That Face Is the Problem - Chapter 8.1
Jae-gyeong took a deep breath and walked toward the VR machine. Hee-ro and Jeong-eon were still inside the changing room together, and it seemed Ri-na had not arrived for work yet.
“Hello…”
Jae-gyeong greeted in a voice barely audible, standing behind Ye-jin.
“Wow, Hunter Jae-gyeong! The team uniform suits you so well! You look like a model! You look amazing!”
Ye-jin clapped her hands and complimented him. Da-sol did not seem to care whether Ye-jin clapped or cheered, and he did not even look back at Jae-gyeong.
“Thank you…”
Though it was probably just a polite response, Jae-gyeong felt genuinely grateful to Ye-jin. If she had not spoken to him, he would have been completely at a loss in this awkward situation.
Kim Ye-jin also wanted to say that the team uniform looked good on her, but her timid personality prevented her from speaking. She swallowed her compliment and sent as kind a look as possible toward Ye-jin. Whether Ye-jin understood it was uncertain.
At that moment, Ri-na came rushing noisily into the mock training room.
“Ah! Sorry, sorry! I overslept!”
She seemed to have worn her combat uniform from home and immediately joined the group.
“I woke up three minutes ago and thought I was going to die… sorry for being late!”
“Three minutes? Did you at least brush your teeth and wash your face?”
“Eh, two minutes is enough!”
While Ri-na and Ye-jin were talking, Jae-gyeong widened his eyes. Did that mean she got here in just one minute? Did she live in this building? As he pondered, Ri-na laughed loudly and explained.
“My house is next door. I ran across the rooftop to get here. Ah, your expression is hilarious. Were you thinking how I got here so fast? Haha.”
Jae-gyeong touched his cheek. People often told him that his expressions easily showed what he was thinking, but was it really that obvious?
“Ah… haha…”
Jae-gyeong laughed awkwardly.
Of course, Ri-na was an offensive-type hunter as well. It made him realize anew the physical abilities of other hunters.
Jae-gyeong’s skill was unusual, and he did not like using his superior physical abilities outside of dungeons. He always walked carefully and slowly, acting cautiously so as not to startle others. Since he was tall and gave off a gloomy impression, people were often surprised when he approached.
“Hunter Jae-gyeong does not run outside much, right?”
Ye-jin started a small talk on that topic. Jae-gyeong nodded, and Ri-na scanned him from head to toe.
“Well, since the new tanker is so tall, if you ran around, civilians would be scared. Even your jumps would go thump, thump.”
Ri-na purposely maintained a light weight and learned ballet to refine her movements.
“Impressive…”
Though younger than Jae-gyeong, Ri-na was continuously developing her abilities as a hunter. Perhaps her playful internet-style speech and slightly rude attitude were defensive walls to make others underestimate her.
‘I also need to stop staying still just because I feel awkward and embarrassed…’
Jae-gyeong thought to himself, impressed. No matter how old one got, it was hard to change one’s natural personality. People like Ye-jin or Ri-na were kind enough to approach him, so he had never needed to force himself to fit in with the team. He also naturally preferred being alone.
However, entering a dungeon together meant sharing responsibility for each other’s survival. Therefore, it was good for the team to be close and understand one another. To avoid losing someone, they had to interact closely regardless of personal feelings.
The best example of teamwork’s importance was right next to Jae-gyeong.
Jeong-eon. He had once been isolated to the point of exploitation in his previous guild while clearing dungeons and had even been declared dead. Recently, the basic hunter education course cited Jeong-eon’s case as a representative example of the dangers of poor teamwork.
“Yeah… I stomp around because I am heavy…”
Jae-gyeong mustered the courage to respond. However, it was not a particularly impressive answer, so Ri-na and Ye-jin did not comment further and continued their conversation.
“….”
Jae-gyeong looked sullenly at the floor. Suddenly, he felt a piercing gaze from beside him. Without thinking, he turned toward the source and met eyes like cherry blossoms on a gentle spring day.
“Uh…!”
Jae-kyung made a stupid sound without realizing it. Da-sol was looking at him. He was expressionless, but he was definitely looking at Jae-gyeong.
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