The Tactless R-Rank and the Party Matching

“[Bind].”

Yu Selim expertly ensnared the Yeti Ogre with his whip, crushing its throat. For some reason, I found it hard to watch. My hands and feet were trembling uncontrollably.

‘…Get it together.’

The Yu Selim of right now isn’t the Yu Selim of back then. I knew that, yet the overlapping images forced me to turn my head away.

Crack!

Only after hearing the sound of the neck bone snapping could I tighten my fists and look back at him.

Yu Selim was retracting his whip after casually dispatching the monster. When our eyes met, he blinked. Then, he asked as if nothing was wrong, “Were you scared?”

“What?”

“Your face is pale.”

“…….”

Lacking an answer, I remained silent for a moment.

Then, Yu Selim did something that even I could never have predicted. He strode over and suddenly pulled me into a tight embrace. He actually started patting my back.

“It’s alright. As long as I am here, Han Sol-nim is safe.”

“Wh-what the hell are you doing?!”

“I read in a book that everyone feels relieved when you do this.”

“Stop reading those kinds of books, you psycho!”

Yu Selim held onto me for quite a while despite my struggles. It was only after I punched him in the ribs that he finally let go. Even then, it felt less like he let go because it hurt and more like he chose that moment to release me.

What’s more irritating is that despite taking a hit to the ribs, he didn’t show a hint of pain. It’s common knowledge that physical abilities increase with rank, but still….

“Don’t you ever! Touch my body without my permission again. Do you understand?”

“I will try my best.”

“Best my ass. If you hug or touch me without permission one more time, I’m telling Hyung I can’t travel with a molester like you.”

“That would be… problematic, Han Sol-nim.”

“Oh, for f*ck’s sake!”

How frustrating is it to scream at someone who just won’t listen?

I let out a sigh and tried to kick his shin as he approached again. Yu Selim took the kick without moving an inch. When he caught my eye, he muttered, “That hurts,” with a face that looked completely unfazed.

Exhausted, I offered a compromise.

“Fine. Don’t come within a certain distance of me. Let’s compromise on that.”

But Yu Selim acted like a strict rule-follower.

“That is difficult. If there is an ambush, I must respond immediately.”

“What kind of ambush could there possibly—”

“Like this one.”

“What?”

Before the words were out, Yu Selim yanked me back into his arms. Before I could even react, the ground where I had been standing collapsed.

A monster’s roar erupted from within the hole.

[Grrrrrrrr—!]

“It appears to be a White Snow Mole. I could kill them all, but I suspect Han Sol-nim would be frightened….”

“What are you—!”

“Let’s leave the Mole habitat first. Wrap your arms around my neck.”

Of course, I didn’t do something as crazy as wrapping my arms around his neck. But because of that, I ended up being held so tightly to his chest I thought my lungs would burst as he sprinted across the snow.

Even though it was a vast expanse of white, Yu Selim stepped forward without hesitation, as if he knew exactly where the traps were and where the path was solid.

After running for about twenty minutes, we managed to escape the White Snow Mole habitat. However, we were now completely off the path to Deborah.

“It would be best to either climb the mountain to avoid monsters or find a party to travel with. Some monsters won’t attack if the party is large enough.”

“…….”

While I was debating whether I should actually say thank you to someone like him, he spoke up again, looking at me as if waiting for my choice.

I figured that instead of moving alone with Yu Selim, it would be better to find a party, even if they were strangers. So, I asked him gruffly, “Where do we find a party?”

“We can use Party Matching.”

“Party Matching?”

“Yes. It’s a program Han Seong-hun-nim created. If you have an artifact, you can access the system to find a party or see a list of people looking for trades at a glance.”

…Hyung made something like that?

I was momentarily dazed by Yu Selim’s words. I’d heard of my brother’s many achievements, but I never imagined he’d created something like this.

At any rate, following his lead, we accessed the ‘Party Matching’ program and posted: [Looking for people going to Deborah].

To my surprise, five Awakened—three B-ranks and two A-ranks—saw our post and messaged saying, [I would like to join].

“What should we do?”

“About what?”

“Should we accept the party?”

“…….”

I looked at the politely inquiring Yu Selim and asked abruptly, “What do you think is best?”

“I would prefer to move alone with Han Sol-nim.”

“Why?”

“I am a bit shy around many people.”

Ha….

I responded immediately to Yu Selim’s brazen and absurd answer.

“Then accept those five quickly and let’s go as a party.”

“……Understood.”

Yu Selim sounded a bit dejected, but I didn’t care in the slightest.

One hour later.

Everyone we were supposed to meet had arrived. They explained that they had also struggled with the Snow Moles and had chosen to climb the mountain path instead. Since climbing was quite an ordeal, they had been looking for a party to Deborah, thinking the more people, the better.

Mr. Ma Seong-du, an A-rank Awakened and the leader of this group, spoke first.

“Um, excuse me, but what are your ranks?”

I always got stressed whenever the topic of ranks came up, but I couldn’t exactly lie. I answered hesitantly.

“I’m C-rank.”

“Ah, I see….”

At my answer, Mr. Ma Seong-du’s expression changed to one of understanding as he looked at Yu Selim. It seemed he assumed we were looking for a party because I was only a C-rank and we couldn’t handle it alone.

I was slightly annoyed by the immediate change in his expression, but I figured since Yu Selim was R-rank, he wouldn’t say much to him.

However, Yu Selim didn’t say a word.

“…….”

“…Excuse me, what about you? What is your rank?”

“…….”

Watching Yu Selim stand there dumbly without replying, I recalled what the bastard had said earlier.

‘I am a bit shy around many people.’

‘You lunatic!’

In the end, I had no choice but to state Yu Selim’s rank for him.

“Um, this… this friend is R-rank.”

“What? R-rank? Why is an R-rank with a C-rank…. Ah, no. Ahem….”

“…….”

Perhaps because it came from me and not him, they didn’t seem to quite believe it.

Yet, even in this situation, instead of explaining his rank properly, Yu Selim leaned toward me and whispered….

“Are we friends now?”

…What kind of bullshit was this?

“What?”

“Didn’t you just refer to me as your friend?”

His face actually looked somewhat bright as he said it. The moment I heard that idiotic question, I glared at him with the most contemptuous expression I could muster.

“…Absolutely not. Don’t even dream about it.”

“…….”

The other people, who had unintentionally overheard our bizarre exchange, now wore very strange expressions. The way they looked at Yu Selim was definitely not the look of awe reserved for an R-rank.

I looked at Yu Selim, finding it both ridiculous and fascinating that he was being treated like a fool. He seemed slightly discouraged, but he remained steadfastly by my side, as if the opinions of others didn’t matter at all.

‘He always was this kind of guy….’

Why was I the one feeling embarrassed?

I tried to put some distance between us by taking a step to the side, but he immediately closed the gap by taking two steps toward me. I let out a heavy sigh.

“Well then…. C-rank and R-rank? If the two of you could take the rear, that would be great.”

“…Okay.”

Mr. Ma Seong-du skillfully assigned positions and gave us the very end of the line. The rear was usually reserved for the weakest members. Thinking it was a kind of consideration on his part—and feeling both awkward for myself and embarrassed by Yu Selim—I quietly accepted.

‘Seriously, you act like you’re going to be helpful, but you’re really not.’