青苹果乐园影院

Chapter 46 - Dragon’s Yeouiju (1)

-You have earned 1 Intermediate Agility Potion as a bonus for today’s login.

It was a bright Friday morning on the day of the gate practice. Kang Shin-hyuk, who had continued to refine his mind until he went to bed, was suddenly distracted by seeing the log in bonus.

“Agility potion? Administrator, does drinking that increase your agility?”

-Unfortunately, it is not a permanent increase. It will amplify your agility by two levels for thirty minutes.

“Even a temporary effect is great.” The administrator informed him that the lower level potion could be purchased as a basic item from the transaction board, as an item sold by the Hero Universe itself. Even a one-level increase would be great, but the price was 100,000 HP, so he decided to give it up. Today’s bonus was an absurd enough win.

-Do note that it will only go so far as SS rank, given it is an intermediate potion.

“An intermediate potion covers up to SS?” As far as Shin-hyuk knew, there were rare cases where a skill or status would exceed the S rank. If one did, it was enough for one to be considered a top ranker. How could any potion that pushes someone up to an SS rank not be advanced?

“How many levels does the status go up to…” Currently, he had: Strength B-, Agility B+, Health B, Spiritual Strength B-. Now all of his physical statuses had entered the B rank since his second trait evolution, but now he suddenly felt pathetic. Even Shin Eunah, who Kang Shin-hyuk dared not compare himself to, was treated as a newcomer to the Hero Universe. The administrator sent another message as if shaking his head.

-You will surely reach that far someday.

“Is that really true…”

-Of course. As soon as the synchronization rate reaches 20% and the second VIP privilege is released, the chance you’ll receive a growth-speed buff from the log in bonus will increase.

Shin-hyuk could easily count the number of times he had received it so far. If he could get that buff more often, however, that would be great for his training.

-In addition to that, there will be a status growth potion among the basic items on the trading board. It can be applied with the growth rate buff to increase its efficiency.

“What’s the price?”

-As a special reminder, the price of a lower potion that will increase your growth rate by 30% for a day is 300,000 HP.

He knew it. Even after he restored some of his VIP rights and recovered a lot of HP, it seemed like so little now. There was the issue that he also wanted to purchase more inventory space and consumables like the Eiren Jelly. There were also metallurgic materials and unknown conveniences that he might need to spend HP on.

“I have to make weapons and sell them quickly.”

-100HP bonus for members!

“Yes, thank you.” At the administrator’s usual bonus, he quickly expressed gratitude. He finished getting ready before giving breakfast to Onyx and heading off to eat at the dorm restaurant himself. Originally, he would train in the morning after breakfast, but he didn’t have the time today. It was the day of the gate practice, and they were supposed to gather right at 7 AM after arming themselves.

“Shin-hyuk!”

“Oh.” He met up with Baek In-ha, who was enjoying a nice meal full of popular Korean ingredients.

“Today is perfect Korean cuisine.”

“We always eat this kind of food, even though Western cuisine is popular here.”

“I think it’s a conspiracy to make the Korean students outperform the international ones.” Of course, other national cuisines were also prepared for students. But even most of the international students were eating Korean dishes. As they considered this, they could feel the presence of another person approach them. It was none other than their assistant, Do Woojin.

“Sit next to me.”

“Yeah.” Do Woojin’s meal consisted of much the same, although it was meager compared to Shin-hyuk’s large portions.

“Why are you eating so much this early? Did you forget about practice?”

“Because we have practice we should eat more. Besides, to eat like this outside of campus you’d have to pay a lot more. Eat when you can.” Do Woojin shook his head and sat down.

“The captain asked about you.”

“Captain…Douglas Payne?”

“I asked him what the hell he wanted from me after kicking me out of the second building.” He made an unpleasant expression as he popped a steamed egg in his mouth.

“I answered like that, but sooner or later they’ll probably take direct action.”

“Is it really something to get that upset about?”

“Well…” Do Woojin hesitated, chewing on some fried sprouts before letting out a sigh.

“You may not know this from Stringfield, but the captain wants to make the vice-captain his girl. Since, the first man the vice-captain has shown interest in is you, naturally, he’s interested in who you are. At least, that’s the word around.”

“So he seriously wants to deal with me because of that?”

“That’s the kind of person he is. It’s like he’s from some book.” Do Woojin made a face as he considered Shin-hyuk and Baek. Baek was looking between the two.

“What. Why. What?”

“Doesn’t the vice-captain usually scout out and hire talented newcomers?”

“That’s why it’s a mess. The vice-captain is famous for having a good sense for a person’s ability.” Kang Shin-hyuk listened to him as he continued to eat the food before him. Do Woojin seemed a little upset at least in part by that.

“The captain didn’t seem to notice that, though, which must be annoying for you because you heard the vice-captain was interested in you.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“It doesn’t really matter. This stuff is happening because of you, regardless of whether you did something wrong or not.” It bothered him to be surrounded by this, but he figured he could at least look after them since they would be in the dungeon together. But he honestly felt that he would rather them take care of it on their own. All he did was eat the muffin Eleanor gave him.

“Anyway…be careful.”

“Thank you for worrying about me.”

“Hmph.” Do Woojin pretended like he wasn’t worried and just ate his rice. Kang Shin-hyuk smiled as he emptied the remaining rice on his plate as well. Baek was eating at the fruit he had for dessert.

***

7 AM. All 1st-year students had gathered in their groups in the grand courtyard. They listened to a brief speech from the principal and were now on their way to their assigned gate with their supervisor. There were a total of seventy-five groups and a total of three-hundred people, including eight classes from the Knight Department and two from the Magic Department. The only one entering Crow’s Nest, however, was Group 7 of C Class.

“Morning.”

“Hello.” Kang Shin-hyuk, who had arrived with Do Woojin and Baek In-ha, greeted Karen, who was looking particularly good. She tilted her at the three approaching.

“When did you get so close?”

“We just ate rice together.”

“Alright? Anyway, Shin-hyuk, come to our barbecue party this Sunday. Free unlimited meat!”

“I’m not going.”

“Why?!” She let out a yell but surprisingly, Do Woojin moved up to side with her.

“It might be better to join us if you want to avoid all this bothersome work.”

“Hey, then I would be confronted in earnest. That would be more troublesome…”

“Is there a problem here?” As Shin-hyuk refuted him, a voice popped out from behind them. At the same time, everything became noisy.

“It’s the Empress!”

“She’s real!”

“That’s the special forces.”

“How did they get that person to become their supervisor?”

Shin-hyuk turned around to see the figure of Shin Eunah, the grand-daughter of Anvil, emitting the chill of absolute zero through her golden eyes.

“Is someone picking on Kang Shin-hyuk? Who dares?” She looked straight at Do Woojin as she asked this, which was scary to me even on the sideline.

“Well, uh…that’s…”

“It’s nothing serious, just a petty dispute.”

“…” Do Woojin was embarrassed by her unflinching gaze, so Shin-hyuk intervened quickly. Shin Eunah’s eyes became a little gentle.

“A trivial dispute…alright. But if there is anything unreasonable happening, please consult with me. I will take formal action through the principal.”

“Okay.” Was she the principal now? Even if he woke up from death, he would never consult Shin Eunah.

“I’ll always be around so that nothing happens to Shin-hyuk!”

“Alright. Now, everyone. Head this way.” She responded coldly to Baek, who was trying to score points and lead the group to line up. A total of seventy-five groups were lined up side-by-side.

“Look over there.”

“It’s the Thunder Empress.”

“Pretty…”

“I’m sorry…”

She wore a plain black suit, but her luminous beauty was enough to attract attention. Exclamations erupted among the people who saw her, but she was staring straight ahead without paying it any mind. The atmosphere didn’t change at all during the principal’s admonition, but immediately after the training session started, she turned around and let out a brief shout.

“Start!” The command rang out amongst all of those gathered, but especially in Kang Shin-hyuk’s ears. That was because of the ear microphones that each member of his group was wearing.

“Where’s that group going?”

“I’m envious.”

Groups rushed forward as if they were competing, but Shin Eunah let their group without the worry of the surrounding atmosphere. That attitude of always maintaining one’s own pace was something Kang Shin-hyuk wanted to learn.

“When superhumans engage in gate operations, there are two ways they move. The first is in an emergency dispatch due to an irregular gate. The second is in a general dispatch. In the case of the second, there is no problem in taking any mode of transportation so long as you’re not late.” Shin Eunah quickly explained to the group as she led them off of the school grounds.

“For an emergency dispatch, all available means must be used to arrive at the meeting point as quickly as possible. The state will even compensate for damage to public or private properties due to the activation of abilities. Then, with that, we will carry out an emergency call.”

“Yes?” Shin Eunah disappeared from the spot without giving them a chance to ask what she meant. Immediately afterward, Shin-hyuk’s stick rang with a notification. She sent him a map with the location of the meeting point.

“Then, I’ll go too!”

“Oh, you bastard!”

“Me too!” Baek In-ha quickly recognized the situation and ran. Karen bolted after him, leaving only Shin-hyuk and Do Woojin facing each other. Do Woojin already knew he would be the last to arrive.

“See you later.”

“Fuck!” Shin-hyuk also hit the ground running, exerting his spiritual power to the max to increase his speed. His D rank regenerative power would keep his muscles from fatiguing.

“What are you, Shin-hyuk?!”

It didn’t take long for him to catch up to Karen, who was running to her fullest. She let out a shout of fear as she noticed him passing her.

“Why are you faster than me?!”

“Well…” At the athletic meet, he had heard her agility was B rank. Now, he was B+, thanks to the rapid growth of his second awakening. That wouldn’t have been enough to compete with her ability, but he had his own spiritual power.

“A scam! You’re a scam!”

“See you later!”

“Ahhhh!” Shin-hyuk leisurely overtook her as she angrily sped up.

The practice had already begun.