I felt a strong arm wrapped around my waist. A scarred back of a hand, straight fingers, veins pulsing beneath pale skin, and the scent of his body up close. Just inches away were Baek Tae-beom’s shadowed, closed eyes, his straight nose, and lips sealed in a tight line.
Unable to even breathe, all I could do was stare at Baek Tae-beom’s face. My eyes flicked to his neatly shaped eyebrows before I finally began to process what was happening.
The pillow had vanished, and I was using one of Baek Tae-beom’s arms as a pillow while the other was draped over me like a blanket. I had no idea how things had ended up like this. I had just fallen asleep without a thought, and somehow I’d woken up to this absurd trial.
I was about to flail my feet in panic when Baek Tae-beom’s eyelids twitched slightly, and I froze as stiff as a board.
Since I wasn’t one to cuddle in my sleep, this clearly meant he had pulled me in first.
If I had known that Baek Tae-beom had a habit of hugging something in his sleep, I never would’ve agreed to sleep with him or even lie next to him in the first place.
He smells… really good…
The thought slipped into my mind before I could stop it, and I squeezed my eyes shut, thinking I’d gone mad. But when I opened them again, all I saw was Baek Tae-beom, filling my entire field of vision. Just like before, it felt like my heart was misfiring.
Arrhythmia?
Barely managing to free myself from the weight of his arm, I half-crawled into the bathroom and dunked my face into the sink.
[CH. Private/Free Wind: Isn’t this like, a love-love event or something?]
[CH. Private/Free Wind: You know, like when you have to see the event scene before the next story unlocks~ /(^^)/]
[CH. Private/Free Wind: Confirming your feelings for each other and all that….]
“It’s not like that.”
[CH. Private/Free Wind: Why not?]
Running a hand through my damp hair, I stared into the mirror. The cold water on my face finally jolted me awake. My pale skin had flushed a faint pink. But whether that was from the cold water or the earlier situation, I couldn’t be sure.
“People… make mistakes. Yeah. People can make mistakes.”
[CH. Private/One More Dazzling Than the Sun: Miiiiiistaaaaake~~~?]
“Anyone could see it was a mistake. I didn’t know Tae-beom had a sleep habit like that. If I had, I wouldn’t have laid down with him. And Tae-beom was asleep, so he wasn’t thinking anything. Also, can you please stop bugging me with those wild, bug-eyed lunges?”
[CH. Private/Free Wind: Bug-eyed lunges, LOL that must be your specialty, Brother~ XD]
[CH. Private/One More Dazzling Than the Sun: The hell did you just say?]
“I’m already mentally fried, and you guys doing this next to me is making it worse.”
After drying off, I left the bathroom and glanced over at Baek Tae-beom, who was still sound asleep, before stepping out of the room and heading downstairs.
Naturally, I pulled out my phone.
[Congratulations! Attendance complete. You’ve been awarded 100 Coins.]
[Current remaining Coins: 2,700]
Aside from the playful sponsorships from the Constellations, I had also steadily built up Coins through daily check-ins. Sure, they weren’t a lot—practically useless most of the time—but they had to be good for something somewhere.
[Fever! A Guardian moved by your consistent attendance has granted a new reward ▽▽▽ Scroll down to check ▽▽▽]
[<Traveler’s Random Box> x10 has been delivered. Check your inventory now!]
Traveler’s Random Box?
[Constellation ‘Free Wind’ winks at you.]
[CH. Private/Free Wind: Nothing lifts the mood like this kinda stuff when you’re feeling weird~]
A scoff escaped me—couldn’t help it. I ended up crouching in the middle of the living room, pulling out the ten boxes from my inventory.
“One, two, three… eight… ten.”
Just the act of retrieving ten boxes, each the size of my head, was a pain in itself. Thanks to that, the living room floor was now littered with boxes. Each one had a wide-brimmed hat illustrated on it and seemed to open easily.
Sitting on the floor, I tried opening one to test it out.
[Traveler’s Random Box ▶LUCKY ITEM◀]
[Congratulations! You’ve acquired ‘Potion F: You and Me Beside the Bench Where the Leaves Fall’.]
[Potion F: You and Me Beside the Bench Where the Leaves Fall]
[Drinking this gives you the feeling of enjoying solitude beside a bench with falling leaves. (Duration: 1 minute)]
It was pure garbage.
“Why not just toss in a literal rock at this point? What kind of item even is this? I can’t even throw it away!”
[CH. Private/Free Wind: For someone who wants to feel autumn vibes, there’s nothing better than this. Don’t you know what it’s like to be lonely? ㅇㅁㅇ;;;;]
“Not particularly interested in knowing, thanks.”
[CH. Private/Free Wind: Weird… It’s actually a hot item among trendy folks these days….]
[CH. Private/One More Dazzling Than the Sun: What’s… an ‘inssa’?]
[CH. Private/Free Wind: Ah~ So, what an inssa is~]
Too fed up to argue, I shoved the potion aside and opened the next box.
[Traveler’s Random Box ▶LUCKY ITEM◀]
[Congratulations! You’ve acquired ‘Cheer Captain’s Fan E’.]
[Cheer Captain’s Fan E]
[Cheer on your fighter with wild enthusiasm! Increases attack power.]
I stared down at the fan, plastered with the oversized image of an unknown figure, then chucked it aside.
“What the hell am I supposed to do with this?!”
[CH. Private/Free Wind: Did you just throw it?!]
[CH. Private/One Who Guides the Dead: It was a gift… and you just… tossed it aside… so carelessly…]
“Who waves a fan around while someone’s fighting? And who the hell is this person drawn on the fan?”
[CH. Private/Free Wind: That’s our youngest—Dionysus when he was little!]
“That’s exactly why this shouldn’t be in here!”
After that, even more ridiculous stuff popped out of the boxes.
[Traveler’s Random Box ▶LUCKY ITEM◀]
[Congratulations! You’ve acquired ‘Stress Relief Candy E’.]
[Stress Relief Candy E]
[Candy that relieves stress. Experience its heavenly sweetness.]
[Wide Vision Skill Scroll F]
[Congratulations! You’ve acquired ‘Wide Vision Skill Scroll F’.]
[Use to gain the skill <Enhanced Vision>. (Enhanced Vision: Vision becomes 1.0 for 5 seconds)]
Okay, this was at least tolerable. I could probably sell something like that somewhere. But then came the next one.
[Congratulations! You’ve acquired ‘Gift Capsule F: The Kind That’ll Probably Piss Off the Receiver’.]
[Gift Capsule F: The Kind That’ll Probably Piss Off the Receiver]
[Opening the capsule will release glitter that’s nearly impossible to wash off. Handle with care.]
At this point, I felt like Hermes himself was screwing with me.
“Are you messing with me?”
[CH. Private/Free Wind: Just hear me out!]
“This is totally rigged, isn’t it? What kind of garbage pulls like this? Even in games, they get roasted for that kind of drop rate. Don’t you know about that one game that got flamed for setting its kit rate at 0.1532 percent?”
[CH. Private/Free Wind: Wait, there’s a game like that?]
[CH. Private/One More Dazzling Than the Sun: Humans are way more wicked than I thought.]
[CH. Private/Free Wind: Look, just hear me out. I would never do that. It’s just that Ga-hyeon has bad luck ㅇㅁㅇ;;;]
“So now it’s my fault?”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Frustrated, I opened one of the two remaining boxes. And, of course, trash again.
[Traveler’s Random Box ▶LUCKY ITEM◀]
[Congratulations! You’ve acquired ‘Sing Like a Frog Potion E’.]
[Sing Like a Frog Potion E]
[Allows the user to sing like a frog. Has a slightly sour taste. (Duration: 5 minutes)]
As I calmly pressed a hand to my forehead, Baek Tae-beom came down the stairs, looking freshly awake. His hair was a little fluffy, and his eyes were still hazy with sleep, but he looked ridiculously handsome regardless. It was honestly baffling at this point.
“What’s all this, hyung?”
“Kit boxes.”
I answered while gazing at the mess covering the living room with mournful eyes. The fact that I’d just been curled up in bed with Baek Tae-beom flashed through my mind, but in the end, I figured—so what?
When you really think about it, there’s no law saying two guys can’t sleep hugging each other.
Baek Tae-beom gave the room a once-over as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, then picked up the last remaining box.
“This the last one?”
“Yeah.”
“Is it like the one Lee Myung-won gave us before?”
“Probably. Wanna open it?”
Baek Tae-beom nodded and opened the box. And then—a flash of brilliant light.
I don’t think I’d ever seen light like that in my life. The burst from the box illuminated the entire living room.
[Traveler’s Random Box ▶LUCKY ITEM◀]
[Congratulations! You’ve acquired ‘Cardinal’s Pristine and Elegant Sword S’.]
[Cardinal’s Pristine and Elegant Sword S]
[An elegant sword said to have been used by a Cardinal clad in a pure white mitre. Greatly increases destructive power. Grants a new skill upon use. (Cannot be used multiple times)]
Baek Tae-beom easily caught the sword as it shot out of the box. I could only gape, speechless, at the unbelievably cool weapon in his hand.
