According to Ahn Jeong-mi, both of Seo’s parents were currently at the workshop.
So we redirected the call there, and soon, a calm-looking woman appeared inside the crystal ball.
I snuck a sideways glance at Seo Ye-in.
She’s practically a carbon copy.
You’d believe it if someone said it was an adult version of her.
Although their overall vibes were completely different.
Seo’s mother opened her mouth with a warm smile.
– Daughter, have you been well?
“Where did you go?”
– Didn’t your dad or Team Leader Ahn tell you?
“…A trip?”
Seo Ye-in replied as if her memory was hazy.
If I had to guess, Ahn Jeong-mi probably told her at least three times.
She either dozed off and missed it or heard it and let it go in one ear and out the other.
Such is the life of a butler.
Seo’s mother, perhaps used to this sort of thing, explained in a calm tone.
– You’ve heard that things haven’t been great lately, right?
“Bad mean dragons.”
– Because of that, I’ve had a lot more meetings.
With the Blood Cult and dragons growing more active and public concern rising, even Hye-seong Group needed to strengthen ties with other clans, companies, and magic towers.
If joining forces meant surviving the crisis, it was beneficial for both sides.
Originally, this would’ve been handled by the First Team of the Future Strategy Office, but the scale had grown so much they had to ask Seo’s mother for help too.
So she’d been practically traveling the world attending back-to-back meetings and had only briefly returned for something else.
Once she got that far, Seo Ye-in seemed to finally understand everything.
Only then did Seo’s mother turn her gaze toward me.
I immediately bowed my head slightly and introduced myself.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Kim Ho.”
– I’ve heard about you. Ye-in relies on you a lot.
As if to prove her words, Seo Ye-in was currently draped across my back like laundry on a drying rack, her chin resting on my shoulder.
Most people get shy or act more reserved in front of their parents, but not her. Her own comfort clearly mattered most.
In that position, she casually threw in a comment.
“Lifetime butler.”
– Do you like him that much?
“Number one butler.”
– …She’s never been the type to follow someone this closely, so as her mother, I’m both surprised and happy. I heard you’ve already formed a [Bond]?
“Yes. I apologize for not speaking with you in advance.”
– No need to apologize. I heard you discussed it thoroughly with the others, and in any case, we would’ve respected Ye-in’s decision. Please continue to look after her.
“I’ll take full responsibility, all the way.”
– Hearing it directly from you puts my mind at ease.
Seo’s mother smiled gently.
I figured that should be enough to count as a good first impression.
After that, she asked a few more questions about me.
I answered smoothly without hesitation, while also quietly observing her in return.
Setting aside how closely the mother and daughter resembled each other in appearance—
The most obvious difference would be the hair color.
Her mother had a dark brown shade, almost black.
It looked like Seo Ye-in’s gray hair probably came from her father’s side.
That left the question of which side of the family he inherited it from….but for now, that remained a mystery.
Next, I focused on her personality and demeanor.
She’s extremely skilled in social situations.
Whereas Seo Ye-in and her father were both the straightforward, say-what-you-need-to-say types, her mother spoke with care and consideration, guiding the conversation along smoothly.
And yet, she still managed to get all the answers she was looking for.
Well, it made sense. As a board director of a major group like Hyes-eong Group, she must be used to handling people, and not just a few.
I don’t see any clear links to either Meteor Dragon or the Underworld Dragon King.
Of course, you can’t fully understand s omeone through a brief conversation over a crystal ball, but based on what I’d seen so far, there were no obvious connections.
After some more casual chatting, Seo’s mother checked the time and gave a wry smile.
– I’m sorry, I’d love to talk more, but I have another meeting soon.
“I’ll be sure to visit in person next time.”
– Please do. And you…say something too.
– …Busy.
– Ye-in finally reached out. Don’t brush her off.
Her mother gently chided him with a calm tone.
The flickering blue light in the background dimmed, and suddenly a welding mask popped up in one corner of the crystal ball.
When a gloved hand pushed the mask upward, Seo’s father’s face was revealed.
– Daughter.
“Dad.”
“Nice to meet you.”
He looked like he really wanted to get back to whatever he’d been working on.
All he said to me was a brief remark.
– Come visit. I practiced a lot.
“Yes, I’ll definitely come see you.”
He must’ve been talking about the mini-game or something.
Looked like he was determined to eventually get a win against me, even just once.
After that, we finally moved on to our original objective. We reached out to the Underworld Dragon King.
When we told him the lucky charm was back in action, he fell silent for a while in thought, then finally spoke.
– So, it took about ten days, give or take. You’ve been through a lot, my niece.
“…It was rough.”
– Maybe be a little more cautious with your ultimate move next time.
After weighing whether sealing away her luck for ten whole days was worth it,
She figured that unless it was a life-or-death situation, it was better to save it.
The Underworld Dragon King offered more advice.
– As I said before, raising your core rank will bring some positive changes.
“You mentioned the penalty would be reduced.”
The ten-day cooldown might drop to a week, or even less.
At that, Ye-in showed interest.
“…A-Rank.”
– You’re not far off, so keep it up, my niece. Make good use of what I sent you, too.
There was still quite a bit of the elixirs the Underworld Dragon King had sent recently.
Since taking it all at once would backfire, she was feeding it to her core bit by bit. One elixir per mana circulation cycle.
It would take some time to go through all of it, but she’d easily reach A-Rank by then.
Just as the Dragon King was about to end the call, Ye-in stared into the crystal ball and spoke.
“Godfather.”
– What is it?
“I want Blink, too.”
Maybe hearing that A-Rank was close had brought back some lingering desire.
She was in the phase of picking up space-time skills one by one.
Of course, the Dragon King’s reply was similar to what I had said before.
– From what I’ve seen of your grandfather, it seems Marksmen don’t have many options. It’s unfortunate.
Seo Ye-in started to droop, but then a hint of hope crossed her face.
The fact that there aren’t many meant… there were at least some.
“…There is something?”
– It’s not my area of expertise, so I doubt I can help. Even a dragon doesn’t know every skill in the world.
“Sad…”
– If you really want to find a way, you might try seeking out the crows. They’ve mastered space magic, haven’t they?
“….! Caw!”
– The tricky part is getting to meet them… but I hear they’ve already done business with that young monarch a few times?
“……!”
Seo Ye-in turned to me with eyes full of expectation.
Looks like the baton’s been passed to me.
Classic, time-worn dragon move. Pushing the task onto someone else.
“We can visit them. But there’s no guarantee they’ll hand over a skill.”
The dimensional crows were relatively moderate in temperament, but that didn’t mean they were easy to deal with.
To get anything from them, you had to pay a proper price and when it came to space magic, they often didn’t trade at all.
The Dragon King replied casually.
– I know. Still, it’s worth trying, isn’t it?
“I think so too. I’m planning to take her there.”
– I hope it goes well.
Soon, the Underworld Dragon King’s image disappeared from the crystal ball.
Seo Ye-in immediately clung to me.
“Crows.”
“We’re going, but there’s something we need to do first, right?”
“What is it?”
“Gotta level up your core first.”
Even if, by some miracle, she managed to learn a space-type skill from the dimensional crows, she wouldn’t be able to do anything with a B-rank [Core].
Just like when she used [Space Severance], she’d barely last a moment before her sloth battery hit empty.
There’s no point in visiting them if she can’t even meet the minimum requirements.
Maybe she found that convincing. Seo Ye-in pulled out a fleeceflower from her inventory.
“Training chamber.”
“Are we going with Rage Mana Training?”
“Let’s go.”
We spent the entire night refining her core in the special training chamber.
***
Monday morning.
To get ready for class, we decided to stop by our dorms for a bit.
Just as we stepped out of the training chamber, the door across the hall opened and Song Cheon-hye walked out.
She flinched the moment she saw us.
“Wh-Why… are you two coming out together?”
“We trained together, so we’re coming out together.”
“You two… did mana training together?”
Song Cheon-hye wore a deeply suspicious look.
I shrugged like it was no big deal.
“It’s not what you’re thinking, so don’t worry.”
“I-I wasn’t thinking that!”
“Sure you weren’t. How’s your core work going?”
At that, Song Cheon-hye smiled confidently.
“I just broke through last night. I’m A-rank now too.”
“Congrats. That makes you second in the grade.”
“Why second?”
“Because I’m first?”
“You only just broke through too! Let’s say we’re tied for first.”
Seems like she got competitive and started pushing back.
I shook my head firmly.
“That won’t do. Even among A-ranks, there’s a huge gap between us.”
“What kind of gap?”
“You can’t use Blink.”
“I did learn it, okay?”
“Learning it is one thing. Can you actually use it?”
At that, Song Cheon-hye fell momentarily silent.
After fidgeting for a bit, she looked away and muttered,
“Of course I can. It wasn’t even that hard, Blink.”
“Yeah? Then show me.”
“Right now… might be tough. I, uh, have to get ready for class.”
“How long could that possibly take?”
To shut down any excuses, I demonstrated Blink myself.
Whoosh—
I appeared a short distance away.
“Takes just a few seconds.”
“Well, that’s because…”
“Tsk tsk, why so many words? You can’t use it, can you? You just learned it.”
“That’s not it…”
I scratched my cheek with a look that said I get it.
“Just settle for second. Hey, there are hundreds of first years. You’re still second place, that’s not bad.”
“I can use it! I’ll show you, okay?”
Song Cheon-hye snapped, then pulled on her gloves.
She looked confident enough, but if you looked closely, her fingertips were trembling.
She took a deep breath, like she was trying to shake off her nerves.
“Phew… Okay, I-I’ll use it now, alright?”
“Go ahead.”
Song Cheon-hye fixed her gaze ahead and began to focus.
Sparks crackled at her fingertips as a complex technique came together.
In the next moment—whoosh—her figure vanished.
Baaang!!
A loud crash rang out from behind us.
“Why’d she go flying backward?”
When I turned to look, Song Cheon-hye was slumped in front of the wall.
Not only had she flown backward, she’d slammed into the wall full-body.
“…! …!”
She thrashed around with her face covered.
Judging by how red her ears were, the embarrassment probably outweighed the pain.
I clicked my tongue and said to Seo Ye-in, who’d been watching the whole time:
“See that? Blink can be that dangerous.”
“…Terrible.”
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