Chapter 83. Scout (1) (1/2)
I came to a rice soup restaurant[1]. Cube had all sorts of restaurants, but this place, Grandma’s Home Flavor, was the only rice soup restaurant that ran 24/7.
“….”
Seeing Kim Suho eating a bowl of rice soup, I became lost in thought.
Kim Suho’s current power was at least at the level of an intermediate rank Hero. This world still had many hidden pieces that I set up left undiscovered.
Among these, there were some that would fall into antagonists’ hands. Items like the ‘Lucifer’s Feather’ and the ‘Snaketooth of Beginning’ were things that I wouldn’t dare to try to obtain, but with Kim Suho’s assistance, I might be able to stop them from falling into antagonists’ hands.
…Thinking about it this way, Kim Suho suddenly became a lot more attractive.
I stared fixedly at Kim Suho. He looked like a main character no matter how I looked at him. The rice soup must be delicious as he didn’t notice that a grain of rice was stuck next to his mouth.
“You have a grain of rice stuck there.”
I took out a few sheets of tissues and took off the grain of rice.
“Ah, thanks.”
Kim Suho spoke with a thin smile.
“By the way, are you going to do the powerpoint presentation for your class?”
“Yep.”
“Aren’t you nervous? I would be.”
“I’ll eat a serenity pill before it, don’t worry.”[2]
I learned long ago that it was foolish to be obstinate about eating medicine. Although I quit college to focus on writing, I still attended until I was a sophomore. I’ve been in 4~5 group projects as well, so I was fairly experienced with presentations.
I also planned on investing some SP into the serenity pill, not necessarily for me, but for Rachel and my other teammates, who had high expectations of me.
If I also add an increased eloquence and persuasiveness effect on the hornflute, it should be a breeze to ace the presentation.
I asked Kim Suho.
“Anyways, the Dungeon is near Suwon, right?”
“Yeah, we should be careful.”
Suwon was the most dangerous area of the three capital areas: Seoul, Suwon, and Incheon. During Outcall, Suwon went through a bizarre terraforming, turning more than half of the region into a horrifying mountain zone.
Because of this, the west side of Suwon was completely off-limits to the public. Kamak Mountain, which was our destination, was just at the border of this restricted zone.
It was then.
The restaurant’s door opened, and someone clad entirely in black walked in. A big hat, a black mask, and a long, full-body coat. This person could easily be mistaken for a criminal.
“Um, I just called…”
The woman clad in black notified the staff in a soft voice. She then glanced at Kim Suho and me, who were the only other customers in the restaurant. Immediately, her shoulders trembled violently.
“Ah yes, wait just one moment.”
The staff went into the kitchen. I smirked and turned to the woman. She was frozen like a statue.
“Oh, who’s this?”
I suddenly remembered. Along with hamburgers, rice soup was one of her favorite dishes.
“Yo, Yoo Yeonha.”
“….”
She was desperately pretending to not have heard my crystal-clear exclamation. Seeing that she wasn’t running away, she must still want the rice soup she ordered.
I got up and approached her.
“Since you’re here, why don’t you join us?”
“Y-Yes? Who, who might you be? I don’t know anyone like you…”
She was desperately trying to sound different, but it was too obvious.
“Eh? Yoo Yeonha? You’re Yoo Yeonha?”
Kim Suho also responded. Then, Yoo Yeonha’s eyes began to tear up under her big hat.
“N-No, no, I’m not. I don’t know anyone by that name….”
“Here you go.”
The staff then came out and handed her a packaged rice soup. Yoo Yeonha quickly snatched it out of her hands before running off.
“A-Ah, wait! You need to pay for that!”
The staff shouted at her, but Yoo Yeonha disappeared like the wind. Then, the staff’s gaze slowly turned towards me.
Without any other choice, I took out my card.
“I’ll pay for it.”
“Yes, thank you~”
For the record, for the next three days…
Yoo Yeonha couldn’t even meet my eyes.
**
Friday, the day of Phenomenon Realm Analysis team challenge presentation.
Currently, Chae Nayun was in a terrible mood.
Her team had been the first team to present. The result was a disaster, even by Chae Nayun’s standards.
Just like Kim Hajin said, Oh Junsik insisted on doing the presentation, stuttering throughout and messing up the entire powerpoint.
“…Ah, I was too nervous. Sorry, I’ll be better next time.”
That was what he said afterwards. Chae Nayun wanted to smack his head, but she held herself back since class was still going on.
“Next team.”
Next up was Team Rachel. A man sitting in front of Chae Nayun got up. It was Kim Hajin.
Wearing a pair of round glasses, he got up on the podium.
“Hello, I am from Team 3. Our Dungeon was the Walsin Dungeon. This Dungeon existed on the foot of Gangwondo Snow Mountain, but because the guild in charge of it, the Desolate Moon guild, hasn’t released any information on the result….”
Kim Hajin’s presentation was smooth. His voice was soft, and he didn’t seem nervous. He first introduced the information gathered by his team, and then estimated the Dungeon’s internal structure using calculations. He even had a cross-sectional map prepared.
Chae Nayun stared at Kim Hajin’s presentation in a daze, her chin sitting on her hand. His voice was slightly different, and a sense of ease was carried in his occasional smiles. Together with his round glasses, it was as if he was giving the class a lecture.
A smart guy was surprisingly cool.
“Wait, I have a question.”
“Yes.”
“How can you estimate the counterflow of magic power with such a small amount of data?”
At that moment, the professor interrupted him and asked a question.
“Ah, about that, if you look at the calculations here….”
However, Kim Hajin answered the professor just as smoothly as he always had. Seeing this intellectual side of him, Chae Nayun fell into a trance. With Kim Hajin’s answer, the professor backed down with a satisfied smile, and the presentation soon concluded.
“That’s it for our team’s presentation.”
Kim Hajin finished his presentation as he pushed his glasses up.
Afterwards, he returned to his seat, which was next to Rachel’s. Chae Nayun stared at Rachel half in regret, half in envy. Rachel and Kim Hajin smiled and gave each other a high-five.
*
After the class ended, I was returning to the dorms with Rachel.
Tomer and other team members strongly asked for a celebratory afterparty, but Rachel and I didn’t participate. I had another appointment, and Rachel just had a reserved personality.
We walked together talking about today’s team challenge. About how Chae Nayun’s team bombed the presentation, about how Shin Jonghak made his presentation so intimidating…
“…Oh right, here.”
When we reached the crossroad to Dorm 1 and Dorm 2, Rachel handed me a piece of paper.
“What’s this?”
“Are you perhaps interested in the English Royal Court guild?”
“…Yes?”
Before I could give a proper answer, Rachel continued speaking.
“In truth, I asked the Royal Court guild to contact Hajin-ssi, but it seems they assumed things on their own by looking at Hajin-ssi’s rank.”
Hearing that, I looked at the paper she gave me. It was a contract. Indeed, it had better conditions than the one I saw in the email. If I was still on Earth, I never would have imagined such a treatment.
“…Please consider it.”
Rachel gave a light bow, then turned and walked to the right.
I watched her leave quietly.
**
After playing with Evandel for about 30 minutes, I headed to a bus stop near Suwon Station, where I promised to meet Kim Suho.
Kim Suho had arrived long ago and was waiting for me.
“Hey Hajin, your presentation was amazing.”
Kim Suho was wearing light clothing. He was currently low on money, so I volunteered to take care of food and equipment.