Chapter 10.

I needed to make money . It wasn’t a hopeful wish, but a necessity . When I looked at the bill that came to my room, I almost lost consciousness . I had a 300 million won debt . In other words, I had taken out all the loan a Cube cadet could get . It had to be Chundong’s doing .

The loan only had a low 1% yearly interest, but as I wasn’t making any money, I was simply losing money . Unfortunately, the bank account Chundong left behind only contained 3 million won . It was nowhere near the amount needed to live in this world, where power and money was everything .

Thankfully, there were multiple ways I could become rich .

First was the stock market . Towers and Dungeons were constantly being created in the world . I knew the names of guilds that would discover or conquer them . Guilds in this world were treated like companies, so one could buy stocks of public guilds from the guild stock market .

Today was March 2nd, 2025 . My settings book should be full of juicy information .

I opened my laptop .

▷Settings List

[March 15th, 2025 . Newly found guild, ‘Packhorse Master,’ goes public . July 4th, 2025, they conquer the Dungeon, ‘Suwon Royal Devil’s Nest . ]

In reality, the Packhorse Master guild was established by Djinns . Because they would play an important role in the story, I made sure to note them down in the settings book . Conquering Suwon Royal Devil’s Nest would skyrocket their stock prices by a 1000% . It wouldn’t be until three years later when they were discovered that they would be delisted .

[December 8th, 2025 . Guild, ‘Creator’s Sacred Grace,’ announces its plan to conquer ‘Tower of Miracle . ’]

This incident would become the lowest point for the currently ranked 1 Creator’s Sacred Grace . It was also the decisive event that made Yun Seung-Ah become its leader . This plan, which Yun Seung-Ah opposed, would bring their rank down to 7 .

I had two opportunities to make money with this incident .

First was before the plan is announced, and second was before the plan failed .

Without having to know much information, with just these two — though, these two were the only early financial incidents written down in the settings book — I could make a fortune .

“The problem is…”

I didn’t have any money to work with .

“Do I need to go out to the Field?”

Field referred to danger zones where monsters appeared . Unlike Towers and Dungeons, the danger level of Fields was vastly dependent on their grade, so one didn’t need permits to enter the less dangerous ones .

I should be able to enter the Field in Gangwondo .

“Wait . ”

I remembered something about Gangwondo . There was a setting I arranged in Gangwondo . I wonder what it was .

Using CTRL+F, I searched for a specific word .

[Year 2026 . Djinn, Tomer, discovers Aether from Gangwondo’s Gari Mountain Dungeon . ]

Found it . Mystic grade formless weapon, Aether .

I wanted to take it for myself, but without Aether, Tomer would be left without a weapon . Not to mention, Tomer was an important antagonist in the story .

Of course, without a weapon, the story would become easier . But if I took Aether just for that reason, it might impact the future in an unknown way . I was afraid of that uncertainty…

“Well, whatever . ”

Tomer was strong even without Aether . Once all of my stats grew to about 3 or 4, I should go take Aether .

Wiing—

At that moment, I felt a vibration on my wrist . It was a message .

[Traveling Club Announcement]

—There will be a short trip on Sunday to serve as a freshman orientation .

“… Oh right . ”

That was a thing . Immediately after I recalled information about the traveling club, the smartwatch vibrated once more .

[Academic Club Announcement]

—There will be an orientation on Friday for the freshmen .

“And there was this too . So annoying . ”

I thought I could rest a bit in the weekend, but there were clubs over the weekend . Not to mention, the academic club was tomorrow .

**

Cube’s combat training was on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays . As such, I should have been able to relax on Mondays and Fridays, but on this precious Friday, I was walking towards a certain clubroom . Some distance ahead, Yoo Yeonha was showing off her elegant stride .

Academic club’s clubroom was room 304 .

When I entered, I saw many first years as I expected . There were about 30, and 23 of them were girls . Most should have been bewitched by the club president .

After sneaking a look around the clubroom, I turned towards Yoo Yeonha’s direction and sat behind her . I could smell a flowery scent from her hair . After unavoidably smelling this scent for five minutes…

The club president finally showed up .

“Nice to meet you . I’m Yun Hyuk . Welcome to our academic club, Veritas . ”

The club president was ‘Yun Hyuk’, a third year .

I didn’t enter this club just for Yoo Yeonha .

Yun Hyuk was a Djinn . Soon, several incidents would happen in Cube, including a monster invasion . Yun Hyuk would be the mastermind behind it .

Of course, I had no reason to trouble myself by shouting, ‘That guy is a Djinn—!’

Though, that would probably give me a decent amount of SP .

In any case, Yun Hyuk was contracted to the Devil of Enchantment, Lilith . In exchange for selling his soul to the devil, he obtained a beautiful appearance and an ability called ‘Enchantment’ . Currently, he should have his eyes out for Yoo Yeonha . That was the reason why Lilith gave him a high-rank ability like Enchantment .

“Since today’s just the orientation, we’ll only briefly discuss what our club is about . ”

Hearing his charming voice, the eyes of the female cadets were already shining .

“In Veritas, we research and discuss classification, weaknesses, behaviors, and attributes of monsters . Topics include monster classification, how they behave, where their vital points are, what their attribute is, and how to deal with them efficiently . ”

What Yun Hyuk mentioned was an important topic in modern society . ‘Monster analysis’ was one of the most competitive college majors, and there were even non-combatant Heroes who emphasized researching monsters . These Heroes, who didn’t have the Gift for combat, were still treated as Heroes because they had Gifts that aided in trans-human knowledge .

“I’ll give a quick example . Let’s take a look at this monster . As I’m sure you know, it is a totem scallop . ”

A hologram image popped up . Just like its name suggested, the totem scallop was a scallop that produced a totem . Having high intelligence and capable of using magic, totem scallops were high-intermediate rank grade 3 monsters . Thankfully, they were gentle natured and didn’t attack as long as one stayed out of their territory .

But just like pearls produced by ordinary scallops, the totem scallops’ totems had an incredible value, making them the target of guilds everywhere .

“As you know, totem scallops are extremely hard to kill . But careful analysis shows that they’re classified no differently than an ordinary scallop . But because no other monsters share similarities with them, it is hard to guess where their vital point is . ”

Yun Hyuk’s explanation continued . But because it was everything I already knew, I couldn’t help but yawn .

“Huaaaam…”

Immediately, Yun Hyuk’s eyebrows furrowed, and other female cadets sent me attacking glares . I wouldn’t be surprised if they attacked me for real if I yawned one more time . Only Yoo Yeonha kept her eyes on the screen .

“Kuhum . ”

Yun Hyuk let out a dry cough before continuing his explanation .

“Because of its ambiguous attribute and behavior, the totem scallop’s vital point hasn’t been discovered . But for other monsters like the ‘Thousand-Mile Horse’…”

**

The orientation ended 40 minutes later . This time, I got up yawning inwardly as I didn’t want to get attacked .

I was about to leave when I saw Yun Hyuk approaching Yoo Yeonha . I paused .

“Yeonha cadet-nim . ”

“Yes?”

“You forgot this . ”

Yun Hyuk handed Yoo Yeonha a paper she left behind . This wasn’t something I wrote in my novel, so I didn’t know much about the paper . But I knew he was scheming somehow . Rather than Yoo Yeonha forgetting the paper, Yun Hyuk probably pulled it out with his magic power .

“Ah, yes, thank you . ”

Yoo Yeonha took the paper with a smile . That seemed to be the end of their encounter .

After leaving the clubroom, I went to a nearby vending machine and pulled out a Coke and a Sprite . Looking at their names, I couldn’t help but laugh . I named them Coin Cola and Spring Sprite to avoid trademark problems, and that was exactly how the names appeared on the cans .

Meanwhile, Yoo Yeonha left the clubroom .

With the Coke and Sprite cans in hand, I stood in front of her as though to block her path . Then, I handed the Coke to her .

“Here . ”

“…?”

Yoo Yeonha’s face was full of question marks .

“I’m in the same club . Same team and now the same club . Funny coincidence, right?”

This was a test . Even working out as though my life depended on it only gave me 4 SP . Then how much SP could I get by talking to a leading character?

“…Do you think I’ll drink something like this?”

Yoo Yeonha’s eyebrows furrowed and her lips protruded out as though she was furious . But since it was the reaction I expected, I hit it off casually .

“I just got it from the vending machine . ”

Yoo Yeonha was likely attracted to bad boys . Of course, being ‘handsome’ was a requirement as well .

“Touch it . It’s cold . ”

“I’m fine . You can have it . Also…”

I could feel hostility from the glare she gave me . But that was as much of her true feelings the false mask she wore revealed .

“Don’t talk to me so casually . This is the first warning . ”

That was it . Yoo Yeonha walked past me without waiting for my reply . Seeing her perfect figure walking away, I popped the Sprite can open .

Psssh— Gulp, gulp .

Yoo Yeonha’s shoulders twitched at the sound . According to my setting, Yoo Yeonha loved unhealthy food like carbonated drinks, hamburgers, fried chicken, and ramen . But she couldn’t buy them to save face, so she made her trusted butler or attendant buy it for her . Even then, she could only enjoy it once a week .

The reason was simple . Not only did she hate showing such side of her to others, but her mother also detested unhealthy commoner food .

To make up for the pitiful setting I gave her, I threw the Coke can into her luxurious brand bag . Drawing a clean arc, the Coke can landed inside .

“Carry me next time too . ”

At these words, Yoo Yeonha glanced back . Then, she walked away muttering quietly to herself . However, I could hear her voice just fine .

—Who is this crazy guy?

*

Yoo Yeonha’s keen senses soon noticed the slight change in her bag . The water from the Coke can’s surface was making the textbook in her bag wet .

“…That nutjob . ”

Yoo Yeonha took out the Coke can with a frown .

Just when did he put it in? That little rat .

“Huu . ”

After a deep sigh, Yoo Yeonha released her magic power . Seeping into the paper, her magic power separated the moisture from the textbook and sent it into the air . When she retracted her magic power, the collected moisture fell down to the ground .

“Ehew . ”

With a sigh, Yoo Yeonha broke out in a cold sweat . At the same time, she felt proud . The application of magic power she just showed was hard for even Heroes to accomplish . It was seemingly simple but was actually a mysterious and highly difficult technique .

“When I see him again…”

After the sense of pride came anger . Yoo Yeonha thought as she twisted her lips, ‘That talkative bum, I’ll need to ask the guys to educate him…’

But that thought only lasted for a moment . Fiddling with the Coke can in her bag, she looked around . There was no one nearby .

Kuhum . With a dry cough, she took out a handkerchief from her pocket and wrapped the Coke can with it before putting it back in the bag .

“Hmm . ”

Then, as if nothing happened, she quickened her pace .

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