The red haired young man got up with a start, and seeing Seth annoyedly glaring at him, he raised a brow in confusion.
"What is it?"
Seth stretched his arms and cracked knuckles. The main point of allying himself with this guy, was so that the red head could act as meat shield, while he got his body stronger.
"Its hunting time."
Baek Daechul widened his eyes as he glared at Seth in shock.
"Are you crazy? You want to hunt those... those... those demons?!"
Seth chuckled lightly with a relaxed tone. He had to act his part well if he wanted to convince the Daechul guy that he was strong.
"Oh poor, simple Baek Daechul. You call those simple creatures demons? Well, I'll be glad to tell you that I killed one just yesterday night. Heck, you can even see it's body out there..."
Baek Daechul followed Seth's finger to a half eaten corpse lying around in the frozen sand. His body slightly trembled as he remembered how he had almost lost his life to one of such creatures.
'This guy really is strong...'
Then he turned to face Seth.
"I shall do whatever you say."
"Of course you will..."
Seth smiled inwardly, cruel as it was, if he did not have the brawn, then he would certainly use his brain to survive. After all, the truly strong ones weren't those stupid muscleheads like Baek Daechul. It was the smart cunning people, like Seth had discovered that he himself was.
'Desperate situations truly bring out the worst in people...'
***
Seth and Baek Daechul trekked along in the dark frozen plains. One was shaky and jumped at every crunch of sand, while the other was deep in thought.
'Can I really achieve a thousand push ups, daily?'
Seth had set an exercise plan for himself. Since he did not really know how to advance in his cultivation without using the system, he had to manage with strengthening his body the only way he knew how.
"One hundred push ups, fifty sit ups, and a twenty kilometer run daily."
That was all he would be able to achieve as of now.
"Seth? Did you say something?"
Baek Daechul was still on guard as he was shaken by his close call to death. For him, Seth was like a superhero, as the latter was extremely calm despite going to hunt a deadly demon. Would anyone tell him that Seth was only calm, because Baek Daechul was sort of a meat shield for him?
"Nah, I was talking to my self. But be vigilant, you might have to prove your worth soon."
Seth wouldn't, that was for sure.
***
Eventually, they came across yet another humped demon creature. This one was gnawing on the torn torso of some unlucky person who was caught in its maw. It looked just like it did the first time he had seen it. With the dark eyes that seemed to peer into one's soul, to the creepy smiling head inside of its mouth that served as it's true body. The sight of it still made his blood run cold, and his bones quake, but he calmed his heart. He could not afford to look weak now. For him, Baek Daechul was like those avatars in RPG games whose trust towards a character increased as per the good stuff the character did. If he wanted a reliable tank in this guy, he would have to get the red head to trust him.
"Well, go. Kill it."
Baek Daechul shuddered and stole a glance at Seth, whilst keeping his eyes on the creature at all times.
"Eh? You mean I should kill it all by myself?!"
No, he could not face that thing in battle once again. The scars of last time were still haunting his mind. Seth, however, had different plans.
'He'll distract it, while I strike the head and kill it.'
It had been at the sacrifice of an arm that he has managed to slay one of the creatures last night. He had no more spirit grade sucrose herbs, and could not afford to lose another limb. But if the brunts of its attacks were aimed at someone else, then he could sneakily end the creature with not more than five strikes.
That was what the MC of that shadow novel had done, was it not? All that was left was for Baek Daechul to survive the attacks. If he died in the process, well, then Seth would just find other stronger people to hide behind till he got himself stronger.
The beast got impatient, and swiftly dashed towards them. Seth swore within his heart and rolled out of the way, pushing a frozen Baek Daechul with him.
'The hell is wrong with this guy?!'
If he was going to lag like a phone trying to browse without Internet connection, then would it not be better for him to just let the guy die here? Seth had to avenge Asami and old man Shiro's family, thus he could not jeopardize his own safety by any means. The bad characters of some villain MCs he had read about were beginning to surface in him.
Baek Daechul broke out of his pseudo trance with strong resolve.
"I am strong too! Leave it to me, hyung-nim. Nascent Iron Body Technique!"
This was the mindset of a person absorbed in their own strength. He thought Seth was strong, and would not settle with being the weaker one.
With an inhuman roar, he channeled Qi energy to his feet and burst towards the creature with dazzling speed. Seth could almost not follow the red haired guy's movements. But that did not mean that the creature couldn't, as his body was soon flying back, bouncing on the frozen sand. However, Baek Daechul would not be defeated so easily. He coughed out blood and rushed forward again, only for his punches to miss and his head almost cleaved off. His shoulder was pierced by the creature's sharp claws, but he used that opportunity to deliver a heavy blow to the creature's head. Last time, Seth had only managed to partially injure the head of the beast, but Baek Daechul had burst it with one blow.