Episode 134. Festival (5)

In the center of a luxurious yet dark room, a man was kneeling and praying.

Before him stood a grotesquely shaped statue.

“Maestro-nim… It’s time for the meeting.”

“Ah… I know.”

The man replied without opening his eyes.

Slowly opening his eyes, the man checked the face of the attendant who had called him.

“What is your name?”

“Ah, my name is Seok Don.”

“Hmm. Seok Don. Got it.”

Maestro slowly rose from his spot and brushed himself off.

Then, he pierced the heart of the attendant who had interrupted his prayer with his hand.

Kwaduk-

“Seok Don. How dare you interrupt my communion with the divine? You deserve to die. Do you agree?”

“Ngh, ah. Aaaagh… That’s right. Gladly… Keuk.”

Tuk.

The man fell to the floor, eyes rolling back in a joyful expression.

“Use this as a sacrifice.”

“Yes. Understood.”

Another attendant waiting behind discreetly handled the corpse that had fallen before Maestro.

The man, after shaking off his blood-stained hands, headed back towards the conference room.

Maestro naturally headed towards the main seat adorned with lavish decorations and took his place.

The executives of Pandemic, seated around the round table, simultaneously looked at the man in the main seat.

“Everyone… is here. Sorry I’m late. I was communicating with the Demon King-nim.”

Although quite a lot of time had passed, the executives of Pandemic waited for Maestro’s words without any complaints.

“Report on the progress of the search for sacrifices.”

“We are preparing to incite the monster at the Eiffel Tower in Paris.”

“Hmm, not bad. Next?”

“We are targeting the Heavenly Festival terror at Victoria Academy.”

“There’s no time when people’s guard is down quite like a festival. That’s good. Which executive is in charge of preparations?”

Maestro nodded with a satisfied expression.

“It’s Gil Stephen.”

“If it’s him, he’s reliable.”

Gil Stephen, one of Pandemic’s early executives.

Maestro placed his trust in the deployment of a reliable executive. He wasn’t the strongest, but he was an executive who handled things cleanly.

The meeting continued, and after concluding the final agenda item, Maestro stood up.

“Where there is light, there must be shadow… I must go offer my prayers to the Demon King-nim again, so I shall take my leave.”

Ttuk-ttuk.

Maestro left the conference room, and the executives in the room began to leave one by one.

“Agh, that fucking idiot is dragging things out pointlessly.”

“Rebecca. What kind of blasphemy is that to say to Maestro-nim?”

“Shut up.”

The beauty with crimson hair, known as Rebecca, swept her hair back once, then stood up and left the conference room.

“It’s exhausting to have meetings with these puppet bastards. Haa.”

I can never get used to these damn meetings, no matter how often they happen.

They call it a meeting, but it’s just a notification.

The executives never voice any dissenting opinions to Maestro.

But as executives of Pandemic, attendance is mandatory, so Rebecca had no choice but to stay.

She was cooperating with the ridiculous goal of summoning the Demon King of the Underworld, but it was bound to fail anyway.

As she emerged from the hideout, Rebecca’s subordinate approached her.

“Rebecca-nim. Here are the investigation results.”

“Give it here.”

“It took some time to thoroughly scan active hunters from years 1-2, and from the upper to lower grades of the academy. We found exactly one person who fits the criteria you mentioned, Rebecca-nim.”

Rebecca examined the data her subordinate had brought.

There were two short videos.

The first was the final match of the 1v1 duels at Victoria Academy.

The man shown in the video was employing a high-level barrier magic.

“This is… Rune Barrier…?”

To Rebecca, who had studied Rune Barriers her entire life, the barrier looked slightly awkward.

The basic magic circle was the same, but it felt like he hadn’t received the traditional training passed down within the Rune clan.

‘If it were a child, maybe, but an adult should have completed their training….’

Rebecca checked the next video with a hint of doubt.

The survival test.

It was a short clip of a man setting up a barrier and entering a tent.

It was still slightly different from the barriers Rebecca knew.

However, this time, she clearly observed the distinct markings of runes.

It was the mana signature of a Rune Barrier, recognizable only to those of the Rune clan.

Rebecca, completely erasing the lingering unease with this video, quietly closed her eyes.

“… I finally found it.”

She had been searching ever since her clan was annihilated.

A ‘way’ to revive her clan.

And fortunately, she was grateful that the one remaining person was male.

Because she could recreate the ‘Rune clan’ with its potent bloodline.

*

“This is too expensive.”

I was checking the auction house on my smartwatch.

Since I didn’t need immediate cash, I had kept the [First Edition Vol. 1 of Jangyangsan’s Hawk Tower (with author’s autograph)] that I had previously put up for auction.

I was considering giving it as a bribe to Alice.

But now, I’m seriously thinking about selling it.

The final bid was definitely over 300 million won back then… It really is a masterpiece for the ages.

Anyway, the reason I need money is for my armament.

There are no staffs or anything like that in this world setting.

To begin with, since it’s an erotic game, the equipment system wasn’t properly implemented; it was just a slapdash affair.

After the game became reality, I found out it wasn’t quite like that. In fact, there were various artifacts.

Excluding the low-level artifacts, when I searched for artifacts suitable for my level, the price range was quite high.

“200 million won… 100 million here, 100 million there. The minimum bid is hundreds of millions. What highway robbers!”

Actually, with Liliana’s income, I could buy them quickly.

In a few months, I could acquire good artifacts with my own money.

But I need to be able to predict my future a few months from now.

“For now, I need to stop buying top-grade magic stones.”

Realizing the impending terror, I faced reality.

What future preparations are there when my life could be on the line right now?

You invest after you’ve secured your survival.

‘I’ll just leave the ones I’ve already bought.’

Since I need a certain amount anyway to maintain my contract with Liliana, the ones I’ve bought don’t need to be touched.

For now, I’ll leave the top-grade magic stones and focus on finding money to buy artifacts.

Living solely off Liliana’s income feels a bit unmanly.

“Should I really get a modeling job? I do have experience from the PR department, after all.”

Lost in useless thoughts, I put on my cadet uniform.

I have a meeting with Professor Im Sol today, so I should dress neatly.

Liliana was lying on the bed, half-asleep, touching her chest.

Maybe her clothes were too tight and itchy, she’d occasionally lift her chest slightly and slip her hand inside.

Every time I see it, I wish I could do it for her.

“I’m leaving. I’ll be back tonight.”

“Mm. Go ahead.”

Outside the dormitory, it was starting to get warm.

Is the world ending? It’s only May, but the weather is insane.

People’s attire on the street had become much lighter, and I wasn’t wearing an outer layer either.

“One of these, please.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

After buying chocolate as a bribe for Im Sol, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, I headed towards the magic institute.

“Aren’t you Cadet Lee Hoyeon?! Could we have a brief interview?!”

Just then, a man in a suit thrust a microphone towards me.

“Sorry.”

Used to this situation, I muttered an apology and quickly ran off.

“Cadet Lee Hoyeon! Just a moment!”

“Haa…”

The reporter chased after me like a madman, but realizing he couldn’t keep up with my speed, he stopped, panting.

Reporters show up whenever they get the chance these days.

Is this what fame is?

I’m avoiding them as much as possible, but it seems like it’ll be really hard to avoid them after the festival ends.

Right now, there are so many people around that it’s easy to hide, but that won’t be the case later.

The magic institute came into view.

An entire floor of that massive building is Professor Im Sol’s laboratory.

As expected of our professor.

‘Come to think of it, didn’t she say she’d give me something before?’

It’s been almost a month since Im Sol promised to give me some kind of potion or something.

She wouldn’t just flake out, would she?

“Cadet Lee Hoyeon-nim. You’ve been confirmed. Please go up~.”

“Yes. Thank you for your hard work.”

After getting clearance from the receptionist in the lobby, I took the elevator to the second floor.

Ting-

It’s been a while since I last visited the lab.

I stopped by right before the survival test, so it’s been a week.

“You’re here?”

“Yes. Professor. Your unworthy disciple greets you.”

“Stop talking nonsense and sit down.”

I placed the chocolate on the desk and sat on the sofa.

“I saw your sparring match earlier. It was good.”

“Ah, thank you.”

“There was quite a commotion… You really awakened, didn’t you? Your insides became so clean. Same with your mana flow. It was like that for me too.”

“Yes. It happened accidentally during training.”

I couldn’t exactly say I awakened during sex… so I covered it up by saying it happened during training.

And the clean state of my body is probably due to the Elf’s Essence.

But why did she awaken and get clean insides without even consuming the Elf’s Essence?

“During training… Just like me. I awakened during training too.”

“Oh… You truly are a genius.”

It’s not really my place to say, having awakened during sex, but awakening through training is incredibly difficult.

It means surpassing one’s limits, and awakening during training, which isn’t an extreme situation, doesn’t make sense in the first place.

Of course, one could undergo extreme training, but mentally, it’s not easy.

It’s simply proof of how genius a character Professor Im Sol is.

“You’re the genius. I awakened later than you. It was right after graduating from the academy back then… Many people were surprised when I said I awakened during training.”

“Haha… Is that so?”

“You should be careful too. Receiving jealousy at a young age is quite difficult.”

As for me… I don’t have friends who care about that sort of thing, and I’m rejecting all interviews, so I’m fine for now.

“I’m used to envy and jealousy. It’s usually the less fortunate people who act like that, isn’t it?”

Perhaps because of [Clear Mental Fortitude], I don’t get angry even when I see malicious comments.

I just wonder how difficult their lives must be to act that way.

I meant it in that sense… but Im Sol looked at me with pity.

“… Really? That’s a relief, truly.”

★ Heroine Status Window

[Im Sol]

• [ Favorability: 62 ]

• [ Lust: 25 ]

• [ Appetite: 30 ]

• [ Fatigue: 39 ]

Current Status: How much hurt must she have endured since childhood….

‘What is she talking about?’

She seems to be misunderstanding something again.

Well… I’ll just let it be. It doesn’t seem like a misunderstanding that would cause me any harm.

It would be nice if something good fell out of her pity.

“Ah, I’m fine. By the way, Professor, you remember you promised to go to the Magic Expo with me, right? I’ve been waiting for the day grades are announced because of that.”

“The grades will probably be announced after the festival. There’s a professor whose grading got delayed. Some also suggested letting people enjoy the festival without worrying.”

“Ah…”

Well, it doesn’t matter anyway. I already know my grades.

Written Exam: 1st Place

Practical Exam: 2nd Place

Special Exam: 1st Place.

I’m just waiting for the day that shining report card arrives.

“Ah, speaking of which, instead of the report card… I have something for you.”

Im Sol got up from her seat and handed me a box from under her desk.

“I’ve been looking for a potion to give you… but decent magic-oriented potions have completely dried up. So, I managed to get this.”

“Oh…! Thank you!”

Reflecting on how I’d thought she might flake out on the way here, I opened the box.

As expected, Professor Im Sol didn’t betray me.

────[ Red Ginseng ]────

▶ Grade: High

▶ A Red Ginseng that has gathered Yang energy for 100 years at the mountain’s peak

▶ It is full of Yang energy and is very effective for enhancing male stamina and vitality.

────────────

“…?”

“Y-you looked tired lately. Ahem.”

Im Sol avoided my eyes, her cheeks slightly flushed.

This looks like it’s filled with personal feelings.