Chapter 98

〈 Chapter 98 〉 Chapter 97 How to Steal a Woman (1-2)

‘…It won’t work, you said.’

[I apologize.]

Yes, even you must find it absurd….

In the center of the now quiet Colosseum, the fairy floating there smiled brightly and said,

“Come, come! Have you all calmed down a bit?”

“….”

None of the people here showed any signs of calming down.

They all trembled in fear, remaining silent.

The fairy cheerfully addressed the silent crowd,

“Lately, due to people not listening to us, we’ve been under a lot of stress, so we’ve been given a certain authority. That is….”

She slowly lifted her head, smiling wickedly,

“To blow off the heads of those who don’t listen. This is a new rule we’re implementing today. How does it sound? Hehehe!”

‘…What a bizarre coincidence….’

[It was information you couldn’t have known in the first place.]

‘Well, as long as I just behave, my head will be safe, right?’

I felt relieved and looked around.

Among those present, only a few, including myself, seemed to be maintaining their composure.

Two people caught my eye not far away.

A tall man, around 180 cm, and a woman with the proportions of an elf, around 170 cm.

The moment I saw the man, my anger boiled up.

‘Damn, why is he so good-looking? Is he crazy?’

He was undoubtedly the best-looking guy I had ever seen.

The Hero (whose name I can’t remember), Louise (whose name has changed), Chohyung (whose profile I only roughly sketched), and Asaiberry (who isn’t the protagonist).

I thought all of them had superior faces, but it was a mistake.

Whether objectively or subjectively, there might not be anyone who could match the appearance of the man standing there.

At that moment, I had a hunch.

‘…Armonia.’

[Yes.]

‘Check out this guy’s temperament.’

[…Master. It’s him.]

‘As expected.’

Whether it was good luck or bad, I managed to find the protagonist right from the start.

I don’t know what kind of coincidence it was, but I was summoned along with the protagonist of this world.

However, I had no information about his name, age, or abilities.

But I did learn one significant piece of information.

‘Damn, his girlfriend is so beautiful.’

[….]

A modern elf stood proudly beside the protagonist.

She maintained her composure even in this situation, which made her seem like a heroine.

Our eyes met as she was assessing the situation.

I didn’t avoid her gaze.

Showtime~

‘Armonia~ Temperament~’

[Understood.]

=======

Name: Min Hyeon

-Temperament-

[Martial Arts], [Calmness], [Concentration], [Pre-marital Chastity], [Cautiousness], [Valuing Trust], [Bookish]….

=======

Her temperament matched her appearance and behavior.

But as I kept looking at the temperament window, a sense of discomfort began to set in.

I immediately realized why I felt uncomfortable.

‘…Wait, Min Hyeon?’

[…? Do you know her?]

‘Oh… Shit, it seems so? Min Hyeon, the national archery representative of South Korea.’

She was a famous figure, known even to kindergarteners in Korea.

A woman with an overwhelming appearance and archery skills, she was recognized worldwide.

Even I, who spent my life at home playing games, knew about her.

I just didn’t pay much attention to reality.

I started to feel grateful to the absent Viola.

‘Wow, now that I’ve opened my eyes to reality, I realize there are so many beautiful women. It’s all thanks to Viola.’

[….]

‘Ah, sorry! Armonia, thank you too.’

[I don’t want to receive gratitude for such a thing.]

She’s so prickly….

Maybe she’s upset because I didn’t put her first.

Min Hyeon, who had been looking at me for a while, turned her head and started focusing on the fairy again.

But I didn’t take my eyes off her and continued to examine her temperament.

I found what I considered important.

‘Really, pre-marital chastity in this day and age… tsk tsk… the end times, the end times.’

[….]

First, I moved past the pre-marital chastity, and the other two were important.

Looking at those two temperaments, it seemed the protagonist had caused her a lot of trouble.

To feel boredom and disillusionment with such a good-looking guy.

‘Wow, it seems easy, but it’s not so easy.’

[Pre-marital chastity, if it’s written in the temperament, must be a really tough opponent.]

‘That’s right, it’s not just pretense.’

Sometimes when women say they are pre-marital chaste, it makes me laugh.

Why do they say such things….

But seeing it in her temperament, the feeling was completely different.

It was a perfect illustration of the difference between pretense and sincerity.

The fairy had been explaining things all along.

But most of what she said was already known to me through Armonia.

And the external elements were similar to the top-tier web games I knew.

But the serious problem was not with me.

‘No, how can you expect people who have never played games to proceed with just that explanation?’

The explanation was too inadequate.

It didn’t seem like something you’d give to someone whose survival was at stake.

The fairy, who had given a rough explanation, finally mentioned an important fact.

“Alright, you can now freely leave the Colosseum! But! I’ll give you a tip!”

“…?”

Everyone perked up their ears, ready to listen to the tip.

“This is a place for what? You don’t even know what this is! When you do, call us fairies! I’ll give you a tip! However… if you want a tip (TIP), you need to give a tip (points)!”

It wasn’t that calling for help in a dangerous situation would solve the problem.

If you had questions about the system of this Yggdrasil, you could get answers by giving corresponding points.

‘Shit… you have to pay every time you ask a question.’

Well, there are such crappy games…

While I was communicating with Armonia, the fairy clapped and gave her final greeting.

“Welcome to Yggdrasil once again! I hope you have a pleasant journey! I’m off to work!! Yay, early dismissal…”

With that, the fairy disappeared in a beam of light.

At the same time, a small hologram appeared in my field of vision.

-Channel Visitors: 1-

‘Wow, someone is watching me right now?’

[Yes. But since there’s no support and no attempt at conversation, it’s likely they just came out of curiosity.]

The gods whose souls were enshrined in Yggdrasil could observe and support the characters they wanted.

But she explained that there were many who came in and didn’t even support with a single point.

‘Damn… it must be a poor guy who came in.’

[Please don’t say that directly. They can observe all aspects of your life except for communication and inner thoughts.]

‘Yeah, I’ll be careful.’

I looked around.

People were murmuring and milling about.

Those who quickly figured out the system were forming parties.

And two particularly popular people…

The protagonist and Min Hyeon.

Women were flocking to the protagonist, and men were hovering around Min Hyeon.

Looking at them, my conclusion was…

‘…I’ll pass for now.’

[Do you plan to approach them later?]

‘Yeah, if I stick with them now, I’ll just be seen as one of the crowd.’

If I’m just one of the crowd, I won’t be remembered.

But if even one brain cell in my central nervous system stores the information, it could be problematic.

In top-tier games, it’s best to be unnoticed, whether good or bad.

I don’t know what talents the protagonist has, so I need to be cautious.

‘And it’s better to find a party outside.’

Without deciding on a job and forming a party, it’s likely to be abandoned.

I took a brisk step and headed out of the Colosseum.

As soon as I entered the passage leading out of the Colosseum, a blue pillar and a barrier suddenly formed around me.

The space was about 5 pyeong (16.5 square meters).

‘Ah, this is a personal space?’

[Yes. No one from the outside can intrude or see you here.]

You can’t activate it everywhere, but during long dungeon explorations, there are safe zones where you can activate personal space.

However, the restrictions vary by dungeon, so there are times when you can’t activate personal space.

In the center of the personal space, a long hologram list appeared.

I marveled at it.

‘Oh… more than I thought.’

The list was longer than expected.

And a noticeable recommended job.

-Alchemist-

‘…Wow! It looks good!’

[Since it’s the only recommended job, you should probably choose it right away. Job changes are possible later, but it’s a bit troublesome.]

You can change your job later, even if not immediately.

If you don’t become a mage right away, you can still change to one later if you accidentally gain magic power while climbing Yggdrasil.

There must be a reason for the recommendation.

‘Job… Alchemist.’

I pressed my finger on the word "Alchemist" to choose my job.

The list disappeared!

…Nothing happened.

‘Really, nothing special. Did it change?’

[Yes, it has changed.]

‘…’

Then a strange hologram appeared.

-Sungsho-

Job: Terrible Alchemist

Skills: [Alchemy LV 1], [Manufacturing Codex], [Material Conversion LV 1]

A modest title and modest level skills were listed.

‘…Really modest.’

[But it’s a recommendation, so it must be…]

As Armonia was about to continue,

Armonia couldn’t finish her sentence.

The information in the status window had changed.

-Sungsho-

Job: Advanced Alchemist

Skills: [Alchemy LV 48], [Manufacturing Codex], [Material Conversion LV 1]

‘…Great recommendation.’

[Material Conversion doesn’t seem to have received any buffs. Why only Alchemy…]

‘Maybe Alchemy is about precisely combining materials, so that’s why it’s like this.’

Combining means mixing, and since hands are the main tool, that’s probably why it’s like this.

A piece of paper floated in the place where the list had disappeared.

At the top center of the paper, only the word -Blessing- was written.

When I picked up the paper, a long hologram appeared before my eyes.

-Usage-

This paper is for writing blessings in Yggdrasil.

The usage method is….

(omitted)

The paper contained the usage method of the blessing, as Armonia had explained.

It also mentioned that if you don’t have enough points to apply the blessing, the writing will disappear and you can write it again, so don’t worry.

In other words, you can keep writing to check how many points it costs.

‘For now, I’ll think more about the blessing before using it.’

[But be careful. Some people lose their lives before the 3rd floor because they didn’t write a blessing.]

I wanted to suffer early for the sake of the future, but many people die early without the effect of the blessing, she explained.

As I fiddled with the blessing note, another hologram appeared.

-Recommended Blessings-

*10% increase in Alchemy experience.

*10% increase in Material Conversion experience.

*5% increase in success rate when activating Alchemy.

..

..

Most were intuitive, such as experience increases and probability boosts.

‘Recommended… I should consider these. Is everything done now?’

[Yes. Your personal space will be deactivated soon.]

‘Let’s go! Hurry up!’

..

..

As soon as I finished speaking, the blue barrier disappeared, and I was standing outside the Colosseum.

Looking around, the people who were inside were already out, chatting noisily.

The town looked similar to the first town I visited in Viola, Krel.

It looked like a village but had a considerable size.

I stretched and communicated with Armonia.

‘Grrrr!! So, what should I do now?’

[Oh my… Just at that moment…]

‘…? Armonia?’

Armonia suddenly became quiet and said something incomprehensible.

Worried about Armonia, I asked,

‘What’s wrong? Is there a problem?’

[Master, this opponent…]

‘Oh? Did you find something out?’

She suddenly seemed to have information about the protagonist.

Maybe she received information from Zodiac.

But Armonia explained in a difficult tone.