[Purified Red Fruit]
If you asked Awakened to name the one item they absolutely needed, every single one of them would say Red Fruits.
Precious, blessed little Red Fruits, no bigger than a thumbnail, that lowered an Awakened’s Encroachment Rate and even had an all-purpose healing effect.
Strangely, though, the fruit was notorious for having bizarre flavors, as if every substance in existence had been thrown into it at random.
Some people said that in the early days when the damned System first started interfering with reality, some absolute being got wasted all night and designed it drunk, and that was why this disaster existed.
I had a slightly different opinion. Red Fruits only worked if you chewed them thoroughly before swallowing. On top of that, if you ate them slowly and savored the taste, the reduction in Encroachment Rate increased by a meaningful amount.
Looking at details like that, this was no design flaw. It was just the rotten hobby of a goddamn absolute being.
In any case, no matter how awful the flavor was, all you had to do was put it in your mouth, chew it up, shut your eyes, and swallow. Holding out until an Encroachment Rate of 49%, like Song Guseul currently screaming in front of me, was just insane.
I made no effort to hide how pathetic I found him as I said, “Whether it tastes like dead batteries or AAA batteries, hurry up and eat that at least. You’re seriously going to get encroached at this rate.”
“No…”
No, seriously, what was wrong with this person?
“Then do you have any other fruit besides this one? There has to be at least one that’s better than battery flavor.”
Like pine-tree flavor or seashell flavor…
“I threw them all out. I was afraid I’d eat them if I kept them.”
This guy was out of his mind. Completely insane.
In the end, I couldn’t hold back my anger and snapped at him.
“Then what are you planning to do? Are you going to let yourself get encroached like this? I’m calling the Hunter Association right now. I’ll report that there’s a subject at risk of encroachment here!”
“No! Don’t!”
He shouted in that terribly hoarse voice and sprang to his feet. The blanket covering him slipped down. The figure hidden beneath it was revealed.
She was a woman?
Unexpectedly, Song Guseul was a woman with short black hair that came down to her chin. She was about as tall as me, so I had vaguely assumed she was a man…
In any case, she was wearing a sports bra top that exposed her navel and short leggings, and the muscles visible beneath them were downright lethal.
Song Guseul strode right up to me and shoved her face toward mine. Then, as if to prove her point, she spread her own eye wide open with her thumb and index finger.
“Look at this. I’m still fine, right?”
The blood vessels had burst here and there, but as she said, encroachment didn’t seem to have begun yet. Usually, when the whites of the eyes started turning pink, that was the first sign of encroachment.
“Yes. That’s true, but… this is still too dangerous. You’re still trembling even now. The pain must be pretty bad too…”
When an Awakened’s Encroachment Rate reached 49%, extreme pain wrapped around their entire body. According to people who had experienced that stage, it felt like every single cell was being stabbed with needles. And the moment they lost consciousness because they couldn’t endure that pain, the Encroachment Rate broke past 50%, and they entered full-blown “encroachment state.”
“I’m fine. I’m fine. I can last much longer than an ordinary Awakened. So don’t worry.”
“No, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Why are you going out of your way to endure it? Whatever the flavor is, all you have to do is grit your teeth and swallow it.”
At my exasperated words, Song Guseul shrieked.
“I’m telling you I can’t! The truth is, my stomach is insanely weak! Dead battery flavor? How the hell am I supposed to eat that garbage? Once I eat something like that, I have nightmares for an entire month. I’ve woken up in the middle of the night and gone to throw up plenty of times because that trash flavor came back to me! And you! You’re tiny, and you seem to have picked up all sorts of things here and there, but President Jung told me everything. You only Awakened four days ago, right? You don’t look like you’ve eaten a single fruit before, so don’t talk like it’s easy. Do you know what battery flavor tastes like?”
I did. I knew! I knew it very well.
Right now, I had become someone who had no need to eat Red Fruits, but in my previous life, I had to choke down all kinds of flavors until my tenth year after Awakening. Every single day had been a struggle to survive. There was no way I had the luxury of being picky about taste. As someone who had chewed and swallowed rusty battery flavor, all I could honestly do was snort.
“So, in short, you can’t eat it because it tastes bad?”
“Exactly!”
Song Guseul shouted with pride.
Was this why a Level 62 Awakened in the 300s of the Rankings was living alone without any notable affiliation? Of course, this alone probably wasn’t the only reason. But it definitely looked like it had played no small part.
Even among high-ranking Awakened, there were many who preferred edible-type fruits. But the supply of edible Red Fruits was nowhere near enough to meet demand. Besides, aside from taste, their effects were not particularly superior. There were plenty of fruits that could replace them as long as you endured a brief bout of nausea.
Yet even in a situation this urgent, Song Guseul still refused to yield. Maybe her personality had never suited organizational life to begin with.
“What does this even taste like?”
At that moment, Lee Hasol, who had been standing beside us, picked up one of the fruits rolling on the floor and swallowed it in one gulp.
“Eek!”
Song Guseul screamed as if she had eaten the fruit herself.
“Blegh, it tastes bad. So this is what batteries taste like.”
Lee Hasol stuck out his tongue and muttered. I pointed at Lee Hasol with my chin and said, “Looks like it’s more edible than you thought.”
“R-really?”
Song Guseul’s pupils shook violently. After hesitating for a long while, she finally picked up one fruit and put it in her mouth with her eyes squeezed shut.
Yes, that’s it. A Level 60 person should at least be able to endure this much.
“Uweeeeeeeeeeegh.”
The next instant, Song Guseul let out a roar like a dragon’s cry and started vomiting all over the training center floor. I saw crushed chunks of Red Fruit come spraying out mixed with the vomit.
Ah. She really did all sorts of things. Should I just go home?
But as I watched Song Guseul emptying her stomach with tears and snot streaming down her face, I felt strangely sorry for her.
I went over beside her and patted her on the back.
“Are you okay?”
“Uweeeeeeeeeeeeeeegh.”
She vomited for nearly thirty full minutes. The violent retching looked like she was trying to pull out her own organs, and both Lee Hasol and I could only stare in horror. Only after noisily throwing up a final round of yellow stomach acid did she collapse onto the floor as if exhausted and curl into a ball.
“I want my mom. Fuck.”
Song Guseul muttered in a tearful voice.
Hey. Same here.
In any case, I couldn’t just leave her like that. I took five Purified Red Fruits out of my System Pouch and held them out to her.
“I’ll give you mine. Eat these.”
“No. No matter how bad I am, how could I take them from a total beginner who only just Awakened?”
Let’s be honest here. You’re just afraid these won’t be much different from battery flavor too.
“These are Very Sweet.”
“What?”
She shot upright and shoved her face toward me. I hurriedly pulled my head back in case vomit splattered on me. The fruit that had been in my palm was already in her hand.
Song Guseul stared down at the fruit and kept letting out sounds of admiration.
“No way… Not just sweet, but Very Sweet? I’ve never seen one like this since I Awakened…”
She rolled her eyes like Gollum holding the One Ring, then hugged the fruit tightly against her chest as if afraid I might take it back. Song Guseul shot me a wary look.
Well, now. A moment ago, weren’t you saying you couldn’t possibly take something from a beginner who had only been Awakened for four days?
“Are you really giving this to me? You need fruit too…”
“Like you said, I only Awakened four days ago. How high could my Encroachment Rate possibly be? Just eat them.”
“I don’t have money. I barely bought those fruits with the money President Jung gave me.”
I could roughly guess what had happened. This woman had probably burned through every bit of money she earned buying edible-type fruits. And expensive fruit-type ones at that.
Still, thank goodness we came before she sold off all the training center equipment too.
Honestly, I loved this place. It had rows of advanced machines I had never seen before, and since it was privately owned, the fact that the two of us could use it to ourselves was especially appealing.
“I don’t need money. If it bothers you to take them for free, let us use this place for about a week.”
“Really? Are you seriously okay with just that? Do you know how much this is wor…”
Song Guseul swallowed the rest of her sentence. She probably feared that I might realize how much this little fruit was worth and change my mind.
Excuse me. I already know about how much it costs.
Since I was already being generous, I decided to add a little seasoning.
“What does that little bit of money matter? You’re about to get encroached right in front of me. I can’t just pretend I didn’t see it. So hurry up and eat before I change my mind.”
The moment I finished speaking, Song Guseul poured all five fruits into her mouth at once. Then she began chewing very slowly, as if savoring them. Unspeakable bliss spread across her face.
“Sooooo sweeeet. Hehehehe.”
I watched her for a moment as she crunched on the fruit with vomit still smeared all over her mouth. Then I shook my head and led Hasol toward the weight machines.
“Clean up your own vomit. We’re going to work out.”
I would have to tell President Jung to reconsider.
*****
“Hey, rookies!”
A short while later, Song Guseul appeared fully recovered and neatly dressed. Her hair was damp, so it looked like she had somehow even finished showering.
I got off the machine and looked at her.
Song Guseul was wearing a matching tracksuit from a famous brand, and with all her bulky muscles covered, she looked much softer.
But I had already seen far too much of what I shouldn’t have. Apparently, Lee Hasol felt the same way.
“Oh! It’s the vomit lady!”
Lee Hasol pointed at Song Guseul as he spoke.
“Oh my, look at this kid! It’s rude to attach words like ‘vomit’ to a delicate lady!”
Song Guseul’s brow furrowed. But Lee Hasol didn’t care.
“I’ve never seen someone vomit that much before. You’re amazing, ma’am!”
“You little bastard.”
In an instant, Song Guseul disappeared, then reappeared behind Lee Hasol before anyone knew it. She wrapped her arm around Hasol’s neck.
“Then I’ll erase it from your memory. Forever.”
Lee Hasol’s eyes were rolling back. I hurriedly stopped Song Guseul.
“You’re going to kill him! It’s not like he said anything wrong, so stop!”
Fortunately, Song Guseul wasn’t ungrateful. When I stopped her, she loosened her grip and backed away, and Lee Hasol coughed as he quickly hid behind me.
“Oops, looks like I got worked up again. Sorry, sorry. Anyway, I’m sincerely grateful to you. Let me introduce myself properly. I’m Song Guseul, a freelance Hunter. You saved my life! Seriously, thank you. How should I repay this favor? That’s the problem…”
“It’s fine. Like we said earlier, we’ll just use the training center for a while.”
“No, no. That won’t do. From what I heard from President Jung, you’ve just finished the Hunter Selection Assessment and are waiting to be called in, right? You’re at the age when you should be having the time of your life, but instead of going out to play, you came to the training center on your own. How admirable. Since I owe you big this time, I’ll give you two personal lessons during this period. What do you think?”
“No, thank y—mmph.”
Lee Hasol immediately reacted with rejection. I swiftly clamped a hand over his mouth.
I had already confirmed Song Guseul’s true ability through the Status Window. If this was a chance to receive direct instruction from someone this strong, I absolutely couldn’t miss it for any reason.
“Sounds good.”
When I accepted without complaint, Song Guseul looked puzzled instead.
“What? Really? You’re agreeing that easily when you don’t even know what kind of person I am?”
Nothing ever goes smoothly, does it?
“They say enduring encroachment is as painful as having your living flesh carved off with a knife. I figured someone who could withstand that pain so easily must be an incredible Awakened. We did see a lot of things we shouldn’t have despite just meeting you, but what’s so important about a person throwing up?”
“What’s with you, acting like some old man? You don’t have a single drop of freshness in you. Anyway, lessons start tomorrow. Do your own thing today and head home when it seems right.”
She pulled her cap down and tossed me a keycard.
“Lock up properly when you leave. I’m heading out first.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to catch the bastards who scammed me and beat the shit out of them. I’ll feed them real batteries, so look forward to it.”