Chapter 10

Chapter 10: A Slight Additional Penalty (1)

***

When he came to his senses, a faded ceiling entered his eyes.

Clothes, bedding, and scattered game packages were lined up around him.

There were also water bottles rolling around everywhere.

It was a familiar sight.

“……I’m back.”

Min-jun rubbed his eyelids and raised his upper body.

He habitually tried to stand by stepping on the ground, only for his body to tilt and collapse.

When his empty right ankle entered his eyes, a bitter laugh escaped him.

‘I lived with an ankle for just a little while, and I’m already not used to this.’

When he thought of his body inside the game, it was understandable.

Had it not been a body far more agile than an ordinary person, even an athlete?

He had returned in an instant from a body that could fly several meters with a single jump to his current body, so it was inevitable that his heart felt empty.

‘I should at least take a shower.’

Min-jun limped over to the sink and clicked his tongue while looking in the mirror.

“Hmm…….”

For some reason, the skin color of his face felt brighter and cleaner than usual.

He could not see the scars that had been on his face either. His eyes were also clearer.

‘Is it just my imagination?’

Sometimes people saw what they wanted to see, so he did not think too deeply about it.

“Hoo.”

As he felt cold water pour over his body, he recalled the “game” he had been in until just now.

‘It wasn’t a dream, was it?’

There was no way.

It had been far too vivid to be a dream.

The problem was.

‘But there’s no proof that it wasn’t a dream either, is there?’

Yes.

As he was now, he had no way to prove that it had not been a dream.

Where had all those people who had lured him in with talk of rewards disappeared to?

‘Did they just eat and run?’

For Min-jun, who had gritted his teeth and focused on the game, it was an empty-handed treatment that left him feeling hollow.

-……?

‘Hmm.’

For a moment, his conscience pricked him.

Yu A-yeong’s final expression came to mind.

The way she had stood there until the very last moment, looking at him with an innocent face and an expression that seemed to ask what was going on.

‘What do I do if I meet her again later?’

While Min-jun was drying his hair with various worries in mind.

Bzzzz!

His phone screen vibrated, and a notification window appeared.

-A reward has arrived from Hero Agency, Hero Communications.

-Please access the Hero Communications application to check your reward.

“Hero Communications?”

Without even drying himself properly, he quickly took out his phone.

On the home screen, he noticed an application that had not existed until now.

-Hero Communications: Unchecked notifications 999+

When he casually launched it.

The screen that appeared immediately was, how should he put it?

It looked like a newly released social networking application.

-Hero Candidate Do Min-jun, welcome!

Somehow knowing his name, the screen displayed Min-jun’s name and began logging him in automatically.

-My Page: Unchecked notifications 14

-Trending Videos: Unchecked notifications 36

-Hero Network: Unchecked notifications 999+

-Hero Ticket Settlement: Unchecked notifications 55

-Spirit Channel: Unchecked notifications 999+

-Hero Guild: No current requests.

-Shopping: 3,000P owned

In the background of the screen, a video kept playing, like a famous Chinese social networking application.

‘That place can’t be…….’

There was no doubt.

The background was the jungle where he had been just moments ago.

The people moving around changed every time, but it was certain.

‘What is this?’

With confused thoughts, Min-jun first checked something called “My Page.”

-Grade: Candidate

-Hero Name: Undecided

-Level: 5

-Tier: Unranked

-Class: Cunning Assassin

-Completed Requests: 0

-Owned Items: 0

-Owned Videos: 9

-Available Points: 3,000P

There were more than one or two parts that bothered him, but Min-jun calmly went through them one by one.

‘Hero Name?’

When he selected Hero Name, a message appeared saying, “Once decided, a Hero Name cannot be changed.”

‘Is it like a nickname?’

Without much thought, Min-jun entered the nickname he usually used in games.

-Hero Name: Liz

‘It should be fine, right?’

Seeing the name decided without any discount or mercy, Min-jun moved on to the next item without thinking too much about it.

He skipped “Completed Requests” because it was unclear what it referred to.

‘Owned Items, Owned Videos?’

Without thinking, Min-jun touched the Owned Videos chart.

Nine videos appeared on the screen at once and began displaying familiar scenes.

They were all scenes from Min-jun’s memory.

“This is……!”

Each one was a neatly edited video of around ten minutes.

They appeared with mise-en-scène almost like a movie, and they all had one common character.

“That’s me, right?”

The appearance was different from his current one, but he knew the moment he saw it that it was himself.

‘Why is my appearance here?’

Surprisingly, they were all videos showing his exploits.

The moment he hunted a monster for the first time, the moment he seized the supply box.

Even the moment he tricked Yu A-yeong and seized first place.

In particular, a thirty-minute video edited together as a highlight showed an unrivaled number: “195 views.”

The other ones had around twenty at most.

‘No one said this kind of thing would be recorded, did they?’

Being recorded was not all. He was worried that they might be edited like movies and sold somewhere else.

Just looking at how the views already added up to several hundred, was that not the case?

It meant they were being supplied somewhere.

‘Why this…….’

The fact that someone could see those videos was a major problem.

If his personal identity was exposed, that would not be an ordinary matter.

The only fortunate thing was that the one in the videos was not his own appearance, but the “avatar’s appearance.”

‘At least I don’t have to worry about being doxxed from somewhere.’

There was no way anyone could identify him through those videos.

On top of that, he was already living something close to a shut-in junkie’s life, so he had nowhere to complain anyway. In other words, secrecy was guaranteed.

‘Finally, points…….’

Min-jun remembered the 3,000 points he had received for taking first place. He assumed that was what this meant.

-You will be moved to the Shopping tab.

A brief loading screen.

Soon, a list of products arranged in a row like an online shopping mall began appearing.

-Roulette

-Goods

Of the two divided tabs, the first thing his eyes went to was “Roulette.”

<Stage 1 Shop>

-Iron Roulette(50P)

-Bronze Roulette(150P)

-Silver Roulette(500P)

-Gold Roulette(1,000P)

-Open Stage 2 Shop(3,000P)

“Is that all?”

A guide message appeared saying, “Roulette contains elixirs that upgrade Classes, Traits, Skill Books, items, and more.”

‘So this is the side that helps with the game.’

The one Min-jun was truly interested in was the tab called “Goods.”

‘They said there was medicine that can cure disabilities.’

If the person called the Spirit of Wisdom had not lied, it would definitely exist.

Though he had no idea how it would be delivered and ended up in his hands.

-Cash

-Gems

-Medicines

-Magic Stones

-Spirit Mediums

“Medicines!”

Without giving anything else a glance, Min-jun selected the Medicines tab.

-Vitality Tonic 150ml(10P)

-Sleep-Wake Agent 150ml(10P)

-Selvier Concentrate 5ml(50P)

-Mandragora Extract 10ml(50P)

-…….

“What is this?”

They were ominous names, as if ancient alchemists would sell them.

When he touched the screen one by one, explanations appeared for what they were used for. Basically, they were medicines that helped with health and plants that cured diseases, but among them, there were some strange ones mixed in one by one.

<Red Belladonna Extract 10ml(500P)>

-Merely mixing one drop into water and making the target drink it will raise the target’s lust to the extreme. With a 10ml amount, it can easily turn even the heart of a monk into that of a rough beast, and from the odorless and tasteless drug, no sign whatsoever can be detected…….

“O-Oh.”

Min-jun quickly turned his eyes away from the explanation of “Red Belladonna Extract.”

Shocking.

‘What are they planning to do by selling something like this?’

He admitted it was definitely a drug that would sell well, but merely possessing that thing was a crime.

‘There must be bastards who lose their minds and buy something like that, right?’

Min-jun quickly scrolled down and began searching for the medicine he needed.

There had to be a medicine somewhere that healed disabilities.

“This is it!”

It finally entered his eyes.

He saw a blue crystal bottle that looked extraordinary at a glance.

<3.34% Diluted Elixir(3,000P)>

-Cures most illnesses possessed by the person who takes the medicine. It can produce clear improvement for a disability on the level of a severed finger.

“A minor disability?”

Min-jun looked down at his ankle and fell into thought.

Did this count as a minor disability?

No, there was no way.

It was not a finger. His whole damn ankle was gone.

‘Is there nothing else?’

-5% Diluted Elixir(6,000P)

-15% Diluted Elixir(30,000P)

-30% Diluted Elixir(90,000P)

-50% Diluted Elixir(???)

-100% Undiluted Elixir(???)

“No, this is insane…….”

He felt despair.

Since 3% simply cost 3,000 points, he had expected the price to rise by at least double each time it went up that much, but he had not expected it to leap endlessly like this.

“How good is something over 50% that the price isn’t even disclosed?”

Min-jun selected the 100% Undiluted Elixir.

And soon, he had no choice but to understand why its price was marked as “undisclosed.”

<100% Undiluted Elixir>

-This is the tear of you who looks down upon all things, the Spirit God, and the spring water that welled up when this world was first born.

It will even raise a corpse that has not been dead for long, grant a body that never ages for all eternity, and make even a mouthful of blood, a handful of flesh, and a piece of bone overflow with magic and blessing.

“……It deserves to be expensive.”

Min-jun was at a loss for words.

He did not know how elixirs were made, but he could tell at least that this was not simply a difference in concentration.

He thought that even if hundreds or thousands of 3% Diluted Elixirs were gathered, they would not be able to do anything to a single 100% Undiluted Elixir.

‘To think it really is the medicine of immortality I half-suspected.’

It was the moment he once again realized what kind of goods they were selling.

They were beyond the range of what could be recognized in reality. Things that had only been imagined actually existed.

‘A medically inexplicable medicine of eternal youth and immortality is being sold for real, even if it’s at an absurd price. What exactly does that mean?’

Min-jun thought for a moment.

‘It means anyone with ambition will aim for this.’

Even if they were not the First Emperor of Qin, if they kept stacking points like this, perhaps they might someday obtain that.

Even Min-jun himself was tempted, so what more needed to be said?

Eternal youth and immortality. That was truly humanity’s wish.

‘But what do I do about this?’

Min-jun was troubled.

Should he buy the 3% Diluted Elixir and gamble, or should he save more and buy the 15% Diluted Elixir?

‘The certain one is the 15%.’

The actual explanation for the 15% Diluted Elixir said, “Cures all illnesses and disabilities a human can possess.”

It was simple and hit hard.

“For now…… let’s wait and see a little.”

In the end, Min-jun postponed his choice.

There was no need to decide immediately anyway.

His 3,000 points would not run away just because he did not spend them right now.

For now, he intended to defer his choice and obtain a better result.

‘Asking on the internet would be too much, right?’

He would be lucky if he did not get cursed at for talking nonsense.

-An Administrator’s message has arrived.

Right then, a new notification arrived along with his phone vibrating.

“Administrator message?”

-The first-place special benefit, Diamond Roulette, has arrived. Please check it.

‘Diamond!’

Diamond Roulette.

Min-jun quickly returned to the Roulette shop window. It was to check how much the existing roulettes cost.

Iron Roulette was 50P, Bronze Roulette was 150P, Silver was 500P, Gold was 1,000P…….

‘They don’t even sell Diamond Roulette?’

Yes.

At the current stage, it was not sold.

Maybe it would be sold if he opened the next-stage shop.

‘I don’t know what’s what, but good is good.’

Min-jun cheered inwardly and selected the roulette with his finger.

They were giving it to him for free, and it was even an expensive item he could not buy right now. His joy was doubled.

-Will you open Diamond Roulette?

-YES/NO

Min-jun pressed the YES button without delay.

Flash!

That was when a white card appeared before his eyes.

“Uwaak!”

He had no choice but to scream. The card had surged out of the phone, as if breaking through the screen.

The card surrounded by white light spun round and round in the air, illuminating the dark room like broad daylight.

-Diamond Roulette has been used. May the Spirit of Luck smile upon you.

Flash!

Light burst out once again, and the contents of the card slowly appeared before his eyes.

-New Trait acquired.

-Class will evolve.

-Class Rank will increase.

“This is…….”

It was the moment Min-jun’s surroundings shook beyond his control.