Chapter 10
“Ppi, ppii! Ppi!”
Chirping urgently, I tapped Cho-hee unni’s cheek with my beak.
With an indifferent face, she dumped all the herbs from her pocket into one pile and sighed.
“Tsk tsk, these kids. Weren’t you just screaming about wasting time? And now you’re fighting when it’s all over?”
“It’s fine, noona. It’ll be over quickly. Won’t even take ten minutes.”
“Yeah. Hee-ho hyung’s a weakling, so I can finish him in five.”
“Then I can finish in three—”
“Three or five, all equal in front of me, so both of you shut up. I’ll give way, so you two decide on the hospital visit yourselves.”
No, unnie. I don’t think the hospital visit is the real issue.
They’re clearly about to fight over something else!
“Ah, noona, you should’ve said that earlier! Right, Ye-seung?”
“Seriously. We wasted our energy for nothing.”
…I thought there was more to it, but apparently not.
The sharp, blade-like tension softened again.
And all the magic circles around Hee-ho disappeared.
Cho-hee clicked her tongue over and over, glaring between the two.
“You pests. Jeong Ho-ram and Jisu unni kept warning me you two would definitely start a fight someday. They begged me not to let it turn into a guild war.”
“Come on, even if it turned into a guild war, we’d win. Ho-ram hyung worries too much.”
“Exactly. Our guild master worries too much too. We could make sure it never even reaches guild war.”
“Knock it off, brats. Yeon Hee-ho, you transferred into our guild because you wanted to fight Ye-seung, didn’t you? Do you even know Jisu unni cries while drinking with me and Jeong Ho-ram, saying she’s sorry she let a bastard like you loose?”
Hee-ho blinked a few times.
Then giggled cutely.
“Jisu noona, how embarrassing…”
Seeing him act shy, Ye-seung looked disgusted and moved away.
Cho-hee muttered, “What a shameless bastard…”
Then stretched a hand into the air.
“Anyway, we’ve gathered everything, so let’s get out. I’m sick of the smell of herbs. If I make medicine here, I might mess it up.”
“Ah, same. I’m not even looking at Panacea again for a while.”
“Me too.”
(Party) SYSTEM: Ha Cho-hee has proposed ending the Hidden Stage “Hidden Herb Field.” If all party members agree, you will return to the dungeon entrance.
(Party) SYSTEM: End “Hidden Herb Field” clear.
(Yes / No)
“Come on, hurry and press it.”
The conversation kept changing so fast my head was spinning.
Then a window appeared in front of me too.
Like someone being chased, I pecked Yes over and over with my beak.
Soon, just like when we entered the dungeon, a key-shaped symbol appeared in midair.
A hole opened.
As I stared at it, Cho-hee held out her palm over her shoulder.
That means climb on, right…?
Carefully I moved over.
She met my eyes and smiled gently.
The same warm smile I’d always seen.
And my tense body relaxed.
“You’re scared of dungeons, but you didn’t run, didn’t complain once, and stayed with us well. Thanks. Hee-ho says nonsense sometimes, but seriously think about joining the guild. We’d treat you really well.”
“Yeah. We’d treat you well!”
“Ppi… ppii…”
“We can talk more outside. Let’s go.”
Even Cho-hee was making me that offer.
I didn’t know how to react.
Beyond the crack, I could see the dungeon entrance.
And the moment we crossed—
Everything turned white.
(Party) SYSTEM: Exiting Hidden Stage “Hidden Herb Field.”
I vaguely saw the exit message—
But it was so bright I shut my eyes.
How much time passed?
When I finally opened my trembling eyelids—
I stared blankly.
This wasn’t outside the dungeon.
It was my house.
“What… huh…?”
And my transformation was undone.
Of course, the outfit Hee-ho put on me was gone too.
What in the world happened?
Staring blankly at my hands—
Several windows appeared in succession.
(Party) SYSTEM: The White-headed Long-tailed Tit has left the party.
(Global) SYSTEM: The SSS-Class Pet has safely completed its dangerous first journey. 3 days remain until the next appearance.
“……”
Why does something like that have to be announced to the whole world?
I want to die from embarrassment…
But even more troubling was the part about 3 days.
“Am I… transforming again in three days…?”
What do I do?
I wasn’t planning to ever touch that skill again.
I sat down on the floor, staring blankly at the system window.
After sitting there a long while—
I suddenly felt tired.
“…I’ll sleep first.”
Not much time had passed.
But mentally, I was exhausted.
Feeling around, I found my phone and trudged to my room.
* * *
Bzzzz.
Bzz.
Bzzzz.
“Mm…”
The phone I’d set to vibrate kept buzzing and woke me up.
I was drained—
But I had slept deeply, dreamlessly.
Rubbing my eyes, I found my phone.
A few hours had passed.
And there were multiple texts.
No—
They were still coming.
Lee Ye-seung
Noona, are you feeling better? ;ㅁ; (15:02)
Ha Cho-hee
ㅠㅠㅠ Is my baby all better?? (15:03)
Yeon Hee-ho
Yanha (15:03)
Kang Red
Wake up (16:10)
Yeon Hee-ho
Yanha? (16:11)
Kang Red
ㅣㅇ) (16:35)
Yeon Hee-ho
ㅣㅅㅇ) (16:35)
Kang Red
ㅣㅇㅅㅇ) (16:36)
Yeon Hee-ho
ㅣㅇㅅㅇ)~♥ (16:36)
Kang Red
ㅣ♥~(ㅇㅅㅇ)~♥ (16:36)
Lee Ye-seung
Noona… please reply when you wake up ㅠㅠ (16:37)
“……”
It was 4:37 now.
Panicking, I started replying one by one.
To Lee Ye-seung 👤²
Sorry for replying lateㅠㅠ I just woke up! My fever’s gone and I’m okay ㅎㅅㅎ (16:38)
To Ha Cho-hee 👤²
Unni, I just woke up! Sorry ㅠㅠ I’m all better ><! (16:39)
To Yeon Hee-ho, Kang Red 👤3
You guys… What are you doing…?? (16:39)
The moment I sent the last one and sighed—
My phone vibrated again.
Not a text.
A call.
Seeing Hee-ho’s name, I cleared my throat and answered.
“Yeah, Hee-ho.”
[Yeah, Ha-yan. Can we come visit you? We brought medicine.
“Ah, you can, but my fever’s gone now—”
[Really? Great. Actually… we’re in front of your building.]
“…Huh?”
[It’s me, Hee-ho. I’m on the first floor.]
“???”
[It’s me, Hee-ho. I’m in front of the elevator.]
“……”
[It’s me, Hee-ho. I’m in the elevator.
[Hyung, seriously shut your mouth…]
I heard Ye-seung’s voice through the phone.
Ah.
They came together.
Then I remembered what happened in the dungeon.
The sound crackled for a moment from being in the elevator.
Then came back.
[It’s me, Hee-ho. I’m on the fifth floor.]
“Mm, I’ll open the door.”
[It’s me, Hee-ho. I’m—Ah! Why are you hitting me?
[You seriously have to ask? We’re here; hang up already.]
As I got off the bed, I heard Ye-seung’s voice—
Then the call ended.
I couldn’t help laughing.
I really couldn’t tell whether they got along or not.
I roughly combed my messy hair with my fingers and stepped out—
Just as the doorbell rang.
On the intercom were Hee-ho, Ye-seung, and Red.
So Hee-ho and Red were together sending those weird texts.
I hurried to the door, unlocked it, and opened it.
Ye-seung, who had been glaring at Hee-ho and Red in annoyance, suddenly smiled brightly.
“Moon Ha-yan, hi.”
“Hi.”
“Noona!”
“Ah, thanks for coming. Sorry I didn’t reply sooner. I was sleeping. Come in.”
“Huh? Ah, um… We were just going to give you this and leave. You live alone, noona. How can we come inside? And Cho-hee noona isn’t here…”
Ye-seung, standing in front, fidgeted and shook his head awkwardly.
And I couldn’t help smiling.
