Dang Eun-bi showed up at the training grounds again the next day and the day after that as well.
Each time, she brought snacks or drinks.
“This was given by our clan leader. There’s quite a lot, so I thought it’d be nice to share.”
“You must be cold, right? Have some tea.”
“Try one of these~”
Of course, Dang Eun-bi’s main focus was Dang Gyu-young and Seo Ye-in.
And now, it seemed to include the Hye-seong Group members as well.
She kept asking questions about the new city.
“Is there really a dragon nearby? The Meteor Dragon?”
“More precisely, a defensive city was established near its lair. The intention is to suppress it and prepare for any threats.”
Ahn Jeong-mi explained calmly.
However, since the alliance between the Hye-seong Group and the Meteor Dragon wasn’t publicly known, she seemed to avoid mentioning that part.
Dang Eun-bi’s eyes sparkled as she asked another question.
“Has it ever attacked?”
“Since the new city was established, there haven’t been any major conflicts. However, dragons and humans perceive time differently.”
“Ah…! So you’re saying we don’t know what might happen in the future?”
“Yes, we must always be prepared.”
Judging by the atmosphere around the Seo family and Uncle Underworld Dragon King, things would probably stay peaceful for decades.
Of course, no one could say what might happen after 200 years, so Ahn Jeong-mi wasn’t lying.
As if she felt someone’s gaze, Dang Eun-bi turned her head.
Then she stuck her tongue out at me.
She’s definitely got a grudge against me.
Even if the first impression was bad, seeing each other every day usually makes things soften at least a little.
But she didn’t seem like that at all.
It’s probably because of the poison.
More precisely, it was likely due to the humiliating experiences of repeatedly failing to poison me and instead ending up affected by her own poison.
That issue would need to be resolved for our relationship to change.
But it’s not like I can just let myself get poisoned.
Poison immunity couldn’t be turned on and off.
Even if it could, I wouldn’t consider it for a second.
So there was only one solution.
Make her give up on her own.
I’d just keep consuming whatever poison she gave me while feeding it back to her as well.
I looked at Dang Eun-bi again.
She’s been quiet for a few days…
But it felt like an intentional calm.
She’d probably make a move soon.
***
Bubble, bubble, bubble…
Inside the large cauldron, a suspicious liquid was bubbling.
Unlike the medicinal herbs she usually handled, it had a purple hue and occasionally even gave off a faint glow.
Watching it closely, Dang Eun-bi thought to herself,
At this point, I should assume poison barely works.
Kim Ho’s resistance was far higher than she had expected.
Even after adding a catalyst to her ambitious creation, the “truth-serum poison” had no effect whatsoever.
It’s not like he’s immune to all poisons… right?
No matter how she thought about it, that didn’t make sense.
They were only a couple of years apart. There was no way he had complete poison immunity.
Still, when making plans, you always had to consider the worst-case scenario.
If Kim Ho really had poison immunity…
…what could I even use?
Her options narrowed drastically.
Only a few extremely potent or highly unusual poisons would have even the slightest chance.
And most of those were lethal toxins that would seriously harm the target, which didn’t align with her goal.
As she was racking her brain over it, something suddenly crossed her mind.
A magic potion.
She had obtained it years ago from a wandering peddler near the Dang family.
At the time, she bought it thinking it might be useful for something, but after thinking it over, “potion-making” seemed completely outside her field.
On top of that, recalling what the peddler had said made her uneasy.
“Try adding it when you’re making something!”
“And what happens if I do?”
“I don’t know! It changes things randomly!”
“You’re selling something you don’t even understand?”
“Isn’t that the charm? They say life is a series of uncertainties!”
“…….”
“Just give it a try! If you don’t like it, I’ll refund you!”
And then the peddler vanished without a trace the very next day.
A refund was out of the question.
So the magic potion had been sitting in the corner of her inventory for years. But now her options were extremely limited.
It’s either a deadly poison… or this.
Since Dang Eun-bi had no intention of actually harming Kim Ho, she chose the latter.
The result was the bubbling liquid now in front of her.
A mixture of the catalyst “truth-serum poison” and the “random potion”.
Wouldn’t this actually work even better?
Poison immunity only applied to various types of “poisons”.
It might just be wordplay, but if this purple mixture counted as a “potion”, then it seemed entirely possible it could slip through that loophole.
Just then, a lightbulb seemed to go off over Dang Eun-bi’s head.
…Wait a second, if that’s the case—?
What if she added a “beneficial effect” and made it no longer a poison at all?
That would significantly increase the chances of success.
Rummaging through her inventory, Dang Eun-bi recalled something and pulled out a small wooden box.
Inside were golden fragments that had once been a small pill.
Gold… what was it called again?
It had been stashed away for so long that she couldn’t quite remember.
And since it had been broken into pieces, she couldn’t even check the item description.
After a moment of thought, she shrugged.
The name doesn’t matter.
What mattered was that this “gold-something pill” was a rare elixir and that it provided beneficial effects.
…Still, it feels like a waste to use it on him.
But it was better than having no effect at all.
If it worked even a little, that would count as her victory.
It would also help her save face in front of the head of the medical hall and the council of elders who were watching the situation.
Right, this is an investment.
Casting aside her hesitation, Dang Eun-bi poured the golden fragments from the box into the cauldron.
Ssshhhhhh—
At once, steam rose violently, and the purple liquid gradually took on a golden hue like an elixir.
The amount shrank rapidly, leaving only a few spoonfuls at the bottom.
As she transferred it into another container, Dang Eun-bi unconsciously swallowed.
“…Gulp.”
The faint golden glow and aroma seemed to beckon her.
It was tempting enough to make her want to drink it right away.
With this much, wouldn’t a teaspoon or even just a drop be fine?
But she quickly shook her head.
I have to hold back.
With potions, even a slight reduction in quantity could cut the effectiveness in half.
She couldn’t afford to ruin all the effort she had put in.
“…Gulp.”
Swallowing once more, Dang Eun-bi tucked the golden potion into her clothes.
Then she clenched her fist, her eyes gleaming.
With this, it’ll definitely…!
***
Whoooooosh—
A sudden gust of wind struck Seo Ye-in.
At the same time her body was lifted into the air, magic BB pellets shot in from all directions.
Ping-ping-ping-ping-ping-ping-ping,
All four employees of Hye-seong Group fired in rapid succession, unleashing dozens of shots.
Even so, her gray eyes remained calmly sunken.
“…….”
Soon, as if stepping on invisible footholds, Seo Ye-in moved her legs repeatedly.
Twisting her body several times midair, she slipped past the barrage.
The moment she landed lightly, a notification message appeared.
[Side Quest – Sailboat] (Complete)
▷Objective: Move along the flow and evade (1,000/1,000)
▷Getting hit deducts 20 counts
▷Equipment disabled: Immortal Kim Ho Kim Ho Pot
▷Random strong gust occur
With an expressionless face yet a proud tone, Seo Ye-in spoke to Kim Ho.
“……Got them all.”
“Nice work. Let’s see what reward you got.”
“Mhmm.”
▷Reward: [Sailboat], Movement-type skill/trait rank greatly increased
[You have acquired ‘Sailboat (F+)’.]
[The rank of ‘Sailboat’ has increased. (F+ → C+)]
The moment she learned it, it jumped three ranks to C+ rank.
For reference, the bonus came from [Cloud Step].
On top of that, even though the rank didn’t increase immediately, it must have greatly helped with leveling [Feather Step] as well.
Kim Ho grinned and said,
“See? Since you went the hard way, it went up a lot.”
“……True.”
Though she wasn’t fond of the process, the result was good, so Seo Ye-in slowly nodded.
Soon, Kim Ho strode closer.
The way he casually pulled out the “red book” felt extremely ominous.
“Shall we try challenge hardship difficulty now?”
“…….”
Seo Ye-in quietly turned her body and gazed up at the sky.
Judging by the dark clouds slowly gathering, it looked like snow would fall before long.
However, the tactic of pretending not to notice might work somewhat on Ahn Jeong-mi, but it had no effect at all on Kim Ho.
Smiling brightly, he kept pressing her.
“You said you’d do your best, right?”
“…….”
“You promised, didn’t you?”
At that moment, what caught Seo Ye-in’s eye while she kept trying to avoid the topic was the four members of Hye-seong Group watching their back-and-forth with interest.
If even the butler joined in, she would inevitably be subjected to the challenge hardship.
Or be dragged off to Hye-seong New City.
So Seo Ye-in quietly grabbed the sleeve of Kim Ho’s clothes.
“……Go easy on me.”
Kim Ho’s eyes flickered with interest at the unexpected request.
“Go easy on you? Specifically how?”
“Need rest.”
“You mean you’ll do it after taking a short break?”
“That’s what I mean.”
“How long?”
“……Two days?”
She would have preferred to suggest a month, but from experience, she knew that wouldn’t work on Kim Ho, so she realistically proposed two days.
He thought for a moment, then nodded.
“Alright. But instead of completely resting for two days, you’ll continue training [Sailboat]. How does that sound?”
“Sounds good.”
“Hold on, I’ll talk with the butler for a moment.”
It seemed he was going to discuss how to structure the training.
As Seo Ye-in, left alone, blankly looked around—
“Senior~”
Dang Eun-bi approached her warmly, appearing out of nowhere.
Unlike usual, she held only a single glass of juice instead of a tray.
“You must be tired from training, so please have this.”
“……Thank you.”
Seo Ye-in accepted the glass and slowly tilted it.
By the time she had drunk about a quarter of the juice, Dang Eun-bi, like a practiced mage, produced another glass.
Then, in an apologetic tone, she continued.
“This one is for senior Kim Ho, but I have to rush off. I feel bad interrupting while you’re talking… Could you pass it to him for me?”
“Okay.”
“Thank you! Good luck with your training!”
The moment she handed over the juice, Dang Eun-bi hurried off as if fleeing the scene.
Watching her leave, Seo Ye-in suddenly tilted her head, sensing something off.
“……?”
The source of the odd feeling seemed to be the juice she had just received.
It looked somehow different from the one she had been drinking.
It even seemed to have a faint golden tint….
Her gray eyes sparkled with curiosity.
“……Challenge.”
***
After finishing my discussion with Ahn Jeong-mi about the training,
I turned my head and saw Seo Ye-in trudging toward me.
She held a half-finished glass of juice in each hand.
Soon, she held one of them out to me.
“Dang Eun-bi said to pass this to you.”
“Thanks. But why is it only half left?”
“I drank some on the way.”
“You left yours alone and drank this one?”
“I had a feeling something would be different.”
Now that I thought about it, something did seem different.
After looking at Seo Ye-in for a few seconds, I said,
“You… got more talkative?”
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