Chapter 27: Cube of Life (1)

Chapter 27: Cube of Life (1)

On Thursday.

During a break between classes, I called Shin Byeong-chul out into the hallway.

Why, whats up?

You know about the promising students we talked about last time.

Yeah, what about it?

You mentioned a talented druid from the guild union. Which class is she in?

Oh, Park Nari? Shes in the class right next to ours. There she is.

When I peeked into Class 2, I saw a timid-looking girl sitting at her desk.

While other students were clustered in groups, chatting away, she was like an isolated island, playing with a cat on her desk.

When she waved a pen in the air, the cat batted at it like a punching bag.

According to Shin Byeong-chul, this seemingly shy girl was Park Nari, the strongest talent of the guild union.

The palm-sized cat on her desk, as it turns out, was actually a tiger under a shrinking spell.

As I fixed my gaze on Park Nari for a moment, Shin Byeong-chuls eyes narrowed into slits and a sly smile appeared on his lips.

Why, are you interested? Should I call her over?

No, theres no need to call her.

I can make her come here on her own.

The distance should be sufficient for my plan.

I pulled out the [Cube of Life].

Shin Byeong-chuls curiosity was piqued at the sight of the small box that was reminiscent of a small jungle.

Wow What is that? It looks like a pretty valuable item.

Later. Right now, I need you to play along with me.

Acting, huh? When it comes to acting, you cant leave out Shin Byeong-chul. What do you want me to do?

When I opened the lid of the cube, a fresh green light spread out.

Of course, the inside was empty.

Lets just say theres some really interesting stuff in this box.

Its true. It looks so fascinating, I could stare at it all day.

Ah!

A sudden exclamation from a female student rang out from behind me.

It was likely Park Nari.

I stopped Shin Byeong-chul from turning around and reset his half-turned head to its original position.

Dont look behind you.

. Ah, I see what youre doing.

He seemed to have half-realized my intention and focused on his acting.

Though our acting was nothing more than intently staring into the empty cube.

After maintaining this pose for a few seconds

Tap, tap

Something small tapped gently on my leg.

I looked down and saw Nari Parks cat resting its paw on my leg.

Although it was the size of a kitten, if you looked closely, its fur pattern bore a striking resemblance to that of a tiger.

Shin Byeong-chul who noticed the cat a moment later was startled.

Huh? When did this little one get here?

Just as I had expected.

The unique vibration emitted by the Cube of Life.

Animals tend to be more sensitive to such things than humans.

If it was a spiritual creature that had accumulated mana over many years, it would be even more sensitive.

I already anticipated that it would detect the cubes vibrations from afar and approach me.

Watching it approach would only heighten its wariness, so I pretended not to notice until it made contact with me.

As our eyes met, the cat, while keeping one paw on my leg, pointed with the other at the Cube of Life.

When I shook the cube gently and asked,

What, this?

Eowww.

The cat let out a short cry as if it was affirming my words.

I crouched down, adjusting my height to be level with the cube and the cat.

The cat then lifted the lid slightly and squeezed inside.

It curled up inside and purred contentedly.

It made itself quite at home.Visit no(v)eLb(i)n.com for the best novel reading experience

I heard that cats have a habit of being fascinated by boxes, but was it the same for tigers?

Bum, you cant do that!

Park Nari rushed in, chasing after her pet tiger.

I deliberately made a face to show how embarrassed I felt.

Park Nari immediately started apologizing repeatedly.

Um, that is, sorry. Ill take it away right now!

[Seo Ye-in: Mmmmmm]

[Seo Ye-in: (Sleepy puppy emoji)]

[Kim Ho: Breakfast?]

[Seo Ye-in: Ok]

[Kim Ho: Meet in front of the student cafeteria]

As for Go Hyeon-woo, he would undoubtedly have set up camp in the special cultivation room.

Absorbed in cultivating his internal energy, he often resorted to quick meals like protein bars or instant energy packs, so inviting him for breakfast usually ended in him not showing up.

And so, this morning, it was just Seo Yein and me having breakfast together.

Perhaps because Seo Ye-in had a small appetite, she put down her fork after eating only half of her omelet.

She nibbled on the remaining hash browns while quietly watching me eat.

When I looked up, her gray eyes were intently fixed on me. Then, out of the blue, she asked:

Do you want anything?

Out of nowhere?

There should be a balance of giving and receiving.

Who told you that?

Our butler.

Looking at the level of her equipment, I already assumed she was from a well-off family, but she even had a butler.

In return for the magic bullet lessons I had given her, she was offering to give me an item. Naturally, I had no reason to decline such an offer.

I had been feeling the need to start gathering some things one by one.

Mr. Butler who thought her, I dont know who you are, but you have a big heart.

I silently sent a word of thanks in my mind and responded.

If theres something I really need right now, it might be something to increase my movement speed. I wish I had a pair of shoes.

Got it.

And by the way, have you finished all your duel battles for this week?

Mhm.

Seo Ye-in answered and showed three fingers.

Three wins?

Nod

If she had finished the first weeks duels, unless something special happened, she wouldnt use her equipment anymore this week.

I asked a bit cautiously.

Could you lend me your invisible ghillie suit just for this weekend if youre not using it?

Sure.

Borrowing someone elses equipment was somewhat considered rude, so I thought there was a good chance she would refuse, but Seo Ye-in readily agreed, making my concerns seem pointless.

She pulled out a neatly folded piece of clothing from her inventory.

[Optical Camouflage Ghillie Suit (B)]

Invisibility (B) applied

Detection Resistance (D) applied

Automatic Durability Recovery

This is indeed B-rank.

Like the [Cube of Life], its a high-grade item that freshmen usually cant even get their hands on.

In addition to stealth, it has [Detection Resistance], which ignores the opponents detection skills to a certain extent.

The item also had [Automatic Durability Recovery], which meant it would repair and mend itself over time as long as it wasnt completely destroyed.

Thank you. Ill use it carefully and return it clean.

Just give me another special lesson on magic bullets.

Sure, lets find another time to do that.

***

The teacher of Monster Ecology was an elderly woman known among the students as Madam Cho Ok-soon.

Madam Cho Ok-soon was very knowledgeable about the ecology of monsters as a veteran who had spent half her life on battlefields infested with monsters.

which is why goblins are often seen as monsters for beginners. But, just like each of us is unique and cannot be solely defined by the word human, there are also special goblins. Youll encounter them in various places in the future. For instances of clashes with goblin champions and swordmasters, refer to page 76 of the textbook

The fatal flaw of this class was that it was heavily lecture-based, which meant there was a lot of information to absorb and remember.

Additionally, Madam Jos slow and soft-spoken manner made it all too easy to feel sleepy just by listening.

Seo Ye-in had already succumbed to the pressure and fell to the table, and many other students were also hanging their heads in defeat.

The few survivors kept their eyes fixed on the clock, fervently wishing for the class to end.

Finally, there were only five minutes remaining.

Soon, everyone would abruptly wake up, as if they had never been asleep, bustling around and chatting animatedly.

However, this break time would be an exception.

I turned my attention to the front-row seats.

The seats of Song Cheon-hye and Han Somi had been empty for some time now.

Specifically, only those of the disciplinary committee.

Five minutes to go.