Chapter 41: A Gift from Me to You

“Item data.” Seo Jun-Ho knew the effects of the item from Arma’s memories, but he wanted to check them with his own eyes.

[Aura Buff Ring]

Grade: Unique

Allies and summons within a 30-meter radius of the user are strengthened with a ‘Strength Buff.‘

*Strength Buff: All stats +5

Use requirements: Level 25, all stats 60 or higher

“Heh…..” Seo Jun-Ho couldn’t help but marvel.

‘I heard the items from the Frontier are good, but…’

He hadn’t expected them to be this good. Simply wearing the ring would permanently raise all his stats. The effects were also insanely good for summoners.

‘It has an area limitation, but it buffs both the user and their summons.’

It was a dream item for summoners.

The only thing was that its stat requirements were high relative to the level requirement. But that wasn’t a problem for him. All of his stats were already over level 60. If he just raised his level by three, he would be able to use this ring whenever he wanted.

“I’ll see you soon.” Seo Jun-Ho carefully placed the silver ring into his inventory. On the day he reached level 25, this ring would sit on one of his ten fingers.

“The rest of the items are whatever.” Arma’s items were mostly rare or higher, but they were all specifically for magicians or summoners. Even though he could sell them on the Black Market, Seo Jun-Ho didn’t really want to.

‘I’ll make a pretty penny, but it’s not worth raising suspicions.’

He looked down at Arma and started to erase his traces. He erased his fingertips and footprints until he was satisfied.

“Perfect.”

‘I learned this from watching Skaya, but I didn’t expect it to help in this way.’

He had just used magic to erase all traces of himself. Even someone with a psychometric skill wouldn’t be able to trace him. It was invented by the Great Mage, after all.

***

The next morning, Gong Ju-Ha was staring at her subordinates with sunken eyes. Her dark circles made her look like a panda.

“You still…still haven’t found it?”

“I’m sorry. We haven’t.”

“Ughhhh.” She sounded like she was about to cry. “Where in the world is the Skeleton Mage guy?”

As her shoulders drooped, she remembered something from the night before. When she had been fighting the black skeletons with her teammates, they suddenly crumbled to ashes.

“W-what? Are they dead?”

“What happened?”

Gong Ju-Ha had inferred over her teammates’ confusion with a charismatic voice. “Get it together. They wouldn’t die all of a sudden.”

“So you’re saying the Skeleton Mage recalled them on purpose?”

“Exactly. His original goal was probably to take Heaven's Breath to a safe place.” Gong Ju-Ha’s face darkened. “If we just fought a little longer, I could have found his location…”

Even during the fight, she had been analyzing the magic patterns on the skeletons’ bodies. If she only had a little more time, she could have found his location.

‘The Skeleton Mage is an enemy, but he’s really smart.’

He had probably taken into account the time it would have taken her to trace him and cancelled his summons before then.

He really was terrifying,

“....What time is it?”

“7 AM.”

“Ugh.” Gong Ju-Ha sat on the sofa in the hotel lobby and waited, just in case the Skeleton Mage was discovered. She hadn’t slept a wink because she had been on standby. It was the worst form of torture for someone who loved to sleep in.

“Princess-nim.”

“Mmm. Whaaaaaaat.” She rubbed her eyes as Ha In-Ho called her out.

He stepped close and carefully took out a box. “They said someone left this for you.”

“...what, a fan?” Gong Ju-Ha perked up despite her fatigue. She was a cute, globally-acclaimed Ranker, which was rare. There were tons of people that liked her. Her fanclub already had 30 million members.

“Why do they keep sending me things…I made an announcement on my cafe to not send me gifts unless there’s a fan-signing event or something.” Even though she said that, she looked very happy.

Meanwhile, Ha In-Ho looked serious as he held the box. “But the contents...”

“...What? Is it something weird?” She suddenly looked scared.

One time, she had received the skin of a thousand-year-old snake, saying it was good for her skin. She occasionally received weird things from her obsessive fans and she was unexpectedly squeamish whenever she received those things.

“Well, it’s not anything gross. It’s just surprising.”

“...What in the world is it?” She tilted her head and opened the box.

Inside was a large gem. “Huh? This…”

.

She held up the gem and muttered to herself. “Wow, this is really well-made. It looks exactly the same as the Heaven’s Breath we saw at the auction hall.”

“It’s the real one. It was just appraised by an auction manager.”

“What?!” Gong Ju-Ha’s eyes went wide in shock. “It’s the real deal? Didn’t the Skeleton Mage take it?”

“That’s what’s surprising about it.” Ha In-Ho shrugged and held out a post-it. “This was inside the box. Would you like a look?”

“Yes!” Gong Ju-Ha read the elegant English script that was written on it.

—Dealt with the Skeleton Mage and two fiends. Retrieved Heaven’s Breath. Skeleton Mage in the back alley of XX hotel. From a fan that was passing by.

“Oh my god.” Her mouth twitched in surprise. “M-my fan took care of everything?”

“It seems so.”

“I didn’t even do anything...”

“Does it matter? It was taken care of and we won’t have to pay for damages either.” Ha In-Ho let out a sigh of relief. “If we lost it, we would have had to pay an enormous amount.”

“Man, I’m really grateful…can you find out who sent it? I want to thank them in person.”

“You think I haven’t tried? I checked all over the Skeleton Mage’s corpse.” He shook his head. “Your fan is quite amazing. They didn’t leave a single trace. It’s the work of a pro. They’re at least a Ranker, but I haven’t had the slightest idea who it is.”

“Ah, who is it? I really want to know…” They put their heads together and started to name Rankers, when a familiar person appeared before them.

“Huh? Hey!” Gong Ju-Ha recognized him, glaring as she called to him. “Heyyy!”

Stomp! stomp!

Gong Ju-Ha walked heavily across the floor just as Seo Jun-Ho turned around. She looked up at him, and he had a refreshing smile.

“Good morning,” Seo Jun-Ho greeted cheerfully.

“Good morning? Good morning~?” Gong Ju-Ha crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. “How could you do that?”

“Huh?”

“Wow, so you’re pretending you don’t know now? You ran away yesterday!”

“Ran away? I…?” Seo Jun-Ho tilted his head as he recalled the events of the night before.

‘Oh, she…’

He seemed to have finally realized it. He had moved as fast as he could so he wouldn’t miss the Watchdogs, but to her, it seemed like he ran away.

“Hey, didn’t you run away last time too? You said that you were going to the bathroom, but…you’re a habitual offender!”

With steam coming out of her ears, she was undoubtedly angry. Gong Ju-Ha started nagging him as his sunbae.

“Didn’t you watch Spiderman? With great power comes great responsibility! And Sir Specter said that too! Players’ powers exist to protect the citizens.”

“...I did?”

“What? Not you, Sir Specter said that.”

“Oh, Sir…Specter.” He tried not to cringe and laughed awkwardly.

‘I said that?’

Truthfully, he didn’t remember. From the start, most of his interviews had been scripted.

“From now on, if something happens, help people get to safety instead of running away. Okay?”

“...I understand.” Gong Ju-Ha was satisfied after she finished her lecture. She seemed like the type to air things out quickly.

“It’s good to see you reflecting on yourself quickly. Oh, and did I tell you?”

She was waving her post-it, clearly wanting to brag.

“No, what is it?”

“Well, it just so happened that a fan of mine defeated the Skeleton Mage and the fiends and sent Heaven's Breath to me. Oh, I wonder who has such a talented fan…oh wait, it’s me!” She looked very pleased. If she had a tail, it would for sure be waving around right now.

“In-Ho said that they’re at least a Ranker. I wonder who it is.”

“...What if they are not a Ranker?”

“Nope, no way.” Gong Ju-Ha shook her forefinger and smiled knowingly as if Seo Jun-Ho still had a lot left to learn. “In-Ho inspected the corpse, but there wasn’t the smallest trace left behind.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Isn’t it amazing? In-Ho’s also a Ranker, but he couldn’t find a single clue…how amazing of a Player must they be?”

Now it was Seo Jun-Ho’s turn to look pleased. He cleaned the place up so well that even a Ranker couldn’t find traces of him.

“Hm, and seeing how natural their English handwriting is…they’re probably an American, right? Let me think of some.”

“...Is it necessary to seek them out? They’ll reveal themselves when they want to.”

“R-right? It would be rude of me, wouldn’t it?” Gong Ju-Ha seemed embarrassed as she carefully put the post-it into her inventory. “So what will you do now, Mr. Snake Head? My work is done, so I’m planning to go back to the 2nd floor as soon as I receive my items.”

“I don’t have any reason to stay here now that the auction is over. I’ll be going back to Korea.”

“You won the weird ball and the necklace yesterday, right?”

“Yes. I came here because they said that I could receive my bids here.”

“You can go to that desk over there.” Gong Ju-Ha looked to the wall, looking a little disappointed. “It’s sad that we have to part like this. I’ll ask one more time, won’t you respectfully join our Guild?”

“I respectfully decline.”

“Tch, that stings.” Gong Ju-Ha sulked as she held out her right hand for a handshake. “Stay healthy until we meet again. Next time, it’ll be on the 2nd floor.”

“It won’t be long.”

“Fufu, that’s what they all say. But the pressure starts to build as you level up.”

“We’ll see.”

“Wow, look at that confidence! Okay, if you come up to the 2nd floor within half a year, I’ll give you a present.”

“And if I can’t?

“Then you’ll grant my wish. Deal?”

Her wish was pretty obvious. She would tell him to join her Guild.

“No complaining later, alright?” Of course, he would never grant her wish.

Seo Jun-Ho took her small hand and shook it.

***

“This is your Unknown Ball and Stamina Regeneration Necklace.” Seo Jun-Ho received an expensive-looking box from the counter. It opened with a clack, revealing a ball sitting on a soft cloth.

‘Just what is it?’

He still didn’t know why he wanted this. But whenever Keen Intuition (B) reacted that strongly, there was always a good reason behind it.

“There’s no item window either.”

Seo Jun-Ho studied it carefully before he tried to use magic on it.

Vrrrr.

It vibrated for a moment, similar to the smartphones they used to use.

‘But nothing really changed…’

Seo Jun-Ho shrugged and put the ball into his inventory. He was planning to infuse it with magic whenever he got bored.

“Something will happen eventually.”

Only time would tell whether the decision of buying this ball was good or bad.

1. suffix she uses is different and more respectful than ‘nim’