Min Ha-yeon was flustered by the unexpected appearance of someone.
└Stalker!!
└Why is he here?
The chat became chaotic due to Suho's sudden appearance.
Min Ha-yeon maintained her composure and asked him.
"What's the matter?"
"Ah, I forgot to give you one earlier because I was in a hurry."
"Ah…."
Min Ha-yeon received another Beginner's Artemis Potion from Suho.
She accepted it gratefully but was also puzzled.
"Thank you for giving it to me… but you could've given it to me tomorrow. Why…."
"Ah…."
Suho scratched his head and replied.
"I didn't want to cause any misunderstandings. I'd feel bad if you and your boyfriend got into an argument because of me."
"Ah…."
└LOL, this is gold.
└He's stalking because she has a boyfriend LOL.
└Wow, this is seriously amazing.
Among the long chat messages, one caught Min Ha-yeon's eye.
└Did he just give away 55,000 points for free? That's insane…
When Min Ha-yeon saw that message, she covered her mouth in shock.
'…Oh my god.'
She had only heard about the 5,000 points earlier and hadn't thought to add it up.
But when she realized the total value of the potions she had received, she was momentarily stunned.
The points she had earned from hunting all day were a mere 2,500 points.
Meanwhile, Suho, in just one day, had created potions worth 55,000 points by practicing alchemy in his room.
Min Ha-yeon had heard a lot about alchemists in the chat.
But she hadn't paid much attention to it.
She thought that everyone who worked hard would be rewarded accordingly.
But from the start, Suho was on a completely different level.
└Hey, we should really recruit him.
└Yeah, even though alchemists are useful, this is on another level.
└He's the real deal.
└Even if he were a goblin, we'd have to recruit him.
└You're crazy LOL.
Min Ha-yeon was slowly starting to grasp the situation.
The man standing in front of her was no ordinary person…
She pondered internally.
'…He's a good person. He's even considerate… It would definitely be helpful to get closer to him.'
While she was making up her mind to get closer to Suho, he smiled softly and said.
"Well, I'll be going now."
"Uh… wait."
"Yes?"
Min Ha-yeon stopped him as he was about to leave and said.
"Um… if it's okay with you, would you like to party together tomorrow?"
"…Huh?"
Suho tilted his head, confused by her words.
It was strange since they were already in a party together.
But Min Ha-yeon quickly clarified.
"…Just the two of us."
***
Min Ha-yeon finished her shower, put on her pajamas, and lay down gently on her bed.
"Sigh… They said life would be tough once we leave this place, right?"
There was a piece of information her channel's gods had shared.
Once they left Zephyrum Village, they wouldn't even dream of living such a luxurious life.
Luxurious facilities existed, but with the points they were earning now, it would be impossible, and even surviving day-to-day would be a struggle…
Her viewers were already urging her to save points while she still could.
But the usually lively chat in Min Ha-yeon's channel was now quiet.
Min Ha-yeon chuckled as she looked at the chat.
"…It's awkward when it's this quiet."
It wasn't that they weren't chatting. They couldn't.
Min Ha-yeon always blocked her channel's transmission as soon as she entered her room.
Unlike men, she was too reluctant to show her private life as a woman.
She rolled around on her bed, where no one could see her, and thought about the man from earlier.
Min Ha-yeon had proposed partying with Suho and received a positive response from him.
However, Suho expressed concern about Han Yeo-reum.
"I'm fine with it, but… your boyfriend…"
"It's okay. Honestly, we're not going to die here anymore. It's better to separate for the future."
"Alright."
As Min Ha-yeon said, it was unlikely that the summoned individuals, now on their fourth day, would die anywhere.
Zephyrum wasn't a place where you could easily die from monster attacks.
"…Yeo-reum might be unreliable, but the other girls will take care of him. I should worry about myself first."
Suho said he would talk to Han Yeo-reum tomorrow at noon and head to the opposite side of the village.
Han Yeo-reum's party always hunted in the eastern fields.
The place the two of them had agreed to go to tomorrow was the western field.
Compared to the east, the forest was denser, making it harder to secure visibility, but the level of monsters was the same.
The important thing here was that Min Ha-yeon would sneak away.
Suho could simply explain the situation and temporarily leave the party, but it wasn't as easy for Min Ha-yeon.
So, she planned to feign illness tomorrow to take a break.
"He'll believe me…. Well, even if he doesn't, what can he do?"
Whether he believed her or not, it didn't matter what Han Yeo-reum said.
Min Ha-yeon thought it was more important to test the efficiency of partying with Suho first.
"And if the efficiency isn't as good as expected… I'll just be satisfied with becoming friends and return to Yeo-reum's party."
She didn't plan to abandon Suho or anything.
The fact that the alchemist profession was impressive was already ingrained in her mind, and she thought that just becoming friends would be helpful enough.
"Well… should I sleep?"
She turned off the lights and lay down to sleep.
As her eyes slowly closed, a thought crossed her mind.
'…Thinking about other things… makes me feel better….'
Min Ha-yeon was able to forget about Han Yeo-reum's earlier actions and go to sleep.
***
After accepting Min Ha-yeon's party proposal, I headed straight to the inn.
As soon as I entered my room, I lay down on the bed and stared blankly at the ceiling.
"This is amazing…"
[It's a great harvest. But I'm worried about how things will change as the rounds progress.]
As Armonia said, this kind of thing only happens if Han Yeo-reum keeps acting like a jerk.
Well, I'll have to solve it before that…
While Armonia and I were reacting positively, there was someone who wasn't happy…
└Guardian of the Gay-Like Dick: Ah, cancel this mission! You're trying to win her over with points!!
"Hey, I'm not trying to win her over with points. Please refrain from making comments that could cause misunderstandings~"
The GGLD had been spamming the chat, asking to cancel the mission.
I explained the situation properly to reassure him.
"Think about it. Does partying with someone mean you're trying to win them over? We've just gotten closer, so don't overreact…"
└Guardian of the Gay-Like Dick: …But you used points.
He seemed anxious.
He was desperately trying to protect the 100,000 points he might lose.
"No! What were the conditions again?"
└Guardian of the Gay-Like Dick: …I said you can't use points to win over girls.
"Ah, your memory isn't great…. You didn't say you can't use points, you said you can't buy girls with points."
The GGLD had clearly said that you can't 'buy' girls with points.
I had definitely used points, but it was more of a friendly gesture.
It wasn't like I was buying her in the first place.
└Guardian of the Gay-Like Dick: …That's the same thing.
"Hey, aren't you the one who participated in the Twilight War? Why are you being so timid?"
└Guardian of the Gay-Like Dick: …Just in case, can you lower it a bit….
A constellation asking to reduce the mission reward?
└Guardian of the Gay-Like Dick: If I lose this, I won't even be able to watch the channel…. Your channel will lose all its viewers….
"Huh? Does it cost points to watch the channel?"
└Guardian of the Gay-Like Dick: Yeah, it costs a bit.
"…Alright."
└Guardian of the Gay-Like Dick: Really? For real?!!!!
"How much should I lower it?"
I gave GGLD a sense of unease, like a child bargaining for fewer spankings.
GGLD didn't chat for a while, seemingly deep in thought, then wrote a sentence.
└Guardian of the Gay-Like Dick: …10,000 points… please.
…It was reduced to 1/10 in an instant.
And he even added honorifics….
"Sigh… Alright."
└Guardian of the Gay-Like Dick: Oooohhhh!! Really? For real?
"But how do we do it?"
└Guardian of the Gay-Like Dick: Wait!! I'll handle it!!
The chat was quiet for a while, then suddenly a fairy popped into the room.
The fairy looked annoyed, its shoulders slumped as it floated around.
"Sigh… Can't we do this tomorrow?"
└Guardian of the Gay-Like Dick: Do it quickly before you change your mind!!
"Sigh…"
The fairy let out a deep sigh in a childlike voice, and the mission change details appeared in the chat.
"Well, I'm off… What's the point of doing this… Sigh…"
The fairy nodded its head, let out a deep sigh, said one last thing, and then disappeared.
"Wow, that was fast."
└Guardian of the Gay-Like Dick: Wow, I can't believe you actually did it…
"So, give me good advice when I need it."
└Guardian of the Gay-Like Dick: Sure, sure! Loyalty! Loyalty!
I chuckled and flopped down on the bed.
But Armonia raised a question as she watched me.
[Guardian, is there really a need for that? It'll be meaningless once you regress.]
'Well… that's true…'
I laughed as I looked at the chat.
'I'm a bit weak to kindness. If someone helps me, it's hard to be completely cold to them.'
[…I understand.]
GGLD was a bit unique, but he was very helpful.
I liked the fact that he shared information and had interesting insights.
I closed my eyes and confidently declared.
'This time, I'm going to break through the regression no matter what. So I need to do even better.'
[….]
Armonia seemed to like my answer and replied in a soft voice.
[That's a wise decision. Sleep well.]
'Yeah, I'll have to watch the footage again tomorrow.'
I ended the communication and went to sleep.
***
I went to the eastern exit of the village to meet the party members and explained the situation.
Of course, I made up the story.
"I used a lot of mana yesterday, so I'm not feeling well today. I think it'll be tough for me."
"…Who do you think is running around like this, perfectly healthy?"
As expected, Han Yeo-reum didn't seem willing to let me go.
If he didn't let me go, so what? If I didn't go, that was that.
But I didn't plan to confront him head-on.
He was a regressor.
I absolutely had to avoid clashing with him now.
"I'm sorry. If I go like this, even if I get drops or materials, I won't be able to make potions. I might even end up making potions with side effects."
"…."
Han Yeo-reum gritted his teeth and walked past me toward the village.
"Let's go! We don't need that alchemist. Let's just buy some potions."
"Yeah, sure."
"We can just buy a lot of potions and be done with it."
The three women who had been intimate with Han Yeo-reum started chatting casually and headed toward the potion shop, leaving me behind.
And Min Ha-yeon wasn't among them.
Since she had proposed partying with me, she must have made some excuse to slip away.
I headed toward the western exit, taking a detour around the outskirts of the village to avoid running into Han Yeo-reum's party.
There, Min Ha-yeon stood, her brown hair fluttering as she admired the forest scenery.
I approached her and greeted her.
"Hello."
"Ah! Hello."
After exchanging greetings, Min Ha-yeon and I planned how to proceed with today's hunt.
Originally, even though Min Ha-yeon was good with a bow, she said there were many concerns about hunting alone.
"Even though I can shoot a bow, I'm not good at moving around."
"Ah… Well, archery doesn't require much movement in the first place."
She said that even though she was good at shooting, moving while shooting was still unfamiliar to her.
"But with this potion…"
She took out a Beginner's Artemis Potion from her inventory.
After carefully examining its effects, she said to me.
"With this potion, I think we can take down the monsters we're facing in one or two shots."
"…That's really amazing. I just made it for practice."
"For practice…."
"…?"
"Ah! It's nothing. Let's take it slow at first."
Min Ha-yeon took the lead and guided me into the forest.
She looked like an elf guiding someone through the woods.
And so, Min Ha-yeon and I began our first date?
***
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