Chapter 351

“Hey, hamster. Why don’t you stand up properly?”

“I told you not to call me that!”

The next day, despite my request, the servants all started to call me hamster or Ham-Lee-kyung.

When I looked at Eunji with betrayed eyes, she hesitated before blurting out “Jung Garam-kun said he would keep it to himself…” and trailing off.

I couldn’t really blame the girl who was blinded by love, so I tried to calm myself down.

However, when Choi Kyung-sik handed me a potion and said, with a grin, “I added some sunflower seeds to suit your taste,” or when Woo Ragi sneered and mocked me as I fell during training, I couldn’t possibly restrain my fists.

I forced myself to stand up in order to slap Woo Ragi at least once, but…

Smack–!

I was struck by the cane the Swordsman was holding and collapsed once more.

“I told you not to dawdle when getting up. I told you to stand up as quickly as possible.”

“……”

Even though he watched how I stumbled about, Woo Ragi flourished his hand without any delay. I reached out again, bracing myself against the sharp impact against my backside.

Jung Garam, who was watching us from behind, shouted annoyingly, “Hyung, be a little gentler with your hits. As expected, I should have been the one to teach Ham-Lee-kyung…”

“What did you say, you pervert?”

“Why am I a pervert!”

“Take a look in the mirror.” Woo Ragi was not only mean to me but also to Garam-ie as well. And, at that time, my thoughts matched the Swordsman’s. Whenever Jung Garam stared at me lately, chills ran down my spine.

While Woo Ragi completely dismissed me as he beat me, Garamie would reveal some…sort of sticky, clingy emotion before he hit me… If I had to choose between the two, I’d rather spar with the confrontational Woo Ragi, the lesser of the two evils.

‘If it was going to be like this, I’d rather spar with Seo Dawon…’

I groaned melancholically inside, but it was hard to read Dawon-ie’s expressions when he looked over at my training. It didn’t seem like he was all that happy with letting the other kids handle my instruction, but he didn’t particularly oppose it either.

Was he always trying to prioritize practicality over his own emotions? Anyways, it was embarrassing to roll around on the floor in front of the Mage. I gritted my teeth and tried my best to dodge Woo Ragi’s attacks.

And, like that, 10 minutes had barely passed, when…

“Enough.” Kim Olim, whose attention had been on the stopwatch, stopped the spar. However, Woo Ragi finished by hitting me on the chin, and I was sent rolling on the floor.

“Ah, Shi–” I started.

[Clack Clack!!!]

“Hmph.”

Lackey protested strongly while observing us, but Woo Ragi only raised his chin arrogantly. I got up from my ungraceful flop and rubbed my tingling chin. I also hastily removed my sweat-soaked protective gear.

“Ham Lee-kyung blocked none of the 300 attack attempts. Of course, he couldn’t avoid them either. If it weren’t for the armor, your body wouldn’t be able to withstand this.” Kim Olim cooly evaluated our spar.

I bowed my head and murmured gloomily, “…Honestly, you guys knew that this would be too much for me.”

“That’s right. We’ve tried this method before, but I’m afraid we’re running out of time to make this method effective.” With that said, Kim Olim looked at Seo Dawon. I felt somewhat uneasy as they exchanged glances.

Then, as if she had decided on something serious, she continued firmly, “…So, as Seo Dawon has said, you should actively use your skills.”

“What?”

When I didn’t understand straight away, Seo Dawon answered me, “Let’s use [Possession], Lee-kyung-ah.”

“[Possession]?” While I tried to recall what skill that was, I remembered how Seo Dawon fought using my body in the [Owl’s Ghost Ship] dungeon. “So, you mean… You want to spar while I’m using [Possession]?”

Could I use a skill on my teammates?

No one opposed that idea. Woo Ragi looked calm, as if he was forewarned. With my class skill window floating before me, I asked Seo Dawon, “Do I just call on you?”

“No. Mmm… I think it would be better to call Garam-ie, Olim-ie, or even Eunji.”

“I want to do it!” As soon as the Mage finished speaking, Jung Garam raised his hand in the air. No one opposed. I felt a little uneasy, but I was a little curious about what training while using [Possession] would be like. So, I executed the skill.

“[Possession]!”

[‘Possession’ skill has been executed…. Please select a servant.]

There were far more symbols in front of me than when I had used this skill before. This was probably because I had succeeded in contracting with more servants than when I was only able to summon Seo Dawon and Lackey.

I looked at the various shining symbols. And, among them, I found one floating above Jung Garam’s name: a blue shark with an open mouth.

[You’ve selected ‘Jung Garam’.]

[Evaluating synergy rate…]

[Currently your synergy rate is 65%! The closer the rate is to 100%, the stronger the skill will be.]

[Would you like to solve the ‘Synchronization Quiz’ to raise the synergy rate?]

I pressed [Yes] and waited a moment.

[1 – What is Jung Garam’s favorite number?

1) 1. 2) 20. 3) 35. 4) 444. 5) 89]

‘How am I supposed to know this?’

The ‘Synchronize Quiz’ was hard to answer this time as well. There was no way that Garam and I would have a conversation like this. Who would ask, ‘What’s your favorite number?’

However, I pressed 1–even if I was wrong, I needed to answer.

[You’ve answered correctly! However, servant ‘Jung Garam’ answered wrong.]

[Current synergy rate: 71%…]

[Starting ‘Possession’.]

“Hah? I got it right?”

“Tsk.. How am I supposed to know about any of that?”

I heard Garam-ie’s grumbling voice, but soon, dizziness hit me. I had to close my eyes. Once I opened them, I was looking down at my body. Lackey approached me and even started to whimper.

And…

“Oh? This feels awesome?” Accompanied by an unfamiliar tone, my body clenched and unclenched my fist with a gleam in my eyes. Although it was my face, the attitude and expression were unmistakably Jung Garam’s.

And Woo Ragi, who had been observing us, didn’t rush in as he did with me. Instead, he gripped the cane like a sword and shouted, “Come at me.”

“Should I loosen up a bit?” Garam-ie, now within my body due to [Possession], snapped his neck and stretched his arms upward. Even though he was simply stretching, the atmosphere felt different from when I was in control. Anyone would easily distinguish between when I and Jung Garam were in control of my body.

And…

Whip–!

Woo Ragi’s cane, which rushed forward immediately, sliced through the air with an audible sound for the first time. Jung Garam, stepping back lightly with his heels raised and ready to bolt, pouted with his tongue peeking out. He smiled mischievously, “Hmm… About two seconds? There’s a delay. Tsk, I wonder if it’s because he’s not used to moving his muscles…”

But even after dodging the attack like that, Garam didn’t stop dissing my body. I was a bit annoyed but eventually kept my mouth shut. The fact that Garam could exhibit such movements with my body, despite the substantial level difference between us, was surprising.

Seo Dawon was also able to move smoothly after entering my body, but Jung Garam’s class required him to utilize his body; the young assassin’s movements felt different. He operated my body like a robot, moving each part separately and meticulously.

Woo Ragi observed us silently before suddenly brandishing the cane in the air. However, the resulting sound was quite unnatural.

“H-Hey. Shouldn’t you put on the protective gear?” I asked.

“Do you think I’d get hit 300 times like you, Ham-Lee-kyung?”

“Scared?”

Garam-ie ignored both my concern and the other’s taunt. Furthermore, Kim Olim announced the start of the ensuing fierce battle with the click of her stopwatch. “Let’s time this again. You’re both forbidden from using skills.”

“Oka~ay.”

“Hurry up. I’m getting bored of waiting.”

As soon as Kim Olims said, “Start,” they faced each other at a speed my eyes couldn’t follow. Garam-ie was not only able to avoid the attacks but also launch counterattacks as well.

I opened my mouth wide as I saw my own fist graze past Woo Ragi’s face. “Th-That’s possible…?”

Kim Olim, who was still watching those two, answered me, “When there’s a considerable gap in ability or level, sometimes it’s more advantageous to switch to an offensive strategy.”

“Then…”

“Currently, Woo Ragi holds an overwhelming advantage. Jung Garam is also outstanding in his own right, but he’s clumsy since he’s not controlling his own body.”

Before her words ended, chillingly, Woo Ragi’s cane changed its trajectory. The end of the cane swung horizontally and nearly touched my throat. If he had reached out any further, I would have been seriously injured, but Jung Garam managed to stop his momentum just in time, narrowly avoiding the hit.

As soon as the young Assassin paused, he frowned, “Ham-Lee-kyung’s body is freaking heavy…”

“Isn’t it more problematic that he doesn’t have any muscles?”

“That doesn’t bother me too much since I was prepared for that in the first place… But there’s too many blindspots in his view, and his lungs feel like they’re about to burst even though I’ve only done this much.”

“How can you feel so weak if your cardiovascular system is healthy?”

“Haah… I really wonder how you’ve gone in and out of dungeons until now with this trash body.”

“…I don’t need to hear that from you two.” When Woo Ragi and Jung Garam just started commenting on my body, I couldn’t endure and I ended up shouting at them.

But, just then, someone gently grabbed my arm from behind.

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TL: Honestly, without even reading the other options, I pretty much guessed that Jung Garam’s favorite number is 1.

To be honest, I’m not sure how the system decides what the correct answer is. It’s not like the servants and Lee-kyung fill out a personality and taste quiz beforehand.