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Chapter 9

<Skill 'Abandoned to the point of no return—let's just duo it' has been activated.>

<Designated target's stats are enhanced: Duration 30 minutes -> Stat buff effect: 200%>

If just a kiss gave me 200%, this was a remarkably efficient skill. Maybe I was actually a top-tier buffer Hunter?

As I was smiling at the status window, Si-hyeon grabbed my wrist.

He ground his teeth and muttered quietly.

"What are you?"

"Huh? I mean, you're welcome?"

"No, you! You've—you've done that kind of thing a lot, haven't you?"

What the hell is this bastard on about?

If you've had dating experience, of course you'd have kissed before, right? Besides, that wasn't even a real kiss—it barely counted. Baffled, I asked him back.

"So you've never kissed anyone at your age?"

"..."

"Si-hyeon, don't tell me that was your first..."

Wait, that lip-bump with me was his first kiss?

No way—with that face?

His expression grew stiffer. So did mine. Shit. Come to think of it, he was only nineteen. And even after thousands of regressions, he'd never once shown interest in women.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

I screamed internally and scratched my head frantically. On my first day, he'd stripped in front of me and initiated physical contact, so I'd assumed he had plenty of experience. Feeling a bit guilty, I reached out and apologized.

"Haha, sorry."

"...I'll deal with you later."

He turned his head away sullenly and approached the ogre. With his S-rank stats and my buff doubling them, he was more than capable.

He strode over with terrifying momentum and struck the ogre's head with his sword before it even woke. With a dull thwack, its skull was crushed. Green blood splattered everywhere.

It seemed more brutal than the Centipede fight.

After collecting the ogre's magic stone and various rewards, Si-hyeon walked back to me. Even as he put his blood-dripping sword into his inventory, his gaze never left me.

His crimson eyes burned brighter than ever, so I could only whistle and look away. Just then, a notification appeared in the dungeon.

[The dungeon will disappear within 1 minute.]

A swirling exit portal appeared before us. I smiled awkwardly and said to him:

"Sh-Shall we go? Haha."

"..."

He still said nothing. Honestly, I felt a bit wronged. First, he was the one who asked for the kiss. Second, it wasn't my fault he'd never kissed anyone at his age—that was on him.

But he was my employer, paying me 10 million won a month—not to mention the performance bonus. Bowing my head was only natural.

I hooked my arm around his motionless, rock-like body and barely managed to drag him out of the dungeon. Whatever he was so upset about, he kept his lips pursed and remained expressionless even after we arrived at the guild.

As we entered, the familiar man greeted us warmly.

"Welcome back."

"..."

Without a word, Si-hyeon strode into his room and slammed the door shut—with enough force that it might've fallen off its hinges. The man looked at me, puzzled.

"What is it? Why is that jerk—I mean, the boss—acting like that? Did you do something wrong? But it doesn't seem like you would."

"Haha, well. I must have done something."

"That can't be. He must just be in a bad mood."

The crew-cut martial-type awakener sighed deeply and extended his hand to me.

"We haven't properly introduced ourselves. I'm Kim Dae-un."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Han Yu-on. Um, how much time has passed here?"

"Less than a day. How much time passed for you?"

"Ah, about a day."

Kim Dae-un stroked his stubbly chin, looking puzzled.

"Is that so? Then you cleared it pretty fast. So why is he that angry?"

"Haha..."

I wonder. It seems like he's mad because he's never had a kiss—or maybe because he's never been kissed...

I just smiled awkwardly. Kim Dae-un said he'd drive me home since I'd worked hard. I declined repeatedly, but he was just as stubborn.

"Never mind. I'll take her."

"Oh? When did you come out?"

"Kim Dae-un. You go home. Han Yu-on, come here."

Si-hyeon had apparently showered—water was still dripping from his hair. The faint scent of his refreshing body wash spread through the office. He pulled me along and led me outside.

From afar, I heard Kim Dae-un call out.

"It's only 3 PM—can you really leave already?"

Si-hyeon silently called the elevator.

The ride down to the underground parking lot felt like an eternity. Ever since we left the dungeon, Si-hyeon had been radiating cold air. I sighed softly and looked up at the back of his head.

"Um... Are you angry?"

"Me? Why would I be?"

Anyone can see you're angry.

To my surprise, he answered my question right away. But he kept muttering to himself.

"You're not much younger than me, yet you're already so good at kissing."

"But thanks to me, you took down that ogre easily, right? The stats—they were boosted by double, weren't they?"

"Hmph."

He scoffed, acknowledging my point. Then he turned to me and said:

"Because of you."

"Huh? What do you mean, what's so annoying?"

"The fact that you're a good kisser."

I blinked at that.

Was our protagonist the type who had to be the best at everything in this world? Because he was number one? Was this in his novel personality? I didn't think so.

When I didn't respond, he went back to muttering to himself and glaring at the elevator doors. Mostly useless complaints like: "In a world like this, of all things—dating," "So young yet already," and "How many times has she even dated?"

Ding—

The elevator doors opened, and he strode quickly to his parked car—a sleek black one that matched his hair.

"What are you doing? Get in."

He opened the passenger door and said to me.

"Ah—thank you."

This was the first time in both my lives I'd ever ridden in such an expensive car. I felt honored as I sat down and fastened my seatbelt. Of course, it was also my first time riding in my employer's car.

Unlike his public image, Si-hyeon drove smoothly. The media had shown him driving quite aggressively when they tailed him, so I found it strange. When I looked at him, he stared straight ahead with a blank expression.

"Why. Are my looks that good?"

"No. You drive really smoothly."

Even when other cars cut him off or drove dangerously, he didn't flinch. His maximum expression was a slight frown.

After the dungeon break, the roads were surprisingly clean—thanks to Si-hyeon closing the dungeon quickly and the cleanup crew working fast.

The ride home was smooth. But to ease his still-chilly mood, I tried my best.

"Do you want some music?"

"No."

"Um, how about I tell you a funny story?"

"No. You're not funny, so I don't expect much."

"Then, how about I talk about my friends?"

"...Do you have many friends?"

He turned his head toward me in annoyance. His eyes flared up again, and I found myself bowing my head even though I'd done nothing wrong. Was having many friends something to be jealous of?

I sighed inwardly. Right. He didn't have many people he could call friends. He'd been reluctant to open up to others since starting his Hunter life.

Because giving his heart easily meant getting hurt easily. To avoid that, he'd stopped forming attachments—except for the few he'd cared for as a child. At least until his proper comrades appeared later.

Let's see. Since I hadn't died yet, this was still the early part of the novel. Si-hyeon was only nineteen. He hadn't started climbing the Tower yet. His comrades hadn't appeared, so he was still very much alone.

That was the answer. He still had no friends.

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