Chapter 14

Chapter 14

[Episode 03] Bus (4)

[Skill Book: Fireball] -Item Grade: 「Normal」 -Use Effect: Acquire skill ‘Fireball’

Checking, it was really that skill book.

‘Was it 14 billion?’

An enormously large amount of money.

But I had no intention of selling at all.

‘This I must use myself.’

Just after riding the bus earlier.

Honestly, if I had just a bit more money, I would have purchased the skill book on the spot.

Because, Fireball.

Isn’t it a skill any Mage would covet?

It was also the skill representing Sara Bennett, a famous Mage YouTuber and [Normal] grade Mage ranking 1st.

A skill anyone who dreams of being a Mage wants.

[Will you use ‘Skill Book: Fireball’?] [YES/NO]

‘Yes.’

Woom—

[You have acquired the skill ‘Fireball’.]

As soon as acquiring the skill, immediately,

“Fireball.”

Uttered the activation words.

Just in time, the remaining skeletons were gathering toward me.

An optimal situation to test the newly obtained skill.

Flar—

Bright red flames soared from the tip of the [Lightning Staff].

Flames swirling and converging to one place soon completed a round fireball form.

Up to here 2 seconds.

A much shorter delay than Energy Blade.

It was not for nothing that all Mages preferred this skill.

However, it was not over yet.

‘A bit more.’

Fireball is a skill that can be charged.

It can be shot immediately in this state, or by pouring more mana, it is also possible to exert powerful firepower.

I chose to pour mana.

Flar—

Sucking in the flames soaring around the staff at a frightening momentum, gradually increasing in size.

‘To the maximum.’

A little past 10 seconds.

Eventually a basketball-sized mass was completed, and

Baaang―!

Shot forward along with recoil.

And.

Kwaaaaang!

That power was true to its name.

[You have defeated the Skeleton.] [You have defeated the Skeleton.] [You have defeated the Skeleton.]

······ ······

An explosion that swallowed dozens of skeletons in one shot.

Although my Mana was on the absurdly high side, it was hard to imagine as the power of a Level 1 skill with not even one Skill Point invested.

Flar—

‘...So this is why they say don’t charge in narrow places.’

A cavity wide enough to accommodate hundreds of skeletons.

An environment closer to a large cave than the inside of a dungeon, with a very high ceiling.

If I had charged Fireball in a narrow corridor or stone chamber like on the lower floors, the caster would also have been caught up in the aftermath of the explosion.

‘Mana consumption is no joke.’

Currently I could shoot 14 Energy Bolts at the same time.

Thanks to steadily choosing Mage in the Tutorial until now.

But when charging Fireball to the end, it consumed more mana than when shooting 14 Energy Bolts at once like that.

But.

‘That much, the power is certain.’

If I didn’t have Lightning Strike and Chain Lightning, wouldn’t I have invested all Skill Points into Fireball.

The fact that the price was 14 billion was understood at once.

Naturally, greed arises.

‘I wish a few more appeared.’

Immediately cleared the 14th Floor two more times.

However, regrettably, the skill book did not drop.

‘Yes. If it came out that easily, it wouldn’t have been expensive either.’

After that, quickly cleared the remaining dungeons.

And finally.

[You have cleared the Rare Dungeon (11th Floor).] [Salvation Points are being settled.]

Succeeded in clearing the [Rare] grade 11th Floor solo without any information.

Checking the smartphone, it was 6:12.

Even while investing stats into Strength, Agility, and Stamina and optimizing the clear route to reduce time, it was ending later and later.

Especially what took long was the [Unique] grade dungeon.

This guy, even though detailed strategies were written, had to invest the longest time.

Vicious difficulty to that extent.

Without the strategy book Shim Kang handed over, I wouldn’t have even thought of challenging.

‘Still, the speed at which Salvation Points gather is enormous.’

[Salvation Points]: 6,861

Especially the presence of the 14th Floor cleared today was very large.

Originally not something to catch, catching all hundreds of skeletons, suddenly earning Salvation Points in the thousands.

Moreover, the dungeon structure was not complicated, so the clear didn’t take that long either.

It was the optimal place for earning Salvation Points for me.

‘Was the [Emergency Escape Right] price 30,000 points?’

First, the goal was to gather that much.

Because that way, when the [Emergency Escape Right] appeared in the vending machine, I would be able to purchase it.

‘Parking some floors entirely on the 14th Floor wouldn’t be bad either.’

While having such thoughts.

KakaoTalk!

“Eh?”

Since it was a phone that didn’t ring except for contacts notifying hospital reservation times, I checked curiously.

[Add Friend] [Block] [Report]

(!) A user not registered as a friend. Please be careful not to suffer damage due to monetary demands, etc. [Jeong Ha-eun: Jaehyun-ssi!] [Jeong Ha-eun: You can come by 7 o’clock!] [Jeong Ha-eun: (Motungi Hanwoo address)] [Jeong Ha-eun: (thumbs up cat emoticon)]

“Ah, right.”

I had completely forgotten while concentrating on the dungeon clear.

Quickly showered and changed clothes.

Now gradually trying to go out, Dad’s triumphant voice was heard.

Since matching Strength, Agility, and Stamina to 100, even conversations in the living room could be heard as if speaking right next to me.

“So I succeeded in averaging down at the lowest point? Thanks to the stock price recovering at once, the loss was also somewhat filled...” “Honey, what is averaging down?” “That is when you take a loss, additionally buying stocks to fill the loss, and this time as the stock price sharply recovered...” “Where does your money come from?” “I sold the guitar on Carrot. What’s important now is not that—” “That expensive guitar? Didn’t you say a friend temporarily entrusted it?” “······.”

To help Dad who kept stepping on mines, I went out to the living room.

“Mom. I’ll go out.” “Out? At this time? Dinner?” “Company dinner with party people.” “Really?”

Mom got up from the sofa and saw me off to the front of the door.

“Did the doctor say it’s okay to drink alcohol too?” “Probably it will be fine? But I won’t drink, so you don’t have to worry.” “Really? Have fun and play well.”

For some reason, Mom’s expression looked the best mood among the expressions I had seen recently.

***

Company dinner.

This kind of meal gathering itself was the first experience.

‘Something I only saw in dramas.’

If finding a somewhat similar experience, about the degree of receiving birthday congratulations all together in the hospital room when occasionally hospitalized?

Or the degree of eating snacks while watching the World Cup or Olympics all together with hospital people.

‘But is this the right place...?’

I checked the address in the smartphone once more.

GPS was accurately pointing to this place.

It seemed there was a meat restaurant inside this building.

Checking the address carefully, it was written as the 16th floor.

Carefully taking the elevator and going up.

“?”

A dead end came out.

No, precisely a bookstore? Study?

If it wasn’t a familiar face sitting at a small table reading a book, I would have turned back as is.

Jeong Ha-eun who discovered me waved her hand happily and said.

“Jaehyun-ssi! You came right on time!” “Ah, yes. But... did I find the right place?” “It doesn’t seem like a meat restaurant, right? I was also surprised when I first came.”

Jeong Ha-eun nodded as if knowing everything and approached toward the study.

And pulled one of the books.

Then.

Click—

Rumble—

Along with a grand sound, a secret door opened.

“Wow.”

Inside, a secret place with a luxurious feeling overflowing popped out.

The night city was sparkling brightly through the floor-to-ceiling windows, and tableware was prepared on an expensive-looking solid wood table.

Is this a company dinner?

I haven’t even seen this kind in dramas.

Seo Tae-woong who was sitting first waved his hand toward me and said.

“You’re here. Our lucky customer.” “How is it? Amazing, right?” “Completely. I’m seeing this kind for the first time.”

Soon after, the full-scale course started.

“These are the raw meats that will be the main of today’s course. The first part to eat is the deep-flavored salchisal...”

The chef directly explained about the ingredients and cooked them in front of the eyes and put them on the plate.

I noticed belatedly.

‘So this is that. Omakase.’

The first dish had something like sea urchin roe on top of lightly grilled meat, and following the chef’s recommendation, I wrapped it in seaweed and ate it.

At the same time as lightly chewing, both eyes opened wide.

Not an exaggeration, because I felt the illusion that the meat was really melting in my mouth.

“Does it suit your taste a bit?”

To Seo Tae-woong’s words, I nodded madly.

He showed a satisfied smile and said.

“Please enjoy deliciously.”

After that, just listening to the chef’s explanation and enjoying the food, time flowed busily.

When eating the main dish, some champagne was also opened, and since Seo Tae-woong poured it directly, I lightly took a sip.

‘It’s delicious?’

They said alcohol is bitter, but it seemed like a somewhat sweet taste with a fruit aroma.

When I came to my senses, all courses had already ended and Jeong Ha-eun asked me for my impressions.

“How was it?” “Among the beef I’ve eaten so far, it was the most delicious. Melting meat in the mouth was really possible.”

Even I who was a picky eater could feel that this was somehow a different level.

I asked Seo Tae-woong who was making a proud expression next to me.

“But how much is this place?” “About 300 came out for the five of us.” “Heok.” “Because of the alcohol price, if excluding champagne it’s about 200.”

At a price more than imagined, a heok sound came out naturally.

Still...

‘I should bring Mom and Dad once next time.’

Especially since Mom likes beef, I wanted to buy it for her even if straining.

‘Is it not particularly straining either?’

Currently, over 200 million was sleeping in my bankbook balance.

Among that, 2 million was only 1%.

It doesn’t even reach the liver.

‘Let’s make a reservation right away.’

When returning home, I was thinking of asking Mom and Dad’s schedules and immediately setting a dinner schedule.

“Then I ate well today.”

Bowing my head to Seo Tae-woong and trying to catch a taxi going home.

“Aren’t you going to the second round?” “Second round?” “Let’s quietly talk a bit at a place like a wine bar. There’s also the matter of this skill book reward.”

Actually, more than the reward, the word second round was more exciting.

“I’ll go!”

Going to the wine bar, I was able to hear various industry-related stories.

“The reason the contract conditions are good? That’s because the number of Explorers who broke through the filter is extremely limited. The number of Explorers who reached the 11th Floor would be less than 1% of all Explorers. That much, the body price has no choice but to be expensive.” “That much?” “That much. Especially Mages are more precious. Because firepower is good, they are essential in parties, but they all don’t think of coming up from the 3rd Floor. Won.”

Seo Tae-woong whose words increased as alcohol entered.

Seeing this appearance after only seeing the serious and taciturn appearance every day was new.

Knowing a bit more about this person, I naturally felt a bit more familiar.

“So speaking of which, do you have any thoughts of formally joining our party? If it’s a person like Jaehyun-ssi, welcome anytime.”

Like that, while talking for a long time, when he left for the bathroom.

“It seems the team leader likes Jaehyun-ssi quite a lot.” “...Did I do something?”

I hadn’t used magic even once while riding the bus.

Jeong Ha-eun smiled and told the answer.

“During the last dungeon clear today, you didn’t go out alone and were holding the wand, right? In case a dangerous situation came, to help.”

“Ah...” “Usually when this kind of case happens, they just leave. But Jaehyun-ssi didn’t do that. I think that point was liked.”

It was then.

Baek Ji-hoon with a serious expression handed over the phone and said.

“Ha-eun-ah, look at this a bit.” “What is it?”

From the smartphone he handed over, a familiar voice was heard.

[Currently Korea is in a very dangerous situation. In the 50th Floor clear a few days ago, our party failed, and only 4 out of 8 were able to barely come back alive.]

As the YouTube video continued, Jeong Ha-eun’s expression hardened stiffly.

***

Kim Jaehyun’s dad, Kim Dong-han, stared at the TV with a stiffly hardened expression.

[Breaking news. Unique-grade Explorer of the Republic of Korea Shim Kang-ssi conducted a shocking exposé on YouTube...]

Clatter—

A spoon with rice grains stuck fell powerlessly onto the dining table.

© Araman#1683j