NOVEL NEXT chapter 15
15 – First Floor, Course Ticket Battle.
The man’s name is Kim Min-sung.
“My girlfriend is Soo-jung. Lee Soo-jung.”
I didn’t ask for that information.
Kim Min-sung, walking beside me, chattered on as if the situation was very awkward.
“I saw it on YouTube. Mr. Oh’s Taekwondo. It was really cool.”
The man gave a thumbs up.
Is he mocking me?
“So, when I heard about your accident, I was really shocked.”
“…….”
“I thought we might have another gold medalist following in the footsteps of Kim Yuna and Son Heung-min in South Korea.”
I held back from saying anything.
Instead, I urged him to continue searching, signaling for him to stop talking.
“Which way?”
“I feel like it’s this way.”
The skill Kim Min-seong claimed to have acquired was an E-rank skill.
‘Was it called drug detection?’
The skill was named drug detection, but it didn’t only deal with drugs.
The important thing was the skill activation mechanism.
“Do you get a feeling when you do that?”
“Yes.”
Sniff, sniff.
Kim Min-seong sniffed the scent of the course ticket fragment.
Then he determined the direction.
“I felt it during the tutorial too. The soul system is really fascinating. As soon as the skill activates, my sense of smell suddenly becomes sensitive.”
“Is there a cooldown and mana consumption?”
“Yes. Cooldown is 5 minutes, and mana consumption is 30.”
It was just a skill that enhanced his sense of smell, but the cost was quite significant.
“Is there a racial specialization?”
“Yes, there is. Canine beastmen have no cooldown or mana consumption at all.”
“Beastmen, huh…”
“Is it the kind of beastmen I’m thinking of?”
Kim Min-seong asked with a voice full of curiosity and anticipation.
“You saw it in the waiting room too. There are all sorts of strange races.”
“That’s true.”
“Blindly thinking highly of canine beastmen… might be a bit dangerous.”
The canine beastmen Kim Min-seong imagined were probably like pets.
The likelihood was high.
‘Close to humans. Friendly.’
Still, being a beastman, he could be as big as a human.
A kind race that, unlike other species, does not threaten humans.
This is the result of Kim Min-seong’s imagination at its peak.
‘…Absolutely not.’
I once met a female knight in the tutorial, the kind you would only see in an animation.
A stereotypical female knight.
Blonde hair, blue eyes, wearing equipment that could be either armor or a dress.
But I didn’t jump to conclusions.
I could be shocked by the appearance of a beastman different from my expectations, which could hinder my actions.
‘Imagine the worst.’
To survive as a lowly Earthling.
Sniff, sniff-
“Is it here?”
Using skills at five-minute intervals, wandering through the dense forest for thirty minutes.
The first harvest was in sight.
With a confident face, Kim Min-seong moved in the direction indicated by the skill.
Then he suddenly started digging nearby.
Dig, dig, dig-!
While Kim Min-seong was digging like a dog, I stood guard.
Just in case another player appeared.
I waited tensely for Kim Min-seong’s report.
“Found it!”
Kim Min-seong shouted with joy as he lifted a box.
It was a box that, at a glance, emitted an unusual light.
Creak-
“Oh…!”
When he opened the box, which was the size of a human head, inside were a piece of a course ticket, Omega parts, and a greenish stone.
“The skill?”
“……”
“Is this the skill?”
I picked up the stone and checked the information.
[Healing Rune][E]
Category: Artifact
Stats▼
【Regeneration: ＋1】
【Durability: 10/10】
Options▼
【Lowest Grade Healing Lv.1】
Momentarily restores 『105』 health by borrowing the power of the rune.
As soon as I checked the information, my eyes widened.
Restores 105 health.
With my maximum health being 150, it was practically a resurrection.
“An artifact? It’s not a skill.”
However, Kim Min-seong’s reaction was indifferent.
“Lowest grade is lowest grade, I guess. Who would bother with something that only restores 10 health….”
It seemed that Kim Min-seong saw the lowest grade healing’s recovery value as 10.
‘This is an absurd bug.’
The same goes for the heavy strike and this.
What kind of reaction would people have if they found out?
The ones who died because of me?
Would they be able to sleep out of frustration?
‘They’d go crazy and jump.’
They might even reach space with that high jump.
I quickly took the Healing Rune.
And I said very firmly,
“I’ll take this.”
“…I was going to give it to you from the start. Take it.”
Kim Min-seong’s eyes trembled slightly.
It seemed he regretted handing it over.
“In exchange. My skill has been proven, right?”
“Yes. I believe you.”
He handed the Alpha piece of the course ticket to Kim Minseong.
Kim Minseong found the part through the scent of the course ticket piece.
“A healing rune…”
He was anxious because he didn’t have any defensive or healing skills.
He was lucky.
“How do you use this?”
He didn’t plan to use it immediately, but it seemed good to know how.
Then a message appeared.
[“The Illusory Tome devours the Healing Rune.”]
“What the hell?”
The healing rune he was holding disappeared without a trace.
The Illusory Tome had devoured it at will.
[The Illusory Tome is satisfied.]
[The Illusory Tome grows.]
Should he be happy or not?
“Whoa…”
He checked the stats of the Illusory Tome.
As a result, he couldn’t help but be satisfied.
[Illusory Tome][S]
Type: Growth Artifact
Stats▼
【Intelligence: +13 (1)】
【Wisdom: +13 (1)】
【Durability: ∞ (Indestructible)】
Intelligence and wisdom increased.
That meant the skill slots expanded.
“Actually, this is better.”
He was blinded by the performance of the visible healing artifact.
So he couldn’t properly plan his future.
“It’s an artifact that should have been discarded anyway.”
You never know what bonus you’ll get from the course ticket random box.
This time it was an artifact, but next time it could be a skill.
What if that skill is as good as Hatchling Breath?
You have to acquire it somehow.
I don’t want to choose the option of discarding Smite and Hatchling Breath.
I have only one choice left.
“I know exactly what I need to do.”
However, finding the course ticket was not an easy task.
Kim Min-seong did his best, but there were too many players who were one step ahead of us.
“Are we not going to be able to collect the course tickets at this rate?”
Two hours had already passed.
The course ticket scramble had passed its halfway point.
“Oh, no… This can’t be happening…”
Players who hadn’t completed their course tickets were starting to get anxious.
Kim Min-seong was no different.
“Min-seong, in situations like this, you need to act more calmly.”
“…Oh, Mr. Oh Ryoo-in, you only need to find one Omega, so you’re fine. I have to find two.”
“Stay calm. We still have two hours left.”
As I comforted Kim Min-seong, who was starting to panic, I wondered.
“Why am I dealing with a grown adult…?”
He decided to participate in the course ticket scramble himself.
But why?
“Did someone hold a knife to his throat and threaten him?”
To be honest, the dragon manager did half-threaten him.
From the perspective of a lowly Earthling, he had no choice but to participate with sheer determination.
“Still, whining to someone you just met today doesn’t make sense.”
I want to open a few more random boxes.
How can I coax and soothe him to increase efficiency?
“Hmm…”
Kim Min-seong stared intently.
‘A way, it might come to mind.’
* * *
“Huff, huff, huff!”
A man darted through the mountain.
Glancing back as if being chased by someone.
“Ugh!”
Then he tripped over a rock.
Rolling and tumbling down the dusty mountain path, he collapsed in front of a group.
Srrng!
“Who goes there?”
The men drew their swords at the sound of the commotion.
They eyed the man warily, exuding a sharp killing intent.
“Pfft.”
Then they glanced at each other and burst into laughter.
“What are you so scared of? It’s just an Earthling.”
“Didn’t you say earlier that you were the Blood Shadow Sword? Is the great Blood Shadow Sword scared of a single Earthling?”
“…I thought it was an ambush. I’m not scared. Are you insulting me? If you want, I’ll tear your throat out right now.”
Whether the nickname was true or false, they didn’t know.
Martial artists often exaggerated their reputations.
But they couldn’t outright deny his words either.
Just in case, they had to consider the possibility it was true.
They puffed up their chests and wagged their tongues.
Eventually, they realized there was no need to shed blood among themselves.
‘If he’s from the Central Plains, and from the dark sects at that.’
Given the situation, it might be better to join forces.
─And so they banded together.
“P-please, spare me!”
They looked at the Earthling sprawled at their feet and smirked.
‘It would have been nice if it were a woman.’
‘I don’t mind men. I’ll eat whatever is given to me.’
Each with different thoughts, they quietly listened to what the Earthling was saying.
“If you spare me, I’ll give you this. So please!”
The Earthling offered a piece of a course ticket.
It was something they needed as well, so it wasn’t a bad plunder.
Of course, just because they received the course ticket didn’t mean they had any obligation to spare him.
It was a separate matter.
‘Should we kill him?’
‘Let’s kill him.’
While exchanging glances, someone revealed their presence from beside a tree.
Dressed distinctly different from the Earthling.
“A martial artist.”
Though they had similar skin tones, the difference in attire made it clear.
“That, that, that man is trying to kill me!”
The Earthling shouted.
Upon seeing the martial artist, he reacted almost convulsively.
“Ugh.”
The sound was so loud that even the black-clad warriors in front of him were startled.
The martial artist who had been chasing the Earthling asked.
“…Who are you?”
“Us?”
“Ah. Never mind.”
Just as he was about to assert his dominance by stating his nickname, the opponent cut him off.
“I don’t have time to listen to the words of worms.”
“…What?”
“Could the blood of a fellow martial artist be of any use? I guess I’ll have to prove it this time.”
The martial artist muttered to himself like a madman.
“I’ll kill that Earthling and you too. Then I’ll use you as nourishment for my golden arts.”
The men frowned.
They thought he was ignoring them.
“Do you know who I am before you open your mouth? I am Hwang So-un, the Blood Shadow Sword!”
“Have you heard of the Twin Ghosts of Yunnan?”
Perhaps it was because they outnumbered their opponent.
They felt a surge of confidence for no reason.
“Haap!”
They mustered their courage and charged at their opponent.
‘No matter how you look at it, he’s just a third-rate guy.’
The most important thing for a martial artist is intuition.
The intuition to recognize someone stronger than oneself, and conversely, the intuition to recognize someone weaker.
A martial artist without intuition had long since laid in their grave.
The Black Path martial artists were quick-witted.
They instantly recognized that the martial artist before them was weaker than themselves.
So they launched the first attack.
“aaah! S-spare me!”
Just as they were about to close in and stab him with their swords.
The martial artist suddenly dropped to his knees.
“P-please! Spare me!”
“…?”
For a moment, they felt a chill.
“It’s already too late.”
The one who had been pretending to be a lowly Earthling in Kim Min-sung’s clothes.
He gently threw a punch.
A powerful strike.
“Blood Shadow Sword!”
“Twin Ghosts of Yunnan! Don’t run away!”
“Graaah!”
The evil martial artists fell one by one.