Chapter 29

“Let’s call it a day here.”

Originally, since I had just hit level 20, I was planning to try hunting a Fire Slime, but it was already too late. I was also feeling tired.

“Already? We haven’t even hunted a slime yet.”

“It’s pretty late.”

I checked the time on my smartphone; it was just past nine. If I shower and lie down, it’ll be almost ten soon.

“It’s past nine. Don’t you think it’s already late? What do you say?”

“Do I have to go to bed at ten every day? How do you manage to sleep at ten every day?”

“It’s my body rhythm. That’s why I’m feeling so drowsy now; it’s the signal that it’s time to sleep.”

Doyugeon grabbed both of my arms. What’s going on? He pulled my arms straight up. What are you doing?

“If you’re drowsy, stretch. Come on, stretch.”

Though it felt absurd, I stretched anyway. Ah, there was a crack in my lower back.

“Feeling refreshed?”

No way.

“No, I’m still the same.”

“You look different.”

Am I that bad at managing my expressions? I touched my cheeks to see what had changed, but I couldn’t tell. I need a mirror.

“It’s a lie.”

What’s this about now?

I levitated my magic book with magic and used it to tousle his hair.

“AAH! Hold on! Static! It’s static!”

“I know that.”

When I lifted the magic book, strands of hair also floated with it. Haha, this is what we call electric magic.

I put the magic book away, but Doyugeon was shaking his head, clearly displeased. Hmm, maybe I went too far? But this much shouldn’t be excessive, right?

As I was pondering, something caught my senses. Some distance away, goblins were quietly making their way through the forest. They must have been making that tree-falling noise.

Doyugeon must have noticed too, as he glanced toward the goblins while brushing his hair.

“What was that noise?”

What noise?

“There’s no noise, but goblins are coming.”

“Is that so? If I heard it, then it’s confirmed. I’ll go and deal with them.”

He disappeared into the forest. I focused my ears, but I couldn’t hear much of anything. What did he hear?

Doyugeon’s physical abilities seem to be subtly beyond reality, but only mine seem normal. Hmm, I really dislike Schrödinger. It’s not his fault, but I cursed him internally anyway.

Anyway, I’m a wizard, so physical abilities don’t matter to me. I just grasped everything with my magic power. That’s fine, then.

A moment later, the sounds of combat subsided, and Doyugeon returned. A quick scan showed no injuries. Naturally, but I couldn’t truly believe it.

“Well, that’s it for today then?”

“Yeah. I’m tired.”

He seemed reluctant, but this couldn’t be helped. Who tells someone to relax by chopping trees all day?

Doyugeon nodded, then looked at my head with a surprised expression. What is it? Is something wrong with the magic book? When I lifted it from my head, his gaze remained above.

Looking back, I noticed smoke rising from some distance in the forest. Ah, the fire slime must have respawned near the area where we just hunted goblins.

“Let’s go catch it!”

“Catch what?”

“That!”

After giving up on it earlier, should we really go after it now? Judging by the distance, it’s pretty close. At this range, I could catch it and still log out before ten.

But sleepiness is still sleepiness.

“Let’s not chase it. Let’s log out for today. We can come back and deal with it another time.”

“You’re lying, and it shows on your face.”

I twitched at my lack of poker face but tried to act casual. Sure, expressions can betray me sometimes, but if I deliberately hide it, I am capable. Maybe it’s the fatigue now.

“You shouldn’t just accuse people of lying.”

“Coming from you, Miss Cha Ha-neul, I understand. But this time, you’re lying.”

My hands were grabbed and I was pulled into the forest.

“Let’s go! It’s an adventure!”

All traces of his earlier reluctance were gone as he wore an excited expression. Fine, let’s hunt it and sleep after.

I followed Doyugeon into the forest, floating a bit beside him.

Level 20 mobs are Fire Slimes. They’re literally fiery blobs, about my height. They burn everything around them—trees and grass—and turn the entire forest into ashes. Veteran adventurers claim that a level-up hotspot has turned into an ash-covered forest because of them.

As we approached, the temperature climbed and the overwhelming heat hit me. The forest was ablaze beyond my vision. Rising smoke filled the sky, and the air smelled burnt.

Kind of makes me feel unwell. Sure, logging out will fix everything, but it’s unsettling either way.

“Where’s the slime?”

“Doesn’t your feet feel hot?”

True, since I’m floating, but Doyugeon is on the ground. He tapped the earth with his foot, igniting a small ember.

“I’m fine. I took that into consideration when picking my shoes.”

Huh. Is that so?

I pointed in the direction I sensed it.

“It’s that way.”

We moved through the embers and flames until we saw it—a fire blob, neither red nor yellow, just sitting there. Though motionless, it scorched the forest and emitted an aura of fear.

The heat was oppressive, creeping into my lungs with every breath.

I’ve heard a lot about it online, but now that I’m about to face it, I feel quite perplexed. How do I even defeat this thing?

The 150 centimeters tall slime noticed us and approached. A burning tree collapsed as flames erupted. Really, how do I defeat it?

Our eyes met when I glanced at Doyugeon.

“Can you buff my weapon?”

“Are we really going after it?”

“Of course.”

“Can we really defeat this thing?”

“Isn’t that the point of an adventure?”

I cast a freezing enchantment spell on his sword. Doyugeon grinned.

“Anyway, since it’s similar to the Acid Slime, we should manage.”

Easier said than done, and it’s not exactly the same.

“What if you get hurt?”

“Yeahyeah.”

With that, Doyugeon charged at the fire slime. The slime surged upwards, igniting flames. As Doyugeon swung his sword, the flames parted and his stab shattered the slime’s core.

The coreless slime collapsed, splitting into smaller slimes, all of which were still burning, and they lunged at Doyugeon.

The first swing killed four slimes. The second, with Doyugeon stepping back to gain distance, killed three more. The third, fourth, fifth strikes saw more slimes dying with each attempt.

While Doyugeon seemed unstoppable, the slimes couldn’t cross a certain distance and were turning into experience points.

“Haha!”

He’s enjoying this. One of the slimes sneaked up from the side, leapt at him. Doyugeon, startled, ducked, and the slime’s attack passed over his head, igniting his hair in the process.

“Whoa! It’s hot!”

Doyugeon panicked and ran toward me.

Oh my.

A few remaining slimes chased after him. Before they closed in, I crushed them with my magic power, and they exploded into nothing. They’re weak.

Doyugeon shook his head as he asked, bowing.

“Did it go out?”

Looking at his hair, some parts were definitely burnt.

“Yeah, no more flames. Does your head feel tingly?”

“No, not really.”

I cast a healing spell on him. His hair restored itself. Seriously, what’s the principle behind healing magic?

“Phew… haha! I shouldn’t have run away, but panic overcame me.”

“That’s okay when it’s dangerous. Good job.”

He shrugged.

“Still, clearing them before we approached was impressive, Cha Ha-neul.”

“Because I’m a wizard.”

“But I’m stronger, right?”

Huh? How does his mind work like that? I shook my head. It’s only dangerous—I’d definitely win in a one-on-one match.

“Let’s log out. I’m sleepy and the air here is hot, making it hard to breathe.”

“Alright. Don’t forget about the offline meeting.”

“Yeah.”

*

I caught a cold. My doctor advised me to eat well, sleep well, and rest well. I usually do all of those anyway. In my previous life, I didn’t follow doctors’ advice very well, but now, I do them religiously.

I probably can’t follow the doctor’s advice today though. I feel very reluctant to step outside, but unfortunately, today is the offline meeting for the Adventurers’ Guild.

It was first-come-first-served registration, but somehow, Doyugeon managed to apply on behalf of me on the very day the post went up. Usually, with such gatherings, people get invited ahead of official registration, but he somehow managed to do it.

Probably because there were many slots, I thought that’s why I’m invited. But Doyugeon chuckled and mentioned that as soon as he saw the announcement post, he applied for me without even asking if I wanted to join.

Ever since starting the academy against my will—after my parents forced me by pre-paying fees—I’ve learned some bad habits or gained worldliness, or both. Either way, it annoys me.

I met up with Doyugeon, and we headed to the hotel where the meeting was taking place. The Guild seems to have made money from starting a system distribution business. Honestly, I thought it was a stretch, but apparently, worsening security conditions worked in their favor.

We entered the banquet hall. Despite being there, Doyugeon didn’t take the initiative to find a seat, so I just picked one. Usually, it’s Doyugeon who handles these things while I follow, so something’s off.

“Are you feeling unwell?”

“Huh? No, it’s you who’s sick.”

“Well, yeah, but—”

A sudden bout of coughing interrupted me. I tried my best not to show how sick I was, but the cough wouldn’t stop.

After drinking some water, someone approached me.

“Hey? I don’t remember your surname, but your name is Sky, right?”

Looking at him, it was the necromancer I met at the last offline meeting. Thanks to him, I learned the skill ‘Curse of Death,’ though it wasn’t useful.

“Hello. It’s our second meeting. Yes, it’s Sky.”

“Sure is. When I looked around to find a seat, my eyes were instantly drawn to you. Must be your unique aura.”

The necromancer carefully adjusted her dress while sitting beside me.

“I kept thinking of you since our last meeting. I thought I should’ve been more like that back when I was a middle school student.”

The necromancer covered her mouth and giggled. As I noticed during the last meeting, she laughs a lot.

Since it was a conversational exchange, I thought I should respond. I glanced at Doyugeon, who was still acting silly. This is usually your job; snap out of it!

I waited a bit longer, but Doyugeon made no move, so I had no choice but to respond despite my fatigue.

“It’s just my nature, I guess. Everyone has something unique about them. I believe you’re referring to that.”

“That’s true, but it seems like my classmates had none. We were all blindly charging forward in our school days.”

The necromancer chuckled again. The conversation seemed too focused on me, so I decided it was time to change the topic.

“Isn’t the dress cold? It must have been chilly when you arrived here.”

The necromancer frowned slightly before laughing.

“It is cold! But fashion is about the dress, right? I would have said that, but I’ve changed into something warmer here. The heating system is great!”

Ah, that’s true.

Another cough escaped me.

“Huh? Do you have a cold?”

“Yeah, just a winter flu.”

After some exchanges, Doyugeon finally joined the conversation, and I subtly stepped back.

“A necromancer can confidently say that souls will play a crucial role in the Adventurers’ Guild’s emergency response at level 25.”

“Souls? Isn’t that more about magic power? We’ve made so much progress in magical research.”

“No. Magical research is still in its infancy, so that capability isn’t available yet. It’s similar with souls, but in the Guild context, things might be different. Look at how the Slime Detector worked despite seeming improbable. Could the same apply to souls?”

“Then couldn’t the same possibility exist for magic?”

“Well, but… if skills like the Curse of Death aren’t applicable here, the Necromancer’s profession would become useless, don’t you think? If the system has any conscience, there must be some potential.”

As more time passed and after a few formalities, the Guild Leader stood on the podium. He spoke of the preparations for potential mob appearances in the city when the level 25 threshold is reached.

They also announced the invention of a slime detector that operates on magical power.

The necromancer muttered nearby.

“Can’t my job class change?”

The Guild Leader elaborated on app integration, shared future plans, then urged us to enjoy the banquet, before stepping down.

Judging by the named adventurers going up next, it seemed dinner was followed by going home.

I sampled the pre-dinner bread. Not bad.

“One line, I’ll just say one line! Can’t I even say one line?”

A commotion happened on the stage. Looking closer, the named adventurer was forcibly shoved off, and another adventurer had taken the stage.

After some arguing, the intruder’s companions appeared, calming the situation momentarily. What could he possibly want to say?

“This is tough. I’m shaking.”

The adventurer on stage cleared his throat.

Then, reaching inside his clothes, he pulled out a gun. The gunshot echoed, shattering the ceiling.

“Everyone, if you want to live, put your hands up.”

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