Chapter 17 : I’m the senior, the senior!

Someone grabbed Dooyoon’s arm as he was about to return to his private lounge to relieve his fatigue.

“Huh?”

When he turned his head, he saw Jung Ahyeon with a refreshing expression.

“Are you going to the lounge?!”

“Yeah. To wash up and rest a bit.”

“After that, at the cafe, coffee. Deal?”

“Ahyeon-ah, don’t bother Dooyoon-ssi…”

Jo Harin chided her from the side, but this time, she didn’t back down.

Jung Ahyeon secretly wished.

For a real family-like atmosphere, and for that, she needed to draw Dooyoon a little closer to their side.

“Then I’ll get ready first and go to the cafe in about an hour.”

“Really?! Look at this! Dooyoon oppa said he’s okay with it too!”

“Dooyoon-ssi, if you’re bothered, you can just refuse.”

Jo Harin gave Dooyoon an out, considering his condition, but Dooyoon actually didn’t feel particularly tired.

‘This too must be a blessing of the tower.’

Even if he tumbled around like he was dying inside, he would be fine as soon as he came out.

Dooyoon was now somewhat adapting to these changes.

“I’m really okay.”

Jo Harin, with a dubious look on her face, left for her own lounge first.

The remaining Ahyeon and Dooyoon promised to meet at the cafe and decided to sort out what they needed to do immediately.

-Sshwaaaa…

As Dooyoon stood under the hot water, he habitually opened the gallery.

[So when is the newbie coming, I asked for the 4th time]

[So did this bstard die? Why isn’t he here?]

[At this point, he’s just waiting on purpose to make us pine for him. Yeah.]

[BossMob-bro is gonna die~]

[So who’s everyone’s favorite hunter?]

[So is the succubus graduation condition sx?]

[Isn’t a hunter on a white horse going to appear somewhere~]

There were those in the gallery desperately calling out for Dooyoon’s presence, but there were things he needed to sort out in his immediate

real life.

Therefore, he decided to just give a quick update on his current situation.

Title: Newbie’s back

I have a few things to say, but please wait a little longer, hahaha.

There are things I need to sort out when I get back, so I’ll report on my current situation after that’s done.

[ㄴ No, fck, you’re telling us to wait even longer here?]

[ㄴ You’re just telling us to bite our tongues and die, right?]

[I live for the joy of teasing newbies these days, and you’re neglecting it like this;]

[My post) No;;; I need to build up my real life too.]

[Ah, so you’ve sucked all the honey from us, and now you’re going to do your wifely duties elsewhere?]

[Oppa, you’re always only serious with me, right? Oppa, you’re always only serious with me, right? Oppa, you’re always only serious with me,

right?]

[(Image of a wailing frog boss mob)]

[(Image of a sobbing muscular boss mob)]

[Ah, fck, get that ugly face out of here.]

[Suddenly feeling nauseous;;]

Dooyoon, painstakingly scrolling past the pictures that were being deployed as tactical weapons in rebellion against him, finished a simple

wash.

After washing off his sweat-soaked body and erasing the smell that had clung to him from his activities in the tower.

He went to the cafe where Jung Ahyeon would be waiting.

Beyond the smoothly opening glass door of the cafe, his eyes met Jung Ahyeon’s, who was already drinking coffee.

Her cheeks were faintly flushed, suggesting that she too hadn’t been out of the shower for long.

“Were you waiting?”

“Ah, no! I just got here too!”

Jung Ahyeon, spotting Dooyoon, smiled brightly.

At her attitude, like a Golden Retriever spotting a person, Dooyoon felt a strange sense of crisis.

He was certain.

She must have made quite a few guys cry in her school days.

‘Harmful.’

Dooyoon composed himself and got some coffee.

This time, he chose well, making it sweeter than last time, with the familiar taste of instant coffee mix.

Sipping the steaming hot coffee, he sat down opposite Jung Ahyeon.

Then, a sudden silence descended.

Jung Ahyeon, who had impulsively called Dooyoon out depending on her mood, had nothing to say.

And Dooyoon, who had come for coffee according to his original purpose, also had nothing particular to say.

‘What do hunters usually talk about?’

Dooyoon thought for a moment.

Since they were hunters, they would naturally talk about conquering the tower.

How to conquer the tower better, safer, and more efficiently.

Therefore.

“Thanks for helping me out again this time.”

“Eh, yes?”

“The levels of the other hunters, I mean. Compared to mine, they’re really high, aren’t they? You too, Ahyeon.”

“Ah… Yes.”

“But thank you for bothering to come down to an easy floor like the 2nd floor. Normally, other people would be busy with their own things.”

No matter how talented a hunter Dooyoon was, it was a loss for hunters whose levels were more than ten times his to come down to the initial

sections.

Everything was proceeding solely with Dooyoon’s safety in mind.

Dooyoon wasn’t an idiot who only knew how to receive, so he was aiming to clear the floors with his utmost effort every moment.

“Ah, no…!”

And Jung Ahyeon, upon hearing those words, said with her earlobes turning red.

“It’s good if we all do well together… We’re sort of half-conscripted, but still, if we work hard, we get treated like heroes, and that’s nice, isn’t

it?!”

“That’s true.”

“Yes!”

Jung Ahyeon finished her words and once again stared blankly at Dooyoon.

There was a sense that she had tried too hard to close the distance, but for some reason, Ahyeon felt nervous whenever she stood in front of

Dooyoon.

‘…I’m the senior here.’

Should a senior be flustered in front of a junior?

As for Dooyoon, her junior hunter right in front of her, she, as his direct senior, had to guide him well.

‘Uwek, Uweeek!!’

The shameful past of that day tormented Ahyeon.

The memory of a novice hunter retching at the sight of a goblin’s corpse.

At that time, she had received a lot of help from her colleagues.

If it weren’t for reliable supporters like Jihyuk ahjussi or Harin unni, it would have been even harder to adapt.

‘Everyone is a good person.’

Jung Ahyeon truly liked the warmth of people.

‘Yoonha unni too.’

The presence of Cha Yoonha, who always treated her like a friend by her side, was also undeniably absolute.

Eventually, Jung Ahyeon’s gaze turned to Kim Dooyoon in front of her.

A man with a harmless face, whose thoughts were unreadable.

Suddenly appearing out of nowhere one day–

Passing the Awakened test with an unbelievable S-rank score.

And clearing up to the 2nd floor in an instant.

Ahyeon felt a strange sense of distance at his appearance, which was so starkly contrasted with her own, who had trembled every day.

Perhaps her attempts to forcibly close the distance all stemmed from that awkwardness.

‘He’s a good person.’

The way he purely expressed his gratitude just now, and the way he always devoted himself to clearing the tower with all his might….

‘Ugh, this thing doesn’t cut well.’

While thinking that.

The image of Dooyoon, with a serious face, slicing through goblins comes to mind.

With sticky bloodstains on his cheek, the man looked as if he were butchering, not hunting.

A cruelty that was unthinkable for an ordinary person.

‘A good person…?’

Ahyeon inadvertently felt a sense of unease from Dooyoon.

Ahyeon’s spine, as she looked at Dooyoon, straightened unconsciously.

She had tensed up, like a herbivore frozen in front of a carnivore.

‘Why am I like this…?’

Ahyeon had never hesitated in front of people before.

Everyone had always liked her.

She could always maintain a cheerful and refreshing attitude because she knew people would talk to her and that warm gazes would return.

But, but.

From the man named Dooyoon, for some reason, it was difficult to expect such warmth.

Eyes that seemed to have experienced all sorts of hardships and become detached.

A cold-heartedness that wielded weapons without hesitation even in front of ferocious monsters.

‘I, I’m the senior?!’

She desperately wanted to retreat, to hide behind Cha Yoonha.

But Ahyeon couldn’t show hesitation in front of her junior.

‘Get a grip…!’

Ahyeon composed herself and looked at Dooyoon.

“To Dooyoon oppa, I’m the senior, right?!”

“Uh…. I guess so?”

“Then, if this senior has any difficulties, feel free to confide in me! That’s what a senior should rightly do!”

Difficulties…?

Dooyoon thought for a moment.

He didn’t have any particular difficulties.

Everyone treated him kindly, and the situation within the tower had also progressed very smoothly, hadn’t it?

“Difficulties? I don’t have any right now. Everyone’s been so good to me.”

“Ah… I see?”

“Yeah.”

“Th, this isn’t supposed to happen….?”

The image of the true senior guiding the hesitant junior gradually receded.

As the planned scene scattered like a mirage, what remained was that same carnivore-like presence from before.

‘I’m doomed.’

Ahyeon was convinced.

Of a future where Dooyoon, having fully grown into a hunter, would try to treat her as an equal.

‘Ahyeon-ah, why are you so clumsy? Can you even clear floors properly like that?’

‘O, Oppa! Still, I’m the senior…!’

‘In the hunter industry, results come first. Is life easy, Ahyeon-ah?’

Kukung!

In Ahyeon’s mind, her gradually declining position was drawn.

‘I, I’m doomed.’

She cautiously made eye contact.

Dooyoon, expressing bewilderment at Jung Ahyeon’s awkward behavior since earlier.

Ahyeon, feeling a deep sense of despair once again in their meeting gazes, slowly lowered her head.

An awkwardness she had never experienced in her entire life.

‘Why am I really like this…?’

She had never been so cautious with anyone before.

Because she was the light, and people liked that aspect of her.

But, but this situation now.

“Ahyeon-ah.”

That train of thought was instantly shattered by Dooyoon’s call.

Ahyeon, startled, replied.

“Eh, yes?”

“Yoonha-ssi is a rear dealer, and you’re a healer, right Ahyeon?”

“Ah… Yes.”

“I’ll work hard and grow so I can reliably protect the rear.”

Whether Ahyeon felt despair or not, Dooyoon was preoccupied with thoughts about future positions.

Tower conquest.

For that, he had to strive to quickly stand beside his other comrades.

“So, until then, please bear with me even if I’m a bit inexperienced.”

Dooyoon said so and smiled awkwardly.

“…Ah.”

At that last remark, something that had been tightly blocking her heart was washed away as if it had been cleared.

“I kept trying to find the right timing to talk, and I finally managed to do it now.”

Dooyoon said a few more words like that, then, seeing no reaction from Ahyeon, slowly left his seat.

‘Is she still having a hard time?’

He had heard that the fatigue within the tower varied from person to person.

Thinking that perhaps he had been the one holding Ahyeon back until now, Dooyoon left for the lounge to check the gallery window.

“Ah?”

Ahyeon, left alone, belatedly grasped the situation.

She had let him go without even a proper greeting, but a strange feeling, rather than apologetic, was warming her heart.

‘What is this…?’

A sense of relief.

The feeling that a beast she thought would attack with bared claws had instead offered its back to be petted.

Ahyeon, embracing a feeling she had never experienced before in her life, remained lost in the lingering emotion at the cafe for a long time.

(My post) Title: Uhuh, yeah, it’s hyung.

Dooyoon, having returned to his room, immediately infiltrated the gallery.

-The BossMob Gallery members helped me clear the 2nd floor well. Yeah…
I also caught GreenUgly and got a heart-pounding Hidden Piece.

[ㄴ Did you really make him graduate?]

[ㄴ No, was the gallery rumor real? Did the newbie really make a boss graduate?]

[ㄴ No, what’s the order;; Why are you making a lower-floor scrub graduate first!!]

[ㄴ Hahahaha, then the newbie can’t just dive into the mid-floors with his current level.]

[ㄴ RipenedWine*) Hoee…! Newbie-jang, are you not hurt-desu…?]

[ㄴ My post) Yeah, I’m perfectly fine-doromuk.]

[ㄴ Seeing him talk nonsense, he seems fine.]

The gallery, as if time that had stopped had begun to flow again, instantly flared up.

Title: Ah, GreenUgly, he was…

-(Ugly Goblin Pic)

He was a good lower-tier newbie stepping stone…

Please, may he rest peacefully there…

Rest peacefully my *ss, fck.

How dare he graduate first from the gallery when he’s crazy?

Not following the order? Aww, my stomach hurts, fck.

[ㄴ Did the curveball go crazy;]

[ㄴ Hahahaha, honestly, I’m fcking envious.]

[ㄴ Newbie, you killed him. Newbie, you killed him. Newbie, you killed him. Newbie, you killed him. Newbie, you killed him.]

[ㄴ So what really happened? GreenUgly didn’t even know his own graduation conditions in the first place;]

The members of the gallery were burning with curiosity.

What on earth had he done to find the Hidden Piece and even achieve graduation?

(My post) Title: So, what happened was….

-It was similar to the fan meeting from the 1st floor.

I caught goblins as you told me.

I fought with GreenUgly too.

But this b*stard also had some weird resonance thing turn on, and he achieved enlightenment or something on his own.

Said his memories came back or something.

After that, he even figured out his hidden piece conditions and spoiled them for me.

We had a soul-to-soul fight according to the conditions, and I also ripped off some rewards. Yeah.

[ㄴ He realized his own graduation conditions?]

[ㄴ No, teacher, what does that mean?]

[ㄴ Fck, then what have I been doing all this time?? Just one real-life meeting with a newbie, and all my ancestral memories would have come

flooding back.]

[ㄴ Uh oh, why is this turning black?]

[ㄴ It’s dizzying, hahaha.]

[ㄴ PaperLover*) What did you get as a reward?]

[ㄴ My post) A large amount of EXP, a small amount of magic stones, and I also took the sword GreenUgly was using?]

[ㄴ ?]

[ㄴ ????]

At Dooyoon’s last comment, the gallery fell into chaos again.

Title: Did I hear that wrong?

So you snatched the boss’s equipment from inside the boss room?

Not acquired, but snatched from its hand?

You really snatched it and made it yours?

[ㄴ How many times are you asking the same thing, you bstard, hahahaha.]

[ㄴ My post) For real, it’s true;;; It’s S-rank and super sturdy, I really like it. Yeah.]

[ㄴ Oh God, fck, what am I hearing right now?]

[ㄴ A bstard who’s a boss is looking for God.]

[ㄴ Is this a hunter or a thug? Why did you snatch GreenUgly’s perfectly good weapon, hahahaha.]

[ㄴ But hunters are thugs, aren’t they?]

[ㄴ Ah, that’s right?]

[ㄴ “That’s right,” lol hahahahaha.]

“Is it not allowed or something?”

Since it worked, he just acquired it without thinking.

Judging by the gallery’s reaction, it seemed like something that shouldn’t have happened had occurred.

But since it didn’t even give him a skill, he had to take this at least.

The 1st-floor Great Slime at least threw him a skill, but the 2nd-floor GreenUgly tried to just die empty-handed.

‘You gotta do what you gotta do.’

Only then would a stepping stone to the next floor be prepared, wouldn’t it?

Dooyoon decided to be shameless.

(My post) Title: Victim, shut the fck up, hahaha.

So what can the graduated b*stard do?

If you lost to me, just cough up the reward and get lost, hahaha.

You liked it too, you enjoyed it.

[ㄴ RipenedWine*) Hoee…! Newbie-jang is cool-desu…!]

[ㄴ Is this something the Tower Master should be saying right now?]

[ㄴ Now he’s decided to just go all out, hahaha.]

[ㄴ What’s with this b*stard being so confident?]

[ㄴ Is this a hunter or a robber?]

[ㄴ But hunters are robbers, aren’t they?]

[ㄴ Ah, that’s right?]

This is the right way to act.

Dooyoon rested to his heart’s content with a satisfied feeling.