Chapter 94

Chapter 93. Each One's Daily Life

A desolate room devoid of even the simplest of decorations.

From the TV, videos of the fifth floor being cleared and stories about Kang Jin-hyuk continuously played.

"Is it that guy again?"

Chun Yu-seong, sitting astride the bed, muttered to himself.

His mutterings, laced with complex emotions, carried multiple meanings.

One was the frustration that the gap between himself and the opponent he needed to surpass was not narrowing at all.

The other was the self-loathing for unknowingly imitating the opponent's sword skills.

'To learn the techniques of the one I most want to defeat...'

It was a kind of contradiction.

He never wanted to win through such a method.

But no matter how much he thought and thought again,

There seemed to be no way to close the gap without resembling the opponent.

Thus, the conclusion he reached was one.

To drink the nectar of victory, he had to discard his pride.

Clank.

The utensils on the table moved.

Chicken and pizza, cream shrimp and yangjangpi, and two bottles each of beer and soju.

All were the exact same menu that Jin-hyuk had prepared for his food broadcasts in the past.

And on the tablet PC at one corner of the table, videos of Jin-hyuk's past V-tube broadcasts were queued up.

[Hello, everyone! Today's content is 'Legend of Legends.' I'll show you how to get a 1:5 pentakill with Teemo. What? Teemo? If you think you can, try to counter it. I'll just stuff your nostrils with mushrooms.]

Lifestyle, behavior, eating habits, and even all the games and content he had done—

Chun Yu-seong, a medical student, would mimic and repeat everything.

Designing an efficient learning route was not a difficult task for him.

'The key in this video is Teemo, huh.'

[Hehehe?KHa?KHa?KHa! Don't ignore the rules of the scout! Captain Teemo!]

Teemo.

Teemo...

Chun Yu-seong, holding a Monami pen, scribbled in his notebook. He underlined it with a yellow highlighter and added a star as a bonus.

'I will... definitely win.'

Chun Yu-seong, taking a bite of chicken, immersed himself in the video with a determined look.

How many hours had passed?

Ding dong!

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

Ding dong! Ding dong! Ding dong!

Chun Yu-seong naturally intended to ignore it.

After all, the important thing right now was not some unknown visitor.

But.

When the front door was completely sliced off, he could no longer ignore it.

Clang!

A high-speed sword strike.

The cut edge of the metal glowed red hot.

And through the gap,

"Ha ha. I'll be a bit rude."

A smirking blonde foreigner appeared.

"What are you?"

"I have a real name, but you can just call me Gawain."

"Gawain?"

"Yes. That's what people usually call me."

Gawain shrugged.

Then he slowly scanned the place where Chun Yu-seong lived.

"Hmm. This is a bit unexpected. For someone like Unknown, this place is too small and cramped, isn't it? I didn't expect a five-star hotel, but I thought it would be a more dignified place than an office building."

Unknown?

'He suddenly appears and calls me Unknown?'

Chun Yu-seong tilted his head at Gawain's words.

'Could it be...?'

But he soon realized the whole story.

There was only one person in the world who could pull off such a prank.

"Kang Jin-hyuk, you son of a...!"

Chun Yu-seong couldn't finish his sentence.

"Hmm. Isn't this the time to be looking for someone else and being leisurely?"

The opponent, who had already drawn a sharp sword, approached with a smile.

***

At the same time.

In front of the Shinsegae Department Store in Yeongdeungpo, Jin-hyuk was moving his fingers vigorously.

"That's strange. Why do my ears feel itchy?"

It feels like a tiny earthworm is crawling around my eardrums.

"Of course, someone must be cursing you."

Ellis, standing next to him, had an expression as if he was asking something obvious.

"What? Who would curse me? Who lives as sincerely and diligently as I do?"

"Tsk tsk. I've never seen a more toxic vampire than you, and yet you can say such things."

Look at this.

You're really getting cocky now, aren't you?

"Shall we just go back? Spending the whole day in a dungeon would be more suitable for a rare break, don't you think?"

Jin-hyuk immediately tried to intimidate her.

Then Ellis's voice became sharp.

"Why are you bringing that up so cheaply!"

"Why bring it up? I have two favorite idioms. One of them is 'putting oneself in others' shoes,' which means to consider others' feelings before speaking."

"Putting oneself in others' shoes? You're the one who never thinks about others!"

Hmm.

Strangely logical.

You didn't live for thousands of years for nothing.

But, it doesn't matter.

"My next favorite idiom is 'double standards,' which means all these rules apply to everyone except me."

"That's not even an idiom!"

"It is if I like it."

What's an idiom anyway?

If the majority admires and empathizes with it, that's an idiom.

Just watch.

In 100 years, this will proudly appear in the civil service exam with Chinese characters.

"But this is a fair price I've earned. It's not right to use this to blackmail me cheaply..."

Ellis sometimes provided various information to Andrea, and in return, Jin-hyuk promised to let Ellis enjoy Seoul's cultural life.

The way a boss lives.

A boss's daily routine.

A boss's tone of voice, and so on.

It's a kind of 'Introduction to Boss Studies.' Ellis is like a professor teaching it.

"I'll make an exception this one time, so stop pouting. The number of employees I need to manage has increased, which is a headache."

He also needed to contact Kim Hee-woong, to whom he had entrusted the Black Crow Guild.

He had half-neglected it while focusing on climbing the tower and growing, but he should check it at least once.

"Really, you said I can shop as I like?"

"Yep. Do whatever you want, Ellis."

And he didn't realize how much he would regret those words at the time.

A little later.

Ellis, who entered the department store, started a rampage as if to release all the stress she had accumulated.

"I'll buy everything."

"Excuse me, everything...?"

The employee's eyes widened.

"Everything in this department store."

"Hey, you..."

Jin-hyuk barely held back the curses that rose from his throat.

What does this bat think money is?

Even if he sent his economic concept to Andromeda, this is treating money like a public good like air.

"Sir, I'm sorry, but even if you say that..."

"I always get what I want. Whether it's an object or a person, I don't discriminate."

Ellis casually waved her hand.

Then a golden mist swirled behind her.

Her personal subspace inventory was about to open.

Swish!

Coarse diamonds poured onto the glass shelves.

Even a layman in jewelry could tell they were extraordinary.

"Huh?"

The employee's eyes rapidly widened.

It couldn't be helped.

With the appearance of the Tower of Trials and the economic crisis, sales had plummeted.

He had been suffering from catering to small customers who made a big fuss over spending a few million won.

But now, a super VVVIP had appeared to easily trample all that.

Promotion? Bonus?

Those were not even issues.

'I have to catch this customer.'

Thus,

A god of wealth descended, who would be talked about in Yeongdeungpo's history for a long time.

"Please wait a moment! I'll call the branch... manager... right away!"

And he ran off somewhere at lightning speed.

On the other hand, Jin-hyuk pressed his temples with his index finger.

"If Korea collapses, it will probably be due to the inflation caused by your money-spending."

He had felt sorry for countries like Zimbabwe and Venezuela.

When he saw people pulling out wads of cash to buy a bottle of water, his eyes had reddened.

But now,

It turned out it wasn't someone else's problem.

There was a disaster right here that could create national-level inflation.

"Don't worry. I don't know what inflation is, but if it's a problem, I'll buy it too."

Sigh.

"I'll stop talking. I'll stop."

Talking any further would only be a loss for him.

***

After a fierce battle.

Jin-hyuk and Ellis found themselves at a fairly famous bar nearby.

Jin-hyuk, having ordered the most popular menu, checked the pending tasks while waiting for the food.

The most important thing was to allocate the stats gained from leveling up.

Ding!

The status window activated.

——————————————————

Name: Kang Jin-hyuk

Gender: Male

Age: 27

Level: 30

Strength 19 Agility 19 Vitality 19 Magic 74 Gap 100 Luck 10 Adaptive 78

Available Stat Points: 9

Available Coins: 1,283,288

Job: None

Unique Abilities: Fusion, Tomb of Swords, Blessing of the Stars, Anubis' Judgment, Blood Demon Qi, Mandala

Skills: Lv6 'Fire Element,' Lv5 'Greed's Eye,' Lv4 'Empathy,' Lv4 'Seal of Flame Soul,' Lv4 'Feast,' Lv4 'Shallow Breath,' Lv8 'Glacial Formation,' Lv4 'Daylight,' Lv1 'Giant's Grip,' Lv3 'Soul Chaser Sword,' Lv1 'Double Spy,' Lv1 'True Tai Qing Flower Heart Method,' Lv2 'Sword Demon Emperor Step,' Lv1 'Faint Scent,' Lv1 'Mental Barrier'

——————————————————

The adaptive stat gained from dealing with the cult leader and zealots was a whopping '68.'

And his level had increased by three.

'Even when I look back, it's an absurdly fast pace.'

Despite spending a month gathering gaps, it was an incredibly fast level-up speed.

Even the top players who were nurtured by the guild through exclusive dungeons and mob hunting were only in their 30s.

'Including stats, there's no player with better specs than me.'

With the knowledge and experience of a veteran, the gap would be even wider.

Good.

Jin-hyuk smiled contentedly.

It felt like all his hard work had been rewarded.

'I'll neatly set the stats to 20 and invest the rest in magic.'

[Strength increased from 19 to 20.]

[Agility increased from 19 to 20.]

[Vitality increased from 19 to 20.]

[Magic increased from 74 to 80.]

Whether it's an obsession or not, it feels good when the last digit is even.

Moreover, the video he uploaded this time seems to have a view count of at least 100 million, so using the 'Coin Exchange Coupon' will perfectly wrap it up.

At that moment,

"Customer at table 127. Your order is ready."

An employee appeared with a table full of food.

Two main dishes for snacks, two 500cc Hoegaarden beers, and ice water and various salads on the side.

"This is offal and salmon. You eat it like this. Watch carefully."

Jin-hyuk moved his chopsticks briskly.

The greasiness of the offal was perfectly balanced by the spicy sauce.

And when he ate the thick, fresh salmon with tartar sauce and plenty of onions, he couldn't help but exclaim.

This is something you can't help but drink to, even if you don't want to.

Ellis, who stuffed her mouth full, also sparkled her eyes.

"What... What is this meat? How can it taste like this...!"

Hmm.

How should I put it?

"It's shit."

"What?"

"It's a dish made from the cow's rectum."

"Don't... joke about it. I was enjoying it, and what kind of tasteless thing is that?"

"Have you ever seen me joke about what I eat?"

Ellis didn't take long to realize that Jin-hyuk's eyes were not joking.

And she soon fell into deep despair.

"I have to eat it. No, how can a noble eat... But the taste is... No, I can't. I can't. Ahh!"

Ellis wrestled with the offal for a long time, struggling.

While Ellis was despairing between her pride and appetite, Jin-hyuk...

'The mirror that breaks boundaries.'

He took out the special item he had obtained on the fifth floor.