The Novel's Extra - Side Story 69 – Chae Nayun (24)

We arrived at the uninhabited, nameless island that was supposed to be used as the main stage for the final exam if things proceeded according to the original story.

We immediately went to search for the [Butterfly Sapling] somewhere on this island.

“There are quite a lot of monsters.”

“… Yeah, you’re right.”

However, the island was densely populated with monsters to the point that it was downright absurd. A monster popped up whenever we took a step and they were all at a level that was difficult for me to handle.

“They’ll be quite helpful for my training,” Kim Suho said as he easily disposed of the monsters.

A monster’s head would split in half whenever he smacked them with his stick (Misteltein).

“Yeah,” Chae Nayun agreed.

It was the same for her as she skillfully cut down the monsters with her sword, which flowed like water but struck like lightning. Well, she probably learned those skills from her previous life.

Anyways…

We marched on while facing battle after battle until night fell on us.

“Let’s rest for tonight,” I said after finding a suitable camping site.

However, Chae Nayun and Kim Suho simultaneously tilted their heads.

“Already?”

“I think we can keep going, no?”

“… We should preserve our stamina in preparation for any worst-case scenarios,” I replied.

The butterfly sapling was not an easy opponent, so resting was an absolute must. Yes, I wasn’t asking to rest because I was tired or anything like that…

“Go and gather some firewood while I pitch the tent,” I said.

“Okay,” Chae Nayun and Kim Suho replied before venturing into the forest.

I started to pitch the tent I prepared in advance. As I was busy pitching the tent, a monster popped out from the bushes.

“What…”

This monster had a dark body that blended with the darkness and I immediately recognized it as the rank 1 monkey-type monster, darkie.

The sudden ambush was definitely not something I expected, but the monster was split in half before it could even reach me.

Chae Nayun’s single strike slashed its body apart.

“No wonder I felt nervous for some reason…” she muttered while swinging the blood off of her sword as she emerged from the bushes. Then she said, “Hey, that bastard has been lurking around us for quite a while now.”

“Really…?”

“Yeah. Anyways, you owe me one,” Chae Nayun said as she gave me a hand.

I fell on my butt at the sudden ambush, so I grabbed her hand and got up.

“Thanks.”

“Good that you know. Here, the firewood,” Chae Nayun said as she placed down an armful of firewood.

“Alright…”

I used the firewood to light a campfire.

Crackle… Crackle… Crackle… Crackle…

The campfire burned brightly in the darkness.

I could see Chae Nayun across the dancing flames. She hugged her knees while staring at the fire.

Her hair was shoulder length and her blouse was stained with monster blood. I was busy staring at her appearance when she suddenly spoke.

“Hey.”

“… YeAh?! Ehem… Yeah, what?” I squeaked, but immediately cleared my throat.

Chae Nayun stared at me over the fire and continued, “You know… that thing I said last time…”

“…”

I didn’t respond. My silence seemed to have embarrassed or angered her as she grabbed a piece of firewood and crushed it to pieces.

“I’m not going to give up.”

Her voice sounded quite calm and I simply continued staring at her.

Then, I suddenly noticed something. Her face was flushed and her eyes seemed out of focus. I initially thought it was because of the campfire smoke, but a faint sweet smell was tickling my nose.

“Just you wait… just you wait…” she grumbled.

I recognized the scent of alcohol.

Chae Nayun pointed and looked at me with out-of-focus eyes before saying, “You! You won’t be able to live without me!”

“…”

I wasn’t sure if she was placing a curse on me or confessing again, but her actions just now made me certain.

This girl is drunk.

“Did you drink?”

“What are you talking about… hiccup!”

Chae Nayun started to hiccup.

I looked at the pouch hanging on her waist and found a bottleneck peeking out.

“… I drank a bit,” Chae Nayun said while awkwardly scratching the back of her neck.

“I thought cadets didn’t get drunk that easily?”

“I learned how to get drunk.”

“When did you learn something like that? You usually learn that after you graduate and get into a guild, no?”

I feigned ignorance and threw a seemingly harmless question. However, that question was aimed at finding out more about her regression.

Chae Nayun seemed taken aback by my question, but immediately thought of an excuse. “I’m quite talented, so it didn’t take me long to learn it.”

She muttered some stuff under her breath along the lines of, ‘Yes… that’s right… I’m talented…’

“I’m not a fan of people who drink and smoke… I mean, I barely managed to cut my own habit, but it’s a hassle if someone around me keeps reminding me of it,” I said.

“I can quit… that’s not a problem… not at all…” Chae Nayun muttered with a serious look.

“…”

I simply stared at her.

Chae Nayun seemed to have felt my gaze and looked at me before quickly avoiding eye contact. She scratched her cheek in embarrassment.

“… W-What?”

“…”

“What’s your problem?”

“…”

“Ah

, why are you staring at me? I said, why are you staring!”

I burst into laughter. I tried my best to suppress it, but it came flooding out. It had been a while since something made me laugh this much.

Chae Nayun stared at me dumbfoundedly before laughing as well.

As our laughter spread into the darkness, Kim Suho finally appeared.

“Oh, what’s going on? What happened? What’s so funny?” he asked like a curious child.

I stopped laughing and shook my head, “Nothing.”

“Ah, fuck…” Chae Nayun grumbled and glared at Kim Suho.

Kim Suho tilted his head in confusion and asked with an innocent look, “What?”

“… You senseless bastard.”

“What did I do? Hey, why were you guys laughing?”

“Forget about it. Let’s just eat something,” I placed a grill over the campfire.

***

Kugugugu!

The butterfly sapling spread its dust all over the place before collapsing. Its dust contained powerful chemicals that made anyone who inhaled it fall asleep, but the party had prepared gas masks.

They gathered all of the dust and sat on the floor.

“Phew…”

The fight lasted for three hours. Kim Hajin was exhausted to the point of death while the vanguards of the fight, Kim Suho and Chae Nayun, looked quite tired as well.

They rested for a while.

“Ah… I’m dying… Alright, it’s time to split it between us,” Kim Hajin said as he divided the powder into three.

“I don’t need it. You guys can have it all,” Chae Nayun said.

“Shut up,” Kim Hajin snapped back.

In the end, she was left with her share of the butterfly dust and reluctantly accepted it.

Chae Nayun grumbled inwardly, ‘Ah, you don’t want to be indebted to me. Is that it?’

Kim Suho inspected the sparkling dust and asked, “What is this for, Hajin?”

“This dust will allow any equipment to reach its full potential. You can use it on that wooden stick of yours.”

“Oh right, I should probably do that,” Kim Suho said with a bright smile.

Meanwhile, Chae Nayun was still pouting and sulking.

“Let’s go back,” Kim Hajin said.

“Huh? Already? Why? Why don’t we rest for a day here?” Chae Nayun asked.

“Who knows what could happen if we dilly dally? I mean, it’s likely that treasure hunters will swarm this place in less than a day. The butterfly sapling is quite flashy and its mana waves would’ve probably reached Japan by now.”

“Tsk… Always acting so smart…”

“Just hurry up and follow me.”

Kim Hajin completely ignored Chae Nayun’s grumblings and started walking back. She was still pouting and sulking, but did as he said.

They soon reached the shore where their yacht was exactly as they left it. Kim Hajin used [Hacking] just in case to make sure there was nothing wrong with the yacht.

“Hmm… It looks good. Let’s hop on board.”

Fortunately, the yacht was alright with no signs of tampering. The three of them hopped onto the yacht.

“Alright, we’re setting sail now,” Kim Hajin said as he grabbed the steering wheel.

Kwaaaa!

The yacht zipped through the waters.

Kim Suho sat in a corner and applied the butterfly sapling dust to Misteltein while Chae Nayun quietly sat beside Kim Hajin at the helm.

“…?”

A while passed when Chae Nayun suddenly sensed something. A cold sinister feeling made the hair at the back of her neck stand, but she didn’t have time to think about anything else.

She instinctively wrapped her arms around Kim Hajin and pulled him to the ground.

“What…?”

Chae Nayun’s adrenaline kicked in and time slowed for her. She looked towards the direction where her instincts warned her and saw something sharp ferociously flying towards Kim Hajin. She held him close and turned her body, so the danger would hit her instead.

She knew evading it was impossible, so she prepared herself and hoped that her aura would be able to block the incoming threat.

Pak!

… Nothing happened aside from the sound of a bubble popping.

“What the…?” Chae Nayun muttered while looking around her surroundings.

Her arms were still tightly wrapped around Kim Hajin. He tapped on her arms to tell her that he was getting suffocated.

“What was that just now…?” Chae Nayun muttered once again.

She released Kim Hajin and looked around her surroundings, but there was nothing in the water around them for someone to use as a platform and launch such an attack.

“Keuk! Keuh! Keuh! Ah… Keeeek!” Kim Hajin gasped for breath after finally being let go.

Chae Nayun was still inspecting their surroundings for the culprit.

‘Magic.’

She was a hundred percent certain that it was a colorless, odorless, and formless magic that perfectly hid its killing intent. However, the magic disappeared when it came into contact with her as if nothing happened.

Various suspicions popped up in her head.

‘First, it could’ve been a homing-type magic, but that’s highly unlikely as it disappeared the moment it struck me. Besides, there’s no way that I wouldn’t be able to recognize that kind of magic when I’m so sensitive to mana.’

‘Second, maybe they were just trying to scare us? That’s highly unlikely too as they perfectly hid their presence. A magician capable of something like that was just trying to scare us? No way, they would’ve used flashy explosion magic if they were trying to scare us.’

‘Then, the most likely explanation would be… The assassin was aiming for Kim Hajin, but they withdrew their mana when I protected him. I have no idea who was behind it, but I’m certain they were after Kim Hajin. They had no plans to harm anyone else aside from Kim Hajin, especially me… but why would such a skilled assassin come after Kim Hajin? For what?’

“Hey, Kim Hajin,” Chae Nayun looked at him.

Her eyes were sharp as a predator and she looked dead serious.

Kim Hajin was still gasping for air, but immediately turned serious when he saw Chae Nayun’s eyes.

Chae Nayun lowered her voice and whispered, “Someone’s after you.”

Exactly three seconds later…

“There was something just now! Be careful, Hajin!” Kim Suho shouted.

Chae Nayun and Kim Suho immediately jumped and surrounded Kim Hajin to protect him.

***

We arrived at the East Sea harbor.

Kim Suho went home first in a limousine prepared by Chae Nayun. I was thinking of going back to Cube, but…

“I said you can’t!” Chae Nayun vehemently protested.

I stopped walking and looked back at her.

Her face flushed red as she shouted, “Cube is dangerous during the summer vacations! I can’t accept that!”

“…”

I ignored her and continued walking, but I looked back again after a while to find Chae Nayun still following me.

“You heard Kim Suho as well, right? There was some kind of magic after you.”

“That’s why I’ll protect you. I must protect you!”

“It’s dangerous!”

Chae Nayun shouted a line every time I looked back.

“Hey…” I let out a sigh.

Of course, I felt the magic they were talking about at the yacht, albeit faintly. However, I couldn’t understand why she was overreacting…

“…!”

Then, my eyes shot wide open as a thought flashed across my mind.

Don’t tell me… What if… What if I died in her previous life? And what if Chae Nayun and I were lovers in that world?

It was highly unlikely, but everything would fall into place if that was the case. Still, it didn’t make sense that Chae Nayun would worry about me harming Chae Jinyoon. Yeah, I found it impossible that she would fall for someone like me…

“I can just inform Cube about what happened, right?” I said.

“No, not at all. Who’s going to believe you? Also, I’ll just wait it out if I was the assassin. You don’t know much about assassination, right? Assassination is not something done at the spur of the moment, but it’s a fight of attrition that lasts for a fucking long time,” Chae Nayun replied.

“You’re talking as if you’ve been an active assassin for a few years.”

“Well, that is…”

Chae Nayun suddenly got tongue-tied and started to mumble, ‘Err… uhm… uhh…’

She continued making such sounds with her mouth open. It looked like she was trying to come up with something, but continued to be in that state even after five, ten, fifteen seconds passed.

In the end, I had no choice but to change the subject.

“Let’s say you’re right. Where am I going to stay then?”

Then Chae Nayun finally spoke, “Who knows? First things first… it has to be somewhere I can protect you. You have a house in Seoul, right? I think that’ll be perfect.”

“What about your place? It’s wide and there are a lot of rooms, right?”

“My place is a no-go. It’s off-limits to outsiders.”

“I saw on the news that people frequently visit it…”

“That’s not our house. It’s just an extension of it.”

“So what I’m saying is… I can just stay at that extension, right?”

“…”

Chae Nayun closed her mouth and glared at me.

Grit… Grit…

I could hear her gritting her teeth, but I didn’t back down.

Our battle of wits continued for a while until she finally spoke first, “My dad won’t allow it.”

“…”

That was something I couldn’t argue with.

***

I had no choice but to bring Chae Nayun to the apartment I stayed in before enrolling at Cube.

“Oh… Such a place exists?” Chae Nayun muttered while looking around in amazement.

The look on her face seemed to say something along the lines of, ‘This entire house is smaller than my bathroom,’ or something like that.

She finally sat on the floor and said, “Anyways, I’ll protect you until vacation ends… Well, it’s not necessarily going to be safe just because classes resume, but I’ll still protect you. Don’t worry!”

“… Alright,” I replied with a nod.

I had no idea why I was a target, but it was true that something happened onboard the yacht. Besides, I could use this opportunity to observe her nearby and see if my theory was correct or not.

“Alright, now you’re being a good boy… Urghhhh!” Chae Nayun said before stretching her arms. She plopped on the ground before continuing, “Be grateful that a great swordsman like me is protecting you. Do you understand?”

“…”

“Hohoho!” Chae Nayun let out a sinister laughter before closing her eyes. Exactly five minutes passed when she suddenly stood up.

“… What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Hmm…”

Chae Nayun ignored me and continued pressing on the floor with her feet.

“What is it? Tell me.”

“Well… don’t you have… a bed? I can’t sleep without a bed. My body’s quite stiff after camping for two nights… Actually, I didn’t get a wink of sleep because it was quite uncomfortable. I’ve been awake for sixty hours now…”

“…”

Her mannerism was like a construction worker, but her habits were even more refined than a noble lady.

“Follow me,” I led her to my bedroom against my wishes.

My bedroom was quite small. It was barely large enough to fit a bed and a closet.

“Oh, was this the bedroom door? It was so small that I thought it was a storage or something,” Chae Nayun nonchalantly commented.

She walked over to my bed and was about to jump on it when she froze and looked at me.

“Why? Aren’t you sleepy?” I asked.

“No… it’s not that… it’s just… erm…”

She slowly laid down on the bed and wrapped herself in the blanket. She squirmed a few times before suddenly standing up.

“Wow… it reeks of cigarettes…” she said.

“Oh… right…”

I completely forgot that I used to smoke packs while in bed. That was just four months ago, so the scent of my depression and devastation was still fresh there.

“Move. I’ll clean it for you,” I said.

It was quite embarrassing, so I activated stigma to immediately clean it up.