Chapter 41: A Gift from Me to You

A Gift from Me to You

"Item info." Seo Jun-ho remembered the effects of the item from Arma's memories, but he wanted to see 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

Equipment Requirements: Level 25, 60 or higher on all stats.

"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 of his stats. Not only that, the effects were 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 60. If he just raised his level by 3, he'd 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 reaches 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 the way he'd left him and started to erase his traces—his fingerprints 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'd 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 Juha was staring at her subordinates with sunken eyes. The 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'd been fighting the black skeletons with her teammates, they'd suddenly crumbled to ashes.

'Wh-what? Are they dead?'

'What happened?'

'Get it together. They wouldn't die all of a sudden,' Gong Juha inferred over her teammates' confusion with a charismatic voice.

'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 Juha's face darkened. "If we'd just fought a little longer, I could've found his location..."

Even during the fight, she'd been analyzing the magic patterns on the skeletons' bodies. If she'd had a little longer, she could've found his location.

The Skeleton Mage is an enemy, but he's really smart. He'd 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 Juha had sat on the sofa in the hotel lobby and waited, just in case the Skeleton Mage was discovered. She hadn't slept a wink as she'd been on standby. For someone who loved to sleep in, it was the worst form of torture.

"Gongju-nim."

"Mmm. What." She rubbed her eyes as Ha Inho called her. He stepped close and carefully took out a box.

"They said someone left this for you."

"...What, a fan?" Gong Juha perked up despite her fatigue. She was a cute, globally-acclaimed ranker, which was rare. There were tons of people that liked her; her fan club already had thirty million members.

"Why do they keep sending me things... I made an announcement on my cafe to not send me gifts unless it's a fan signing event or something." Even though she said that, she looked very happy. Ha Inho, on the other hand, looked serious.

"But the contents..."

"...What? Is it something weird?" She suddenly looked scared. One time, she'd received the skin of a thousand-year-old snake, saying it was good for her skin. She occasionally received weird things from obsessive fans. 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 Juha'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 Inho shrugged and held out a Post-it. "This was inside the box. Would you like a look?"

"Yes!" Gong Juha read over the elegant English script that was written.

- 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. We won't have to pay for the damages either." Ha Inho let out a sigh of relief. "If we lost it, we would've had to pay an enormous amount."

"Man, I'm really grateful... Can you find out who sent this? 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 the slightest idea who it is."

"Ah, who could it be? 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 Juha recognized him, blinking once as she called to him. "Heyyy!"

Gong Juha stomped across the floor just as Seo Jun-ho turned around. She looked up at him, and he had a refreshing smile.

"Good morning," he greeted cheerfully.

"Good morning? Good morning~?" Gong Juha 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 realize. He'd 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? When you said you were going to the bathroom? You're a habitual offender!"

With the steam coming out of her ears, it was obvious how angry she was. She started nagging him as his sunbae.

"Didn't you watch Spider-Man? 'With great power comes great responsibility'! And Sir Specter said that too! Players' powers exist to protect the citizens."

(TN: The suffix she uses is different and more respectful than '-nim'.)

"...I did?"

"What? Not you. Sir Specter said that."

"Oh, Sir... Specter." He tried not to cringe and laughed awkwardly. I said that? He didn't even remember. Aside from what he said at intermissions, 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 Juha was satisfied after she finished her lecture. She seemed like the type to air things out quickly.

"It's good to see you adapt quickly. Oh, and have I told you?" She was waving her Post-it, clearly wanting to brag.

"No, you have not."

"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... Wait, it's me!" She looked very pleased. If she had a tail, it would be wagging around.

"Inho said they're at least a ranker. I wonder who it is."

"...Is it possible that they're not?"

"Nope, no way." Gong Juha shook her forefinger and smiled knowingly, as if Seo Jun-ho still had a lot left to learn. "Inho inspected the Skeleton Mage's corpse, but there wasn't the smallest trace left behind."

"Really?"

"Yes. Isn't it amazing? Inho'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'd cleaned up so well that even a ranker couldn't find 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 themself when they want to."

"R-right? It would be rude of me, wouldn't it?" Gong Juha 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 linger 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 I could receive my items here."

"You can go to that desk over there." Gong Juha 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'll respectfully decline."

"Tch, that stings," Gong Juha 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'd tell him to join her guild.

"No complaining later, alright?" Of course, he'd never grant her wish. Seo Jun-ho took her small hand.

"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.

Only

"There's no item window either." Seo Jun-ho studied it carefully before trying to use magic on it.

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

But nothing has 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 if it was good or bad.