Chapter 20 (2/2)
”Okay. And then…. Area 2, Delphine, Odelette.” (Cinzia)
”I'm also staying.” (Odelette Delphine)
The girl answered right away. She quickly caught the thrown item that drew a long arc in the air. She checked it and then, promptly raised her hand up high again.
”Excuse me for a second!” (Odelette Delphine)
”Mm?” (Cinzia)
”I think you gave me the wrong one, because it says No.2 on the plate.” (Odelette Delphine)
”Nope. I know full well that you earned 7500 points.” (Cinzia)
Shocked and impressed gasps came from the various parts of the audience seats. Most of the crowd here stared at the girl with the white hairband with disbelieving eyes.
”If I deduct the 1000 Survival points you got as your starting bonus, then your original points tally is 6500. And your silver Mark got you a Mark of Survival with the 5 times multiplier. So, you earned 1300 points during the Tutorial. Am I right?” (Cinzia)
”Y, yes, you are right….” (Odelette Delphine)
”But, how regretful. That amount would've been enough to get you to the top of the rankings. However, this time, it's only enough for the second place.” (Cinzia)
The girl's jaw dropped. Quite likely, she hadn't thought of the possibility that someone else could've surpa.s.sed her in the points tally.
'Wait a minute? Didn't I also receive some Survival points as the starting bonus?' (Seol)
Now that he thought about it, Seol did receive 5000 points in the a.s.sembly hall as starting bonus. It seemed that the points he got back then was not subjected to the multiplier effect of the Mark of the Survival. In any case, that meant the actual total of Seol's Survival points was not 21500, but 26500, instead.
”Area 1…” (Cinzia)
”I'm staying.” (Seol)
Seol quickly got up from his seat. The back of his head was getting really itchy right about now.
”How many points did that guy receive, then?” (Odelette Delphine)
”You shouldn't even ask. Just tallying up the original points alone, its 2150. It's higher than yours by 850.” (Cinzia)
”Oh, wowsers. That's amazing….” (Odelette Delphine)
'Doesn't she understand the notion of being embarra.s.sed?!' (Seol)
Seol inwardly complained while catching the incoming object. It was actually a key - and there was a golden numeral '1' engraved on the attached plate.
”You know, I find it really amazing.” (Cinzia)
Cinzia unexpectedly displayed a certain amount of admiration.
”Not only your tiny nation earned the rights to recruit people independently, it even ended up producing an Irregular such as yourself, too….” (Cinzia)
Thanks to her declaration, all attention that used to be focused on Odelette was now firmly fixed on Seol. He really want to say 'h.e.l.l no' to any more of this unwanted attention right now.
Finally, Cinzia gave out a signal, prompting the maids to hurriedly descend from the stage and move to either side of the audience area.
”What are you all doing? Stand up!” (Cinzia)
Seol was about halfway down to his chair, but he had to stand back up again.
”The countdown to the month's deadline has begun already. What, you want me to spoon feed you everything you need before you'll starting moving your a*ses?” (Cinzia)
Hearing this, Seol quickly picked up his bag.
The blonde maid was waiting for him in a different doorway than the one he used to enter the theatre. It was as if she was telling him to use this one now.
Everyone formed the same sort of surprised expressions once they exited from the theatre and took in the sights unfolding before their eyes.
The so-called Neutral Zone reminded one of a super-ma.s.sive department store with its spectacular interior. The ground floor was shaped in a huge circle, and wherever they looked, they could find lounges and shops as well as other facilities. And none here could even start figuring out just how many floors, interconnected with spiraling staircases, there were above their heads.
They couldn't exit from the Neutral Zone yet, but it wasn't hard to imagine how this place might've looked from the outside - like the legendary Tower of Babel, a tall and round tower.
Seol found an empty chair inside one of the ground floor's lounges and settled down to survey the area around him. The most eye-catching object within this 'lobby' was a giant noticeboard set up next to a fountain in the middle of the floor. On this board, there were countless pieces of paper that resembled paper talismans stuck to it. And a healthy crowd of people had gathered in front.
Seol decided to go and check out that later, once things had calmed down a little bit. So, he sat here and organised his thoughts.
He was initially thinking of leaving the Neutral Zone right away. Since he already possessed the qualifications, he believed that there was no real need to waste his time here. However, the other four people who had ama.s.sed over 1000 points all chose to remain. They didn't even show a hint of hesitation, either.
And also, didn't that man Hao Win say it out loud, too? He said that was a 'foolish question'.
'Okay, then. What did I dream about this place….?' (Seol)
….He couldn't remember anything about this place at all.
There must be a reason why all four of them said they'd rather remain here. In times like this, Seol couldn't help but grow resentful of Kim Hahn-Nah.
Seol remained sitting there while rubbing his face, unsure of what to do next. He felt someone approaching him and raised his head.
”How do you do?”
The woman greeting him with dignified elegance as soon as their eyes met, was decked out in a rather familiar attire. Seeing her neatly tied hair, as well as the pair of spectacles sitting on her nose, Seol easily recognised her - she was the second maid standing to the left on the stage.
'She's from… Area 2, isn't she?' (Seol)
”Hi. Is there anything I can help you with?” (Seol)
”I'm called Agnes. If it does not bother your important self, I'd like the honour of guiding you around this facility.” (Agnes)
Now that was a really wonderful thing to hear. But it also raised a question in Seol's head.
”I thought we were supposed to find the necessary info by ourselves?” (Seol)
”Indeed that is the case. However, we are tasked with providing basic information. And also, providing more information on our own volition isn't against the rules.” (Agnes)
Seol figured that this nice treatment had something to do with his gold Mark. He nodded his head in acceptance. Being guided around, instead of stumbling around by himself, certainly saved him a lot of time.
”Thank you for your help. I'll be in your care, then.” (Seol)
”Ahh, in that case….” (Agnes)
Just as Agnes's complexions brightened, she began glancing behind Seol with a stiffened face. He looked behind and found the blonde maid from the Tutorial standing there. Not only that, there was a… refres.h.i.+ng smile on her face, too. Agnes did her best to reciprocate a smile on her own.
”M, Maria…. Of course, I know that Area 1 isn't my jurisdiction. But the Tutorial has ended already. Isn't it fine to yield this little thing to me just once?” (Agnes)
The blonde maid, Maria, continued to smile radiantly. Meanwhile, she began raising her middle finger. Agnes's expression hardened instantly.
”What's the meaning of that gesture?” (Agnes)
”Excuse me~.” (Maria)
”Don't f*ck around, please.” (Maria)
”….You're still as coa.r.s.e as ever, I see.” (Agnes)
Agnes let off a soft but resolute hng!, silently bowed to Seol, and left without saying anything else.
”Still with that disgusting habit of trying to wag your tail everywhere, you little Sicilian b*tch.” (Maria)
Seol couldn't help but doubt his own hearing. He had already confirmed that the blonde maid could speak just fine, but then, to see such hardcore swearing jumping out of that adorable and radiant face of hers was just….
”Well, then. Allow me to guide you.” (Maria)
”….You are pretty good. With talking, I mean.” (Seol)
”Ahh, that. I am currently practicing the vow of silence, you know.” (Maria)
”The vow of… silence?” (Seol)
”Yes. I'm trying to fix this bad habit of mine. You see, my words tend to not get filtered by my brain and just jump out of my mouth first.”
She was implying that she'd often open her mouth without thinking. Somehow, Seol could agree with that.
”Well, uh…. I'll be in your care, then.” (Seol)
When Seol stood up from his seat, Maria began tugging at the corners of his clothes. Then, she pointed towards the inside of the lounge area. The facilities there resembled a cafe's, somewhat.
”Before we get started…. Would you like to buy me something to drink from there first?” (Maria)
Seol turned around to call for Agnes. Maria jumped up and down in alarm.
”Wait, wait!! Okay, fine. Fine! But, what's wrong with buying me something to drink?!” (Maria)
”But, why should I….?” (Seol)
”Scrooge. You have a lot of Survival Points, don't you?” (Maria)
Seol blinked his eyes a couple of times. While she was begging him to buy her something, she mentioned the Survival Points. Why?
”Does that mean, in order to use any of the facilities here, you gotta spend Survival Points?” (Seol)
”Yes. Within the Neutral Zone, the Survival Points act as the sole currency. In order to eat, sleep, and buy things to wear, you need Survival Points for all of those.” (Maria)
Seol furrowed his brows. Not just needing to ama.s.s lots of points, but also needing to spend them - now that would spike the difficulty upwards rather steeply.
”How do you gather more Survival Points?” (Seol)
Rather than a verbal answer, Maria pointed at the noticeboard, instead. There was a healthy crowd of people in front of it, still.
”By taking on the missions placed on th~at noticeboard and clearing them, you'll be eligible to receive points as rewards. That's the normal way of getting the points.” (Maria)
”The normal way, huh….” (Seol)
”The Survival Points can be loaned out or transferred to others, too.” (Maria)
A bitter smile formed on Seol's face. By connecting what Maria said to Cinzia's words of 'we are not going to mind other ways you cook up yourselves', Seol could make a pretty good guess here. Most would go about solving their problems by getting a loan or, more likely, resorting to robbery.
”Since I told you, you'll buy me something, right?” (Maria)
”I refuse.” (Seol)
”Ehhh? But, why?” (Maria)
”I'll have to conserve my points. It's not like they fall down from the sky or something.” (Seol)
”But, why so stingy?! You know you will get free accommodation and food, so how come?” (Maria)
Seol tilted his head, wondering what is she on about now?
Maria sneakily looked around her and began whispering to his ear.
”Even here, you'll see lots of discrimination, you know. The Contracted has to pay the full amount when using the facilities found here, but that's not the case for the Invited, right? The Bronze Mark gets 10% discount, the Silver gets 20% discount, and….” (Maria)
”If that's the case….” (Seol)
”As a Gold Mark, you get 30% off on every available facility here. On top of that, you were the highest ranked survivor, too. So, not only are you given your exclusive residence, you also receive 70% discount when utilising the services of certain shops and restaurants as well.” (Maria)
When Seol stared at her in disbelief, Maria nodded her head quite animatedly.
And as it turned out, she was telling the truth.
The cheapest drink available to buy cost one Survival Point. Maria chose a drink that cost 10 points, but as soon as he showed off his Gold Mark and the plate attached to his key, he didn't even have to pay a single point.
”You really made a wise decision to stay behind, you know.” (Maria)
As they were headed off to his residence located on the upper floors, Maria suddenly told him thus. Her expression was one full of happiness as she sucked in the drink through the straw.
”You see, it's exceedingly difficult to return to the Neutral Zone once you leave. Since you already have secured your right to leave, you might as well suck out every little benefit you can from here, don't you think so?” (Maria)
”And what benefits are there that can make my stay worthwhile?” (Seol)
”The VIP store.” (Maria)
Maria answered him right away and pulled out a pamphlet from seemingly out of nowhere.
”This here is the list of some of the things you can buy from the VIP store.” (Maria)
Seol's eyes grew wider and wider in surprise as he scanned contents of the list.
< 20.=”” rewards=”” befitting=”” one's=”” achievements=”” (3)=””> Fin.
(TL: This part is actually written in English in the raw. I just copy/pasted it. Also, every line spoken by Cinzia, the maids, and Odelette Delphine until the synchronisation is written in English as well.)