Chapter 21.

“By risking his life to subjugate a Djinn, he has shown himself to be a model citizen… This commendation proves his excellent service for the good of society and his exemplary behavior which would motivate others . Cadet Kim Suho . ”

Yoo Sihyuk handed Kim Suho the commendation certificate without adding any needless commentary . Kim Suho then took the certificate with honor and dignity .

“Chae Nayun, same as above . ”

Next was Chae Nayun .

“Kim Hajin, same as above . ”

Then me .

“The conferment ceremony is now over . ”

With the host’s announcement, the conferment ceremony came to an end . One hour and thirty minutes of rehearsal and one hour of waiting had been reduced to just five minutes . It was so quick that I didn’t even have time to feel wronged .

“Oh, by the way…”

Yoo Sihyuk, who was about to leave the garden, suddenly stopped as though he remembered something .

“The reward for the Djinn subjugation is 15 million won . I almost forgot to tell you . ”

The moment I heard that, I felt grateful for everything . To the Cube associate who forced me out of bed this morning, the one-hour thirty-minute rehearsal, and even the man who was late by an hour .

“Good luck . We’ll meet again if chance allows it . ”

Yoo Sihyuk then left with a bored smile .

We saw him off with our eyes, then came down from the podium . Before we could even touch the ground, guild associates flocked towards us .

However, they were only interested in Kim Suho and Chae Nayun . No one approached me . They most likely thought I was only lucky to have been with them at the time of the incident .

But that didn’t mean I was disappointed . Such was the life of an extra .

But my face automatically reddened at the clear ostracization, and thus I quickly left the venue .

**

I ran away to a nearby coffee shop . After ordering a drink, I sat down and turned on my laptop .

The reason was simple . I had not checked the laptop’s new functionality yet . I didn’t have the time . Yesterday, I fainted at the pain that came with the update’s completion, and when I woke up, I was dragged to the conferment ceremony .

[Updated Features]

▷’Book of Truth’ has been added to the Gift, 「Observation and Reading」

▷Internet has been added to the laptop .

▷Stigma .

There were three new features . The first thing that caught my attention was the second addition .

‘Internet has been added to the laptop . ’

It caught my attention because it was too ordinary . After all, I could use my smartwatch to access the internet .

But it was unlikely for the laptop’s feature to be so ordinary .

I opened the internet on my laptop .

“…Aha . ”

I immediately understood when I saw the ‘internet’ . The internet window had rows of dull texts, but they were all too familiar .

===

[List of Currently Accessible Websites]

▷Righteous Mind

▷Violet Banquet

…

…

▷Sword of Jeremy

===

It seemed the laptop’s internet also allowed me to access websites that I needed to pay to enter . It was a hacking tool in a way .

Among the numerous websites, a specific name caught my attention .

===

▷Violet Banquet

*Website for trading undisclosed information, weapons, bounties, and commissions .

*SP needed for obtaining an ID: 200

===

Violet Banquet .

It was the most famous website in the dark web . Still, it had over a million members . The real pearl of Violet Banquet wasn’t the website, but its ‘sellers’ . Violet Banquet was only a place for them to gather .

Plentiful sellers flocked at the anonymous information, weapons, bounties, and commission trading website, which didn’t care for the law . While the government knew about this underground market, they had no choice but to stay silent as this black market was frequented by almost all Heroes . As a joke, a Hero wasn’t called a true Hero unless one had a Violet Banquet membership .

Naturally, one needed to pay an enormous sum to become Violet Banquet’s member, but I only needed 200 SP to obtain an ID .

“Ah, there you are . ”

It was at that moment that a charming voice and scent flowed towards me . Just by hearing the voice, I could tell who it was . I immediately straightened my back and focused on the movement behind me .

The owner of the voice then walked over and sat down on the seat in front of me in a smooth motion .

It was Yun Seung-Ah .

“You know me, right?”

Her eyes formed an arc as she stared at me .

“You don’t?”

Yun Seung-Ah asked again . I shook my head . There were few people in this world who didn’t know ‘vice-leader Yun Seung-Ah . ’

“No, I know . ”

“That’s a relief . I was surprised because you suddenly disappeared . There was something I wanted to give you . ”

Yun Seung-Ah handed me her business card, which was adorned with gold .

[Guild, Creator’s Sacred Grace, vice-leader Yun Seung-Ah . ]

While I sat speechless looking at the business card, Yun Seung-Ah continued .

“There’s a lot I want to talk about, but unfortunately, I don’t have enough time . I spent too long looking for you, Hajin cadet-nim . ”

Yun Seung-Ah giving out her business card wasn’t a simple matter . It was the first step of Yun Seung-Ah style recruiting I outlined in my novel .

“There’s something I want to ask . Can I?”

I stared at Yun Seung-Ah’s eyes . Her beautiful brown pupils were absolutely calm .

“No . ”

“Did you destroy the Djinns… Hm?”

Yun Seung-Ah might look kind and graceful on media, but in truth, she was extremely cold-hearted . Even talents she eagerly brought in were thrown away if they didn’t meet her expectations . Bringing in what’s necessary and throwing away what isn’t . Survival of the fittest was Yun Seung-Ah’s true mindset, which wasn’t known to the media . It was her belief that a lazy person would continue to be lazy and a person falling behind would continue to fall behind .

“Don’t ask . ”

I gave back her business card .

“Eh? Um, Hajin cadet-nim? I think you’re misunderstanding something . I’m interested in you, as the vice-leader of a rank 1 guild . ”

“I’m thankful for your interest, but only if that’s real interest . ”

With what I knew about Yun Seung-Ah’s personality, she should be here because I used a light attribute bullet .

The interest she had in me was only curiosity . With a single gust of wind, her interest could cool down, and she could even forget my name . So, for the sake of SP, playing hard to get would probably be more memorable .

“I’ll be off . There’s a lot I need to do . It’s almost time for midterm exams, you see . ”

I got up before Yun Seung-ah . Her surprised eyes chased after me .

I quickly left the coffee shop .

What Yun Seung-Ah was thinking now was none of my business .

**

1 P . M .

The reward money had arrived by the time I came back to the dorm . It was a clean 15 million won, unaffected by taxes . It was clear what I had to do with it . Without hesitation, I purchased Packhorse Master’s stocks . With over 100,000 stocks, I was likely a majority shareholder .

“Huhu… Ah, right . ”

I suddenly remembered what I didn’t finish in the coffee shop . The two other features of the update – Book of Truth and Stigma .

First, I looked at ‘Stigma . ’

[You can freely use the magic power stored inside Stigma, which will slowly regenerate over 24 hours even if depleted . ]

“…So how do I use it?”

There was a tattoo-like Stigma on my left upper arm . But Stigma aside, I couldn’t even wield the magic power in my body .

Furthermore, it was likely that I would never be able to wield it, as I described magic power in my novel as an “ability in which innate talent and early education is most important . ”

But this was likely the reason why the co-author gave me such an irregular magic power .

“I can freely use it…?”

Since it said I could ‘freely’ use it, I thought about using it .

That was all I did .

Immediately, Stigma’s magic power became unleashed . Blue light erupted from the Stigma, enveloping my upper arm . The magic power then flowed down my veins, reaching my fingertips before shooting out and manifesting into shapes . First, it formed a triangle, then a circle, then a blade .

Its mysteriousness multiplied when I thought about the Book of Truth .

The magic power branched together and formed a single book . The book’s cover waved as though it was made of water . I glanced at my veins, which had turned blue, and the strange book that had formed in the air .

At that moment, a strange voice rang out in my ear .

[This book contains truth . Ask it anything . It will answer as long as you have enough magic power . ]

“…So that’s how this works . ”

The words, “as long as you have enough magic power”, hung on my mind, but it was undoubtedly a great Gift .

When I was about to ask it something as a test…

Wiing— Wiing— Wiing—

An emergency alarm rang out on my smartwatch .

The sound was similar to a phone’s disaster alert, it couldn’t be ignored . I put my magic power away and turned on my smartwatch .

[Looking for the last person who has last seen World class’ novice cadet, ‘Jin Hajung’ . ]

[Looking for the last person who has last seen World class’ novice cadet, ‘Jin Hajung’ . ]

I immediately knew what was happening .

The next arc had begun . The name of this arc was ‘Cube’s Serial Disappearance Incident’ . As the word ‘serial’ suggested, there would be six victims during the course of this arc .

This arc played a fairly important role in the story .

The sole reason being that Yoo Yeonha was the final victim . This was the decisive trigger that would bring Kim Suho and Yoo Yeonha closer together .

[Hello . ]

Speaking of the devil, Yoo Yeonha suddenly messaged me .

[What?]

[The text from just now, that isn’t your doing, right?]

Was she insane?

[No, why?]

[Then nevermind . ]

[Alright . ]

[By the way, I heard you fought a Djinn last week . ]

[…What are you trying to say?]

Changing the topic over and over again until the other side brought up the topic she wanted to talk about, that was Yoo Yeonha’s specialty .

[Do you know about the Giant Swamp Soldier?]

I couldn’t help but laugh . It seemed she wanted me to tell her its vital point .

The Giant Swamp Soldier was a high-rank monster known for its 30m height . Just like its name suggested, it was rare sight in Korea, as Korea didn’t have large swamps . By the looks of it, her guild must have gotten information about its location .

[I wouldn’t tell you even if I knew . ]

There shouldn’t be many guilds in the country who knew about the Giant Swamp Soldier’s vital point .

[I can buy the information . ]

[No . ]

I cut her off resolutely . Mountain Tyrant was enough to serve as her ‘accomplishment’ .

[Why not? I can offer a lot . ]

It was true that Yoo Yeonha would become successful in the future, but her personality had yet to change . Currently, she didn’t hesitate to mercilessly cut down her enemies . Before the right influence changed her temperament, it was dangerous to give her wings .

[To be completely honest, I don’t know . How would I know the vital point of a monster that doesn’t appear in Korea?]

And this was true . Although I was this world’s author, there were things I didn’t know . While I created the Giant Swamp Soldier, I only gave it a rough sketch . Since it was a golem type monster, I only thought that an attribute that countered swamps would work well against it . I never wrote any specific details down .

After not replying for a long time, Yoo Yeonha ended the conversation with a single message .

[From now on, don’t talk to me so casually . ]

“Pftt . ”

A smirk emerged inadvertently .

As I thought, even if Yoo Yeonha acted adult-like…

“…Still a high schooler, huh . ”

She was still only 17 .

Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters .