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Seong-Il panted and stood next to Seon-Hu, who had collapsed on the ground. Since they had moved into the building earlier, Seong-Il didn’t allow any villagers to meet them. The older-looking man then carefully wiped off the blood on Seon-Hu’s body.
What kind of hell did you go through…
Seon-Hu was lucky that he was still alive. Seong-Il had seen several bodies that had been partially eaten by the monsters, but the younger man looked even more terrible as he was still alive. He wanted to clean the younger man's items, especially the red cape. In the process of cleaning Seon-Hu’s body, lots of blood had fallen toward the red cape and welled up in its folds. The item could transform from a burning sword to a cape and vice versa. While it was in its sword time, whenever it was swung, the monsters became burnt by the fire.
Seong-Il reached out his hand to Seon-Hu’s shoulder where the cape was attached while recalling the frightening scene.
“Euk!”
A scream burst out from Seong-Il’s mouth as the younger man had grabbed his wrist with an unexpected speed. Seong-Il bent at his waist and wailed in pain with a contorted face. It felt more painful than when a monster had been gnawing his thigh flesh because his wrist bone had been destroyed to the point that it could no longer break. His hand was now dangling uselessly.
Seong-Il instinctively shook off Seon-Hu’s hand and writhed for a while. When he glanced at Seon-Hu, the younger man was still unconscious. Seong-Il was able to urgently deal with his shattered wrist only after he swallowed the narcotic painkiller that Seon-Hu had once given him.
He gasped, “I won’t touch it, so… take a good rest. Fuck. I thought I was going to die.”
[Please select a reward. If not selected, a random box will open in 23 hours 45 minutes 11 seconds.]
[Subject: 5 silver boxes]
Another notification message had popped up, and Seong-Il looked at Seon-Hu. The disgusting foreign bodies and blood still bothered him, but he felt like he shouldn’t disturb the younger man anymore. Seon-Hu was clearly obsessed with his item even when he was unconscious.
Anyway, being able to choose a reward was good news, especially for Seong-Il, who didn’t have any faith in luck. It was useless to think about why the System had suddenly modified its rule.
The fucking guide must be acting based on its own whims. Well, I like this though.
Seong-Il started to get excited and forgot about the desperate battle and pain that had just occurred a few hours ago. He could upgrade his stats to his desired class by using the five silver boxes although they wouldn’t be as nice as the gold box he had obtained when he had followed Seon-Hu. However, something still troubled him.
Men should have strong power…
Seong-Il wanted to upgrade Strength the most, but he realized being strong wasn’t good enough. Monsters often exploded whenever they were hit by a blunt weapon, but it only happened when he targeted them accurately. When there were a bunch around him, he could swing the weapon randomly and smack at least one, but he struggled when there were only a few left.
Moreover, he would have died before Seon-Hu had arrived if he hadn’t received a healing insignia from the gold box. He also needed to be agile, have insignias for the next wave, and a shield to protect his legs from mutts’ teeth. After contemplating his options for a bit, Seong-Il ultimately decided to open a box that contained stat points to increase his stats.
[The silver box ‘Agility’ will open.]
[Your Agility has increased by 11.]
[Agility: F (47)]
“Shit!”
Seong-Il lost his temper for a moment. Seon-Hu had kindly taught him, and he had experienced opening boxes many times before. Therefore, he was aware that a stat increase could be any number from eleven to forty when an F-class person opened a silver stat box.
I lucked out. I was born with misfortune, so I guess I have no hope.
In fact, his unfortunate fate had played a part when his ex-wife had filed a suit for divorce. The differences between them had been resolved as Seong-Il had given her enough living expenses, and there was no conflict between him and her family. However, his marriage had been destroyed when he had co-signed someone else’s loans, leading to debt. It wasn’t even for a friend of his. Instead, it was for the woman who had given birth to him but had abandoned him for thirty years. She appeared out of nowhere and demanded that he needed to guarantee her debt. His prosperous business collapsed overnight, and he had to give up a shopping mall and a house he had purchased with the money he had earned by the sweat on his brow.
Seong-Il opened the second box, and it gave a stat increase for Agility again.
[Your Agility has increased by 15.]
[Agility: F (62)]
“Are you serious…” he grumbled.
[Your Agility has increased by 11.]
[Agility: F (73)]
[Your Agility has increased by 19.]
[Agility: F (92)]
How could someone be this unlucky? Out of the four boxes he had opened, not a single stat increase had exceeded twenty points. However, he knew that the last box would upgrade his Agility by one class.
Seong-Il’s eyes were shifted back to Seon-Hu. He was a hero who had saved everyone despite his terrible injuries. Seong-Il could upgrade his Agility immediately, but he had made a promise to himself that he would open the last box in a way that would be helpful to Seon-Hu. It had been his luckiest day when he had met up with Seon-Hu, and that man was currently lying in front of him.
[The silver box ‘Insignia’ will open.]
[You have obtained the insignia ‘Rock.’]
Seong-Il instantly became disappointed. He had desperately hoped for a Healing insignia, but it didn’t come out.
He apologized softly, “I’m sorry, Seon-Hu.”
Right then…
Knock, knock.
Someone was knocking on the window outside, and it was Lee Soo-Ah, one of the few healers in town! Seong-Il regretted how he had not thought of her and ran out with a smile.
***
“What?” he shrieked.
Soo-Ah said, “There are many mana stones that had been distributed as your share.”
“Say that again.”
Seong-Il’s voice became ferocious, and Soo-Ah replied with a timid face, “If it’s hard to touch Seon-Hu’s, I’m asking you to give me yours.”
Seong-Il snapped, “It’s Seon-Hu. Are you saying that you can’t heal him?”
Soo-Ah shook her head. “I’m not saying that I can’t do it. This is how the market works as the demand is high, but supply is low.”
“Ugh.” Seong-Il moaned as the pain aggravated in his broken wrist when he had involuntarily clenched his fists. The painkillers weren’t enough to dull that kind of pain.
“Do you not know what Seon-Hu has done for you guys? Do we really have to pay for it?” he snarled.
If looks could kill, Seong-Il would have already slaughtered Soo-Ah. She was afraid of him, but she didn’t step back. No, she couldn’t. It was clear what she needed to do in order to survive in this game that didn’t seem to end soon.
She thought this would be the turning point. Of course, she had calculated the benefits of treating Seon-Hu free of charge. He was strong enough to sort things out on his own, and she could do it to win his favor. At first, she was going to heal him for free, but she soon changed her mind when she recalled the way Seon-Hu looked at people and how he had suddenly killed Cheol-Yeong.
Was it because of the item? Was he scared that Cheol-Yeong or someone else would go after his items? So was that a warning to everyone?
If that was the reason, then Seon-Hu had to exterminate everyone on the spot. He clearly had the capabilities to become that kind of murderer, yet he didn’t. Soo-Ah then thought about how Seon-Hu had made mana stones their new currency, and how the villagers had become more active and motivated to survive because of it. After considering all the points, she concluded that Seon-Hu was a relatively reasonable person.
She had a hunch that his major career, other than being a member of the World Awakened Association, would be associated with finance like her.
Or a businessman who controlled people?
One thing that was clear was that thanks to Seon-Hu, people had become more alive. They now scrambled to clean up the monsters’ corpses, which everyone had been reluctant to do when Seon-Hu first stated that he would pay them with mana stones. Healers were busy taking care of their injuries, but they treated others if they were paid.
If Odin meant this in good faith… If that was the case…
Seong-Il asked, “Your name is Soo-Ah, right?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
Seong-Il bitterly remarked, “You must be blinded by greed, but we are talking about Odin’s wound here.”
Soo-Ah replied, “So is he dead? You first met Odin here, didn’t you?”
“Yes, so what? There’s nothing good for you if you act like this. Are you stupid?” Seong-Il snarled.
Soo-Ah’s heart fluttered whenever Seong-Il’s blunt weapon moved. They were in a lawless area where people were no longer surprised to see dead bodies. None of the villagers would come to help her even if Seong-Il tried swinging his weapon at her. Their reaction would be the same as when Cheol-Yeong’s neck was blown away.
Soo-Ah answered in a tense voice, “Odin wouldn’t want to be treated for free.”
She felt like she was gambling. It was like taking a huge risk without confidence because her boss was grilling her. At that time, only her bonuses and performance ratings were at stake, but her own survival was being played with now. Soo-Ah was ready to do anything to win Seon-Hu’s favor as there was no greater reward here than staying alive.
Seong-Il frowned and grumbled, “Have you ever been in Odin’s mind? And why is this free? Odin saved your life. Stop being ridiculous. You asked for mana stones, right? Take them all. Fuck.”
Soo-Ah shook her head and pragmatically replied, “No, I’ll just take ten.”
I hope this is right…
***
Soo-Ah immediately used her healing skill every time it came off cooldown. She was more curious about Seon-Hu’s position in society than how he acquired such power. There was no doubt that Seon-Hu was a member of the World Awakened Association as they had clearly been preparing for the invasion of alien civilization for a long time.
However, her idea that Seon-Hu might have been in a finance or business field began to fade away when she got a closer look at him. He looked to be in his early twenties, which was much too young.
Should I just tell him that I was wrong? If I presumed the meaning of Odin’s intention to use mana stones… I’m going to be kicked out of this village or get killed immediately.
Soo-Ah glanced at Seong-Il. He looked tired, but he was glaring at her and remained alert.
“You can go to bed,” Soo-Ah said.
Her body was about to collapse as she started to become more relaxed.
“How can I trust you?” the older man asked suspiciously.
She shrugged. “We should trust each other, especially in this case.”
His brows furrowed. “Whatever.”
Seong-Il was about to pour a bucket of swear words out, but he decided to leave it as is. Soo-Ah’s selfish attitude reminded him of Cheol-Yeong. He had truly thought Cheol-Yeong was a good guy and wanted to keep him close… But the other man had turned his back on him when he was in a critical moment.
When he thought more about it, he realized that Cheol-Yeong had never left the safe area throughout the battle. No one had thought it was strange then as they didn’t want the leader to get killed. However, Seong-Il couldn’t help himself from swearing as someone who had seen Cheol-Yeong’s real face. The other man had only been doing things for himself. The sight of Cheol-Yeong tightening his backpack straps crossed Seong-Il’s mind again.
He suddenly remarked, “He was just a smooth talker. You are the same as that asshole.”
“...”
Seong-Il continued, “Cheol-Yeong, that bastard. Do you know why he got killed? If you act like him, you will end up being him. We don’t care if you are a woman or not. Focus on the treatment!”
“What did Cheol-Yeong do wrong?” Soo-Ah asked if she didn’t know anything.