Chapter 7: Class (1)
I wasn’t a charitable person.
Rather, I was the opposite of that. Lee Jihye, who was laughing while standing in front of me, was probably the same.
People nodded at us, obviously pleased to see two warriors, one with spear and another with sword, join them.
‘That’s not right…’
At this rate I would become a meat shield.
“Well, I said I would lead you to a resting spot, but honestly, there’s not much to show. There’s only two sections here. One for men and another for women to live separately.”
“That’s enough. And it’s proper.”
“Thank you for saying that. I was a little worried…”
“There’s no need to worry about such a thing. Thanks for being our guide.”
“That’s kind of you. Hehe. Can I call you Deokgu oppa?”
“I-If you want to…”
“You are such a nice man.”
This naive Park Deokgu was already half-way into the honey trap set by Lee Jihye. He sure felt good about being called ‘oppa’ by a woman six years his senior.
“Are you okay, Kiyoung-ssi?”
“You don’t have to be so formal, call me as you like.”
From the corner of my eye, I noticed Jung Hayan’s expression wasn’t looking good.
“Then I will call you Kiyoung oppa. Hehe. Ah! Hayan-ssi, please, come this way. We have no set rules for living here, but Hyunsung-ssi will tell you everything you should know. I will take Hayan-ssi with me, and teach her a few things. Have a good rest.”
“Ah… okay. Kiyoung-ssi, see you later then. Thank you so much for today.”
“Yes, see you later.”
“Yup!”
Jung Hayan bowed her head, and then went to the women’s section together with Lee Jihye.
It seemed like there were a variety of unspoken rules here, but frankly, I wasn’t very interested in this.
What interested me was how we would now proceed.
“Hyung-nim, don’t you think this place seems quite lively?”
“That’s true…”
“Is there a problem?”
“It’s not a big deal. Just…”
“Just…?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Oh, is that so…”
I wasn’t happy with the idea of becoming a meat shield to keep this place safe, but if I changed my perspective a little, it actually wasn’t such a bad thing.
‘Only in this manner can I get what I need.’
This place offered endless opportunities.
Safe hunting with Kim Hyunsung, help with getting a class and roping Jung Hayan onto my side.
Perhaps it won’t be smooth sailing, but that was a minor issue.
The next morning, Kim Hyunsung called out Park Deokgu and I.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yea, thanks to you.”
Park Deokgu responded briefly to Kim Hyunsung’s question.
When it was only me and Deokgu I couldn’t sleep properly, so it was the first night in this place where I could relax a little.
I roughly knew what this guy was trying to get at. Instead of getting dragged into this by him, I bit the bullet, and opened my mouth first.
“I didn’t see many people who could fight here. Most of them are women or injured. Or those who have no will to fight.”
“Yes, it’s quite embarrassing to admit.”
“How is this place holding up?”
It was a pointed question to ask, but I was really curious about it.
Only after a while did Kim Hyunsung slowly start speaking.
“Actually, we are not doing that great.”
As I expected.
I rubbed my chin and said.
“The lack of food and drinking water. No one to fight. And you, who has to take care of those 30 babies. Maybe even more, because their number will increase in the future.”
“…”
“So far, you have been holding on, relying on food and drinking water you had stored in advance, but these resources will dwindle very soon, and there will be a need to find other solutions. Isn’t that right? It will be very hard to get resources from the starting points scattered all over the place. Right now we have to deal with monsters in front of us, and yet, the unable-to-fight-burdens behind us are increasing in number.”
“They are not burdens.”
“They might not be burdens in the future, but right now they are.”
Kim Hyunsung didn’t answer, maybe he agreed with me to some degree.
“To be honest, taking into the account the circumstances, leaving this place doesn’t seem like a bad choice.”
“You are going to leave, Hyung-nim?”
I shook my head at Park Deokgu’s words, and said,
“I didn’t mean that. But if we stay here, it won’t do us any good.”
“Ah…”
“Hyunsung-ssi, I wouldn’t say that this friend of mine and I are that great. He might be helpful, but as for me, not so much. Actually, all I can do is to stand in place and stab my spear forward.”
“…”
“But still, I can fight together with others and serve as support. The same goes for this guy.”
“Thank you.”
I pretended to be casual, but it was quite difficult.
We were tired, both mentally and physically, and I suspected we might reach our limit soon.
Although you didn’t seem to know me and Park Deokgu, you must have been overjoyed to meet us.
“I’m not a volunteer.”
“Ah…”
“I think I roughly know what you wish to accomplish. Maybe all you want to do is let everyone survive and be safe. I can understand this way of thinking, but I’m not like you, Hyunsung-ssi. I’m not someone who is willing to be sacrificed for someone else who won’t even share my hardships. You may call it selfish, but that’s how I see it…”
“No, I understand. Of course, you have your own needs.”
Communicating with him was smoother than I expected.
I was worried he would stick to his righteousness, but thankfully that wasn’t the case.
“Alright. Then, firstly, we want dibs on a portion of the resources we find during future trips.”
He nodded slightly.
Probably, he thought that wasn’t such a big demand.
“And…”
“…”
“We’d like to be included in your plan for the future.”
Kim Hyunsung’s face stiffened a little.
A moment later, he looked at me with an odd expression. He seemed to be a bit surprised.
However, soon after, a faint smile appeared on his face.
“So you knew.”
“That strange woman from the starting point gave us two big clues: attack and survive. It’s just my personal view, but this second option seems impossible to achieve. Uh, well, if a small number of people monopolized a lot of resources, then maybe it could work. But I don’t remember her saying anything about the exact duration we would have to live here for.”
“…”
“If there’s no set time limit, gathering survivors isn’t a good choice. Sure, they wouldn’t get eaten by monsters, but they would starve to death. It’s a forgone conclusion.”
I knew he was a regressor, so I was just telling him everything he should already know about.
However, this guy seemed to admire my reasoning and the fact that I could deduce so much just by putting together small pieces of information.
In fact, when I raised my eyes, I could see him lowering his head a little.
I was right.
“In that case, I’m happy to work together with you.”
“Likewise…”
I held his outstretched hand. There was a strange sense of trust in his eyes.
He was aware that I wasn’t strong enough.
But in his mind, I might be the shining example of a useful talent now.
For example, as a type of person fit to be an analyst or administrator.
***
“Hyung-nim!”
“I know.”
Ever since Kim Hyunsung joined us, hunting had become much easier.
That wasn’t all.
Now I held even more faith in what Mind’s Eye was showing me.
“Deokgu!”
“I’m coming.”
Obviously, Kim Hyunsung seemed to be very experienced in using the sword.
Sometimes he deliberately made mistakes, as if he wanted to hide his skill level, but the way he reacted every time Park Deokgu was in danger made it hard to see him as a person who only recently started using the sword.
‘Good.’
While Park Deokgu was holding several monsters in place, Kim Hyunsung and I were dealing with them from the sides.
They were sensitive to sound, so to get their attention Park Deokgu was hitting his shield with his sword.
I was still unused to wielding a spear, and my hands trembled.
As I stabbed a monster rushing at Park Deokgu, the spear fell out of my hands.
But then Park Deokgu finished it with a slam of his shield.
“Haa!”
“Looks like a few more are coming. Let me take care of them. In the meantime…”
“I know. Deokgu, let’s grab the food.”
“I already took it, Kiyoung Hyung-nim… What do you think he was doing when he lived on Earth?”
“No idea. But I doubt he was using swords there. His skills are probably the result of acquiring a class.”
“Oh well, you have to admit he is hella good at this.”
Using his high agility, Kim Hyunsung was avoiding every strike and cut down enemies with precision.
From far away it seemed simple, but in practice it wasn’t simple at all.
The reason why Kim Hyunsung was going ahead alone sometimes was because Park Deokgu already knew that he had a class.
Ever since hearing about this, Park Deokgu seemed to be a little nervous.
He had yet to unlock any class, and he was feeling stressed about this.
“Haa!”
While Kim Hyunsung killed the remaining monsters, Park Deokgu observed him quietly.
His eyes were full of amazement.
“Ah, there are fewer monsters than I expected around this starting point area.”
“Maybe he cleared this area before.”
“You mean Kim Hyunsung?”
“Yea. There’s a lot of food here, but it seems like no one survived… Well, if there were survivors, there would be no food left.”
“I didn’t really think the three of us would be enough to secure resources from the starting point.”
“You helped a lot.”
“No, I didn’t do much, did I? It’s all thanks to that guy.”
“No, it’s not only thanks to him. If not for you, it would’ve been much harder for us to get here.”
I didn’t say those words only out of comfort.
It was true that Park Deokgu made it much easier for us to come all the way here. No matter how good at fighting Kim Hyunsung was, he was only a single person after all. It would be difficult for him to tackle all the monsters attacking him from every direction alone.
Although Park Deokgu was still in his growing phase, it was clear that his potential would allow him to become someone who could lift a heavy burden off his allies in battle.
It was when I was checking my status window to see if any of my stats had risen that…
“Huh? Hyung-nim.”
I heard Park Deokgu’s startled voice at the same moment I saw a new message in front of me.
[Several classes have been unlocked. Please select the class of your choice.]
‘Good.’
It was faster than I thought.
[View unlocked classes.]
[Warrior (Common)]
[Archer (Common)]
[Wizard (Common)]
[Commander (Rare)]
One very attractive class came into my view.
