TSOT#1 Chapter 7

“What on earth are you doing here alone? Are you out of your mind, trying to get yourself killed?”

 

Jae-rim’s voice was tense and accusing. It seemed he was the one who had made the monster disappear. After waking up, he saw Joo-ah being attacked by the monster, hurried into the training room, and pressed the termination button. Entering the training room automatically activates a special system window with a button to stop the training in case of danger.

 

Joo-ah stood up, brushing dust off her clothes.

 

“When did you wake up?”

 

She had thought Jae-rim was still sound asleep, but he had woken up earlier than expected, prompting her to ask. Perhaps it was because she cast a quick purification spell, or maybe her power wasn’t strong enough to keep him asleep.

 

Jae-rim, who had been staring at her speechless, finally spoke up after a delay.

 

“Does that even matter right now? The monster you just fought was rated A-class. You’re only an E-class Hunter. What were you thinking, taking on an A-class monster?”

 

Joo-ah calmly explained.

 

“I was just training. If a weaker monster had been summoned, it would have been ideal, but the minimum level here is A-class.”

 

“So you summoned an A-class monster when you were all alone? You could have been killed!”

 

Joo-ah looked at him quietly, puzzled by his uncharacteristically intense reaction. She could understand being shocked, given that an E-class like herself had recklessly fought an A-class monster. But his response seemed excessive.

 

After observing him in silence, Joo-ah spoke in a more solemn tone.

 

“I’m sorry if I scared you.”

 

Jae-rim kept his sharp gaze on her, as if he had more to say, but in the end, he left the training room without a word. Joo-ah followed him quietly.

 

Seeing Jae-rim sit on the couch, she took a seat across from him. An awkward silence filled the VIP room as Joo-ah brought up her system window.

 

Health: 76 / 263 (-187)

 

Mana: 140 / 193 (-53)

 

Those were her stats after facing an A-class virtual monster. Since she used her sword, her mana wasn’t too drained, but her health was down to only 76 points. Had her last attack with the taser gun failed, her health would have hit zero, forcing the training to end.

 

“Why is it so icy in here?”

 

Yeon-joo asked curiously as she entered the VIP room, with Chan-hee following behind.

 

“Did you two have a lovers’ quarrel?”

 

Chan-hee, hands in his pockets, grinned mischievously as he sauntered over. Joo-ah gave him an exasperated look.

 

“What are you staring at? E-class, member?”

 

Chan-hee plopped down next to her, though there was an empty sofa right across from them. Joo-ah couldn’t understand why he chose to sit next to her and say such things.

 

Yeon-joo picked up a blanket that had fallen on the floor and spoke to Jae-rim.

 

“Up early again, huh? Couldn’t sleep?”

 

He didn’t respond verbally, just leaned his head back on the couch—a nonverbal answer they’d all come to understand.

 

Chan-hee clicked his tongue and commented.

 

“I’ve told you a hundred times to get medication, but you never listen.”

 

Jae-rim just gave a small smile, as if he’d heard it all before.

 

Yeon-joo gave Joo-ah a quick explanation.

 

“Jae-rim has bad insomnia, so he sometimes crashes in the VIP room to force himself to sleep through exhaustion.”

 

Joo-ah nodded, glancing over at Jae-rim, who was quietly resting on the couch.

 

Was it because he had just woken up from a dream? Perhaps his abrupt rush into the training room to shout at her was connected to some nightmare.

 

“E-class.”

 

Chan-hee called out beside her, prompting Joo-ah to look over. He raised an eyebrow and asked.

 

“Got anything to say to me?”

 

“Say what?”

 

“Oh, so you’ve already forgotten yesterday, huh?”

 

Finally recalling, Joo-ah gave a soft exclamation.

 

“You mentioned you saved me yesterday, right? Thank you.”

 

“Because of you, my date got ruined.”

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

Her emotionless apology left Chan-hee looking bewildered.

 

“Can’t you at least sound like you mean it?”

 

“It’s truly unfortunate that your date got ruined.”

 

“… Are you mocking me?”

 

He looked stunned, but Joo-ah casually turned to Yeon-joo.

 

“What training should I do today?”

 

Feigning innocence, she asked as if she were just a naive rookie Hunter. Although in her previous body, Eun-young, she was older and more experienced than the others, as Joo-ah, she was just a clueless beginner.

 

Yeon-joo stood up and brought over a potted plant from the windowsill.

 

“I think you should focus on increasing your stats.”

 

She pointed to the plant on the table.

 

“Within a week, revive the flower in this pot.”

 

Joo-ah looked down at the pot. Inside was a single wilted flower, roots rotten from lack of care.

 

Yeon-joo prepared to head to the training room, and Jae-rim, who had been resting on the couch, grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and followed.

 

Chan-hee, still lounging next to her, got up lazily. Just when she thought he was leaving, he dropped something on the table.

 

Joo-ah, who had been focused on the plant, looked at the two mana stones Chan-hee had left before her. He said nonchalantly.

 

“You left these yesterday.”

 

At his words, Joo-ah remembered the day she encountered the monster in the alley. She hadn’t retrieved the mana stones then.

 

Chan-hee, hands in his pockets, spoke in a relaxed tone.

 

“Technically, the Hunter who kills the monster should get these, but since you didn’t seem interested, I snagged them.”

 

One of the mana stones actually belonged to Joo-ah, since she took down a D-class monster herself. But Chan-hee had no way of knowing that and assumed another Hunter had single-handedly killed both monsters.

 

He leaned down, meeting her eyes with a sly smile.

 

“Take these and then beg me to let you leave the team already.”

 

Half-joking, half-serious, he made his way to the training room.

 

Joo-ah glanced at the mana stones on the table, then pocketed them. She needed to secure whatever she could in this new life, with limited resources. Her eyes shifted back to the flower in the pot.

 

In the distance, faint vibrations from her teammates’ training resonated.

 

After a moment of staring at the flower, Joo-ah stood, taking the pot and leaving the VIP room. She headed to the elevator, and a cheerful notification appeared in mid-air.

 

[The Anonymous Constellation complains that his dear contractor is skipping training and regrets raising her poorly.]

 

Joo-ah muttered with a wry smile.

 

“When did you ever raise me? And I’m not skipping training—I’m just going to the garden.”

 

Her gaze fell to the wilted flower in the pot. The roots were rotting, entangled with the soil.

 

“Basic setup is essential before I can use any power.”

 

When the elevator reached the first floor, Joo-ah stepped outside, heading directly to the garden. She carefully took the flower out of the pot and placed it in a section of the garden. She discarded the old soil, replaced it with fresh earth, and replanted the flower.

 

“All done.”

 

Satisfied with the neatly arranged soil, Joo-ah smiled slightly and returned to the training facility. As she approached the elevator, she felt someone grab her from behind.

 

“Well, look who it is!”

 

Three women surrounded her, mocking familiarity in their tones.

 

“Our esteemed Seo Joo-ah, who used her father’s influence to secure a spot on an elite team.”

 

One of the women with bleached blonde hair threw an arm over Joo-ah’s shoulder and sneered.

 

“Getting a whole VIP room to yourself. Care to share some of that special privilege?”

 

The others laughed scornfully.

 

Joo-ah tried to assess the situation.

 

“I heard you attempted suicide, so I figured you’d be dead by now. But here you are, hanging out with elite teammates.”

 

The blonde snatched the pot from Joo-ah’s hand.

 

“Why are you moping around with a dead plant anyway?”

 

She dropped the pot to the floor, the sound echoing through the large hall.

 

“Oops, it slipped,” she said with a smile, nudging the pot with her foot as her friends laughed.

 

Joo-ah’s face remained expressionless as she looked at the flower on the ground.

 

“Why don’t you ask Daddy to get us a VIP suite too, hm?”

 

With a mocking gesture, the woman tapped Joo-ah’s cheek and began to turn away.

 

“Hold on.”

 

But Joo-ah seized her wrist firmly, making the woman wince as she turned back.

 

“After making a mess like this, you think you’re just going to walk away?”

 

Joo-ah took a step closer, her grip on the woman’s wrist tightening, a slight smile playing on her lips.