“How many went out?” I asked.

“Seven,” Lee Ji-Hye answered.

I was sure the person walking in front of the group was Yoo Seok-Woo. They were still far away from the shelter, so I couldn’t see them clearly, but the three people that were walking behind him were people I had never seen at the shelter. Out of the seven people, which included Yoo Seok-Woo, the other six were missing and were instead replaced by three strangers that were heading towards the shelter.

It was only right to assume that something must have happened to Yoo Seok-Woo’s party during the hunt and he received help from these people he was walking with right now.

Thinking of this…

‘Did everyone die except for Yoo Seok-Woo?’

There was a good chance that this was what happened.

Based on the gear that the three survivors were wearing, they weren’t any Tom, Dick, or Harry. One of them was holding a sword and shield, another had a spear and the remaining one had a bow. Based on the atmosphere around them and the bandages that were wrapped around their injuries, I was certain that they had fought against those monsters several times at the least.

‘Mind’s Eye.’

[Checking Player Jung Jin-Ho’s Status Window and Potential.]

[Name - Jung Jin-Ho]

[Age - 29]

[Nature - Calculative Killer]

[Job - Magic Swordsman - Rare Rank]

[Stats]

[Strength - 25/Above epic growth limit]

[Agility - 23/Above epic growth limit]

[Stamina - 24/Above epic growth limit]

[Intelligence - 20/Below rare growth limit]

[Endurance - 23/Below epic growth limit]

[Luck - 15/Below rare growth limit]

[Magic - 08/Above rare growth limit]

[Attribute - None]

[Overall Review - Player Jung Jin-Ho has amazing stats, so I can’t say it’s all that bad. Not only is his overall balance excellent, but he’s very well-rounded. If Jung Jin-Ho focuses on his growth, then I’m sure he’ll be able to reach the top. I really like his nature. If possible, I would recommend staying away from him since he could be a very dangerous person to you.]

‘Magic Swordsman?’

Just by looking at his stats, I was able to realize that his stats were perfectly balanced and the part that stood out to me the most was his magic stats and job.

‘Magic?’

Besides Kim Hyun-Sung, he was the first person I saw that possessed magic stats despite not being a mage.

I couldn’t keep my eyes off of his Rare-rank magic swordsman job.

He even had eight magic points, which was higher than mine, and just the fact that he possessed magic was more than enough to label him as a strong player.

However, Jung Jin-Ho’s nature was what stood out the most.

Calculative killer.

I had seen a lot of nature so far, but this was my first time seeing this kind of nature.

The other two survivors that were beside him weren’t all that different. Even though their stats were slightly below mine and Park Deok-Gu’s, their overall stats weren’t bad, but their nature wasn't as positive as a kind-hearted mediator or innocent supporter.

“I guess I should get ready to greet the guests again. Just by looking at them, I can tell that they’re able to fight…but I’m not sure if that’s a good thing,” Lee Ji-Hye said.

“Go inside and call for Park Deok-Gu and Jung Ha-Yan,” I ordered her.

“Excuse me?” she asked

“Hurry up.”

I didn’t answer her question and immediately started reciting a spell with a frown.

Lee Ji-Hye must have thought that something was going to happen, so she started heading towards the shelter with a serious look. I also started moving back a little.

“Lord, I, hope, my voice, answer, burn the enemy, give me, strength,” I recited.

They did not seem to be particularly hostile just yet because the way they walked towards the shelter looked leisurely at best.

Jung Ha-Yan’s nature was innocent supporter, so there was a possibility that their nature and actual actions may be inconsistent just like hers, but I thought that it would be best to at least be prepared.

‘Damn it.’

I built my magic tower with my mana and even recited the spell. Now, all I had to do was finish the spell. But I suppressed it to prevent the spell from escaping my lips.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Jung Jin-Ho.”

It was because they greeted me first. When I saw them take a step forward towards me, I took two steps back.

‘Boundary.’

I already knew how fast a person was when their agility point was over 20 and honestly, this distance between us was still dangerous for me.

The two people that were beside Jung Jin-Ho may not have noticed that I was trying my best to suppress my magic, but since Jung Jin-Ho possessed magic stats, I was sure he knew that I was suppressing my magic right now.

When he greeted me, I spoke while maintaining my distance. “Nice to meet you. My name is Lee Ki-Young.”

“Oh! I’ve heard a lot about you from Mr. Seok-Woo,” he said.

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“I heard that you changed your job to a mage recently and that you’re able to shoot out fire from your hand…I would like to see it someday,” Jung Jin-Ho said.

‘Yoo Seok-Woo, you trash. Useless bastard.’

“I see.”

“It was really interesting. I already knew that we can obtain new powers in this place, but…it is my first time meeting a mage…oh! You don’t have to be so wary of me,” he said.

I may die if I made the slightest mistake, so not being wary of him was even more strange. The sword, shield, and bow that they were holding was making me feel frustrated.

I slightly glanced over at Yoo Seok-Woo and saw a slightly nervous expression on his face. I wasn’t sure which part was making him nervous, but I thought that it wasn’t a positive signal.

“This place is amazing. I heard that there were a lot of survivors, but I doubted it. After seeing this place, I can understand how over 30 survivors were able to survive together thus far,” Jung Jin-Ho said.

“I was surprised as well when I first saw this place and it’s all thanks to Mr. Hyun-Sung. More than that, how…” I asked.

“Oh, we discovered Mr. Seok-Woo and his party nearby and saw them getting surrounded by the monsters. Unfortunately, we discovered them too late, so we couldn’t save the others, but…we were lucky enough to save Mr. Seok-Woo,” he explained.

When I looked at Yoo Seok-Woo again, I saw him nodding.

‘Seriously…’

Out of all the people he could have brought, he brought these three. I was shocked by his decision-making.

There was an ominous atmosphere around Jung Jin-Ho and maybe it was the effects of my luck stat, but my senses were yelling at me to not go near him.

“That’s a relief. I was actually starting to get worried because I heard that Mr. Seok-Woo went out to hunt, although there's nothing much we can do…about the others…” I said.

“If only we found them sooner, we could have saved all of them…it’s really unfortunate,” Jung Jin-Ho commented.

When I started nervously rolling my eyes, I sensed Jung Ha-Yan and Park Deok-Gu coming out.

“What’s going on hyung-nim?” Park Deok-Gu asked.

“We have newcomers,” I answered.

I felt less nervous with them around.

On the outside, Park Deok-Gu definitely looked like a threat because of the way he was holding his shield. Of course, there was no need for me to talk about his stats because I believe not even Jung Jin-Ho would be able to break through him because of his high endurance and stamina stats. Lee Ji-Hye must have said something to him because he was wearing his flimsy leather gear and was standing in front of these three with hostility. Honestly, he looked pretty reliable this way.

I noticed Jung Ha-Yan mumbling something with her head down. I didn’t feel a large amount of magic from her just yet, but I was certain that she was preparing herself in case something untoward happened.

“This was kind of unexpected…I thought we would be welcome,” Jung Jin-Ho said.

It was when he realized that we were being openly wary of him.

“I’m sorry, it’s because of the situation we’re in…I can’t help but be wary of someone that I’ve just met. If I’m being rude…” I said.

“It’s fine, Mr. Ki-Young, we totally understand. We have been attacked by people who tried to take our supplies before,” he answered.

“Oh.”

“I think there’s a group of bad people wandering around nearby. We barely managed to escape, but I think some people did die. We saw a lot of people getting slaughtered on our way here,” Jung Jin-Ho explained.

I wanted to ask whether they were the ones who did the slaughtering since my attribute never lied.

I wasn’t sure whether they went around and killed people or not, but I was certain that Jung Jin-Ho was capable of causing trouble. If an ordinary person’s nature was a calculative killer, then, of course, no one would be able to understand them.

“It was a very horrible sight. The monsters already devoured half of their bodies, so we couldn’t check them properly, but I saw traces on their bodies that were created by humans, not monsters. I’m certain they were sword marks,” he explained.

“Is that so?” I asked.

“Yes. They must’ve tried to run away because I noticed traces of arrows on their bodies and it seemed like they were trying to resist…I think one of the survivors from the bad group is an archer and since there were stab wounds, it’s…probably safe to assume that the group uses swords. Have you seen them?” he asked.

“No,” I answered.

I naturally looked over at the man that was quietly holding his bow while standing next to Jung Jin-Ho.

I didn’t understand his intention for bringing that up, but one thing I was certain of was that a strange tension has been created between us.

‘Is he challenging me?’

I was curious to see if he was really challenging me.

Park Deok-Gu must have seen my expression because he quietly moved forward with his shield up in order to protect me and Jung Ha-Yan from the front.

I wondered if Jung Jin-Ho couldn’t see Park Deok-Gu.

This guy is probably…

‘Is he confident?’

There was a good chance he was.

Everything was nothing more than my assumption, but he seemed like he was targeting this place.

The fact that Jung Jin-Ho’s arm kept reaching for his waist bothered me, and I was sure that it bothered Park Deok-Gu as well.

“It’s possible that they’re active in an area nearby that your party hasn’t reached yet,” Jung Jin-Ho said.

“That’s a possibility, but I’ve never heard or seen those people before,” I told him.

It was then that Jung Jin-Ho’s hand was about to grab the handle of his sword, so I immediately executed my spell. No, I almost did, to be exact. If I didn’t hear Kim Hyun-Sung’s voice, I was sure that I would have summoned a fire ball.

“What’s going on?” Kim Hyun-Sung asked.

The hand that was about to grab his sword slowly went down to his pants. Seeing Jung Jin-Ho wipe his hand on his pants and then extending his hand out towards me for a handshake was a sight to see.

I wasn’t sure if this was his intention from the beginning, but after Kim Hyun-Sung appeared, the atmosphere around him slightly changed.

After canceling the spell that I recited, I grabbed Jung Jin-Ho’s hand.

“Anyways, it’s nice to meet you, Mr. Ki-Young,” Jung Jin-Ho said.

“It is nice to meet you as well, Mr. Jin-Ho.”

I slightly turned my head and looked at Kim Hyun-Sung who was approaching this way. I was sure that he had suffered for a few days, but he didn’t look exhausted at all.

Kim Hyun-Sung casually turned his attention towards the people that Yoo Seok-Woo brought.

“I’m glad to see that you’re safe. It’s a bit of a long story, but Mr. Seok-Woo brought these people…”

“It’s nice to meet you, my name is Jung Jin-Ho,” he said, interrupting me.

It was then that I thought that Kim Hyun-Sung’s expression looked strange because when he looked at Jung Jin-Ho, his expression looked slightly stiff.

It felt like deja vu. His expression was different, but it was very similar to the time when he first met Jung Ha-Yan.

‘Does he know?’

Kim Hyun-Sung may know the future Jung Jin-Ho. Of course, nothing was certain, but when I saw the rigid look on his face and the anger in his eyes, I became certain that he knew about something because even my body started to tremble.

‘Why is Kim Hyun-Sung…reacting like this?’

He was acting a bit different from the Kim Hyun-Sung that I knew.