Chapter 39 : Adventure Level 30 (1)

I got scolded.
They were silent for a few days, so I thought it had blown over, but I got scolded.
Asking what I was thinking, following Do Yugeon into a dangerous place even though I was worried about him.
Rolling around on the bed, I hugged my pillow.
Well, that’s true, but it wasn’t really dangerous.
I heard about it from Schrödinger beforehand, so I knew the risk factors to some extent, and I was assured that neither the Goblins nor the Orc Shaman—or Orc Mage, whatever—could really harm me.
I kept telling Do Yugeon it was dangerous, but that was more about getting the upper hand preemptively in case something like this happened again without a plan, not because I thought it was truly that dangerous for me.
My parents don’t know these facts, of course, but I still acted that way for a reason.
I can’t mention Schrödinger’s existence, but I don’t think I deserve to be scolded like this either. Isn’t this too much? Hmph…

The bedroom door clicked open.
“Haneul, want some cookies?”
It was Mom.
“Don’t want any.”
“You barely ate dinner.”
“That’s that.”
“Are you pouting?”
“Nooo.”
Mom watched me for a moment, then left the room.

It wasn’t my parents’ fault for scolding me, but still, it feels unfair.
Living this life, thanks to my past life buffs, the times I’ve been scolded can be counted on one hand.
Like getting scolded for drinking coffee when I was too young.
“Mom, coffee is the elixir of life.”
Or when I beat up some annoying kids who were messing with me.
“Those idiots were annoying me.”
And various other instances.
“Speak clearly. Your rank dropped because of your brain, not because of me.”
“What gives you the nerve to confess? With guts like that, why not try washing your brain first? Maybe you’ll succeed in raising your intelligence?”
Just a handful…?
I squished the pillow this way and that.

Anyway, this time it’s Do Yugeon’s fault.
What was he thinking, suddenly running out of the café to hunt Goblins, and then even trying to clear the Rift?
Even if it’s puberty, does he have a brain? Hmm. Thinking about it, that evaluation is too harsh, making me feel rather sorry, but still.
My stomach rumbled.
I wasn’t hungry, but it made a sound.
I sat up and blinked.
I should probably eat something.

Outside the house.
I threw on some clothes, left the house, and went downstairs.
This wasn’t technically outside the house, but it wasn’t inside the main living area either, right?
Opening the fridge, I found several slices of cake packaged individually.
Mom, or the security guards—someone kept stocking it with regular snacks.
I took out a slice of cheesecake and made a cappuccino.
Frothing milk every time is annoying. Espresso is just a capsule and a button press—when will they invent capsule coffee for this?

Sitting in a chair, I was about to take a sip when a voice came from somewhere.
“How could you hide such a fact!”
Startled, my body trembled for a moment.
What the—
“This is why humans are… Why blame others when they themselves misinterpreted it?”
Looking toward the source of the sound, I saw a white cat, Schrödinger, watching a video on someone else’s tablet.
He’s here again.
Watching magical girl anime again?
“Magic is an omnipotent wish machine. Surely you didn’t think such power could be used without any cost? I simply didn’t state the obvious. Do you state the obvious?”
“Wow…”
Schrödinger’s mouth hung open.
His tiny pink tongue was visible.

What’s with the “wow”? Just listening, it sounded like a backstabbing plot twist.
He looked dumb with his mouth open.
Hmm… Well, he looks like a cat, so he is kinda cute.
Come to think of it, that’s probably not his real cat body. I’ve never seen it, so maybe he actually is just a cat, but probably not.
Schrödinger was full of mysteries in many ways.
It was circumstantially certain he was related to the System, but the extent of his authority as a related party, why someone like him followed me around calling me “Master,” etc.
He’d probably tell me if I asked, but I hadn’t asked until now.
Curiosity killed the cat, after all.
It would be nice if Schrödinger died too while we’re at it, but that won’t happen.

But with mobs appearing in the city and Rifts opening, is it right to remain ignorant like this?
I worried that being ignorant might actually be more dangerous.
Still, being ignorant is probably better regarding responsibility.
The video seemed to end as the sound stopped, and Schrödinger tapped the tablet.
Then he looked toward me.
“Master! I’m low on cash. Please top it up.”
“Why are you spending my money?”
“It’s your parents’ money, Master.”
“Same difference.”
“You’re not going to top it up?”
“Nope.”
“You’re so mean!”

Schrödinger tapped the floor with his front paw, and dollar bills rained down from the air.
I flicked away a few bills heading toward the cake slice and coffee cup with mana.
What is he doing while someone’s eating?
“‘Misers starve to death,’ you know.”
In that sense? Unbelievable.
I picked up a bill that landed on the table.
A $100 bill.
I could feel the collective sin of gacha systems worldwide.
My 10 billion won must be mixed in here somewhere.
I don’t know who the real miser is.
I placed the bill back on the table.
“Fine, just get rid of these.”
The bills shimmered and disappeared.
“Master, you’re so kind!”
“Flattery will get you nowhere.”

I took the tablet that floated up and added cash.
I should just set up auto-payment this time—doing this every time is ridiculously annoying.
As I was about to return the tablet, a thought occurred to me, and I stopped my hand.
“What is it?”
“Don’t watch stuff like this and learn weird things, then backstab me.”
Schrödinger licked his front paw and tilted his head.
“You desire a meaningless answer. Are you anxious?”
Well, it is meaningless, but…
Schrödinger smiled.
“Like this?”
…This Schrödinger.

I placed a book on the shelf.
This one goes here.
I picked up a book floating in the air.
A Complete Translation of Taengniji. Hmm. Where does this go?
Since it’s a Joseon Dynasty book, history?
But it feels closer to sociology than history, yet placing it in sociology feels wrong as it’s more like a geography book.
I climbed down the shelf ladder and scanned the bookshelves.
Ah, geopolitics.
I casually stuck it next to the geopolitics books.
After placing it, it felt somehow wrong, but who cares.

I picked up the next book.
[Calculus: The Core of Modern Science].
This one’s obviously math.
I placed it in the math section.
Just then, a system window popped up.
[Closed Beta Service Will End]
What’s this?
I waited a moment to see if other messages would appear, but there was nothing.
What’s this all of a sudden?

I glanced at Schrödinger between the bookshelves—he was still engrossed in the tablet as usual.
Schrödinger yawned.
Is it not a big deal?
Hmm. Closed Beta? Closed Beta Service?
“Login.”
Something occurred to me, so I tried muttering “Login,” but nothing happened.
“Status Window. Party Window. Magic Record. Cast Magic Record.”
Skills didn’t work either.
This was a bit disconcerting.
It was expected not to work, but now that it actually didn’t, it felt strange.
Looking beside me, several books were still floating.
My own magic worked, so did this simply mean System support stopped?

“Are you curious?”
Looking at the floor, Schrödinger had approached unnoticed and was swishing his tail.
“No.”
“The system automation is somewhat complete now, so the Closed Beta is ending, and we’re moving to Open Beta.”
“I told you not to tell me.”
I roughly put down the books and slipped out from between the shelves.
Schrödinger followed me closely.
“Until now, automation wasn’t done, so we were short-staffed.”

As I dodged Schrödinger, circling the living room, the front door opening sound was heard.
Schrödinger glanced toward the entrance and disappeared.
“Hi. I’m here.”
It was Yu Mina.
Even though we didn’t make plans.
“Were you waiting for me, little lady?”
“No.”
“Aw, you’re so sincere it hurts.”
Why is it that everyone around me loves visiting other people’s houses?

Yu Mina looked around the living room, went to the kitchen, and yanked open the refrigerator.
She took out a slice of cake.
“Making yourself right at home?”
“Of course. I bought this.”
You bought it? I think I just discovered the secret of the endlessly restocked snack fridge.
More importantly—
“This is my house, though?”
“Are we like that now? Even for you, little lady, that really hurts.”
Even if we’re “like that,” it’s only been a year.
Saying this out loud felt wrong, so I didn’t.

Thinking of changing the subject, I brought up another topic.
“Did you get home okay that day?”
Yu Mina was also outside the day the Rift appeared, so it must have been dangerous for her.
Seeing her perfectly fine now, only a few days later, meant nothing major happened, but still.
“That day? Come to think of it, I had a strange experience that day.”
Yu Mina gave me a slice of cake too.
I ate earlier, but I could eat more.
We roughly found seats and sat down.
“What kind?”
“A white cat spoke.”

Why is a white cat involved here?
“You know? The Schrödinger our little lady talked about. It looked just like you described back then. Didn’t you say the skill disappeared, so you couldn’t meet him anymore?”
“Uh-huh. Right.”
What has this Schrödinger been doing?
I felt a subtle cold sweat.
“Well, at the time, I was confronting a Goblin on the stairs. Luckily, I managed to grab a fire extinguisher, and I was debating whether it was better to throw it at the Goblin or wait for it to approach and then hit it.”
Whichever option she chose, it seemed like a situation where she’d likely die.
I doubt that combat-savvy Goblin couldn’t dodge a civilian’s clumsy swing.
Easily dodge and easily…
“Just then, the cat appeared and said one thing.”

It seemed Schrödinger did his job.
When I asked before if Yu Mina would be safe if something big happened, he said yes—did that mean he’d protect her himself?
“What did it say?”
“What was it? Something like, ‘Would you like to make a magical girl contract?’”
Huh? My thoughts stopped for a moment, and I stared blankly as Yu Mina expertly speared the strawberry off her strawberry cake with her fork and popped it into her mouth.
Yu Mina mumbled while chewing.
“Delicious.”
Forget delicious—
“So? What happened?”
“Hmm, you like this kind of story?”
“Forget that—what happened?”
“Our little lady is worried. If a suspicious cat came up and offered a contract, you seem like the type to accept right away.”

Does that mean she didn’t accept? I took a bite of cake. Green tea cake is tasty too.
“When the cat appeared, the Goblin seemed wary of it and didn’t approach. So I immediately turned around and ran. Luckily, there was an open door nearby, so I survived.”
“That’s fortunate.”
“Yeah. What happened to you that day, little lady?”
After that, we badmouthed Do Yugeon a bit.

Yu Mina left Cha Haneul’s house.
Looking at the sky, the sun was still up.
She had filled her stomach with cake for now, but she wondered what to do next.
Given the public safety situation, hanging out with friends outside would be difficult, and visiting a friend’s house would likely lead to various uncomfortable questions from their parents.
Some friends were even in mourning.
Wandering outside alone was dangerous, so going to the library seemed like the right choice.
Cafés were nice, but since her allowance was cut off after fighting with her father a few days ago, relying on cafés wasn’t a good option.

Stepping out onto the street, she was checking the library’s closure status on her smartphone when a luxury car slowed down and stopped beside her.
Feeling uneasy, she took a few steps back.
Looking around, there were some passersby, and she could see CCTV cameras.
A person got out of the driver’s seat and opened the back door.
A stylishly dressed grandfather got out.
He had white hair and a gentle impression.
“You are Miss Cha Haneul’s friend, correct?”
“Ah, yes…?”
Regardless of his appearance, he was a stranger.

The grandfather took out a business card and gave it to her.
He was the Chief Secretary to Cha Haneul’s grandfather.
“We will escort you home.”
“Um, I wasn’t planning on going home.”
“Then to wherever you wish.”
His intentions felt suspicious, but she got into the car anyway.
Inside the car, a laptop was open, playing a video.
Wondering what it was, she looked and saw it was footage of Cha Haneul and Do Yugeon arguing in an alley.
There were bloodstains in the alley, so it seemed like footage from that day.