GBAS 16

With a deep sigh, Hyunwoo’s eyes shot open. Staring up at the gray sky, Hyunwoo slowly replayed the memories of that day one by one.

First, the most vivid memory was of staring intently at Baek Jooin even while gulping down alcohol that was sloshing right under his nose. After that, a brief blackout.

The next memory was of himself lying on the floor of a dimly lit room, and Baek Jooin sitting on the edge of the bed with his arms crossed. He even remembered vividly that Jooin was wearing a white t-shirt and flowing black pants.

He thought he had said something to Baek Jooin while lying down, but he couldn’t remember the details. He only remembered his own lips moving nonstop, and Baek Jooin occasionally nodding. As for Baek Jooin’s expression while listening to his story… he seemed a little fed up. Ah, he also thought he remembered being nagged at for being too loud.

Following that, a memory of getting on the bed and sitting with his back against the wall, and another of going to the bathroom once to empty his stomach, surfaced in Hyunwoo’s mind. Then, a brief image of himself staring intently at the back of Jooin, who was lying with his back turned, appeared and disappeared.

“Heh.”

A hollow laugh escaped him.

…No way.

He felt a lust for Baek Jooin, who was tucked tightly under a blanket, a feeling he had never experienced before in his life? It didn’t make sense.

His memory must be distorted. He wasn’t even sure if the scenes he had recalled so far were in the correct order. No. It couldn’t be.

“It has to be a no. Please. Jeon Hyunwoo, you crazy bastard.”

Even while thinking it couldn’t be true, Hyunwoo’s mind was unknowingly assuming the worst-case scenario.

What if it’s real? What if I raped a sleeping person? How have I lived my life until now. If mom and dad see me as a beast, what the fuck do I do. What if the police suddenly burst in and ask if I did such a thing, what should I say. If the whole building comes out because of the knocking, but I don’t even remember it well… Right, if I tell the police I don’t remember, will they reduce my sentence? Or will I be dragged by the collar into a room with a single light and get my head bashed with a file while they say, what do you mean you don’t remember.

Should I say I was drunk? The bastards on the news say it was an impulsive accident due to alcohol after they got wasted. Since I was drunk too… wait, sentence? What if, just what if, I go to jail, what about my studio apartment. This is driving me crazy. No, before that, what do I say to the judge. I’ve only seen it in legal dramas, this would be for real. Ah, ahhh! Right. A lawyer, if I hire a lawyer… But wait, if it really happened, is it right to appeal? Even for me, that’s a bastard who deserves to be punished. No. A settlement, if I reach a settlement… But Baek Jooin said it was okay. Then there’s no problem, right…

“Wow, Jeon Hyunwoo. You were a real piece of trash just now.”

Hyunwoo shook his head and clapped for his oh-so-great self. Something in his hand felt bothersome, but he couldn’t be bothered to check what it was. A storm of thoughts had left him exhausted.

Leaning his body against the pole of a drying rack and sighing, Hyunwoo suddenly felt something strange and opened his nearly closed eyes again.

“Huh, what’s this.”

Why am I here?

Behind the muttering Hyunwoo, a wolf snorted, making its presence known.

It was Frost who had brought Hyunwoo, who had been lying in a snowfield, to this place. After finishing a pleasant hunt for a change and returning, for some reason his partner was stretched out as if dead with his eyes wide open.

Whine.

He nudged him with his muzzle and shook him with his front paws, but there was no sign of him waking up, and Frost was wondering what to do.

Growl-!

Feeling hungry, Frost had no choice but to gently bite his partner’s torso and carry him to the village he always visited when he came here. The human, who had been lying limp with unfocused eyes, shot up from his spot as soon as he saw the drying rack and began to prepare meat from the small kitchenette next to it, hanging it one by one on the rack.

The wolf’s eyes, full of curiosity, followed Hyunwoo’s movements back and forth. Satisfied with the machine-like movements, Frost licked his lips contentedly and curled up his body.

He was hungry now, but if he waited patiently, his partner would surely give him twice the meat. Thus, the wolf had decided to enjoy a short nap until the human came to his senses on his own.

“Aren’t you hungry?”

At his partner’s voice, Frost slowly opened his eyes, got up, and rubbed his wet nose against his face. Happy to see you, happy to see you. A tail the size of a landscape shrub wagged gently.

Oof, ooph.

His face, hit by the tail as the wolf spun around him affectionately, tingled. Taking out three pieces of beef jerky from his pocket, Hyunwoo placed them a little distance away and gestured with his chin.

At the signal that it was okay to eat, the wolf greedily opened its mouth and tore and swallowed the pieces of meat. Quietly watching the large beef jerky disappear in the blink of an eye, Hyunwoo made a ts-ts sound with his mouth and asked.

“Want more?”

Woof!

As soon as he finished speaking, the wolf threw its head back as if to say yes.

When he took out one flat piece of beef jerky and a dog chew the thickness of a lamppost from his food-only inventory, Frost’s eyes sparkled.

After giving both the food and the snack to the bright-eyed creature, Hyunwoo turned around, took out the food ingredients he had put in his inventory for a while, and started hanging them one by one on the drying rack again. Behind him, the sound of the wolf’s munching, crunch, crrrunch, could be heard.

It was then.

[Guild] JuJuGeneralAssembly : Ah this is so fucking hard

The party, which had added Baek Jooin in his place, had already failed twice and was on their third try. And it seemed this attempt had also failed.

[Guild] BlueSticker : I’m sorryㅠㅠㅠㅠ

[Guild] JuJuGeneralAssembly : No no, it’s not you, the whole thing was a problem

[Guild] Jinyoung-kun : That’s right!

‘Is it that hard?’

Hyunwoo continued what he was doing and watched the chat window.

[Guild] FlatDumpling : Oh you’re on

[Guild] FlatDumpling : So did you see the boss?

[Guild] NoRegretKeepGoing : Nope ㅠ

[Guild] JuJuGeneralAssembly : What boss, we couldn’t even get past floor 20

Couldn’t even get past floor 20? Focused on the conversation, Hyunwoo’s hands gradually slowed down.

[Guild] JuJuGeneralAssembly : All-time legend, no-style incident;;

[Guild] JuJuGeneralAssembly : Still, it’s a relief that the die-hards pop up every time^^

[Guild] Camellia : Should we regroup and try again?

[Guild] JuJuGeneralAssembly : OK let’s go till we make it

[Guild] WaterIsSelfServe : Hey guys~

[Guild] WaterIsSelfServe : I just heard about that too, you can’t use items you brought from outsideㅇ,ㅇ??

[Guild] Jinyoung-kun : Oh Aqua-nim hi hi

[Guild] WaterIsSelfServe : Hiii ><

[Guild] NoRegretKeepGoing : yyyy that’s right

[Guild] JuJuGeneralAssembly : Fucking hell, those persistent bastards

[Guild] JuJuGeneralAssembly : The fact that they didn’t mention this is what’s so fucking infuriating

“What?”

You can’t use items brought from outside. Then what are you supposed to do? As he was wondering, the chat continued.

[Guild] BlackKitty2 : Huh

[Guild] FlatDumpling : Then what do we do?

[Guild] NoRegretKeepGoing : You can only use items you get from killing mobs or opening chests

[Guild] NoRegretKeepGoing : The drop rate is higher than other places though

[Guild] JuJuGeneralAssembly : But now those are just shitty miscellaneous potions;

[Guild] JuJuGeneralAssembly : lol

[Guild] WaterIsSelfServe : Hmmm

[Guild] WaterIsSelfServe : H-h-have you guys tried crafting inside?

[Guild] NoRegretKeepGoing : ???

[Guild] NoRegretKeepGoing : Oh?

“Oh.”

That was a plausible idea.