“Ugh!”

Seo Ye-jin woke up with a painful groan.

“Are you okay, Ms. Ye-jin?”

“Yes…”

I waited for a moment, but I didn’t get any system notifications about hunting intermediate vampires. 

There were two possibilities.

One was that the vampire who had ingested the poison gas had died, but since there were no citizens or Seo Ye-jin’s shared senses in the area, the kill was not counted.

The other possibility was that he had not died.

And then.

[You have hunted a lower vampire (Lv. 28).]

[You have hunted a lower vampire (Lv. 29).]

Seeing that messages were still coming up for hunting lower vampires, it was clear that it was under the influence of the homebound area.

Even if there were no citizens present, monsters they had hunted would count.

‘It wasn’t that far from the expanded area!’

Unfortunately, this meant that the latter possibility was more likely.

There were three intermediate vampires there.

‘I couldn’t kill a single one of them.’

It seemed that only a few of the lower vampires who were slow to react had ingested the poison mist.

‘That’s too bad.’

If possible, I wanted to take care of everything when there was no information on us.

They would have realized by now that the poison mist was very dangerous and that the mouse was producing it.

‘They might retreat to an enclosed space.’

They would be sensitive to mice if they were around.

‘They could change their headquarters.’

I said to Seo Ye-jin, who was breaking out in cold sweat, “Ms. Ye-jin, could you check if they are moving to a different location?”

“No problem. Phew.”

“Don’t overdo it.”

“Yes.”

Still, thanks to Yoo Hye-rin’s poison mist, we were able to deal with quite a few vampires.

Now, all that was left were the vampires in the conference room.

But all of them were elites in terms of level.

‘There’s only one party that can handle them!’

Ha Dong-geon’s party.

Without them, it would be difficult to handle these guys without any damage.

‘I could send mice again, but that would put too much pressure on Seo Ye-jin.’

They had already experienced it once.

If they found a mouse, they might rush in to attack it.

Considering how much mental damage Seo Ye-jin would take every time a mouse died, it was not a strategy worth attempting recklessly.

While Seo Ye-jin was observing their movements, I decided to check on Ha Dong-geon’s party.

‘Absolute Dweller’s Eyes.’

First, I checked on Ha Dong-geon, the leader.

“Huff, huff.”

He was doing strength training in the gym.

Kim Ga-yeong was with him, dressed in leggings.

Considering that he had been holed up in the house ever since the battle in Jangjeon-dong, it was a very positive sign.

‘He’s gotten much better.’

Even though he was still expressionless, I felt that the deep sadness filling his eyes had diluted a lot. 

It was probably thanks to Kim Ga-yeong’s presence.

‘That’s a relief.’

I watched them for a moment.

“What do you think about the weights?”

“It’s much lighter than I thought.”

“…You think this is light?”

Ha Dong-geon’s body was indeed in good shape, but the weight he was lifting effortlessly was 350kg.

Bench pressing 350kg.

It was a realm that was almost impossible for an ordinary human to reach.

Even if there were people who could lift it, they would have a muscled body that was the pinnacle of a population of 8 billion. 

But they also couldn’t say that lifting 350kg was ‘light’.

His physical abilities at level 45 transcended human limitations.

“You should try it too.”

“…Me?”

“I’ll help you.”

“What?”

Kim Ga-yeong watched as Ha Dong-geon casually got up, then sighed softly and lay down on the bench press.

It seemed that she was more like playing along rather than actually wanting to lift it.

Kim Ga-yeong grabbed the barbell, and Ha Dong-geon assisted her.

“Are you ready?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s start.”

“Mm.”

Kim Ga-yeong pushed with Ha Dong-geon’s call.

“Huh?”

Surprisingly, the heavy barbell loaded with plates was lifted effortlessly by her. There wasn’t even a slight tremble in Kim Ga-yeong’s arms.

Kim Ga-yeong stared blankly at the barbell she had lifted, then looked at Ha Dong-geon.

“Are you the one lifting this?”

“No.”

“Don’t joke around.”

“It’s true.”

With that, Ha Dong-geon completely let go of the barbell.

“Wai… Huh?”

Kim Ga-yeong lowered the barbell and then lifted it again.

Then, she made a simple comment.

“…Is this for real?”

“I was surprised too. I wasn’t expecting this.”

While not at Ha Dong-geon’s level, Kim Ga-yeong was also a monster who had reached level 40.

Even though her abilities were maximized in areas like vision and agility rather than strength, she still demonstrated strength far beyond that of an ordinary person.

“Now you get why I said it was light, right?”

“…Yeah, it was true.”

At that moment.

“What exactly are you guys?”

“Huh?”

A man approached them with a shocked expression.

He was the only one who directly spoke to them, but everyone in the gym was focused on Ha Dong-geon.

“Is there a hidden camera? Is this staged?”

The man pointed at the barbell with an expression of disbelief.

“Can I try lifting it?”

“It might be dangerous.”

“No, I just can’t believe it.”

The man, who had been making a fuss, eventually lay down on the bench.

And.

“Ugh! Uggggghhh!”

He strained with all his might, his face turning red as he tried to lift the barbell.

But the barbell didn’t budge.

Despite having a thicker body than Ha Dong-geon, he was unable to lift the weight.

The man bowed his head in defeat.

…

“I’m sorry for the doubt.”

Ha Dong-geon accepted the apology with a smile.

“It’s okay.”

Watching him, I thought to myself, ‘It looks like he’s ready now.’

After confirming that Ha Dong-geon’s condition was good, I checked on the other party members.

Kang Deok-su and Kim Geon, who had been immersed in sorrow and alcohol, were hunting goblins together.

Six goblins rushed towards them, and Kang Deok-su shouted, “Rise!”

Kang Deok-su’s skill proficiency had noticeably increased. 

A knight1Thought I should clarify but the ‘knights’ Kang Deok-su’s summoning are essentially armored golems. The author has since used the term ‘knights/knights of steel/steel knights’ so I’ll be using that too. summoned right in front of the goblins swung a halberd.

Thunk!

The head of a goblin fell off in a single blow.

At the same time, steel knights summoned behind the goblins stabbed halberds into their torsos.

“Kkieeek!”

The movements of the steel knights were much smoother than before.

Kang Deok-su was not the only one who improved his skills.

Kaaah!

A much larger crow swooped through the narrow cave and down onto a goblin.

Without needing to do anything, Kim Geon was steadily reducing the number of goblins.

‘There’s no need to worry!’

The effect of forcibly taking Kang Deok-su to the goblin den was better than expected.

Kim Geon, who had been drinking in sorrow, also escaped from drinking and was actively participating in the simple hunt.

Although it was a sight to see two people at levels 45 and 40 hunting goblins that were barely level 10, just hunting together was motivating.

Kang Deok-su said to Kim Geon, “What do you think?”

“…It’s okay.”

“It’s been a while since you came out, feeling okay?”

“Taking a walk in a goblin den. Sunbae2Sunbae is used to address an upperclassman/someone more senior. Think of it as ‘senpai’.‘s hobby is awful.”

“Hahaha! Okay, okay. But doesn’t it feel good?”

Kim Geon chuckled as he watched Kaman break the goblins’ necks.

…

“It’s not bad. It’s been a while since I’ve hunted, and it looks like Kaman is enjoying it.”

Despite being a dungeon too low-level compared to their levels, it was perfect for a change of pace.

…

Kim Geon suddenly said, “Hey, why don’t we go hunting?”

Kang Deok-su answered with a tilt of his head, “Hunting? We’re already hunting, aren’t we?”

“…I mean, not this goblin hunting, but a proper hunt. Actually, I haven’t just been drinking all this time.”

Kim Geon smiled meaningfully and whistled.

Swoosh!

In response, Kaman flew towards him.

Watching the scene absentmindedly, Kang Deok-su was surprised to see Kaman’s speed increasing. It was flying towards Kim Geon at a swift pace, as if it was going to attack a goblin.

Toward its master, Kim Geon.

However, before he could say anything, the speeding Kaman hit Kim Geon.

“Geon-ah!”

At that moment.

“Don’t worry, sunbae.”

Kim Geon, who was struck by Kaman, looked completely different.

“…Y-You!”

Not only Kang Deok-su, but I was also shocked.

‘What?’

Kim Geon’s appearance totally changed.

Kim Geon slowly spread his arms.

“!!”

No, it would be more appropriate to call them wings.

“This is possible now.”

Kaman and Kim Geon had merged into one.

“So let’s go outside. Not this narrow cave.”

A new skill.

I hurriedly checked Kim Geon’s information in the management window.

‘Crow Bond?’

The skill originally called Crow Command, had changed to Bond.

And it explained that such fusion was only possible for targets with an intimacy of 100.

‘My gosh.’

There were cases where skills evolved through one’s own power.

Thanks to Kim Geon, I learned something new.

If Kim Geon could fly in the sky in that form, then the scouting range would be incredibly wide. 

Although there were monsters in the sky, there was a huge difference between moving on the ground and in the air.

‘It will be much more convenient from now on!’

I had been thinking of ways to utilize Kim Geon’s crow. For example, carrying Seo Yejin’s mice on its back to move them around. But now, there was no need for that.

‘Nice.’

It seemed that Kang Deok-su and Kim Geon were also ready.

‘Let’s see how Moon Byeong-ho’s group is doing.’

Moon Byeong-ho, Oh Eon-ju, and Kim Da-jeong were still out hunting.

‘I heard they’ve been going quite far these days.’

I focused the Absolute Dweller’s Eyes on Moon Byeong-ho’s party.

Drrrrrrr—

Oh Eon-ju was driving. They seemed to be returning from a hunt.

The road they were driving on had been cleared to one side, so it was probably Oh Eon-ju who cleared it.

Sighing softly in the back seat, Moon Byeong-ho said, “Deok-su and Geon-ah will probably just be drinking again today.”

“Let them be. They’ll sober up on their own with time.”

“Do you think so?”

“Yeah. They’re strong guys. Let’s give them some time and wait. Time is the best medicine for these things.”

I wanted to give them some more time to heal as Oh Eon-ju suggested, but no matter how much I thought about it, there was no party besides them capable of facing the vampires.

Ha Dong-geon, Kim Ga-yeong, Kang Deok-su, Kim Geon, Moon Byeong-ho, Oh Eon-ju, Kim Da-jeong.

Among the parties in my domain, they had received the most investment and therefore possessed overwhelmingly strong power: the Ace Party.

I used the Communication Ring to speak to them.

[Long time no see, everyone. Have you all been resting well?]