My Childhood Friend’s Stock Will Never Fail Chapter 70

“Yoohee.”

 

He slowly approached Yoohee.

 

“Will you guide me?”

 

Right in front of everyone, Do young held out his hand toward Yoohee.

 

“You should get it from Suin.”

 

The answer came before Do young had even finished asking. It wasn’t Yoohee who answered.

 

Turning her head to the side, Yoohee saw Joohoon glaring at Do young with a chilling look in his eyes. It was a clear warning not to come any closer.

 

There was a sharp edge to his voice, making her uneasy that another system error might occur like before.

 

“I’m sorry, but I’m still a beginner.”

 

Yoohee hurriedly made an excuse to Do young, and his eyebrow twitched.

 

“It’s fine. Just relax.”

 

Perhaps thinking Yoohee was simply embarrassed, he gave her a greasy smile.

 

Joohoon’s gaze grew even sharper. Caught between the two of them, Yoohee fidgeted before finally lowering her head.

 

“I can’t do it……!”

 

She bowed deeply at the waist.

 

Guiding might have been a guide’s duty, but she couldn’t keep letting Do young misunderstand her.

 

“What…….”

 

Apparently, Do young hadn’t expected to be rejected at all. He was so taken aback that he couldn’t finish his sentence.

 

As the atmosphere instantly turned cold, Suin stepped forward.

 

“I’ll do it.”

 

Yoohee felt terribly sorry toward Suin. She had watched her all this time and knew perfectly well that Suin wasn’t particularly fond of Do young.

 

“Could you give me your hand?”

 

“Ah…… sure.”

 

Do young couldn’t hide his displeased expression, but eventually held out his hand to Suin.

 

Like the veteran she was, Suin began guiding him.

 

Once she finished, she cleanly withdrew the hand she had been holding.

 

“That’s enough.”

 

“Right…… Thanks.”

 

“Let’s go now. There’s no reason to delay any longer.”

 

Suin had a project waiting for her back at the center.

 

As she hurried ahead, Jaemin matched her pace and muttered,

 

“It should be about time for the boss creature to show up.”

 

Do young followed behind them with a sullen expression, while Yoohee and Joohoon walked a little farther back.

 

“……I was relieved.”

 

Joohoon whispered quietly, just loud enough for Yoohee to hear.

 

“That you made it clear.”

 

He lowered his head and whispered close to her. At the same time, his lips lightly brushed against her temple before pulling away.

 

It must have been an accident, but the unfamiliar sensation sent a shiver down her spine. She blinked in a daze before looking up.

 

‘…….’

 

Joohoon was smiling right in front of her, his eyes curved into crescents.

 

It was such a radiant smile that she couldn’t think straight.

 

“You two, hurry up.”

 

Jaemin, who had been walking ahead, turned around and waved at Yoohee and Joohoon, who were still standing there.

 

At his urging, Yoohee hurriedly turned away, her face flushed.

 

“L-Let’s go. We shouldn’t fall behind.”

 

Joohoon obediently withdrew his gaze from Yoohee and started walking as well.

 

For a while, they walked without speaking, accompanied only by the splashing of their footsteps.

 

There were no creatures in sight either.

 

By now, it should have been time for the boss creature to appear.

 

Just as Yoohee was beginning to find it strange, she sensed something ominous.

 

Thanks to the four-leaf clover necklace around her neck and the Ppiyak ring, she was able to detect it. The holy relic bestowed by the Unknown X had increased her sensitivity by +10, and the Ppiyak ring had a similar passive effect.

 

“Is it the boss creature?”

 

Jaemin’s muttered voice was unusually serious.

 

Joohoon carefully surveyed their surroundings as well.

 

Then—

 

A terrifying flapping roar echoed through the cave.

 

A shriek that seemed to tear through their ears.

 

A moment later, a gigantic bat emerged from the darkness.

 

It was an enormous vampire bat with razor-sharp fangs jutting far beyond its mouth.

 

Around it, swarms of the smaller bats they had encountered earlier came pouring out.

 

With all those smaller bats following it, it looked almost like the king of bats.

 

“Suin! Get back!”

 

Jaemin shouted as he drew his flaming sword.

 

At the same time, the smaller bats were engulfed in flames from Jaemin’s attack.

 

Flap! Flap!

 

The giant bat suddenly moved and lunged at Jaemin with its horrifying fangs.

 

“Damn it! At this rate…….”

 

It was too much for Jaemin, a B-rank Esper, to handle the boss creature alone.

 

As he faltered, Do young beside him couldn’t concentrate on his illusion magic either.

 

“Yoohee, stay here for a moment.”

 

Joohoon had already dealt with all the smaller bats flying in from behind them.

 

He was going to help Jaemin.

 

“Be careful.”

 

Yoohee instinctively grabbed Joohoon as she spoke.

 

He gave her a faint smile.

 

His eyes seemed to assure her that she had nothing to worry about.

 

Then Joohoon dashed forward.

 

The battle changed completely once Joohoon joined in.

 

His movements were so fluid that it was almost as if he were dancing, effortlessly blocking every attack from the giant bat.

 

“……Joohoon is amazing.”

 

Suin, who was hiding with Yoohee in one corner of the cave, couldn’t hide her admiration as she watched Joohoon fight.

 

Yoohee agreed.

 

She had never doubted his abilities, but the way he coordinated his movements with Jaemin and smoothly exploited the giant bat’s weaknesses was far beyond what she would expect from a first-year academy student.

 

He hadn’t been this skilled even when they fought the elf.

 

Had he grown that much in such a short time?

 

“We might not even need Do young to step in.”

 

Just as Suin said, it looked as though the battle would soon be over with those two alone.

 

The exhausted giant bat opened its jaws in one final desperate attack.

 

‘—!’

 

The ground of the cave shook.

 

‘What……?’

 

Could there still be another creature hiding somewhere?

 

But when Yoohee blinked—

 

The scenery around them changed in an instant.

 

She found herself in the middle of a desert beneath a scorching sun.

 

Do young opened his eyes and stared directly at Yoohee.

 

“Watch closely. I’ll show you properly this time.”

 

Do young had changed the entire background with a massive illusion.

 

Yoohee couldn’t hide her astonishment at his ability to alter the very setting of the gate.

 

At the same time, she couldn’t help worrying.

 

With this much magical power, wouldn’t Do young be pushing himself too far?

 

Kiiieek!

 

The giant bat, dropped into the middle of the desert without any idea what had happened, let out a painful screech.

 

Cracks spread across its glossy wings, which became so dry and brittle that it could no longer spread them.

 

“But do we really have to be this hot too?”

 

Jaemin muttered with a deeply annoyed expression as the scorching heat bore down on them.

 

Like everyone else, Do young was drenched in sweat.

 

He concentrated his mind once more and began muttering something under his breath.

 

Then long cacti burst from the sand and shot toward the emaciated giant bat.

 

Their spines pierced straight through the creature’s body.

 

A gruesome spectacle of bright-red blood followed.

 

Joohoon beside Yoohee raised his hand to block the droplets of blood flying toward them, but one red drop still splattered across Yoohee’s cheek.

 

Kwarreung!

 

With a gruesome sound, the giant bat finally collapsed.

 

Yoohee glanced to the side.

 

Do young was looking at her with a proud expression.

 

Soon, the ground began to move with a deep rumbling sound, and the scenery shifted once again.

 

With the familiar sound of dripping water, they returned to the cave.

 

Yoohee finally felt like she could breathe again.

 

“I thought I was going to roast to death.”

 

“Wait…….”

 

Jaemin grumbled, but Joohoon raised a hand to stop him.

 

Drip. Drip.

 

An eerie silence descended.

 

“…….”

 

Joohoon tensed, surrounding his body with magic.

 

Jaemin also remained on guard, carefully watching their surroundings.

 

‘……Why?’

 

Inside the chilly cave, the giant bat lay motionless.

 

The battle was clearly over.

 

So why did the tension still linger?

 

They held their breaths.

 

Then—

 

KRAAANG!

 

The entire cave shook violently.

 

And then came silence once again.

 

“What the hell……?”

 

Jaemin looked around anxiously.

 

Normally, once the boss creature disappeared, the gate itself should have vanished as well.

 

Yet the walls of the cave remained firmly in place.

 

“I’ll contact the center first.”

 

Using the special communicator she had brought with her, Suin reported their current situation.

 

“Team Leader, I’m reporting an abnormal situation. We’ve defeated the boss creature, but the gate exit still hasn’t opened—”

 

“Hey! Look!”

 

Jaemin suddenly let out a shrill scream.

 

His face had gone deathly pale, as if he had seen a ghost.

 

Instantly, shards of ice shot from Joohoon’s hand and embedded themselves beside the two of them.

 

Swoosh—!

 

A stream of purple liquid that had been spraying toward Suin and Jaemin was blocked by the ice shards and disappeared.

 

If Joohoon’s ice shards hadn’t acted as a shield, Suin and Jaemin might have melted away on the spot.

 

“What…….”

 

Suin, who had remained calm no matter what happened, was trembling.