NOVEL NEXT 78. Three-Way Confrontation (1)
After double-checking that the soundproofing was working well, Habin pulled something out of her inventory.
Chae Jiseok’s eyes widened in surprise as he recognized the items.
“These are…!”
[Solid Pride]
Grade: Legendary
Effect: Defense +50
(Caution: When equipped, slightly lowers the user’s judgment)
[Sword of Vanity]
Grade: Legendary
Effect: Attack Power +30
(Caution: When equipped, slightly lowers the user’s judgment)
[Necklace of Vanity]
Grade: Legendary
Effect: Charm +15
(Caution: When equipped, slightly lowers the user’s judgment)
Solid Pride, Sword of Vanity, Necklace of Vanity.
All items Kriksha had given to Habin on the 26th floor. Chae Jiseok exclaimed in shock:
“W-what are these? Where did you get them? They’re all Legendary grade!”
“I received them as gifts!”
“From whom? How could someone just give these as gifts?”
These weren’t just any items, but Legendary grade. Legendary grade! They were absolutely not something one could easily obtain.
‘Items you might get one of after clearing an extremely difficult dungeon boss…’
Such items were priceless. Moreover, most Legendary grade items were so famous that their names were well-known, but these all had unfamiliar names, which meant…
‘They must be newly acquired. But where from?’
Who would give such things as gifts?
Seeing Chae Jiseok’s puzzled look, Habin slowly answered.
“From Kriksha… Oh, come to think of it, you’ve already met him, right? He told me to use them.”
“What? Kriksha?”
Kriksha.
Chae Jiseok, mulling over the name, exclaimed again:
“You mean the 26th floor boss? The Demon King who was curious about the Nuclear Spicy Chicken Stir-fry recipe on the 50th floor!”
“Yep.”
“……”
‘No way!’
Solaris and Caligo, who had challenged the 26th floor.
They had conquered the 26th floor but failed to obtain the boss’s items because the boss had moved to the 50th floor.
“Don’t tell me you got these from Kriksha back then?”
‘And he gave you this many?’
Even for a Demon King, it seemed unlikely to hand out three Legendary grade items so freely.
“Um, did you receive these… normally?”
“What do you mean by normally?”
“You didn’t… extort them from the Demon King, did you…?”
“Huh?”
Habin tilted her head as if to say, “What are you talking about?”
“No way! I received them through entirely peaceful means! He just offered them to me!”
“……”
“It would’ve been rude to refuse kind Kriksha’s goodwill!”
‘…Could this be true?’
[The constellation ‘Nearest Light’ grabs the back of its neck, exclaiming that there’s no boss who would just hand over items like that!]
[The constellation ‘Nearest Light’ lights up its eyes, insisting there must be something we don’t know!]
‘Right? It seems like the Demon King got scared and offered them to Hyun Habin.’
Judging by what they saw on the 50th floor, Kriksha did seem to tremble at Hyun Habin’s words.
‘Could she have threatened him?’
Well, only they would know the truth.
Chae Jiseok shook his head. Anyway, that wasn’t the important issue right now.
“So what are you going to do with these?”
“Sell them, of course.”
Hyun Habin’s answer came without hesitation.
“S-sell them? Legendary grade items? You’re not going to use them yourself?”
“Nope, they’re just junk items.”
Habin glanced at the effects. Adding 15-50 to stats when she already had 2.14 billion in each stat was practically useless.
Hyun Habin nodded firmly.
“That’s right. They’re useless junk items! I was considering not bringing them at all, but Kriksha insisted they were good and that I should take them. Now that I think about it, they might fetch a good price if sold?”
“Of course they’ll fetch a good price! If you put these up for auction, you’d get more than double the price of your scabbard order!”
“Really?”
At that moment, Habin’s eyes lit up as if she’d been waiting for this. With an excited voice, she stepped closer to Chae Jiseok.
“Then can you help me sell them, Chae-ssi?”
“Huh?”
Thump.
As if intending to pass them off completely, Hyun Habin was already piling the items into Chae Jiseok’s arms. He found himself suddenly holding three Legendary grade items.
“…Hmm?”
Habin continued with a very relieved expression.
“There! I’ll give you a good commission, but please sell them anonymously. It would be too troublesome if I tried to sell them myself.”
“What?”
Jiseok, awkwardly holding the items, questioned.
‘…Well, she does have a point.’
It would indeed be very troublesome if Hyun Habin tried to sell them herself.
Suddenly appearing Legendary grade items. If Habin tried to deal with them directly, she’d immediately draw attention.
Even if she tried to trade anonymously online, it would be extremely difficult for an individual like Hyun Habin to properly hide her identity and list items in a proper auction house with her limited resources.
On the other hand, Solaris’ information network and influence could easily cover those aspects.
‘We could easily list items anonymously in an anonymous auction house.’
It was a good deal.
‘Hyun Habin, I didn’t expect you to have calculated this far.’
Having finished his thoughts, Chae Jiseok spoke.
“Alright. But we don’t need to go to an auction house. If you’re okay with it, I’ll have Solaris purchase these.”
Legendary grade items were as rare as hen’s teeth, and their value was whatever the seller asked. If there’s a chance to buy them first, you should take it!
“We can set the price based on the most recent actual transaction prices of Legendary grade items.”
“Hmm, sounds good!”
Habin nodded readily. It was a good offer for her too.
No need to worry about drawing attention by sending items to a public auction, and no need to pay auction fees.
“Is it okay if I tell my sister about this? We make the final decisions together.”
“Okay. Of course you should.”
With this, a preliminary contract was established! Now there was no need to worry about financial aspects at all. Though her bank account was already quite healthy to begin with.
‘Still, I felt bad about using Hyun Siwoo’s money recklessly.’
This might be enough to cover what she spent and then some.
‘Now I can make my own secret bank account!’
Finishing her pleasant daydream, Habin spoke up.
“By the way, when is unni coming?”
She looked at the office door with an extremely bored expression. The door had been firmly shut for a while now.
They were waiting for Chae Jise here.
“Didn’t she say she’d be done with the meetings and press conference today? My neck’s going to fall off from waiting!”
“I just saw her finishing up the live press conference, so she should be here soon…”
“That Fides bastard! Couldn’t he wrap things up earlier?”
“I don’t think even Fides-nim could control that. What can he do if the reporters keep asking questions?”
“Hmm… I guess there’s nothing he can do then.”
Just as Habin was fiddling with a snack box on the table with a dejected expression—
Bang!
At that very moment, the office door flew open.
The figure storming in was none other than Solaris’ Guild Master.
“Sorry to keep you waiting!”
It was Chae Jise.
◆◇◆◇◆
“Unni!”
“Habin!”
“Let’s go to the strawberry buffet now!”
“Finally!”
The two jumped up and down, holding hands excitedly.
‘They’re really excited, aren’t they?’
Watching them, Chae Jiseok chimed in.
“…Going is fine, but are you sure you’re okay, nuna? Don’t you have Solaris work piling up?”
“Chae-ssi, don’t be a buzzkill! On such a nice day!”
Habin poked Chae Jiseok in the side.
“But still! Work is work…”
Chae Jiseok furrowed his brows. Honestly, at times like these, he was a bit envious of the jobless Hyun Habin…
Just then, Chae Jise spoke up.
“Haha, no need to worry. During the unexpectedly long waiting times while preparing for the meeting and press conference earlier, I managed to catch up on work. I’ve taken care of all the pending tasks for now.”
“What?”
Jise looked at Jiseok with an appreciative expression.
“Besides, you worked in Kill Screen too, didn’t you, Chae Jiseok? With your help, it was much easier. Secretary Lee Junhwi was the most excited. He was screaming with joy that the period of suffering was finally over.”
“I can imagine.”
“He said he’s taking a day off the day after tomorrow to celebrate.”
“Wow……”
“I actually told him to take more days off, but he adamantly refused.”
It seems the secretary’s earlier statement about giving up his vacation to work was true after all. Finishing the conversation with her brother, Jise turned back to Habin and asked:
“Anyway, that means I have plenty of time! Let’s go to the strawberry buffet! Shall we go right now? Today?”
“Great! The timing is perfect. It’s been about an hour since we had lunch.”
“Then let’s go!”
◆◇◆◇◆
The Muse-ré Hotel Seoul.
Reservations for the strawberry buffet here were famously competitive, rivaling the ticket sales for popular idol concerts each season.
A strawberry buffet that operates only for a limited time, inviting chefs who have won the Grand Prix in the dessert category at world-renowned culinary competitions!
Despite the fantastic taste and quality, the price range was not too burdensome, leading to speculation that the hotel barely made any profit from it.
The most plausible theory for why they put so much effort into hosting the strawberry buffet each time was that it served as a promotional event to widely publicize the hotel’s uniqueness and brand value.
“Wow, how did you manage to make a reservation? You didn’t know we’d be coming today, right?”
“I’ve been trying to make reservations every morning since leaving Kill Screen! Some days I even asked close acquaintances to make reservations on my behalf.”
It seems she would make reservations every morning and cancel early if her schedule got too busy. That’s how she managed to secure a spot.
“Wow, that must have been troublesome.”
Someone of Chae Jise’s status could have used her connections or other methods to get in. But it seems she stuck to the proper way, consistently making reservations without resorting to such tactics.
“It’s fine, I’ve been wanting to come here too. Eat a lot!”
Jise smiled brightly as she picked up a plate. She was heavily disguised with a hat, sunglasses, and a dye item to avoid being recognized.
Moreover, the Muse-ré Hotel’s strawberry buffet had the advantage of having partitions between tables like private rooms, allowing guests to eat without worrying about prying eyes.
‘I’ll try everything!’
Strawberry cake, strawberry crepes, strawberry fondue dipped in chocolate fountain—the visuals alone were mouth-watering!
Just as Habin’s eyes were sparkling at the plate she had brought back—
Thud.
“The smoothie here is delicious too. Try this one as well.”
Hearing a voice suddenly joining in from the side, Habin narrowed her eyes.
“Hmm……”
“What?”
“I didn’t know Chae-ssi was coming too.”
Crunch.
Chae Jiseok was quietly eating a strawberry smoothie in a corner of the table. He made an expression as if to ask what she was complaining about.
“Why? You kept going on about the strawberry buffet, so I got curious and came to see what it was all about.”
Taking another sip of his strawberry smoothie, Chae Jiseok nodded.
“It’s delicious. Even better than most cafes.”
Jise added:
“He actually enjoys these things quite a bit. When we go to cafes, he often orders blueberry smoothies or apple mango smoothies.”
“Hmm……”
“What? What’s the problem now?”
“Nothing. It’s nothing.”
Habin, staring intently at Chae Jiseok, popped a strawberry fondue into her mouth and shrugged. Jise asked:
“So, when are you going to start attending the training institute again, Habin?”
“Ugh!”
Habin wrinkled her face as if the very thought was unpleasant.
“I really don’t want to go. I want to avoid it as much as possible. But Chae-ssi says I can’t skip everything.”
“Is that so?”
Jise tilted her head.
“Then how about early graduation?”
“What?”
Habin’s head, which had been lowered, snapped up immediately.
Early graduation?
Does that mean I can leave the training institute early?
“From what I saw at the SPES meeting, it looks like Korean trainees might soon be eligible for early graduation benefits. By my calculations, you should be able to start the discharge process in a few days, Habin…”
“How?”
“This is still confidential, but… there was an important agenda item that came up at this SPES meeting. Want to hear about it?”
“Of course!”
Jise lowered her voice and began to whisper quietly.