Chapter 216.

[8F Crevon]

Not only did Jin Sahyuk hide in a dense forest, but she also dug a hole in the ground to escape from Kim Hajin’s attacks . She didn’t even have the time to feel humiliated . In a mere minute, she dug a hole deeper than most underground tunnels and began tending her wounds inside the cozy nest(?) .

“…Uk!”

Her shoulder injury was serious . The arrow had pierced it cleanly, but the skin and the bones which had been penetrated were far from being clean . Her right arm would have fallen off completely if the attack had been only 1cm closer .

Sssss… .

Suddenly, a handful of magic power resonated and appeared in front of Jin Sahyuk, who was hurrying to take out a potion .

—Hurt again?

Jin Sahyuk glanced towards the direction the voice had come from . Although the voice was undoubtedly that of a human, what was standing there was a tiny cat .

“…Shut up, Bell . ”

Surprisingly, Jin Sahyuk referred to the cat as Bell . The cat called Bell wagged its tails and continued .

—You said you didn’t like the mouth, so I changed it to something cute . You don’t like it?

The cat perked its ears and body up in an effort to appear cute .

This was part of Bell’s Gift . He could turn his body, not just as a whole but also parts of it, into magic power . The cat was the result of him taking his eyes and mouth together and reshaping their forms .

He chose to be a cat because cats were the only animal Jin Sayuk didn’t hate .

“…Can’t you tell by looking? I’m not in the mood to talk . ”

The cat’s eyes widened . Her remark was pretty gentle, considering her shoulder had just been shot . Did the turn-into-a-cat thing really work?

—Before, you’d have started out by cursing . Jin Sahyuk, you changed! Or am I just too cute? Meow~?

Jin Sahyuk even withstood that stupid remark . Letting out a feverish sigh, she continued to ignore the damn cat .

—Do you want me to avenge you?

But the short question that followed was enough to win Jin Sahyuk’s attention .

She froze for a moment and threw a sharp glance at the cat . The cat sat cross-legged on the ground and continued arrogantly .

—If it’s a surprise attack, I think I’ll be able to kill him at least once .

Bell carefully sounded Jin Sahyuk out .

But her curt reply was both expected and unexpected at the same time .

“…Don’t you dare . ”

Bell smiled .

He had expected her, at this point, to want to take revenge on Kim Hajin, even if it meant receiving help from others .

“I’ll be the one who kills him . ”

But her fighting spirit wasn’t dead yet .

—…Yeah, I understand . Take care of that wound on your shoulder .

With that, Bell the cat disappeared into thin air, and Jin Sahyuk, now alone, let out a small sigh .

Amidst the serenity of the forest, she reflected on today’s events . Although her arm almost fell off with a single shot, it wasn’t enough yet .

Today, she saw that she had a chance of winning .

The difference in their abilities was small enough for her to catch up .

Jin Sahyuk held the potion in her left hand and twisted the cap open with her mouth . Pong— The potion opened with a refreshing sound, and she poured it over the penetrating wound on her shoulder .

Tzzzzz… Steam rose from where the potion and the skin came into contact . The pain was more severe than the initial shot, and Jin Sahyuk’s bloodshot eyes swelled almost to the point of bursting .

Amid the severe pain, she recalled his face .

I want to kill him .

I will kill him myself .

With my own two hands, I’ll… Jin Sahyuk endured the pain with tears streaming down her face . She clenched her teeth and shivered but never let out a scream .

‘A monarch must always be calm and collected on the outside . ’

Because that was what Machiavelli said .

**

[Party ‘Kimchipay’ has defeated the calamity, ‘Medusa’!]

Meanwhile, the members of Kim Suho’s party were sprawled on the ground, catching their breath .

“Haa… Haa… . ”

“Aiya… . ”

Was it a groan or a breath? The indistinguishable sound reverberated through the field .

After 3 hours of desperate struggle, they were finally victorious .

They won because they utilized their advantages until the end .

Medusa was a calamity whose ‘magic eye of petrification’ had to be dealt with with extreme caution . Petrification was equal to eternal death . The wicked Medusa knew that Players could be resurrected, and so she would have kept the players who had become stones in her stomach .

However, the Sword Saint Gift could cut what could not be cut . Kim Suho severed the magic eye of petrification with his sword . With the magic eye of petrification incapacitated, Medusa was nothing more than a slightly more powerful monster .

“…By the way, that was Black Lotus, right?”

Suddenly, Yi Younghan asked .

Sure, victory was victory and joy was joy, but they all harbored the same question in their minds .

The advantage they had in the battle was broken for a moment in the middle of the fight .

When hundreds of harpies arrived, they were supposed to retreat or call for reinforcements .

But right at that moment, a number of arrows came flying from a distance . The dark stems that appeared out of nowhere decimated the harpies . Even though the black arrows quickly dispersed— that scene of magnificent destruction had been clearly imprinted on their minds .

“Probably . Those were definitely Black Lotus’ arrows . ”

Kim Suho placed his hand on Misteltein and raised his upper body .

Deep in sentiment, he looked up to where the arrows came from . But there was no one at the tip of the cliff far away .

Kim Suho remembered the man who looked down at them from that place just a few moments ago .

Did he help them out of amusement?

Or, as others had said, was it part of his heroism?

Kim Suho stared at the cliff for a long time in a touch of confusion .

“…No matter how much I think about it, I don’t like this party’s name . ”

Suddenly, Chae Nayun glared at the system with narrowed eyes .

The party’s name was ‘Kimchipay’ .

[Kim] Suho . [Chae] Nayun . [Fe]rmun brother and sister . [Yi] Younghan . The name was composed of the first syllables of their names . It was supposed to be ‘Kim Chae Fe Yi’, but Yi Younghan needlessly demonstrated his sense of humor and turned it into Kimchipay .

“But it’s funny . It’s like your dad’s company’s Daehyun Pay . ”

Chae Nayun clenched her teeth at Yi Younghan’s remark .

“That’s nice and all, but this damn system keeps making fun of me . ”

This was what Chae Nayun’s system looked like .

[‘Kimchipay’ has defeated ‘Medusa’ . ]

[‘Nayunjajangman’ Chi Nayun’s contribution is 14%]

Chae Nayun was not Chae Nayun but Chi Nayun .

“You wanna die?”

Her threats only made the system mock her more .

[Kimchi Nayun’s contribution is 14%]

“…Ehew . ”

‘What use is it to fight with something you can’t even see?’

Chae Nayun sighed and lay on the ground .

But others clicked their tongues at her in astonishment . As expected of the Magic Power Monster, she was still energetic even after pouring out such a large amount of magic power .

“…The weather’s nice . ”

Chae Nayun, sprawled on the ground, looked up at the sky .

Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind, and she widened her eyes .

“Wait, isn’t the one who killed all the harpies Black Lotus?!”

“What the heck . Somebody’s a little late . ”

“…Huh?”

“We’ve been saying all along that he was Black Lotus . ”

“…Really?”

Chae Nayun scratched her cheek awkwardly .

This was all because of the system, for picking fights with her .

“But why did Black Lotus…”

…help us?

Chae Nayun mumbled as she opened the messenger .

The only person who she had exchanged messages with recently was ‘Extra7’ . He used to be her teacher, but now he was a man full of mysteries . She did keep on messaging him because she believed that he had something to do with Kim Hajin… .

She pulled up the conversation and examined the last message .

「Hyung-nim, can we meet? I have a dangerous mission next week . 」

「Not joking, I might actually die ㅋㅋㅋ It’s a super dangerous mission . 」

「I want to take lessons from you, Hyung-nim, before I leave . 」

There was still no reply from Extra7 .

She was smacking her lips in disappointment when another system notification popped up .

[Rewards for defeating Medusa]

[Received 2 Effective Good Selector . ]

[Effective Good Selector — Turn an item Lv . 6 or lower that you want into an effective good . ]

“Ooh?! What’s this!?”

Yi Younghan shouted, rejoicing .

“Effective Good Selector? Hey, Suho! Isn’t this really good?”

“…You’re right, it is . Lv . 6… What should we bring outside?”

Kim Suho smiled in satisfaction, and Chae Nayun also beamed with pleasure as she looked into her inventory .

Effective Good Selector . It was a ticket that could transform an item into an ‘effective good’, which meant it could be brought outside the Tower .

I don’t even have to think about what I’m going to bring outside . Of course it’ll be the [Lv . 6 Jack Churchill’s Claymore] that I’m holding right now…

She thought, when suddenly another item caught her eye .

「Lv . 5 Invitation Letter to the Love Room」

Invitation Letter to the Love Room .

If I can use the ticket on this Lv . 5 item… .

Just as she was thinking, another system notification popped up .

[Return to the royal palace and claim Crevon’s rewards . ]

[100,000TP will be divided according to the contribution rate . ]

[The weapon that Kimchi Nayun rented, ‘Lv . 6 Jack Churchill’s Claymore’, will be bestowed on Kimchi Nayun permanently . ]

“Are you kidding me? You say Kimchi Nayun one more time… . ”

“Hey, what are you doing?!”

Yi Younghan yelled at Chae Nayun, who was growling at the system . Chae Nayun turned back in surprise and saw that everyone was getting ready to return .

“Let’s go claim the rewards!”

“…Okay . ”

Chae Nayun glared into the air and followed after the others .

**

11:30 p . m .

A peaceful home on a peaceful afternoon .

Currently, I was patting Evandel’s head as I answered the various questions that had arrived at Truth Agency .

“Oh… So something like this happened . ”

Thanks to all the words of mouth, I’d been getting a lot of serious requests these days . Among them was the request from the Djinns of ‘Destruction’, who wanted to uncover the identity of the Hero who killed their executives . Of course, I had no intention of accepting their request .

As I browsed through the requests, I discovered one with a somewhat familiar content .

“…What’s wrong with her?”

[Dear Truth Agency,

This is LadyU from the other day .

My request this time is also driven by pure curiosity . I am incredibly sorry to take up your time with questions such as these . Then again, my question is out of sheer curiosity and lacks a specific purpose, so please don’t feel obliged to accept my request . And, please don’t get upset that my request is a repeat occurrence and kindly consider it as a silly girl’s immature curiosity… . ]

It was Yoo Yeonha with her extremely polite writing .

And this time, Yoo Yeonha’s request was… .

[Are the English Royal Court guild’s leader, ‘Rachel’, and Jeronimo Mercenary’s Fenrir, ‘Kim Hajin’, lovers?]

“Has she gone crazy these days…?”

Perhaps it was all because of her business mindset: ‘always assume the worst’ . Still, how far have her delusions gone?

I wrote the answer down quickly .

[According to my research, the answer is no . It is certain that Fenrir Kim Hajin does not have any lover . ]

I made myself clear so that she wouldn’t ask again .

‘…Is she going to ask if I like men next?’

In any case, after I sent out my answer…

*Ding— *

I received a text from Yoo Yeonha .

[Hey . I got out of the Tower . If you’re out too, tell me your nickname . ]

“…Hmm . ”

Nickname .

I could probably tell Yoo Yeonha . She was close to Chae Nayun, but she wasn’t the type to spill the beans like Yi Jiyoon .

“Uuunn… . ”

Suddenly, Evandel started wriggling in my arms .

She narrowed her eyes as if she was having a nightmare and dove deeper into my arms .

“Cute . ”

I gave a small smile and patted her on the head . It looked like my touch, which was surrounded with Stigma’s magic power, had settled her down, as Evandel fell back to peaceful sleep with a faint smile .

—Hajin . There will be a meeting .

…Suddenly, a voice rang in my ears . This was a skill Boss recently learned called [Magic Power Transfer] . She had figured out how to utilize it and was now able to use communicate through the mind .

I held Evandel tightly so that she wouldn’t wake up, lay her on the bed, and stepped outside .

The apartment complex at 11 p . m . was dark, and there were no stars in the sky . I recalled Crevon’s sky, which was filled with stars .

In any case, Boss was nearby . She had purchased an apartment unit after I recommended this place to her as a hideout a long time ago .

The location was building 101, the biggest and the most expensive building in the entire apartment complex . On a site note, its price on the market had gone up by 5 billion since then . Housing prices were high around here to begin with, but the Tower of the Wish made them go even higher, or something like that .

Anyways, I arrived in front of suite #902 of building 101 .

I opened the door which was not locked, went in, and looked around .

The house was completely empty . Only a single chair stood lonely over the marble tiles which covered the spacious living room .

Boss was sitting on the chair with her eyes closed . She was probably trying to set the mood, but… click .

I turned on the light first .

“… . ”

Boss frowned at me .

“Boss, where’s Jain?”

—I’m here~

The answer to my question came from below . I followed the voice, looked down, and discovered a small puppy to my surprise .

“Huh? Is that you, Jain?”

—Isn’t this amazing~? I’ve never been so small in my entire life . I feel like I surpassed my limits after coming out of the Tower~

The cute puppy said, panting .

“It’s cute . ”

—Haha, really~?

I turned my gaze on Boss again .

Boss looked and me and spoke .

“The reason I called you here today is… . ”

—Central Asia, you know? There are artifacts there . Let’s get to the point quickly, okay~?

But before Boss could say anything, Jiiiing— Beams of light came out from Jain’s eyes . It was a projector . From the looks of it, they all picked up some weird things from the Tower .

—This is the catalogue of the core artifacts~

It was a list of Genghis Khan’s artifacts believed to be buried in Central Asia .

What caught my eyes were of course [Temujin’s Bow] and the [Saddle of Khan] .

The moment I laid my eyes on them, a masculine desire surged from deep within me . I never thought of myself as materialistic, yet I felt a strong urge to obtain [Temujin’s Bow], especially when I thought about how powerful the combination of [Temujin’s Bow] and the [Dark Ore Arrow] would be .

Of course, I already had the [Blessed Bow of Horus], but as the saying goes, ‘the more the merrier . ’

—Among these…

“We’ll leave the small fries alone and take the big ones . ”

Boss interrupted Jain .

“But Kim Hajin . ”

“Yes?”

I tilted my head questioningly and looked at Boss .

Boss said just one thing to me .

“You will not participate in this mission . ”

**

…One week later .

I was walking down the streets of 8-3F Crevon with Boss .

“Are you upset?” Boss asked, with only two days left until the mission .

“No . ” I answered nonchalantly .

I agreed that I wasn’t needed in the next mission . The excavation site was limited in space, and, to a long distance shooter, distance equaled his own life .

It was better for me not to go .

“It’s okay . I’ll be training for a while . ”

“…Yeah . ”

We finished talking just like that and walked side by side .

…But it seemed that Boss was bothered, as she began talking to herself earnestly .

“It’s not bad to wear your heart on your sleeve when you’re upset . ”

“[It’s healthier to talk openly with others, rather than to let things pile up inside—] In which book did I read that phrase?”

“If we fall out over something like this, then it means that I didn’t communicate with my subordinates very well… It’s my fault… . ”

I was thinking about covering my ears up, when I saw Rachel on the other side of the street with Princess Araha .

Rachel, who left a great impression on the royal family during defense against calamities, had become their royal guard officially . She probably came here today with Araha to watch the [Crevon Martial Tournament] .

“Oh, by the way Boss, who are you up against?”

Today was the final round of the martial tournament, which had been put on hold for various reasons . After defeating two calamities without much casualty, the royal family’s optimism had again regained its control .

“I’m against a man I don’t know . ”

“Mm . Yeah? Then please go on ahead . To the waiting room . ”

“…Okay . ”

As I watched Boss plod towards the arena, a question popped up in my mind .

“Ah, Boss . ”

“Yes?”

Boss turned around as if she had expected it .

“What’s the nickname of the guy you’re fighting?”

“…He’s called [Yeokma] . ”

“Mm, well, good luck . Not that you’ll need it . ”

I smiled at Boss . Boss smiled back at me and nodded .

Then, she disappeared into the arena .

“Hmm… . ”

I decided to look around before the martial tournament began . There were a lot of powerful Players and nobles who had come to watch the tournament . I saw Kim Suho and Chae Nayun . Both of them looked disappointed at the fact that they didn’t know this tournament even existed .

But who was ‘Yeokma’ if he wasn’t one of those two? Kim Junwoo?

I tilted my head questioningly .

Suddenly, a sense of uneasiness set in at the thought that suddenly sprang up in my mind .

I took out the Book of Truth in a hurry .

[Who is Yeokma, the participant of the Crevon Martial Tournament?]

A one-dimensional question like this took up too much Stigma .

So this was the question that I asked the Book of Truth .

[Is ‘Yeokma’, the participant of the Crevon Martial Tournament, the person I know as ‘Bell’?]

I spent 1 streak of Stigma, and exactly 5 seconds later .

The charred letters blazed up over the pages of the Book of Truth .

[‘Yeokma’ is indeed the person you know as ‘Bell’ . ]

“…!”

As soon as I read those words, I ran towards where Boss had disappeared .

Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters .