BXBX NOVEL Chapter 52: Planning And Plotting (1)
She grabbed one soldier by the collar, her red eyes glaring at the man\'s soul.
"If anything happens to him," she growled, "none of you will leave here alive! Mark my words!"
"We couldn\'t do anything!" another soldier tried to intervene but was too scared to move. "YuWon told us to leave, so we did!"
Gina stood nearby, equally furious, her fists clenched so tightly that her knuckles were white. But she didn\'t put her hands on the soldiers, because she didn\'t know if she could have controlled her anger then.
Besides, YuWon didn\'t want her mask to slip, so Gina restrained herself, even if it took every ounce of willpower to do it.
"Yeji, I know how you feel," Yuna intervened. "But we should look for YuWon first—"
The group was quarreling when a familiar voice interrupted them.
"What the hell is going on here?"
Everyone turned to see YuWon walking out of a trashed store, wiping some dust off his shirt. Although he looked a bit disheveled, there were no signs of injury on him.
Yeji immediately pushed the guard away and ran towards YuWon, intending to hug him, but his glare made her back away. It was expected, but Gina\'s reaction caught him off-guard.
She stood there, arms crossed, glaring at him just like when she had severed his head. But somewhere there, there was a certain gentleness too. Ignoring everyone, YuWon walked up to her and was about to say something when she hugged him.
"Idiot husband!" she snapped, burying her face in his chest. "You fought that thing alone? Did you even think what would happen to me without you?"
YuWon blinked, surprised by her outburst. But at the same time, he felt a strange warmth in his chest. It was a distant but familiar feeling.
"I, uh, handled it. You know I can take care of myself."
"That\'s not the point!" Gina shot back. "Why do you keep trying to do everything yourself?"
YuWon was about to respond, saying that this was the first time he had fought such a monster without her. Which was true. But Yuna interrupted them.
"Sorry to intervene," she said sheepishly. "But could you tell me where the monster\'s corpse is?"
"In there," YuWon turned, pointing toward the shop behind him.
"Thank you!"
Yuna nodded and rushed inside the shop. Intrigued, YuWon followed behind, only to see her kneeling beside the corpse. YuWon briefly thought of Soo-Ah, pondering if Yuna\'s sub-class had anything to do with necromancy.
Shortly after, the ogre\'s lifeless body disintegrated into tiny fragments that Yuna absorbed. YuWon raised an eyebrow. As she finished absorbing the ogre\'s remains, she stood up and winked at him before walking past him.
Their hands brushed for a moment, and Yuna\'s status page appeared before him again. But this time, there were notable changes to it.
+++
The Overseer\'s Pendant will reveal the target\'s stats to the owner.
Name: Park Yuna
Class: Strategist
Sub-class: Devourer (New!)
Allegiance: ??
Level: 18
Experience: 67.5%
Primary Attributes:
— Health Points (HP): 335 / 420
— Mana Points (MP): 300 / 300
Core Stats:
— Strength: 23
— Agility: 24
— Intelligence: ??
— Defense: 17
— Endurance: 20
— Wisdom: ??
— Luck: ??
Note: Due to the pendant\'s limitations, the owner cannot see the target\'s complete profile
+++
Devourer... So that\'s what she can do.
Other than her subclass, YuWon noticed the changes in her stats. Much like after he absorbed the ogre\'s soul, Yuna\'s strength, endurance, and defense were improved. Even her HP and Exp had increased by over a hundred points.
As for the wink, YuWon didn\'t know what Yuna was planning. But whatever it was, she had YuWon\'s attention now.
"Alright," YuWon said, walking back outside. "Let\'s get out of here."
***
Back at the military base, as soon as they arrived, all eyes were on them. Everyone wanted a share of the goods that they had nothing to get.
No one cared about their messy clothes, and that the soldier didn\'t return with them. They only cared about the heavy bags slung over their shoulders.
Minho wasn\'t far behind and ordered the soldiers to help them with the bags. It was clear Minho wanted control over the resources to distribute them among the crowd. After all, it was the normal procedure.
But just as one of them was about to grab a bag, Yuna stepped in with her characteristic sweet smile. The soldier looked confused, but then she clarified the strange looks.
"Leave a bag for them," she said. "YuWon deserves it after saving the soldiers from that ogre."
The soldiers hesitated for a moment before stepping back. Suddenly murmurs broke into the crowd and everyone began staring at YuWon with resentment.
YuWon knew exactly what Yuna was doing. Letting them have a bag wasn\'t a gesture of gratitude, but a carefully thought-out ploy. She had essentially painted a target on his back.
Since YuWon now had roughly one-fifth of the haul just to himself, it was natural for the others to feel wronged. The people would see him as hoarding resources while they struggled, even though they had done nothing to help get the stuff.
Well played, Yuna.
She was quite like him, clever and manipulative. As for why she would do it? It was quite simple. Isolation can break anyone, no matter how strong they are.
YuWon had experienced it firsthand, so he knew what Yuna was doing. She wanted to isolate him, thinking Gina and Yeji would soon leave him. Then she would swoop in and make him hers.
Most likely, YuWon\'s fighting skills impressed her, and she wanted someone like that by her side. But since he had a wife, she couldn\'t just seduce him, so she resorted to using underhanded tricks.
YuWon smirked inwardly. Now that he knew her game, he wouldn\'t fall into the trap. After he knew exactly how to deal with people like her. For now, he had to play along.
"Thank you for your generosity, Yuna," he nodded. "I appreciate it."
Thinking YuWon had taken the bait, Yuna smiled. YuWon could almost feel her smugness radiating off her. She probably thought she had him exactly where she wanted—just another man falling for her beauty and charm. She had no idea how wrong she was.