Harem Bus Driver (4)

“Here, these are traces of a Snowshoe Spider.”

Once the injured Choi Seo-yoon had recovered enough to move, we all set out at once.

On the way back to base camp, in a corner of the path, the ground was dug up in several places, and strange tracks marred the snowfield.

Snowshoe Spiders.

These spiders, with their stubby bodies and bizarrely long legs, connected the spaces between their six long claws with webbing, creating snowshoe-like feet that allowed them to glide across the snow at considerable speed.

This left behind a very distinct set of tracks.

And those tracks were now scattered everywhere.

“Snowshoe Spiders came all the way down here?”

Snowshoe Spiders were fairly powerful monsters in Gate 71.

That’s why Awakeners gradually expanded the base camp, hanging scent pouches that the spiders hated along the perimeter.

In fact, replacing those pouches was the most important part of our management duties.

“The maintenance must have been neglected, so the pouches probably lost their effect. What do we do?”

“Let’s return to base camp for now. It’s getting dark, and Ms. Seo-yoon isn’t in good shape.”

*

—But before we do, can you make me a promise?

—That you won’t abandon us during this expedition.

—Sometimes… people decide you’re no longer useful and just leave you behind instead of trying to rescue you.

…

Gate 71 had only one sun.

Now that it had set and darkness had fallen, going back out was a suicidal act. The wisest course of action was to exit the gate, request support, and then return for a rescue.

The problem was, there was no telling how long that would take.

And more importantly… the thought, ‘Will they even send support?’ crossed my mind.

It was cruel, but to brave this blizzard, find the Snowshoe Spiders’ lair, and mount a rescue…

D-rank was just too… low.

They’d just keep putting it off, and after a certain point, they’d decide the probability of survival was too low and refuse to send aid.

Non-Awakeners were negative about providing support, thinking, ‘Awakeners are supposed to be high-risk, high-return. The individual gets the high return, so why should the nation have to share the high risk?’

And Awakeners, knowing just how dangerous the inside of a gate was, were passive about offering help.

Though, if you were a government-certified A-rank, they’d usually come to the rescue…

In any case, requesting support was the wisest choice, but thinking about it a little more, it was also the most hopeless one.

“Team Leader?”

“Yes? Ah… Whatever we do, we can only do it after the sun rises. And as for requesting support… honestly, I don’t think they’ll come.”

A heavy silence descended.

“For now, please focus on caring for the injured. If it comes to it, we’ll consider an early withdrawal. However, we don’t know how far the Snowshoe Spiders can come, so from now on, acting alone is strictly forbidden. If possible, let’s stick together in groups of three or more.”

I took out a small, pistol-shaped object and placed it on the table.

“It’s a flare gun I found in the warehouse earlier. There are green and red flares. If you spot a Snowshoe Spider, fire a green one. If it’s an emergency, fire a red one.”

The sound of sniffling came from somewhere.

I ignored it and continued.

“As for whether we’ll attempt a rescue, and if so, how we’ll do it—I’ll think about it and let you know tomorrow. We’ll gather a little early tomorrow, at 6 AM. I’ll make the announcement then.”

*

Snowflakes drifted past the window.

Thankfully, it wasn’t a blizzard, but at this rate… the tracks might be completely covered by 6 AM tomorrow.

But no matter how I thought about it—

[Mana: 72,308/162,360]
[Essense: 24,000/162,360]
[Innate Vital Energy: 1,000+543/1,000]

—I felt like I could do it.

I had consumed about 110,000 mana since entering the gate.

In the process of converting Essense to mana, my ‘Essense Conversion’ skill had leveled up. My 24,000 Essense was now equivalent to 1.8 million mana.

Was 1.8 million not enough? Then I could just convert Innate Vital Energy to Essense, and then Essense to mana. 500 Innate Vital Energy was worth 35,000 Essense…

With this much, turning the Snowshoe Spiders’ lair into a sea of fire would be a piece of cake.

They said Snowshoe Spiders were weak to heat, so the matchup was good, too.

The problem was getting to their lair.

To get there before the tracks disappeared, I’d have to leave at night, which meant…

Should I just transform and run?

In this body, my Strength was 91. The average for an adult male was 100, so it was slightly below that.

But after transforming, if I manifested my horns, activated the ‘Enhancement Yin Mark,’ and even spread my wings—

Wings? If I have wings, I can just fly.

[Demonic Wings – Enhanced ▼
-Flight (Impossible) (Lv.4+3) (0/80,000)
-Sensing (Lv.4+3) (0/80,000)
-Magic Field (Lv.4+3) (0/80,000)]

These were ‘Lee Han-gyeol’s’ wings, separate from ‘Seo A-gyeol’s.’

Currently, Flight was at level 7.

Manifesting the ‘Demonic Horns’ would add another 2 levels, bringing it to a total of 9.

…If I raised it to level 10, would that ‘Impossible’ tag disappear?

I knew some skills had major upgrades at 10-level intervals.

However—

[Flight (Impossible): You can spread your wings and fly by riding the flow of magic. Requires a high level of proficiency.]

That phrase, ‘Requires a high level of proficiency.’

That phrase wasn’t there on ‘Seo A-gyeol’s’ wings.

Therefore, to increase the chances of successful flight, the better option was to transform and then level up the ‘Flight’ skill on Seo A-gyeol’s wings.

Alright, I’ll just transform for a bit and—

Knock, knock.

A knock on the door.

I walked over and opened it.

It was Kim Ji-yeon, her eyes red and swollen.

“What is it…?”

“Please… save Yu-jin and Ha-yeon.”

A single tear trickled down her cheek.

Come to think of it, she was the one who started all this.

She broke formation to confront me, the Snow Moles took that opportunity to attack, Choi Seo-yoon got injured, and the two who went to get disinfectant and a stretcher went missing.

Hmm. So it’s your fault.

But there was nothing to be gained by telling someone already crying with guilt that it was their fault.

Or was there? That brat who jumped to conclusions and tried to pick a fight with me, who couldn’t even wait a moment and caused all this trouble—

…What’s the point? I was planning to go for the rescue by myself anyway.

First, you need to get out of my room so I can transform.

“I’ll think about it, so please go and get some rest for now.”

“I’m begging you. Please.”

“I said I get it, so—”

“Do I… do I have to offer… my body to you, Team Leader?”

What’s with her now?

She still hasn’t cleared up the misunderstanding… right, I never cleared it up for her.

I sighed and was about to kick her out, but then I paused.

Should I mess with her a little?

“…For now, go out and rest. I’ll think about it.”

Accepting her offer right away would be amateurish.

First, I refuse. If she backs down, the misunderstanding is cleared up, which is nice. But if she doesn’t back down even after the refusal—

“I’m sorry about before. Please, just save my friends…”

She bit her lower lip hard.

Slowly, she began to undress as she approached me.

Uh, uhh…?

…I don’t know. Whatever happens, happens.

Her hand slipped through the gap in my clothes, and—

*

“Seriously…! Even my boyfriend never came inside me…!”

Oh?

“…You have a boyfriend?”

She just sniffled.

“If my friends don’t come back alive after this, you’d better watch out!”

With her eyes still red, Kim Ji-yeon snatched the pack of contraceptive pills from the bedside table and glared at me.

Seeing that one of the pills was already gone, she glared at me again. What was I supposed to do about it?

How was I supposed to know you had a boyfriend?

No, in the first place, if you had a boyfriend, or if you hadn’t left your post before that, no.

It’s too late to argue about this now, isn’t it?

Next time, I should only come with people who are on my level…

“This is a secret. I really don’t like you…!”

Sniffling, Kim Ji-yeon left the bedroom.

Soon, the entire base camp fell silent.

Alright, now then—

Transform.

[Demonic Wings – Enhanced ▼
-Flight (Impossible) (Lv.4+3) (0/8,000)
-Intimidation (Lv.4+3) (279/8,000)
-Magic Field (Lv.4+3) (2,314/8,000)]

Tiring—

[Demonic Wings – Enhanced ▼
-Flight (Impossible) (Lv.5+3) (0/16,000)
-Intimidation (Lv.4+3) (279/8,000)
-Magic Field (Lv.4+3) (2,314/8,000)]

I manifested my horns and unfurled my wings at the same time.

—That you won’t abandon us during this expedition.

Please, work!

[Demonic Wings – Enhanced ▼
-Flight (Lv.5+5) (0/16,000)
-Intimidation (Lv.4+5) (279/8,000)
-Magic Field (Lv.4+5) (2,314/8,000)]

The wings, which until now had been mere body parts, just useless appendages,

surged with power.

“Ha, haha…! Wow, so this is what it’s like?”

I opened the window—

—and immediately closed it again because it was cold.

I had to take my clothes off to transform because of the wings.

Even if I tried to put clothes on, the wings were a problem.

In the end, I put on only my Nephthra underwear, bra, and pants, and coated my exposed skin with a thin layer of flame with the help of a spirit.

A rather bizarre fashion statement reflected in the window.

I opened the window and dived out—

*

How long had I been flying, following the tracks? The traces of Snowshoe Spiders were becoming more and more frequent.

Thank goodness.

To be honest, I was mainly worried about the tracks disappearing; I wasn’t particularly concerned about the two’s safety.

Snowshoe Spiders, like spiders on Earth, wrap their prey tightly in webbing and suck out their bodily fluids.

When? After the prey has frozen to death.

Fortunately, both of them were Enhancement-type Awakeners with the ‘Homeostasis’ trait. It would take quite a while for them to freeze to death.

They’d be in danger if their mana ran out, but skills derived from that kind of trait usually didn’t consume much mana.

Therefore, the time-attack element was less about their mana depleting and more about the tracks disappearing.

If I couldn’t find them because the tracks were gone, their mana would eventually run out over time.

Not even ten hours had passed yet.

They were definitely alive.

In the distance, I saw a cave. The Snowshoe Spider tracks were concentrated at its entrance.

Just you wait.

I landed in front of the cave, released my transformation, and summoned a fire spirit.

“Help me find some people in here.”

‘Okay!’

Following the webs inside, I soon came upon a massive cavern.

In the distance, a wave of twinkling starlight rushed toward me.

The twinkling lights were the eyes of the Snowshoe Spiders.

“…I’m going to set this place on fire first, so give me a signal if you find the people.”

I had to survive to save my teammates.

‘Okay! Burn it to your heart’s content!’

“Goodbye, everyone.”

The wave of starlight and the wave of flames collided.

*

“Ugh, it really stinks.”

The smell of burnt Snowshoe Spiders was more disgusting than I’d expected.

“When am I ever going to pick up all these magic stones?”

Unlike at Elemental, where workers would come in to collect magic stones after a conquest was over, the Expeditionary Force members had to gather them themselves.

Back in Gate 132, the only monsters were golems, and they didn’t have magic stones, which was a bit of a shame.

But now that I actually had to pick them up myself, it was surprisingly annoying.

‘I found them!’

“Really? Where?”

‘Follow me!’

There was a small cave in the corner of the cavern.

Inside were cocoons of various sizes. Thankfully, there were exactly two cocoons large enough to hold a person.

I approached to tear them open, but then—

Wait.

How am I supposed to get them out of here?

I remembered the countless mountain ranges that had passed beneath me.

I recalled being terrified, thinking I never would have made it without flying.

That meant I’d have to fly back with them… and to fly, I had to transform. There was no way I could let them see me like that.

Hmm, I guess I’ll have to take them without tearing open the cocoons.

I hoped they were asleep right now.

—As if to mock my wish, the two cocoons started thrashing the moment I touched them.

Well, at least they seemed to be alive and kicking, so that was good.

“It’s me.”

At my words, the two cocoons froze in surprise.

“Reall…?” “Team…der!” “Team…!” “Ali…!” “…!”

The two cocoons started squirming again.

I approached and shouted loudly.

“We’re going to escape now, but I’ll open the cocoons at base camp. Until then, try not to move as much as possible.”

I transformed again, spread my wings, and tucked one cocoon under each arm.

…They’re heavy.

But not so heavy that I couldn’t carry them.

As for the magic stones… I guess I’ll have to be content with just the one I got from the queen Snowshoe Spider.

“We’re going to fly. Don’t be surprised, and don’t move. Got it? You can thank me at base camp.”

Once more, I took flight.

*

Knock, knock, knock!

“Everyone, wake up.”

I went around to the bedrooms, knocking.

I had tried to tear the cocoons open by myself, but it didn’t work.

But I couldn’t just leave them in that state until everyone else woke up.

Bang!

“What is it!”

The door flew open to reveal Kim Ji-yeon, still glaring at me.

“What’s going on, Team Leader?” “Haaam…” “Hwaaam…” “Have you reached a decision…?”

The other team members trickled out behind her.

Hmm, so everyone was sleeping in comfortable clothes.

“…I rescued the two of them. Can you help me tear open these cocoons?”

“What?”