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Chapter 49: A Real Party
I had received a 1/3 Map Fragment. Ultimately, it meant that the other 2/3s would be necessary in order to clear whatever dungeon or gate was coming after the ‘Shot Table Dungeon’. Choi Sung-gu had to do it with us.
‘I’m sure the Giant of the Sunset knows that, too.’
He was probably in quite the shock up there. The dungeon was one he prepared for Choi Sung-gu’s sole enjoyment, but two sudden variables showed up in the form of Sunhwa and me and took a bigger portion of the reward than Sung-gu.
‘Even though he’s super biased… he still can’t ignore the order itself. Isn’t that right? Biased asshole.’
The System had its own set of rules. That’s why the Giant of the Sunset was going through the trouble of fostering Sung-gu through the gateway that was a ‘dungeon’. Without his direct interference, he prescribed a set of trials and issued rewards only when those trials were properly surmounted.
‘Maybe it’d be different if he were as reckless and brash as the Demon King’s Guardian.’
If he were on the level of the Demon King’s un-named Guardian, he might’ve been able to ignore things like order or rules altogether. It was known that the Demon King’s Guardian was more powerful and had more authority than any other Guardian in the world. That Guardian didn’t even bother to give things through dungeons; They just rained down rewards indiscriminately. At least, that was how the rumors went.
‘In any case.’
I decided to make a mutual contract with Choi Sung-gu, and I had to get Sung-gu to go into it 100% voluntarily.
“I have special eyes.”
It wasn’t a total lie that I was deceiving him. I used a clever combination of truth and lies to lead him into doing what I wanted.
“The Vulcan Body Tome is an item that you need far more than I do. So I think it would be best for you to use this.”
“Ah. Like I said, that’s not what’s important here. I’m saying you absolutely need to have this, y’know? I won’t be able to sleep at night otherwise!”
Yes, I understand. So listen to me, please.
“That’s why I want to do this thing called a contract with you. Of course, you can refuse if you don’t want to.”
There were now NPCs on the 1st floor of the Gwanghwamun D-Tower, including NPCs that would oversee contracts. They were called ‘notary NPCs’.
“…A contract like this.”
Choi Sung-gu scowled. “I’ve got some pride, y’know. What’s a measly 3%? I’ll give you 30% like a real man.”
“…”
The details of the contract weren’t anything special. It was a contract stating that for the next ten years, 30% of all profits earned by Choi Sung-gu would go to me.
‘Players, as well as the new tech market, will grow rapidly.’
And the profits the Flame Lord Choi Sung-gu would earn would be beyond imagination. Even 3% of that would be a staggering amount.
“No, 3% is enough.”
It was better not to do it at all than to be too greedy. Plus, the Giant of the Sunset wouldn’t be too reluctant about 3%.
‘The Giant of the Sunset doesn’t ignore the rules. Rather, he puts high value on order and justification.’
Knowing that, what would happen if I conceded the ‘Vulcan Body Tome’, a magic tome of a grade that could never exist in the beginner period, and for a contract that asked for just 3% of Sung-gu’s profits?
‘Even the Giant of the Sunset would be convinced.’
I had created a scenario where he would have no choice but to be convinced, even if he didn’t want to be. We would go and draw up a contract notarized by a notary NPC and even make a ‘party contract’ of sorts saying that Choi Sung-gu voluntarily wanted to dungeon Play with me.
‘He won’t try to kill us anymore.’
No, he couldn’t. That meant that the door was open to jumping into the Flame Lord Choi Sung-gu’s personal scenarios, as well as taking a cut of whatever information and rewards came his way in the future.
‘Nice.’
We headed to the D-Tower’s 1st floor, where we received a notarization from the notary NPC ‘Senna’. The woman in her early 30s wearing a black suit and black high heels stared at us strangely.
Giving Sung-gu a weird look, she said, “Hm. It looks to me that you really like the other person. A 3% share. An ally declaration. And it looks like you even want to do personal scenarios together.”
Those were the terms of the contract. We wrote it up like that on purpose. This contract showed that Choi Sung-gu was ‘voluntarily’ working with me. On the other hand, nothing about it showed that I was doing anything for him. I simply conceded the ‘Vulcan Body Tome’ he got without any fanfare.
“Very well. The contract has been implemented. When it is registered in the System, it will cost 1,000 Coins. Who will pay the fee? The payer will be listed as such on the contract as well.”
Choi Sung-gu’s hand shot up. “Me, me! I’ll do it!” He put on an air of mock severity as he looked at me. “Splitting the bill, I don’t like that kind of stuff. This one’s absolutely on me.”
…I had no intention of paying for it anyway, but I was still thankful.
See you in ten days, friend.
* * *
Sunhwa and I took a taxi. Yes, even someone like me was able to ride a taxi now. During my civil service student days, I only ever rode the bus. Taxis were an extremely expensive method of transportation for my station, and there was of course no occasion that demanded riding one. It was pretty nice to ride one, though. There was no harassment from others, and the air conditioner was cool.
We decided to go to a tonkatsu restaurant in Sinchon. On our way there, I saw the Sinchon Hyundai Department Store and the connected U-Plex building.
‘That’ll also become a dungeon.’
That building would be the location for the formation of a dungeon with a whopping seven floors. But the current Sinchon was overflowing with vitality. Many people who looked like university students arranged to meet there and filled the street with liveliness.
‘The U-Plex Dungeon.’
It was a place I absolutely needed to clear.
‘I should go and get used to the layout a few times before the dungeon appears.’
We arrived at the tonkatsu restaurant.
“Uwah!”
Sunhwa reacted like a starstruck kid. Her wide eyes were full of happiness. She drooled at the sight of the freshly fried tonkatsu.
State: Happy / Having Fun / Expectant
Her summary even changed.
Summary: Tonkatsu-Enamored Little Sister
‘What’s with these summaries all the time?’
Last time, it was Slight Brother Complex, and this time, it was Tonkatsu-Enamored Little Sister. There were all sorts of words you could attach to ‘Tonkatsu-Enamored’, like middle school student, human, or gourmet, but seeing as it just had to be ‘little sister’, it seemed Sunhwa herself was really clinging to the position of ‘little sister’.
‘It does look good.’
The tonkatsu was piping hot. The crispy fried coating over the appropriately thick meat was shining.
“It’s so tasty. It’s really, really tasty.”
I felt my mood improve a little. Sunhwa was sincerely happy right now, all because of one tonkatsu. It wasn’t all that bad to see her happy face.
“A poor brat like you wants to eat tonkatsu? No chance in hell.”
She didn’t have to hear words like that anymore.
“The world sure is a bitch.”
I didn’t have to think those kinds of thoughts anymore.
“Is it good?”
“Yes!”
I tousled her head once. For some reason, I just wanted to do it all of a sudden. Sunhwa stared at me for a moment like she didn’t dislike it before breaking into a happy grin.
“You’re that happy?”
“I am. It’s good. I’m so happy.”
On our way home, Sunhwa gave me a confession that wasn’t a confession with a reddened face.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“It feels like I have a family now.”
It wasn’t just a feeling, but a reality. Legally, we were family, and I thought of Sunhwa as family, too. This was a child who had put her life on the line for me. It might even be that we were more of a family than some other regular families.
“We’re family.”
Sunhwa smiled brightly at that. Her eyes were glistening a little with tears, but I pretended not to notice.
“I’ll do my best in everything, without being a bother.”
I gave her the lightest noogie.
“No need for that. It’s not like you’re employed or anything.”
Because that wasn’t what family was. It wasn’t that you had to work hard and do well in everything to be loved and cherished. You didn’t have to be successful to receive love. That was what I thought. For me, a failure who hadn’t accomplished anything, my mom and sister sacrificed themselves. They loved me.
Through them, I learned what love and devotion was.
‘Though I won’t be able to match them in that regard…’
Even so, since I was alive, I wanted to live like a real person.
“You don’t need to do well in everything.”
“…Thanks for saying so.”
I grinned.
“Just one thing. Take the hits for me. Turns out getting hit by monsters is pretty painful.”
“I-I will.”
“What’s wrong? Did your expression just get darker just now?”
“I-It didn’t, okay?”
“In that case, take a lot of hits for me. Got it?”
“…”
Haha. It didn’t matter one whit that she looked like a small and young little sister on the outside. Since she could tank better than me, she obviously had to take the hits, even if it did hurt to get hit.
“Well, it’s fine ‘cause I’m not the one getting hit anyway.”
“…”
I grinned as brightly as Sunhwa had when she was eating tonkatsu earlier.
“Let’s go home.”
* * *
June 23, 2018.
‘In two weeks, a dungeon will appear in the Peace Park in Paju, Seoul.’
It was the hardest dungeon in the beginner grade, far more difficult than the Seoul Station Dungeon. It had produced countless casualties.
‘And five days after that… Choi Sung-gu’s personal scenario dungeon will begin.’
Every single day, I thought about and planned out the things I had to do, because now, I was the architect of my life.
‘I have to clear the Peace Park, without fail.’
But not yet. Countless casualties would arise, but I didn’t have the strength to prevent that. I had to be at least level 30 to be able to clear it.
I looked through the news. A few incidents caught my eye.
[Launch of the Players Association]
With the conglomerate Sungshin’s powerful support, the ‘Players Association’ was established. Mankind was becoming just a little more used to this changed world.
[CEO Song Kiyoung elected to be the 1st Chairman of the Players Association]
The president of Sungshin, Song Kiyoung, was elected as the 1st chairman of the Players Association. There were a few more incidents.
[The ‘Lion’s Roar’ Guild officially registers as a guild in the Players Association]
[The ‘White Butterfly’ Guild officially registers as a guild in the Players Association]
White Butterfly had already registered, too. For reference, White Butterfly was the guild led by the future Sword Empress Shin Yeonseo.
This was all stuff I knew. I had changed a few things in between, but history was flowing the way I remembered.
‘And even in this very moment, the Demon King’s out there somewhere, growing stronger.’
No one knew who the Demon King was. I was still unable to make a decision. If the only thing I was concerned about was my own welfare, I didn’t have to butt heads with the Demon King. The 8 Heroes of Korea chose to oppose the Demon King, and two of them perished at the Demon King’s hands.
I shook my head.
‘Let’s not think too far ahead.’
For now, I would focus on the happiness right in front of me, like Sunhwa being happy over tonkatsu. In order to focus on the happiness right in front of me, I needed to stick to the things I had to do.
Sunhwa and I continued to run through the Seoul Station Dungeon. We did Independent Play and earned a lot of EXP through continuous grinding.
‘One more clear, and it’ll be our 30th.’
We finally reached it.
[You have cleared the Seoul Station Dungeon 30 times.]
[You have fulfilled the Hidden Piece ‘30 Seoul Station Dungeon Clears’.]
Good. This was why I had gone through the Seoul Station Dungeon over and over again, to get this hidden piece. This hidden piece was, like some of the others, pretty much public knowledge.
‘But—’
It would be different for me. I predicted that I would get another notice.
‘As expected.’
My prediction was correct. More notices that weren’t just about the hidden piece started to come in.
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