Chapter 118
Chapter 22 Party Play (9)
“This is Kim Yul. Good luck in the future, mister.”
“Oh, mister?”
“Aren’t you 20 years older than me? I am 17 years old this year?”
Somehow it felt like a fight.
‘Why are you like this all of a sudden?’
I slightly frowned and warned Kim Yul.
“Do it in moderation.”
“Yep, I’ll just call you big brother!”
It was still a strangely sharp-edged tone.
When I openly frowned, Kim Yul jumped up from his seat.
“You haven’t even washed up yet, have you? I’ll leave your seat!”
I don’t know why a guy who would be second in terms of affinity is sharpening his edge against Yang Tae-ho.
The feeling of wanting to take a break intensified as the seat became disappointing.
“Brother, go and get some rest. You can use the room right next door.”
“Yes, yes.”
After Kim Yul and Yang Tae-ho left the room, it was finally a break.
* * *
My break wasn’t too long.
As the sun went down, Belta sneaked back to me.
‘It’s fortunate that he’s not nocturnal.’
After eating dinner and playing for three or four hours, I quickly fell asleep and picked up Belta.
Patting a child and singing a lullaby is now quite familiar.
Thanks to this, it wasn’t long before Belta fell asleep, exhaling evenly.
It wasn’t that Belta didn’t sleep in my room.
I wanted to sleep comfortably today, so I decided to take her to her room.
‘The teeth that were shaken from being kicked by this kid are still cold.’
After passing through the dark hallway, he arrived at a room on the third floor, not too far from Rashar’s bedroom.
On the way out after laying Belta down, I suddenly heard a clicking sound, so I turned around.
The door to Rashar’s office was opening.
“Whoa.”
Rashar came out and rubbed his face with a long sigh.
Normally, she would have noticed immediately that there was someone in the hallway, no matter how dark it was.
Are you not feeling my presence, or are you ignoring me?
‘Looking tired is like the former, but.’
I wasn’t sure, so I decided to pretend to be popular.
“Are you done now?”
Startled, Rashar trembled and turned his head toward me.
Seeing her surprise, she was so tired that she didn’t know I was there.
Rashar’s golden eyes, which had been staring at me, drifted sideways again before long.
“… … as you see.”
I almost burst into laughter at the mumbled answer.
I didn’t think there was anything good to laugh about here, so I held back.
I couldn’t help but cover the corner of my mouth with my hand.
Then he asked in a calm voice.
“Are you still mad?”
“no.”
What do you do when the answer comes back at the speed of light?
‘I can see the inside of my heart saying that I’m upset.’
I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms.
Neither positive nor negative are suitable now.
No matter what he replied, if it was going to be an ambiguous answer, it would be better to wait a while.
How many minutes had passed like that?
Rashar, who glanced at me little by little, let out a long sigh and declared surrender.
“It’s not a pout. just… … It’s disappointing.”
Only then did I smile and approach Rashar.
“There are many things to be upset about.”
This ambiguous situation started about a week ago.
It was after I mentioned that I would leave the mansion and prepare a place for myself.
Then, somehow, the conversation ended in an argument.
And since then, today was the first time the two of us had a conversation together.
Arriving at Lashar, I started talking in the most calm tone.
“Anyway, the base will be held in Harbon. I will come and visit as often as I do now.”
“… … .”
“Then there is nothing to be sad about.”
The first time you said you were leaving the mansion.
Rashar asked if there was anything uncomfortable about his stay.
But there can be no such thing.
‘How comfortable it was while staying here.’
It wasn’t because this place was inconvenient nor because Rashar’s help was burdensome that he was trying to find a separate place to live.
‘Because this situation, where only I am receiving preferential treatment, is perfect for causing an internal dispute.’
According to Joseph, word is already circulating among Palao players.
It was a talk from a group of people who didn’t look at me favorably, and I personally don’t care too much about it.
‘I can’t stay there even though I know that there are rumors that an apostle of the church is taking the lead in discrimination.’
If the Bennets aren’t going to feed and put all the players in the Palao to sleep, then it’s right for me to go out.
To be honest, I wanted to leave sooner, but I was more urgent to solve the problem in front of me.
From core formation, silver plate promotion, spearmanship training, to understanding the history and power structure of Bihar.
‘There were so many things to do.’
It was a day when I could barely achieve my goal if I lived my day by dividing it into minutes.
In such a situation, it is impossible to give up the optimal environment given to me because of the words and actions of others.
So I put a steel plate on my face and focused only on what I had to do, leaving all complicated emotions behind.
Rashar supported me without lacking anything.
‘I heard things I shouldn’t have to hear because of me.’
Didn’t say a word of complaint. So now it’s my turn to be considerate of her.
After all, Lashar is being criticized because of me.
Even if Rashar continued to oppose it, he planned to end the building contract sooner or later and move his residence.
‘There are a few buildings I’ve seen.’
We just recruited Yang Tae-ho, and the timing was just right.
“It doesn’t change anything if I stay somewhere else.”
So I firmly communicated my intention.
“And just in case, I know full well that you and the Church are doing the best we can.”
If you’re against me going out because of that, it’s useless.
I said after lightly beating Rashar.
“So, this story ends here, okay?”
Rashar’s answer came back after a while.
“… … i get it. I will respect your choice.”
Her expression looked more comfortable than when she lied about not getting pouted, but her voice was still droopy.
“but… … I can’t help but feel sad.”
“Seriously, what is it?”
“I was happy because I felt like I made a pleasant friend during your stay. Every time we had a meal together, the story of this world you told me was also interesting.”
It was the first time I had heard of it, but I wasn’t too surprised.
Rashar liked me quite a bit, and so did I.
At first, they were just comrades on the same boat, but at some point, they really felt like friends.
‘It’s really different.’
Even though there is a clear difference in behavior and way of thinking, she rarely feels distanced.
For the same reason, it was different from Ahel, who felt uncomfortable and distanced.
‘If you look closely, I tend to cover people up a bit.’
I said with a smile that I had a new self-reflection.
“If anyone sees it, they’ll think they’re moving to another country.”
They’ll be in the same Honseong, so come visit us anytime.
As he added in a light voice, Rashar’s expression softened even more.
She and I stood there and shared our daily lives over the past week.
And before going back to their respective bedrooms to organize the day.
“Come to think of it… … I don’t think I’ve ever said that.”
“what?”
“I am really grateful to you.”
Everything seems to be going well since I came.
Seeing Rashar laughing while saying strange things made my fingertips tickle.
However, on the contrary, the chest felt stuffy as if it had been overtaken by that emotion.
“I will go out even if you comfort me with such pleasant words.”
So, as if he was joking more, he replied indifferently.
At that, Rashar laughed and shook his head as if he couldn’t help it.
“i get it.”
“Then see you tomorrow.”
While walking down the dark hallway leaving Rashar behind, my head and heart were racing at the same time.
Perhaps it was because her thank you was uncomfortable.
Because I wasn’t sacrificing for her.
The fact that she thinks she received help from me only happened in the process of achieving my goal.
There was not a single thing that was done exclusively for Rashar or Bihar.
In a way, it’s close to using them for my own purposes.
If I have to break the current symbiosis to realize my gains.
‘I don’t intend to hesitate.’
Personal feelings cannot change my goals and choices.
If only we could stop the monsters swarming out there from crossing over to Earth.
I will endure even if I lose all the friendships and relationships I am building right now.
‘I’m sorry but I feel uncomfortable.’
I can endure it. My purpose and commitment were so firm.
That’s why it feels uncomfortable to be thanked.
‘A useless idea.’
I climbed the stairs to step on the feelings whispering in my heart.
* * *
Kim Yul’s test ended sooner than expected.
It must have been grinding and training for the past few months, but overall it was flawless.
It was nice to be able to raise the pace when hunting rubbish mobs because Kim Yul supported me with one-on-one skills.
Most of all, I saw poison in the way he chased after the hunt while sweating profusely.
The tenacity to pass and occupy a position without fail.
With that will alone, he was willing to raise Kim Yul’s value a little more.
So, Kim Yul was chosen as the second party member after Yang Tae-ho.
Afterwards, I set out to camp in the dirt far away from the outpost.
It was focused on making the two of them into hiding.
‘Both of them have built a good base.’
Thanks to this, it was possible to systematically proceed with character building.
‘It increases the rate of elemental magic while raising it to the silver plate.’
Attribute magic has never existed in a polluted state, and it is pure and perfect magic that has no possibility of being contaminated in the future.
It had a different meaning from the normal magic power that decreased every time you used the shop.
So, rather than 2 stars, where you can get a lot of general magic power, I focused on destroying Meseo by circling 1 star.
Thanks to this, I was able to gather elemental mana faster than planned.
Of course, in the process, both of them repeated several times of nausea and exhaustion.
No one discussed giving up and kept chasing my pace.
Five days later, Kim Yul achieved 100,000 mana first.
“I’m a silver plate too!”
I tried to calm myself down because I was screaming in excitement when my magic power exceeded 100,000.
“Hey, sleep… … .”
“aaagh!”
It seemed like it was a step too late.
Because Kim Yul pressed the system window before I could even speak.
‘I’ll listen to what people say.’
I looked at Kim Yul rolling on the floor with pitiful eyes.
I’m sure he saw the same system window I saw.
[Do you want to proceed with the 2nd awakening? (Y/N)]
The moment you press yes at the end of a simple sentence, you experience hell.
Should I say it feels like my body has been shattered and then rebuilt again?
I know from experience, but it hurts really badly.
I didn’t want to go through the pain of having all my bones pulled out again.
Well, after going through that pain, I could understand why the system gave the option to the 2nd awakening.
Obviously, the 1st awakening took place regardless of the player’s will.
‘Probably when the tutorial started.’
However, in the 2nd Awakening, the player had a choice, and I think the reason was really simple.
‘An increase in magical power means that the player is more likely to be in battle.’
In such a situation, an awakening accompanied by terrible pain automatically proceeds?
‘What’s the difference between telling me to die?’
The system does not force a secondary awakening to prevent the player from dying in vain, and allows the player to choose the time of awakening himself.
It was such a perfect understanding that there were no more questions or disagreements.
Rather, it makes me even more angry.
‘If you’re going to give me a choice, wouldn’t it be okay to insert a warning phrase?’
Be careful as it will be accompanied by excruciating pain.
Then, wouldn’t it be better to prepare your mind before pressing the yes button?
‘Why is it so difficult to put that short phrase in? Omit it.’
Seriously, there is not the slightest bit of consideration for the players.
I habitually criticized the system even as I looked at Kim Yul rolling on the floor with pity.
Of course, you can’t keep wasting time there.
Unable to overcome the pain, I picked up Kim Yul, who fainted, and started hunting again.
Yang Tae-ho also needs to be promoted to the silver plate quickly.
While Mall continued hunting like that, Kim Yul came to his senses and fainted repeatedly.
As the sun set the next day, Yang Tae-ho was about to wake up for the second time.
But is it because of the good example of Kim Yul? Yang Tae-ho did not wake up easily and hesitated.
I, who was worse than him, had to rush.
Around the time when all of my party members became silver shields.
MISSION
[Main Scenario Act 1 Chapter 3: Counterattack Prelude]
With the support of the players, the Bihars began to push back the front line. As we plan to advance to Kalom Castle from the central front with great momentum, players, please support the recapture of Kalom Castle.
[compensation]
Participation Rewards: Choose from the rewards below
• Magic 500, Fame 25
• Property Magic 250, Fame 50
Rank Reward: The following rewards are given differentially according to rank. (1st to 2nd)
Participation in the victory ceremony
Church rewards (decorations, equipment, prizes, etc.)
•Shop free pass
Achievement 200
•God bless
※ The ranking is calculated according to the degree of contribution to the mission.
The main scenario mission, which could not be found after the entrance exam, appeared.
It was the moment when our party’s first active place was decided.