Chapter 13

I Became a Newbie Favored by the Transcendents Chapter 13

Sizzle...!

Meat cooking deliciously on the grill.

And not just any meat, but 1++ ribeye cap that cost nearly 50,000 won per serving.

“...What are you doing?”

As I earnestly grilled the beef with tongs.

My sister, sitting across from me, glared with narrowed eyes.

Look at her, showing that kind of attitude toward someone buying her expensive meat...

“If you have a problem with it, pick up the tongs yourself. Let’s see how well you can grill.”

“No, that’s not the problem... This is the restaurant you said you reserved?”

My sister broke into a cold sweat after seeing the prices written on the menu.

She must have been seriously intimidated, because she hadn’t even touched the meat on the small plate in front of her.

“I told you. It’s been a while, so let’s eat something expensive and live like human beings for once.”

“Th-this isn’t just a little expensive, though? I thought we were just going to that conveyor-belt sushi place up front.”

“Conveyor-belt sushi, my ass. You have to eat at least some beef if you want to brag somewhere that you properly greased your stomach.”

“...Hey, I don’t have money.”

“Good grief, I’m paying, so stop worrying about useless things and just eat the meat.”

The moment I said that, my sister’s eyes widened.

“You’re paying?! An unemployed guy has money!”

“Unemployed? Watch your words.”

“...Ah, sorry. Should I call you a youth taking a career break?”

“I got a job, idiot.”

Unemployed Park Junbeom?

He was dead.

From now on, I was Park Junbeom, earning an annual salary of 20 billion won.

“What? You got a job?!”

My sister reacted even more strongly than when I said I was buying the meat.

Even as I coolly ate the meat, I didn’t miss the corner of her mouth twitching.

Her way of speaking might have been rough, but she probably couldn’t hide her happiness at hearing that I had finally ended my unemployed life.

For some reason, my heart warmed too―

“That’s a relief, seriously. So even a problem child like you eventually gets a job... Congratulations, little brother.”

“...”

I barely resisted the urge to smack her once with the tongs.

“So? What kind of company is it?”

“Just. A small trading company.”

I casually lied and picked up a piece of meat to eat.

At first, I had considered honestly telling her that I had awakened as a Player.

But I concluded that I had to hide it.

‘If I tell her the truth, she’ll obviously go ballistic asking if I’ve lost my mind.’

Considering what our family had gone through, there was no way I could tell her honestly.

It had only been two years since Mom and Dad passed away in the outbreak and my sister’s legs were ruined.

After going through that kind of hell, I tell my sister I became a Player who risks his life fighting monsters?

...If I wasn’t careful, she might cut ties with me for life.

And for starters, I didn’t want to give her unnecessary things to worry about either.

‘I should look into ways to operate while hiding my identity too.’

If I continued working as a Player, whether I liked it or not, there was a high risk of my identity becoming publicly exposed.

Just imagining myself desperately making excuses to my sister when that happened made my head ache.

I’d talk to the director about that later.

“Ah, right. And a package should be delivered to your house soon.”

“A package?”

I pulled up the shopping mall screen on my phone and showed it to my sister.

“A-are you crazy...! What the hell is this?!”

My sister opened her mouth wide without even swallowing the meat in it.

Well, considering what I had ordered, it wasn’t unreasonable for her to be shocked.

“Th-this is the newest walker model! H-how much... two million won?!”

“You missed a zero.”

“Did you seriously get shot in the head?! Even if you got a job...!”

“It’s fine. I bought it on a 36-month interest-free installment plan.”

In reality, I had boldly paid for it in full.

But her reaction was so intense that a lie slipped out before I knew it.

“Hey, even if it’s installments, the money going out every month... No, why the hell did you even buy this! The one I’m using now works perfectly fine!”

“Perfectly fine, my ass. It’s completely worn out, the battery dies all the time, and the noise is no joke either.”

“...”

Can’t say anything after getting hit with facts, can you?

The noise problem aside.

Even because of the battery that died in less than two hours, she needed to throw away the walker she was using now.

She already lived alone without me around.

What if she went out somewhere and the walker battery died?

Just thinking about it made me anxious.

“...Tell me honestly. Saying you joined a trading company was a lie, wasn’t it?”

“What?”

“Seeing you suddenly throw money around like this, I think you got into somewhere much bigger. Yeah. Something related to the government, for example...”

What?

There’s no way this person is this perceptive.

“Right. I got it! You’re an agent for the National Intelligence Service, aren’t you!”

“...”

“I saw it on Shorts. Getting a job at a trading company is a classic cover story NIS agents use to hide their identity...”

“Just eat your meat.”

Whew.

_______________

After that, my sister and I demolished six servings of meat and even had plenty of coffee afterward.

By the time we came out of the café, the sun was already slowly setting.

There wasn’t really anything else to do, so it was time to part ways.

While walking her home, my sister suddenly tapped me on the back.

“I ate well today. I don’t even remember how long it’s been since I put beef in my mouth.”

“Don’t mention it. Next time, I’ll take you to fine dining, so look forward to it.”

“...I appreciate the thought, but even if you got a job, don’t throw money around. Save some.”

Hmm, that was definitely reasonable advice.

If I weren’t actually filthy rich with an annual salary of 20 billion won.

As we walked down the street chatting about this and that.

The run-down neighborhood scenery, where even the streetlights were dim, stood out unusually clearly to me today.

Some lunatic nearby seemed to be drunk out of his mind, because I could hear someone vomiting.

And every alley we passed emitted an unidentified fishy stench that struck my nose.

‘What a shitty neighborhood every time I see it.’

The sanitation was trash. The scenery was trash. And the public safety went without saying.

It was a rough neighborhood in many ways for my sister to live in alone.

No matter how much I thought about it, I should be staying by her side...

But she would definitely say no.

My sister was the one who kicked me out before when I said I would give up on living independently.

She said she would rather die than hold her little brother back by making him take care of her.

‘It’ll probably be faster to change her house than break her stubbornness.’

The signing bonus I had already received was 5 billion won, and from now on, I was going to receive four times that as an annual salary.

With that much money, I could easily get my sister out of this garbage neighborhood and still have plenty left.

...Clatter!

“Ah!”

While I was busily making moving plans in my head.

I suddenly heard my sister cry out behind me.

Startled, I turned around and saw her fallen on the ground.

“Ow...”

Fuck, what happened now?

I hurried over to her.

Blink, blink.

The power indicator on the walker attached to my sister’s legs was flashing red.

Damn it, so that’s why she fell...

“Didn’t you charge the battery beforehand?”

“No, I did... Maybe because we stayed out for so long. It drained fast.”

“Good grief, this is why you shouldn’t use outdated machines. See? Aren’t you glad I bought you the newest model?”

“Ah, damn it. What does that make me if you say it like that?”

I chuckled and turned my back toward my sister.

Meaning, get on.

“Hey, forget it. Just support me a little. Why are you making such a huge fuss?”

“If you don’t want a piggyback, then crawl.”

“Damn it, the first man’s back I ride at this age has to be yours.”

Complaining about everything under the sun, my sister obediently climbed onto my back.

I carried her straight up the hellish uphill road.

If this had been me a few days ago, I would have been panting.

But now I was awakened. This much didn’t even make me sweat.

By the time we finished climbing the hill and reached her house.

“...This is kind of embarrassing.”

“Seriously. How many times are you going to complain just because your little brother gave you a piggyback―.”

“No. That’s not what I mean. You’re a proper working adult now, but your older sister feels like she can’t even pull her own weight.”

“...”

For a moment, the words caught in my throat, so I just quietly went inside.

Then I tossed my sister onto the bed.

“Thanks for carrying me, but couldn’t you put me down a little more gently?”

“I hope you lose some weight before the next time we meet.”

“If you’re going to talk bullshit, get lost and prepare for work.”

Leaving my sister behind as she raised her middle finger, I was just about to open the front door.

“If.”

A question suddenly escaped my mouth before I even realized it.

“If you could walk again, what would you do first?”

“Huh? Why are you suddenly asking that?”

“No reason. I’m just curious.”

“It’s meaningless anyway, so why are you curious about something like―.”

“Ah, forget it. Just answer me.”

I looked my sister directly in the eyes and asked.

“Would you start track and field again?”

I think I mentioned it before, but my sister had originally been a track athlete.

Running was the one talent of hers even I acknowledged.

But when her legs necrotized during the outbreak two years ago, she lost that one talent too.

God sure is cruel.

If it were an arm, maybe, but taking the legs from a runner?

My sister thought for a moment, then opened her mouth.

“Well... it’s too late to return to being an athlete now. I’ve lost a lot of my feel for it, and the muscles in my legs have wasted away too.”

“Then?”

“I don’t know. The first thing that comes to mind is getting a job like you... No, never mind.”

My sister shook her head and gave a bitter smile.

“I just want to run freely.”

“...”

“Even if I can’t return as an athlete, I’m someone who feels happiest when I’m running anyway. Hey, didn’t that newest walker model have some kind of running function?”

“No.”

“Ha, those bastards. They go on and on about magical engineering or whatever, but they can’t even add a running function to a walker.”

I couldn’t help but agree with that, so I burst out laughing.

I said goodbye to my sister, went outside, and hailed a taxi.

While riding back to my studio apartment.

I suddenly remembered that there had been exactly two moments today when my sister had genuinely smiled.

The first was when she heard I got a job.

The second was.

‘When she said she wanted to run freely.’

She herself had called it a meaningless conversation.

Yet perhaps just imagining it made her happy, because when she said those words, my sister had truly smiled.

On top of that, what she said earlier while riding on my back.

The words about being embarrassed because she couldn’t even pull her own weight kept bothering me.

At this rate, I couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable, like a fish bone was stuck in my throat.

‘There’s only one way.’

The way to get rid of this discomfort and remove the inflammation rooted in my sister’s heart.

Somehow, I had to heal her.

The moment I arrived at my studio apartment, I immediately opened the gallery.

Then I accessed the ‘Shop’ tab.

I had already confirmed earlier in the day that even the ‘Elixir,’ which seemed almost like a cure-all in the gallery, couldn’t heal my sister’s legs after they had been damaged for two whole years.

But that wasn’t what I wanted to check in the shop.

The person who had registered this ‘Elixir’ in the shop.

I checked that person’s nickname.

‘IAmLegend.’

Judging by how they regularly registered Elixirs, there was a high chance they had personally made them too.

‘If they’re capable of making something like an Elixir, they might know a way to heal my sister’s legs too.’

[You request a trade with ‘IAmLegend’!]

Please accept.

Please.

[‘IAmLegend’ accepts your trade request!]

IAmLegend)? What is it

Good. They accepted.

Now, shall we start the trade?

________________

IAmLegend) What is it

IAmLegend) Why aren’t you saying anything after contacting me first;

Hmm.

It was good that they had at least accepted the conversation.

But this bastard’s tone was subtly prickly.

Well, I could just go at my own pace.

Me) Hello. You’re the person who registered the Elixir in the shop, right?

IAmLegend) Yeah. Why?

Me) It’s nothing else, I just have something I want to ask

Me) Do you have time?

IAmLegend) Time is basically the one thing I have too much of. But why should I sit here answering your questions? lol

“Ah, why is this bastard so twisted?”

Sure, it could be annoying if someone suddenly contacted you.

But couldn’t he at least have some basic manners?

‘...No. This is probably the gallery average.’

Wasn’t there a saying that in a world of one-eyed people, the one with two eyes was the mutant?

Maybe ‘SaviorOfTheEmpire’ and ‘IMadeExcalibur’ were the abnormal ones by gallery standards.

Let’s not expect the angelic personalities those two showed from this guy too.

IAmLegend) I need to go take a nap. I’m out. Bye

Me) But were you the one who made the Elixir?

IAmLegend) Why?

Me) Nah, just lol

Me) I was wondering if someone else made it and you only registered it in the shop

IAmLegend) Fuck, I can’t just let that slide.

IAmLegend) Hey. I’m literally the only person in Pantheon who can make handcrafted Elixirs, you know??

“As expected. He got baited when I poked him.”

A trait of rude bastards.

Their pride is ridiculously strong.

When I spoke as though I looked down on him a little, the guy who had been about to end the conversation without looking back stopped.

Thanks to that, I got some definite information too.

I had been slightly unsure, but as expected, this guy really was the one who made that Elixir.

Me) Ohh, I wasn’t trying to look down on you. There’s a certain medicine I’m looking for, so I’m trying to find someone who can make it

IAmLegend) What medicine? Let me hear it first

Me) Medicine that can heal legs necrotized by mana

IAmLegend)?? Go to the shop and buy the Elixir I listed; one drop and it’ll heal completely

Me) An Elixir can cure it?

IAmLegend) There’s no disease in this world an Elixir can’t cure. Ah, except hair loss lol

“...”

My heart started pounding.

At the fact that medicine capable of healing my sister’s legs existed in this world after all.

But it was too early to simply rejoice.

Me) But it’s been around two years since the necrosis happened

Because the item description said injuries or illnesses older than one month couldn’t be healed even by drinking an Elixir.

‘But the more I think about it, the stranger it is.’

Wasn’t an Elixir the kind of legendary panacea that appeared constantly in fantasy stories and games?

But something as incredible as that couldn’t heal old injuries or illnesses?

IAmLegend) If it’s been two years, it’s too late. I don’t know why someone living in Pantheon is asking about mana necrosis, but anyway, give up

Me) Hmm is it that bad

Me) Is it actually a proper Elixir?

IAmLegend) What?

Me) No. I just figured if it’s an Elixir, it should be able to heal not just a one-month-old wound, but even a hundred-year-old wound...

After I asked that doubtful question, the other side went silent for a while.

Damn, did I poke him too hard?

But this time I really wasn’t trying to provoke him. I was genuinely curious.

IAmLegend) You’re not wrong

IAmLegend) If it were a real, properly made Elixir, then like you said, it should be able to cure even a disease that’s a hundred years old

The conversation continued.

Fortunately, it seemed he hadn’t gone silent because he got sulky.

IAmLegend) But you seem clueless about medicine, so I guess you don’t know, but it’s impossible to make a proper Elixir in Pantheon;

Me)? Why

IAmLegend) One of the main ingredients of an Elixir is originally Mana Crystal, you know? But how the hell are you supposed to get the stone of life in a world full of nothing but dead people? lol

“...!”

Without realizing it, my back straightened.

So, if I just had Mana Crystals.

That meant it was possible to make a ‘real’ Elixir that could heal legs that had been necrotic for two years!

‘Sis.’

I was beginning to see hope.

I calmed my heart, which was pounding like crazy, and continued the conversation calmly.

Me) So all you need is Mana Crystal, right?

IAmLegend) You need all kinds of other ingredients too, like Mandrake Root lol

IAmLegend) But I do have every other ingredient except Mana Crystal

Me) Then if I bring you Mana Crystal, you can make a real Elixir?

IAmLegend)??? Technically, yeah, but how? Are you planning to resurrect and return to the dimension you originally lived in or something?

Me) Anyway, I’ll bring it, so just tell me how much you need

IAmLegend) Hmm

IAmLegend) But

IAmLegend) There’s something more important before that

Me)?

IAmLegend) Why are you assuming I’m obviously going to make an Elixir for you? lol

“You fucking bas―.”

Now this was another pattern I hadn’t expected.

The proposition that Pantheon’s residents would give up anything if Mana Crystals were involved was in danger of collapsing.