Chapter 26 : Adventure Level 15 (4)

Christmas afternoon.
Do Yugeon was browsing the Explorer Federation posts in his room.
It had become a habit since the fantasy phenomenon began.

□What do you think is the strongest weapon for solo play?

He entered a discussion thread with many comments.

▷Title: What do you think is the strongest weapon for solo play?
▷Author: NicknameIsTooAnnoyingToWrite

Obviously, it’s the spear—what were you expecting when you clicked?
Don’t tell me it’s the sword?

▷Comments
BestSwordInTheWorld: Seeing you speak informally right off the bat shows your future.
Explorer223: Spears are good, but swords are usable too.
GuildLeaderRight: Swords suck, but what if it’s solo play? If you have the skills for solo play, isn’t it a different story?
ProfessorSaveMe: Consider bows too.
Author: Look at the posers who live and die by style. You guys use one-handed swords without shields, right? I can feel it.
└BestSwordInTheWorld: I use a shield. Are you a coward who’s never even partied?
└Author: It sucks even with a shield. Do spears not use shields?
└BestSwordInTheWorld: Putting the shields used by spears and swords on the same level shows your skill level.
└Author: Don’t tell me you’re going to say the shield is light or that you can dodge? Yeah, right.
└BestSwordInTheWorld: If you have the skills for solo play, why would it be impossible?

The author and another person continued commenting back and forth.

└BestSwordInTheWorld: That again? As I said, if you have the skill to fight 10 Goblins 1-on-1, how could it be impossible?
└Author: Right, you could probably slice mountains and cut the sky too. Even if the premise is solo play, you need to be realistic about skill. The current rank 1 is Level 25, which is practically max level, and even they can’t completely solo. Getting ganged up on isn’t a skill issue—it’s a practical problem. You only have two hands; how do you win against multiple opponents? How can you not distinguish between delusion and reasoning? Your skill level is showing.
└BestSwordInTheWorld: Setting the topic’s premise as solo play yourself and then calling it unrealistic is funny. I have nothing more to say to a brat. Wasted my time.
└Author: Running away—looks like I hit a nerve.

Do Yugeon chuckled.
These people couldn’t solo, but he could.
He added a comment.

OneSword: Why do you say solo play is realistically impossible? I can do it.

He snickered.
While laughing and looking at other posts, his KakaoTalk notification went off.
Checking it, it was Cha Haneul.

–What are you doing now?

Feeling a strange hunch, he stared at it for a moment without replying, then an emoticon arrived.
A puzzled rabbit.
He sent a reply.

–Looking at the Explorer Federation board in my room.
–In your room? Don’t you have plans with friends?

He did have plans.
He had just turned them all down because he suspected Cha Haneul would suggest exchanging gifts again this year.
She hadn’t explicitly mentioned it, but seeing as Cha Haneul, who rarely sent KakaoTalk messages first, had contacted him, his prediction seemed correct.

–No plans. Already hung out on Christmas Eve.
–Really? Then you have time now?

After he agreed, a reply came saying she would come to the front of his house.
He waited a moment, but no other messages followed.
She didn’t seem interested in whether he had prepared a gift.

He often noticed it, but Cha Haneul had a strange side.
Like now, or bringing lunchboxes with no brand label and lying they were from a catering company, or how the party’s gacha system setting was changed to private, triggering an alert, yet she pretended otherwise.
He pretended not to know, but things like this happened surprisingly often.

Since Cha Haneul was smart, it didn’t seem like she was genuinely unaware and making sloppy lies.
He suspected she lied carelessly because bothering to be thorough was too much trouble.
Cha Haneul had an unexpectedly ruthless personality.

He saw the gift on one side of his desk.
Cha Haneul had a family party every year, but his family didn’t.
Exchanging gifts with Cha Haneul—gifts he didn’t exchange with his own family—always felt strange.

He picked up the gift and checked if the wrapping was okay.
Since he wrapped it himself, it felt a bit clumsy.
Still, it had a certain basic, finished look.
Satisfied, he thought he might have a talent for gift wrapping.

He took a shower and changed into outdoor clothes, passing the time until a KakaoTalk message arrived saying she was out front.
He grabbed the gift.
Passing through the living room where the television sound could be heard, he left the house.

Coming down the stairs and outside, he saw Cha Haneul.
People passed by, staring blankly at Cha Haneul, while bodyguards in civilian clothes naturally milled around the vicinity.
In that quiet chaos, Cha Haneul stood with an indifferent expression.

She was dressed strangely in warm clothes, a scarf, and a mage robe draped over her shoulders, but Cha Haneul possessed an aloofness that turned even that into its own atmosphere.

His eyes met Cha Haneul’s.
Her indifferent expression shifted into a subtle smile.
His heart pounded.
He felt anxious about whether his expression was under control, but it was a familiar situation.

Cha Haneul looked around and approached him.
“I was thinking, how about moving? Public safety has been getting worse lately, and this area doesn’t seem great.”

It was a strange thing to say out of the blue, but Cha Haneul often did this, so he let it pass.
Shifting his gaze to the mage robe, a system window popped up.

[C-Grade/Marphinia of the Melopine Royal Workshop]

“What’s with the robe?”
“Ah, this…?”
“Normally, I wouldn’t wear it… but, well, the bodyguards kept telling me to put it on, so I ended up wearing it somehow. I won’t wear it next time.”

Cha Haneul fiddled with the robe and continued speaking.
“More importantly, here’s your gift.”

Cha Haneul held up a small gift box high with both hands.
A show-off pose.
Cha Haneul smiled and said, “What do you think is inside?”

A watch came to mind immediately, but knowing Cha Haneul, she probably deliberately avoided choosing that.
“Hmm. Since it’s a small box, socks?”
“What thought process leads you to say socks?”
“Socks are good. Don’t people put all Christmas gifts in socks?”

Cha Haneul shook her head and placed the gift box in his hand.
“It’s not an item, but gloves. It would be bad if your hands slipped while using your sword, so use them when hunting. And don’t just not use it like the gift I gave you last time. Speaking of which, why don’t you wear the scarf from last year? Do you dislike scarves?”

I don’t wear it because it’s the same design as Cha Haneul’s scarf, just a different color.
“I just couldn’t get used to scarves.”
“Really? They’re nice and warm. What a waste.”

Cha Haneul rubbed her cheek against her scarf.
Then she added, “Well, I’ll be going then.”
“What? Already?”
“I’m tired from partying since morning.”
“No matter how tired you are, you have to take my gift before you go.”

He took a small gift box out of his pocket and handed it to her.
“Thanks. Well then, I’m off.”

And just like that, she really left.
Not long after, a KakaoTalk message came from Cha Haneul.

–Who gives calcium supplements as a gift?

He sent a reply.

–Miss Cha Haneul is short, so it’s perfect, isn’t it?

Cha Haneul clicked on a news link on her phone.
She didn’t usually follow the news, but the Explorer Federation bulletin board was flooded with it, making her slightly curious.
Reading it, it was about explorer robbers hijacking an armored cash transport vehicle and escaping.

『They reportedly shot the cash transport personnel waiting in the vehicle, then stole the entire armored truck using the System and fled.』

Stole what? The vehicle?
Not the cash, but stealing the whole vehicle to escape—what’s that?
Well, using the System, the vehicle would be easier than bundles of cash, but still.

Lately, crimes using the System like this seemed to be increasing.
The fact that robbers carried guns was common enough not to be surprising anymore.
The System was an entity above the law, and System distribution had shaken national security.
Although it was dealt with through a silent patch, there was no telling how many firearms had entered Korea.
She couldn’t estimate the extent, but she was confident she’d only be surprised once if a criminal organization suddenly appeared in the media, and then move on.

Actually, maybe living thoughtlessly like usual these days was a foolish thing to do?
She read books, sure, but maybe she should be doing something more—like wearing body armor, learning self-defense, or practicing shooting firearms like she did in her past life.
Because the world was becoming more dangerous.
But even so, she lacked the motivation to actually do anything.

She put her phone on the bed and rolled over.
She just didn’t want to do anything.
She had lived ignoring money-making opportunities that came to mind while using the System; couldn’t the dangers just stay away too?
Besides, even if problems arose, a situation where she, a minor, had to do something shouldn’t happen.
Come to think of it, that’s right.
Her parents would surely handle everything.
Considering the bodyguards’ equipment had changed recently, it really seemed like they would handle everything.
Go Mom and Dad, fighting.

―Master! I’m here!
The white cat popped out of thin air.
Ah. Schrödinger was here.
Something she needed to do came to mind.

Schrödinger’s existence was quite troublesome.
She had searched the internet and even asked acquaintances if anyone else had a skill like the Mage’s Encyclopedia.
There was no one.
There might be people hiding it, but that wasn’t very important.
What mattered was that Schrödinger, judging by its actions that disregarded its identity as a Mage’s Encyclopedia, was clearly a System official, and someone like that was nearby, calling her Master.

She couldn’t imagine the controversy if this got out to the media.
Especially since public opinion toward the System was extremely negative lately.
But having a serious talk with Schrödinger felt like needlessly stirring things up, which was unpleasant.
Hmm.

―Master? Are you spacing out?
“Schrödinger.”
―Yes.
“Shall we have a serious talk?”
―With Master?
Schrödinger’s tail swished.
―Okay.

What should she talk about first?
“Then, from now on, don’t lie.”
―Okay.

She heard the answer, but had zero faith in it.
What amazing trustworthiness.

“Are you a System official?”
Schrödinger tilted its head and blinked.
―Seriously?
Its voice was incredibly serious.
She asked assuming it wouldn’t answer, so why was it acting like this all of a sudden?
How baffling.

“No. Don’t answer. Let’s skip such fundamental questions and just state my demands.”
―Yes, okay.
“From now on, I don’t want you appearing in front of other people.”
―That’s an unreasonable demand. There are situations where Master is in danger or unavoidable circumstances arise.
“Then except for those times.”
―I will do that.
“And don’t tell me System-related news in advance.”
―What?
“You’ve been telling me before patches until now. Don’t do that anymore.”
―I don’t understand. Isn’t knowing in advance a good thing?

Who knows.
“It’s not good for only me to know when everyone else doesn’t.”

Schrödinger tilted its head.
―The facts Master hears can be kept secret from everyone else.

I shook my head.

―I don’t quite understand. What specific outcome do you desire?

Specifically?
How should she put it?
It was embarrassing, but maybe being direct was better.
“Whatever you do, I don’t want the responsibility falling on me.”

It meant stop making her conscience prickle by telling her things in advance.

―So, what Master wants is non-interference?
Saying it like that made her sound bad.
“Yes.”
―I will try my best.

[Job Skill—Mage’s Encyclopedia for Apprentice Mages will be concealed.]
[Job Skill—Apprentice Mage’s Mana Sense has been acquired.]

Curious about what “concealed” meant, she asked, and it replied that the skill wouldn’t be visible even if she shared her skill window with others.
Mana Sense was the basic job skill for the Mage class line, so now she could show her skill window to others.

“But why did you show up today?”
―Ah. Master. I watched a magical girl show, and it was amazing.
“Are there magical girls in reality?”
―No. In animation.
“Ah, right. Enjoy watching.”

Ignoring it, I went to sleep.

Yu Mina disliked Cha Haneul.
That didn’t mean she didn’t want to be friends.
Cha Haneul was cute, pretty, elegant, capable, seemed inexplicably favorable toward her, and above all, she liked that Haneul was rich.

However, Cha Haneul sometimes had this subtle way of looking down on people, and she really hated that aspect.
It was like the gaze of an adult watching kids at a playground.
Normally, Haneul’s emotions were easy to read on her face, but she hid her deeper feelings, yet was only careless in this one aspect, which was really irritating.
It was even more so because she strongly suspected Haneul wasn’t revealing it deliberately.

If she was going to show such an annoying inner thought, it would be nice if she showed her deeper feelings too.
Whether it was getting furious, looking tearful, or being flustered, she wished Haneul would show something.
She was always the only one calm amidst the chaos.

At the café, she sat facing Do Yugeon.
“Listen. Cha Haneul definitely likes you.”
“Ah, no matter how many times I hear it, it doesn’t seem right.”
“What do you mean, no? She gave you a gift this Christmas too. Plus, even though she was tired, she went out of her way to come all the way to your house to give it to you. Who else does Cha Haneul put that much effort into?”
“That might be true, but I can’t imagine Cha Haneul liking me.”

Listening to him was frustrating.

“Who cares if you can’t imagine it? Reality is always greater than imagination, and love is intense.”
“No matter how you put it—Cha Haneul?”
“You’re logging in today, right? Then, when you eat lunch together, test the waters. For example, hmm. Pick up a side dish from the lunchbox and feed it to her.”

Do Yugeon looked intrigued.