Chapter 22. A Star Shining Again (2) (2/2)

He was convinced that, if he wanted to undertake missions, he would have to make adequate preparations first by purchasing various items through many stores found here. And also, even if he could form a party with other people possessing similar level of abilities as himself, he should not, under no circumstances, attempt to clear missions that had difficulty rating higher than 'Normal', at least not for now.

That was probably why Odelette Delphine went to chat with the first-placed young man from Korea. Of course, she still got refused rather grandly, though.

But that man from Korea had complete a mission with a difficulty rating two rungs higher than 'Normal' this quickly?

“How did he do it? Is able to use magic already…. Hmm?”

Hao Win was thinking of inching closer to Seol and ask, but he ended up tilting his head instead. Seol was standing in the same spot, unmoving like a stone sculpture. There was a strange, awkward atmosphere surrounding him.

It was as if Hao Win was looking at a soldier who barely managed to return from a bloody and brutal warzone. When Hao Win took a closer look, the golden bag he was so envious of was split almost in half, and Seol's expression seemed to be lost and contemplative at the same time.

Then, Seol began moving his feet in silence.

The crowd could only stare at the back of the young man wordlessly climbing up the staircase in unsteady steps.

*

Seol couldn't recall how he returned to his room. His head hurt and he felt dizzy as if he had too much to drink. Upon regaining his focus, he found his entire body soaked in cold sweat.

A chill crept up his back. His breathing seemed normal on the surface, but his heart kept pounding. His throat felt so dry and clammy that he thought it might crack into pieces at any second. He pulled out a two-liter bottle of water and drank from it non-stop.

His Adam's apple danced up and down for a long time. Seol drank almost half of the bottle in one go, then forced his shaking legs to move. Soon, he fell on top of the bed.

Only then, this sensation of returning alive from the abyss came washing over him. Honestly speaking, had he ever felt this enervated since the Tutorial began?

Tok, tok…

He heard someone knocking on the door and raised his head, but then, decided not to care and dropped his head back down the sheets. He didn't feel like talking to anyone at the moment.

The knocking continued for a while, but when there was no response, it stopped.

Seol just lay there and wordlessly stared at the ceiling. The checkered pattern on the ceiling above seemed to be spinning in his view.

How much time went by?

The thick and enduring silence continued on. Seol's fearful and shocked eyes slowly closed until only a sliver remained open.

'Did I place too much blind faith in my ability?'

The parchment was glowing yellow. He thought he could definitely clear the mission given his previous experience with Kang Seok.

'Or was I too careless?'

It wasn’t that he thought it would be a walk in the park. He knew it would be very dangerous. He simply thought that he could handle the risk.

'Maybe, I was too relaxed…'

But didn't he make preparations? He checked each spell ball and even divided them into possible combinations….

Seol thought up to here, and then….

'Was I too hasty….?'

….He completely closed his eyes shut.

The more he tried to analyze his actions, the more foolish he looked to himself.

At least, he had successfully completed the mission. Or, more correctly, he could only manage to barely clear it. The wrong choices he made came back to bite him in the ass and he nearly lost his life. Actually, being able to return alive and in one piece was a miracle in itself already.

His 'Nine Eyes' didn't lie. When he thought about it carefully, that mission was on the level where he could have cleared it if he was being very careful. He even had in possession the necessary answer to clear the mission, too.

What would've happened if he pulled the Mirror of Understanding out the moment he got there? Whether it was a Deceased or a skeleton, they both were undead, so why couldn't he think of this obvious similarity beforehand?

Or, what would've happened if he came up with different types of spell ball combinations?

Only by relying on that pathetically small level of experience of killing the Gaekgwi, he went and picked the Poison Fog as his first line of attack out of the ten spell balls in his possession. Meanwhile, he didn't even stop to consider just what kind of location he might find himself in after the teleportation.

In the end, his mind was to blame. He pretended to be not relaxed. He pretended to be not overconfident. His mind, his greed, blinded him with the need to amass the Survival Points as quickly as possible.

At a bare minimum, he wouldn't have acted this complacent back during the Tutorial.

'….No, that's not right, is it?'

Even back then, was there anything he did with his own power?

More and more questions naturally reared their ugly heads as Seol was pulled along by this chain of logic.

When he chased away the Gaekgwi at the assembly hall, was that through his own power? Or, when he broke past the second mission full of traps alone?

They were both due to his 'Future Vision' ability. He didn't even know how to activate that thing right now. And more importantly, it wasn't as if Seol made the conscious choice to act. He was simply overwhelmed by the emotions at the time.

And when he killed the Gaekgwi?

That was only possible because of the absolute safety the safe zone provided.

What about when he earned the highest amount of points during the Tutorial, then? That was all thanks to the diary of an unknown student.

Most likely, he had become too cocky. As soon as he stepped into the assembly hall, he got recognized as the holder of the hallowed Gold Mark and everyone was super respectful of him. Everyone tried to follow after his footsteps and some even worshipped him. Even the smallest things he did garnered so much attention. They all said that he was someone very special.

He must've been enjoying all this attention, this acknowledgment of his being, even though outwardly he denied it, did not want it, didn't even like it….

[2. Traits]

1. Temperament:—Weak-willed. (Possesses a weak will, thus unable to make decisions alone nor sticks to ones already made)—Short-tempered.

2. Aptitude:—Average. (Normal in every way; possesses no particular talent or qualities)

[3. Physical Level]

Strength: Low (Low)Endurance: Low (Extreme)Agility: Low (Intermediate)Stamina: Low (Low)Magic: Intermediate (High)Luck: Intermediate (High)

Remaining Ability Points: 0

In reality, he was weak. If one took away this and that, then he had nothing and was nothing.

He already knew what happened to him the moment he lost his ability. He knew so well what kind of useless wastrel he was, yet…. Also, wasn't he given so much more this time? Besides his own supernatural ability?

“You stupid son of a bitch….”

He found it hard to endure this sense of shame.

Seol stood right back up and gripped the water bottle the other way, then he poured the water over his head. The cooling liquid rained down from his head, rushed past his face and wetted his upper torso. This was him mocking himself. He told himself, ‘you find yourself in a such a favorable position, so much better than compared to other people, yet is this all you can do?’

Even after the bottle emptied, Seol remained standing there with his eyes closed. He focused on every drop of water falling from the tips of his hair. When he did this for a long time, that whirlwind of boiling emotions deep inside the pit of his stomach began to cool down just a tad.

Only then did he reopen his eyes.

“Fuuuu…..”

The light of greed was completely gone from his eyes now and the original glow returned.

'This can't go on.'

He began reflecting from the very beginning, a detail by every small detail. Not just when he started doing the missions, but the moment he stepped foot inside the Neutral Zone.

'Why am I so hung up on getting the Ambrosia?'

His obsession started the moment when Maria handed over the pamphlet…. No, that wasn't quite right. He knew the existence of the VIP store even before he got here.

[Maybe you might be able to use the VIP store….]

….The Guide, Han.

When Seol recalled Han's face, he also remembered something he'd forgotten until now. Why did that guy choose that time to whisper those words to Seol? Why did he go out of his way to mention the VIP store in the first place?

The water drops still fell from Seol as he moved to grab the bag. He flung it open and rummaged through the contents until he found three neatly-folded pieces of paper inside.

He picked one up and cautiously unfolded it.