Chapter 217.

I ran to the colosseum . Today, various events were planned on top of the martial tournament’s final match, so the colosseum was already packed .

Finding Boss amidst the crowd wasn’t easy even for me .

My vision changed the moment Stigma’s magic power flowed into my eyes . Like a satellite, I was able to look down on the entire colosseum from the sky . Thanks to this, I quickly found Boss . She was walking to her waiting room .

I chased after her, running like crazy . I grabbed her shoulder and abruptly stopped her . Her widened eyes stared at me in surprise .

“… . ”

“… . ”

We stared at each other blankly .

Boss didn’t say anything, and I didn’t know what to say .

I collected my thoughts calmly . If Boss’ opponent was Bell, then Boss would engage the battle with a sharper fighting spirit .

Would Boss be able to beat Bell? I doubted it, as I had seen Bell’s Gift with my own eyes .

His Gift was likely Magic Power Body, the Gift I wrote in my settings book but never implemented in the story . The reason was simple . It was simply too overpowered .

If that really was Bell’s Gift… Boss should never be able to defeat him .

“Boss, I… . ”

After much thought, I decided to try out [Demon’s Cunning Speech] . It probably wouldn’t work on someone as strong as Boss, but the skill was also affected by how much trust the target (Boss) had for the user (me) . To my knowledge, Boss trusted me quite a lot .

“…Why don’t you just forfeit and go to the 15th floor with me? There’s something we need to do together . ”

Unfortunately, the magic power emanating from my words scattered before entering Boss’ ears .

“What are you doing?”

Feeling what I did, Boss’ face froze cold .

“Pardon?”

“What did you try to do just now?”

“Oh… . ”

I smiled bitterly and scratched my head .

‘What should I say in this situation? Just let her fight and cause a scene when something dangerous happens? No, the colosseum had heavy security, especially during a fight . Princess Araha was here too, so causing a scene might get me banned from entering Crevon ever again . ’

“…Ah, well, it’s nothing much . Just something I learned recently . ”

After much thought, I decided to stay with Boss .

“If it worked on you, I was going to put in a hypnotic suggestion . ”

“…Hypnotic suggestion?”

“Yes, to tell you to do your best . ”

It was a poor excuse, but considering our relationship, it wasn’t that strange . What was wrong about a subordinate worrying about his boss?

“But I guess it doesn’t work . Alright, let’s go to the waiting room together . ”

“…Okay . ”

I walked to the waiting room with Boss .

After entering the large waiting room, we sat down on the couch together . I bit my nails and thought, ‘if this battle happens, then it’s likely that it won’t end until one of them dies… . ’

“Ah!”

I suddenly thought of a good method .

Stigma’s magic power could persist for 30~40 minutes after leaving my hand . So if I gave Boss an item with anti-magic attribute… no, Boss probably wouldn’t take it given her personality .

“Tsk . ”

I clicked my tongue . It was then that Boss’ black glove caught my eyes .

“Boshy-ssi, the final is in 5 minutes . ”

“Got it . ”

“Wait, Boss . ”

Before Boss got up, I gently held her gloved hand .

“…?”

Boss widened her eyes and looked at me . We met eyes as I secretly infused Stigma’s magic power into her glove . Obviously, I gave it the anti-magic attribute .

“W-What are you doing so suddenly?”

“… . ”

“Kim Hajin?”

I needed some time since I was putting a little in at a time . Looking at the flustered Boss, I murmured, “I’m cheering you on so you don’t lose . ”

“…What?”

“Don’t lose . ”

It was then .

[Ah… We’d like to apologize to all the guests present . We’ve just been notified by the participant ‘Yeokma’ that he would like to forfeit the match . Instead, an exhibition match between ‘Boshy’ and ‘Lü Bu’ will take place . ]

“…Eh?”

I blankly looked up at the speaker on the ceiling .

“What?”

I turned back to Boss and stared at the hand I was holding .

“You can let go now . ”

“Ah, y-yes . ”

I hurriedly let go .

**

[13F, Area of Rest, 49:03:02]

[49:03:01]

[49:03:00]

A familiar clock ticked above .

Aileen’s party resumed climbing the Tower as soon as Crevon’s calamities were taken care of, and it wasn’t long before they reached the 13th floor .

The theme of the 13th floor was ‘rest’ .

The quick-witted Jin Seyeon noticed that sleep was the challenging part of this floor . Currently, they had not slept for over 50 hours .

“Is Desolate Moon doing okay?”

Jin Seyeon asked Shin Jonghak . Talking was the best method of preventing sleep . Everyone forced themselves to talk so that their eyelids remained open .

“Of course, they wouldn’t be one of the world’s best guilds if they were doing poorly just because they were missing me . ”

“…Yeah~ You sure are great~ So~ Great~”

Aileen mocked Shin Jonghak’s proud reply . She was partly oversensitive from the lack of sleep, but it was also because she hated Heroes from guilds . In her eyes, guilds were, in the end, for-profit businesses created by individuals or countries .

“Ah, I’m dying to sleep . I can’t just sit here anymore . I’m going to go work out . ”

Aileen shot up and skipped over to the room next door .

Jin Seyeon turned to Aileen .

“Don’t sleep, Lady Aileen . ”

“I won’t, don’t worry . ”

“Keep the door open . ”

“… . ”

Aileen glared at Jin Seyeon and left the door she was about to shut half-open . Jin Seyeon carefully observed Aileen through the gap .

Not long afterwards, Aileen’s small body began to do push-ups .

“One, two, three… uk, eighty-six, eighty-seven… uk, one-hundred forty, one-hundred forty-one… . ”

“Guess I don’t have to worry about her . ” Jin Seyeon muttered and faced Shin Jonghak once again .

Was it because her brain was half asleep? Looking at Shin Jonghak, she suddenly thought that it was perhaps time to tell him her true feelings . After all, they’ve been in the same party for a long time now .

“…Shin Jonghak-ssi, what do you think about your grandfather?”

She first asked about Shin Jonghak’s grandfather, who she knew he was proud of . In her mind, Shin Jonghak was the type of person who liked to brag about his family background .

“My grandfather?”

“Yes, Hero Shin Myungchul . Many people still honor him for his hand in stopping that calamity . ”

Jin Seyeon was then surprised by Shin Jonghak’s reaction .

“If you’re asking about the twilight of his life… I can only say that I still don’t understand it . ”

“Pardon?”

Shin Jonghak closed his eyes and recalled the faint memory of his grandfather he had in his mind .

‘With great power comes great responsibility . ’

Those were his grandfather’s words . Apparently, it was from a comic book about heroes in a time when heroes didn’t exist . His grandfather, Shin Myungchul, deeply carved those words in his heart . In the end, he saved humanity by sacrificing his life .

But during this process, he had to abandon his grandson who loved and respected him .

“Even if Grandfather didn’t sacrifice his life, the calamity would have been stopped . There are many strong people in the world, after all . ”

The hero who tried to carry everything by himself died, and the heroes who didn’t lived .

The young Shin Jonghak resented it . If only his grandfather would sacrifice his life to save the world, then why did the title ‘Nine Stars’ exist? Where were the other eight?

“Grandfather should have lived . He should have stayed in this world to do far greater things . ”

To Shin Jonghak, his grandfather, ‘Shin Myungchuk’, was the true hero .

“I see . ”

Jin Seyeon didn’t ask any further .

Shin Jonghak didn’t say any more either .

Silence filled the air between the two .

“Can I ask a more sensitive question this time?”

“…Are we playing the truth game or something?”

Tired, Shin Jonghak defaulted to his usual sarcastic tone . He quickly realized his mistake and flinched, but he didn’t correct himself . Thankfully, Jin Seyeon didn’t seem to mind .

“You can say so . If you’d like, I can answer your questions too . ”

“…Then you can start . ”

“What is Nayun-ssi to you?”

Jin Seyeon went straight to the point . Shin Jonghak frowned, but Chae Nayun’s name made him recall the fond memories he had with her .

…At first, he thought of Chae Nayun as the only girl worthy of him . The only family that suited Jinsung was Daehyun . That was the worthless thought he had .

But as time went by and he got to know Chae Nayun more and more, he stopped caring about those things before he noticed . He simply enjoyed the time he spent with Chae Nayun .

When he was with her, he felt like the weight on his shoulders was lifted .

The world that was always grey put on color when she smiled . No, it became even brighter and colorful .

“…She’s just someone I like . ”

Because of this, he hated the damned wolf who took away her genuine smile .

“I see . ”

“Then it’s my turn next . Do you have a family?”

Shin Jonghak asked a sensitive question on purpose . Jin Seyeon hated revealing any information about her family .

“Of course . My father was also an excellent Hero . ”

But perhaps they were only rumors . She spoke with a perfectly calm face .

“My mother passed away while giving birth to my younger brother . My younger brother then died of an illness when he was 3 . ”

“Uh, you don’t have to go that far… . ”

Feeling sorry, Shin Jonghak averted his gaze . Jin Seyeon smiled gently .

“Oh right, take this . ”

She took out a small bead from her pocket .

“What’s this?”

“An effective good . Hold this orb and set a goal . The greater the goal, the greater the reward you get when you achieve it . ”

Shin Jonghak checked the item info .

===

[Lv . ??? Orb of Hope]

○Lv . ??? Set Goal

—Set a goal you wish to achieve .

○Lv . ??? Achieve Goal

—When you achieve the goal you set, this orb will change into an item befitting the goal .

(Effective Good)

===

“I obtained two . I figured I should give one to you . ”

Shin Jonghak glanced at Jin Seyeon, then put the orb away cheerful . After all, effective goods were hard to come by .

“Thank you . By the way, what goal did you set?”

“… . ”

Jin Seyeon didn’t answer Shin Jonghak’s passing question . Shin Jonghak looked at her, tilting his head . Jin Seyeon took out her own Orb of Hope and squeezed it tightly as she muttered .

“Revenge . ”

“…?”

“To take revenge . That’s it . ”

Jin Seyeon’s wish was different than what Shin Jonghak expected . It didn’t suit her at all . Someone who’s so devoted to volunteer work wanted to take revenge?

“Perhaps you could say an ‘encounter’ is what I want… . I have a reason to meet someone no matter what . ”

Jin Seyeon had a ‘reason for meeting’ deep in her heart . She believed that as long as she kept wishing for it earnestly, she would meet who she wanted to one day .

Of course, no one could guarantee whether the result of this meeting would end with her happy smile .

“Mm . ”

It was then .

Koong—!

Koong—!

Koong—!

Koong—!

A loud noise rang out from the room next door . Startled, Jin Seyeon and Shin Jonghak turned around . A shocking scene unfolded before their eyes .

Jin Seyeon muttered with a sigh .

“She must have fallen asleep while we were looking… . ”

The cause of the commotion was, of course, Aileen .

She was quietly wailing while disheveling her beautiful, white hair . The magic power emanating from her sadness devastated the cabin room she was in .

“…Um, Lady Aileen?”

Aileen didn’t reply to Jin Seyeon .

“Uaaang… . ”

With her mouth wide open, she began to cry, and her tiny hands slammed down on the floor .

What dream did she have?

Jin Seyeon ran up to Aileen and held her as she would a child . Aileen hung onto Jin Seyeon’s arm and began to cry even louder .

“Don’t cry, don’t cry… . Jonghak-ssi, do you have anything sweet?”

Jin Seyeon patted Aileen’s back and asked . Shin Jonghak took out a half-eaten piece of chocolate from his pocket .

**

[15F, Genkelope’s Abandoned Vessel]

I returned to the 15th floor alone . A dark, eerie scenery of space greeted me . The empty passageway was darkness itself, and a puddle of water splashed up every time I took a step forward .

…To be honest, I was too scared to walk through it alone, so I summoned Spartan and Sannuri .

—Hiing .

—Pururu .

“Good . Keep chatting . ”

I continued walking while listening to Spartan and Sannuri chat .

The 15th floor was similar to hopscotch .

The vessel was divided into 6 parts . To conquer one part, one had to finish many quests and expend a huge amount of TP . Though, in the original story, everything was summarized by saying ‘Kim Suho transferred this authority to an NPC . ’

“Let’s see…”

Using the Book of Truth, I identified the most important part of the vessel . [Area 3], located in the right side of the vessel, had many hibernation capsules, and NPCs were sleeping inside it . They were easy targets for me to wake up and order around .

“Let’s go, guys . ”

I ran forward with Sannuri and Spartan . Meanwhile, we sensed several eerie auras, causing goosebumps to rise on our arms, but we did our best to ignore them .

—Kieeeek!

Then suddenly, an alien creature appeared in front of us and blocked our path .

[Lv . 12 Alien Host]

Its black carapace had holes all over its surface, and venomous fluid dripped from its large claws and tail . No other word described the creature other than ‘grotesque’ .

“Geez!”

Startled, I immediately fired at it with my shotgun .

Kwang—!

The shotgun shell turned it into several chunks of meat . Its blood and venom splattered on me, but Aether released a barrier to protect me .

“Collect the venom . ”

[You obtained ‘Alien Host’s Venom Crystal] . ]

Afterwards, I went back to running . The vessel was designed like a maze, but working through mazes was my specialty . It didn’t take long until I arrived in [Area 3] .

I opened the tightly shut door and walked inside . The alien creatures following me from behind stopped in front of the door .

“Whew…”

I let out a sigh of relief and wiped off my sweat .

—Hiing .

—Pururu .

“…What . ”

Spartan and Sannuri also walked in, seemingly making fun of me in the process .

[Turning on power…]

[Activating spatial defense and isolation…]

[There is 3% fuel remaining . ]

[Fuel can be purchased with TP . ]

“Ooh… . ”

It was a scenery that far surpassed what modern technology allowed .

The floor was made with some sort of a carbon alloy, and complicated machines for controlling the vessel were in the center of the room . Lined up around the walls were oval hibernation chambers .

First, I checked on the NPCs sleeping inside the hibernation chambers .

[Grade-5 Navigator Liole]

[Unlocking condition – 15000TP or Quest Key]

[This NPC will follow the Player who wakes him up . ]

“Mm, it’s the same . ”

Thankfully, nothing changed from my original settings . Of course, I didn’t plan on paying any TP . I took out the [Mystic Key] from my inventory with a smile .

**

[Mystic Key]

○Lv . 7 Unlocking

===

Thanks to all the item experience coupons I got from Tomer, the Mystic Key had now become level 7 .

I put the key inside the hibernation chamber and twisted it 180 degrees . The hibernation chamber of [Grade-5 Navigator Liole] immediately opened .

“Huaaak . ”

I ignored the navigator who woke up with a deep breath and continued to wake up other NPCs . Altogether, I awakened 8 navigators of various grades .

[Grade-1 Captain – Honer]

[Unlocking condition – 300,000TP or Calamity Core or Clearing a Specific Quest]

[This NPC will follow the Player who wakes him up . ]

As expected of the captain of the ship, Honer couldn’t be woken up even with the Mystic Key .

“Hm . ”

‘Can you withstand this?’

I surrounded the Mystic Key with two streaks of Stigma’s magic power and jammed it into the hibernation chamber once again . ‘If you can withstand this, I’ll acknowledge you… . ’

—Click

As expected, the hibernation chamber was unlocked .

“Huuaak . ”

After Captain Honer was… a [Chief Technician], [Chief Scientist], [Elite Doctor], [Army Commander], and more .

“It’s going to take me an entire day to get through everyone… . ”

I murmured with a sigh and looked around . The NPCs I woke up were staring at each other in confusion .

**

…On the other hand, in an outpost constructed near a Central Asian grassland .

Inside this state-of-the-art building constructed with the full effort of numerous magicians and agents, the [Essence of the Strait] team was looking around the surroundings and waiting on standby .

—The Association only set four guidelines . First, guilds can only enter with the permission of the Association . Second, guilds are prohibited from fighting each other . Third, guilds are to select their own ‘areas’ . Fourth, guilds are not to drag out any fight .

Currently, 13 core members were gathered inside the outpost’s conference room . From a holographic screen, Yoo Yeonha’s briefing was underway .

—As such, Essence of the Strait sent in 35 members . Three of them learned a skill called [Mass Teleport] from the Tower, so in the case that anyone is injured or in danger… .

The briefing continued, but Chae Nayun was unable to focus at all . She rummaged through her pockets, not paying attention to Yoo Yeonha .

—…Oh right, highest quality potions have been prepared for you all, so feel free to use them however you want . Good luck, everyone .

“What are you fiddling around with?”

As soon as the Chief Strategic Officer Yoo Yeonha finished speaking, Kim Youngjin asked Chae Nayun .

“Huh?”

“If it’s a withdrawal symptom from not smoking, you don’t have to hold it in . Just go outside and smoke . ”

“No, it’s not that… . ”

Chae Nayun scratched the back of her neck and didn’t give any explanation . What she was fiddling with was a certain ‘ticket’ .

Kim Youngjin stared at Chae Nayun with an odd look, then asked in a nice tone .

“Are you okay?”

“Yes? Um, what’s up all of the sudden?”

“…The 13th floor . I heard you gave up midway . ”

Last week, Chae Nayun and Kim Suho’s party, ‘Kimchipay’, challenged the 13th floor . However, they had to quit halfway . The 13th floor was too challenging for Chae Nayun, whose happy memories were clear .

“I heard you cried a lot—”

“B-Bullshit!”

Chae Nayun interrupted Kim Youngjin .

“W-What? Bull what? You know I’m your superior—”

“I-It’s because you’re saying weird things!”

Chae Nayun shouted as she shot up .

“Wait, you… . ”

“I’m going to the toilet!”

Chae Nayun quickly ran away .

“Ehew… . ”

Inside the quiet women’s bathroom, Chae Nayun let out a light sigh as she looked at herself in the mirror .

“…I bet it was Yi Yeonghan, that bastard, again . ”

What happened on the 13th floor was one of her darkest recent memories . After hearing that one just had to rest for 100 hours, she lounged around until she accidentally fell asleep . It didn’t take long for a nightmare to strike her .

…But, could she really call that a nightmare?

A happy future she never dreamt of unfolded before her eyes . When she woke up and returned to the harsh reality, she cried because the reality was too cruel .

Even after knowing which side was reality, her tears didn’t stop, and her trembling body seemed to be rejecting reality . In the end, Kim Suho took it upon himself to give up midway .

“Haa… . ”

Chae Nayun turned on the faucet and doused her head in cold water . Then, she murmured in a teary voice .

“Why did Kim Hajin appear there… . ”

At that moment…

—Huup!

A gasping sound rang out in one of the toilet stalls .

Chae Nayun flinched . ‘Was there someone else here?’

“Who is it!?”

Dripping water from her hair, Chae Nayun quickly ran to the toilet stall and kicked the door open .

“Hiik!”

Inside was a girl she knew well .

“H-Hi, Nayun… . ”

It was Yi Jiyoon .

Chae Nayun knew she was in trouble the moment she saw her and thought seriously .

‘She must have heard what I just said . Should I smack her head real hard and make her lose her memories?’

…However, the need to do so disappeared soon .

She found out that doing so wouldn’t solve the problem .

—Hey, Nayun .

A familiar voice rang out from Yi Jiyoon’s smartwatch .

Yi Jiyoon was on the phone with Essence of the Strait’s Chief Strategic Officer, ‘Yoo Yeonha’ .

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