The D-Rank Guild Master of the No. 1 Guild

‘Why am I putting up with this? I could just burn him with my fire! Gio, I’m being lenient with you!’

Despite running as fast as I could, Gio, the monstrous Tarzan, caught up to me in no time.

I let out a cry. His massive weight crushed me, making it hard to breathe.

Gio, easily overpowering a C-rank character without using his unique ability, dragged me back, huffing in anger, to the campfire he had set up.

‘What are you going to do? Burn me? Beat me up? You’re not going to eat me, are you?’

Did he really need to go this far just because I snatched his food for a moment? This is a more extreme reaction than just throwing me out of the forest. I gave the meat back!

Wait, “going this far”…?

I realized something from Gio’s reaction and, with a nothing-to-lose mindset, I called up my inventory.

“Here, eat this!”

I pulled out a neatly packaged cake and threw it in front of him.

“…”

There was no response. But the iron grip dragging me disappeared.

Gio crouched low over the cake on the ground, sniffing it curiously like a dog. He poked at the frosting with his finger and tasted it.

A moment later, he started devouring the cake with both hands, sitting down properly as he did so.

I took this opportunity to stand up and stretch my aching body.

Despite some trial and error, I finally figured out how to handle this guy.

…He’s an insatiable eater.

Food is everything to him, so he chose to live in a forest abundant with it.

Now I understand. He chased everyone out of the forest because he was afraid they’d eat all his food.

‘If anyone ever interrupts his meal again, people might actually die.’

Gio’s eyes sparkled as he quickly devoured the cake. This must be his first time tasting something so delicious. He even licked his fingers clean.

Our eyes met.

“Is there more?”

He even spoke coherently to the person who gave him food.

“Do you want more?”

“Yes.”

“Then follow me. It’s time to leave this forest.”

Gio hesitated. He didn’t look like he wanted to leave.

I coaxed him with a bit of a threat.

“How long do you think the food in this stagnant forest will last? Isn’t it almost gone already? I barely saw any fruits on the trees or animals around. The forest’s resources are limited, so if you stay here, you’ll starve.”

Gio grew anxious, looking up at me with desperate eyes.

“Can you keep making food?”

“I can.”

I would have to work hard to earn the rewards, but compared to the benefits Gio would bring, it was a fair trade.

“And those fruits? That unseasoned roasted boar? How can that be tasty? Think about the cake you just ate. It was incredibly delicious, right?”

“Is that what you call cake?”

“Besides cake, there are thousands of delicious foods in the world that you haven’t tried yet. Do you really want to live in this forest?”

Gio, seemingly unable to grasp the concept of thousands, started counting on his fingers like a fool.

But in his foolishness, his decision was clear.

“I’ll follow you.”

“Alright, come on.”

“But I want to finish the boar first.”

The Tarzan of the forest, Gio, followed me out of the eastern forest.

They say you should reward an obedient pet, so I praised him by taking out a generous serving of marinated rib rice from my inventory.

I had been saving the food that had the taste of Korea, but with Gio joining, it seems I can no longer consider it my own food…

“Spoon-.”

Fine, eat with your hands.

Watching Gio shove the food into his mouth, I gave up trying to hand him a spoon.

Seeing Gio eat a whole cake, then a boar, and now a heap of rice in just a few minutes made me realize something serious.

‘To feed Gio enough, Lilith and I might have to starve.’

Moreover, what if someone else finds out about Gio’s love for food and lures him away with promises of more meals?

What if a character skilled in cooking tempts Gio with gourmet dishes?

This fool would easily switch allegiances.

After finishing the food, Gio licked his fingers and wiped them on the cloth around his loins. I looked at him in disgust.

How am I supposed to civilize him? Should I make him eat garlic for a hundred days or something?

“Gio, if you want to come with me, you need to wear proper clothes.”

“No. It’s hot.”

Well, at least he has strong opinions… though my eyes are suffering in real-time.

It might be faster for me to adapt to him rather than making him wear clothes.

A man wearing just a single cloth, sitting spread-eagle on the ground…

“Rudel, can I come out now?”

At that moment, Lilith emerged from her hiding spot.

Since there was no way to contact her remotely, I had just instructed Lilith to join me when the situation seemed safe.

“Yes, come on over.”

Since we’ll be traveling together, they should at least get acquainted.

If Lilith gives him food, Gio will probably be polite, right?

To keep Gio docile, I handed him a lollipop.

“This is something you lick slowly.”

Before Gio could crush the lollipop with his strong teeth, I quickly explained.

Meanwhile, Lilith approached gracefully, wearing a gentle smile to greet the new guy.

Lilith, you’re a true poker face, able to keep your composure despite seeing that half-naked mess.

“Hello, I’m Lilith.”

Thud.

In that moment, I witnessed an unbelievable sight. Gio dropped the lollipop he was eating.

Gio, dropping food?

Tarzan’s gaze was fixed on the girl in front of him.

His mouth hung open stupidly, and soon his ears turned red.

“Pause mode.”

Suddenly, Gio disappeared. Into the bathroom.

“What? You know how to use pause mode?”

My astonished question bounced off the four-square-meter wall and didn’t reach him.

After a short while, Gio reappeared.

Though it was just the basic clothes given at the start of the game, at least he was now decently dressed from head to toe.

The white cloth stretched tightly over his muscles.

“Ah, hi…”

Gio’s voice gradually trailed off as he greeted, his ears shyly reddening. He didn’t even glance at the lollipop he had dropped on the ground and couldn’t meet Lilith’s eyes.

‘I didn’t see this coming either.’

Well, is this a good thing?

At least I won’t have to worry about starving to feed Gio, or about him being lured away by someone else.

In the end, I’ve secured the strongest warrior who won’t betray us.

…The viewers will definitely have something to talk about today.

* * *

Gone were the days when Lilith and I walked around holding hands. Now, we had a large beast trailing behind us.

An S-rank unique ability holder who didn’t even know what his unique ability was—a fool Tarzan.

There would undoubtedly be a lot to teach him…

Naturally, the characters who noticed our group whispered a lot.

“What’s that?”

“Haha, isn’t that the fool from the forest? He knows how to wear clothes?”

“Hey, shouldn’t he be on a leash or something?”

We’ve become a laughingstock.

With Gio joining us, we’ve become an even more oddball mix.

“Is that Rudel’s type?”

“Why is she dragging Tarzan around?”

“It’s impressive she got him out of the forest.”

“Birds of a feather flock together.”

As the first to unlock a unique ability, my prestige seemed to vanish as other characters acquired theirs.

There were more than a few voices mocking me for my C-rank stats.

Let them talk all they want. In the end, I’ll be the one laughing.

For the record, I have no intention of unlocking Gio’s unique ability right away. I plan to train him in secret and keep it hidden.

I’ll reserve it and dramatically reveal it when it’s truly needed to dominate the area.

Gio, crushing those who mocked him under his feet, and me, skyrocketing as his trainer…

Lilith would have no idea about these dark thoughts brewing in my mind.

“Why?”

She just smiled brightly next to me whenever I turned my head.

“Lilith, are you okay? People keep saying things about us.”

I was initially worried that the two of them might be disturbed by the gossip, but my concern was unnecessary.

Gio never listened to others to begin with. He barely listened to me and Lilith, let alone the derogatory comments about him.

And Lilith was surprisingly resilient.

“That’s their problem, not ours. As long as we get along, who cares?”

She must have known that the insults towards Gio included her by association, yet she responded with remarkable generosity.

Even after hearing my concerns, she continued to speak kindly to Gio.

I expected Lilith to treat Gio well because she was kind, but…

Gio’s reaction was hilarious.

I had to turn away several times and bite my lip to keep from laughing.

It was funny seeing a beast who didn’t even know how to groom himself suddenly trying to tidy up and look proper.

Especially since Gio looked at me holding Lilith’s hand with intense jealousy.

He desperately pointed to Lilith’s other hand and asked,

“Can I hold this hand too? Since you’re holding it…”

But I firmly cut him off before Lilith could respond.

“No. Follow one step behind.”

How dare he try to touch our Lilith.