Episode 255: The Challenge
To some extent, this was an expected reaction.
From Beom’s perspective, the Cube of Life is like a private villa.
If we compare this to a person, it would be like an acquaintance who just happened to know you and suddenly asks, “Hey, can I stay at your villa for a couple of days?”
Of course, I also thought about what I would say to persuade them later.
“I’m not saying I’ll just borrow it, I’m saying I’ll pay rent.”
“… … ?”
Beom-i tried to raise his cotton bat fist, but then lowered it again.
It seems like he’s going to listen to what I have to say and then decide.
“Haven’t there been a lot of scratches on your villa lately?”
“My dear.”
“It’s time to do some remodeling.”
“Aaah.”
At this point, I’m the only one who can repair the Cube of Life.
The maintenance of the magic engineering item itself is not difficult, but the Cube of Life will be burdensome for Bongjae Seok and other members of the magic engineering club.
I haven’t fully figured it out yet, so I don’t know what might happen if I touch it.
“Aaah… … .”
A tiger that has become angry.
Wouldn’t it be a good deal if the villa could be neatly remodeled in exchange for only being empty for two days?
It seemed like it was almost over, so I gave it the finishing blow.
Just now, Beom-i took out a handful of dried fish, a specialty of the evil people’s gathering, which was the snack he had been eating.
“Just eat this and wait a few days. I’ll return it to you as if it were brand new.”
“Aaah.”
Beom-i answered briefly and then began to eat the rest of the dried fish.
It means you accept my offer.
With the biggest obstacle out of the way, I looked at Park Na-ri next.
“That’s what they say. What about you?”
“… … !”
Park Na-ri’s eyes were wide open, as if she couldn’t believe what she had just seen.
I guess he never thought he would be able to successfully negotiate with Beom-i.
But as I continued to look at him, he lowered his gaze diagonally and stammered.
“If Beom-i is okay, I’m okay too.”
This was the reason why I asked Beom-i first, leaving Park Na-ri aside.
Because the consent of both the owner and the tenant is required anyway.
Even if I had asked Park Na-ri first, I would have gotten an answer like, ‘I need to hear what Beom thinks too… ‘
The life of a butler is this difficult.
Park Na-ri asked cautiously.
“So, how many days would you like to borrow it…?”
“I think one or two days should be enough. You don’t have anything to do this week, do you?”
“Uh, yeah… … . I’m done with the interpersonal battles… … .”
Park Na-ri is not the type of person to duel with anyone, and she originally trained in magic without a cube.
So, he said he could lend it to me until the week of the strategy game.
“But, but… …. Where are you going to use it?”
“It’s for research. I’ll also help Senior Bong out with it.”
It wasn’t a lie.
Because Bong Jae-seok has been asking for help often lately.
‘It’s not good to hide banned items.’
I plan to keep it private unless they find out by some chance.
Park Na-ri is not the type of person to break school rules, but she may not be the type to break the rules of the Nature Club.
Manager Ha Su-yeon was also a bookworm type with a secretly sinister side.
If we use it so blatantly, there is a possibility that we will be caught and the damage will spread to me and Dang Gyu-young.
Perhaps convinced by the words “for research purposes,” Park Na-ri took out the Cube of Life from her inventory and emptied its contents.
I accepted the cube and handed over the set of special products from the evildoers’ assembly.
“Thank you. I’ll write it neatly and return it to you.”
“Uh, yeah… … .”
“Meow.”
Until then, Beom-i, who had been diligently eating the dried fish, raised his head again and said something.
It was as if he was saying this.
– Please take good care of the remodeling.
* * *
After securing the cube, I did my work and waited for a call.
Since the band wave broke out so suddenly, the thieves’ club also needed time to figure out the situation.
So, just like the day before, I watched the calligrapher practice, and I also practiced wind magic such as Wind Barrier.
As expected, a message arrived.
[Dang Gyu-young: (Kang! Fox emoticon)
[Dang Gyu-young: Where are you?]
[Kim Ho: (Kang! Fox emoticon)
[Kim Ho: Training Center]
[Dang Gyu-young: Let me see for a moment]
[Kim Ho: Yes]
The calligrapher’s battery was starting to run out, so he stopped practicing.
“Let’s stop here for today.”
“huh…….”
The calligrapher stared at me blankly, then tilted his head for some reason.
But soon, he started waving his hand and walking towards the dormitory.
After staring at his back for a while, I also started walking towards the meeting place.
2nd floor terrace of the store.
Dang Gyu-yeong was sitting there, having already bought drinks for me.
As always, I like a sweet latte with lots of cream.
When I sit down next to him, he makes eye contact and smiles silently.
“… … .”
“… … .”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“just.”
He kept looking at me and smiling as if he had something in his eyes, so I decided to speak first.
“What happened to Byeong-cheol?”
“Ah, Byeong-cheol.”
Dang Gyu-yeong’s face turned grave, and he said it as if it was a passing remark.
“He caused serious damage to the club, and was purged for that crime.”
“Oh, like that.”
It looked a bit precarious, so that’s what happened in the end.
Then, Dang Gyu-yeong’s face relaxed and he smiled faintly.
“It’s a joke. You can’t get mad over something like that. If you have a puncture wound, you can just steal it.”
“As expected, your way of thinking is quite unique.”
“Did you just braid it?”
“A little bit.”
Dang Gyu-yeong glared at me and put his mouth to the straw.
And after taking a sip of his latte, he continued talking.
“I have to get some back.”
“Where? Temporary storage.”
“Unconditionally.”
“When are you thinking about it?”
“Maybe tomorrow night?”
Infiltrating the temporary storage facility is a race against time.
If it gets too late, the leadership will hand over the banned items to the academic side, and those that are taken to the confiscated items storage facility will virtually never be recovered.
The leading group will also strengthen their defenses more thoroughly as more time is given.
So the sooner you can challenge it, the better, but since there are many preparations to be made, tonight is a little early and tomorrow night is the deadline.
I nodded because it was convincing enough.
And then he asked the next important question.
“Where is this temporary storage location?”
“Look at this. Are these guys really funny?”
Dang Gyu-yeong showed me a few photos with a hollow laugh.
A security camera installed in a busy area.
These were captured images of the crystal ball’s field of vision, showing the leaders loitering around a building.
But the appearance of the building was very familiar.
A place I visited several times when the Black Market was held.
It’s the C exchange.
“I guess they’ll recycle it.”
“Yeah, it looks like that.”
At each exchange, the graduating seniors installed passage-step techniques and disruption formations.
Although the effect of the passage technique may have worn off after quite some time, it is highly likely that the formation method remains intact.
And the vanguard intends to preserve that formation and use it for crime prevention.
The intention is also very obvious.
It would have been much safer to set up a temporary storage facility at the old school like before, but it was a hassle to move it to a busy area.
And the thieves’ club will use the same methods they used in the black market.
“It’s a challenge.”
“Let’s give it a try.”
Apply for the revenge match.
This year’s Black Market was a huge success for the thieves’ club, if you look at the results alone.
This is because, while the situation was being pushed and pulled in a tense manner, the Blood Cult Elder appeared and all the leading members were mobilized to handle the situation.
After that, they would have had to just watch as a lot of banned items were traded, which would have been a huge humiliation for the leadership.
So they too had been sharpening their swords for a while, and they suddenly unleashed a wave of bans to deal a blow to the thieves’ club.
It seems like they are trying to drag me in there once again with a challenge and punish me with penalty points.
“This is a bit strong.”
“Yeah, it’s really strong.”
“No matter how you look at it, it’s a trap.”
“It’s a total trap.”
Soon we looked at each other and smiled.
“You’re still going, right?”
“I said no matter what. You’re going too, right?”
“I agree unconditionally.”
To progress through the main quest more easily, you need to upgrade your specs a little more.
Breaking school rules is inevitable for world peace.
Dang Gyu-yeong said in a quiet voice.
“So, you know… … . That cube from last time? Can I borrow it for tomorrow?”
If you put a forbidden item into the Cube of Life, you can definitely get it.
As far as infiltrating temporary storage facilities is concerned, it is a fraudulent item.
However, the owner is Park Na-ri.
As for Dang Gyu-young, since there is no real contact, it is quite ambiguous to ask for a loan.
The first question that comes to mind is, ‘Why does the leader of the Thieves’ Club have a life-type item?’
I smiled and placed the cube on the table.
“This one?”
“… … What, you already borrowed it?”
“If you pretend, it won’t be pretend, right?”
Then Dang Gyu-yeong leaned towards me and began stroking my head and cheeks vigorously.
“Oh my— our Kim Ho, how can he be so smart? He’s just so damn cute. He’s so damn cute.”
I thought I understood Dang Gyu-yeong’s feelings, but I wanted to finish what I was saying.
So I leaned my body slightly to the other side and asked.
“But what are you going to do with the rest? It’s not like you can do it with just a cube.”
Putting a forbidden item into the cube is only possible after reaching the temporary storage.
If you get caught by the leader before then, it’ll all be in vain.
Moreover, there is no way to know what might be inside the C exchange occupied by the leading group.
Whether the troops are waiting in formation, or whether other devices have been added in addition to the formation.
The intermediate process is the job of the thieves’ club.
Dang Gyu-yeong asked back.
“First of all, Kim Hoya, can you break through the formation?”
“Most of them.”
“I see. Then it’ll be much more doable.”
With the sense of an old man, you can see the weak points of most formations and break through them.
The disruption formation that the graduates had installed at the C Exchange was also easily broken through, so even if the leadership team reinforced it, the result would be the same.
However, there were still mountains of problems to be solved, and Dang Gyu-yeong raised the corners of his mouth confidently.
“This time, we have reinforcements too. Let’s put that in for now.”
“yes.”
The less people know about the Cube of Life, the better.
So I put it in my inventory and Dang Gyu-yeong sent a message to someone.
Then, two third-year seniors who had been waiting nearby appeared and joined us.
One of them is a face I know, Ruby Tower Chief Hong Ye-hwa.
And the other one was a man with glasses and an intelligent look.
Hong Ye-hwa smiled faintly and waved her hand, and the man with glasses glanced at me and asked Dang Gyu-yeong.
“Is that the first-year student?”
“That’s right, the first year.”
I don’t know exactly what ‘that first year’ means.
However, judging from the attitudes of the two seniors, it seems that they heard from Dang Gyu-yeong that I will be taking on an important role.
I bowed my head first.
“Hello, senior. My name is Kim Ho.”
“Yes, I am Jeong Chong-myeong.”
The man also answered with a short self-introduction, and Dang Gyu-yeong added a word.
“You become the president of the white magic club.”
The White Magic Club is a huge force that rivals the Swordsmanship Club.
The manager joined this temporary storage facility infiltration operation.
The supporters ate it all
