I Was Kidnapped By The Strongest Guild
Chapter 332: Let's Practice the Ability

I emerged from the portal in my ghost-like form.

Before I could even worry about how to return to normal, Yeoreum came running over.

"G-Gyeoul...!"

Thump thump-!

I could hear her heart pounding.

Despite the short distance, her breathing was ragged.

"Look at me. I've become a ghost."

"H-how, how did this happen...?!"

"They say it's a skill."

Yeoreum, who had been blinking rapidly, let out a deep sigh of relief.

She must have thought I had actually died and become a ghost.

"Sis, my heart nearly stopped just now."

"I-I'm sorry... I wasn't trying to scare you..."

"No need to apologize, it was my misunderstanding."

Yeoreum chuckled and reached out to me.

My tail started wagging quickly, anticipating her gentle touch.

I reached out to hug her but-

"Huh?"

"Oh?"

My spectral body passed right through Yeoreum.

The momentum from my wagging tail even made me drift slowly forward.

"King, where are you going?"

"T-this, my tail..."

"Tail?"

Everyone's eyes turned to my tail.

The children's eyes went wide seeing me float forward while wagging my tail.

"Gasp! King is flying with their tail!"

"I guess beast-kin ghosts move with their tails."

Levinas and Saebyeok ran after me.

But Gaeul stood frozen in an awkward pose.

"Master...!"

Whoosh whoosh whoosh-!

Gaeul clenched her fists tightly and wagged her tail rapidly.

It looked like she was trying to fly through the air with her tail like me.

Whoosh whoosh-!

Seeing me drift further away, Gaeul wagged her tail even faster.

Then, seemingly giving up, she hurriedly ran after me.

Fortunately, the tail-powered flight soon stopped.

My tail had drooped upon realizing I couldn't hug anyone.

"Oh my, Gyeoul is passing right through sis."

"Lady Gyeoul, do you know how to deactivate it?"

I could only shake my head at Encia's question.

I had no idea how to turn off this skill.

'If I stay like this, I can't hug anyone...'

Could I be stuck this way forever?

Even the most amazing ability would be meaningless if I couldn't be with my family.

As worry and an intense desire for hugs welled up inside me, the skill seemed to respond to my emotions, and my body started returning to normal.

"Huh?"

The problem was that my ghostly body had been floating in mid-air.

The moment I returned to normal, gravity took hold.

Though not high enough to hurt a feline beast-kin, the sudden fall still startled me.

"Nyaa!"

With a short yelp, my beast-kin body instinctively moved to break the fall.

But my feet never touched the ground.

Saebyeok, who had been chasing after me, caught me from below.

"You suddenly changed back."

"Yeah. It surprised me when it suddenly wore off."

"Is the ability gone now?"

"Well..."

I'd need to practice to know if I could still use it.

But first, I should thank Saebyeok for catching me.

My thanks came in the form of hugs and ear rubs.

Though I mainly did these things because I enjoyed them, it wasn't a problem.

Our whole family loved it after all.

"Master!"

As if to prove this, Gaeul lined up behind Saebyeok.

She was queuing up for her turn.

Instead of demanding her turn right away, she waited patiently in line.

It made me happy to see how Gaeul was gradually growing up.

**

After returning to the guild, I headed straight for the training grounds.

I wanted to practice the new ability I had gained.

I hoped the ghost girl's gift wasn't just a one-time thing.

I closed my eyes tight and focused on activating the ability.

'Want to become a ghost... ghost...'

My body started turning translucent in response to this small desire.

Surprisingly, the ghostly form seemed to be a continuous skill.

Ghosts were completely immune to physical attacks.

Wouldn't this make me half invincible?

My excitement faded quickly when I remembered people in this world had ways to attack ghosts.

'Still, it could work as a defensive measure in emergencies.'

Being able to dodge even one otherwise unavoidable attack would be helpful enough.

But I'd need to learn to activate it quickly for that.

'I should keep practicing.'

I experimented with my new ability in a corner of the training grounds.

After repeatedly activating and deactivating the skill, I began to understand how to use it.

'This is easier to use than I expected.'

This level of control should let me respond to incoming attacks with ghost form.

I wanted to practice actually reacting to attacks.

I looked over at Encia and Kwon Arin training nearby.

They had followed me when I said I was going to the training grounds.

Crack-

During their sparring match, Encia bent Kwon Arin's neck backward.

Kwon Arin flailed her arms like a child.

"G-gentle! Be more gentle...!"

"Even gentler than this...?"

"Y-yeah, treat me like you treat Gyeoul."

"That's..."

I thought Kwon Arin had gotten much stronger.

But she still had a long way to go compared to Encia.

I watched their sparring until it ended, then approached them.

"Um..."

They both turned to look at me.

The intense aura they had built up during sparring vanished instantly.

"What is it?"

"Could you help me train?"

"Of course. What kind of help do you need?"

"Um... could you shoot me?"

"Pardon...?"

A bewildered look spread across Encia's face.

Kwon Arin beside her looked equally shocked.

I should probably explain properly.

"With rubber bullets, not real ones. There's something I want to test. They have painless bullets at the shooting range over there."

"If it's just rubber bullets..."

After some consideration, Encia finally nodded.

I thought she'd refuse even rubber bullets as too dangerous, so this was unexpected.

People in this world were quite tough indeed.

"Then I'll go borrow a gun from the shooting range."

"Okay."

Encia borrowed a pistol from the shooting range.

She put her finger on the trigger then seemed to hesitate before handing the gun to Kwon Arin.

"You shoot instead."

"Me?"

"I just can't do it."

"...It's hard for me too."

Kwon Arin scratched her cheek and aimed the pistol at me.

I met her eyes and nodded, signaling it was okay to shoot anytime.

Gulp-

Kwon Arin swallowed and tensed her finger.

I watched every moment with my beast-kin's ability to perceive things in slow motion.

Her finger tightened on the trigger.

Just before Kwon Arin pulled it, I activated ghost form.

Bang-!

The rubber bullet, moving slower than an arrow to my eyes, passed through my right shoulder.

It hadn't actually hit me.

It had passed through due to my ghost form.

"...!"

"Holy shit!"

The two of them were startled seeing the bullet pass through me.

They probably hadn't noticed me activating ghost form in that instant.

"Look at this."

"Ah...!"

"W-what..."

I showed them my translucent palm.

Only then did Encia let out an exclamation.

"You understand the skill well."

"Yes. I think I could dodge one or two attacks in a real emergency."

"It would be good for escaping too. Being able to ignore walls is quite significant."

"Oh, you're right."

So it's good for escaping too.

I should practice that later.

After deactivating the skill, I approached Kwon Arin.

"Want to try throwing a punch at me this time?"

"You'll dodge it like just now?"

"Yes."

Realizing I was now immune to physical attacks, Kwon Arin clenched her fist.

She seemed ready to put full force into it, but after looking at me, she relaxed her hand.

"I'm g-going to hit you?"

"Yes."

Whoosh-!

Kwon Arin threw a punch at my face.

Knowing her full strength, I could tell how much she was holding back.

In the slow-motion world of my perception, I tried to activate ghost form.

But for some reason, it wouldn't activate.

"Huh?"

There was a blocked, congested feeling.

I instinctively realized the skill was in cooldown.

Maybe I could use it for about ten minutes per week.

Just as this information registered in my mind, Kwon Arin's fist reached right in front of my nose.

Smack-!

"Nyaa!"

Though she had pulled the punch significantly, Kwon Arin was a sword-wielding adventurer.

The sharp punch knocked me backward.

"...?"

"L-Lady Gyeoul!"

As I fell backward, I could see

Kwon Arin frozen with her fist extended, and Encia running toward me.

"Ugh."

My face was burning.

As I rubbed my aching face, I felt something wet and looked at my palm.

Blood from my nose had covered my hand.

"Nngh."

Seeing blood didn't make me cry or panic.

I was used to it, and Kwon Arin hadn't acted with malicious intent.

This was completely my mistake.

I felt I should apologize to Kwon Arin for making her worry.