Chapter 16 Part4 (1/2)

<chapter 16.=”” a=”” joker=”” is=”” born=”” -=”” 4=””>

[You have acquired 2 permits to G.o.d's secret shop. You have acquired 10,000 Perium. Proficiency in combat-related skills has increased. You can now use your own private chatting channel.]

If heroes clear out a city of the undead, they receive a reward personally bestowed by G.o.d. He'd seen everything else before, but the private chatting channel was a surprise. Of course, it was questionable how much he would use it in the future.

If a hero performs exceptionally in the task known as 'purification', they may be awarded a Hero token; however, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo had already obtained the Joker karma, so he couldn't obtain it a second time. No, perhaps the purification process was much too wicked, such that he wouldn't have been able to attain it, even if he didn't possess the Joker karma.

[You have gathered more than 10 permits to G.o.d's secret shop. You may exchange 10 permits to G.o.d's secret shop for 1 permit to G.o.d's garden.]

However, there was an additional message that appeared before him. It was the first time he'd seen a message like this. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo stared vacantly at the message for some time, and then silently opened the chatting channel. He had decided that this was something that he should know about beforehand.

[Mr. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo has entered.]

[Ye Jin Jin: I'm glad you're safe!]

[Lee s.h.i.+n Woo: I'm glad you're safe as well. Seniors, have any of you gone into G.o.d's garden before?]

[Prince Altania: You crazy b.a.s.t.a.r.d. How the h.e.l.l did you collect ten permits to G.o.d's secret shop?]

[Ye Jin Jin: You shouldn't talk like that! That makes it sound like Mr. s.h.i.+n Woo is crazy!]

[Lloyd H.K.: He is crazy. How did you collect ten of them already?]

As expected, it seemed as though his seniors knew about it. If it was something they hadn't heard about before, he wouldn't have gotten any information out of them; instead, they would've pestered him like crazy and it would've been a real pain in the a.s.s. It was a relief that that wasn't the case. He quickly asked them a question.

[Lee s.h.i.+n Woo: I was just lucky enough to get them. What should I do with them?]

[Yasunori Akira: A small blessing. That's what we call it. Even I haven't gotten one before.]

[Ethan Cruz: G.o.d's garden is a kind of temple. Though it's a bit pricey to get in, G.o.d will personally bestow upon you her divine grace, which is well worth the cost.]

[Lloyd H.K.: We've heard about it from Ethan [1], but we've never actually gone there before. Since we need to continuously go into the secret shop, we couldn't just continue gathering them.]

[Erian Ruparte: Lee s.h.i.+n Woo, I'm envious of your talent and pa.s.sion. I thought you were out of the ordinary ever since you rescued Jin Jin, but...]

[Lee s.h.i.+n Woo: It was all because of her. You see, I received a lot of permits for G.o.d's secret shop from saving her.]

[Prince Altania: Ah, maybe I should do some manual labor too. At this rate, I'm afraid I'll fall behind a newbie. That would be such a disgrace.]

He wanted to say, 'You might've already fallen behind Kratia already', but Lee s.h.i.+n Woo barely kept himself from saying it. And his seniors' advice continued on.

[Seira Von Retadane: We have to periodically go to the secret shop since we can't just fill our inventories with food. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo, you're probably well aware of this, but you cannot afford to be too greedy. Please enter G.o.d's garden only after you have enough permits to spare or after you have acquired a quest that's easy to complete.]

[Lee s.h.i.+n Woo: Thank you, senior. I'll keep that in mind.]

[Prince Altania: As I thought, Seira's been to G.o.d's garden before. It's really clear advice.]

[Seira Von Retadane: Please call me Retadane.]

In any case, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo didn't need to eat, so essentially, it would only be beneficial for him to go to G.o.d's garden. He thanked and said goodbye to his seniors who always gave him good advice, and left the chatting channel. But then...

[Ethan Cruz: I have high expectations of you, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo. Perhaps we'll meet soon.]

[Lee s.h.i.+n Woo: I'll work hard.]

[Lloyd H.K.: For Ethan to say something like that...]

[Prince Altania: Senior, you can't say stuff like that. I'm close to level 7, you know? Once I get to level 7, I'll go through all the dungeons I know about, and get to level 8 in a flas.h.!.+ Ah, Lloyd, if you ask me sincerely, I can help you out.]

[Ethan Cruz: Prince, you're extremely talented as well. I just didn't say it since it seemed so obvious, you rascal.]

Lee s.h.i.+n Woo stepped away from the exchange of well-wishes between seniors and juniors and left the chatting channel. But unexpectedly, at that moment, he saw two messages appear simultaneously.

[Mr. Ethan Cruz is requesting a private chat.]

[Ms. Ye Jin Jin is requesting a private chat.]

Was this message appearing because he'd unlocked the private chatting channel function? Lee s.h.i.+n Woo accepted Ethan's request first. In no time, he heard Ethan's voice in his ear.

[It wasn't lip service. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo, you'll become a big shot in no time.]

”Um... thank you.”

[It's important to know just how much you're worth. I hope I didn't see wrong. It's nice to be humble, but remember that you can't afford to fool yourself. Be aware of how special you are and proceed steadily.]

Why was this guy saying such burdensome things? He should've just refused, just like Arema Steelworker had done with the golems, but Ethan eventually went on to the main topic.

[I'm a high level right now, so I don't really need them, but there are a few dungeons that only I know about.]

”Pardon me...?”

Even an idiot would understand what Ethan Cruz was saying. However, that made him all the more suspicious of him.

”Did you want to tell me about these dungeons...?”

[Exactly.]

Obviously, the higher level the dungeon, the more difficult it is to find. These dungeons are hidden in more unusual places and trick adventurers. That's why heroes go crazy whenever they find a dungeon. However, he knows about a few dungeons? And was only going to tell Lee s.h.i.+n Woo about them?

”There are other heroes, so are you really ok with telling me?”

[Ah, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo. I just told you, didn't I? I told you that you'd become big. ...You'll be different from useless b.u.ms like the Prince.]

”...I see.”

[I'm glad you're quick on the uptake. Now then, I'll activate the minimap sharing function.]

Sharing the minimap. This feature would share one's location with another person. Apparently, it was the feature that was unlocked following the private chat function, so it felt strange to Ethan Cruz that Lee s.h.i.+n Woo hadn't unlocked it yet.

”It feels like the image has been stuck into my head.”