An army of goblins emerged from the bushes. I spotted even more crouched behind the bushes and aiming their ranged weapons at us.

I prioritized freeing my arm from the goblin’s jaws. I felt a sharp pain again, but endured it.

“Are you alright?” Yoo Yeonha asked.

Everything happened in an instant, but she had already finished analyzing the situation. We didn’t have time to discuss any strategy with an army of goblins around us and a hungry troll in front.

“

Haaap!”

Yoo Yeonha’s minion number one shouted and raised his shield. The mana-infused shield split into multiple shields and guarded us in every direction.

—

Krwuuuaaah!

The mountain troll smashed its club into the ground. The club carried a ridiculous force, but couldn’t break through the minion’s shield.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

The minion became drenched in sweat as he continued to block the mountain troll’s barrage. The real fight began as the minion blocked the enemy’s attack.

“

Heup!

Yoo Yeonha cracked her whip and wrapped it around the mountain troll’s neck while I fired at the goblins hiding in the bushes.Yoo Yeonha’s second and third minions spread out to the sides and slashed the mountain troll’s ankles.

The goblins scurried away after I unloaded my gun a few times. The cunning monsters instinctively knew their chances of winning had decreased to near zero.

I aimed and fired at the mountain troll again.

Bang!

A medium-sized mountain troll didn’t pose much threat to the six of us. Most Cube cadets already knew how to fight by the time they turned seventeen. The battle concluded anti-climatically and Yoo Yeonha’s party leisurely watched the mountain troll collapse before sheathing their weapons.

“Great work,” Yoo Yeonha said.

However, I was preoccupied with the goblins that just appeared.

“Is there a new dungeon around here?” I asked.

“I think so… Nayun just hit the jackpot if it’s a goblin dungeon,” Yoo Yeonha replied while looking envious.

Goblins in this world were different from other monsters. They could craft artifacts, medicine, weapons, etc. Humans usually tamed them rather than subjugating them. Properly managing goblins gave whoever owned them a handsome profit.

Goblins showing up from a dungeon was equivalent to striking oil back in my original world.

“This place belongs to Chae Nayun?” I asked.

“You didn’t know? I think we’re only able to use this mountain because Nayun approved it. After all, Yulak Mountain is quite famous,” Yoo Yeonha replied.

“I see…” I wrapped my injured arm with a bandage.

Yoo Yeonha looked at me for a while before asking, “Are you alright?”

“No, it hurts really bad.”

I had no idea if I was poisoned or not, but I had finished applying first aid with stigma’s mana.

Yoo Yeonha stared at my arm before nodding, “You seem just fine.”

“I just said I’m not.”

“Whatever. I think we should descend now. Follow me,” Yoo Yeonha began walking down the mountain alone.

***

It was ten in the evening by the time we descended the mountain.

We scored big time by finding a mana vein, killing a mountain troll, and identifying the presence of goblins.

“Those are quite the achievements. Congratulations,” Seo Youngji praised us with a smile.

I received a Cube badge for doing a good job with Yoo Yeonha and her minions. I somehow ended up being lumped with them.

— I’m telling you the mole was fucking huge!

— I ran into a golem.

Ah

, but it looked so freaking disgusting. You know, right? The grotesque golems that appear on mountains.

Other cadets also finished the class and sat on nearby benches while chatting about their experiences. Most had encountered a monster or two.

“I’m going,” I waved to Yoo Yeonha, who stood with her eyes fixed on her smartwatch.

She suddenly stopped me from leaving, “Wait a minute.”

“What?”

Yoo Yeonha looked at my bandaged hand before rolling her eyes, “No, it’s nothing.”

“What the?” I grumbled in response.

She pouted, “I could’ve easily taken care of a goblin, you know?”

She looked quite cute, but her words contained a thorn.

I smirked at her, “I’m sure you would’ve.”

“I’m serious. It’s not that I’m not grateful for the help, but I want you to know that I didn’t need it.”

I was well aware. After all, Yoo Yeonha would become a strong hero. She was stronger than me right now. That meant her pride was quite strong too. The feeling of being protected didn’t sit well with her.

“I know. I’m serious.”

I tried to show her that I agreed before she finally waved and dismissed me, “Alright, you can go now if you understand.”

She sounded a bit embarrassed and annoyed at the same time.

“Yes, ma’am,” I sarcastically replied.

I felt someone’s gaze scanning me from head to toe. I immediately stopped and looked around, but the feeling disappeared.

“What the hell is it this time?”

I wasn’t sure if I had been mistaken because I felt too tired. This was my limit no matter how much my stamina improved. I tried my best to ignore the feeling and checked my smartwatch as I walked.

[You have gained 47 SP]

[You have gained 27 SP]

[You have gained 15 SP]

[You have gained 32 SP]

“Hoho…”

I gained an abundant amount of SP these days. This made me grin from ear to ear when a message popped up on my smartwatch.

Ding!

[Our Hunting Club will finally go on a trip tomorrow! ^-^]

[We’re going to Norway, so please inform us right away if you can’t make it.]

***

Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep…

“Today is the day!”

Chae Nayun jumped out of bed.

She woke up early today. No, she didn’t sleep at all. Today was originally a day trip, but it had changed into a two day trip.

“

Heup!”

She carried her bag and ran to the meeting place as fast as she could.

Most of them had already gathered at the Seoul portal, but she couldn’t find Kim Hajin.

That guy would probably appear right before they departed judging from his personality.

“Hi, Nayun.”

“Hey, long time no see.”

Several cadets greeted her and she greeted them back while leisurely walking.

However, she felt anxious deep inside. A mishap had occurred during their last meeting, but she steeled her resolve to properly do things this time.

Chae Nayun was dead set on pairing with Kim Hajin and casually talking with him.

“Someone isn’t here yet?

Hmm…

Kim Hajin? Who was that again?” the club president grumbled.

“The gunner. You heard of him, right?”

“

Ah

, that guy?”

The sophomores talked about Kim Hajin.

A man wearing long sleeves and slacks walked towards the crowd. Kim Hajin bowed and greeted his seniors before joining the group.

Chae Nayun suppressed the smile forming on her face and slowly inched towards Kim Hajin.

“Listen up everyone! We’re going to depart now!”

The group made their way to the portal after the club president announced their departure.

Cube cadets didn’t have to line up and could access the portals mainly reserved for the military. They reached Norway in no time thanks to that.

They finished checking out at the portal airport and took a car to the winter villa.

Chae Nayun maintained a certain distance from Kim Hajin as they traveled. She made sure not to be too close while staying three or four steps away.

Their eyes occasionally met and Chae Nayun would awkwardly flash a smile. Kim Hajin just looked away without any reaction. Nevertheless, Chae Nayun felt happy since she would soon be paired with Kim Hajin.

However…

“

Eh?

What is this? This shouldn’t be happening. Damn it! Who did this?! What’s going on?”

Chae Nayun muttered to herself like a crazy person at the villa. The future in this world had slightly changed. This specific event of all things had changed!

Kim Hajin ended up getting paired with some random girl.

“Ah…”

Chae Nayun fumed over what happened. She still had a lot of time before the event ended, but all her enthusiasm disappeared as she dragged herself to her room.

The sudden turn of events annoyed her, but she couldn’t do anything about it. She had to start planning what to do with their remaining time.

Chae Nayun jumped into bed and closed her eyes.

Snore… Snore… Snore… Snore…

She snored a few times and opened her eyes.

“

Yaaawn?”

She let out a big yawn after waking up and felt strange for some reason. Her mind felt clear and all her fatigue had washed away.

Chae Nayun nervously looked at her smartwatch.

“Huh?”

11:40 P.M.

11:40 P.M.

11:40 P.M.

“

Heok!”

She gasped in horror, jumped out of bed, and began tapping her innocent smartwatch. Of course, the time wouldn’t change just because she desperately tapped on it.

“

Ah

fuck, what the hell is this?!” Chae Nayun exclaimed in horror and ran over to open the window.

“

H-

Hiiik

!”

The sky had turned pitch black. In short, every program they planned for this trip had already concluded.

Chae Nayun despaired at the night sky.

You stupid fool! You lazy sleepyhead! Your IQ is lower than a dolphin’s…

She pulled her hair and cursed herself, but froze when a familiar scent tickled her nose.

“Wait a minute…”

This oddly familiar scent came from outside and slowly invaded her room.

Chae Nayun wondered what it was when her eyes suddenly widened and she exclaimed, “It’s a cigarette!”

A bolt of lightning struck her as she recalled the book,

[103 Ways to Build Successful Relationships with Others]

.

The author said the most important one among the 103 ways was… sharing something in common!

***

How could those stars shine so brightly when the night sky, darker than anything else, surrounded them?

The cold evening breeze blew past me and the swaying trees resonated like a quiet melody.

There I was, smoking a cigarette in the tranquil Norwegian woods.

“…?”

Someone’s footsteps interrupted the peaceful surrounding.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

I initially thought it was a monster judging from how loud the steps were, but the footsteps soon stopped a distance away to collect its breath.

I looked towards the direction out of curiosity when Chae Nayun suddenly appeared with a “

Tada!”

“…”

“…”

My brain stopped functioning for a moment when she popped out of nowhere. Why did she suddenly appear here when she spent the whole day who knows where.

Chae Nayun nervously gulped before pointing at me, “Hey, what’s that? What are you doing right now?”

I looked down at the cigarette in my hand and looked at Chae Nayun again, but my brain still wasn’t functioning. I couldn’t think of an excuse.

Chae Nayun pushed her hair back and asked again, “What? You’re smoking now?”

She slurred her speech and her eyes looked a bit swollen as if she had rushed over after waking up.

Did the stench of my cigarette wake her? Now I felt slightly sorry for her. No, I didn’t. I couldn’t say anything in response.

Chae Nayun reached out and said, “You little hooligan. Hey, hand that thing over.”

“What thing?”

“What else is there? Hand it over.”

“This?”

I looked down at the smoldering cigarette in my hand.

Chae Nayun licked her lips for some strange reason as she looked at the cigarette.

“Hey, hand it over. I said give it to me.”

“I can just throw it away. Why should I give it to you?”

I was about to rub the cigarette on the ground when her hand suddenly rushed in and snatched it away.

I jumped in surprise.

Chae Nayun casually placed the cigarette between her index and middle finger. She looked well-versed with it for some reason.

“Hey… what are you doing?” I asked, but Chae Nayun took a drag of the cigarette without giving me a chance to stop her.

She continued inhaling the smoke before puffing it out with a “

H

ooo

.”

She spat out the smoke while leaning against a wall.

“I suddenly got a craving. It’s nothing big. I smoked this before thanks to some guy,” Chae Nayun said with a smirk.

However, her face soon turned purple. Her cheeks swelled and her hand holding the cigarette began trembling too.

I looked at Chae Nayun in disbelief.

“Hey.”

“What?”

𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

“Why don’t you just stop?”

“Stop what… I’m really… fine right now…” she replied while trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. She took another drag of the cigarette. “What’s wrong… with me?” she asked while wobbling.

I passed her a water bottle and she drank it so fast that she ended up coughing.

“Cough! Cough!”

“You can’t even eat junk food, so how did you expect to smoke a cigarette?” I sighed in disbelief.

Chae Nayun had a sensitive palette, so it would be impossible for her to smoke unless she lost her sense of taste.

“What? How did you know about that? I’ve never… told anyone…” Chae Nayun looked at me with wide eyes.

She was still quite sharp despite her current condition.

Her question slightly flustered me, but I tried my best not to show it and nonchalantly replied, “You’re quite famous for it, you know? You don’t even eat our school’s food.”

Chae Nayun seemed to be deep in thought before nodding in agreement. She shook her head and nodded several more times.

“Well, I guess that makes sense. This is nothing like that though. My body just isn’t used to it because it’s been a long time since I last smoked. You understand?”

“What long time? Did you start smoking when you were thirteen or something? Why are you trying to put on airs all of a sudden?”

“Put on airs? Hey, it’s not like that. I’m not bluffing, but…

sigh…

Never mind, what would you know?” Chae Nayun said as she looked at me in disappointment.

She squatted on the ground out of frustration and refused to get up for a while.

I looked at what she was doing. She drew something in the snow. A circle with eyes, a nose, and lips. Its eyes looked fierce for some reason.

“

Hum hum…”

I took this opportunity to escape and slowly inched my way towards the building. I felt like I would freeze to death out here, so…

“Hey…”

However, Chae Nayun turned around and looked at me with eyes like a lost puppy. Where did she learn this new skill?

“…”

“Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey.”

“…”

“Hey. Hey.”

“What is it?”

“What is what?”

Chae Nayun spoke again, “I heard Kim Suho told you.”

“Told me what?”

“The club.”

“

Ah…

He did.”

Chae Nayun suddenly sighed at my response.

I had no clue what was going on in her head and there was no way to find out. Was it because I mentioned Chae Jinyoon last time? Or was it because of the incident in Paris? It felt as if Chae Nayun had drastically changed recently.

Chae Nayun composed herself and asked, “Do you want to join? The club I mean.”

I silently stared at her, but she avoided my eyes and looked at my chest instead. Her hands were trembling and I could see her white breath from the cold.

Crackle… Krwaaaaang!

Something flashed in the sky and sounded like an explosion.

“

Ah

fuck! That scared the shit out of me!” Chae Nayun screamed as she jumped onto my back.

Something soft rubbed against my back when she hopped on. I suddenly felt nervous because of a totally different reason.

Anyways, I looked at the night sky.

Krwaaaaang!

Numerous streaks of light flashed across the sky.

I tapped Chae Nayun holding onto me. No, she was squeezing the living daylights out of me.

“Open your eyes. It’s not something to be afraid of. I think you’ll be disappointed if you miss it.”

“What?”

“It’s a mana phenomenon.”

This mana phenomenon was something that occurred when mana intertwined with each other in the air. It resembled lightning to put it simply. No, it would be more appropriate to compare it to an aurora since we were in the northern hemisphere.

Mana zipped across the night sky in a straight line and pierced through every cloud standing in its way. It left behind a wave of mana that mixed and illuminated the clouds.

“Wow… what is that?” Chae Nayun asked with sparkling eyes like a child. “Hey, I asked you what that is.

Huh?

What the hell?”

She noticed that she had her arms and legs wrapped around my body.

Chae Nayun blinked a few times and screamed, “

K

yaaah

!”

She fell off my back as if struck by lightning.

“

Ah

, sorry. My bad. Sorry. It was a mistake. Sorry. What? Why are you looking at me like that? I said it was a mistake!”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“It was really a mistake! I’m serious!”

“Alright…”

“I didn’t do that on purpose! Hey, are you thinking I did that on purpose by any chance?”

Chae Nayun stirred up a fuss over nothing when my smartwatch buzzed for the first time in a long time.

Bzzzt!

I looked at my smartwatch without much thought.

[Main Character Setting Has Been Edited – ???]

[You have met ??? in your world.]

[The episodes from here on out will significantly change.]

[Your luck has activated!]

[You have gained a massive amount of SP.]

[You have obtained 4,500 SP.]

The system greeted me with an absurd message after a long absence. It felt like getting struck hard in the back of my head.