The S-Rank Character Is My Alt

Chapter 44

Chapter 44Nari jolted upright from the bed. Maybe it was because so much had happened today, or because her state of mind had shifted so sharply.

Or maybe, after shedding the Lude avatar, she still felt a lingering tension. Sleep wouldn’t come.

She changed positions again and again, yet even when the Lord of Chaos counted sheep for her, sleep still wouldn’t come, so in the end Nari snapped and sprang up from the bed.

[“Nari Nari, are you lying awake because you’ve got too much on your mind? The Lord of Chaos worries about you.”]

“Maybe.”

She had plenty to think about. She told herself again and again to heat up, to cool off, but it wasn’t a problem she could slip out of so easily.

If Nari had been able to sever attachments cleanly, she would’ve cut off her father first.

Muttering, Nari sprang up from the bed and drew in the spirit energy around her to form the Lude avatar.

Lude pulled a device from the inventory, slid it into his coat pocket, and let out a long sigh.

[“Heading out? The Lord of Chaos looks at you.”]

“I don’t know. I’ll at least catch some cold air and clear my head.”

Lude stepped out of the room and glanced around the living room. Their quarters were a suite with one living room and two bedrooms in a row, so after confirming that Kang Ihyun in the adjacent room was still asleep, Lude slipped carefully out.

[“It’s cold outside, so buy a warm drink on your way, says the Lord of Chaos, pointing at the vending machine next to you!”]

“Ah, okay.”

Cold air pooled inside the guild at dawn. He tapped the device against the vending machine in the corridor.

Beep. With the prepaid cash already loaded on the device, Lude bought a hot chocolate and headed for the roof.

There was a reason the Wargod’s core members had their suites on the very top floor. The roof was directly above, so it was easy to come and go.

[“Even here, you still get veteran perks, says the Lord of Chaos, shaking his head.”]

“Well… I should at least get that much treatment.”

[“Nari. Ever since you joined the Sanctuary, you’ve changed. Hm? The Lord of Chaos looks at you.”]

Shin Bitnari at twenty-five would have blasted this kind of nonsense without mercy, but Lude, a number 1 S-rank rank, had grown used to all the conveniences the Sanctuary gave him, and with blurred eyes that overlooked the nonsense, he opened the roof door.

Screeeech, the metal door barely budged open. It was the typical school roof scene, a chain-link fence set up so no one would fall.

Maybe because there weren’t any dizzying city lights, the stars up above looked pretty. It was quiet, not a single car sound.

Now and then, “Kyaaaah!” a scream rang out, but it still felt like a good place to pass some time.

“Maybe because the gate’s under management, the monsters are in a lot of pain. Sounds like human screams.”

[“Not monsters. That’s a water deer.”]

“Waaah, you scared me!!”

Lude had a hand on the can’s pull tab to pop the hot chocolate lid when the AI’s cool voice cut in, and he jumped, startled, and glanced around.

“W-What, what, what was that!”

Jeong Suho stood right beside him in a white short-sleeved shirt. He seemed startled too by Lude’s shout, eyes gone round, frozen on the spot.

“Ha, seriously, I thought my heart was going to stop.”

[“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. You seemed mistaken, so I thought I should tell you.”]

“I got it, I got it. Still, make some noise when you walk, okay. Please.”

[“Yes, understood.”]

Looking abashed, Jeong Suho scratched the back of his head and went to the spot he’d been occupying, dropping into a seat.

It looked like they had set out a few chairs and a small table or two so people could relax. On the table beside the chair where Jeong Suho had been sitting, a few beer cans sat.

Lude thought about just going back down, but that felt like he’d be avoiding him, which would look lame, so he took a different chair a little ways away and sat.

“No, I’m good. I’m fine.”

Jeong Suho held out a beer can as if to ask if he wanted one too, but Lude only shook his head and popped his hot chocolate.

Warmth filled both hands, and he let out a deep breath. Jeong Suho wasn’t the type to talk unless someone spoke to him first, and Lude had nothing in particular to say either, so they sat quietly.

‘I’ll just kill a little time and head down.’

They’d spent enough hours together that he seemed to have grown some tolerance. Just being together didn’t send his temperature spiking. After a long silence, when the hot chocolate in his hands had gone cold, Jeong Suho’s AI voice sounded.

[“Thank you for agreeing to help us. I should’ve said this first. I’m sorry.”]

“Ah.”o leave. Money? I don’t need it, don’t send it. It makes me sick. I’ll disappear from your life, so do what you want and live well.”

“Please. That’s not it. Please listen. Nari!!”

Gathering her clothes and heading for the front door, Nari ran with Jeong Suho crying behind her. She crushed her heel into her shoe, grabbed the door, and Jeong Suho caught her shoulder.

Crying as he pleaded, Nari looked up at him and spoke through gritted teeth.

“If you’re going to keep acting like that, then just never show your face to me again. No, just never come near me. I’m sick to death of it.”

The strength went out of his hand on her shoulder. Wearing a cold expression, Nari stepped out the door. And that was the end. That was the last time.

Nari’s last words became a blade and stuck in Jeong Suho. And they became the first status ailment, tormenting him for a very long time.