Desire

“…Hahaha!”

When he saw her, Heuk Seolhyang stopped laughing. She looked at Ajin while she put her hand on her forehead, still laughing and had tears on her face. ‘You said you’d learn magic, but you told me a pretty cute lie’. She then smirked.

‘You must have been after this from the very start.’

Well, you can’t just say you’re going to learn magic while you’re still working on the Heavenly Demon Arts. She enjoyed the change of Ajin. This bastard had changed. He is so different from when she saw him at her house just a few hours ago. The mana he had increased greatly and his internal body had stabilized.

‘You’ve eaten Sake.’

He didn’t mean to involve Heuk Seolhyang. She is the leader of a Magistrate, the highest position in the sect. She is familiar with every facet and can harm someone for her gain. Of course, if she is included in the list, Heuk Seolhyang will kill him without hesitation and destroy every single part of his avatar.

‘Acacia got a good one.’

Heuk Seolhyang laughed as he recalled Acacia. At the same time, she recalled four people, including Acacia. Chrysanthemum, Carleya, Primrose, Hyacinth… As soon as she thought of them, there is someone who naturally followed them. Gladiolus. The person who took her left eye. It was at that time, he raised his hand and burned her left eye.

‘Bastard.’

Thinking of Gladiolus, who had taken her eye away, Heuk Seolhyang took a breath. Well, that’s good. She wasn’t interested in who out of five of those, but she assured she is going to kill Gladiolus, who took her own eyes and somehow got stuck here.

‘And to do that…’

Heuk Seolhyang glanced back. Her only eye is focused on Ajin who was sobbing as he punched the ground.

‘I’m looking forward to what comes next.’

She then looked at Ajin and smiled.

*

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

On the way into the woods, Daisy had already asked it several times. He looked at her, didn’t uttered anything, and just slightly nodded. When he responded like that, Daisy nodded her head without asking anything else.

After properly recovering the bodies of Sake and Runia, Ajin, who had been crying for a long time, stood up while being aided by NPCs. While he is on the way to the distance from the collapsed house he looked back several times, then returned to the fountain.

‘Let’s go hunting.’

Ajin said to Daisy while hovering. She hesitated for a bit as she was confused about what she will do. Their time when they met is exactly six o’clock. Daisy asked if it is fine, but he obstinately refused to take a little more rest. Ajin persuaded Daisy, saying he would rather concentrate on hunting. They eventually came into the forest that is inhabited by silver wolves.

‘Are you sure you’re okay?’

Daisy thought as she looked at Ajin’s face who had his lips tightly closed. Ajin’s face that had been crying out loud is still visible. Perhaps, the dead Sake and Ajin had a special friendship, not just the Hanemos Quest.

“…Hmm, is it your first time hunting a silver wolf?”

“Yes.”

Ajin answered Daisy’s question in a subdued voice. Daisy glanced at Lina, who was walking alongside them while feeling embarrassed to keep asking questions. Lina is hugging her wand helplessly then jerked her head away when Daisy and her eyes met. She is not able to cope with the situation.

“What attribute did you choose?”

The question was not answered and they continued to walk while he is on the lead. He seemed determined to break this stuffy atmosphere. Daisy and Lina took a breath and Haguro stepped forward.

“The expertise I choose is a supernatural Iron Body and Martial Arts of Roar of Heavenly Lion.”

Haguro glanced around Ajin, while he lifts his helmet. Ajin knew the technique. The iron body is making the body as hard as steel. The Roar of Heavenly Lion is a kind of sound attack, and it is capable to cause internal injury to the opponent or destroy it if the level is high by shouting with power in the voice.

“…What about shields?”

“It’s not exactly a skill. It is simply using it is more defense. If you believe in Iron Body, you won’t be able to stay mentally strong.”

When he asked by Ajin, Haguro answered with a grin. Daisy quickly connected the words.

“But the shield of Haguro is enormous right? He’s just swinging his shield and hitting the opponent. Oh, by the way, my expertise is the martial art of Heavenly Heart Attack and the Song of Falling Flowers.”

The Heavenly Heart Attack is the advanced level for Heart Attack that has a style of Roar of Luoyang’s Life, which used the method of singing. Ajin looked at Lina, nodding his head.

“Oh, I-I learned the magic of the Securia and the Rossini school.”

The Securia school has healing magic, the Rossini school has auxiliary magic. And chosen Healer skill. Not a bad combination.

“…I’ve mastered Bloody Heart Attack Explosion, and I’ve mastered Double Spear Explosion Technique.”

The energy drain is hidden. Instead, he decided to disguise his skill as having mastered another technique. Without an attack technique, it’s hard to explain your power in attacking. Daisy nodded at Ajin’s words.

“Well, then you’ll have to make a close deal. Ah, do you know? Just because you’re a tanker in this game, you don’t have the skills to save your ass.”

“Is that so?”

He didn’t know any of that. Because he had never hunted while in a party before. Daisy shrugged and nodded at Ajin’s answer.

“Yes, so just because you’re a tanker, you can’t turn off the monster’s aggro. Fortunately, you have a  wide range of attacking techniques, so it’s easy to get the monster’s attention, but… If we join forces in attacking, the monsters could attack us because aggro is not managed. Please be aware of that.”

In the case of PC games, large-scale party hunting, or MMORPG games before virtual reality games were introduced, each of them had a certain role to play and had respective jobs. They would be split up into tankers, dealers, and healers. The tanker is optimized in managing the aggro that would draw the monster’s attention and holds the attack on him, and the dealer attacks the monster while the tanker is being hit by the monster. The healer manages the tanker’s stamina, restoring the dealer’s occasional exposure to the monster’s attack. This is an absolute rule that is not changed even in PC games where many MMORPGs existed.

But First has a different case. First, this game doesn’t have a fixed role. Players can choose two specialties in their respective tutorials and acquire different skills while playing games. The key is how they combine it.

“…Okay.”

Ajin replied, nodding his head. This means that they cannot rely on the tanker as much as they can. First is a damn real game, where the aggro is not fixed, and where the monster’s condition and the target will be. If they think that the tanker is holding onto the aggro, they may suddenly get bitten by a wolf that is coming on their way.

“From here on, it’s the silver wolf’s territory.”

Daisy, who is wearing a double spear on her shoulder, smiled and said, While reaching there, they met some wolves, but Daisy had quickly stabbed them to death. Did they say level 21? Levels across the average, their movement wasn’t bad.

‘He must have a pretty high level in terms of skill.’

It can’t be helped. Attack skill can grow steadily every time you hunt, so he grew at the same time as level. I don’t know what kind of martial arts it would be if Roar of Luoyang’s Life technique reached 10 stars, but Daisy’s technique seemed to have exceeded 10 stars.

“Three or four silver wolves are in a pack. Usually, there are about six of them in a group, but sometimes 13.”

“I almost died then.”

Haguro turned the shield on his back forward as he was speaking in a sour voice. Daisy pinched her cheeks at Haguro’s words.

“There were too many. Besides, Lina’s mana is already gone, and what else can we do besides running away?”

“I hope not this time. You too, Lina, take good care of your mana.”

“Okay, Oppa.”

Ajin asked while watching the three talking friendly to each other.

“Do you know each other before this?”

“Oh, we met at another virtual reality game. After winning the beta test, we were looking for someone to play the game with.”

Ajin could understand them to some extent. In his case, he had no intention of playing games like others, so he thoroughly adjusted the acquisition of professional skills in the tutorial to solo playing. But like Daisy’s case, if they get someone to party hunting together from the start, they can harness their skills in terms of party play. That’s probably why Lina focused her magic on the healer, which seems to be hard to hunt alone.

“First of all, Haguro would stand at the front, and then when we encounter a hoard of wolves, Haguro will surprise the wolf with the Roar of Lion, and then break apart the pack. We have to kill the wolf quickly while he is still holding it. You understand that, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

There is no aggro management, so it would be best to operate it this way. Ajin nodded his head. Daisy smiled back at the answer and stretched her steps.

“Well, we’re quite experienced. Don’t be so nervous. Lina will restore your HP if you are attacked. Rest assured.”

So they set forth in the area of the silver wolf. The time is seven o’clock, and the sun is setting and tainted the sky in red, but the trees were high and thick so its making the forest as dark as night. Soon the darkness had been lifted. Lina, who had small wand, did magic. There was a small sphere of light that rose up to the center of the party, brightening the surroundings.

“In case you run into another hunting party first, go a little deeper.”

As Haguro said so, he proceeded with his shield in front of him. Then they ran into a pack of wolves. There are a total of six silver wolves. They had no difference in size than a normal wolf, but it had lighter complexion and had a very long tail. Not to mention they had sharp teeth and claws.

“-Groaaan!”

Haguro breathed heavily. Should we cover our ears? Daisy stopped Ajin, who hesitated and is about to put his hands on his ears.

“The skill level of Haguro is quite high.”

-Rooooaaar!

For a moment, Haguro shouted loudly. The surroundings moved and the bushes shook. At the same time, he rushed the land to the wolf. The wolf leader that roared a sudden cry, was hit by a shield that was given by Haguro and flew backward.

Roooooaaarr! At that moment, the wolf flew up, the restless wolves roared and stormed towards Haguro. He used his shield to defend himself on the wolf’s attack, while striking the wolf with his fists.

“Let’s go that way, too.”

Daisy whispered, pointing the spear forward and stomped the ground. Daisy’s fast-running spear pierced the wolf. Ajin, who is watching the scene, started to move.

‘Heavenly Demon Art Protection.’

It’s like the Heavenly Demon Art Thousand Star Explosion. He didn’t have to use MP. It also modifies his internal strength. He didn’t know how much internal strength he had to control.

But if he would show too much power, he will be suspected.