My Childhood Friend’s Stock Will Never Fail Chapter 45

“Gayoung senior…?”

 

Yoohee poked her head out from Joohoon’s arms and looked ahead.

 

Gayoung and Seokhun were standing beside a snow-covered rock, dressed in impressive fur clothing.

 

“Oh, looks like you two ended up here too. Good. Having more people should still be helpful.”

 

Gayoung spoke calmly as she approached the two of them.

 

Seokhun followed behind her, and every time the two moved, the white fur cloaks draped over their shoulders swayed slightly.

 

Looking more closely, they were also wearing white-fur leg warmers and warm fur boots. Over those were hand warmers that covered the backs of their hands, along with hats.

 

Both of them were dressed from head to toe as if they had stepped straight out of a game, perfectly equipped for the snowy wilderness.

 

Seeing them, our own situation, with nothing but padded jackets and gloves, suddenly felt rather pitiful.

 

Those clothes must have been sponsored by a constellation too.

 

Why were our constellations like this?

 

“You look cold.”

 

Gayoung tossed out a remark as she looked at Yoohee, whose nose was bright red.

 

Yes, senior. It must be nice having such generous constellations.

 

“Do you know how we can get out of here?”

 

Joohoon asked while holding Yoohee’s hand tightly.

 

Gayoung answered with an indifferent expression.

 

“What other way is there to get out of a Gate?”

 

As though it were obvious.

 

“We have to destroy the core.”

 

Once the boss creature was killed, the Gate would automatically close. The condition for clearing the event was also to defeat the boss creature.

 

“W-Wait a second. You saw it too, senior. This isn’t just an ordinary Gate.”

 

It was a high-difficulty Gate that required at least one S-rank Esper to clear.

 

Even with Seokhun and Joohoon here, this wasn’t something two A-rank Espers could simply solve.

 

“Do you really think we can get through this just by avoiding it?”

 

Gayoung stared directly at Yoohee.

 

Her eyes did not waver.

 

She’s saying we shouldn’t avoid it…?

 

Inside this event dungeon, neither cell phones nor any other communication devices worked.

 

The only thing they could rely on was the small time limit floating in their field of vision.

The Gate would probably disappear once the time limit ran out. At least, that was what Yoohee had assumed until now.

 

But what if the Gate didn’t disappear when they failed to clear the event dungeon?

 

We’d be trapped here forever.

 

There was no guarantee that the worst-case scenario would never happen.

 

As Yoohee stiffened, Gayoung changed the subject in a slightly lighter tone.

 

“By the way, I really didn’t expect to find you two here. I was burning some poisonous herbs nearby, so you almost got caught up in it if things had gone wrong.”

 

That was you, senior?

 

That alone was quite a shock.

 

Yet Gayoung narrowed her eyes and looked Yoohee up and down.

 

“If you’re worried because you don’t trust me, you don’t have to be.”

 

“……What?”

 

“We both don’t want to become food for the elves here. I’ll help you. So you cooperate with me, too.”

 

Gayoung took a step closer to Yoohee.

 

“You look pretty cold. You need a fire, right?”

 

She patted the sleet-covered shoulders of Yoohee’s clothes.

 

Then, a bright red flame suddenly burst to life before their eyes.

 

“Let’s cooperate and survive together.”

 

***

 

Seokhun’s magical attribute was red flames.

 

Not only could it guarantee warmth in a landscape made entirely of ice, but it was also an especially effective attribute against the elves, who were weak to heat.

 

Fortunately, there was a small cave beneath a nearby hill.

 

The four of them entered it to warm themselves.

 

Seokhun and Joohoon took turns searching for the location of the World Tree, the core of the Gate, while Gayoung and Yoohee sat facing each other around the warmly blazing campfire.

 

It was their final preparation before going after the boss creature.

 

“I’m telling you this because you might misunderstand, but I don’t need another male lead candidate.”

 

Now that they were working together to survive, Yoohee had become fairly comfortable talking with Gayoung, who had been her enemy just yesterday.

 

“Really? But Senior Hyunho……”

 

Gayoung, who had been staring down at the campfire, raised her head and met Yoohee’s gaze.

 

Yoohee had practically taken Seo Hyunho, the original male lead, away from her, so naturally Gayoung shouldn’t have a very favorable opinion of her.

 

“You can have him.”

 

It was a completely unexpected turn of events.

 

“Pardon?”

 

“I said you can have him. I don’t care.”

 

Gayoung’s incredibly chill reaction left Yoohee even more flustered.

 

“B-But why……? Didn’t you break the imprint because you wanted to get Senior Hyunho back?”

 

Gayoung looked at her as though she had no idea what Yoohee was talking about. Then, in a hushed voice, she explained everything that had happened.

 

So, the reason she broke the imprint wasn’t to bring forward the period when Seo Hyunho would regret his actions, but to improve her relationship with Seokhun.

 

If Gayoung was bound to someone else through an imprint, of course Seokhun’s affection level wouldn’t rise very much.

 

“B-But you definitely said before that you’d almost brought it all the way down.”

 

When Gayoung’s imprint with Seo Hyunho had been broken, she had clicked her tongue while looking at Yoohee, saying that she had almost brought it all the way down.

 

Hadn’t she intended to lower Seo hyunho’s affection toward Yoohee until it reached zero?

 

“Yeah, I had almost brought it all the way down. If it weren’t for you, Seo hyunho might have lost his reason and gone berserk right then and there.”

 

Wasn’t she talking about his affection level?

 

“Thanks to you, that bastard Seo Hyunho got rehabilitated instead. So you should take responsibility for him too.”

 

“…….”

 

Could she seriously have wanted Seo Hyunho to go berserk?

 

No matter how awful Seo Hyunho was and how much he deserved to be put through the wringer, he still genuinely loved Gayoung. And besides, who knew what would happen to the Korean Peninsula if he went berserk?

 

“I hate seeing that bastard wandering around everywhere. Please, don’t let him loose. Just take him. Got it?”

 

Gayoung drove the point home as though she had not a shred of affection left for Seo Hyunho.

 

Judging by her murderous gaze, she didn’t seem to be joking.

 

Yoohee was so dumbfounded that she could only blink rapidly.

 

Just then, the sound of approaching footsteps grew louder.

 

When she raised her head, Seokhun and Joohoon, who had been outside, were approaching the cave.

 

No matter how resistant he was to the cold, seeing Joohoon wearing nothing but a simple coat compared to Seokhun, who was fully equipped in fur clothing, made Yoohee feel a little heartbroken.

 

Why are our constellations…….

 

She looked around with a hurt expression, but of course, there was no way a constellation would reveal itself at a time like this.

 

“I figured out the direction where the World Tree is. I think we just need to keep heading west from here.”

 

Seokhun spoke while looking at Gayoung, then shifted his gaze toward Yoohee.

 

Since the only interaction Yoohee had ever had with Seokhun was being on the receiving end of his sharp words in the infirmary, she instinctively tensed and straightened her posture.

 

“Are you doing all right with the cold?”

 

Yoohee wondered for a moment whether he was talking to her.

 

Only after going over his words again in her head did she nod.

 

“Ah, yes. Thanks to you.”

 

“Here. It should help quite a bit if you wear this.”

 

Seokhun held something out toward Yoohee.

 

Still bewildered, she stood up and accepted it.

 

It was a bracelet threaded with a cord. In the center was a bead containing a red flame, and a warm energy radiated from around it.

 

She adjusted the cord and fastened it around her wrist, and warmth immediately enveloped her hand as though she were wearing gloves.

 

It was perfect timing, too, since the effect of her hand warmer had just run out.

 

“Thank you.”

 

“If you need more, let me know. I can make as many of these as you need.”

 

He was still blunt, but he no longer seemed as frightening as he had at first.

 

He’s actually a very warm-hearted person.

 

As Yoohee gazed curiously at the bead on the bracelet, Joohoon approached her and murmured softly.

 

“There’s nothing I can do for you.”

 

Naturally, Joohoon could give her cool air that made it easier to breathe in the heat, but he couldn’t warm this frozen wilderness.

 

Even so, Yoohee didn’t dislike Joohoon’s coolness.

 

“You’re already doing enough, Joohoon.”

 

She took one of the gloves she had kept in her pocket and slipped it onto Joohoon’s cool hand.

 

The glove, which had been a little too big for Yoohee, fit him perfectly, as though it had finally found its rightful owner.

 

“Let’s head out now.”

 

Gayoung’s voice came from behind her.

 

“Stay sharp.”

 

Yoohee silently looked at Gayoung.

 

“Let’s make it out alive again today.”

 

Why did Do-hwan’s cheerful shout suddenly come to mind?

 

It was what Uncle Do-hwan always said whenever they entered a Gate in her previous life.

 

Even though he knew full well how dangerous Gates were, he never lost his smile.

 

“Yes. We have to go.”

 

If Uncle Do-hwan had been here, he would have patted her on the shoulder and encouraged her with a hearty, What the heck, let’s give it a shot!

 

Although they had suffered a miserable failure that day, hadn’t they overcome countless crises before then?

 

As Yoohee steeled herself inwardly, Gayoung slightly raised the corners of her lips.

 

The sight was so different from the Gayoung in the original story that Yoohee stared at her blankly for a moment.

 

Before long, Yoohee smiled faintly as well.