Episode 263: Remodeling the Villa
I would have liked to drink a lot of poison and start practicing mana training right away, but there was something I had to take care of before that.
‘I have to return the cube.’
The Cube of Life is, after all, an item loaned to Park Na-ri and Beom-i.
It’s been two days, so it’s right to return it.
Of course, as promised, after the remodeling is completed.
If you build trust like this, they will lend you money again next time, right?
So after school, I walked to the magic engineering workshop.
As always, the first workshop was extremely busy.
While I was waiting in front of it, several seniors who were passing by recognized me and greeted me with their eyes.
‘You’re here.’
‘hello.’
We have become familiar with each other through many visits.
He must have guessed why I came here, because he immediately turned around and went to call Bong Jae-seok.
Not long after, Bong Jae-seok put everything aside and ran out.
An unmistakable anticipation was evident in his eyes.
“I was planning on calling you soon anyway, but what’s going on?”
“Of course it is.”
And I didn’t disappoint.
As he took out the Cube of Life along with the answer, the corners of Bong Jae-seok’s mouth hung to his ears.
“… … Did you borrow it?”
“Yes, I’m going to return it today, but I wanted to take a look at it before that.”
“I brought it well. Come in, come in.”
The ultimate goal of Bong Jae-seok and the Magic Engineering Club is to complete a perfect ‘S-class’ cube of life.
Of course, it is an incredibly distant and arduous goal.
In such a situation, the opportunity to examine samples is like rain in a drought.
There would be a lot to be gained just by watching over my shoulder.
To that I added a suggestion.
“How about trying it yourself?”
“I’m fine. But what if I mess with it and something goes wrong?”
As Bong Jae-seok, I would naturally like to look into it more deeply and study it, but if something breaks down while doing so, it cannot be undone.
I reassured him as he hesitated.
“Don’t worry about that. If something goes wrong, I’ll fix it.”
“Really? Then of course I should do it.”
Bong Jae-seok quickly sat down in front of the Cube of Life and brought out several magic engineering tools.
And when he unleashed his skill, his tools and his two hands took on a blue glow.
I pointed to a corner of the cube and gave instructions.
“Let’s start here.”
“It was good.”
Bong Jae-seok began to repair the Cube of Life little by little as I instructed.
Actually, I can do this work myself by copying [Magic Engineering].
There will be no blockages, so it will save a lot of time.
Even so, the reason why I chose this cumbersome method is,
‘I feel bad about wasting the slots.’
▷Copy – Skill [3/3]
1. Thief’s Step (B+)
2. Overheat (C)
3. Ice Wall (B)
All three are valuable skills that cannot be thrown away for now.
When you copy Magic Engineering, it will be overwritten in one of the three slots above, and after the work is done, you must go to Dang Gyu-yeong or Hong Yeon-hwa to copy the skill again.
Midwinter is completely excluded because we are just barely acquainted with each other.
Besides, even putting aside the trouble of going there, it feels strangely unnatural to ask someone to use a skill right away.
Even Dang Gyu-yeong, with whom I shared a lot of my secrets, doesn’t know much about copying.
– Just try using the thief step once.
– Huh? Suddenly?
I think this kind of situation will probably happen.
In the end, it was just as annoying either way, so I decided to proceed without touching the copy slot at all.
Besides, from Bong Jae-seok’s perspective, he would learn more from doing it himself rather than just watching.
So I continued to give instructions, and Bong Jae Seok continued to manifest magical engineering.
“You should pay special attention to this inner wall. The amplification effect comes from here.”
“That’s it. I saw it on the blueprint.”
“Let’s take care of that last. If you touch it wrong, it’ll be a big problem.”
“… … Really? Okay.”
The result of being so absorbed in it that I didn’t even realize how much time had passed.
Before us was a cube of life, as clean as if it had just been created.
The scratches that were everywhere are disappearing, and a gentle vitality is emanating.
In some ways, it seems better than before.
We stared at the cube for a while, lost in pride.
Then I opened my mouth.
“Thank you for your effort.”
“I just did what I was told. I learned a lot this time. Thank you.”
I put the Cube of Life in my inventory and bowed my head to Bong Jae-seok.
“Then let’s go in.”
“Yeah, come and see me whenever you need anything.”
After hearing that, something suddenly came to mind, so I asked Bong Jae-seok.
“If there are any random rank-ups left, I would like to receive just one.”
“Of course, take it.”
Bong Jae-seok took out a random rank up from his inventory.
As many as three sheets.
“One is enough.”
“Just take it all and think of it as tuition.”
As he said that, he forcefully put it in my hand, so I pretended I couldn’t win and accepted it.
The original style is not to refuse what is given.
Bow with even deeper respect.
“I will use it gratefully.”
“But Kim Hoya.”
“Yes, senior.”
“… … .”
Bong Jae-seok paused for a moment, unusual for his cool personality, and then cautiously asked a question.
“… … I see you’re still independent. Do you have any plans to join anywhere?”
“Yes, not yet.”
“If you haven’t made up your mind yet, let’s think about it seriously. If you make up your mind and hold on, Cube will be here in no time.”
If we focus solely on the Cube of Life as he said, we will be able to see an S-rank within this year at the latest.
That alone is a legendary achievement, and I still have two more years until graduation.
I wonder if I look like something more than a prospect in Bong Jae-seok’s eyes.
But I politely declined.
“Thank you for your words. But right now I want to focus on other goals.”
From the beginning, I entered this game world with the goal of becoming EX-class.
There’s still a long way to go, as I have to hunt dragons, raise EX-grade sloths, and achieve world peace.
Compared to that, the Cube of Life is just a passing item, even if it’s an S-class, so there’s no reason to waste time joining the Magic Engineering Club.
Bong Jae-seok nodded slightly, confirming that my decision was firm.
“There’s nothing I can do. If you change your mind, just tell me.”
“Yes, senior.”
* * *
Now that the maintenance is complete, it’s time to return the items to their original owners.
So I called Park Na-ri, and she ran out even more out of breath than Bong Jae-seok, as if something was urgent.
And as soon as he saw me, he thanked me.
“Oh, thank you!”
“Why are you thankful? It was originally yours.”
“Hey, hurry up… … . Give it back… … ?”
I wondered if it was really something to be thankful for to get my belongings back on time, but I soon found many, many reasons that made sense.
Cat hair fluttered and clung to Park Na-ri from head to toe.
There are more scratches on the hands and arms than usual.
Also, the tiger in his arms,
“Growl.”
He lets out a low whimper, expressing his discomfort.
I think I have a rough idea of what happened over the past two days.
Maybe instead of Cube, Park Na-ri would have been used as a villa and scratcher.
“Aaah.”
After a while, Beom-i twisted his body as if he was uncomfortable, and lifted Park Na-ri’s chin with his front paw.
– Phew!
“100 million!”
Park Na-ri’s head was suddenly thrown back.
It looks like a cat punch, but it doesn’t seem to have much power.
‘… … I’ll believe you. You’re a real bastard.’
A butler’s life is this hard.
Park Na-ri creaked and put her head back in place, caressing her hit chin as she spoke.
“Q, cube please… … .”
“I’ll give it to you right away.”
If she had delayed any longer, Park Na-ri’s jaw would have turned around from the second and third cat punches.
So I took out the Cube of Life, opened the cover slightly, and spoke in a soft tone.
“Mr. Beom, the remodeling is finished. Come take a look.”
“… … .”
Beom-i stares at the cube for a few seconds and then jumps out of Park Na-ri’s arms.
I knelt down on one knee to get my level.
Then, Beom-i seemed to sniff around the cube, then jumped into the box.
“Meow.”
“Do you like it?”
Instead of answering my question, Beom-i closed the box lid by tapping it with his front paw.
I guess you could interpret it as I like it.
I handed the Cube of Life over to Park Na-ri in that condition.
“Take it.”
“……thank you.”
Park Na-ri gave a sigh of relief and a word of thanks at the same time.
And then he started walking, hugging the cube.
Her back looked twice as tired as usual.
– Buck— buck— buck—!
Inside the cube, the sound of excited scratching was constantly echoing.
* * *
Training center.
I sat down in the middle of the Mana training room.
First, let’s use the random rank up we received from Bong Jae-seok.
– Push push… … .
The magic scroll scattered into black ash and a notification message was printed.
[Rank up failed.]
Still, I raised the corners of my lips slightly,
‘at las.’
[Stamp Coupon (C)]
▷Stamp 10/10
▷10 cumulative rewards: Rank up (C)
This is because the stamp coupon was completed with 10 cumulative failures.
Rank up has also had its uses determined a long time ago.
[Use ‘Rank Up (C)’.]
[The level of ‘Amplification’ increases. (C→B)]
[Duration 10 minutes → 15 minutes]
[Reuse waiting time 1 hour 20 minutes → 50 minutes]
Amplification is the most powerful and versatile skill I have, so it was worth investing in first.
Recently, the duration has been increased with the tuning order book, and the cooldown has also increased. Also, since I started using octopus legs, management has become increasingly difficult.
Now that I’ve reached B rank and the cooldown has been reduced again, I feel a bit more at ease.
There are still two more random rank-ups left, but I’m saving them for the next stamp coupon.
‘Let’s start eating slowly.’
I take all the poisons I brought from the temporary storage and challenge myself to become invincible.
I put my hand into my inventory, still wearing the hermit’s hoodie over my head.
The first thing I took out was a cute glass bottle filled with pink liquid.
It may seem harmless at first glance, but it is not.
[Cute Poison (C)]
An item that appears with a certain probability on the train to Yongsal Academy and slot machines.
At that time, there was no countermeasure against poison, so I tried to avoid it, but
‘Anything poisonous is fine now.’
As I opened the bottle, a sweet smell like cotton candy wafted past my nose.
It’s almost like he’s gently tempting me to drink it.
So I poured the contents of the glass bottle in one gulp as I wanted,
‘Oh, write.’
A bitterness beyond imagination hit my taste buds.
The cute poison didn’t stop there, as it traveled down the esophagus and into the stomach, melting everything it touched.
A bitter feeling spread throughout my body, but I had expected something like this.
‘Then let’s begin.’
I straightened my posture and closed my eyes.
And I started to focus my mind on mana cultivation.
The supporters eat it all
