12. Cast Away? (7)

As I stepped out of the forest, a vast ocean immediately came into view.

It was good that the fog had almost completely cleared thanks to the now intense sunlight, but the still muggy air was strangely unpleasant.

Unlike us, Jung Yewon’s group seemed to have a warp point in a relatively low-lying area, with no hills or even large rocks around.

As expected, it was a place completely unsafe from monster attacks.

If it gets too dangerous, wouldn’t it be okay to somehow coax only Jung Yewon into joining our group later?

I didn’t want the heroine I’d already had sex with to be in danger, so while I was pondering how to protect her safely, a sharp, high-pitched voice pierced my ears from afar.

“Hey, Jung Yewon! What took you so long…? Huh? What’s this? Other group members? Seriously, I told you to get some water, and you came back with extra baggage.”

It was the same voice that had been looking for Jung Yewon when we were having our secret rendezvous in the open space earlier.

The sunlight was so intense that I shielded my forehead with my hand and looked in the direction of the voice, and I saw a man and a woman walking towards us.

“Ugh, seriously… I’m already annoyed enough coming to a place like this, and now you’re dragging along people who look utterly useless…”

The woman had a pure and innocent face, and her shimmering blonde hair, almost the color of pale forsythia, made for a very attractive first impression.

That is, if it weren’t for the high-level trash talk coming from her mouth as if she were chewing on a dishrag.

The blonde woman didn’t hesitate to badmouth our group even though we were standing right in front of her.

The things she said were enough to make anyone’s face automatically scrunch up, so I had a feeling things were going to be tiring in many ways.

‘I don’t think she was in the original heroine lineup… why does her face look so familiar? Ah, I remember.’

She was an idol who appeared as a regular panelist on a popular variety show I often watched when I was bored.

The woman spewing out words worse than garbage, her name was Won Harin, the main dancer of the girl group [Summertime].

I distinctly remember her being quite impressive in my memory because she was always energetic and showed polite behavior on that show…

But the Won Harin I was seeing in person had lost all traces of the ‘concept idol’ image from TV and was just blurting out harsh words without any filtering in her brain.

“What about you? Judging by how you’re staring, you must know who I am, right? Are you perhaps a member of our fan club?”

“Hah, don’t you dare flirt with Harin-nim! I’ll protect Harin-nim!”

I didn’t even say anything.

As if noticing my gaze fixed on her, Won Harin was about to offer me a relatively harmless greeting, but suddenly the man standing next to her pointed at me and shouted loudly.

The Awakened are supposed to have superior physical abilities, but he pushed up his large horn-rimmed glasses as if they were a fashion accessory, even though he didn’t need them at all.

Judging by the nauseating phrase ‘Harin-nim’ he used, I guessed he was probably the third member of Jung Yewon’s group and a fanatic of Won Harin.

“You there…! It’s obvious what your intentions are, approaching us like this out of the blue, you know? If you get even a little close to Harin-nim, I’ll burn you to a crisp with my ability, 『Dark Flame Phoenix』, so be prepared…”

“Why are you making a fuss when I was going to say hello, Oh Donghoon? Hey you, so did you join the fan club?”

I’ve been too busy having sex to even have time to join a fan club…

If I had just kept watching TV, I might have considered joining at least once, but now that I know her true personality, that thought has completely vanished.

“I didn’t do anything like that.”

“Hah, so you were just another piece of trash. Seriously, it’s shocking that there isn’t a single decent person who recognizes me.”

“That’s right, Harin-nim… I told you a long time ago that we should just go around by ourselves… With just my 『Dark Flame Phoenix』, I can sweep away any monster…! Haa, ha, just Harin-nim and me…”

“Why don’t you shut your damn mouth?”

That male student called Oh Donghoon seems to have completely fallen for Won Harin.

Perhaps with that level of intense loser concentration, he’s gone so far as to dedicate his life to Won Harin.

Jung Yewon aside, seeing Won Harin and Oh Donghoon makes me wonder if the group assignments were somehow messed up.

Our group is ridiculously strong, which is a problem, and that group over there feels like a thatched-roof house that would collapse if you just nudged it.

Of course, I couldn’t rashly let my guard down since I didn’t yet know the strength of that unnecessarily long-named 『Dark Flame Phoenix』 or what Won Harin’s ability was.

Normally, dyeing hair is prohibited during the academy student period, but I remember Won Harin saying on a variety show that she had received special permission to continue her idol activities.

In other words, it’s impossible to deduce Won Harin’s ability based on her hair color, at least.

“Um… I understand that you might feel uncomfortable with our group suddenly showing up. But could you please just listen to what I have to say?”

Ryu Shin, who had been silently listening to Won Harin’s words, finally stepped forward.

Having become a steel-mentality after awakening her Stigmata, Ryu Shin didn’t seem to be affected by her high-level trash talk at all.

“Well, you’re somewhat decent-looking, so I’ll listen just once. Go ahead and talk.”

“Okay. First of all, I want to combine forces with your group to solve the remaining tasks. I haven’t even told our group members about this yet, but I wanted to decide by majority vote in a meeting of six people.”

“Hah, you’re going to freeload off us? In the face of the overwhelming power of 『Dark Flame Phoenix』…”

“I told you to shut up, didn’t I? But if you guys are planning to cling to us like Oh Donghoon said, there’s no need for us to accept you, right? Surviving here is a piece of cake with just my ability.”

“Surviving itself isn’t the problem. I think what’s more important is the additional task that will be revealed in a day.”

The explanation regarding the additional task in the survival rules was as follows:

Explanations regarding additional tasks will be added to the survival rules 24 hours after the start to allow students to adapt.

If adaptation is fully completed, students may voluntarily find and solve additional tasks.

Bonus points will be awarded for completing additional tasks, but students must bear the risks associated with the tasks entirely.

Ryu Shin logically explained the ‘adaptation’ and ‘risk’ among them.

The environment of this island is somewhat hot and humid, but it wasn’t a penalty that needed to be endured to the point of using the word ‘adaptation’.

In other words, it means that specific hidden restrictions other than what we think may be applied to the additional task.

Also, the risk associated with the task was suspicious when carefully considered.

According to the professors, the groups were formed ‘rationally’, so there would be no cases of defeat due to a lack of personnel to fight in battles with monsters.

In other words, all groups have at least enough potential to survive on the island for three days.

However, the survival rules even considered ‘cases where life is in critical condition’.

Of course, it is possible to consider being flustered by a sudden Sudden Break and becoming incapacitated, but the professors would never think that we, who have been trained through hellish tasks and practices for over a month, would be flustered by such an attack.

“So we have to assume the worst-case scenario. Like the possibility of a giant monster appearing that can only be defeated if all the groups cooperate.”

“That makes sense. So you’re saying we should merge with your group? I’m too lazy to go there, can’t you guys come over here?”

“The place where we came from is higher ground, so it seems more advantageous for defense. Would you mind being considerate, even if it’s a bit of a hassle?”

“Hey, don’t force Harin-nim to be considerate. If you say something like that one more time, I’ll use my 『Dark Flame Phoenix』 to…”

“Okay. But this is only this once, so if you make me do something annoying again, I’m leaving right away.”

Perhaps she thought Ryu Shin’s opinion was more valid than she had expected, Won Harin willingly decided to endure the inconvenience.

Oh Donghoon, with a shocked expression at Won Harin’s decision, muttered things like “Harin-nim… is surrendering…”

“Then shall we prepare right away? I’ll help you pack.”

Jung Yewon and I also agreed, so preparations for Jung Yewon’s group’s move began immediately.

Oh Donghoon was still packing his things with a dissatisfied expression, and Pira Hyun was watching the scene with interest.

Ryu Shin, as if trying to help since she had brought up the story, assisted Won Harin with packing next to her.

Won Harin, who was silently packing her things without saying a word, looked very lovely again.

Won Harin… I should hypnotize her later when I get the chance.

I don’t really like styles with so many enemies, but I’m a little curious about what it would feel like to stick my dick in a woman with that kind of personality.

Actually, I didn’t really have any thoughts about it originally, but seeing her next to Go Ryu Shin is really annoying, so I’ve changed my mind to try to capture her.