Chapter 224.

[20F, Station of the End]

“Can we talk alone for a moment?”

I said to Boss, unable to wait any longer . Boss tilted her head with a curious look on her face .

“About what?”

“… . ”

I didn’t answer, but Boss nodded nonetheless .

“Okay, talk . ”

“Not here . Come with me for a second . ”

“Hmm? Why…?”

I grabbed her wrist before she could even continue . Boss’ eyes widened for a second . As she blankly stared at her captured wrist, I pulled her towards the ‘cafe’ .

“Wait, are you… . ”

A needless suspicion seemed to have crossed Boss’ mind .

“I’m not the doppelgänger . ”

“… . ”

In any case, I arrived at the nearby cafe with Boss . We paid for the seat and sat down at a table, facing each other .

We were finally alone in the cafe but Boss was silent . I, too, couldn’t bring myself to speak easily . But if I didn’t put my curiosity to rest today, then my suspicion would only multiply like cancer cells . As such, I got right to the point… .

“…Boss, would you like some coffee?”

…Or not .

The circumstances weren’t right . The timing was bad, too .

I need to establish some sort of flow to our conversation to convince Boss to answer . Otherwise, who in the world would answer truthfully to a question so abrupt?

“Coffee…?”

“Yes, it’s my treat . ”

I forced myself to smile and brushed a lock of hair, which was wet from my sweat, off my forehead .

“I’d like an americano . ”

“Okay, I’ll order that . ”

I pulled up the automated order window at the table and ordered an americano . Then I continued right away .

“Ah, that’s right . Boss, what reward did you get for defeating your doppelgänger?”

Boss looked at me suspiciously and briefly answered .

“…Orb of Speculation . ”

“Oh really? What does it do?”

“I’m not telling . ”

“Huh? Why?”

“You’re gonna ask me to give it to you . ”

“Aw, when did I ever… Khmm . ”

Well, I did take all the first prizes she got from the martial tournament . I even took the ‘emotion potion’, an item that Boss really didn’t want to give away, through a farfetched and flawed reasoning .

…Anyways .

For the next 45 minutes, I continued to talk about unrelated things and never got to the ‘point’, hoping for the next opportunity .

I was such an idiot .

**

[8-3F, Crevon’s eastern wall]

After the door to the 9th floor opened, hordes of monsters poured into Crevon day after day . Players were able to hold them off until now, but as the war prolonged, a number of them had begun to depart Crevon in order to climb the Tower .

As a result, the upper echelon of the Crevon’s royal family was in distress from the weakened state of their forces .

But at today’s defense battle, a rookie was suddenly brought into prominence . She was extremely skilled, to the point that the word ‘rookie’ did not suit her .

“How long can you maintain your summon?”

This question was from Crevon’s restless minister of defense . He pointed at a creature standing firmly beyond the castle walls . The summon, which resembled a turtle, stood like a mountain, and its grayish, sturdy skin was as hard as a rock .

The turtle was languorously yawning now that the battle was over, but during fights, it was in fact more agile than anyone else . Sometimes he would tackle the enemies with his gigantic body and destroy their formation; other times he would open his mouth wide and launch a ‘frostbreath’ that would freeze all the enemies .

“A summon that powerful must be hard to maintain for a long time . ”

“…If certain conditions are met, he can stay out permanently . ”

Ah Hae-In answered lightly . Through steady efforts—training and meditation—she had recovered half of her abilities and could already summon a high-rank summoned beast .

“Permanently…?”

But the minister of defense dared not believe her words so easily . Crevon had seven ‘Magician Academies’ that functioned similarly to Earth’s Magic Towers— few Players had already been admitted to them— and he knew that ‘summoning’ was a field of magic far behind modern times .

“What I meant was, if you can place a mana stone near the Black Turtle that I can connect to, I can keep him out all day . ”

Black Turtle .

Just like the Azure Dragon, It was one of the four Cardinal Guardians from oriental mythology, and a mythical creature ranked in the middle among high-ranked summoned beasts . Although it was the weakest member of the four Cardinal Guardians, it had been a close friend of Ah Hae-In ever since she summoned him for the first time in her early 20s .

“Oh! That is truly amazing!”

“Haha, not at all . ”

“In that case—“

“You can talk to me about the details . ”

Yoo Yeonha smiled and intervened in Ah Hae-In and the minister’s conversation . She had been listening to them quietly and stepped up when she sensed that the negotiation was about to proceed to the next step .

“We’ll need to discuss the terms in detail from here . We’re not volunteer workers, after all . ”

Her words were gentle yet precise in their intention . The minister first glanced at Yoo Yeonha, and then studied Ah Hae-In’s expression . Ah Hae-In also nodded .

“Mn, I understand . Then let’s head inside the royal palace for further talks . ”

“The Atalos Royal Palace… . It’ll be a great honor . ”

Hearing Yoo Yeonha’s remark, a laugh escaped from the minister’s mouth, and he called for his carriage . Soon, a carriage from one of Crevon’s three largest carriage brands, ‘Benlek’, and three excellent steeds as strong as 300 ordinary horses combined appeared like the wind .

“Please, get in . ”

“We’re leaving right now?”

“Why, of course . ”

Just like that, Yoo Yeonha and Ah Hae-In got into the carriage .

Thanks to the spatial expansion magic, the inside of the carriage was at least 3 times more spacious than how it appeared on the outside . Naturally, the ride was very comfortable . The two women, Ah Hae-In and Yoo Yeonha, sat side by side and stared outside the window .

The carriage started smoothly .

Yoo Yeonha began contemplating about exactly what and what not to give up during their bargaining with the royal family, while Ah Hae-In turned on the Community .

‘A thief who learned to steal late is the scariest . ’ That proverb fit Ah Hae-In perfectly . The Community was a whole new world to Ah Hae-In, who had never used social media before on Earth .

AhHaeInHaeIn: 「Player Plabo-nim is… so hilarious… ㅎㅎ… I thought my… belly button… was going to… burst… like plop!… ㅋㅋ」

As Yoo Yeonha watched Ah Hae-In write the above comment, a sudden thought crossed her mind, ‘She looks like a teenager on the outside but she is really in her thirties . ’

“Um, Duchess Ah Hae-In . ”

A while ago, Kim Hajin had asked her a question in passing .

“Hmm? What’s the matter?”

That if she knew a teacher who excelled in summoning magic but could also keep a secret and was honest and faithful .

Back then, she had replied ‘no’ . After all, someone who was strong couldn’t possibly be honest and faithful at the same time .

However…

“Do you have any plans to take in a disciple?”

“…Disciple?”

Ah Hae-In frowned at the sudden question .

“Yes . I know it’s sudden, but the thought just popped up in my mind . Oh, it’s not a big deal or anything . It’s just that a friend of mine told me that he found a very promising magician . ”

“…”

Ah Hae-In didn’t answer and simply stared outside the window .

The small woman with a small head leaned against the car window wistfully . From a complete bystander’s point of view, she looked just like a cute little girl .

‘Okay, she doesn’t want to . ’ Yoo Yeonha decided to give up without much thought .

Suddenly, Ah Hae-In muttered .

“…I don’t accept disciples . ”

“Mm . Yes, I understand . ”

Yoo Yeonha backed down without hesitation . But Ah Hae-In kept glancing at Yoo Yeonha . She appeared somewhat dissatisfied, and Yoo Yeonha realized that it was because she hadn’t ask ‘why’ .

“If you don’t mind, can I ask you why?”

“Haa… . ”

She let out a faked sigh and put a distant look on her face .

“I used to have a disciple . ”

Her big eyes recalled the past from 10 years ago, when she looked even younger than she did now . Back then, she had a disciple .

“That disciple is a Djinn now . ”

“… . ”

Yoo Yeonha nodded solemnly .

It happened frequently . Magicians, who were so engrossed in study and research, were easily exposed to the temptation of devils . For this reason, the law required ‘demonic energy sensing devices’ to be placed in every Magic Tower and also in the homes of every 5-star or higher magician . Of course, it was nothing but a formality .

“I’m sorry . I didn’t know about that . ”

“…No problem . But just how talented is this magician for you to ask me to teach him?”

“Well . According to my acquaintance… this magician could rival you in 5 years . ”

Of course, Kim Hajin had said no such thing . Yoo Yeonha just thought that the time was ripe for a proper provocation, and she simply came up with it on the spot .

“How impudent . ”

But Ah Hae-In only made a adult-like smile .

“Yes, well, it is quite nonsensical . ”

‘I guess it didn’t work on Ah Hae-In after all . Most magicians above 7-star would have taken the bait out of pride…’

…Just like that, the carriage continued to move in silence for the next 5 minutes .

“What is the name of your friend?”

Suddenly, Ah Hae-In spoke up, faking nonchalance .

Yoo Yeonha suppressed her budding smile and answered .

“Pardon? Oh, that’s a secret . He’s entitled to his own privacy . ”

“…”

Ah Hae-In nodded without words . The 8-star magician who was on the verge of becoming 9-star rested her chin on her hand as if reflecting on Yoo Yeonha’s words .

“Pft, 5 years?”

She then sneered and continued to murmur .

“5 years… . Interesting . ”

“…Huhmm . ”

Next to her, Yoo Yeonha smiled in silence .

It looked like she had succeeded in granting his request once again .

**

[Player Extra7’s waiting room]

Another four hours had passed since the incident on the 20th floor .

I was lying on my bed in the waiting room, thinking about Kim Chundong’s existence and his life I was living .

In the beginning, I thought nothing really mattered since this wasn’t my life .

And perhaps that was the correct stance to take .

After all, Kim Chundong and I really were separate individuals .

“…Is it because of synchronization?”

But my encounter today with Kim Chundong changed a part of my views . Of course, I had no plans to blame everything on ‘synchronization’ . After all, as someone borrowing Kim Chundong’s entire life, shouldn’t I be held responsible at least ethically?

But at the same time, my heart sank heavily .

Kim Chundong told me that we would meet again . My intuition told me that that would be my end . On that day, Kim Chundong who was Kim Hajin would once again become Kim Chundong, and Kim Hajin would return to the original Earth .

“… . ”

I stared at the ceiling .

The Earth where I lived for 26 years .

It had my friends, my tiny one-room apartment, my novel on ‘hiatus’, my pen name, and, most of all, my beloved parents . There, I was nothing but an ordinary person . An extra .

But here, in this world that I had been staying in for almost 6 years, I had a lot more .

Money, strength, authority, honor, and… .

Boss: 「Hajin」

Boss’ message arrived at a good time as I was about to be swallowed up by depression .

「Yes?」

For the record, there were other guests inside my waiting room: Jain, Jin Yohan, Cheok Jungyeong, Boss, and even Kaita . I assumed all of them would be throwing a party in the living room right now .

「Did you not drink? I heard Kaita brought good wine . 」

Boss: 「I don’t really like alcohol . 」

I smiled .

This message was a lie; Boss loved drinking . Although she would never get drunk, she was a real connoisseur who enjoyed the taste of ripened alcohol .

Boss: 「What are you doing . 」

「I’m about to sleep . 」

Boss: 「…Mmm . I see ㅋ-ㅋ」

Perhaps because Boss was using the messenger more frequently, it seemed she picked up how to use emoticons . Of course she couldn’t be compared to the real expert – the blonde British princess .

I suddenly got curious as to where Boss was and looked around .

“Hmm?”

She was lying on the bed in the guest room next door, tapping on her messenger .

Contrary to her claim that she didn’t like alcohol, a bottle of wine that Kaita had brought was placed on top of the drawer next to her bed . There was also a slightly faded ‘orb’ on her lap .

“That must be the [Orb of Speculation]… . ”

‘Did she use it already?’

I took out the smart watch and examined the item .

===

[Lv . ??? Orb of Speculation]

—Devise a condition and restore a past you experienced for up to 60 minutes .

—Through speculation, you can induce even the most unimaginable truth .

—Can be used 2 times .

===

“Boss, did you already use the Orb of Speculation?”

Boss 「? No, not yet . I’m going to use it later when I need it . 」

I smiled at the lively tone of the message and knocked on the wall . Boss, who was tapping on the messenger using two fingers, flinched and looked up at where the sound had come from .

“Are you not going to sleep?”

—…Phew . You scared me . I will soon . How about you, Kim Hajin?

Her voice was kind .

“I’m going to bed now . ”

—Mmm… . I see . I’ll stop messaging you then .

“Okay . ”

—Good night .

Thanks to her voice, I could close my eyes comfortably .

‘Let’s forget about all the complications and just sleep peacefully… . ’

**

The next day .

I decided to head down to the 15th floor . It was clear that we couldn’t challenge the 20th floor right away, so I decided to develop [Genkelope’s Vessel], which could be used to help challenge the 20th floor, as much as I could .

However, when I finally arrived at Area 3…

“…What’s this?”

…something strange was taking place .

I was in Area 3 without a doubt, yet there were five administrators here who had come to see me . From the looks of it, they all seemed to be after Wolf’s Fragrance…

“You can’t measure the value of Wolf’s Fragrance with TP, so—”

“Like I said, he already agreed to give it to me . ”

The first was ‘Simad’, the administrator of the 7th floor . He had brought some kind of a robot with him to negotiate with me .

The second and also the one interrupting Simad was, of course, ‘Medea’ .

“You haven’t reached the 21st floor yet, right? That’s my floor . I’ll help you out . ”

The one who said this was ‘Seriko’ . But she was unimportant . Starting from the 20th floor, 3~4 administrators were assigned to each floor . Seriko, one of the administrators of the 21st floor, was at the bottom of the pecking order .

“I would like to know your name… . ”

The fourth administrator was ‘Andromache’ . She was throwing seductive gazes at me but I flatly ignored her . The fifth and the last administrator, ‘Athena’, who was in charge of the 23rd floor, was simply staring at me in silence .

Blah blah—

Blah blah—

I sighed as I stared at the administrators talking to me all at once . Magic power was naturally embedded in the voices of the administrators, and I started to get nauseous just by listening to them .

When I couldn’t bare the suffering any longer, I took out [Wolf’s Fragrance] from my inventory .

Once the beautiful, gracious robe appeared, everyone stopped talking .

Gulp .

Only the sound of swallowing rang out .

“That’s right, Tra, you tell them . You wanted to give that to me, right?”

Medea asked with an expression full of anticipation .

But I ignored her .

I started calculating in my head .

Based on their offers, the administrator fit to become the owner of this [Wolf’s Fragrance] was… Simad, the owner of the 7th floor .

I handed the robe to Simad .

“…Huh?”

Medea spat out a single syllable, and Simad smiled softly .

“Good choice . ”

“However, there is an item that I want . ”

“An item?”

“Yes . ”

I spoke of the idea that had crossed my mind just now .

“Isn’t there a high-performance AI on the 7th floor?”

“There is . ”

“Help me transfer the AI to this ship . This ship needs it . ”

“…Hmm?”

Simad started to think, while Medea reeled as though she was about to collapse . Simad glanced at Medea and quickly made his decision . He wanted to claim the robe before she did anything unexpected .

“Fine, but you can’t receive the Upgrade Center’s purchasable service for free . That’s something even I can’t do for you since that’s a privilege unique to the 7th floor, not something that belongs to a robot . ”

“No problem . I just want the AI installed on this ship . ”

“In that case, the pact is sealed . ”

Simad took out a tiny machine that looked like a phone . He used it to make a call, and suddenly a large portal appeared in front of him . Another robot came out of the portal . It was holding an AI chip in its hand .

“This is the AI chip . ”

“Thank you . ”

I received the chip from AlphaGo and handed Wolf’s Fragrance to Simad .

Thud—

The moment our trade ended, Medea collapsed on the floor, not being able to withstand the dejection and her own wrath .

“I, I… for a month… here… wasted my state of existence…”

With Medea talking nonsense in shock, Simad looked satisfactorily at Wolf’s Fragrance .

“Good deal . ”

With that, he entered the portal and left .

“You’ll regret this . Prepare to die on the 21st floor . ”

“You made the wrong choice . ”

Seriko and Andromache also returned to their floors . Only Medea and Athena remained .

I first handed the AI chip to Horner .

“…Horner?”

“Yes, Ship Commander . ”

“Plug this into the vessel . ”

With this AI chip, [Genkelope’s Vessel] will completely recognize ‘me’ as its owner .

“Yes, I will see it done . ”

“Aaaaaaaaaaakkkk—!”

Suddenly, a scream so loud that it could shatter glass windows broke out . Horner and I covered our ears and turned around .

“W-What was that?”

“You, what were you thinking—!”

Medea jumped up and charged at me .

“Pardon?”

“You said you’d give it to me as a present . You, you bastard—!”

“You said you didn’t want it . ”

“T-That’s… b-because of you, I wasted a month’s worth of my state of existence—!”

Medea viciously expressed her anger .

…You might be thinking, ‘It’s just one item,’ but Medea was a greedy woman to begin with and she probably considered Wolf’s Fragrance to be hers from the start . I wasn’t exactly sure what this ‘one month’ thing was about, but if an administrator left their floor for too long, something called the ‘administrator’s state of existence’ gradually diminished . So she was probably talking about that .

“You, don’t you dream of setting foot in Prestige ever again—”

“I was going to make you something new . A better one . ”

“You goddamn bastard! Better one? What bet…ter…?”

The red-faced Medea stopped for a moment .

Blink blink

Her eyes blinked a few times .

Then she tilted her head in a daze .

“A better one?”

“Yes . I got this for winning the craftsmanship tournament . ”

I showed her Hephaestus’ Chisel .

Flinch

Medea’s whole body shook at that moment .

“I could make even prettier clothes with this… . Oh, what was it that you said to me just now? Goddamn bastard?”

I faked being offended and folded my arms .

“Hm, but I don’t consider myself a bastard at all, much less one to be damned by God . ”

I said so as I stared at Medea .

Medea looked at me blankly… then put on a strangely humiliating yet submissive smile .

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