Canon Fodder

CHAPTER 337 HAPPY COUPLE

I was cleared to leave the hospital the next day. The doctor tried to fight me on it, but when I reminded him I was a Hunter, and threatened to force him to pay my hospital bill he cleared me to leave. Hancock wasn’t so lucky since the Guild was paying for her stay. 

While she was stuck inside I wrapped up any outstanding debts I had to pay and ended the lease on my apartment. Hancock was released the following day and I moved in with her. Christening her spacious condo with our love making, we spent a day there just having fun. Since the daily quests were easy enough we did double the required exercises and received 2 rewards. 

We couldn’t pick stats twice so I settled on Stats and a Random Box. Using my Identification on the random rewards they were quite useful. 

I was able to store them in my Inventory from Tutorial is too Hard, and didn’t have to worry about dying randomly in the Manhwa worlds. On the 4th day after waking up we were on our way out to go for our run when we were stopped by Hancock’s guildmate. 

“Cha,” Hancock said, excitedly. Sweaty from our push-ups, the yoga pants, and white shirt clung to Hancock as she hugged the blonde woman. 

“Hancock,” Cha Hae-In said. Reciprocating the hug. I could feel the relief from the other Hunter. She really did care for Hancock. In normal street clothes she wore a red hat on her head, probably to try to blend in more. Because she was an S-Rank Hunter, she was a celebrity so she tended to get noticed. As they pulled away the blonde gave me a look that said she still didn’t trust me. 

“Stop that,” Hancock ordered, walking past Cha and slapping her ass. I laughed from the aghast expression on the S-Ranked Hunter’s face. Following Hancock, we headed down the hall to the elevator. 

“Where are you going?” Cha asked as she ran after.

“For a run,” Hancock said. “Care to join?” The blonde gave me a once over again but stepped into the elevator. 

“I know that running is easy for you, Cha-cha, but you will have to stay with us,” Hancock said.

“I know how to run with others,” she said, sheepishly. 

“Good. I’d hate for you to have to slum it with us lowly E-Ranks,” Hancock said. She knew it wouldn’t last long, but I could feel she liked teasing the woman. 

“I don’t see you as-”

“You do, it’s fine,” Hancock said, sighing despondently. “It’s fine. That’s why Weston and I are going to get stronger. We have to start training to get to your rank.” 

“You know that it doesn’t…” Cha stopped as we gave her confused looks. She gulped and changed the subject as we walked out of the elevator. “If you 2 are dating, how come Hancock never mentioned you?”

“We didn’t want all the tabloid drama you have to deal with,” Hancock said. “What was the last scandal you dealt with? Oh right, you and I were lesbian lovers and you have sworn off men.” I could feel the embarrassment from Cha, but Hancock laughed it off. We walked outside and began jogging down the street. “Although, we did get drunk once and kissed-”

“Hancock!” Cha yelled. I laughed loudly. 

“What?” Hancock asked, unashamed. After only a few new worlds and lives, she was a different person than the one I married. On Amazon Lily she had been a strict captain of a pirate crew. Looking down on everyone so much that she was looking up. She had been willing to have any person that talked back to her killed or turned to stone. She only showed me her loving side. Now, in a world where death wasn’t as common of an occurrence, she was different. More open and laughing, she was a ball of energy. 

I felt like the change was for the better. No longer as serious all the time. She was more willing to play jokes, or express her want to sit in and watch a movie. Normal couple stuff. Since raising stats was easy in the world, I didn’t mind going easy. I doubted lifting weights would add any stats. After only a couple of hours of exercise we could raise our strength stat a point and become visibly stronger. I’d already grown half an inch since coming to the world. 

“You said you wouldn’t tell anyone,” Cha hissed. 

“Weston is going to be my husband,” Hancock said. “I don’t have secrets from him. Besides, he is probably into it.”

“You’re not wrong,” I said. Pinching Hancock’s ass as we ran. She swatted at me as Cha burned with embarrassment. The conversation lulled as we kept running. 

“So you’re Hancock’s best friend?” I asked. Trying to learn more about the woman. She was a different kind of beauty than Hancock. Blonde hair cut at her shoulders, she had firm muscles, and C-Cup breasts. A pretty face, she appeared rather shy. But she was strong. I could feel her immense Haki. Hancock and my own Spiritual Energy paled in comparison. 

I also knew she was strong because past-Weston in the world was a fanboy of hers. Cha was one of the few high ranked women in Korea. She was every man’s dream girl. Strong, rich, beautiful, she had it all. 

“I assume she told you?” Cha asked. 

“Weston and I haven’t known each other long,” Hancock admitted. “Besides, we’ve been doing…other things.”

“What?” Cha asked, not understanding. 

“I’ll tell you later,” Hancock said, giving a wide smile. One of the things Hancock and I were working on was spending time apart from one another. Hancock had friends in the world. We were able to complete tasks separately. A good goal so we didn’t rely on one another too much. We had planned to split to do our own thing after the workout. 

“You haven’t known each other long, but you’re already talking about getting married?” Cha asked. 

“Oh yes, Weston I want a big one too,” Hancock said. “A bunch of people. Photographers. Doves. Honeymoon. Whole 9 yards this time.”

“This time?” Cha asked. 

“Whatever you want, babe,” I said. Our last wedding had been rather quiet. Since she had new memories of versions of her that wanted the fantasy weddings I wasn’t too surprised she wanted to do it over again. “So how did you 2 meet?” I asked Cha again. 

The blonde rather lost as we continued running she eventually answered. “I showed Hancock the ropes in our guild.” 

“She did more than that,” Hancock said. “When I was judged to be A-Rank she showed up at my door and helped guide me on what to do.” 

“Obviously, she did that to poach you,” I said bluntly. 

“No-” Cha tried to say, but Hancock cut her off. 

“She totally did. But I love her for it. Cha-Cha was very gentle our first time together,” Hancock assured. 

“Oh yeah? Get all dirty and sweaty while showing you the…ropes?” 

“Very,” Hancock said. “She was informative too. Promising to make sure I felt safe and secure while we shared our first time. She was much rougher the second time. I was scared, but I felt safe in her arms.” 

“What are you talking about!?” Cha yelled, red faced. 

“Our first dungeon portal,” Hancock said simply. “You were very considerate. Eased me into the whole dungeon diving business. Why? What did you think we were talking about?”

Cha still blushed, at a loss for words as she looked between us. Hancock and I burst out laughing as the poor woman was stuttering while we ran. 

“What was your role anyway?” I asked, ignoring the blonde. 

“I was a support mostly. Lots of buffs. I hated it at first but I miss it now,” she said. “Stupid whatever happened to us.”

“I’m sorry, babe,” I said, but not meaning it. She would thank me later. We continued running. Breathing heavily we ran the 6 miles and took a break. At a park Hancock and I struggled to catch our breath while Cha appeared to be hardly winded. As a physical fighter, she was far stronger than most any human had a right to be. 

“W-what did you do before, Weston?” Cha asked, trying to get to know me still. 

“Didn’t have my background dug into with your guild contacts?” I asked. She looked away, telling me all I needed to know. “I was a simple porter. I was lucky Hancock started slumming it with me.” 

“You were a poor lost boy when we met,” Hancock said. “I hated him when I first saw him. But he grew on me.”

“And in you,” I mumbled. She swatted me again, but laughed. “Got any big raids coming up?” 

“Uh no,” Cha said. “Kind of quiet. Are you…” She looked at Hancock then back to me. “Going to help him join our guild?” 

“Uh no,” Hancock said. “Gotta get my own strength back. And he has no interest.” 

“Yep, gonna be a house-husband,” I said. “Hancock can work and I’ll keep the house clean.”

“Okay, but you gotta wear the apron,” Hancock said. 

“Which one? The MILF Rank Hunter? Or the pink one?” 

“Pink,” she said. “You know I’m not a MILF yet.” 

“Ha! I forgot,” I said. We kissed deeply. Keeping my chakra from my dick it wasn’t the time or place for that kind of thing. Hancock appeared to disagree as she rubbed herself over me. Her sports bra barely kept her cleavage restrained. I couldn't help but focus on it. 

“You can’t be serious,” Cha said numbly as she studied us. Hancock and I turned. 

“Yeah, no we are joking. I’m gonna start my own guild,” I said. “Probably call it the Porter guild.”

“You-you’ve had sex, haven’t you?” Cha asked Hancock as if she had broken some sort of promise. Hancock and I shared a look. 

“Cha and I will head back together. Why don’t you go see your friend,” Hancock said. I nodded and headed in the direction of Sung Jin-Woo’s apartment. He wasn’t too far from the end of my second 6-mile run. Hancock could talk to her friend and let her know all the made-up stories we agreed on beforehand. 

I couldn’t blame her guild for wondering if something happened to Hancock. She had been much like Cha before Hancock and I came there. Quiet and focused on work, the girls were best friends. Spending most every day together Hancock had admitted that there was more than a kiss going on between them before. Flirty looks, double entendres, swearing off men together. Cha might be more than a little upset that I was suddenly appearing. 

I wasn’t too worried about their relationship. Hancock would prefer to keep the friendship going if that’s what it took. Unsure if she wanted to take it further with inviting the blonde to our bed I wasn’t in too much of a rush either. I still felt a little uncomfortable hitting on girls with Hancock around, but I was getting better at it. 

I made it to Sung Jin-Woo’s apartment building after about 4 miles. Living in his family’s old home with his sister. His mom was in the hospital, stuck in a coma, and his father had disappeared years ago. I knew his dad was really alive, but I always hated the short appearance the man made in the manhwa. I wondered if there was a way to keep him involved. With so many hard fights coming up we would need all the help we could get. 

I knocked on his door and was greeted by Jin-Ah, his sister. “Jin, darling,” I said, reaching in for a hug. 

She huffed and walked away, dodging me. “What?” I asked, moving closer to her. 

“Jin tells me you’re dating some girl,” Jin said. 

“I am, what? Jealous?” I asked. I could feel that she was a little. “Oh my god. Jin-Woo, your sister has a crush on me!” 

“I do not!” She yelled as a sweaty Jin-Woo walked out of his room. He was a little taller, but not much. Stronger than before he appeared to be keeping up with the workouts. 

“She does,” I assured him. “Guess I gotta dump Hancock for her. Then we can become brothers.”

“Hell no,” Jin-Woo said with a laugh. 

“What? I am a great brother,” I assured. “I’ll treat you right, Jin-Ah. How about I take you on a date? Show you the town.”

“Oh yeah?” She asked, actually getting excited. “Would you?” 

“Sure,” I said with a shrug. 

“What about your fiance?” Jin-Woo asked. 

“She’s probably sick of me anyway,” I assured. “How about it, Jin-Ah? We can go drinking.” 

“I’m 17,” she said weakly. 

“Woopty doo. Jin-Woo and I were drinking at your age,” I said.

“No you weren’t?” She looked to her brother. “You were?”

“Once,” Jin-Woo said. “There a reason you stopped by, Weston?” 

“Was on my run. Wanted to say hi,” I said. 

“I still need to do my own run,” Jin-Woo said. “Come on.” 

“I’ll take you on that date after,” I said to Jin-Ah. She beamed me a smile. 

“No you won’t, it’s a school night,” he said. Grabbing my arm he pulled me out the door. I sent Jin-Ah a wink and kiss as we walked out. 

“Don’t do that,” Jin-Woo said as we headed to the elevator. “I doubt your girlfriend would like it.”

“You never know,” I said. He gave me a confused look but I was soon running with him. We did the full 12 miles, but the counter on my daily quest didn’t increase. I could only get 2 rewards a day. Me circulating some chakra now and then, I wasn’t too beat up. Giving Hancock plenty of time with her friend, Jin-Woo and I spoke sporadically. When the workout was over we put our stats in and opened our random boxes. 

I was more than a little surprised when the boxes materialized in our hands and turned into keys. I used Identification on it. 

The key was a dull copper. Not too impressed Jin-Woo revealed he had one as well. His was green. I used ID on it. 

“Jeez, looks like we are going to have to solo this crap,” I said.

“What?!” Jin-Woo asked. Fear in his voice. 

“We will have to go at it alone since it is User Only,” I said. “Must be some kind of test.” 

“What? What does this do?” He asked. 

“I’m guessing…now here me out here…this unlocks a dungeon,” I said with my best straight face. 

“I know that! What does it do?”

“Dude, you know as much as I do,” I reminded. “But I’m guessing we will have to fight monsters.” I was getting excited. I knew that Jin-Woo was able to handle his on his own. I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of monsters I would find. And potentially what cool drops I would get. Solo Leveling was starting to get exciting. That was when I got my quest.