NOVEL NEXT Chapter 23 - First Mission (4)
With her light brown hair and a face still showing signs of youth, Kim Sunah, dressed in an outfit that made her seem more mature, took a deep breath to calm her nerves and knocked on the door.
Knock knock.
“Come in.”
A voice, sweet yet so captivating it shook the soul, responded from inside.
Kim Sunah steeled her resolve, trying not to let herself be swayed, and opened the door to step inside.
The first thing she saw was a large screen, and a woman seated with her legs crossed, staring at it. The woman had snow-white hair and skin, with emerald green eyes. Her figure was alluring, her expressionless face only adding to her captivating beauty, and she exuded a sharp yet relaxed aura, the kind that only someone of absolute power could possess.
The woman in front of Kim Sunah was Baek Arin, guild master of “White Flower,” one of Korea’s top eight guilds, and a figure renowned worldwide for her unmatched strength and intelligence.
Baek Arin glanced at the approaching woman and spoke. “Sunah, what brings you to this place?”
Kim Sunah was momentarily distracted by Baek Arin’s sweet voice. She snapped herself back to reality and responded, “Oh, um, it’s about the investigation on the villains you asked for, Guild Master.”
“Just leave it there. Good work.”
“Ah, yes!”
Kim Sunah placed the documents she had gathered on Baek Arin’s desk and was about to leave the room when Baek A-rin stopped her.
“By the way, Sunah, you mentioned you’ve seen that kid, Kim Baram, in person. What did you think?”
“Ah, yes. I saw him at the entrance ceremony, on the second floor. Honestly, I was surprised he made it into the top seven in Principal Ma Dongchul’s test. He was quite awkward. And when I checked the information we gathered, it turns out he only recently awakened as a player.”
At Kim Sunah’s report, Baek Arin frowned, as if something didn’t sit right with her. Though her beauty only seemed to shine even more.
“Hm… He may be a novice, but he still managed to rank in the top seven out of so many cadets… Did you see this video?”
Baek Arin mumbled to herself in a low voice before pointing with her slender, white index finger at the large screen.
The video displayed Kim Baram struggling to fight a Dire Wolf, with a famous YouTuber, Yeoje, assisting him.
Kim Sunah paused, thinking about the intent behind Baek Arin’s question, and answered, “Yes, I saw it. But Kim Baram struggled just to handle one Dire Wolf. The girl next to him,Yeoje, despite her young appearance, seemed to have the ability of at least a lower B-rank player.”
“And did you see this?”
Baek Arin pressed a button on the remote, and the video changed to another one, showing Kim Baram and Yeoje before the battle began.
“This… looks like CCTV footage obtained by our guild. I did see it, but there didn’t seem to be anything particularly noteworthy.”
“Hm… Do you see that bracelet on Kim Baram’s left wrist?”
“Yes, that bracelet later transformed into a shield. It seems to be a weapon that can change form.”
“Do you know what rank that bracelet is?”
“Pardon? I’m not sure about that…”
Baek Arin’s prowess was unmatched in Korea, and though she fell just short of the guild master of the legendary Salvation Guild, her global recognition was due to her unmatched intelligence. She never forgot anything once she saw it.
“That bracelet is one of the last remaining weapons made by Mister Jeong Socheon, one of the greatest craftsmen in the world, for the Supreme Commander of the Land. The condition for ownership was that the person had to be exceptionally charming. What do you think made that kid so ‘charming’?”
“What?! Is that really true?”
Kim Sunah immediately understood the weight of Baek Arin’s words and looked back at the screen, staring once again at the bracelet on Kim Baram’s wrist.
If Baek Arin, someone she deeply respected, said it, then it was undoubtedly true — the bracelet must be Jeong Socheon’s final masterpiece for the Supreme Commander Collection.
Realizing Baek Arin’s intent from their conversation, Kim Sunah quickly responded, “I’ll investigate this cadet, Kim Baram, more thoroughly.”
Kim Sunah felt proud to predict what Baek Arin must want ahead of time, but her composure was shattered by Baek Arin’s next words.
“Good. By the way, Kim Baram lives next door to you, so keep an eye on him.”
“Yes, ma’am… wait, what?!”
***
“Um… Leader, are you okay?”
“… Did something happen?”
Shin Yul stood up casually, as if nothing had happened, and calmly asked Kim Baram in return, “That… just now…”
“What do you mean?”
“… No, nothing happened. Yes, right. Nothing.”
“Isn’t that so?”
With Shin Yul’s words, a brief but suffocating silence filled the space between them.
“…”
Sensing an urgent need to change the topic, Kim Baram glanced at the massive cave spewing hot winds and spoke. “What do you think that cave is? The source of this heat seems to be coming from there…”
“Hmm, there’s probably something special inside that cave. Usually, strange phenomena in dungeons are related to some kind of special item.”
“I see…”
As Shin Yul said, there was likely something special inside. But Kim Baram had no idea what it could be.
‘Even Han Suyeon hasn’t done this quest in the story, so I have no clue what’s in that cave. I don’t remember any mention of it when she was active in the Fixer Clan either…’
Kim Baram was organizing his thoughts, trying to recall anything from the novel he might have missed while gazing at the cave.
Shin Yul also seemed to be assessing the cave further before speaking again.
“Still, entering that cave seems an impossible task. We’re already sweating like crazy just standing here. It would probably be suffocating inside. The only solution I can think of is using Yeo Jihye’s ice magic to counter the heat, but that’s too risky when we don’t know how long the cave is.”
‘Counter the heat with ice magic…? Wait.’
At Shin Yul’s words, Kim Baram looked down at my right hand, holding the Evercold Ice — an item that was still radiating a cold chill.
Ding!
[Skill
[The Evercold Ice… It looks like a recovery drink you’d find at a pharmacy. What if it’s actually safe to drink?]
“…”
Upon reflection, every item Kim Baram had gotten from the
‘What if drinking the Evercold Ice allowed me to withstand the cave’s heat by countering it with cold?’
Already convinced by this idea, he stared into the hazy future vision of himself, watching his VP increase. Acting on impulse, Kim Baram popped the cap off the Evercold Ice, ripped off his mask, and drank it all in one go.
“You should just give up — Kim Baram! What are you doing?!”
Shin Yul, who had been thinking with her hand pressed to her forehead, was just about to turn back and leave when she saw him and shouted in alarm.
But Kim Baram didn’t hear her. Or rather, he couldn’t hear her.
As soon as he downed the Evercold Ice, a fierce chill surged from his stomach and spread throughout his body, starting from my core and freezing everything outward. Unable to endure the overwhelming cold, he rushed headlong into the cave, where the scorching hot winds were blasting out.
***
{Third POV}
Whiieeeeee!
“Huff… Huff… Maybe this wasn’t the right idea…”
‘Damn.’
It felt like Kim Baram was standing in the middle of a blazing desert while being submerged in ice water.
He had already walked quite far into the cave, and the excruciating chill rising from his stomach was battling against the intense heat from the outside air. Desperately, he kept inhaling the hot air to offset the freezing cold inside his body.
By taking deep breaths and forcing himself forward, Kim Baram managed to slightly suppress the freezing sensation spreading to his hands and feet.
However, the hot air he inhaled did nothing to dispel the cold inside his body — it just scattered — and his insides continued to freeze up. At this rate, he would be frozen solid, even though the outside was hot enough to roast him alive.
‘Huff… If this keeps up, I’m really going to die… Status window.’
Ding!
Name: Kim Baram
Age: 17
Stats:
Strength: 17
Agility: 14
Stamina: 20 (-15)
Magic: 10
Charm: 51
Luck: 55
Skills
Unique Ability
Current VP (Variable Points): 2800 VP
Looking at the status window in front of him, especially at his stamina, Kim Baram noticed it was rapidly dropping in real-time.
Stamina: 20 (-16)
‘It’s too late to regret this now. I can only hope there’s something inside the cave that can block this cold… Is there anything I can use to restore my stamina? Oh!’
“[Transformation].”
Ding!
[You have used Aegis’s special ability
Thanks to Aegis’s [Transformation], I felt slightly better, but it was only a temporary solution. My stamina was still dropping at a steady rate.
Stamina: 23 (-17)
‘I might as well use everything I’ve got.’
Ding!
[You have used the skill
After activating Mana Reinforcement, Kim Baram’s body was strengthened by mana, giving him a faint sense of vitality and slightly calming the cold in his stomach.
Kim Baram gritted his teeth tightly, forcing himself forward, knowing full well that he had to keep going while he still could.
Stamina: 23 (-17)
Mana: 10 (-3)
Although Mana Reinforcement slowed the rate at which his stamina was decreasing, his mana was now depleting rapidly.
‘If this continues, my mana will run out, and my stamina will start dropping again. There’s no guarantee that
Stamina: 23 (-17)
Mana: 10 (-7)
Watching my mana drain at an alarming rate, he shouted out loud in frustration.
“Damn it!!!
Ding!
[You have used the skill
“All of it! 2800VP, just give me something fast!”
Ding!
[You have used 2800 VP to activate the skill
[Incredible luck has been activated. You have obtained an item far better than expected.]
Stamina: 23 (-17)
Mana: 10 (-10)
Kim Baram grabbed hold of the box that dropped in front of him and opened it quickly. At that moment, his meager mana reserve ran dry, causing Mana Reinforcement to deactivate. To make matters worse, a sharp headache started to kick in.
Ding!
[You have obtained a ‘Golden Bracelet.’ The item obtained through
‘A golden bracelet?’
The result of using up all my VP was a single, gleaming golden bracelet clutched in my right hand.
‘What is this? Some kind of health bracelet?’
Stamina: 23 (-18)
As he watched his stamina begin to drop again after Mana Reinforcement wore off, panic set in. Kim Baram quickly put on the bracelet, praying it was an artifact that could restore his stamina…
“…”
And to his surprise….
Nothing happened.
Stamina: 23 (-19)
‘Damn it.’
At least he now knew this thing wasn’t going to help him anytime soon.