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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: What You Hate But Still Search For
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Sometimes, to remember something for a long time and never forget it,
some people compulsively seek out things related to it.
Even if they intensely dislike those things.
Kang Dohee also had two such items.
Her role model, the Parandis Guild Leader.
Things she started looking for because she didn't want to forget that person, because she wanted to be like them.
Kang Dohee's personal story depicts her journey of breaking free from the shadows of her past
by completely severing ties with these two things, and standing tall as herself.
Naturally, one of them was cigarettes.
Because the Parandis Guild Leader was a heavy smoker who always had a cigarette in her mouth, Kang Dohee started smoking to imitate her.
'Well, in the case of cigarettes, I initially hated them, but now they've become my only hobby, so I've actually come to enjoy them.'
As for quitting smoking, she only succeeds in the very last part of her personal story,
so rashly intervening now would likely only increase her resentment.
'So, cigarettes are a pass for now. But, the other one, I think I can tackle that one right now.'
I wasn't trying to make her completely abandon it right away.
But I wanted to at least erase that utterly pained expression she made when looking for it.
To find what I was looking for, I brought Kang Dohee to the convenience store attached to the dormitory.
Perhaps she hadn't expected the place I brought her to, for a reward, to be a convenience store, as Kang Dohee wore a bewildered expression.
"What, are you disappointed it's not something really expensive?"
I chuckled and said.
She shook her head, and her face soon relaxed.
"No, I actually prefer it."
The convenience store was a somewhat positive place for Kang Dohee. For someone who disliked bothersome things, there was no place more convenient than this.
"Let's go in."
I led her, opened the convenience store door, and strode confidently to the very back.
And the place we arrived at was right in front of the beverage refrigerator.
There, I scanned the shelves where canned drinks were neatly arranged.
"Hmm, it should definitely be somewhere around here…"
My eyes gleamed in a corner.
"Ah, found it."
What I was looking for was the Guild Leader's oddly favored drink.
A canned drink with light green leaves printed on it.
'Sol's Eye'
It was a pine needle flavored drink that severely divided opinions.
I took out two cans of the drink and turned to Kang Dohee.
"This, I actually really like this."
At that moment, Kang Dohee's eyes trembled as if an earthquake had struck.
"...This?"
I nodded.
'Well, to be honest, it's a drink I've grown to like.'
In Kang Dohee's personal story, whenever she drank this, she made a face like she was downing poison, so I went to a convenience store to see what it tasted like.
But my local convenience store didn't have it, so I ordered a whole box online.
And the taste, honestly…
Hmm, it would be rude to the beverage company, so I'll omit the detailed explanation.
It was certainly not to my taste, though.
'But there's also a separate way to enjoy this deliciously.'
Anyway, I had impulsively ordered a whole box of the drink.
Since I had to somehow deal with it, I researched ways and combinations to make it taste good.
I grabbed two cans, one for myself and one for Kang Dohee, and headed towards the snack aisle.
And I picked up a cylindrical, brown biscuit.
Choco Digest.
A biscuit with an intense chocolate flavor and a dry, crumbly texture.
It was a biscuit with its own dedicated fanbase.
"If you eat this with this drink, it's really delicious."
I said this, looking at Kang Dohee, but her gaze remained fixed on the Sol's Eye.
I took one Choco Digest and two cans of Sol's Eye to the counter and paid.
The convenience store part-timer briefly looked up with a 'Are you serious?' expression, but oh well.
"Card, please. Oh, and do you want to buy a pack of cigarettes?"
"...No, I'm good."
Kang Dohee replied in a somewhat subdued voice.
We went outside and sat at a makeshift table.
*Tear—*
*Click.*
I tore open the Digest packaging and popped open the can.
First, a demonstration.
I took a bite of the thick biscuit and immediately followed it with a sip of Sol's Eye.
'Ah, this is the taste.'
It was like harmony in discord, you could say.
Seriously, with this combination, I could drink ten boxes of Sol's Eye.
"Here, try some."
Then, I offered the Sol's Eye to Kang Dohee.
She stared at it for a moment, then accepted it with a look of firm resolve.
*Click.*
What she started eating first was the biscuit.
*Crunch—*
The strong sweetness of the chocolate and the slightly overly dry, crumbly texture of the biscuit made her eyebrows twitch for a moment.
'Still, the biscuit itself is tasty. Even if you get tired of it after a lot, it's not inedible.'
What came next was important.
Kang Dohee glared at the Sol's Eye as if it were her mortal enemy, then squeezed her eyes shut and gulped it down.
*Gulp—*
"Huh…?"
She blinked her closed eyes open.
And with a dazed expression, she looked at me.
"How is it? It's more drinkable than you thought, right, when you have it like this?"
"...It's not bad."
I watched her reaction and pulled up the corners of my mouth.
* * *
After the demon misunderstanding incident.
Kang Dohee had observed Jin Yuha for quite some time.
His insane physical abilities, following right behind her, despite it being natural for men to have weaker physical prowess.
And what about his specialized skill, swordsmanship?
She didn't know much about swords, but she could tell that the swordsmanship Jin Yuha wielded was no ordinary skill.
And it seemed his proficiency had risen after only about three weeks of training.
If she had to describe him in one word, what would it be…?
Slick personality.
Insufferable.
Utterly brazen.
'Smug bastard.'
Once, during a joint training session, she couldn't suppress her curiosity and asked him.
"—How do you do that?"
"—Do what?"
"—The command."
Aside from the occasional times his face seemed to overlap with the Guild Leader's (though strangely, the frequency increased when she watched videos at night, perhaps due to heightened emotions),
his command ability, to be honest, was even better than the Guild Leader's.
No, it wasn't just better; it was an art form, a masterful skill.
When under his command, she even felt as if he knew her skills and limitations more thoroughly than she did herself.
That's why even she couldn't just let that part go without asking.
But in response, Jin Yuha said this:
"Hmm? That? You just do it?"
"..."
When she seemed unconvinced, he added, as if *he* were the one who couldn't understand.
"It's easy. Anyone can do it. You just need basic memory and judgment, that's all?"
"You're insufferable."
Indeed, this guy is different from the Guild Leader.
Utterly brazen and insufferable.
However, it was also true that his presence evoked an undeniable sense of nostalgia, which was why Kang Dohee decided to join Jin Yuha's party.
And as she gradually got to know him, it became clear that he and the Guild Leader were completely different people.
Furthermore, the black snake who had been sending her videos every day no longer sent any emails.
It seemed that person had also received the news that Jin Yuha wasn't a demon.
To be honest, it was a little regrettable.
Anyway, Kang Dohee was slowly separating the two people in her mind, establishing an appropriate distance.
...However.
When she saw the drink he offered this time, she couldn't help but wear a bewildered expression.
'Sol's Eye'
The drink that Guild Leader Choi Hyeseo used to enjoy.
Whenever the Guild Leader came to mind, she would stop by a convenience store and buy it to drink,
but the strange taste never got any easier to get used to.
Starting from the minor question of whether this was made to be sold to pine caterpillars rather than humans,
all the way to the fundamental question of why a drink should taste like pine needles.
She had thought that absolutely no one, aside from the Guild Leader, would ever drink this for the taste,
or so she had believed.
But then, Jin Yuha suddenly offered her that very drink, claiming he liked it.
'...What the hell is he?'
Kang Dohee could only stare at Jin Yuha with a bewildered expression.
* * *
*Munch munch*
*Gulp gulp—*
Kang Dohee seemed to genuinely like this combination, as she repeatedly took a bite of the biscuit and then drank the beverage.
I wondered if this was why people watched mukbangs.
I watched her with a pleased expression, when
a thought suddenly occurred to me, and I asked her.
"Oh, right. Kang Dohee. Have you planned out your course registration yet?"
Then, chewing on her biscuit, she mumbled and handed me her phone.
The moment I saw the timetable she showed me.
A curse almost slipped out of my mouth.
"...You've got to be kidding me."
It ended up slipping out after all.
Immediately after parting ways with Kang Dohee and returning to the dorm.
I immediately turned on my phone.
*Ding—♬*
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Sword Ghost]—Everyone, gather!!!!!
[NotGukbap]—What's going on?
[Fire Fist]—?
[Flower Blossom ✿]—Is there a separate mission, perhaps?
[Sword Ghost]—All of you, hand over your pre-planned course registrations!
[NotGukbap]—[ Photo ]
[Fire Fist]—[ Photo ]
[Flower Blossom ✿]—[ Photo ]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
'Unbelievable, these guys… It's even worse than in the game.'
I checked the timetables they sent and pressed a hand to my forehead.