NOVEL NEXT Chapter 288
Chapter 288. Invitation (3)
Nam Ho-yeol spoke in a worried voice.
“What if they want the Drimium processing method over there?”
“It doesn’t matter. It would be tough even if I told them anyway.”
—Uheehee! If there’s a spirit like me, let them come out!
Drimium could only be transformed after a spirit absorbed a certain amount of magic.
The only spirit that could absorb the magic contained in Drimium, at least in Korea, was the Sylph.
The situation wouldn’t be much different in Japan.
‘This one isn’t an ordinary spirit either.’
Spirits in general were considered special, but the Sylph was viewed as particularly special from the moment of their contract.
Unlike other spirits known to be picky in their early stages,
the Sylph seemed to follow Yoo Ji-han extraordinarily well from the beginning and showed friendliness.
‘The Sylph is the only one with a second contract.’
Spirits could only function in reality after contracting with other beings.
A spirit that unilaterally breaks a contract or loses its contract partner is said to have vanished back to the spirit realm.
With the spirit gone, no detailed investigation related to it could be conducted either.
‘No country has spirits with a second contract.’
Thus, excluding Yoon Do-ha, who re-contracted with Mumu after mutually terminating their contract,
the only case of a spirit in Earth having a previous contractor was the Sylph.
“Chirp! Annoying! Get away!”
—Uhee!
Yoo Ji-han looked at the Sylph bouncing up and down on Chilla’s head.
How was the Sylph able to make a second contract with him after dealing with Erna Hass?
—Chilla! Looks like your fur is thinning!
“Is that true? Chirp?!”
—Even chinchillas can go bald!
“Chirp chirp! How dare you insult me!”
—Uheeheehee!
Although it was currently just a playful spirit taunting the chinchilla,
there was certainly some reason for that specialness.
‘Maybe I’ll find an answer in Grudia.’
The dimension where the Sylph first made a contractor.
Most acquaintances of Kim Si-hu, who came over from Grudia, held ordinary positions like maids or butlers, so they didn’t know any high-level information.
That place was a world where elves, who had existed alongside spirits for a long time with their relatively long lifespans, compared to humans, lived.
‘Of course, there would have been much more research or investigation related to spirits than on Earth.’
It seemed likely that answers could be found in the place that was essentially the Sylph’s hometown.
*
Yoo Ji-han exchanged greetings with the Tamura Brothers.
“I’ll be counting on you to take care of Ho-yeol.”
“Leave it to us.”
“I’ll train him to be at least twice the blacksmith he is now within a week.”
“Ahaha…”
Tamura Kenta boasted while gripping Nam Ho-yeol’s shoulder.
Nam Ho-yeol awkwardly smiled, looking at their expressions as they planned to make him their apprentice.
A short while later, Yoo Ji-han’s party boarded the vehicle prepared by the Tamura Brothers.
It was the vehicle that would take them to Tokyo, where Watanabe Yosuke was waiting at Raiku’s headquarters.
As the car started moving, Yoo Ji-han leaned back in his seat and asked,
“How long will it take to get to Tokyo from here?”
“About six hours or so.”
Due to the paralysis of flight services, they had no choice but to use a route that took roughly six hours.
By the time they arrived, it would probably be late evening.
“So, how is everything you received from Raiku?”
“It feels really nice.”
Lee Mi-a had chosen women’s shoes from the masterpiece storage.
An artifact that slightly increased leg strength among her physical abilities.
It was an item that suited her, as she had been disappointed in her leg strength compared to her punch.
“Chirp! That twin has good potential!”
Chilla, who received a transparent glove as a gift, was playfully opening and closing her hand.
The Tamura Brothers had included her in the count for gifts.
They even recommended gloves that greatly increased friction to prevent Chilla from slipping off the handle of her shield, knowing she used it.
Chilla was very satisfied with that.
“Something like this would be incredibly expensive if I had to buy it!”
Beside her was Min Yu-ri, who had chosen a one-handed glove.
It was thin enough to see her fingers through and served as an excellent aid for magic control.
An item that played a supportive role when generating magic arrows.
“I never thought they would give us Florun.”
Kim Si-hu exclaimed, looking down at the item in his hand.
A pendant made with delicately carved Florun patterns, embedded with advanced magic stones.
It was essentially the most expensive item among those in the masterpiece storage.
“Chirp? Is it really that good?”
“Just putting it at the auction would start a fierce bidding war.”
“I don’t really understand that kind of talk. Chirp.”
“Um… You could eat melt-in-your-mouth meat for every meal for more than 20 years without doing anything at all.”
“Chirp, chirp! Melt-in-your-mouth meat!”
Only upon hearing the tailored explanation did Chilla look surprised.
Kim Si-hu was in awe of the Tamura Brothers for handing over such an artifact without hesitation.
“Chirp! Could I sell my gloves for that?”
“Those gloves are also quite expensive. You could probably have a meat feast for over five years.”
“Chirp…! Am I holding five years’ worth of meat in my hands?!”
Those gloves were traded for several years’ worth of meat.
Chilla looked at her transparent gloves with slightly fearful eyes.
At that moment, the Sylph shouted.
—They’re having weird thoughts!
“Chirp, chirp?!”
—Am I wrong?
“That’s a lie! Chirp! I never thought of selling this to eat meat!”
—Uheeheehee! See!
“Chirp?!”
Chilla, whose inner thoughts were revealed by the Sylph, covered her mouth with her hands.
Min Yu-ri immediately narrowed her eyes and said,
“You stuffed yourself with meat just yesterday.”
“Master! I didn’t say anything! Chirp!”
“Anyone would think the master is starving you.”
“But only giving me chicken breast is a bit too much…”
“What?”
“Oh, never mind. Chirp chirp.”
Chilla turned her head away, avoiding Min Yu-ri’s sharp gaze.
Recently, in an attempt to manage her health, her diet had changed to all low-fat meats.
As long as Min Yu-ri continued to maintain a similar diet, Chilla couldn’t voice her complaints.
Instead, she glared at the Sylph floating in the air and said,
“Chirp! You annoying spirit!”
—Why are you saying that?
“How sad it is that you don’t know the taste of meat! Chirp!”
—I don’t want to know about dry meat flavor!
Yoo Ji-han listened to the argument between Chilla and the Sylph for a while while gazing out of the car window at the passing scenery.
As the ongoing dispute began to die down, at that moment.
The driver, holding the steering wheel, looked at the warning that appeared on the car’s navigation system and said,
“There’s an MA ahead, so I’ll slow down a bit.”
“Okay.”
Their vehicle was approaching the MA that had occurred in Japan.
The scenery outside the window was slowly passing by, allowing them to take a leisurely look.
Upon reaching near the MA, Yoo Ji-han surveyed the crowd gathered ahead.
‘There are a lot of Japanese swords.’
Many heroes wielded swords with one side sharpened.
Next to them were also many heroes conceptually akin to ninjas, wearing thin clothing and face coverings.
Seeing such a scene made Yoo Ji-han realize once again that he had arrived in Japan.
Even among heroes from the same East Asian region, a different atmosphere and sentiment from Korea could be felt.
At that moment, Lee Mi-a, who was gazing out the window, muttered.
“Those guys are also here in Japan.”
She was looking at a group of people dressed similarly.
The shirts they wore featured cute illustrations of monsters shaking hands or hugging humans.
Though the large characters written in Japanese on their placards were unreadable,
it was easy to tell that they all belonged to the IUPC Japan branch.
Kim Si-hu, resting his chin on his hand, said with a hint of boredom,
“I don’t see them much in Korea anymore, but they’re all still here.”
“I heard that it has decreased a lot compared to the past. Since it’s so close to the neighboring country, it must’ve been affected by it back then.”
—Those annoying guys!
As Yoo Ji-han’s party’s vehicle slowed down, they moved up close to the cars ahead, right next to the MA.
And just then, through the closed window, they could hear the indiscernible shouts of the IUPC members in Japan.
Kuguguguuung!!
A huge vibration arose from a distance and was transmitted even inside the vehicle.
Due to the sudden shock, all the vehicles on the road either stopped or honked their horns.
The vehicle carrying Yoo Ji-han’s party was no exception.
“Chirp! What’s going on?!”
Chilla instinctively pulled out her shield and became alert of her surroundings.
Unlike the panicking driver, the rest of the group remained calm while observing outside the window.
“Something’s coming from that direction.”
Min Yu-ri pointed toward the area declared as the MA entrance.
Small spots that appeared tiny from afar were gradually drawing closer.
“It’s a monster.”
“It’s a Kappa!”
A type of monster that could walk on two legs after transforming from a salamander.
All the creatures rushing toward the entrance were Rank 3 monsters called Kappa, named after a legendary creature.
But seeing the Kappa all rushing toward the entrance seemed like quite an abnormal situation.
As they looked at the heroes at the entrance who appeared flustered, it didn’t seem like a normal scenario.
‘…The IUPC is oddly calm.’
As the Kappa began to swarm, the Japanese IUPC members moved in unison.
Rather than being flustered at encountering monsters, they moved as if they had anticipated this.
Just by their expressions and actions, it could confuse someone about who the heroes were and who the ordinary people were.
“Driver.”
“Yes, yes?”
“Stay inside and don’t come out.”
Bang!
Yoo Ji-han’s party opened three doors simultaneously and jumped out of the vehicle.
“Chirp chirp!”
The first to rush out was Chilla.
Tododododod!!
Carrying her shield on her back, Chilla dashed out on all fours.
Leaping high, she took out her shield.
[Provocation]
“Chweck?!”
“Chweeek!”
All the Kappa that were mindlessly rushing forward seemed startled and began to glare at Chilla with ill intent.
Due to their abilities being inferior to Chilla, the [Provocation] skill had a significant effect.
“Chirp! Come here!”
The Kappa surged toward Chilla.
Min Yu-ri, from behind, was pulling her bowstring.
Thwomp!
A single magic arrow flew past Chilla.
The arrow shot straight ahead, disregarding the foremost Kappa as it entered the inner circle.
[Shape Change – Boomerang]
The arrow transformed into the shape of a large boomerang, flying in a circular path around.
Swishswishswish!
Arms were severed, bellies were split, and heads rolled off.
Each time the sturdy skin of the Kappa was touched by her magic, it was easily sliced away.
While that dangerous boomerang was cutting through, Lee Mi-a rushed in unarmed.
Thud thud thud thud——!!
Just charging in one direction with tremendous force.
But every Kappa she collided with lost their lives or had their bones broken and rolled on the ground.
The sight resembled a deer struck by an 8-ton truck.
“Chweck, chweep!”
“Chweeek….”
Where did the initial atmosphere of tremendous momentum go?
The Kappa that had targeted her, dodging the boomerang, now appeared terrified.
And the heroes in Japan in front of the entrance were watching the entire scene with astonished faces.
“[Wh-what are those people?]”
“[How can they have such powerful magic…!]”
“[Yoo Ji-han! It’s the Yoo Ji-han party!]”
“[Ah!]”
At the mention of Yoo Ji-han’s name, several people gasped in amazement.
They were the heroes who had been in the news for stopping the explosion incident on the airplane.
If any hero was active in Japan at this time, they couldn’t not know them.
“[Is this what the difference in ranks looks like?]”
“[It would be a hindrance if we intervened now.]”
“[Guys! Make sure you keep your eyes on this battle, not even a single scene should you miss.]”
“[Right. There’s definitely something to learn from this.]”
Worried about becoming a hindrance if they intervened recklessly, the Japanese heroes couldn’t take their eyes off the battle unfolding before them.