Vol 4 Chapter 36

Kran opened his mouth heavily.

"But you know... it seems hyung has already finished all the quests."

"Kion-hyung?"

As Kapros widened his eyes in surprise, Kran briefly raised his head with a "hah" and then quickly waved his hand, showing an awkward smile.

"Oh, oh, but hyung didn't exactly say that. It's just my guess. Even if you happen to meet hyung later, don't ever tell him I said this. I think I might get beaten to death..."

While Kran was constantly making excuses and fidgeting, Kapros was clenching his fist so tightly it might break, unable to pay attention to Kran's behavior due to the shock. Although Kran said it was 'just a guess', Kapros had seen many times that Kran's guesses in these matters were almost as good as facts.

'How could this be... Already...'

There was a difference of a few months between when Kion-hyung and Kapros received their quests. But he hadn't expected the time to complete the quests would be this far apart.

'What have I been doing all this time?'

Although Kapros had thought he hadn't been lazy all this time, after hearing Kran's words, anxiety began to rear its head from the bottom of his heart.

Out of eight quests, he had only solved three. This was his current position. If Kion-hyung had finished all the quests, it meant that there could be plenty of others who had already finished their quests or were in the final stages, besides Kion-hyung. As Kapros tried to push away the thoughts that were causing impatience and looked ahead again, he realized that he wasn't the only one thinking this way.

"To think there are already people who have finished..."

Un-o muttered, furrowing his chronically frowning brow even more.

"...I was also left with about three quests, but I didn't expect others to finish this quickly. It's surprising."

"Hey, man... That's just bragging in front of me, so stop it."

As Kran grumbled in distress, Kapros smirked, thinking it had been a while since he felt the same as Kran.

"Then there's no choice."

After clearly reaching a conclusion, Kapros spoke with a lightened mind, looking back at the two, and their gazes focused on him.

"We just have to finish quickly too."

"Yes."

"...Yeah. We have to."

Un-o and Kran nodded their heads in agreement, showing determined expressions.

Although it was inevitable to feel disappointed, they could still see each other often elsewhere even if they didn't enjoy the game together. The resolution to never experience such a humiliating defeat as last time was more important than the immediate regret. For Kapros, who had already met Caesar three times and lost all three times, this had become an absolute proposition.

During the three days when Kran couldn't log in, Kapros hadn't just been playing around. He had been reviewing a lot of information and thinking over and over about how he could become stronger in the future. Probably no one likes being weighed down by defeat. But if it provides an opportunity to rise one step higher, perhaps one should be grateful to the one who caused the defeat.

The words of parting that initially chilled his heart could, from a different perspective, be words that offered an opportunity to become stronger. Isn't it possible that if one can just slightly change their way of thinking, trials are no longer trials, and suffering is no longer suffering?

'Ah...!'

"Hyung."

For a moment, Kapros felt something flash through his mind, but before he could delve into it more deeply, his thoughts were interrupted by a voice calling him. Looking towards the caller, he saw Un-o sighing with furrowed brows.

"I'm worried. You often get lost in your thoughts like that..."

"What?"

Momentarily dumbfounded by the unexpected words, Kapros asked back, and Kran agreed, laughing while holding his stomach.

"Puhahaha! Really! Even in this situation, once you start thinking about something, you don't even look at the people next to you. I'm worried about what would happen if you were hunting alone like this."

"..."

What were they talking about? As Kapros glared at them intently, they immediately shut their mouths. He understood that they were saying this out of concern for him, but right now he just wanted to act as usual. Probably they felt the same way. Thinking that all three of them were hopeless guys, Kapros pointed towards the inner part of the city.

"Even if you said you're leaving, you're not going right away, right? I have something I want to give you, so follow me."

"...Huh?"

"Yes."

Both seemed surprised by his unexpected words, but while Kran stood blankly, Un-o quickly composed himself and answered clearly before following as Kapros unhesitatingly moved towards the inner city where hardly any people could be seen. As expected, this guy would be the one to gain something extra.

"What are you doing?"

"Uh... No... I was wondering if what I just heard was real."

As Un-o's voice was heard clicking his tongue at Kran behind them, Kran answered as if dazed.

"If it feels like a dream, I could turn you into a porcupine."

"...Hey, high schooler. I've been thinking about this, but how come you, still a student, have no dreams or hopes?"

"Where's the time to care about things like dreams and hopes?"

"Wow... In some ways, you're an even gloomier guy than Kap."

"...Kran."

As Kapros, who was walking ahead, turned around, he saw Kran flinch greatly. He could have invisibly hit him by raising magic in his palm for a moment, but Kapros just turned back and started walking again. He didn't feel like hitting someone who was about to leave.

Compared to other cities, there weren't many street vendors, and the number of people walking around was ridiculously small compared to the wide streets. Kizalkirstum was mostly made up of buildings built with achromatic stones. Perhaps because of this, both the streets and buildings felt well-organized like modern Western buildings, but it was inevitable that it felt even more desolate as a result. Rather than looking around, Kapros moved his feet while only looking at the signs of the lined-up shops, and the sounds of the two following him were heard in step.

The two might think that Kapros had suddenly said he 'had something to give', but that wasn't really the case. In Kran's case, Kapros had been thinking about buying this for him while traveling together, especially more so recently. As for Un-o, there was something noticeable about him during the last fight, and Kapros thought this was a good opportunity to address it.