Vol 4 Chapter 33

Feeling the weight of the forehead slightly bowing and leaning on his shoulder, Kapros unconsciously nodded quietly. At that moment, the body touching him moved away slightly, and as they faced each other, Je-hwan whispered, barely audible, unable to hide the slight flush in his eyes.

"Let me."

"..."

"Touch you."

The firm fingers on Kapros's back trembled slightly. Kapros couldn't remember clearly what answer he gave to that. He might not have answered at all. However, what followed was those lips that had already once, very briefly, collided with his. At the same time, it was also something completely different from what Kapros remembered.

"Ugh..."

As soon as he felt something wet forcefully parting his lips and entering, Kapros quickly turned his head to pull back, but a hand that had approached without him noticing was gently yet firmly holding the nape of his neck. Then, the tongue that swept the inside of his mouth began to intertwine with his own.

Unlike Kapros, who couldn't react properly due to slight bewilderment, the other's tongue rushed in urgently as if trying to suck everything in. Along with the sound of membranes colliding, Kapros felt liquid flowing down his chin, past his neck, and finally inside his shirt. As he vaguely thought that it was becoming difficult to breathe, another hand moved down his back to his waist, embracing him without hesitation and pressing down.

From the palm supporting his neck, he felt hot heat rising and sweat seeping out. It was a strange feeling, so realistic yet dreamy.

'Why am I not pushing him away?'

He suddenly had that thought, but,

"..."

The moment Kapros looked directly at Je-hwan's face with closed eyes, he couldn't help but loosen the fist he had clenched tightly to strike. What was so great about this that Je-hwan's face, with his dark eyebrows unmoving and eyes tightly shut, wore a desperate expression like a martyr prepared for everything?

***

For three days, Kapros and Un-o didn't leave the inn even when they logged into the game. They had decided it was better to spend three days here and wait for Kran, who would return to this last saved location, rather than going out recklessly. They also checked the videos that had been uploaded during that time, but most of them only vaguely captured the early stages of their fight with Caesar, similar to what Kapros had seen, and even attempts at close-ups were so shaky that almost none came out properly.

After those three days had passed, Kran finally logged in.

"Kran...!"

The moment Kapros stood up in surprise, Kran, appearing no different from usual, put his hands on his hips and laughed loudly.

"Hahahahaha, I'm finally back!"

At that bright, almost excessive laughter, Un-o, who had turned around with wide eyes like Kapros, muttered while holding his head.

"I guess that personality doesn't change even if he dies and comes back."

"...Mackerel, what did you say?"

"That's right."

"Gasp... Even Kap...!"

With Kran's overacting, pretending to be shocked, the frozen atmosphere seemed to melt away in an instant. It was then that Kapros could truly realize deep in his heart. That guy had now become someone indispensable to him in some ways.

"Ah... Come to think of it, high schooler, you shattered that ice after I froze, didn't you! You bastard, I was planning to give you a good one when I logged back in. Did you really want to chop me up that badly?"

"I was just finishing up in case of any unforeseen situations."

"Why, you..."

Listening to them bickering beside him, Kapros felt his mind settling instead. It was strange, but for him now, this situation had become everyday life.

"Honestly, you do lack skill. From the start, you keep using unnecessary strength."

"You think I didn't see your arrows getting cut like toothpicks by that guy!"

The topic of the fight had now moved on to their battle with Caesar. As Kapros quietly listened to them arguing about who got beaten worse by Caesar and who lacked more skill, the memory of that terrible day came back, making him very uncomfortable. Finally, he frowned and opened his mouth.

"Stop it."

"Okay."

"Yes."

As the two quickly shut their mouths, perceptively noticing Kapros's feelings of self-reproach and anger that still welled up when recalling how all three of them had been thoroughly beaten by Caesar alone that day, which was evident in his voice, Kapros continued with a sigh.

"Neither I nor you knew he would be that strong. We were bound to lose because we overestimated our abilities without knowing the opponent's skill. If things remain the same as now, we absolutely can't win. So from now on, I'm planning to put all my effort into solving the quest as much as possible. It ended like this this time, but we just need to not lose next time."

As Kapros closed his mouth, looking at the two whose expressions had darkened slightly at his words, silence fell in the room. As he was trying to organize his thoughts, still feeling a bit frustrated when thinking about that problem, Kran suddenly spoke up.

"...Um, so, Kap."

"Yeah."

Just as Kapros was about to raise his head to answer, Kran waved his hand.

"Ah, no. Never mind. Then should we leave here right away now? Towards Kizalkirstum."

"We should."

"Yeah, okay. Got it."

Since Kran often hesitated like this, Kapros didn't ask why he was acting that way.

They eventually decided to give up participating in the free-for-all tournament. Although the collapsed colosseum had been neatly restored, the incident had caused Bistale to be crowded with what seemed to be at least three times the usual number of people. They couldn't continue competing in a place with unnecessarily many eyes.

In Kapros's case, he still thought reaching the 4th round using only a sword was quite a good result, but it also made him acutely aware of how lacking he currently was.

Moreover...

'Now I don't even have a sword.'