Chapter 22 : Adventure Level 10 (5)

Do Yugeon picked up the square F-grade Armor Fragment No. 1 and fell into thought.
What’s this talk about fragments in a gacha?

“If even F-grade items come out as fragments, what are we supposed to fight with?”
―You have weapons.

Schrödinger pointed its front paw toward the weapons rack on one side of the Preparation Room.
“Those things break even against Orcs.”
―You just need to use them carefully.
“How can you use a weapon carefully in a combat situation?”
―Wouldn’t that be a lack of skill?

Schrödinger tilted its head, then tapped the gacha machine.
―If your skills are lacking, then draw! Better weapons are in here.

The gacha machine sparkled.
Seeing this, Do Yugeon placed the No. 1 fragment on top of the machine and asked, “How many fragment numbers are there?”
―Nine!
“Do the numbers come out as duplicates?”
―Of course. To collect all the fragments, you’ll need to draw more than nine times.
“Really? Cha Haneul, you try drawing too. Let’s see the price quickly.”
“Judging by the situation, I don’t have high hopes for the price either.”
It’s unlikely the System set the price low.

I pressed the machine’s button firmly.
A small square popped out.

[F-Grade Weapon Fragment—No. 7]

I wasn’t expecting anything anyway.
A price tag appeared above the button.

$4.99.

What the. It’s cheap.
I thought it would cost tens of thousands of won per draw.
Whether it’s a weapon or armor, it should come out as a physical item. Is this price really feasible?

Looking below the price tag, one more thing was written.

EXP.

“What’s this about EXP?”
―It’s EXP!
“I know that much.”
―You can use EXP to draw. If you draw a lot, your level will even decrease.

Level decreases?
Is level something that can decrease?
Does only the level-up effect disappear while the physical adjustments remain?
Surely it wouldn’t tamper with the body and worsen it, right?
All sorts of thoughts crossed my mind, but I didn’t bother asking.

Do Yugeon stacked the two square fragments like a tower, adjusting their shape as he asked.
He seemed to be in a bad mood for some reason.
“If EXP is consumed, how many times can you draw per level?”
―The number of draws has too many variables, so it’s difficult to express it that way. At Master and Mr. Do Yugeon’s hunting speed, you could probably draw about thirty times a day. Per person!
“Thirty times for a whole day of hunting is not much.”
That’s what I think too.

―No, no. The calculation assumes a ‘day’ is equivalent to the time you hunted today. If you hunted all day long, it would be much more than thirty times.

We hunted for about three hours today.
“Oh? Not 24 hours, but hunting just until Cha Haneul gets tired is thirty times?”
Do Yugeon, who had only been looking at the fragments, now looked at Schrödinger.
―Yes! Just enough for Master to get bored. Your current hunting speed is very fast. Thirty times is easily achievable.
“I don’t get bored, you know?”
“But thirty times means giving up on leveling up, right?”
―That’s correct.

They’re both ignoring me.
What is this?
Was I unknowingly showing irritation?
Hmm… I don’t remember doing that.

“To draw items, do we need to increase the time or increase the speed? We already increased the speed today, so that’s not an option. Cha Haneul.”
The guy, who was muttering with his arms crossed, looked over at me.
“What?”
“What’s wrong, are you in a bad mood?”
“Do I look like it? I’m not. More importantly, why?”
“How about increasing our hunting time? So we can level up twice a month and still have plenty left over for draws.”
“No. It’s already tight because you have cram school. What’s the point of adding more here?”

He leaned against the gacha machine.
“Honestly, that’s not entirely my fault.”
What’s this now.

“You said you’d go to cram school if your grades were bad, but you didn’t study properly.”
“That’s true, but you insisted on sleeping by 10 PM, so we didn’t extend our weekday hunting time. If the time got pushed back because of cram school, we should have delayed the end time to maintain the total hunting duration. If we had done that, it wouldn’t be so tight.”
He’s blaming me for this.

―That’s right! Sleeping at 10 PM—are you a child?

I glared at Schrödinger for a moment.
Meeting my gaze, Schrödinger looked away and licked its white fur.
What should I do about Do Yugeon?
Should I tell him not to meddle in other people’s lifestyles?
Or should I nag him about where he learned such nasty blame-shifting behavior?

As I approached Do Yugeon, he subtly stepped back.
“…What are you going to do?”
“I’m not going to get angry.”
I patted his head.
The height difference makes this look awkward.
He’s unnecessarily tall.

He had a dumbfounded expression.
“Mr. Do Yugeon. Did you want to draw items that badly? Enough to argue with your childhood friend?”
He avoided my gaze, tilted his head sideways, and cleared his throat.
“That’s not it…”
“Mm-hmm. Not it?”
“Well, it’s just, that, uh…”
His voice got quieter.
I leaned in closer to listen.
“Yes. That?”
“Sorry. I was wrong. Logout.”

He disappeared.
What the.
I was planning to gently reason with him this time.
Hmm… Well, he apologized, so I guess it’s fine.
I hope he grows emotionally as well as physically so this doesn’t happen again.

The white cat in the corner of my vision caught my eye.
“Schrödinger.”
―Yes, Master.
“Why do you call me Master?”
―Indeed. Why do I do that?
“I wish you would either adopt a fitting attitude or stop calling me Master.”
―The world isn’t black and white, you know.
Right.

I ignored Schrödinger and went to the gacha machine.
Since Do Yugeon is gone, maybe I should try drawing an item.
“Does this take cards?”
I examined the machine, but there was no card reader.
―No. Only banknotes are accepted.
It can handle magic, but not cards?

I took out five 50,000 Won bills.
“Don’t tell me it only accepts dollars just because the price is $5?”
It seems unlikely, but somehow, I feel like that might be the case.
―It’s $4.99.
“Whatever.”
―Besides dollars, it accepts quasi-key currencies. The Won is currently accepted because of the unlimited currency swap agreement with the Canadian dollar. Ah. There’s a 10% fee for currencies other than the dollar.
They take such a huge commission.
Are they scammers?

“But how do you use the money?”
Like cards, the gacha machine had no slot for inserting money.
Just a rectangle and a button.
Who designed this thing?
―If you place it on top, it will charge.
What advanced technology.

Just as I was about to place the money on top, I felt a movement of mana.
Looking toward it, Do Yugeon popped out of thin air.
So he hadn’t actually left.
I roughly stuffed the cash back into my pocket.
“Why are you back?”
“Why else? We haven’t eaten.”

He pointed, and I saw the lunchbox.
We haven’t eaten, but I didn’t expect him to return after that situation.
Isn’t he embarrassed?
“What were you doing?”
“Just talking with Schrödinger.”
I’ll have to draw items next time.

I scrolled through the Explorer Federation bulletin board on my smartphone.

▷Title: What the hell are the restriction criteria?
▷Author: ArcheryBoardPromotionCommittee
Logged in today with my masterpiece custom bow, but it wasn’t brought into the Preparation Room.
Why is this happening?
Does the System ignore virtuous archers too? Is that it?
Trap) Recommend me a weapon.

▷Comments
MeteorStrike: Bows are blocked too? Even kitchen knives weren’t allowed.
└Author: Kitchen knives work.
└MeteorStrike: You actually tried it? So typical of an archer.
└Author: Are you picking a fight?
SpearIsBest: Everyone, amidst the chaos, stand firm and become a spear user!
└Author: Stand firm? Is there a way to stop the spear shaft from breaking against Orcs? We’re screwed if all the Preparation Room spears break.
└SpearIsBest: After much deliberation, we have found a way. Salvation in the name of Gacha.
└Author: Ah, that doesn’t feel right.
SwordIsTheAnswer: System, reveal the gacha rates! Reveal them!
GuildLeaderRight: Thinking of switching weapons? Bows drop from the gacha.
└Author: Really?
└GuildLeaderRight: ………
└Author: What do the dots mean?
└Author: What do they mean?
└SpearIsBest: They drop. I got one myself.
└Author: Oh. A trustworthy answer. Thanks.

So they banned bows too, even though they called it a military weapon ban.
Why are the standards like this?

▷Title: This update is an opportunity for office workers
▷Author: PassingSwordsman
This item update has perfected the EXP = Money formula. Thanks to that, explorers are guaranteed a certain income.
Plus, being able to earn income outside of System distribution opens up quite a lot of possibilities.
So I resigned. Feeling f*cking good right now.

▷Comments
SpearIsBest: What’s really important is that individual explorers can now work freelance, moving beyond inter-company trades like System distribution or the Explorer Federation platform. It’s an optimistic prediction for now, but definitely worth betting your life on.
FactCheck: Fact) Not possible if you’re free-to-play.
5.1mMagician: EXP=Money only works when the law of large numbers functions well. I bet one SSS-grade weapon fragment that the author starts looking for a job again.
└Author: Bet something you actually have.

▷Title: The reason System management is terrible.
▷Author: UserExploiter
Because they can be.

“Cha Haneul.”
Do Yugeon called me.
“Hm? What is it?”
I looked up from my phone toward him.
“We’re here.”

Looking out the window, I saw a house.
We really arrived.
I paid the taxi fare and got out.
Today, I plan to explore the house.

I had a chance to talk with the Necromancer during the Explorer Federation offline meeting; the skill name was Psychometry (Yeomsa).
When I asked what kind of skill it was, they said something about photographing souls.
Since it’s fantasy, souls probably exist.
After that, I practiced the Psychometry skill at home, and just as the Necromancer said, it really felt like taking a photograph.
But after taking a picture, it only captured the image; no souls or anything like them were photographed.

I thought the skill might be faulty, but then I realized there was no reason for a soul to be in a house that was newly built and immediately occupied.
Plus, it’s a high-rise.
I planned to go outside someday and test the skill, then put it aside.
However, when I actually went out during appointments and tried the skill, sometimes only a blurry smoke would be captured, but nothing I could call a soul.
I wondered if the soul part was just the Necromancer bluffing, but since I hadn’t deliberately taken pictures in places where souls might linger, I wasn’t sure.

I kept thinking I should go out someday to a likely place and take pictures, procrastinating until the weather turned cold, forcing me out today.
If I delayed further, I wouldn’t get to take pictures until spring.
I opened the main gate and went inside.

“Is it okay to just walk in like this?”
“I got permission from the owner.”
Nobody lives here now, but it’s my grandfather’s property.

The yard was messy with overgrown weeds.
It was hard to see clearly since the sun had set, but among the weeds, I could spot some nameless flowers here and there.
Someone committed suicide in this house, yet winter flowers are blooming.
I crossed the yard. Do Yugeon followed behind.

“What’s the story behind this place?”
“Someone committed suicide, and no one has lived here since.”
I briefly checked for mana, but as expected, there was no one.
“You said that on the way here. I mean the specifics.”

I opened the front door and went inside.
The lights were off, making it dark and the air stuffy.
“Even if you ask for specifics… I don’t know the details either. Hmm…”
He was the president of one of our subsidiaries, but not someone I knew personally.
Although, I did talk with him in grandfather’s yard during Chuseok this year. No, wait. I also received flattery from him, so maybe he counts as someone I knew?

“Just that someone who was constantly insulted committed suicide?”
I turned on the lights.
So much dust.
I could feel my health deteriorating in real-time.
I should take the picture quickly and leave.

Do Yugeon hesitated, not following me inside.
“Ah. This feels really unsettling. Is it really okay to go in?”
“Then wait there. I’ll take the picture quickly and come back.”
“I feel like the deceased person wouldn’t like having their picture taken.”
“Mr. Do Yugeon. The dead tell no tales. If it really bothers you, just wait.”

I entered the living room.
It was moderately messy; if not for the dust, it would look like someone lived here.
Do Yugeon followed me in.
“Ah… This really doesn’t feel right.”
“Are you scared of ghosts?”
“That’s not it. It’s just that this situation pricks my conscience.”
“Right. Good for you for being so conscientious.”

I stopped talking and focused, using the Psychometry magic.
Using Psychometry is a hassle because the mana arrangement is incredibly complex.
Once the magic was complete, a photograph materialized in the air.
It captured the living room just as I was looking at it.
This photo also has blurry smoke.
Could this really be a soul?
Considering it can’t even be detected by mana, it seems plausible. Hmm.

Do Yugeon glanced at the photo.
“No ghost, I see.”
“Yeah.”

Just then, the sound of a drawer closing came from the kitchen.
My eyes met Do Yugeon’s, and he spoke.
“Uh… Is there someone in the kitchen right now?”
I checked for mana.
“No. No one’s there.”
“Could it be a naturally occurring sound?”
“A drawer wouldn’t close naturally.”
“Then what do we do?”
Good question.
This is unnecessarily scary.

Keeping a reasonable distance, I looked toward the kitchen.
It was just a kitchen.
A drawer suddenly burst open, and something flew out.
―Master, that’s so mean!
The Fireball I was about to form dissipated as its mana unraveled.

“Well, it wasn’t a ghost.”
―What were you expecting? There are no ghosts in this world.
Says the one who pretended to be a ghost.
Now that I can feel Schrödinger’s mana, it seems it was determined to trick me.

I ignored Schrödinger and took a picture of the kitchen using Psychometry magic.
Still no convincing soul this time either.
“Let’s go photograph the other rooms.”
―Don’t you have any questions for me?
“Nope.”
“Wouldn’t Schrödinger know about the Psychometry skill?” Do Yugeon interjected.
―Mr. Do Yugeon is right. There are many things to ask, like about the smoke captured in the photos or the existence of souls.
I really don’t want to talk to Schrödinger.

Since I remained silent, Do Yugeon stepped forward.
“I’m curious—tell us about both.”
―The souls Master is thinking of do exist. But they disappear quickly, so you can’t find them at the place of death. What’s captured in the photos is the residue of souls.
So it’s magic useless for criminal investigations?

“Then what’s the Psychometry skill for? You can’t use it in combat either.”
―The Psychometry skill exists for the Necromancer’s subsequent skills. Fuel is needed to use Necromancy. There’s no magic without a price. Necromancy is the same.
It refers to soul residue as fuel.

I remarked, “Schrödinger, you have a bad personality.”
―As bad as Master? That’s too harsh an expression.
I ignored it.

I photographed the remaining rooms, but just as Schrödinger said, nothing that seemed like a soul was captured.
There’s no reason for Schrödinger to lie about something like this, though.
We left the mansion and hailed a taxi.
My eyelids felt heavy; I was sleepy.
Next time, I shouldn’t bother going out at night and just sleep.

My smartphone rang. It was Grandpa.
―Haneul, how did the photography go?
“It was so-so.”
―Did you capture any souls?
“No. There were no souls.”

Grandfather laughed.
―Of course, of course. Fantasy or not, the dead tell no tales.
I glanced sideways at Do Yugeon sitting next to me.
He’s looking out the window.

“I’m sleepy, so I’m hanging up.”
―But you went with Do Yugeon again this time.
“It’s boring to go alone. I’m hanging up.”
―Aish.
I ended the call.
So sleepy.