Chapter 118 – What Must Be Done (1)

The butterfly seedling’s dust scattered from the broken bracelet and seeped into Rachel’s magic power. She didn’t notice any changes as she focused on circulating her magic power.

“Now, with your right wrist…”

I made her circulate magic power throughout her entire body to avoid any suspicions. From the left wrist to the right, her ankles, then her forehead. Soon, Rachel was covered in sweat.

“Haa, haa.”

“It’s hard for everyone on their first try.”

I couldn’t help but inwardly laugh at coaching someone with a 9-9.5 potential. This breathing exercise shouldn’t be completely meaningless. After all, Kim Suho did it every morning.

“Alright, next…”

The butterfly seedling’s dust should’ve successfully seeped into her body. She only needed to exercise her magic power to reveal its effects.

“Try standing up.”

Rachel stood up enthusiastically, thinking it was time for the real thing.

“We’ll set barrier aside for now.”

She lost all enthusiasm at my words and tilted her head.

“Rachel, we’ve known each other for 8 months now. We became pretty close for a semester because of team challenges, right?”

“Yes? Ah, yes, you’re right.”

“Take it with a grain of salt, but I’ve been watching you in battle. Have you ever taken an elemental affinity test?”

“Elemental affinity?”

“Yes, I’m quite good at discerning talent. I guess you could say I have sharp senses. You know that I helped Chae Nayun too, right?”

Chae Nayun was a hot topic among Cube's community and several guilds. She switched from a bow to a sword and showed immediate results.

“Yes, I took one when I was young and the results came out positive. How did you…”

She wondered how I knew.

“Something feels different about your magic power. Its property slightly changes depending on your environment.”

I had created this trait for Rachel. She seemed to know as her eyes widened.

“Ah, you’re right! I’ve felt it too, but my elemental affinity hasn’t increased since I was 10, so I gave up on it.”

People of this world didn’t know much about elementals and how to cultivate one’s elemental affinity. Even the other world where Kim Suho came from only had a few elementalists.

The butterfly seedling’s dust would serve as a pathway to connect Rachel with elementals. Furthermore, I already knew the training method she developed with Kim Suho in the original story.

“Then let’s start from the beginning. You might’ve used the wrong training method.”

“…”

Rachel looked doubtful. She must be annoyed since she came to learn barrier.

“Your current problem isn’t barrier. Didn’t you say you fell into a slump? You have to think about overcoming that slump instead. Learning barrier is putting the cart before the horse.”

“Ah, I see. You’re right.”

I surprisingly convinced her. She seemed like the type to easily change her mind.

“Try to resonate your magic power with the grass. Like you’re about to talk… or rather, share your magic power with it."

“Yes, I’ll give it a try.”

The most important aspect of wielding elementals was resonating with nature. Rachel closed her eyes and followed my instructions. Time passed… 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes. Rachel’s body became hazy, but no changes occurred. I thought it had failed when something finally happened.

“Oh!”

The grass began to emit shining particles. Only a few particles faintly glowed, but that undoubtedly confirmed Rachel’s ability to wield elementals. It required one’s gift to align with a certain disposition.

“Rachel. Rachel? Open your eyes.”

Rachel slowly opened her eyes.

“Un?”

She seemed uncertain until she saw the green particles floating in front of her. I smiled at her surprise.

“Well, it looks like I’ll have to accept quite a hefty lesson fee.”

Rachel looked in shock at me.

***

Nothing eventful happened after meeting Jin Sahyuk in Busan. This period would certainly have been skipped in a novel. I did what I had to do during this time.

First, I completed two more missions for Jeronimo Mercenary. I assassinated a djinn for one and escorted cargo for the other. Boss liked how I handled things and offer me an official contract this time.

I trained with Rachel every night for an hour. It benefitted both of us. She treated my words like holy scripture ever since I awakened her talent. She trained her elemental affinity accordingly. As for me, I trained to react more efficiently in bullet time with the help of her quick attacks.

[Sparring with a strong opponent has increased your speed by 0.05 points!] [Sparring with a strong opponent has increased your vitality by 0.05 points!] [Sparring with a strong opponent has increased your stamina by 0.05 points!]

My stats naturally increased for the first time in a while.

Time flew by and November came around. A year had passed since I came into this world. A new year would begin in a few weeks.

“This will be covered on the exam so make sure you know it.”

I sat in Phenomenon Realm Analysis II. The sky outside turned dark because of the abnormal climate even though it was only two in the afternoon. It also grew quite chilly. However, cadets acted no different than usual. They slept less to study for the upcoming exams and continued to train their bodies. Half went to the library while others worked out at the fitness center. As for me, I completely ignored the class and stared at my laptop.

[24 hours have passed since medicine consumption. All stats have increased by 0.005 points.] [You have memorized the painkiller’s medicinal effects.]

[Completely Memorized Medicinal Effects]

1. Painkiller: Will increase pain resistance for 30 minutes. Reproduction Cooldown: 6 hours

2. Detox: Will cure toxins below intermediate rank. Reproduction Cooldown: 6 hours

3. Instant Amplification: Will increase your strength, stamina, speed, perception, and vitality by 2 points for 10 minutes. Reproduction Cooldown: 12 hours

[Strength 3.405 (+ 1.070)] [Stamina 3.435 (+ 1.980)] [Speed 5.140 (+ 2.685)] [Perception 5.655 (+ 2.620)] [Vitality 3.405 (+ 1.070)]

My body had memorized several medicinal properties and effects. I completely memorized the above three, which allowed me to use them whenever I wished without any side effects.

“This is as far as we’ll go. You’ll have free study periods starting next week. Focus on reviewing everything from this semester.”

The professor ended the class with a closing statement. I packed my stuff and stood up to leave since I had an appointment outside of Cube today.

“Hey, Kim Hajin.”

I turned around at the nasal voice. Chae Nayun stood in front of me with a red nose.

“Why is your nose red?”

“I caught a cold.”

Her nasal voice reminded me of a TV program. A child asked if heroes could catch colds. The answer was yes. Heroes could still catch a cold, but it only lasted a day at most. It meant that they had trained hard. A huge change would occur in one’s internal temperature when magic power instantly left the body. This left them vulnerable to light sickness like the common cold.

“Aren’t you working too hard lately? You’ve been training at the fitness center until 3. You’re only going to hurt yourself if you overwork.”

“What, are you worried about me?”

Her brows danced up and down. I shook my head.

“Never mind. So what do you need?”

“Ah, teach me this.”

Chae Nayun handed me the homework we just received for phenomenon realm analysis. I solved the entire thing since she clearly asked me to.

“Yay! Thank you.”

Chae Nayun smiled at all the answers and put her notebook away.

“Oh right, I’ll be going to Master’s camp for winter break.”

“Master?”

“Yeah, Yoo Sihyuk.”

“Ah…”

Yoo Sihyuk’s hell training. Only Kim Suho was supposed to go this year, but it seemed he also invited Chae Nayun since she switched to a sword.

“That’s great.”

I said with a smile. Yoo Sihyuk’s camp lasted from December to early February. She would be away for 3 months. I couldn’t be more glad.

“Good luck. Try your best.”

I tried to walk past her.

“Hey, hey, by the way…”

She grabbed my sleeve and pulled it back and forth.

“Let’s go on a trip with the others before that. I won’t have fun for the rest of winter break once I leave.”

“I… don’t think I’ll have time.”

“Come on. Let’s go. I’ll pay for everything.”

She kept pulling my sleeve with a smile. However, I refused.

“I can’t go.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I don’t have time.”

She let go of my sleeve and pouted at my same excuse from before.

“Fine. You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

She muttered in disappointment before leaving. Kim Suho, Yi Yeonghan, and Yoo Yeonha looked at me strangely.

— Hey, Yi Yeonghan, he’s playing hard to get, right?

— No doubt about it.

I could hear them whispering.

***

I arrived at the field in Gangwondo 3 hours later.

“Bite!”

The giant wolf shot out of my chest and raced forward to attack a troll.

— Kieeeeek!

The troll struggled to pull off the wolf, but Evandel’s servant was several times stronger than a low-intermediate rank troll. The troll soon collapsed.

— Auuuu.

The wolf happily howled after its kill as I checked my smartwatch.

[The ghost wolf has absorbed the troll’s blood and acquired its low rank regenerative power.]

He acquired an ability called skin hardening from an orc 5 days ago. The ghost wolf’s absorption ability produced great results.

Recently, I focused on raising him as much as possible since he was Evandel’s first servant. Honestly, he was already stronger than me. If anybody asked, I might have to say he was Fenrir.

— Hek, hek, hek.

The ghost wolf came back panting. I couldn’t call him cute with his teeth covered in blood, but I happily stroked his back.

“Well done. Well done.”

— Grrr.

The wolf closed his eyes in satisfaction. I contacted SH Agency and told them my location. One of their employees should arrive in 5 minutes to retrieve the troll’s corpse. I sat on the wolf’s back as I waited and looked around SH Agency’s homepage.

“Wow, looks like they’ll go public soon.”

The homepage looked much better than before. They had 23 contracted hunters now, including a hero named Jin Jangho. Park Soohyuk’s business expanded quicker than expected. I couldn’t help but smile at our relationship and how I owned 4% of this future giant’s stock. I received a message while reveling in satisfaction.

[Where are you?]

It came from Yoo Yeonha.

[I’ll go to you. Where are you?]

[No, I’ll go.]

[I’m in the field at Gangwondo.]

[Just wait 30 minutes.]

“Hmm.”

Yoo Yeonha had asked to meet today. She probably succeeded in refining Misteltein's leaf into bullets.

The wolf continued to hunt for the next 30 minutes as I met Yoo Yeonha at the entrance.

She waved as I approached.

“Is it about the leaf?”

“Yes, our research showed it was extraordinary. We could hardly believe a single leaf had as much magic power as an artifact. Sadly, we couldn’t figure out its origin.”

“It must’ve been difficult to refine.”

“It cost around 100 million won considering all expenses.”

Yoo Yeonha nodded as she handed me a suitcase. I took it without restraint.

“Five bullets. We had enough leftovers for three-tenths of a bullet, but used it for research as you suggested.”

“Thanks.”

Yoo Yeonha bit her lips at my praise.

“Don’t thank me.”

“Then what, should I sue you or something?”

“No, I’m just sorry. Anyways, was it okay to use such a precious leaf for bullets?”

“Yeah, I told you. These are just what I’ve been looking for.”

All five bullets were made for my Desert Eagle. Their size didn’t matter since I could just modify them.

“Please, I’m not that gullible. Those bullets also have medicinal effects. I can’t believe you’ll actually use them.”

“You could’ve given me the medicine later…”

“It’s going well.”

Yoo Yeonha interrupted me.

“We already set up our potion brewing chain with cultivated ginseng. They’re only novices, but we contracted three ginseng diggers.”

Yoo Yeonha smiled, but it lacked sincerity and she seemed a bit sad.

“Well, that’s good. Are there any other problems?”

I gripped an envelope in my pocket. It contained a list of all the traitors related to the Yoo Yeonha Scandal along with their misdeeds. It cost me 150 SP to obtain from hacking. I tried to give it to her, but she cut me off.

“No, there’s none.”

“Eh?”

None? Did the Yoo Yeonha Scandal not happen yet? I let go of the envelope in my pocket.

“I have some things to take care of, so I’ll be leaving. Feel free to ask whenever you need anything. I’ll do my best.”

She couldn’t be more reliable. It felt quite convenient to have the future queen of Seoul as my ally.

“Oh, I’m about to head out too. Do you want to grab lunch?”

“No, I have some things to do.”

Yoo Yeonha coldly turned away.

“Rice soup or hamburger.”

I only said 4 words.

“…”

Yoo Yeonha flinched before leering at me.

“I told you, I don’t like those things.”

She grumbled before quickly disappearing into a limousine. I didn’t doubt she headed towards a McDonald's or rice soup restaurant. I opened the suitcase after she left.

Click—

Five bullets lined up on the luxurious velvet. I could see my expressionless face on the bullets’ sleek surface.

[Refined Misteltein Bullet] [Partial Divine Grade] [Null attribute] A .44 Macon platinum bullet with pure magic power and compressed remnants of Misteltein. It contains a portion of god-slaying powers. [Attack Power: 9/10]

An attack power of 9 would undoubtedly be enough. I closed the suitcase. I couldn’t tell my expression from the black surface. All the preparations were complete. It was time to make the request.