When he came to his senses, Han Soo-young was walking endlessly along the promenade.
“… … .”
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On the way, she came to her senses and stood tall and looked around.
A few students and most of the staff either ignored them, or only glared at them very occasionally.
For some reason, my body trembled and trembled.
Han Soo-young covered her body with a cardigan and immediately took out her phone.
While calling Yoo Ji-hyuk, she paused for a moment and then changed the subject.
At this time, there was only one person who could call.
After waiting for a while, Hyun-woo Choi looked around with a stiff expression and came closer to see if he found this place.
“Sooyoung, why are you doing this? What’s up?”
“that is… … .”
When Han Soo-young, who was sitting helplessly on the bench, explained what he was doing, Choi Hyun-woo began to listen to her with a strange expression.
Then he carefully sat down next to her and opened his mouth as if exhorting.
“Jihyuk must have had something to do with it.”
At Choi Hyun-woo’s words, Han Soo-young remained silent.
In fact, she didn’t even know why she was doing this.
“What if, really, let’s say that Jihyeok takes a leave of absence and leaves here. Then, at least, he would have spoken to us. he’s the kid You said it was a temporary leave of absence?”
“It is, but… … .”
“You told us first. I’m thinking about going out of the hospital for about a week for personal reasons. Somehow, it must have been changed into the name of a leave of absence. And I wouldn’t say anything, just in case I misunderstood.”
“However… … Still, you could tell us something, right? All of a sudden, it’s a vacation… … .”
Immediately after uttering those words, Han Soo-young surprised herself.
It was because she knew better than anyone that the words she had uttered were full of contradictions and were nothing but absurdity.
Choi Hyun-woo must have noticed that, too, but he didn’t bother to point it out.
“Let’s just pretend we don’t know and wait. He must have his own circumstances.”
Han Soo-young nodded quietly.
Then he muttered in a weak voice, as if he had calmed down.
“… Yeah, why did I tremble like this? As you said, you’re only going to go somewhere for a week or so, and it must have been a nominal leave of absence. And he even gave us a hint in advance… … .”
“Well.”
Choi Hyun-woo knew the reason, but he did not tell him.
Because he wasn’t going to go out.
“It’s probably because he’s such a trustworthy friend.”
At that, Han Soo-young slowly nodded her head.
It was definitely what he said.
After he calmed down a bit, he remembered his ugliness and his face was burning.
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Obviously it was about a week, so it would be at most ten days.
It’s going to be a little difficult to keep notes in the meantime.
When you come back, will you ask me to buy you a meal or rice in return?
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Oh, if that’s the case, maybe there are earrings and I have to buy them instead… … .
In an effort to hide his shyness, he kept thinking of slurred thoughts.
Just muttering as if reassuring himself that he was trembling at the word leave of absence.
“… … .”
Following Choi Hyun-woo’s advice, she decided to just pretend not to know, and stopped calling Yoo Ji-hyuk.
If we talked for nothing, we would be embarrassed to see each other’s faces.
It’s been a week, so in the meantime, you should just study and work hard.
Han Soo-young thought so with a more relaxed mind.
And even after ten days passed, Yoo Ji-hyuk did not return.
* * *
“So you’re saying you can’t save anything about your contacts or anything?”
“I’m sorry, guest. The inside of the device was almost smashed… … And it’s the first time we’ve ever seen a model like this.”
The cell phone store clerk gave me a troubled expression and fiddled with my cell phone.
“Is it handmade or was it made separately by a guild? In some cases, it may not be compatible… … .”
His words made me think of the fact that the cell phone I had was originally an object that did not exist in this world.
As he nodded his head roughly, he tilted his head as if it was difficult.
“I think it would be better to just buy a new one. Moving numbers and important things by hand… … .”
In the end, I had no choice but to buy a new cell phone according to his words.
And holding a cell phone in each hand, the first thing I did was send a text message to Lee Myung-jun.
[This is Yoo Ji-hyuk. Please feel free to contact me on this phone when you have time. I have an important request. I’ll wait.]
And after waiting for a while, this time I texted Jin Ye-seul.
[If you have any special findings, please call this number.]
After sending a text message, I put my cell phone in and picked up the bag I had put down next to me.
It was filled with items such as towels, soap, wet wipes, and clothes to change into.
After passing five streets toward the suburbs, the streets quickly became quiet.
Ignoring the faded signboards, decrepit buildings, and the streets that seemed to have fallen out of the passing of time, I pedaled hard on the cheap bicycle I just bought today.
That was when I started to worry about whether I had taken the wrong direction while pedaling for about 30 minutes.
There was a foul smell that stung my nose.
I thought that I had come the right way, so I stepped on the pedal a bit more and arrived at a stream where sewage and wastewater mixed and smelled bad.
And on the bridge that crossed the creek, an old man was looking down at the creek with his back.
It was just the person I was looking for.
As I deliberately slowly pedaled across the bridge, the old man turned and looked at me.
“Hey, hey. Hey!”
“Are you talking about that?”
“Then, who else is here besides you and me?”
As I got off the bike, the old man looked at me and pointed a finger as if to look down at the creek.
He pointed to a pair of white shoes that fell in the middle of a creek he never wanted to get into, visible from strange bubbles to blackened mud.
“My shoes fell over there. You pick up some.”
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Originally, he would have just left the place as if he was running away.
But I nodded knowingly, took off my shoes and socks on the spot, and rolled up my pants.
“It is.”
I went straight down to the creek and went into the creek to pick up my shoes.
There was a terrifying touch between my toes and a foul smell that seemed to vomit at any moment.
He held on to something that seemed like he would be able to recall what was inside at any moment, picked up the shoes and brought them to the old man.
“How am I supposed to put this on and wipe it off… … eh.”
In response to his murmuring, he started wiping his shoes with the bottled water and wipes he had prepared beforehand.
Fortunately, when the freshly cleaned shoes were brought in front of the old man, he gently lifted his feet.
“I can’t bend forward because my back hurts. Can you give me some confidence?”
This time, he quietly put shoes on his feet.
The conditions were satisfied.
Thinking like that, the old man who was looking at me suddenly smiled.
“Hey, he’s a very polite young man, which is rare these days.”
With a different expression on his face, he nodded.
“I have something I want to give you. So five days later, see that big tree over there? Then come downstairs and wait. got it?”
With those words, the old man turned and walked away without hearing an answer.
I silently wiped the dirt off my legs and feet.
It seemed to understand why Jin Ye-seul and Ahn Do-hoon could not proceed with this quest.
Because those two, who are typical personality breakers, couldn’t just put up with something like this.
“Whew… … .”
For those in the know, this quest, taken from the story of Zhang Zi-Fang and Hwang Seok-Gong, was almost the same as the original story.
That you have to pick up shoes, and that you give a book as a reward for the quest.
And that it is a quest that consumes three promises for five days, for a total of a full month.
In the original anecdote, the old man always arrives first, so on the third chance, he stays up all night and then gets the old man’s approval.
Maybe that’s why, even in the original work, it had to be the third attempt systematically to arrive before the old man and receive compensation.
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Of course, he had no intention of wasting a full month’s time.
I was supposed to come and stay up all night four days from today.
Even if you do, it won’t affect your reward at all.
‘Then next time… … .’
I washed my body roughly, put on the slippers I brought, and got on the bike right away.
I struggled to ignore the smell that was still coming up, and I pedaled hard on the bike.
There was still much work to be done.
* * *
“Oh, that I was being beaten by just one person… … .”
As I stared indifferently at the man who fell down and spit out the typical lines, a notification window that I had not seen in a long time came to mind.
[Quest complete!]
[quest]
– the other side of the street
[Explanation]
― A splendid downtown has a hidden side as much as its outward splendor. There have been reports that a group of criminals who commit fraud, theft, and threats against tourists are appearing these days. But strangely, when they tried to find them, they hid themselves as if they were ghosts, avoiding the investigation. Some say they have a close relationship with the people on this street, but well. The truth will only be known by the parties involved.
[Success Condition]
― Defeat the leader of a gang of criminals. (1/1) [Done]
[Success Reward]
– small amount of cash
― Randomly decreases the distance and favorability of one of the five merchants. (penalty)
Soon after, a notification popped up saying that the favorability of the paper street merchants had declined.
Behind the knocked-down man was a half-open safe, which contained a fairly large amount of cash, if not a small amount.
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Originally, it was a quest performed when money was scarce.
And it wasn’t just money that made me scour the five streets for nearly three days looking for these guys.
“where… … .”
He took off the bracelet hanging from his arm, still unconscious.
Holding a bracelet that looks like a black and red string in one hand and appraised it, information immediately came to mind.
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Orc Chieftain’s Bracelet (Rare)
― Red Mane A bracelet made by weaving the hair of an orc, the leader of the orc tribe, and the mane of the war bore he rode. It seems that I can feel their power somehow… … Something… … Don’t you think your luck is bad these days?
― Temporarily raises the rank of HP by 1 when entering combat when equipped.
― When equipped, when entering battle, temporarily raises the rank of strength by 1 level.
― When equipped, you can use the skill ‘Fortitude’ once a day.
― When worn, the Luck rank decreases by one level. (penalty)
I put on the bracelet without hesitation.
Temporarily increasing stamina and strength was a great effect, but above all, ‘Fortitude’ was the skill I wanted the most.
Fortitude has a simple yet powerful effect.
That is, ‘for a certain period of time, you will never become incapacitated, and you will not feel any pain.’
It was also something I wanted to get because I desperately felt how much physical pain corroded my mental strength in the last battle.
“Whoa.”
With all the cash in the safe, I passed the man on the floor and walked towards the wall.
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Originally, this man was an opponent that he could only meet after defeating all of the lower gang members and executives below him.
However, there was no need for me because I had the shadow of Henir, who could move ignoring the distance or terrain.
He used his shadow to sneak into his private room, and attacked and knocked him down while he was sleeping without knowing the world.
During the fight, he was arguing that he was cowardly about attacking a sleeping opponent, but he didn’t care.
“Don’t worry too much, my money and bracelets will all be used for good things, man.”
I smiled and said to him who had lost his mind, and I made a portal to the wall and used a shadow to get out, just like when I came in.
After exiting the street, I wandered around for a while and entered a nearby cafe.
I was worried that his men might have noticed, but fortunately that didn’t seem to have happened.
After ordering a cup of coffee, I took a seat and took out my new cell phone.
“Well… … .”
Myung-Jun Lee and Ye-Seul Jin.
There was no contact from either of them for three days.
Jin Ye-seul was told not to contact me unless it was absolutely necessary before he came, but it was honestly unexpected that Lee Myung-joon did not contact me until now.
‘This makes it a bit difficult… … .’
If you’re really in a hurry, you could sneak in without their permission, but it was better not to do anything that would come up later.
Even more so if the opponent is Lee Myung-joon and the hammer of one of the giant guilds.
No matter how many times he called for three days, he only heard a ringing tone and never answered the call.
He even left a voice message, but there was no reply.
I really didn’t know if I would have to sneak in like this.
It was time to sip coffee with that thought.
“uh?”
A familiar man was passing by outside the window.
And as soon as I saw that person, I jumped out of my seat and got up.
That person was none other than Horie Yuzuki.