Soon, the group sensed something unusual and crowded in.

Dang Gyu-young and Zhuge Soso, eyes shining sharply.

“Didn’t I just hear something I can’t pretend I didn’t hear?”

“‘Don’t get distracted. Look at me. Only me.’”

“She suddenly pushed hard.”

“I told you she’s quietly not easy.”

As they moved even closer, Seo Ye-in looked at the two of them with a wary expression.

I held my fist up like a microphone and shoved it toward her.

“A comment, please. Why did you do that just now?”

“It bothered me.”

“Me looking somewhere else?”

“Yeah.” 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

“You usually let it slide.”

“Today is...... different.”

“What’s different?”

Seo Ye-in thought for a moment, then answered.

“Anger...... anxiety?”

“Why are you anxious?”

“......I don’t know.”

“Even just a vibe. A feeling-feeling.”

“......Like I’m being taken.”

Even as she said it, she tilted her head like she was confused herself.

Of course, the rest of us—including me—had already gotten the gist.

‘Looks like jealousy, possessiveness, obsession—something like that got amplified.’

Dang Gyu-young and Zhuge Soso immediately clamped their hands over their mouths and started patting each other—slap slap.

It felt like I could hear a sound like, ohmygodohmygodohmygod!!

Ahn Jeongmi wore an expression like this was all very new and moving, and it was probably because—even if it was the potion—Seo Ye-in rarely showed her emotions this clearly.

And Dang Eunbi drooped and offered an apology.

“I’m sorry. I made it because I wanted to help you.......”

“Who could’ve known it’d turn out like this. Next time, be more careful.”

“Yes, I will.”

“How long do you think it’ll last?”

“I’m not sure about that either.......”

Dang Eunbi trailed off.

Most of the effects were beneficial, and she’d assumed the side effects wouldn’t be big, so she’d only done a simple test.

She’d done a last-minute self-trial, sure, but that had been just one spoonful.

Seo Ye-in, on [N O V E L I G H T] the other hand, had emptied an entire bottle—so the duration difference would be huge.

Then Dang Eunbi added in a hesitant tone.

“I can’t be certain, but.......”

“What is it? Say it.”

“That ultra-first kill move... I heard the backlash lasts about a week....... so I set it around that, too......?”

“Then it’ll probably end around the same time.”

“Probably. It might last a little longer. I put in quite a bit of elixir.......”

And then she bowed deeply to Seo Ye-in again.

“I’m sorry. I’ll find some other method, somehow.”

“It’s fine.”

Seo Ye-in answered casually.

Still facing Dang Eunbi, she continued.

“Good intention.”

“......!”

“Thanks to you, I got energy.”

“Senior......!”

Dang Eunbi, moved, stepped in to take her hand—only for Seo Ye-in to step back in sync.

And hide me behind her.

Like she was saying, I won’t let you get close to Kim Ho anymore!

“.......”

Dang Eunbi’s eyes turned hollow.

Only then did she realize it.

Just how absurd what she’d done really was.......

While Dang Eunbi floundered in a swamp of regret, I asked Seo Ye-in a question.

“So, you want me to look at only you?”

“Yeah.”

“If I look at something else, what happens?”

“I get angry.”

“When you say it like that, it kind of makes me want to do it on purpose.”

My hobby is making people mad, after all.

So I deliberately turned my head away—and Seo Ye-in reached out again, grabbed my face, and forced me to look at her.

“......Be good.”

That instantly set off another uproar.

Dang Eunbi, eyes twice as hollow.

Ahn Jeongmi, looking extremely satisfied.

And Dang Gyu-young and Zhuge Soso were patting each other even faster—slap slap slap slap!

I swept my gaze over them, then spoke to Seo Ye-in again.

“Of course I want to be good to you. It’s us.”

“I’m happy.”

“But there’s a problem.”

“What is it.”

“If I keep looking at only you, I can’t train.”

“......Rank loss.”

“Exactly. There’s opportunity cost.”

Even taking a day or two off hurts, but if it lasted until Dang Eunbi’s special energy potion wore off, the spec loss would be pretty big.

Seo Ye-in started rummaging through her Inventory.

Then she pulled out an acrylic-framed certificate that read: “Kim Ho Voucher 1 Day (Includes Kim Ho Autograph and Smile)” and offered it to me.

It was something she’d won from a bet with Dang Gyu-young during the Fix Zone tournament.

“......Treasure #4.”

“That’s not what I wanted.”

I shook my head, and Seo Ye-in looked like she was thinking for a moment—then she offered a tiger plush as well.

“......Treasure #3, #4.”

“Why do you keep trying to give me treasures?”

“Make up loss.”

In other words, she meant she’d make up my rank loss even if she had to pay treasures for it.

Which also meant she wanted me to look at her that badly.

I nodded slowly.

“I understand your resolve, and we can solve it without treasures.”

“How.”

“You work harder.”

If Seo Ye-in’s spec goes up by the amount I lose from resting—or more—it’s not a completely losing deal.

And clearing the [Austerity] challenge is more valuable than my rank-grinding anyway.

So I made a proposal.

“Work twice as hard. At least while I’m watching.”

“......Challenge.”

Seo Ye-in burned with determination and headed to one side of the training grounds with Fast-Luckless and Ahn Jeongmi.

Checking from time to time to make sure I was watching.

Next, I said to Dang Gyu-young and Zhuge Soso.

“Please understand. It’s... the situation.”

“Hey, of course we understand.”

Contrary to my expectation of some pushback, the two of them nodded easily.

“It’ll go back to normal in a few days anyway.”

“We yield now, and later we can get yielded to.”

“She has that much flexibility.”

“Yeah yeah, right right.”

If you only listened to the words, you’d think they were brimming with understanding and consideration, but the corners of their mouths kept twitching.

So I narrowed my eyes at them.

“Even if a fun idea pops into your head, hold it in.”

“Sure, sure. We know.”

“We’re not kids.”

Dang Gyu-young and Zhuge Soso answered like that, then moved to the side of the training grounds with steps so light they practically floated.

And they started sparring, swinging a club and a longsword.

WHOOM—!

SWISH—!

But before five minutes had even passed,

the two of them came walking toward me again, making it very obvious they were tired.

And in the tone of reading from a textbook, they said,

“I think I’m starting to feel fatigue. Don’t you, Dang Gyu-young?”

“You’re right, Zhuge Soso. Maybe it’s because we moved our bodies so intensely.”

“Should we rest for a moment and have a cup of coffee?”

“What a wonderful idea! Let’s bring Kim Ho, too.”

Seo Ye-in snapped her head around.

WHIRRR—!

Using [Featherstep] and even [Sailboat], she flew over and blocked Soso-Gyu.

“No.”

“What’s no?”

“You can’t take Kim Ho.”

“You can’t?”

“You can’t take Kim Ho.”

Her lines were longer than usual.

Looks like the urge to seize what she wanted beat out the hassle.

Dang Gyu-young and Zhuge Soso seemed to think the same thing—both wore expressions like they were going to die from cuteness.

But they pretended otherwise and kept asking.

“Why not?”

“I have to look at him.”

“Just come with us and have coffee together. You’re tired too.”

“We promised.”

“Promised to train twice as hard?”

Nod,

The two of them fighting desperately to hold in laughter.

Then, with a cough, they went back to reading a textbook.

“Ahem. Then we should respect that. We won’t interfere.”

“Since it’s come to this, should we spar a bit more?”

“That would be better.”

Dang Gyu-young and Zhuge Soso returned to the corner of the training grounds.

Seo Ye-in, who’d been watching them with a monitoring glare, went back to Ahn Jeongmi again.

But before five minutes passed, Soso-Gyu came up again, reading from a textbook.

“Ye-in is training hard.”

“Hey. Don’t talk to her. You’ll interrupt.”

“I’m not interrupting. I’m just cheering~”

“From next to Kim Ho~?”

The moment the two of them started snickering—

WHIRRR—!

Seo Ye-in flew over at top speed again.

“No.”

“Not even cheering?”

“......You can.”

“Then what’s not allowed?”

Instead of answering, Seo Ye-in hugged me and carried me like luggage.

Far away from the competitors.

Zhuge Soso caught on and asked.

“You can’t come close?”

“......No approaching.”

Her gray eyes held stubborn insistence.

Dang Gyu-young, measuring the distance to me, tried to bargain.

“No matter what, this is too far. Cut us some slack.”

“......Just a little.”

The instant permission dropped, they cast [Shadow Leap].

Then they sank straight down and popped up under my feet.

Seo Ye-in immediately moved me even farther away again, then crouched beside me and set up multiple [Capricious Traps].

Then she warned Soso-Gyu again.

“......No approaching.”

With a sigh, the two of them read from a textbook again.

“Traps feels kind of cheap.”

“But you already laid them.”

“At this rate, we can’t get to Kim Ho~?”

“Do we just watch from far away~?”

And the moment Seo Ye-in resumed sparring, they started creeping in.

“[Capricious Traps], right~?”

“But your luck’s terrible~?”

Even if the potion had given her energy, Seo Ye-in’s luck was still scraping the floor.

Dang Gyu-young and Zhuge Soso looked at each other and grinned.

“Should we step on it~?”

“Shooould weee~?”

They deliberately put a foot on a trap they could’ve easily avoided.

POP!

What popped out was a tiny sunflower doll.

It danced cheerfully, then vanished.

As expected, the effect was laughably trivial.

Still, because the no-approaching order had been ignored, Seo Ye-in flew in a third time.

She stared at Soso-Gyu and said,

“......I’m angry.”

The two of them snickered, but apologized immediately.

“Pfft—sorry. We went too far.”

“Your reaction was cute, I couldn’t help it. I’m sorry too.”

“We really won’t tease you anymore. Promise.”

They say that, but if they get bored, they’ll probably jump back in again.

Still, since they’d brought up the word promise, they’d probably stay quiet for a while.

Seo Ye-in seemed to think the same, because she finally decided to focus on training.

She looked at the mirror image and said,

“I have to win.”

Just winning isn’t enough.

“Efficient victory.”

Because you have to make up Kim Ho’s rank loss.

Seo Ye-in nodded, then stared at Fast-Luckless with eyes hardened by resolve.

“Pride, abandoned.”

Understood. Your resolve.

Up until now, she’d been trying to dump the role of drawing Ahn Jeongmi’s attention onto Fast-Luckless.

But from here on, even if she had to get smashed with the toy hammer, she was going to prioritize victory.

Soon, the two sloths who’d reached an agreement lined up side by side, facing Ahn Jeongmi.

Each clutching their pot, they kicked off the ground.

“.......”

Ahn Jeongmi looked extremely proud—then remembered her duty and alternated a serious gaze between the two of them.

And the instant the distance closed enough, she thrust the toy hammer like lightning—

BONK!

Unfortunately, what she hit wasn’t Seo Ye-in’s head.

It was the pot on her head.

Ahn Jeongmi immediately switched targets to Fast-Luckless.

BONK!

But again, the toy hammer only struck the hologram pot.

Both of them were fighting defensively.

BONK BONK BONK! BONK BONK!

Seo Ye-in kept blocking for a while, then counterattacked the moment Ahn Jeongmi revealed a tiny opening.

But like always, the pot sliced emptily through the air.

Just as the toy hammer was about to lodge itself into that gray head again—

BONK!

The hologram pot cut in between them.

Fast-Luckless had protected her.

When Ahn Jeongmi tried to hit Fast-Luckless, the Immortal Pot cut in to defend instead.

In that opening, Fast-Luckless counterattacked, and Ahn Jeongmi—rarely—had to stop her offense and retreat.

‘Now their teamwork is finally syncing.’

Ahn Jeongmi also curved her lips into a satisfied smile.

“Splendid.”

And as she blended into the two ladies, she swung the toy hammer.

BONK BONK BONK!