Chapter 201. Damned Long Story (3) (2/2)
Boss remained silent. She wasn’t a talkative person in the first place. Her sole quirk was that she was quiet.
“Was that too personal?”
Tomer didn’t ask further and gestured at the food on the table.
“Go ahead, you must be hungry.”
“…Okay.”
Boss accepted her offer.
Although Kim Hajin’s food was better, she enjoyed the clean and savory taste of the high-quality meat in front of her. After that, the two of them were silent. Only the sound of utensils clacking could be heard. After 30 minutes, when they were finishing up the meal, Tomer made a casual offer.
“Oh right, try a chant.”
“…A chant?”
“Yep. You know, a spell chant like the ones magicians usually do.”
Boss tilted her head. As far as she was concerned, chants were a cumbersome show that only magicians used.
“The Tower has different laws than the outside world. Skills are directly affected by chants. Even a simple one can have a huge effect on the output of a skill. It doesn’t need to be long and grand like magicians’ chants. For example…”
Tomer muttered quietly.
“Mi, luz.”
At first, nothing seemed to have changed. But soon, Boss’ eyes widened. Chairs, table, and every dish on it had floated up by about 50 cm.
“Detailed Psychokinesis makes it hard for the outside eyes to notice it.”
Tomer grinned. The floating objects then floated down.
“With a simple chant, I just increased the power of Psychokinesis by 50%. You should try it too.”
“…I can just say whatever I want?”
“No, it has to be something that’s meaningful or important to you. I guess you could say… ‘Kim Hajin, my love’?”
“What?”
Boss frowned at Tomer’s lighthearted joke.
Tomer snickered and waved her hands.
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding.”
“…I don’t like jokes like that.”
“Okay, I won’t do it again.”
Tomer nodded and suddenly took out a pamphlet.
“What now…?”
The word [Martial Tournament] was written on the cover.
“What’s this?”
“It’s exactly what it sounds like. Try to get first place. The reward is amazing.”
Tomer smiled mischievously.
Boss wasn’t pleased as she looked at the pamphlet.
===
[1st place prize]
1. Emotion Potion
2. Ancient Black Drake’s Leather
3. Thought-Piercing Magnifying Glass or Inefficient Glove
4. 30,000TP
===
“I can guess what the others are, but what is this emotion potion?”
Boss asked while making it sound like she was murmuring to herself. Tomer gave a simple explanation.
“You can think of it as a love potion.”
“Love potion?”
“Yep, make Kim Hajin drink it. If you set the potion’s target to you… voila! He will…”
Tomer stopped halfway as Boss’ face had contorted to a frightening frown. She looked like the Rakshasa or Asura from Hell. Tomer had an instinctive feeling that she would have to give up on parts of her mansion to tease her any more than this.
“I’m kidding~”
She backed off for now, but Tomer had experience making mischief.
“But isn’t it better than someone else taking it?”
Tomer, who was the primary culprit behind making Rachel and Kim Hajin’s relationship awkward in Cube, also wanted to tease this woman known as Boss.
“What if some strange woman takes the potion and uses it on Kim Hajin~?”
“….”
Boss remained silent at Tomer’s monologue. However, the slight trembling in her eyes showed that Tomer’s teasing was successful.
“Okay, I’ll be leaving now~”
Tomer left feeling content with herself.
**
[8-3F, Crevon Mainland]
Another week passed by.
During this time, many Players arrived in Crevon Mainland, and I had to go back to wearing my hooded robe everywhere.
“…Lady Aileen, cheer up. It’s been a whole week. Forget about it and move on.”
Even in the restaurant I just entered, there were many familiar faces. One was ‘Aileen’, and the other consoling her was ‘Jin Seyeon’.
“But… why does this keep happening to me… I’m just curious….”
Aileen was slouched down on the table, seemingly in tears.
‘What was wrong with Aileen? Did something happen?’ Curious, I strained my ears.
“Anyways, we’re not going to the 9th floor, right?”
The topic quickly changed, and Yi Yongha asked the other members.
“Are you talking about the bridge that Black Lotus is protecting?”
Jin Seyeon asked. News about the ‘World’s End Bridge’ had gotten famous recently. The public forum and even news stations outside the Tower were all reporting on the archer protecting the pathway to the 9th floor. I also gained 200 SP as a result.
“Yep. For the record, I refuse to go even if I die. Haha, I don’t want to die even once, you see. I promised my wife.”
Yi Yongha scratched his neck and made a wry smile. His words, which could be taken as a sign of fear, were taken by Jin Seyeon positively.
“I agree. Six parties challenged the bridge and they all failed. It shouldn’t be any different even if we go. For now, let’s focus on getting stronger.”
I breathed a sigh of relief as I was quite scared of Aileen’s party.
“Auu, auu, auuuuu….”
At that moment, Aileen began to squirm and flop her arms. She wasn’t even drunk, so what was up with her?
“You’re right~ What can an idiot who always loses her money even do~ I should just go die….”
“Come on, just forget about it. There are lots of ways to make money on this floor.”
“…Like what?”
“Martial Tournament, Craftsmanship Tournament, Smithing Tournament… there are all sorts of events on this floor.”
Jin Seyeon took out a pamphlet from her pocket and read out the contents. Aileen glanced at it as well.
[Crevon Martial Tournament], [North River Craftsmanship Tournament], [South River Smithing Conference], [Magic Seminar], etc…
Not only did Crevon have various tournaments, but it also had a bunch of random events. Of course, most of them were skipped in the original story, but things were different now.
Tiring—
At that moment, my messenger rang.
PhantomThief: 「Hajin, it’s ‘Phiunel’, right?」
It was from Jain.
「Yep.」
No matter how powerful Stigma was, it was impossible to stop Players from reaching the 9th floor forever. Since Players’ growth speed would accelerate in Crevon, I wouldn’t be able to restrain them for long.
「Keep an eye on what he’s doing.」
As such, I planned to take what I could from Crevon until the day Players broke through me.
PhantomThief: 「Okay~ I’m following him around as one of his maids right now.」
I got up from my seat. After paying for my meal, I was about to leave the restaurant when I felt Aileen's eyes glance over me. Her sharp gaze made me wary for a second, but her next words made me breathe a sigh of relief and continue on my way.
“…I wonder how much that costs~”
**
“…I wonder how much that costs~”
Aileen murmured enviously.
“What are you talking about?”
Jin Seyeon asked.
“The guy that just left was wearing this nice robe… it was so pretty… it looked like it had a magic power amplifying effect too.”
“Oh, the man that was sitting over there? I saw him too. He caught my attention as soon as I walked in.”
“Right? Ah, if only I didn’t lose my money.”
Aileen let out a heavy sigh. Jin Seyeon smiled wryly, then looked at Shin Jonghak who was busy looking through the Community.
“Oh right, Jonghak-ssi, is it true that Chae Nayun joined some group?”
“Huh? Ah, yes.”
Shin Jonghak nodded and continued.
“The entire Essence of the Strait did. Since the pathway to the 9th floor is blocked, it seems they’re focusing on earning TP.”
“Is that so? Aren’t the NPCs on this floor powerful? Will we be able to compete with them?”
“Surprisingly so.”
Shin Jonghak displayed the post he was reading on the public forum.
“[Outsiders receive special treatment… Crevon’s high-level NPCs are absurdly powerful, but Players are stronger than most NPCs…]. So it’s like that. By the way, Essence of the Strait already has a client.”
“Already?”
“Yep.”
Shin Jonghak glanced at his messenger and nodded to himself.
“The client’s name is ‘Phiunel’. From what I hear, he’s a rich businessman from the South River region.”