Seo Ye-in walked out of the arena in nearly the same condition as when she had entered.
Just from that, I could already guess the outcome, but I asked to confirm.
“What place?”
“First place.”
“Very good.”
On the other hand, Hong Yeon-hwa looked completely different from when she had gone in.
She had entered with a fair amount of confidence, but now she trudged out with a gloomy expression.
Since they had entered and exited at the same time, I asked,
“Did you two fight?”
“She’s finished.”
Since the distance was not far, Hong Yeon-hwa must have heard this.
And her sad gaze turned towards us.
Seo Ye-in stared at Hong Yeon-hwa for a moment, then slowly extended her fingers to make a V-sign.
“……”
“That’s not good.”
“Not good?”
I gently folded Seo Ye-in’s fingers back.
“Mhmm, it’s not polite.”
Even I, who had grown accustomed to all sorts of unsportsmanlike behavior, tended to hold back right after a match and usually offered encouragement to my opponent.
Provoking anger for no gain went against my principles.
At the same time, I grew curious about the match.
How did they fight for her to end up looking so dejected again?
“Let me see the replay.”
“Mhmm.”
When Seo Ye-in handed me the replay, I began to fast-forward through it.
Perhaps curious about my thoughts, Seo Ye-in peered into the crystal ball with me, and even Hong Yeon-hwa who had been about to walk away hesitated and glanced over.
I gave my thoughts without taking my eyes off the replay.
“Not bad.”
“Reverse Curtain. You’ve learned that well.”
“Good decision after taking down Kang Hee-chan.”
With each comment, Hong Yeon-hwa’s expression brightened ever so slightly.
Once the replay ended, I turned to Hong Yeon-hwa and said,
“You did well. Don’t be too down about the loss.”
“…Thanks.”
Hong Yeon-hwa slowly nodded her head, then turned and walked out of the arena.
I thought I heard a faint sniffle from somewhere.
As I watched her retreating figure for a while, Seo Ye-in gently tugged on my sleeve.
“Praise me too.”
“Yes, you handled it wonderfully.”
Hong Yeon-hwa’s strategy wasn’t bad at all.
The fact that she had trained enough to use the Reverse Curtain in a real battle after only a few days was certainly commendable.
The unfortunate part was that her opponent was a marksman, and that marksman happened to be Seo Ye-in, who possessed overwhelming talent.
If it had been any other long-range fighter, they might have been defeated when Hong Yeon-hwa concentrated her fire magic in the final moment.
But Seo Ye-in calmly observed the barrage from all directions and waited for the perfect moment to activate Bullet Time.
She found the tiniest gap in what seemed like an impenetrable attack and slipped through it.
It was flawless, with no room for criticism. A perfect execution of her skill.
Seo Ye-in who was now tugging at my sleeve more insistently leaned in closer.
Her gray eyes sparkled.
“I came in first place twice.”
“That’s right.”
“Wish ticket.”
We had agreed that after she won ten games in the hammer game, I would grant her a wish.
However, since Bullet Time had ranked up during the competition, she ended with eight wins. We decided that coming in first place in two matches would count for the remaining wins.
Seo Ye-in had effortlessly secured first place in both matches.
I nodded my head.
“Yes, you did so well, I have to keep my promise. A pillow?”
“Pillow…!”
***
Seo Ye-in and I returned to the special training room.
I asked one last time.
“Are you sure your wish is to sleep using me as a pillow?”
“I’m sure.”
“I still don’t get it, but does it really help you sleep better?”
– Nod, nod.
“Well, if that’s your wish.”
Whether she wanted to use me as a pillow or a cushion, that was up to her.
Today, I was the Kim Ho pillow.
Standing there blankly, I looked at Seo Ye-in and wondered what she planned to do next.
“……”
She glanced around the special training room, her gaze often lingered in the more secluded corners. It was clear she was scouting out the perfect spot for a nap.
Soon, Seo Ye-in gently tugged me toward one of the corners and I obediently followed.
As expected, the place where we stopped was in a corner by the wall.
Having chosen the nap spot, the next important thing was to decide on my position.
“So should I sit, lie down, or maybe lie face down?”
“……!?”
Seo Ye-in widened her eyes slightly.
It seemed she hadn’t anticipated so many options.
After thinking it over with a seriously thoughtful expression, she finally placed a hand on my shoulder.
That must have meant she wanted me to sit.
I leaned my back against the wall and sat down as she indicated. Then Seo Ye-in rummaged through her inventory and pulled out a thick blanket.
“You even brought a blanket? You’re really serious about this.”
“Mhmm.”
Seo Ye-in wrapped herself tightly in the blanket and sat right next to me.
She rested her head on my shoulder, and within less than five seconds, she was fast asleep.
Watching her, I couldn’t help but seriously consider something.
At this rate, I might end up developing a new trait.
I almost expected a notification message saying I’d acquired the [Pillow] trait.
Of course, no such trait existed to my knowledge.
Even though I was faithfully playing the role of a pillow, just sitting there idly and wasting time didn’t suit my nature.
I wasn’t really tired enough to take a nap with Seo Ye-in either.
So I decided to take care of something I had been putting off.
I need to find it, the Crow.
To decide which dungeon I’d explore with Dang Gyu-young next week, I had to locate the Dungeon Crow’s position and figure out when it would appear, so I could plan ahead.
And to do that, I needed something.
Replay.
I opened the student store and navigated to the replay section.
After scrolling through a list of recently conquered dungeon levels, I selected one.
When I paid 100 points, a crystal orb fell gently into my hand.
Soon, the images of several students appeared within the orb.
It was a party made up of second-year seniors.
They were aboard a large sailing ship and sailing somewhere.
Occasionally, they fought against pirates or sea monsters that appeared.
I only watched up to that point before I began fast-forwarding through the replay.
It’s a waste of time to watch the whole thing.
Usually, it took anywhere from a few hours to several days to clear a dungeon level.
Like how the Feathered Serpent Altar was cleared in an instant, while the Great Eagle Escort Agency took two days.
There was no way I could watch the entire replay of every dungeon clear from start to finish.
Besides, to find the Dungeon Crow, I had to sift through multiple replays.
I need to focus on the important parts.
The fortunate thing was that the Crow’s appearance time and location were fixed.
If I didn’t see it by the time I paused the replay, it was safe to assume it wasn’t there.
By then, the ship in the crystal orb was passing by a rocky island.
I carefully scanned the highest peak among the rocks, but there was nothing there.
Nothing.
I hadn’t expected to find it on the first replay anyway.
I immediately spent another 100 points to purchase and play the next replay.
This time, the seniors in the crystal orb were standing in an endless field of golden wheat.
In the distance, a horde of monsters was approaching.
Just before the battle began.
Of course, I wasn’t interested in whether they fought or not.
Instead, I focused on the scarecrow standing in the middle of the wheat field, but—
Nothing here either.
Once again, I came up empty.
I moved on to the next replay without hesitation, and then to the one after that.
Each time, the crystal orb showed me bustling city streets with cars moving swiftly, or a high-altitude mountainous region where the clouds seemed within reach.
But nowhere could I find any trace of the dimensional crow.
The points I spent 100 at a time accumulated and eventually reached around 2,000 points.
“I found it.”
I peered intently into the crystal orb with gleaming eyes.
The scene inside was an arena where a fierce match was underway.
A student participating in the dungeon raid was locked in a life-and-death struggle with their opponent.
The spectators erupted in cheers with their voices shaking the stadium.
In the midst of the commotion, I glanced at the highest point of the stands where a crow was watching the match.
However, this crow’s appearance was far from ordinary.
It was much larger than a typical bird, and it wore a tall top hat on its head.
Adding to its peculiar look, it was dressed in an aristocratic suit and even held a bag in one hand.
The Crow Tailor.
It was exactly the dimensional crow I had been searching for.
After analyzing where the tailor would appear next, I sent a message to Dang Gyu-young.
[Kim Ho: Found the crow.]
[Dang Gyu-young: Where??]
[Kim Ho: Go to No. 294.]
[Dang Gyu-young: Okay. I’ll get it ready.]
[Dang Gyu-young: (Round Fox Emoji)]
With this, the preparations for next week were complete.
While progressing through the dungeon raid, I would take a brief detour and meet the Crow Tailor.
Whatever I asked of the creature, it wouldn’t be free, but I had already prepared the payment.
Crows like shiny things, after all.
For example, something like a jewel.
Even better if it was imbued with magic.
Fortunately, I had a large ruby that I had received from Hong Yeon-hwa,
A relatively small emerald from Kwak Ji-cheol,
And a large emerald I had exchanged for several midterm crystals from Jeong Soo-ji.
This should be more than enough to cover the cost of the request.
After calculating everything, I subtly turned my head to the side.
Seo Ye-in who was fast asleep came into view.
“She’s really sleeping soundly.”
Quite some time must have passed while I was checking through all the replays, but she showed no sign of waking up.
She had finally gotten her hands on the “Kim Ho pillow” so of course, she’d want to sleep as deeply as possible.
However, I couldn’t let her sleep forever, so I decided it was time to wake her up.
As proven by Ahn Jeong-mi’s research, the method for waking this human sloth is quite simple.
You just take away the pillow.
And right now, I was the pillow.
So with a swift motion, I pulled away from Seo Ye-in.
When the shoulder pillow she had been leaning on disappeared, Seo Ye-in’s body tilted to the side and she slowly slumped onto the floor.
“……?”
In that position, Seo Ye-in barely lifted her eyelids.
She rolled around, then reached out and groped the air.
“Where are you…?”
“I’m right here, young miss.”
Of course, “here” was quite far from where Seo Ye-in currently lay.
Seo Ye-in weakly gestured in my direction.
“Come back…”
“Let’s call it a day for your nap. It’s time to get up.”
Or she could just finish her nap back at the dorm.
However, Seo Ye-in didn’t seem convinced.
She voiced her complaint while still lying on the floor,
“You… promised…”
“I did promise. But…”
What Seo Ye-in had wished for with her request was to use me as a pillow.
However.
We never agreed on “how long” she could use me.
In other words, whether she could use the Kim Ho pillow for an entire day or just an hour was entirely up to me.
“These days, premium items come with time limits.”
“How could this be…?”
Seo Ye-in had just experienced the bitter reality of time-limited items.
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