Chapter 100

Chapter 100

Maria proposed a sort of quest to Cha Jin-Hyeok.

She wanted him to persuade Shin Yu-Ri, who had Awakened as Artillery of Nemesis, to join the National Intelligence Service's party. It seemed that Maria had recognized Yu-Ri’s potential. If he succeeded in this quest, Maria promised to provide him with one piece of information of any kind, within Maria’s authority.

‘This is a win-win for me!’

Even if Maria hadn’t proposed it, Jin-Hyeok had intended to do this all along. Of course, Yu-Ri’s own opinion would be the most important, but Jin-Hyeok thought it would be better for Yu-Ri to grow in the NIS under proper management, rather than be consumed by the recently acquired power and become a villain.

“I refuse,” Jin-Hyeok said.

Had it been the old Jin-Hyeok, he would have accepted without a second thought. In his previous life, his goal was simply to become stronger. However, now it was different. He had tasted what it was like to Play as a Ruler, and he was able to identify which situation was good content for his Eltube channel.

Now that he knew the taste of pizza and fried chicken, it felt a bit disappointing to eat only salad.

“Why so?” Maria asked.

“To be precise, I refuse half of your proposal.”

Maria calmly sipped her tea, waiting for his explanation.

“A Player’s future can be completely changed depending on how the early growth is determined.”

“That’s true.”

“In the beginning, I plan to stand by and guide her.”

“You, as in Mr. Kim Chul-Soo?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Let me ask you this then. Who else but me can support Yu-Ri, who lost her husband and is on the verge of collapse?”

“...”

Though it wasn’t solely for Yu-Ri’s sake, but still, Jin-Hyeok managed to get the Shinil Group to apologize to her, leading to punishment for many responsible. Chairman Choi Ik-Hwan even stepped down from his position. Jin-Hyeok didn’t plan on being Yu-Ri’s sturdy support, but it happened as he did what he had to do.

“I’ve unintentionally become an emotional support for her, am I wrong?”

“No, you’re right.”

“I will guide and nurture her in the beginning if she wishes. But after some time passes, I will try to persuade her to join your side.”

Maria took another sip of her tea.

A bit of time passed.

“What do you request in return, Mr. Kim Chul-Soo?”The source of this content is N0veII_bIn

“Information.”

“Information?”

“Information that aligns with our mutual interests. I want the information to properly nurture Shin Yu-Ri. There must be a Skill that is essential for her. Since our interests align, I would appreciate more detailed and useful information.”

Maria and Jin-Hyeok talked for a while, and they were able to come to a very satisfying conclusion. As Maria got up from her seat, she cautiously asked, “But why... why are you doing this?”

It was as if she was saying the Kim Chul-Soo whom she knew didn’t seem like a person brimming with humanity.

‘I knew she would ask this.’

And as Jin-Hyeok had already expected that question and had prepared an answer in advance...

“Because I want to help her, " Jin-Hyeok calmly replied.

At his words, Maria looked at him with a somewhat bewildered expression but didn’t question any further.

⁕ ⁕ ⁕

The livestream of Mystery Box (Wang Yu-Mi) attracted more viewers than ever before. Kim Chul-Soo was currently livestreaming content on his daily life. In such cases, more viewers flocked to Mystery Box’s channel. She paused the screen for a moment, then rewound the video slightly.

“Let’s watch that again,” she said.

On the screen, Chul-Soo was speaking.

⌜Because I want to help her.⌟

The viewer’s chat went wild.

-Barack_Yomama: Mind. Blown.

-OneMoreBeer: Look how insanely cool he looks!

-SemiAutomaticPrinter: Why am I crying so hard?

Exclamations of awe come up incessantly.

-LoveChulSoo: Oppa, you can have me!

-JunePapa: Truly strong people act like that. I want to be like him too. ^.~ I’m so touched!

To the viewers, Chul-Soo seemed to ask for nothing in return. The sincerity of simply wanting to help came across, and it created a wave of emotion. Mystery Box discussed various aspects of this scene with the viewers, communicating with them. She then put her hands together in a slightly exaggerated manner, placed them against her cheek, and made a dreamy expression.

“They say heroes are born in troubled times, don’t they? I feel like I’m witnessing that right now. What do you all think?”

⁕ ⁕ ⁕

[You have accepted the Quest 「Maria’s Proposal」.]

Jin-Hyeok accepted Maria’s quest. He received a call from Yu-Ri right away, so he immediately left the house.

They met at a coffee shop.

Yu-Ri was dressed in black.

“Thank you so much. Thanks to your care, I was able to retrieve my husband and hold a proper funeral. I am truly sorry that I couldn’t express my gratitude properly before as I was overwhelmed. Thank you,” Yu-Ri said.

“It’s okay. I wanted to help you..”

“...Thank you for saying that.”

It was a System-wide notification.

[Solo Mode has been updated.]

[Dual Play Mode has been updated.]

If a Player entered a Dungeon after setting it to Solo Mode or Dual Play Mode, the Dungeon’s difficulty and content would be partially adjusted accordingly.

‘It’s literally just a partial adjustment, though.’

There was no kindness from the System like, ‘You want to go in alone? Alright, I’ll lower the difficulty a lot for you! Come on in!’

It was only a partial adjustment.

Naturally, the efficiency of Solo or Dual Play was much lower. No matter how much the difficulty and content were adjusted, there was a tremendous efficiency gap between a party of experts Playing together and one or two people Playing.

In Jin-Hyeok's previous life, he had strongly avoided Solo or Dual Play.

‘Back then, I was obsessed with efficiency.’

However, now it was different. Jin-Hyeok thought that he was no longer the madman obsessed with efficiency.

‘Because I’ve grown to be a Streamer who knows romance and elegance.’

Honestly, even the previous life’s Cha Jin-Hyeok wanted to try Solo Play at heart. The same went for Dual Play.

Typically, Dual Play meant one combat Player teaming up with one Healer. That was the norm.

‘Dual Play without a Healer... A Play without the possibility of retreating or healing... That’s a man’s dream. Wouldn’t that be the slightly foolish but cool Play that ignites a man’s heart?’

That was what Jin-Hyeok thought as he climbed Bukhansan[1] with Yu-Ri.

“It’s surprisingly not that hard,” Yu-Ri said.

“That’s because you are Level 45.”

They were wandering around Bukhansan.[2] Thanks to the map that Maria had provided them, they were able to find the entrance to the Dungeon in just fourteen hours.

“Do you see that shimmering space above that large rock?”

“Yes, I see it.”

“That’s the entrance to the Dungeon. A new Field will unfold once we enter there.”

“Can we rest for a moment before going?”

Jin-Hyeok tilted his head out of confusion.

‘But we’ve only been wandering around for fourteen hours. Why was she tired already from just climbing the mountain? Even if she’s a Level Grinder, she’s still Level 45. How can she be tired after just fourteen hours?’

Jin-Hyeok still hadn’t let go of his own standards. For average Level 45 Players, moving this much would be exhausting.

“It seems like there’s a disconnect between your mind and body,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“Huh?”

“At around Level 45, you wouldn’t usually be tired at this point. But it seems like your mind hasn’t caught up with the change in your body yet. Let’s rest a bit before we go in.”

“...Is that so?”

Yu-Ri took deep breaths, lost in thought.

‘My mind is really weak...’ she thought.

It had to be because the loss of her husband still had not healed.

‘But soon, I will be able to do it too.’

She consoled herself that way and began to learn from Jin-Hyeok’s misguided(?) standards.

“Let’s try to enter the Dungeon now. We can set up the Dual Play Mode.”

“It’s done.”

After setting it as Dual Play Mode, they entered the Dungeon called the Ruins in the Forest.

Yu-Ri looked around.

“Wow... It’s like a completely different world has opened up.”

They were in a forest. However, it felt very different from the forests they were familiar with in Korea. The trees were much larger, and they heard bird calls they hadn’t heard before. There were complexly shaped vines growing around the trees, and monkeys with red faces were jumping around them.

“It feels like we’ve entered a primeval forest.”

At least for this very moment, Yu-Ri felt as if she had escaped from reality. She could momentarily forget the sorrow of losing her husband.

Unlike Yu-Ri, who was immersed in the sensation of having arrived in a different world, Jin-Hyeok was unimpressed.

“If we follow this path, we will reach the Village of the Forest Dwarves.”

“It’s like we have entered a fairy tale.”

They began to walk. Jin-Hyeok was excited in a different way from Yu-Ri.

‘The size of Dungeons has grown significantly.’

In truth, based on Jin-Hyeok's perspective, all the Dungeons up until now had been too small. A Dungeon should be vast and immense, like entering a different world. That was his standard.

‘It’s starting to take on the shape of a real Dungeon.’

In his mind, a real Dungeon needed to have various NPCs, Quests within the Dungeon, Dungeons within the Dungeon, and wicked places where unexpected variables would pop out.

‘So this is a Dungeon with a village of NPCs.’

It was finally starting to feel like a real Dungeon. It felt like returning home.

“Look over there. I’ve never seen such huge mushrooms before,” Yu-Ri said.

Colorful mushrooms were growing. These mushrooms were as large as fir trees, and there were windows in the middle of the Mushroom stems.

[You have entered the Field 「Village of the Forest Dwarves」.]

1. Otherwise known as Bukhan Mountain ☜

2. Bukhansan or Bukhan Mountain, is a mountain on the northern periphery of Seoul. ☜