[‘Field Dungeon Conquest’ achievement unlocked.]
[You have received 5,000 points as a reward.]
[You have defeated a nature-attribute boss monster.]
[Mastery of “Blessing of Nature” has increased by 10%.]
[The Nightmare Fog dissipates.]
“Phew. It’s finally over.”
Seven hours had passed since we entered the foggy dungeon.
We had successfully conquered it.
Although seven hours was relatively short for a dungeon conquest, the restricted visibility due to the fog made it feel significantly more difficult.
“Senior, great job!”
Choi Seo-yoon spoke to me in an excited voice.
According to her, this was her first time actually conquering a dungeon.
For a mage, a first dungeon conquest was a memorable event, so it was only natural for her to be this happy.
“Yeah, you too. Good job.”
“Hehe.”
Choi Seo-yoon had exceeded my expectations today.
She had handled nearly all the monsters by herself up until the boss fight.
Of course, I had conserved my mana in preparation for the final battle, but the fact that we cleared the dungeon in just seven hours was proof of how skilled she was.
“But senior, I was really shocked when you took down the final boss.”
Choi Seo-yoon recalled our battle with the dungeon boss, the Alluring Crystal Golem.
From her perspective, it must have been an unbelievable sight.
I had simultaneously activated Heart of Nature and Fighting Spirit, displaying combat prowess several times greater than usual.
“With power like that, why is your ranking so low?”
“You must not know, but my rank has gone up quite a bit since the final exams.”
“Oh, right. That makes sense. So, what’s your current rank now?”
“28th.”
At my answer, Choi Seo-yoon’s mouth fell open.
“Wow. Weren’t you ranked 60th?”
“Yeah.”
“You climbed up a ton in just one semester. I heard you started at 150th place.”
150th place…
There was a time when I ranked that low.
It was only six months ago, but for some reason, it felt like ancient history.
I indulged in nostalgia for a brief moment before refocusing.
Now wasn’t the time to reminisce.
I gathered my thoughts and walked toward the dungeon rewards.
Along the way, I spotted the corpse of the Alluring Crystal Golem, which we had just defeated.
At that moment—
The Outsider’s Blessing activated unexpectedly, and a status window appeared before my eyes.
━━
[Crystal Golem’s Core (C)]
Category: Material
Description: A fragment of the Alluring Crystal Golem, the dungeon boss. Possessing it increases dexterity.
━━
What the—Is this an item?
I had discovered an unknown reward.
A tiny shard of crystal that had dropped from the boss monster’s body.
Since the original work didn’t mention anything like this, I had never expected to find it—an entirely unforeseen gain.
Increased dexterity, huh?
It wasn’t particularly useful to me, but it could serve as a gift, so I decided to take it.
I stored the Crystal Golem’s Core in my subspace.
Then, acting as if nothing had happened, I continued walking forward and spoke to Choi Seo-yoon.
“Let’s check the rewards.”
“Yes!”
When we opened the reward altar, we found a round lump of ice, frozen solid.
I carefully picked it up.
━━
[Heart of the Ice Spirit (A)]
Category: Elixir
Description: Upon consumption, mastery of ice attribute control increases. The amount of increase varies depending on the user’s ice attribute level.
━━
It was the same reward as in the original story.
The Heart of the Ice Spirit—an elixir that enhanced an ice mage’s abilities.
“It looks like an item related to ice magic.”
As expected of Choi Seo-yoon, who specialized in ice magic, she examined the item with great interest.
I looked at it for a moment before speaking to her.
“You take it.”
Choi Seo-yoon’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Huh? Do you even know what it does?”
“It’s beneficial for ice mages. You’ll find it useful, so I’m giving it to you.”
For reference, in the original story, Lee Seo-jun had also given this item to Choi Seo-yoon.
Since I couldn’t use ice magic at all, it made sense to give it to her.
However, Choi Seo-yoon tilted her head in confusion.
“An item for ice mages? How do you know that?”
“Just look at it.”
“Huh?”
“See? It’s an ice chunk. If it’s not an ice attribute item, what else could it be?”
“Well, still…”
Ignoring her protests, I grabbed the Heart of the Ice Spirit and held it up to her mouth.
“Open up.”
Choi Seo-yoon narrowed her eyes.
“…Why?”
“To feed it to you, obviously.”
“W-What are you talking about? Do you even know what this is?”
“Hey, don’t you trust me?”
“This isn’t about trust… Ack!”
As she spoke with her mouth open, I popped the Heart of the Ice Spirit inside.
She flailed in an attempt to escape, but my superior strength made resistance futile.
“Come on, swallow it slowly.”
“Ugh… Cough! Cough! What the heck?!”
Choi Seo-yoon yelled in frustration.
“How does it taste?”
“It has no taste! No, more importantly, how can you just shove a dungeon reward into someone’s mouth?!”
“What do you mean ‘how’? It’s meant to be consumed, so I made you drink it. It’s an elixir.”
“…An elixir?”
Choi Seo-yoon gave me a dumbfounded look.
“Do you feel anything?”
“I don’t know. Is this really an elixir?”
“Yeah. Have I ever been wrong before?”
“…Well, no.”
“So? Do you feel any changes?”
“No, nothing.”
“Hm.”
In the original story, the effects didn’t become apparent until a day later. So, there was no need to worry.
Thanks to the dungeon conquest, the Nightmare Fog disappeared, allowing us to return to the villa quickly.
The atmosphere at the villa was surprisingly normal.
Aside from me and Choi Seo-yoon, it seemed that everyone had returned safely without any missing persons.
Later, I heard that all the students had been worried about us.
They were also concerned that we might have gotten caught up in something since the island’s fog had suddenly vanished.
Choi Seo-yoon explained everything to them—the fog, the dungeon conquest, and the disappearing mist.
Hearing the full story, everyone was shocked.
And so, two days passed, bringing an end to the brief yet intense storm.
The clear, transparent sky filled the students with positive energy.
Before leaving the island, they were given four hours of free time, and everyone ran to the ocean, enjoying their youth and romance.
Of course, I had no interest in running around with them.
Instead, I sipped on a refreshing iced coffee in the shade on the third floor of the villa, watching from a distance.
From where I sat, I could see everything at a glance.
Lee Seo-jun and Lee Hyun-joo were splashing water at each other.
Shin Young-joon and Jeon Min-gi swam alone, enjoying themselves.
And off in a secluded corner, Choi Seo-yoon was training with magic, testing the effects of the Ice Spirit’s Heart.
Watching them, I let out a small laugh.
Unlike me, a natural homebody, they were overflowing with energy. I felt a mix of envy and amusement as different emotions crossed my mind.
Then, suddenly, I realized I hadn’t checked any outside information in the past four days.
Since this was a deserted island, internet access was impossible. However, thanks to the Outsider’s Privilege, I had a way to connect.
“Hm.”
The first thing I needed to check was my stocks.
The underground auction was approaching soon, and in that world, money equaled power. To ensure I wasn’t at a disadvantage, I needed to gather as much wealth as possible.
“Oh.”
As soon as I checked my stocks, I let out an impressed sound.
The total value of my holdings had exceeded 14 billion won.
With this much money, I could definitely afford what I planned to buy at the underground auction.
That said, the more money I had, the more things I needed to manage. I had to keep monitoring my profits, but I simply didn’t have the time.
Maybe it would be best to set up a system to handle my funds for me. After all, my time was more valuable than anything.
Next, I checked my messages and call history.
There weren’t many people who would contact me, but it was better to check just in case.
[Kim Jinwoo, are you available?]
A message from Han Se-yeon, sent four days ago.
[Kim Jinwoo?]
[Jinwoo, what are you doing?]
That was two days ago, along with two missed calls.
[Call me back.]
And that message was from this morning.
“……”
What’s going on?
After glancing around, I used the Outsider’s Privilege to make a call.
Beep, beep, beep.
Thanks to the ability’s effect, the ringtone echoed directly in my ear, even without a speaker.
Before I could dwell on how strange that was, Han Se-yeon picked up.
—”Hello? Kim Jinwoo?”
“Sorry for the late reply. I’ve been really busy and didn’t get a chance to check my messages.”
—“…You must have been really busy, huh?”
“Yes, I’ve had a lot on my plate lately.”
—“Geez, I thought you were cutting ties with me or something. I was getting worried.”
“……”
What does she take me for?
“I apologize for not responding sooner. I’ll check my messages more often next time. By the way, why did you contact me?”
—“Oh, it’s nothing serious. I just prepared a little gift for you before the Pioneer’s Night event, but I couldn’t reach you…”
“A gift?”
—“Yeah. Ah! It’s nothing big, just something I thought you might need.”
“Got it. Let’s meet next week. I have a reason to see you, too.”
As I spoke, I absentmindedly fiddled with the Crystal Golem’s Core in my hand.
Ding.
The elevator doors opened, and I walked toward my apartment door.
Just as I was about to go inside, I noticed a note stuck to the door.
[Kim Jinwoo, please call me when you see this. —Han Se-yeon]
“……”
Her handwriting was neat and careful.
She must have come all the way here because she couldn’t reach me. Whatever it was, it seemed urgent.
Beep, beep, beep.
Click.
I unlocked the door and stepped inside.
As soon as I entered, I stumbled toward the sofa and threw myself onto it.
Finally being back in my own space, I felt my body relax completely.
“Ugh, it’s hot.”
Moving sluggishly, I grabbed the remote and turned on the air conditioner.
Beep.
“Ahh, that’s better.”
Home was the best.
Even the smallest outdoor activity drained my energy.
Well, maybe that was just my homebody nature kicking in.
Still, considering how much running around I’d be doing in this world, I really needed to work on that.
As I mused over my thoughts, I turned on the TV.
Flipping to a news channel, I caught up on world events I’d missed in the past four days.
「Recently, Chairman Han Dae-hyeon of Hanseong Group was reported to be in worsening health. In response, Vice Chairman Han Se-jin…」
I was watching absentmindedly when my phone buzzed.
[Would Wednesday at 7 PM work for you?]
It was a message from Han Se-yeon, confirming our meeting.
[Yes, that works.]
I replied, then received another notification from my Smart Student Notebook.
[Senior! That potion you gave me is amazing! 🔥]
It was from Choi Seo-yoon.
She had mentioned earlier that she was starting to feel its effects, and now it seemed like the full effect had kicked in.
[Really? That’s great. Keep up your training.]
I meant it sincerely.
The stronger a key character like Choi Seo-yoon became, the more advantages I would have in future developments.
[Nep! But I feel kind of bad since I got all the dungeon rewards… Is there anything you want?]
“What do you mean, want something?”
There was only one thing I wanted from Choi Seo-yoon.
[I just want you to grow strong and reach your full potential.]
I sent the message without much thought.
Then, I suddenly paused.
“Wait… was that too blunt?”
We weren’t that close. Saying something so openly supportive might come off as awkward.
“Eh, whatever.”
Just then, she sent another message.
[LOL, what’s this? Are you my dad or something?]
Looks like she took it as a joke.
I chuckled and set the notebook down.
Now, time to claim my reward for the past three days of effort.
Opening the Points Shop, I went straight to my cart and bought what I had in mind.
━━
[Rune Bind (S)]
Category: Barrier
Description: Uses mana to bind a target.
[Effect]
▶ Binding
Consumes mana to trap an opponent.
Cooldown: 3 days
Price: 100,000 points
━━
[You have purchased ‘Rune Bind(S).’]
A bright light appeared before me, then seeped into my body.
[Achievement Unlocked: ‘Skill Purchase.’]
[Reward: 3,000 points.]
With this, I had acquired a new skill.
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