Vol 1 Chapter 24

"Really? I guess it's because my reflexes are decent."

"No, that really wasn't ordinary movement. Did you perhaps learn swordsmanship in reality?"

Thump.

For a moment, Kapros's fist clenched tightly, but hyung didn't notice. He knew hyung was asking out of simple curiosity without thinking, but the answer didn't come easily.

"Just... a little in the past."

Only after a long while was Kapros able to answer casually.

"I see..."

Hyung apparently hadn't asked the question consciously, as he nodded lightly and stood up.

"Then we should head back to town now."

"Ah, yes."

And so, after a week that had been like a storm, they returned to town.

As hyung grabbed Kapros's arm with his slow pace and walked ahead, his height, not much different from Kapros's, suddenly seemed taller, and Kapros felt his insides warming up as if he had just taken a spoonful of warm rice.

After that, Kapros began to challenge the even more complex 4th circle, while hyung, having his own business, went here and there, and they repeated hunting together for a few hours each day. In a way, it was just a daily routine game without much change, but his gradually relaxing mind felt only peaceful. Kapros became friends with the flower-selling girl as he wandered around town, and thanks to Kion-hyung, who strangely had wider connections with NPCs than users, he was also able to become acquainted with various NPCs.

The guys they had beaten up never showed their faces again, perhaps having really quit the game. Each day was comfortable, and they continued to enjoy their own Mist without caring how other users played the game. Kapros thought that was enough. However, around the time they started to feel it was becoming difficult to level up by hunting orcs, an incident occurred.

"Kar."

"Yes."

Kapros, who had been waiting for hyung in a corner of the square, was startled by hyung, who was much later than usual. Hyung had never been later than Kapros before. Moreover, it was the first time he had seen hyung with such a dark expression. With an uneasy feeling, Kapros opened his mouth.

"Did something happen?"

"Kar... I... I think I have to leave this city."

Hyung said with an indescribable expression.

"...Why?"

Kapros asked, not trying to hide his agitation.

"You probably know that my job is rare enough to be close to a hidden class."

He knew that. Until now, he hadn't seen any clerics in this city with the same pattern of clothing as hyung. Almost all were common healing god clerics.

"When I got this job, I received a quest."

Hyung's story that began like this went as follows:

"Ah, damn it. There's nothing that suits my personality at all."

Kion was grumbling as he walked the streets of Asgar. It had been two months since the announcement of THE MIST, which claimed to support perfect virtual reality, and he had been eagerly waiting. As a 15-year veteran VT-line gamer, the first things he thought he needed to handle quickly from the first day of opening, amidst the bustling crowd, were first, his job, and second, his weapon.

But the weapon shop was so crowded with people that he couldn't enter. He hadn't even considered being a mage who only uses magic from the back. Moreover, he had no intention of being a cleric, who was even weaker than a mage and had the annoying role of being responsible for party members' lives during hunts, and who found it difficult to do anything alone. He wasn't going to take on a life profession either...

"Damn it, I need to get a weapon first to do anything!"

After wandering around for hours, Kion, with rising anger and irritation, kicked a stone hard, which suddenly hit an old man passing by squarely on the forehead and bounced off.

"Ouch!"

"Gasp?!"

Kion quickly supported the old man who was staggering and sitting down, and led him to an empty alley to examine him, finding a small bump.

"Oh no... I'm sorry. I just..."

Despite his hot-tempered nature, Kion was infinitely weak towards the elderly and immediately bowed his head. The groaning old man barely stood up and laughed.

"Ugh... It's alright. As long as I'm not dead, it's fine. I'm not so weak as to die from something like this yet."

Kion looked at the old man anew. He was wearing loose clerical robes.

"Oh, you're a cleric?"

"That's right."

"But isn't cleric the weakest job?"

"Huh? Who says so?"

Unexpectedly, the old man rather opened his eyes wide, then laughed and asked back. Kion opened his mouth in puzzlement.

"Isn't it a fact that everyone knows? Aren't clerics just busy with the annoying responsibility of taking care of others, without the strength to protect themselves? Ah, of course, helping people is really great. It's not that I dislike clerics..."

Watching Kion's face as he hurriedly explained, the old man chuckled and held out his hand. Kion looked at the old man's outstretched hand with bewildered eyes.

"I'm a cleric too, but I feel the need to change your standard of what a cleric is. Here. Grab my hand and use as much strength as you can."

"What? But you might get hurt..."

"It doesn't matter. That won't happen at all, so use all your strength! Use every ounce of strength you have, even the strength you used to suckle milk. Come on, hurry."

Provoked by those words, Kion immediately grabbed the old man's hand as if shaking it and started to apply force as if to crush it.

His grip strength, which exceeded that of an average adult male, started weak at first, then a bit stronger as he saw the old man's smiling face, but even with that unchanging expression, he finally started to apply force while trembling...

"Hohohoho. Is this all?"

There wasn't even a shadow of pain on the old man's calm face. Then the old man said it was his turn playfully and started to apply force little by little. At first, it was just so-so, but soon it became so strong that it felt like Kion's hand bones would break.

"Ugh... urgh!"

"Ah, I meant to apply just a little force, but unconsciously... I'm sorry."

Even after the old man released his grip with an embarrassed expression, Kion's face was full of questions.

"Um... What is this...? Were you not a cleric?"

"I am indeed a cleric."

Seeing Kion's face tinged with bewilderment, the old man smiled.