"You guys are stupid."
Cheon Areum leaned back on the rock as he scanned their faces. The choice was clear and simple, yet they hesitated so much, as if their lives weren't on the line.
"If I carry this much, I'll be exhausted by the time we reach the boss. How can I heal anyone in that state?"
After giving them a reasonable argument, most of them looked at each other as if agreeing with him in silence. The only one who still seemed reluctant to agree was their leader, who couldn't put his pride away in exchange for a healer—especially a healer with this kind of attitude.
"If you apologize to me, I'll consider reducing the luggage and we'll continue like before. I'm being really generous with a lowlife like you, so pick wisely."
"...A lowlife."
Cheon Areum stood up from the rock, dusting himself off lightly. He glared at the leader with an expressionless face.
"Would you believe me if I said I'm supposed to be a ruthless villain? Especially to high-pride Awakeners like you?"
Picking up a sharp, hand-sized rock from the ground, he tossed it gingerly in the air.
"What kind of nonsense are you sprouting now?! This nutcase—how did we get so unlucky to be locked in here with him?"
Holding his throbbing head, the leader lamented his fate—just as a rock, thrown at a speed invisible to the eye, hit his eyebrow. Blood dripped from the open cut, dyeing his eyelid a warm red.
"Would you like me to heal you, leader?"
*
Cheon Areum yawned as he watched another damage dealer run to him like a chick chasing after its mother. They were already at the boss stage after just an hour. They had only just started fighting the monster—twice their size—but the number of people running to him with cuts and scratches had already exceeded the one-person-per-minute limit.
"Areum, I got a cut on my arm again."
The C-Class damage dealer whined, holding out his arm. Cheon Areum healed the man—a bulky, muscular guy—for the fourth time in the last ten minutes. His ability to heal wasn't difficult to use. It was child's play for him. First, he needed to target the area he intended to heal, then with a bit of focus, he poured his energy into the injury precisely. The blackish-transparent energy seeped into the cut, healing it instantly. This much, he could do without breaking a sweat. But as the number of people increased, sweat began pooling on his forehead and he became lethargic by the end of it.
Thankfully, the boss was defeated without anyone being critically injured. He had reached his limit, having used up all his energy healing people for the past 50 minutes. It took them a total of two hours to clear a C-Class dungeon with a team of 15 individuals. Despite having a B-Class leader, they struggled quite a bit—obviously from having an idiot in charge.
After a quick snack and water break, they made their way back to the gate of the dungeon—their starting point. Cheon Areum had to eat three energy bars to regain enough energy to crawl back to the gate, all while being targeted by the leader's sharp eyes. As they exited the gate one by one, in no particular order, the leader passed by him, cutting the line. Then he heard the words whispered just for him:
"If I had released my pheromones back there, you'd be spreading your legs for me, begging me to fuck you."
The voice was laced with ridicule. By the time he registered the words whispered into his ear, the leader had already exited through the gate in front of him. Cheon Areum stood in place, shocked. It was his first time being harassed like this—he was more surprised than anything.
At the word pheromones, something clicked in his mind.
Pheromones... omegaverse.
They were in an omegaverse.
Belatedly remembering that the book was an omegaverse, he slowly walked out of the gate. Now that he thought about it, wasn't the villain in the book an Omega?
"Areum."
Hearing his name spoken so casually, from so close, he lifted his head. The C-Class damage dealer he had depleted most of his energy healing was standing in front of him, smiling gently. He tilted his head slightly, and after realizing it, everything became clearer in his eyes. The man standing in front of him was an Alpha. He could tell with just a glance—he felt it instinctively.
"Aren't you tired? I can drop you off—I brought my car with me."
At any other time, he would have agreed without a second thought. Just thinking about walking back to his apartment drained him. But as an Omega, he should be avoiding closed-off spaces and being alone with an Alpha. The earlier comment jolted him awake. The only reason the leader hadn't acted on that was because there were too many eyes on them.
"No, I'm alright. Thank you."
"Gunwoo! What are you doing? Let's go!"
The leader beckoned the Alpha in front of him. Gunwoo smiled understandingly and waved at Cheon Areum before running off with the others.
Cheon Areum was left alone in the alley. He slowly walked out.
"Wait! My money!"
He had been so out of it—how could he forget about the most important thing? That leader bastard left without paying him!
"Haa..."
Sighing, he pulled out his phone to call the leader, but the man never picked up. Cheon Areum felt like fainting, so he just grabbed a taxi and weakly walked up to the third floor. One gate seemed to be his limit as an F-Class. Well, it would be fortunate for him to even clear one gate a day. Freelance Awakeners had a hard time finding work, especially the lower classes. One gate a day would be him daydreaming.
"Rian."
Cheon Areum opened the door to his apartment, but no one came out to greet him, so he called out softly. He took off his shoes and walked inside. It was too quiet. Rian could just be sleeping, but he still became anxious when he didn't hear his voice upon entering.
The bedroom door was ajar, and there he saw Rian sleeping horizontally on the bed. He tucked him in carefully, not wanting to wake him. Rian must've woken up early to prepare that egg roll for him, so it was only natural for him to fall asleep now. Cheon Areum walked to the kitchen, grabbing a water bottle and a sandwich from the bag on the counter. The rest, he put in the refrigerator.
This much food would probably only last them a day. They could manage tomorrow, but he still needed to earn money to keep them afloat. The second awakening could come anytime—from a day to a year. He couldn't rely on that possibility alone.
As a spoiled brat, he never had to think about how to earn money—especially in such a situation. When he was reading this book, he liked the villain for his reckless actions. Not once did he think of him as someone who had to worry about such troubling problems. He had underestimated Cheon Areum—surviving through such hopeless circumstances while taking care of a kid...
His eyes darted to the phone sitting on the countertop. He wished the original possessor of this body had kept a journal or made plans for how to move forward. Cheon Areum put half the sandwich back. He couldn't muster up an appetite right now. He had always been like this—if he had a problem to overcome, he couldn't do anything else until it was solved. He focused all his attention on it.
*Ringing*
The previously silent phone rang. His hand quickly suppressed the speaker. Turning to make sure Rian was still asleep, he silenced the call immediately. It was an unknown number. Despite forgetting numbers easily, Cheon Areum hadn't saved a single contact. Before the call could end, he picked it up.
"Hello."
He kept his voice low and walked to the empty corner of the apartment—farthest from the bedroom.
"Is this Cheon Areum?"
A deep voice came through the other end. He recognized it but couldn't immediately place the person.
"Yes. Who is this?"
"Areum! I got your number from the leader. I'm Park Gunwoo—the one who offered you a ride back home. Do you remember me?"
Right. It was the Alpha who kept sticking to his side in the dungeon. Gunwoo didn't wait for a reply and continued speaking.
"The leader forgot to pay you, so I took the initiative to send you the money. Can you check if you received it?"
Cheon Areum was flabbergasted—the phone slipped from his ear. There was a message from the bank: he had received one million won. He narrowed his eyes and rubbed them. This couldn't be... He never thought seeing a million won would shock him, but life was full of unpredictable events.
"I did... Is this the correct amount? This seems a bit too much..."
Although he was happy to see his bank account gain more zeros, it made him uneasy. As an F-Class, this might be the highest one-gate payment ever. There had to be a catch. There was no way he got paid this much after causing such a scene—and directly hitting the leader. Unless... this was money for his funeral?
"Areum? Are you listening? I asked if you were free tomorrow for a B-Class gate?"