[You have acquired 2 permits to Godās 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 God. Heād 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 āpurificationā, they may be awarded a Hero token; however, Lee Shin Woo had already obtained the Joker karma, so he couldnāt obtain it a second time. No, perhaps the purification process was much too wicked, such that he wouldnāt have been able to attain it, even if he didnāt possess the Joker karma.
[You have gathered more than 10 permits to Godās secret shop. You may exchange 10 permits to Godās secret shop for 1 permit to Godās garden.]
However, there was an additional message that appeared before him. It was the first time heād seen a message like this. Lee Shin 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 Shin Woo has entered.]
[Ye Jin Jin: Iām glad youāre safe!]
[Lee Shin Woo: Iām glad youāre safe as well. Seniors, have any of you gone into Godās garden before?]
[Prince Altania: You crazy bastard. How the hell did you collect ten permits to Godās secret shop?]
[Ye Jin Jin: You shouldnāt talk like that! That makes it sound like Mr. Shin Woo is crazy!]
[Lloyd H.K.: HeĀ isĀ 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 hadnāt heard about before, he wouldnāt have gotten any information out of them; instead, they wouldāve pestered him like crazy and it wouldāve been a real pain in the ass. It was a relief that that wasnāt the case. He quickly asked them a question.
[Lee Shin Woo: I was just lucky enough to get them. What should I do with them?]
[Yasunori Akira: A small blessing. Thatās what we call it. Even I havenāt gotten one before.]
[Ethan Cruz: Godās garden is a kind of temple. Though itās a bit pricey to get in, God will personally bestow upon you her divine grace, which is well worth the cost.]
[Lloyd H.K.: Weāve heard about it from Ethan [1], but weāve never actually gone there before. Since we need to continuously go into the secret shop, we couldnāt just continue gathering them.]
[Erian Ruparte: Lee Shin Woo, Iām envious of your talent and passion. I thought you were out of the ordinary ever since you rescued Jin Jin, butā¦]
[Lee Shin Woo: It was all because of her. You see, I received a lot of permits for Godās secret shop from saving her.]
[Prince Altania: Ah, maybe I should do some manual labor too. At this rate, Iām afraid Iāll fall behind a newbie. That would be such a disgrace.]
He wanted to say, āYou mightāve already fallen behind Kratia alreadyā, but Lee Shin Woo barely kept himself from saying it. And his seniorsā advice continued on.
[Seira Von Retadane: We have to periodically go to the secret shop since we canāt just fill our inventories with food. Lee Shin Woo, youāre probably well aware of this, but you cannot afford to be too greedy. Please enter Godās garden only after you have enough permits to spare or after you have acquired a quest thatās easy to complete.]
[Lee Shin Woo: Thank you, senior. Iāll keep that in mind.]
[Prince Altania: As I thought, Seiraās been to Godās garden before. Itās really clear advice.]
[Seira Von Retadane: Please call me Retadane.]
In any case, Lee Shin Woo didnāt need to eat, so essentially, it would only be beneficial for him to go to Godās garden. He thanked and said goodbye to his seniors who always gave him good advice, and left the chatting channel. But thenā¦
[Ethan Cruz: I have high expectations of you, Lee Shin Woo. Perhaps weāll meet soon.]
[Lee Shin Woo: Iāll work hard.]
[Lloyd H.K.: For Ethan to say something like thatā¦]
[Prince Altania: Senior, you canāt say stuff like that. Iām close to level 7, you know? Once I get to level 7, Iāll go through all the dungeons I know about, and get to level 8 in a flash! Ah, Lloyd, if you ask me sincerely, I can help you out.]
[Ethan Cruz: Prince, youāre extremely talented as well. I just didnāt say it since it seemed so obvious, you rascal.]
Lee Shin 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 heād unlocked the private chatting channel function? Lee Shin Woo accepted Ethanās request first. In no time, he heard Ethanās voice in his ear.
[It wasnāt lip service. Lee Shin Woo, youāll become a big shot in no time.]
āUmā¦ thank you.ā
[Itās important to know just how much youāre worth. I hope I didnāt see wrong. Itās nice to be humble, but remember that you canāt afford to fool yourself. Be aware of how special you are and proceed steadily.]
Why was this guy saying such burdensome things? He shouldāve just refused, just like Arema Steelworker had done with the golems, but Ethan eventually went on to the main topic.
[Iām a high level right now, so I donāt really need them, but there are a few dungeons that only I know about.]
āPardon meā¦?ā
Even an idiot would understand what Ethan Cruz was saying. However, that made him all the more suspicious of him.
āDid you want to tell me about these dungeonsā¦?ā
[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. Thatās why heroes go crazy whenever they find a dungeon. However, he knows about a few dungeons? And was only going to tell Lee Shin Woo about them?
āThere are other heroes, so are you really ok with telling me?ā
[Ah, Lee Shin Woo. I just told you, didnāt I? I told you that youād become big. ā¦Youāll be different from useless bums like the Prince.]
āā¦I see.ā
[Iām glad youāre quick on the uptake. Now then, Iāll activate the minimap sharing function.]
Sharing the minimap. This feature would share oneās 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 Shin Woo hadnāt unlocked it yet.
āIt feels like the image has been stuck into my head.ā
[You roughly know what direction you need to go in, right?]
āYes, thank you.ā
It felt similar to opening the world map in a game, marking oneās destination, and moving towards said destination. To put it simply, a navigation system for a car. If he closed his eyes, an arrow would appear in his head that would indicate which direction he should go in.
All of the dungeons Ethan had told him about were situated in the same area. They were quite far off, but if he used the train, he could get there quickly, and even if he didnāt have access to the train, he could get there riding Jin at top speed in only three weeks; if he just walked there, he could get there in a year.
[I hope you grow quickly. Since you canāt invade the capital all by yourself.]
āThank youā¦ very much. I hope Iāll be able to stand side by side with you one day.ā
[Superb.]
That ended their private chat. Immediately after, Lee Shin Woo stopped acting and thought about it. What the hell is this piece of shit planning?
āAre there heroes who kill other heroes to growā¦? Then does God just sit by and allow that to happen?ā
āWhat are you talking about?ā
āThereās an asshole, one of our seniors whoās trying to lead me somewhere. 100%.ā
He knew since he was in the same line of business (swindler). Ethan Cruz was 100% a son of a bitch. But compared to Lee Shin Woo, Ethanās means were quite sloppy.
For example, all of the dungeons heād informed him about were in the same direction. A prominent figure like Ethan Cruzā¦ no, a hero whoās been at this for a long time wouldnāt have just stayed in one place like that, so does it make any sense that all of the dungeons heād told him about were in the same place? It was definitely a trick clearly aimed to lead Lee Shin Woo to a special area.
āCouldnāt it just be that he found a ton of dungeons that werenāt fit for his level after leveling up a lot and moved to another area? Itās not good to be so distrustful of people, Shin Woo.ā
āNo, my ās.o.b. radarā is going crazy right now. I thought it was strange that I became a rising star or whatever just by introducing myself in the chatting channel.ā
āBut you are a rising starā¦ Even from my point of view, youāre so talented that itās strange.ā
āYou know pretty much everything about me, but the problem is that the other heroes donāt.ā
Ethan Cruzās objective was so clear, but he didnāt know what his motive was. What good was it to kill another hero? Rather, he should get a penalty from God, so whyā¦?
āMmā¦ I guess I could just meet with God and ask her myself.ā
Lee Shin Woo thought, and around the time he felt relaxed, he got another private chat request. Of course, it came from Ye Jin Jin. As soon as he accepted, he heard a lively girlās voice in his ear.
[Ye Jin Jin: Iām sorry if Iām disturbing you! But I have something that I really needed to tell you.]
āItās because I got another private chat request.ā
[Ye Jin Jin: Who!? Is it Ms. Retadane? It shouldnāt be Erian [2]ā¦]
āEthan Cruz.ā
[Ye Jin Jin: That seniorā¦!? Ah, thatās right. I recently unlocked a new function. Iām here right now.]
āHereā¦?ā
He waited, figuring that she might have unlocked the sharing function, and as he expected, the minimap sharing function activated. Of course, he couldāve refused, but didnāt; funnily enough, she was in the complete opposite direction to the point Ethan Cruz had marked.
[Ye Jin Jin: Iāll work hard to catch up to your level, so letās hunt together in a party later!]
āYeah, sureā¦ā
[Ye Jin Jin: Then Iāll get going now! Iāll get back to hunting!]
Lee Shin Woo listened to the cheerful Ye Jin Jin until the very end and couldnāt help but suddenly recall what his seniors had told him. āTake it easy on the romanceā¦?ā Thereās no smoke without fire, but perhapsā¦ no.
āNo way.ā
If one likes a skeleton, then they were either really screwed up in the head, or became a skeleton themselves. Now that he thought about it, both of them were pretty much the same.
Lee Shin Woo unhesitatingly interpreted Ye Jin Jinās feelings for him as just trust. Or perhaps respect. If it was either of those, there was nothing wrong with her. It was fine to have those kind of feelings for a skeleton.
āShin Woo! What the hell did you do!?ā
Then, Kratia came flying by and landed in front of them. Beyond her, the Pauls were moving diligently to collect the bones. Lee Shin Woo marveled at the fact that they did it without him ordering them to do so. These guys were truly starting to show promise!
āI just used a skill. It doesnāt work on allies, so donāt worry.ā
āIf you just let me see you use that skillā¦ No, wait a sec.ā
Kratia was soon greeted with a sight that was much more surprising than the Shriek of the Dead. She had discovered the three Iron Golems that stood side by side around Lee Shin Woo, as if guarding him. There was no way she, with her magical abilities, wouldnāt be able to figure out what kind of relationship Lee Shin Woo had with the golems.
āYou, thisā¦ Perhapsā¦?ā
āYep.ā
āLetās increase the duration of the contract!ā
As soon as Lee Shin Woo nodded his head and acknowledged her, Kratiaās eyes brightened, as though there were stars in her eyes. It was the most beautiful and lively face heād seen since meeting her. However, Lee Shin Woo replied sharply and firmly, like a slap to the face.
āDonāt want to.ā
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āUghā¦!ā
Lee Shin Woo, who had already achieved his objective, didnāt really need to hang out with her any longer. But Kratia, who had witnessed yet another miracle from Lee Shin Woo, couldnāt let him go so easily; Lee Shin Woo ultimately agreed to increase their contract by just three more days.
In exchange, all of the bones of the undead that she killed would go to him, andā¦ they forged another alliance.
[1] T/N: He never actually uses Ethanās first name to address him, but using āseniorā here wouldnāt work.
[2] T/N: Uses the Korean term āunniā to describe Erian here. Women use this term to refer to women older than them that theyāre close to or their real sisters. In this case, itās the former.