"Daily Quest?" Kyung-Soo read the requirements and laughed, "No offense Jinwoo, but I don't see you doing all that. 100 Pushups, 100 Situps, and a 10-kilometer run?"
Jinwoo chuckled nervously, "I don't blame you, maybe it's not a requirement?"
"If it wasn't then what's the point of that timer? It doesn't look like you have much time left on it either…" Kyung-Soo pointed at the circle with 6 notches remaining.
"But does this thing really expect me to do all that? Especially since I just woke up from a 3-day coma?!" Jinwoo exclaimed. Kyung-Soo shrugged and patted him on the back, "I don't know man, I'd say give it a go regardless, you never know if there's a penalty or something."
Jinwoo sighed dejectedly as Kyung-Soo looked at his watch, "Yikes! I have to pick up Haewon and make dinner! I'll stop by later and drop you off a plate! It was nice seeing you!" Kyung-Soo waved as he ran out of the room.
—————-
[Kyung-Soo's apartment]
"Big Brother, whose the pretty lady? Is she your girlfriend?" Haewon whispered. She and Kyung-Soo were in the kitchen bringing out the food as Yujin sat at the table.
"No no, she's our new neighbor. I helped her move in and invited her to dinner because I'm a good neighbor." Haewon looked at Kyung-Soo with narrowed eyes before she gave him a thumbs up, "Good luck Big Brother! Love is…a battle? Or is it a fight?"
Kyung-Soo bonked her on the head, "It's love is war, and who is teaching you this?"
Haewon stuck her tongue out and ran out of the kitchen holding the pot of rice. Kyung-Soo sighed and brought the two other entrees to the table.
"I hope it's to your liking, I don't know what rich people eat," Kyung-Soo nervously laughed, and Yujin smiled.
"Don't worry, I haven't had food from my chef in months, I've been doing all of my own cooking…" Yujin mumbled something else that was ineligible to Kyung-Soo.
"Well then, let's eat!" Kyung-Soo exclaimed. They ate and talked about various topics. The atmosphere was warm and she even helped wash the dishes. Once Kyung-Soo put Haewon to bed, they stood alone on the balcony.
"I don't even know why I drink these anymore, I can't get drunk," Kyung-Soo waved his can of beer around with a laugh. Yujin didn't laugh and when he glanced at her, it was like she was staring into him.
"Yon Kyung-Soo, what are you?" Yujin asked with a mild amount of suspicion laced in her tone and a tinge of fear.
'There is no point in lying, she's staring right at me again…' Kurama said with a growl.
Kyung-Soo pinched his nose and sighed, "I'm not some monster or anything. The fox you're staring at is the reason I can do this."
Kyung-Soo transformed and Yujin's eyes widened, "Your mana is like a raging flame…if you can do this, why do continue to stay an E-Ranker? You could easily reevaluate and become a B-Ranker!"
Kyung-Soo returned to normal and shook his head, "That's too much attention on me. I'd much rather wait until I'm strong enough to defend my secret if it came down it."
Yujin kept her eyes trained on Kyung-Soo for a while before she spoke, "I trust you, Yon Kyung-Soo…but I'm putting you under special surveillance."
Kyung-Soo frowned, "Special surveillance?"
Yujin smiled and pointed at him, "Yujin's special surveillance! You have to invite me over for dinner every night! That way I can watch you and make sure you aren't a monster in disguise!"
Kyung-Soo had a big question mark above his head, "Huh?"
"The conditions of your special surveillance is me cooking you dinner every night so that you can watch me? Ms. Park, are you a stalker? Should I be worried for my safety and privacy?" Kyung-Soo said blankly and Yujin's face turned bright red.
"No! I'm not a stalker! I clearly said because I want to make sure you're not a monster in disguise!" Yujin yelled and Kyung-Soo put his fist in his hands, "Ohhhh, so you can't cook? The perks of having this fox inside of me is I'm a walking lie detector and I know you don't believe I'm some monster."
A yellow flame enshrouded Yujin, the flames of embarrassment. Her face was bright red and she clutched her fists tight, "Fine! Yes, I can't cook! It's too hard…"
"Ahahahaha!" Kyung-Soo held his stomach and laughed until tears came out. Yujin was only growing angrier and angrier and really considered punching him.
"Okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's just how does a rich girl like you, the heiress to the largest conglomerate in Korea, not know how to cook?" Kyung-Soo's laugh died to a chuckle as he spoke.
"Shut up!" Yujin threw her beer can at Kyung-Soo's head. He let it hit him and laughed again.
"How about we change the conditions of this special surveillance? Instead of me making you dinner every night, I could just teach you?" Kyung-Soo suggested and Yujin had stars in her eyes, "Really?!"
Kyung-Soo nodded and Yujin presented her hand for a handshake. Kyung-Soo shook her hand and she smiled, "I guess it's a deal then! Starting tomorrow, Yon Kyung-Soo will be under Park Yujin's special surveillance!"
"Yup." Kyung-Soo smiled. They had a bit of small talk before Yujin noticed how late it was and went home.
'I'll make sure to close my eyes when you too start getting down and dirty,' Kurama laughed, and now Kyung-Soo's cheeks were red, "Shut up…"
He looked at the time and it was 11 pm! He told Jinwoo he'd be back in a few hours but not this late! He packed Jinwoo some leftover food and ran to the hospital at full speed. He knew visiting hours were closed so he jumped from the first floor to the third floor and tapped on Jinwoo's window.
"A little late don't you think? This timer is about to run out!" Jinwoo yelled quietly as he opened his window. Kyung-Soo scratched his head nervously, "Sorry dude, I was busy chatting with my neighbor. But hey look! I brought you some food like I promised!"
Jinwoo smiled and accepted the food, "Look at the timer, it's red now, scary…"
Kyung-Soo agreed but noticed the circle had twenty-four notches, "If I'm correct, this timer is 24 hours long. It's a daily quest of course it is…"
"Which means we only have an hour left! I didn't notice it earlier but it does say a penalty will occur if I don't complete it within the allotted time but it can't be that bad right?" Jinwoo asked fearfully.
"All we can do is wait I guess…" If only they knew of the horror they were about to go through.
————
[1 hour later, Penalty Zone]
"WHY THE FUCK DID IT INCLUDE ME TOO!! I'M NOT THE ONE WITH THE SCREENS!!" Kyung-Soo yelled as he dodged the mandibles of a giant centipede.
"SHUT UP AND RUN! WE'LL FIGURE OUT THE WHOLE PARTY MEMBER THING LATER!" Jinwoo yelled and now wished he had done his daily quest.
————
[10 minutes prior]
The final notch on the timer went down and Jinwoo got prepared for the worst.
[Party member detected]
[Player: Sung Jinwoo's party created]
[Party member: Yon Kyung-Soo, will now share the penalty]
[Survive :)]
"WHAT?!"
"HUHH?!"
————
[The present, 3 hours and 50 minutes until the penalty is over]
"FUCK RUNNING, THESE CENTIPEDES CAN GO TO HELL!!" Kyung-Soo stopped in his tracks and transformed. He ran towards a centipede and punched its hard carapace enough to crack it.
"DIE MOTHERFUCKER!" Kyung-Soo punched it harder and harder until his fist went through its head. The centipede tried throwing him off but to no avail and Kyung-Soo stuck his hands inside of the wound.
"RAAAAAHHHHH!!" He ripped the centipede's giant head in half. Kyung-Soo's body was so hot, the blood from the centipede was evaporating off his hands.
An exorbitant amount of mana was coursing through Kyung-Soo's veins at the moment, due to his emotional distress. He got on all fours as a red one-tailed cloak encased him.
At the same moment, a red screen appeared in front of Jinwoo.
[Emergency Quest: Calm or incapacitate Yon Kyung-Soo before he reaches 4 tails.
If you do not succeed in doing so, you will die.]
[Time Limit: 30 minutes]