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Memorize - Episode 49
049 Dungeon Of Alchemist
The moment I heard the word "shadow," I was greatly surprised. I looked at the user in my arms with a pale face. She too was staring at me with a calm expression and steady eyes, unlike before. I felt an inexplicable chill run down my spine at that quiet gaze.
Reflexively, I tried to move my shadow, but stopped due to the fear welling up inside me. A cold sensation crept around my nape. Her arms wrapped around me, and her hand was now touching my neck.
I'm going to die.
In a life-or-death situation, one doesn't think foolish thoughts like "why" or "how." The sharp instinct that had kept me alive until now was warning me more clearly than ever before. The moment I move my shadow, the user nuzzling her face against my chest will unhesitatingly snap and twist my neck.
I felt the strength slowly draining from my arms embracing her.
The woman's arms went limp. I had been keeping an eye on her shadow with my sensing, as her technique had been somewhat researched during my first run. However, even knowing about it, she was absolutely not a user to let one's guard down against, so I was prepared to twist her neck at the slightest sign of movement.
But the woman didn't force things. She acknowledged her misjudgment and took a step back. She has good innate senses and doesn't overestimate her abilities.
I found myself liking the woman more and more. The woman before me was a user who knew when to retreat. Realizing I didn't need to deal with her now, I slowly activated my Third Eye. This time, I wanted to know all her information.
< User Information (Player Status) >
Name : Ko Yeon-ju (5th year)
Class : Queen Of Silhouette Master
Affiliated Nation : Barbara
Affiliated Group : -
True Name · Nationality : One who leaves a jet-black silhouette in the dead of night · Republic of Korea
Gender : Female (26)
Height · Weight : 169.4cm · 51.8kg
Disposition : Moderation · Chaos (True · Chaos)
< Ability Scores >
[Strength 89] [Endurance 90] [Agility 97] [Vitality 87] [Mana 93] [Luck 82]
< Achievements (5) >
< Unique Ability (1/1) >
Lure Eyed (Rank : A)
< Special Ability (1/1) >
Abyss Crowd (Rank : S Plus)
< Potential Abilities (3/3) >
Shadow Dagger Technique (Rank : A Plus)
Presence Concealment (Rank : A Plus Plus Plus)
Black Shade (Rank : A Plus Plus)
< Ability Score Comparison >
Kim Su-hyun : 540 / 600
(12 ability score points remaining.)
[Strength 94] [Endurance 92] [Agility 98] [Vitality 72] [Mana 96] [Luck 88]
Ko Yeon-ju : 536 / 600
(No ability score points remaining.)
[Strength 89] [Endurance 90] [Agility 97] [Vitality 85] [Mana 93] [Luck 82]
Seeing Ko Yeon-ju's ability scores and abilities, I couldn't help but be impressed. Adding up her ability scores, she had 536 points out of a perfect 600. That meant there was only a 4-point difference between us. No wonder she could occupy one of the
Still, I was confident I could beat Ko Yeon-ju. Except for vitality, I surpassed her in all other ability scores. Moreover, considering the level and rank of unique, special, and potential abilities, I could definitely overwhelm Ko Yeon-ju.
So I made up my mind right there. I would decide Ko Yeon-ju's fate when leaving Mule after finishing all our business. If recruiting her doesn't work out... I saw Ko Yeon-ju's face flinch as she looked into my eyes, perhaps seeing some of my thoughts reflected there. I quickly composed my expression and spoke in a quiet voice.
"I like women with pretty shadows. That's why I like you."
"..."
"So..."
Ko Yeon-ju still didn't answer, her face frozen. This time, I was caressing her face. The reversed situation from earlier seemed to fill my whole body with a strange sense of pleasure.
"I hope you won't do anything rash."
A user of Ko Yeon-ju's caliber would understand the meaning behind my words. Soon after seeing her nod slightly, I finally removed my face from her embrace.
Ko Yeon-ju's current state of mind seemed quite complex. Her usually languid face was gone, replaced by eyes full of complexity that spoke to her current feelings. Eventually, she let out a deep sigh and opened her mouth.
"I understand what you mean. My lips are quite sealed, you know."
"That's good. I like women who can keep secrets."
Ko Yeon-ju, who had suddenly switched to formal speech, gave a bitter smile at my words.
"I was just really curious, that's all. I had no intention to harm you, so please don't misunderstand."
"I'd like to tell you, but given the circumstances..."
I wanted to add that even if used with good intentions, Lure Eyed was still a kind of mental pollution technique, but I decided to leave it at that for today.
At my roundabout refusal, Ko Yeon-ju made a regretful face and carefully stood up. I gave her a look signaling it was time to leave, and she wordlessly moved towards the door.
As morning came, the kids woke up one by one, rubbing their sleepy eyes. Seeing them immediately start sensing training while yawning made me feel proud. Normally, this would be something to encourage, but since we planned to leave the city today, I called the three into my room.
"Wha' did ya call us for?" ("What did you call us for?")
As Ahn Hyun mumbled while repeatedly opening his mouth wide, Yoo-jung made a disgusted face. Sol also looked embarrassed. I chuckled at Hyun's appearance and spoke carefully.
"It seems like you can all handle mana sensing to some extent now, right?"
Since I had been stingy with praise until now, the kids blinked and looked at each other. Then they all made awkward faces while straightening their backs. They even cleared their throats occasionally, which was quite a sight. A smile crept onto my lips, but I managed to hold it back.
"I felt that way watching you all train hard for a week. You've worked hard."
"Hyung. Then..."
As Hyun asked in an excited voice, I nodded calmly. Today was finally the day we would leave the city.
"Yes. I think we can leave the city now. It's about time we started moving."
The moment my permission was given, a silent commotion arose among Hyun, Sol, and Yoo-jung. A clear expression appeared on everyone's faces, as if they realized they were truly taking their first steps into the Hollow Plane.
"But listen well. The habit of always training, except in unavoidable situations, should be ingrained in your body."
I immediately added this to temper their rising excitement, but seeing them nod halfheartedly, their minds were already elsewhere. I was about to say more but decided against it. I wondered if they would still be this excited after experiencing various incidents outside the city.
The Ruins of the Laboratory. The Dungeon of Vivian, the Ancient Alchemist. After weighing which to go to first, I thought the dungeon might be better. Although the difficulty of the laboratory and dungeon would be similar, we had more clues about the alchemist's dungeon, so the chances of success were higher.
To get to Vivian's dungeon, we first need to leave through Mule's north gate and enter deep into the Pitch-black Forest. The Pitch-black Forest is a vast forest between the Northern Continent and the unexplored region, so formidable that even Barbara only instructed to stabilize the early to mid parts. In other words, once you pass the middle of the forest, you could consider it an unexplored region.
But anyway, this didn't apply to me. Having experience participating in expeditions to unexplored regions, I didn't plan to recruit an archer (ranger) separately. I tentatively decided not to form a caravan for now. The problem of having to distribute rewards as more people joined held me back. With barely enough to feed and clothe the kids, there was no room to worry about other users.
Watching Hyun and Sol hold hands and play "clap-clap-clap" in excitement, I pulled out a bag. It was a magic backpack with a weight reduction spell. Permanent magic backpacks were too expensive, so I bought one with a week-long spell. After finishing this exploration and selling some of the rewards, combined with the gold coins I currently have, we shouldn't have money problems in Mule at the very least.
"I have a gift for you all who trained hard."
At the mention of a gift, the kids immediately turned their curiosity to the backpack. They might have heard and learned about magic backpacks at the User Academy, but this was the first time seeing one up close. Their eyes shone excessively, like children expecting Santa Claus's gift. Especially Ahn Hyun, who was rolling his eyes to the point of making me quite uncomfortable.
I broke out in a cold sweat at their silent gazes urging me to take out the gifts quickly. After putting my hand into the backpack, I carefully took out the presents. The identity of the gifts was weapons. I had chosen and ordered them after careful consideration while watching the kids train at the User Academy.
One long spear. Two daggers. One wooden staff.
"Oh."
"Huh?"
"Wow..."
Hyun, Yoo-jung, and Sol exclaimed in turn as they saw the weapons on the floor. When I gestured for them to take them as they looked at me simultaneously, they all rushed to grab the weapons. Of course, Hyun had mentioned GP before, but I had told them to save it for now. I didn't want to waste it unnecessarily on things we didn't need to buy.
Ahn Hyun, who picked up the spear, thrust it into the air a few times and looked satisfied. His thrusting posture seemed somewhat formed, suggesting it fit his hand well.
"Wow. This feels pretty good in my hand? It sticks closely every time I thrust."
Ahn Hyun's spear technique was completely different from my initial expectation. I thought he would focus on slashing if he used a sword, but I often saw him concentrating on thrusting practice. So I chose a spear-type weapon with a point sharpened like an awl.
"Your spear technique is specialized in thrusting rather than slashing. That's why I chose a spear with a sharply honed point. As you can see, it's in the form of a long spear, so it's not made for throwing. Since it's good for extending reach, you'll need to pay a lot of attention to maintaining distance during combat. Defense is up to you."
"H-hyung. To think you were considering me to this extent... This is troubling."
Hyun spouted nonsense with a touched face. I immediately turned my gaze away. Hyun must have spoken in jest too, as I heard him chuckling right after. Yoo-jung, who had been quietly fiddling with the daggers, immediately chimed in as soon as the conversation between Hyun and me ended.
"Oppa. What about me? These daggers, they only have an edge on one side."
"That's because I ordered them that way. Ah. Yoo-jung, yours were specially custom-made..."
"Really?"
As soon as she heard they were specially custom-made, Yoo-jung brightened up and cut me off.
"The original form of your daggers is the katana, that is, a Japanese sword. So the blade length is longer than regular daggers. Think of it as about half the length of a katana."
"Hmm~ It feels a bit awkward, but I think this will be better once I get used to it."
"Close-range mercenaries have many abilities specialized for melee combat. Anyway, try using it. Finding a weapon that suits you is also part of the training process."
"Okay. But oppa. Custom-made weapons are more expensive than regular ones, right?"
"Naturally. But why do you ask?"
When I simply agreed, Yoo-jung smiled triumphantly and turned her head towards Ahn Hyun. She flashed a boastful smile and twirled the dagger, making it obvious why she was acting that way. Yoo-jung then turned her gaze away from Hyun and back to me.
"Then my gift is the most expensive, right? Hohoho. Oh my. Oppa, just say it's good if it's good. Do you have to speak in roundabout ways like this?"
Ahn Hyun, who had been silently listening to Yoo-jung's words, suddenly looked dumbfounded. Sol was giving me a look as if something was unfair. In reality, I was the one being treated unfairly, but they were kids at the height of childishness. Since this level of shenanigans was within my expected range, I stared at Yoo-jung with a look of exasperation. However, I couldn't withstand Yoo-jung's provocative expression as she winked.
I sighed and continued in a low voice.
"Unfortunately, the most expensive isn't your daggers, but Sol's staff."
"...What? Why? That mere wooden staff?"
Yoo-jung's voice immediately sank. And Sol's lips were protruding sharply after hearing her staff called a "mere wooden staff." I shrugged my shoulders once.
"Of course. Most weapons for mages or priests are magical items, aren't they?"
"What? Magic?"
Sol's eyes widened as she questioned at the mention of magical items. I nodded once and then explained what kind of magic was on it.
"Yes. They say it calms the caster's mind and increases efficiency in controlling mana. Since it's the lowest grade, you can't expect a big effect, but it's still better than nothing. I thought increasing mana quantity wasn't necessary right now. Is that okay?"
"Yes!"
Seeing Sol answer energetically, clearly very pleased, I smiled slightly. For a moment, I thought how nice it would be to have such a kind and cute little sister.
It was just for an instant, but I caught Sol sending a boastful glance towards Yoo-jung. When I secretly turned my gaze to Yoo-jung, I saw her face was slightly distorted, having apparently noticed Sol's look.
Suddenly, I remembered hearing recently that Sol had been going around showing off. I had thought it couldn't be true, that Sol wouldn't do such a thing, but now I felt like it might be an issue worth reconsidering.
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