VSP 17

“Ah, why! It’s a chance to raise mana! You said that too!”

[I did say that…]

It looked like you completely forgot what you had to do for it. The system let out a loud sigh.

Of course, the system knew well that for Sejun, who had suffered many years because of mana, this was an opportunity. Wasn’t Seo Sejun the one who could not make use of even that powerful summoned beast because of lacking just that one thing?

So the system understood better than anyone that this chance was truly welcome and sweet.

But.

[Weren’t you depressed because of that before? No, more than that. Do you think you can flirt with Hunter Cha Dogyeong today?]

“Well, won’t Lucky Love Mode or whatever pull something off?”

Sejun had something he was counting on.

Lucky Love Mode, that thing that activated automatically even when he told it not to! If he had that, then wouldn’t flirting appear even when it wasn’t there? Just like it always had until now.

[You cursed it every time Lucky Love Mode activated though.]

The system hit him with facts but Sejun did not hear it.

After checking the location and time of the dungeon, Sejun walked off to the bathroom with excited steps. It was for his first outing in a while.

[Sejun-nim, don’t curse later saying Lucky Love Mode is a son of a bitch. Understood?]

Of course, Sejun did not answer. He just started humming and took a shower.

He had no idea how hard it was to get flirting that the sub-mission would acknowledge, nor how Lucky Love Mode would completely screw him over.

•••

“Hey.”

At the raid location, unlike last time, Cha Dogyeong had arrived first. Sejun, who was in a particularly good mood, greeted him cheerfully.

Sejun looked around but did not see Lee Dohun, and he had not seen Dohun’s car on the way in either, so it seemed he was not there yet.

The raid location was a construction site in Suwon. It was an abandoned construction site, with old placards that said things like “Correct it immediately!” still hanging, probably because of some lawsuit.

Looking at the dusty cement piled nearby, it seemed the construction had been stopped for quite a while.

In a way, it was fortunate. There were frequent cases where a dungeon entrance appeared in a perfectly fine building and destroyed it. Thanks to that, related insurance was said to be selling like crazy.

Cha Dogyeong was standing at the spot where the dungeon entrance was expected to appear. Normally he would have been standing with his arms crossed, waiting quietly for the dungeon to open. But that day, he had something in his mouth.

It was the straw of a tumbler. For once, he had put a drink in a tumbler and was drinking it with a straw.

And on top of that, for some reason he was wearing a perfectly fitted suit, unlike usual.

A suit and a tumbler. Somehow it looked like the typical image of an office worker, but because his height and build were so superior, he did not look like an ordinary office worker at all.

Come to think of it, if he had not become a hunter, what would Cha Dogyeong have done? It was a useless thought, but seeing the clothes he wore today, it seemed like it would have been natural if he had worked in the legal field. Not as a lawyer, but as a prosecutor.

If he wore silver-rimmed glasses with a chain attached for some reason, it seemed like they would suit him very well.

Well, what wouldn’t suit him with that face?

“……”

Cha Dogyeong glanced briefly at Sejun, who greeted him, and then naturally ignored the greeting. From the start, Sejun had not expected a reply, so it was not much of a blow.

“What are you drinking?”

He had that lovely mission that told him to flirt with Cha Dogyeong.

“……”

Cha Dogyeong looked at Sejun with a face that said, “what’s wrong with this guy?” Normally, they were not like Lee Dohun and him, swearing at each other every time they met, but Cha Dogyeong was not close with Seo Sejun at all.

Cha Dogyeong, who was drinking something with a straw from a large gray tumbler, fell silent at Sejun’s words, then held out his drink to Sejun.

Huh.

Sejun had not expected that Cha Dogyeong would hand him the tumbler itself and tell him to drink. He looked flustered, but Cha Dogyeong shook the tumbler calmly, as if he was asking what he was doing instead of taking it?

Sejun hesitated, but he reached out and took the tumbler. At that moment, a system window popped up with a notification.

[Lucky Love Mode activated!]

Eh?

Lucky Love Mode suddenly activated at this very moment.

“Try it.”

Cha Dogyeong, unaware of that fact, casually offered the drink and said that.

[Lucky Love Mode?]

The system also muttered like it was dumbfounded.

But compared to the Lucky Love Mode he had played so far, this felt rather weak. Not that he was disappointed about it.

[Lucky Love Mode is acting shy.]

…That thing had self-awareness?

[Normally it doesn’t seem to, but this time it especially does.]

The system would sometimes read Sejun’s inner thoughts casually. It said it was easy, since Sejun was such a simple human? Sejun made a grumpy face, as if he and the system were secretly exchanging words through sound transmission like martial arts masters in wuxia novels.

When he accepted the drink, Sejun hadn’t thought anything of it, but when Lucky Love Mode reacted, he frowned with discomfort.

So this damned Lucky Love Mode judged this as an indirect… an indirect kiss?

He felt uncomfortable, but since there was a chance this might clear the sub-mission, Sejun decided to think positively.

“Hey, what’s your blood type?”

Even in the middle of that, he still had to confirm things.

It was something kids usually asked back in elementary school, but Sejun boldly asked what his blood type was. Cha Dogyeong’s gaze looked like he was seeing something bizarre.

To be exact, his expression was like he was really annoyed and he didn’t even want to answer. Sejun looked sullen at that. What, he couldn’t even ask?

Since Cha Dogyeong had been drinking through a straw, Sejun considered just opening the lid and drinking straight from it, but if he did that, the sub-mission probably wouldn’t ever acknowledge it as flirting. Thinking, “Whatever, it won’t kill me,” Sejun put the straw in his mouth.

And the instant he took a sip, he spat it out with a loud puff.

“Argh, fuck!”

Sejun almost threw the tumbler he was holding to the ground reflexively, but realizing it was Cha Dogyeong’s tumbler, he barely managed to stop himself.

But it was so sour it made his tongue sting, he stuck his tongue out like a dog and panted. Saliva instantly pooled on the tip of his tongue, and Sejun had to force himself to swallow it down.

“You, you, what the hell is this?”

“Homemade lemonade.”

Cha Dogyeong answered calmly as he snatched back his tumbler from Sejun. Homemade lemonade? Lemon-ade?

He could tell it had lemon in it, but could you really call that lemonade? Even if he drank fish sauce like on a variety show, it didn’t seem like it would taste this vile. How could that guy drink it so casually? Sejun’s face showed confusion.

“Why? It’s good.”

Instead, Cha Dogyeong acted like Sejun was the weird one.

When Sejun realized he was being serious, he asked with a stunned expression.

“Are your taste buds damaged?”

“It’s fine.”

Sejun asked in genuine disbelief, but Cha Dogyeong was calm. Sejun had never been to a cafe with him before, so he hadn’t known about this taste, but maybe living too stimulating a life had dulled him, so he ate things like that and thought they were tasty.

Whatever it was, his taste had to be broken. It must have been damaged unknowingly from dungeon aftereffects. Otherwise, how could anyone eat that and call it delicious?

Sejun, with his tongue still stinging and drooling, fanned his mouth with his hand. Watching him, Cha Dogyeong opened his mouth.

“My coffee?”

What coffee, Sejun thought, then belatedly remembered the time Cha Dogyeong had saved him and demanded coffee in return.

To be honest, he had completely forgotten.

“Ah, right.”

Sejun clapped his hands with an “oops”. Cha Dogyeong clicked his tongue while sucking down the problematic drink.

“If it’s like this, I won’t save you next time.”

“You already had something to drink! That’s why I didn’t bring it!”

“Yeah, right.”

He didn’t seem to believe it at all. Of course, since Sejun hadn’t even imagined that Cha Dogyeong would be drinking anything and had simply forgotten the promise, it was right not to believe him.

But wait, this bastard just said it naturally like he won’t save him next time too? That means before that, I’ll obviously be in danger again?

Sejun realized that unpleasant fact late, but soon brushed it off casually. Because it wasn’t like Cha Dogyeong hadn’t saved him many times already.

Huh, come to think of it, that’s true…?

Sejun tilted his head. He hadn’t really noticed it, but in truth, he had been helped by Cha Dogyeong many times. Quite a lot, actually.