Chapter 49 :

Episode 12 : The Competition (1)

After having to tell the three angel sisters what I wanted my reward to be, they became dumbfounded by my choice.

"Are you sure you want that?" Tanzanite leaned in closer to my face, asking me with her glittery blue irides.

I shifted my gaze away, so I couldn't have eye contact with her. "Yes."

"But you and your friends won't be able to have the chance to be the King Candidate!"

"Is there a problem with that?"

"Surely your friends wouldn't agree with you.." As Tanzanite said that, she flew toward Mirai.

When Tanzanite unexpectedly went to Mirai, Mirai wasn't in the slightest startled by the angel interrupting her.

"Greeting, your friend over there sai-" Tanzanite was talking until she was disturbed by Raiden.

Raiden glanced at her and greeted her with a smile. "We will accept anything that our Captain has said."

"W-What? So you mean you will listen to your friend?"

"Yes, absolutely." Raiden answered honestly, nodding to her.

Tanzanite became even more bewildered and flew back to her sister's side.

Tanzanite stared at Zircon and Turquoise before asking. "Sister, are we really going to allow such a reward? Is it even considered a reward?"

"Hm." Zircon was thoroughly thinking what to do, even her expression showed how much she struggled to make a decision.

"This is not like a reward but a punishment. Why would he and his friends not want to participate? This is quite suspicious to me, sister." Turquoise spoke while checking through her book.

"Indeed, it is." Zircon nodded, agreeing with Turquoise.

Tanzanite crossed her arms, secretly peeking on Turquoise's book. "But that is what he wants.. We can't refuse, can we?"

"If you can't come into a decision, I'll let you take your time. But I advise you that you need to be quick because something will happen." I suggested to the angels while pretending to smile at them.

"I see." After Zircon spoke, she kept her eyes on me, showing great interest toward me through her bright vivid blue irides.

"Dear sister, could you register his reward?" Zircon asked Turquoise which caused both her sisters to be surprised.

"Why?" Both of her sisters questioned Zircon at the same time.

"Just like Tanzanite said, we can't refuse if that is what he wants. So do as I say. Of course, I'll take full responsibility if Emerald disliked this decision."

"As you wish.." Turquoise speechlessly glimpsed at Zircon as if she was a different person.

Then Turquoise having her feather pen appearing in her hand, she wrote something in her book.

Meanwhile, Tanzanite was floating around with an astounded expression, observing Zircon if she was really her sister or not.

Zircon caught her sister's gazes at her, confused as to why they were staring so much today.

After a short period of time, a system message appeared before me.

[You have received a custom reward.]

I looked over to my comrades and thought. ‘They must have received it by now.’

I went toward where HwanGi was and crouched down to have a look on him. "When will he wake up?"

Mirai exhaled a sigh, informing me. "He seemed to be traumatized by the illusion but I have subdued it. I expect him to wake up in about a few hours."

"Good work as always, Mirai." I patted her head, grinning at her with a warm smile.

Mirai's cheeks turned red the moment she saw my smile and I chuckled as a result.

"Ahem ahem. I'm here, you know." Alaine, who was caressing HwanGi's hair, pouted at the sight of me and Mirai.

"Pfft. Right." I lifted HwanGi's arms to put them around my neck before standing up to carry him.

Raiden told me with his worried face."Sensei, let me carry him instead."

I spoke, walking a few steps ahead. "No need. Let's go back, shall we?"

Alaine stood up and swiftly ran to my right side while Mirai was walking on my left side.

With Raiden being in front of me, leading us to where the ‘Kingless’ Kingdom was.

———

With everyone exiting the area, leaving the angel sisters by themselves without even paying attention to them.

Tanzanite aggressively flapped her wings while making a fuss. "Woah.. He ignored us for the third time now! How frustrating!"

"Now, dear sister. Don't react harshly to such a simple thing." Zircon flicked her finger on Tanzanite's head.

"Oww!" Tanzanite pouted, rubbing her forehead before saying. "Are you my sister? You seem very different these days."

"Pardon?" Zircon raised her eyebrow from this strange question.

"I agree with Tanzanite." Turquoise hugging her book firmly, stared at Zircon.

Zircon asked. "What is different about me?"

"I presume you have shown interest in that player, don't you think so too, sister?" Turquoise pointed out, giggling as if she was teasing.

Tanzanite had her halo light up as if it was a lightbulb after understanding the reason why her sister, Zircon was acting strangely. "So that player caught our sister's attention~?"

"Excuse me, but I do not show favor or interest in players, since it is forbidden to do so." Zircon let out a sigh before flying up into the sky.

"Sister, wait for us." Turquoise smiled, flying toward Zircon.

"Hey! Don't leave me here alone~!" Tanzanite was shocked, causing her to fly exclusively fast to get to her sister's side.

———

A few hours have passed since we began going back to the kingdom..

As I was walking while carrying HwanGi behind my back, Alaine watched me and HwanGi with sparkling eyes of her.

"What is it?" After enduring her stare, I finally asked Alaine.

"Oh! I was wondering what you did to get him out of the Mist!" Alaine leaned closer to me when she pondered.

"That is a secret." I answered before thinking.

‘I can't let her know that I have a skill that can copy other people's skills.. It might make her envious of me and mostly because I dislike explaining.’

Alaine gave me a gentle smile. "Even if it's a secret, I thank you for saving HwanGi."

"I only saved him because I didn't want the curse to spread across the kingdom."

"Okay~, then may I ask something?" Alaine looked at me with her eyes that meant curiosity had taken over her.

I sighed, knowing that this is going to be a long trip back to the kingdom. "Alright."

"Thank you! My question is, do you get EXP when you kill players?"

"You never killed players before?"

"Like I said, me and HwanGi don't like killing that much."

"...No, you don't get EXP after killing players. You will only get the ‘Numbers’, including the items that they equipped and stored in their inventory."

"How about the way we speak? Aren't we from different countries? So why do I understand what you're saying?"

"The ‹System› will translate everything and transfer that translation to our brains, making it easier for the players to communicate with each other."

"Hm.. About the curse, how did you know about it even though you've never seen it?"

"What makes you think I never see a curse like that?"

"I mean.. aren't you from Earth like me? You won't be able to know the curse and I get why Mirai and Raiden knew about it since they are from this world.. but you-"

I cut off her sentence. "When did you exactly know that Mirai and Raiden aren't from this world?"

"Lucky gues-"

Out of a sudden, Alaine was interrupted by Mirai resting her hand on Alaine's shoulder.

Mirai's smile was heartwarming but Alaine felt something different when she saw Mirai's smile.

Then Mirai said. "Please do not ask those kinds of questions again. My Captain extremely hates those."

Alaine nodded immediately after getting Mirai's message.

Soon, Alaine seemed to be suspicious of me after listening to my answers because she asked me. "JoonChul.. How do you know so much?"

Raiden said. "We arrived." After such a long walk back to the kingdom, we finally arrived.

"Oh..! Thank god~ I can now rest comfortably." Alaine cheerfully mumbled before running off to the tavern.

I thought while watching Alaine running off by herself. ‘Did she really forget what she just asked me? Such a forgetful person. But then again, thanks to that, I didn't have to answer that question.’

Out of the blue, I felt HwanGi moving a bit on my back, so I mused. ‘I should get him to his room.’

"Raiden and Mirai, you should go find ‘her’. We don't have much time before stage #10."

"Hai, Sensei/Captain!" Raiden and Mirai simultaneously followed my order and quickly separated themselves to cover more grounds.

After I watched my comrades leave, I instantly went to the tavern.

‘Master, what if ‘she’ couldn't be found before stage #10?’ While I was entering the tavern, Lucifer talked to me.

"Well, then, I'll just go with plan B." I answered with a distressed expression as I climbed up the stairs to get to HwanGi's room.

‘But that's risky.’

"Which is why we need to find ‘her’ as fast as possible."

After a short moment, I arrived in front of HwanGi's room and went inside to lay HwanGi causally on the bed.

"My skill's prediction should be starting in a few minutes." I looked out from the window to have a glimpse at the sky, waiting for someone to appear.