Chapter 89
<I’ll be back before vacation ends, don’t worry.>
<Call your mother more often, and don’t worry about me. She worries about you.>
<I will try.>
I ended the call, as my wanderings over vacations had now become the norm. I had a week before school started and now had to train. Making myself stronger was necessary to put down the First Evil.
“You don’t need to worry since only I will go into the dungeon this time.”
I spoke to Yeonhee, who had become silent, unlike at the airport. She looked at me with round eyes, and there was defiance in them. We were still too weak to go into higher ranked dungeons, so I chose the one in Gimje as it was an F class. However, I had not gone there before, and so my goal was exploration.
“I can do better this time.”
Yeonhee spoke as she turned the car radio volume down. Six months had passed after Hwasung, and she had not been solely focused on the hospital. Her time had been devoted to training, and now she probably could use a knife better than most. If she did not have regenerative powers, her hands would have been full of scars. Also, she had gone through intensive physical training to use her agility in battle well. Her agility stat was higher than mine, even though she was a healer. She did need to protect herself.
“You want to help?”
“Why not? You brought two backpacks.”
I wanted a healer, but only I had the Escape Insignia, and I explained the situation to her.
“You really want to go to the dungeon?”
“I need more money.”
She immediately replied. Hmmmm…
“Solve it with your own funds. You will run out of money if you blindly choose a purely nonprofit model.”
“…Can I make investments in the firm?”
“Jonathan does not accept private accounts at the moment.”
“Then, aren’t there many hedge funds in the group?”
“The minimum is a million dollars, and I don’t think you have that much left.”
“Yes, and that’s why I want to take me there. I will be of more help this time.”
“You did well last time, and I’m only making a reconnaissance this time. Stay. What did I say about the Leader’s orders?”
“They’re absolute.”
“You’re right.”
**
We stopped at a motel in Gimje, and the red lights made things seem sleazy. I had not booked separate rooms as that would be more inconvenient, and Yeonhee curiously looked around the room. There were mirrors on the ceiling that looked down on us as I changed the light to normal.
I sat on the waterbed, and Yeonhee sat on the floor and began examining the survival items in the backpack.
While most of them had been the same as before, her eyes stopped for a moment at the fishing line and tiny hooks. However, she seemed to think I needed them for making traps as she examined the next item.
The only thing I knew about this dungeon was that it was a cave with pools one could fish in if I could stomach it, should it become necessary for survival.
“Let’s open your boxes.”
Yeonhee’s face brightened at that.
**
Yeonhee had many points remaining, and we had waited until she got used to her agility stats, as there had been hunters who could not adjust to gaining too many stat points at once.
She had received two gold boxes and a platinum box and got agility and physical healing stats out of the gold and a skill called Delight from the platinum.
I gave her paper and pen to write her stats down, and things were as I remembered. She had the Mentality stat, which came from her empathic abilities. It measured how much emotion she could endure, both her own and imposed from outside, and not about the power level of her empathic skills.
Yeonhee looked down at the paper after she finished writing.
“If I get an Escape insignia?”
“We’ll head back to Seoul.”
A week, the time remaining in my vacation, was not enough to conquer the dungeon.
“However, an Escape insignia does not come easily.”
“I know it mostly comes out of dungeon boxes, but it’s better that I have one so I don’t slow things down, right?”
“Yeah. Open the 11 bronze boxes.”
“Can I do it after I wash?”
I nodded, as if this was her ritual, I would respect it. However, she seemed to have not noticed the decor, as the motel room’s bathroom had a frosted glass wall for the shower. She and I both knew I would see her silhouette, but Yeonhee seemed determined to wash up. I lay down as she washed, as long flights were tiring. I had come here to rest before going into the dungeon. I drowsed, waiting for her to come out.
She wore more comfortable clothes, and I could see her neck. Before I went to New York, a deep wound had been there. I thought of that day until she told me she was ready.
Yeonhee seemed tense, thinking of that Escape insignia.
“Don’t be like that, at least when opening boxes. You should enjoy yourself here.”
“Right. Shall we start?”
Yeonhee started staring in the air as I nodded, and her face was not happy.
“My Strength stat increased by 1.”
It was difficult for women to raise Strength by training. Yeonhee Woo had undergone intensive weight training to only gain muscles and not points.
“That’s a good draw. Go on.”
She looked happy when she told me she got 4 points in Physical Healing but frowned when telling me that she got 3 points to her Explorer stats.
“I think I need to wash again. Can I?”
“Of course.”
She took double the time and came back to open another box.
“I got 5 agility stats!”
She had been happy but spoke in a desolate voice when opening the next.
“I got 1 Marie’s Hand point.”
“Even a single point on a high ranked skill is lucky with bronze boxes.”
Yeonhee composed herself at my comment, and her face brightened as she stared at her chest. She had gotten an insignia and now gave it to me.
[Yeonhee Woo has given you a ‘Release’ Insignia.]
It was an insignia that protected me against restraint magic skills. While it was not that useful, I complimented her. She looked happier when opening the next one.
“I got 6 agility points! I need 25 more to increase my class, as I have 75 points now.”
She opened another and got a dagger this time. Yeonhee looked at me and the dagger in surprise as this was the first time she had seen a weapon come out of a box, but I also stared at it. The weapon looked similar to the Third Virtue’s main weapon. It had come from a bronze box in the previous timeline, but…
Yeonhee Woo gave the dagger to me.
[The Fool’s Knife (Item)
Effect: The one wounded by this knife receives a random negative effect with a very low probability.
Class: F]
It really looked like the Third Virtue’s infamous and blood stained weapon. Would this really become that after reinforcement?