the emergency room, you’ve never been this stubborn. Normally, Stay, you’re cool, but when you’re vulnerable, you’re so cute. Ah, I really want to hug you… I want to whisper in your ear that it’s okay while pressing your face against my chest and stroking your back…! I want to melt Stay with the affectionate and warm touch and voice of a saint and make her my captive! Yes, yes! Earlier, Stay suddenly hugged us, right? That means hugging is an implicit agreement between us, right? Hehehe. Okay. Then I guess we have no choice but to accept it…”

But the awkwardness was short-lived, as the two people who turned their eyes to Stay’s weak appearance, using comforting him as an excuse to fulfill their vile desires, reached out with malicious intentions towards him.

Naturally, the result was their own defeat, as they hugged Stay as they pleased and felt good, leading to their own downfall.

※

At the same time, S-class rift ‘Tomb of Sin’.

Crack! Thud! Clunk! Clatter-

“…That makes sixteen.”

The red-haired hero, Dain Adamas, who shattered the skull of the rift lord ‘Undying King’ with sheer strength, leaving only bone dust behind, thus eliminated the thirty-sixth rift in this manner.

Sigh…

Clapping his hands together to dust off the bone dust that was once the Undying King, Dain Adamas, who had achieved an unprecedented record of conquering sixteen S-class gates in just nine days, did not feel the slightest bit happy.

“…Not yet. This is not enough.”

Biting his lower lip as if he was still far from his goal, he strode towards the gate that led outside.

“Faster. It has to be more overwhelming.”

Because to her right now, an S-class gate was not a result to achieve, but merely a passing process.

“Wait, Stay.”

Clutching his fists tightly, Dain Adamas called out a name that the person in question could not hear and walked towards the next S-class gate.