Chapter 29.

11 P . M .

I finally returned to my room 12 hours after the start of the Mock Dungeon Trial .

Cube told the cadets that an internal investigation would occur rather than deploying an external police or Heroes of the Hero Association . It was only possible thanks to no cadet being killed or injured .

In other words, the Djinns making up the upper brass of Cube had succeeded in masking this incident . An extensive external investigation would only occur after the end of the ‘second incident . ’

“…I got super lucky . ”

In any case, the Fitness Center was closed because of the ruckus, so I was loafing around in my room, looking at my laptop .

[An incredible luck applies, blocking a silent ambush!]

[Narrow Escape from Death (1/9) – A special stat, accumulation of luck, becomes partly unlocked!]

As I thought, it was by pure luck that I dodged the poison arrow . Because of it, a special stat called accumulation of luck was unlocked .

A special stat was… Well, to explain this, I had to first explain how stats worked .

In this world, stats were divided into three major categories: variable stats, invariable stats, and special stats .

Variable stats and invariable stats were something people were born with . Even a baby had strength, magic power, vitality, intelligence, and other basic stats .

But special stats were something that most people didn’t have . For example, every human was born with magic power, the power to wield mana . But they weren’t born with ‘magic power control’ and ‘mental power’, which were needed to conjure and utilize magic power . These two abilities came from an innate talent and continuous effort .

As a result, cadets generally had a different number of special stats . Most had two basic special stats – magic power control and mental power . In the case of Kim Suho, he also had an additional special stat called ‘resistance’, and Chae Nayun had an additional special stat called ‘intuition’ .

“…Hm . ”

[Accumulation of luck – 11%]

And I had just gotten one too .

It was only 11% unlocked, so there really wasn’t anything I could do with it . Plus, there was no explanation about the stat, so I didn’t even know what it did .

‘Well, I’m sure I’ll found out eventually . ’

The more important matter was Sven . I needed to know what he was planning . He was undoubtedly scheming on Chae Nayun, and he would likely lose control once he was alone with her . After all, one of the negative side-effects of a Djinn Contract was amplification of emotions and obsession .

Should I contact Chae Nayun? …No .

I opened my laptop . It felt like a crime… no, it was most certainly a crime, but I didn’t have any other choice .

Using my laptop’s Internet Access functionality, I accessed Chae Nayun’s smartwatch . I only needed to spend a small amount of SP .

[Chae Nayun → Kim Suho]

[Hey, what’s up?]

[Shin Jonghak → Chae Nayun]

[Hey, do you want to go grab a late night snack?]

Several messages were coming and going, and I tried my best to not look at them . The only conversation I needed to see was Sven’s .

As expected of Chae Nayun, she was receiving messages from several male and female cadets . I only found Sven’s name after scrolling down for a while .

===

Sven: [Thank you for yesterday . ]

[Yeah, you did well too . By the way, why do you keep using polite speech? It’s uncomfortable . ]

Sven: [Is it? I’ll talk casually then . ]

…

…

Sven: [I hear the hunting club is going to Gangwondo this week . Wanna hunt together?]

[Yeah, sure . ]

===

It was a common conversation among colleagues, but Sven’s last message caught my attention .

‘Hunting club, this week . ’

‘Hunt together . ’

In the original story, this was also the day Sven went berserk .

At that moment…

[Hajin . ]

I received a message on my smartwatch . When I saw the sender’s name, I couldn’t help but grow curious .

It was Kim Suho .

[Do you have time this Thursday?]

“What’s up with him?”

Why was Kim Suho contacting me all of the sudden? …Oh, it’s that .

For the internal investigation of the previous incident, Cube decided to select the most trustworthy cadets from each grade to search for the culprit . The freshman year representatives were unsurprisingly Shin Jonghak, Kim Suho, and Chae Nayun .

“…But isn’t it too early?”

I wasn’t sure of the exact date, but I remembered it being around early April . Currently, it was the end of March . The investigation team had formed quicker than I thought . Plus, I couldn’t understand why he would contact me .

[Why?]

[I can’t tell you yet . I’ll tell you about it when we meet in person . For now, just know that Nayun recommended you . ]

“Chae Nayun?”

Why would Chae Nayun recommend me? Because I have good eyes?

I hesitated . The time wasn’t a good match . Classes were canceled for Wednesday and Thursday, so I planned on going to Gari Mountain Dungeon on Wednesday and the hunting club was on Thursday .

I replied .

[I’m busy on Thursday, but I’m free on Friday . ]

[That’s fine, we can meet then . ]

Kim Suho replied instantly .

“…Well, it’s better for me the closer I am to the storyline . ”

After replying “okay”, I went back to looking at my laptop .

Next on the list was Sven’s social media accounts .

**

Gangwondo was Korea’s biggest mountainous range . The region included Baekdu Mountain, which was known for its rich life energy, and other mountains like the Kumgang mountain, which were rich in spirit energy . As such, martial artists called this area the ‘Mecca of Training . ’

Because of the rich life energy and spirit energy in Gangwondo’s mountains, it attracted all sorts of people including hunters, poachers, Heroes, and mercenaries .

Among these were one special occupation known as ginseng digger .

A ginseng digger was someone who searched the mountain grounds for ginseng . While they weren’t strong enough to combat monsters, they traveled the world in search of ginseng with their sense of smell and sight heightened to the limit .

Ginseng could be found in many countries, but the most expensive ginseng were found on the Korean Peninsula . Naturally, ginseng diggers were common in Gangwondo .

Kim Yunjoon was also a ginseng digger .

Gangwondo’s ginseng sold for a sky-high price even if they were young, because ginseng increased the amount of mana in one’s body . Kim Yunjoon didn’t really understand what that meant, but he spent 10 years in Gangwondo’s dangerous mountain ranges filled with monsters to dig up money .

The last ginseng he discovered was a year ago . It was a 4-year-old ginseng . In other words, he had no income for a year, but because he received 300 million won from his last ginseng, his family didn’t complain much .

Today marked the twentieth time Kim Yunjoon climbed the Gari Mountain .

“…Hm?”

Just like always, he walked with his eyes looking down . When he raised his head to wipe off his sweat, he discovered a young man . The young man wasn’t ugly nor handsome . He was simply average . Still, his body seemed to be well-built, most likely because of the well-defined muscles on his arms and legs . It was a common feature among ginseng diggers .

The man repeated walking, stopping, and looking at a map .

“A ginseng digger . But ginsengs aren’t found on maps . He must be a newbie . ”

Kim Yunjoon grinned and walked towards him . The man turned around, having noticed his presence .

Kim Yunjoon asked cheekily .

“Are you also a ginseng digger?”

The man stared back at him in a daze before shaking his head .

“No, I’m just looking for a place . ”

With that, he hid his map behind him . Kim Yunjoon found his actions quite cute .

“Haha, I understand where you’re coming from, but ginseng aren’t something you can find with maps . ”

“…Yes?”

“That map, I don’t know where you got it from, but don’t believe it too much . Only Heaven knows where ginseng are . ”

“What?”

The man tilted his head . Kim Yunjoon had a lot he wanted to say to this novice ginseng digger . He felt it was his responsibility as an elite ginseng digger .

Kim Yunjoon then began to talk about his experience as a ginseng digger and showed his cutting-edge equipment . He explained how to dig to avoid damaging the ginseng, then showed pictures of his wife and 13 year old son before laughing and smacking the man’s shoulder .

“When I see young’uns climbing the mountain, I can’t help but think they’re dreaming of striking a fortune . Jumping into the mountains with such a flimsy mindset is no different than throwing away your life . Forgive me for telling you all this, but I hope what I told you will come in handy . ”

“Ah… yes . ”

The man nodded with a blank face . Kim Yunjoon could feel a deep admiration and respect in the man’s eyes . Just that made his effort worthwhile .

“Then take care . I wish you good luck . In fact, I hope you can grow up to threaten me as a competitor . Don’t forget the advice I gave you today . ”

Kim Yunjoon walked past the man . Just in case the man was watching him leave, he raised his hand and waved .

*

“…”

I stared at a man’s back . Then, I looked down at the watch on my wrist . Unknowingly, 30 minutes had passed .

“What is he?”

I ended up wasting time because of some talkative guy . I wanted to cut him off in the middle, but I hesitated, thinking he might be a named herbalist .

But I didn’t find anything special from the pictures he showed me or his outer appearance . It seemed he was really just a normal ginseng digger .

“I think it’s this way…”

I looked at my map once again . The map pointed to the Gari Mountain Dungeon . The map was obtained from the Book of Truth . Just like a genie lamp, all I had to do was ask, “Where is the Gari Mountain Dungeon?”, and it gave me this map .

In fact, this map showed my live location, almost like a GPS system .

Looking at my map, I continued towards the Dungeon’s location .

After about 10 minutes of walking…

“Uk!”

Thud .

I fell down after tripping on something .

“Agh, what is it now?”

I got up after falling pathetically . There was a stem of some sort tangled around my leg . At first, I was frightened out of my mind, thinking it was some plant type monster, but upon closer inspection, I noticed it was just an ordinary stem .

“Whew, that surprised me . ”

I pulled on the stem . It didn’t seem to go very deep, as I didn’t need to put in much strength .

But when I pulled the stem out of the ground, something resembling a bellflower root came out .

“What’s this?”

I threw the root on the ground . After dusting myself off, I took a step to continue walking, but I suddenly remembered what the man I just met told me .

Ginseng .

I looked at the root one more time . Now that I looked at it again, it did resemble a mandrake . I took out my laptop and read the description of the root in front of me .

===

[7-year-old Ginseng]

—A plant that achieved magic power on its own through condensed life energy and spiritual energy . Has strong efficacy no matter how it’s used .

—A treasured item full of nutrients .

===

“…”

I became speechless . There was something I needed to say, but I was too dumbfounded to speak .

So, I just murmured inwardly .

Jackpot .

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