After the astonishing string of random box openings came to an end,
Go Hyeon-woo as always headed to the Training Center instead of the dormitory.
After settling into a Special Training Room, he began reviewing everything that had happened in the dungeon.
He had fought the White Snake in a life-or-death battle, drawn the Wind God for the first time and held it in his hands, then endured its tremendous backlash while swinging it and attempting to execute its techniques.
Throughout that process, countless realizations had come to him.
If I can truly make those insights my own.
There was no doubt his skills would advance to an entirely new level.
His thoughts continued for quite some time before his mind returned to the final decisive exchange he had shared with the White Snake.
He had learned a great deal from the battle itself, but what happened afterward deserved just as much attention.
Go Hyeon-woo looked down at the sword resting neatly before him.
…Wind God.
Immediately after defeating the White Snake, the Wind God had left his hand of its own accord and slipped back into its sheath.
At the time, he had been too preoccupied to think much of it, simply marveling that it truly lived up to its reputation as a sacred relic. Looking back now, however, it was a rather unsettling thought.
It could have been like that from the very beginning.
What if it had constantly tried to return to its sheath instead of moving according to his will?
Or what if it had refused to be drawn altogether?
His entire plan of borrowing its power would have fallen apart.
Which meant…
Did it give me a chance?
The Wind God had, to some extent, chosen to cooperate with his plan.
He could not know the exact reason.
Perhaps it had partially acknowledged him as its rightful successor.
Or perhaps it had seen potential within him.
But one thing was certain.
The next time I draw it recklessly will be the first and the last.
Whooooshโ
As if confirming his suspicion, a gentle breeze rose from the sheath and swept past him.
It felt like both a warning and an encouragement to keep working hard, so Go Hyeon-woo gave a quiet nod and renewed his resolve.
I will strive even harder from now on.
Until the day he possessed the qualifications it demanded.
***
It was about time to summon the Skillbook Fairy.
The skills I planned to trade away were the A-rank martial art Skull Demon Poison Claw and Inferno Fist, which were gradually losing their place in my arsenal.
Those two alone were valuable enough to obtain the skill I wanted, but…
There’s no harm in sweetening the deal a little.
That way, I’d be able to raise its rank as soon as I acquired it, saving the resources that would otherwise be spent on its growth.
For example, I could use Rank Up on something else instead.
Of course, I had no intention of giving up any skills or Traits that were still serving me well.
I was going to pick up something new.
By trading the hidden piece I had obtained from the Black Snake’s room.
The Dharma Statue.
I already had one, so there was no problem letting this newly acquired one go.
Any club would be willing to pay a decent price for it, but considering it was an item related to swordsmanship and formations…
The martial artists are the best buyers.
With that in mind, I made my way to the Swordsmanship Club.
A third-year club member was standing guard near the entrance. Sensing my presence, he turned toward me.
I immediately gave him a respectful bow.
“Good afternoon, Senior.”
“What business do you have here?”
“I’d like to meet Senior Namgong. If you tell him Kim Ho is here, he’ll know who I am.”
“โฆ….”
He didn’t seem to know much about me, judging by the skeptical look on his face.
Still, since I had mentioned their club president, he apparently decided it was worth checking. He went inside to relay the message.
A short while later, he returned and gestured for me to follow.
“This way.”
The place he led me to wasn’t the president’s office, but the vice president’s.
It had belonged to Jegal So-so last year, but it now had a new occupant.
The one waiting to receive me was a senior I’d met once or twice before.
Jegal Yeong-yeong.
She was Jegal So-so’s cousin, though the two of them shared very little resemblance.
Most notably, she seemed to have absolutely none of So-so’s playfulness, carrying herself with complete seriousness.
Even so, the characteristic sharp intelligence of the Jegal family shone in her eyes, and the fact that she served as vice president of one of the Academy’s largest clubs spoke for itself.
She was clearly not someone to underestimate.
After inviting me to take a seat across from her, Jegal Yeong-yeong poured me a cup of tea before speaking.
“I’ve been keeping in touch with Cousin So-so.”
“I’m glad to hear she’s doing well.”
“The Martial Alliance isn’t all that different from here.”
Jegal Yeong-yeong answered as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Her respect and pride for her older cousin were unmistakable.
Then again, with Jegal So-so’s skill and ability to navigate people, it would have been stranger if she weren’t doing well.
Even when I’d briefly seen her during winter break, she already seemed to have established quite a position for herself.
Taking another sip of tea, Jegal Yeong-yeong continued.
“I’ve heard quite a bit about you as well.”
“I’m curious what she had to say.”
“She told me that if you ask for something, I should accommodate you as much as possible. She said we wouldn’t regret it.”
“.โฆ..”
“I’ve come to the same conclusion myself.”
It seemed she hadn’t accepted her cousin’s advice blindly. She had taken it into consideration, then reached the same judgment through her own assessment.
I replied with a faint smile.
“I’m grateful you think so highly of me.”
“I hope we can continue to maintain a good relationship.”
That was more than friendly enough.
A moment later, Jegal Yeong-yeong got down to business.
“I heard you came looking for the Club President, but he’s away at the moment. He’s inside a dungeon.”
“I see.”
“If this is something that has to be discussed with him personally, I’ll let you know once he returns.”
“That won’t be necessary. I think we can discuss it here.”
I had only mentioned Namgong Chang-cheon to get through the door.
The one I was actually doing business with was the Swordsmanship Club.
I took the Dharma Statue from my inventory and placed it on the table.
Jegal Yeong-yeong examined it carefully.
A spark of interest flashed across her eyes.
True to a member of the Jegal family, she recognized its value immediately.
“It’s an artifact with tremendous research value, both from the standpoint of swordsmanship and formations.”
“You saw through it right away.”
An unknown master had carved it with a single stroke of the blade.
Simply studying the sword marks would undoubtedly yield valuable insights.
Its ability to disrupt various formations was equally remarkable.
“And what would you like in exchange?”
“I’d like a season pass for the Special Training Rooms and one martial arts manual.”
A season pass?
Why ask for that all of a sudden?
As for me and the rest of my party, we’d already secured one for each of us.
The only person who still hadn’t gotten one was Han So-mi.
– Didn’t you have connections with the Disciplinary Committee? They wouldn’t sell you one?
– I got one!
– Then?
– I gave it to Go Hyeon-woo!
She’d already shown signs of being willing to give him absolutely anything.
Apparently, she’d even handed over her season pass.
There’s no way Go Hyeon-woo accepted it without protesting.
Then again…
Maybe he’d become her kept man without even realizing it.
Rather than revealing the truth, I proposed a solution that would leave everyone happy.
– Want me to get you one?
– Really?
– On one condition. This time, your share of the rewards goes to me. Deal?
– Deal!
And that was how the season pass found its way onto my list of trade demands.
Jegal Yeong-yeong seemed to run the numbers in her head for a moment before asking another question.
“To be completely honest, that’s asking for a bit much. Even so, I’d like to hear the rest. Which martial arts manual are you after?”
“It’ll be faster if I show you.”
I handed her a slip of paper I’d prepared in advance.
Written on it were the names of several martial arts manuals:
Jade Hand Phantom Fist, Heaven-Cleaving Unified Qi Art, Eight Eternal Sword Forms, and others.
Their performance varied greatly, but they all had one thing in common.
They carried exceptionally high trade value with the Skillbook Fairy.
Once again, Jegal Yeong-yeong spent a long moment calculating in silence before calmly giving her conclusion.
“If it’s the Heaven-Cleaving Unified Qi Art manual, I should be able to authorize its release under my authority as vice president. However…”
“โฆ…”
“You’ll have to choose between the season pass and the manual. Even then, if we’re being strictly objective, we’d still be the ones taking the loss.”
Even from my perspective, Jegal Yeong-yeong had already made considerable concessions.
That probably meant she wanted to leave a good impression with our first transaction.
Of course, I’d expected something like this.
The reason I’d only presented the Dharma Statue at first was largely to gauge how they would react.
And by my standards, they’d passed with flying colors.
So I took another document out of my inventory.
“What if I add this to the deal?”
It was the strategy guide for the Black Death Dungeon.
We’d already cleared it the proper way, defeated the White Snake, and had no reason to return.
There was no harm in making the information public.
Jegal Yeong-yeong’s eyes lit up immediately.
“I’ve heard the rumors ever since last year. May I take a look?”
“Go ahead.”
After receiving my permission, she quickly flipped through several pages, scanning the contents.
Before long, her eyes brightened again as she let out an impressed murmur.
“So this is where the Dharma Statue came from. To find an artifact of this caliber in a duck stew restaurant…”
“Sometimes the answer turns out to be absurdly simple.”
“I couldn’t agree more. Is this the first time this strategy guide has been made available?”
“It is.”
“And if we make this deal, we’ll retain exclusive access to it?”
“That would benefit both of us, wouldn’t it?”
Information like this was far more valuable when only a select few possessed it.
I’d be able to negotiate a higher price.
The Swordsmanship Club would secure the Dharma Statue before anyone else.
The Black Death is still a fairly popular dungeon.
Since the start of the semester, multiple parties had already submitted bids to challenge it.
Once word got out about the duck stew restaurant, the place would be packed to the point of bursting.
But if we kept farming Dharma Statues starting now, we’d be able to secure more than enough before the information became public.
The same went for other hidden pieces, such as [Leader’s Black Chest].
A moment later, Jegal Yeong-yeong’s eyes sharpened as if she’d realized something.
She closed the strategy guide and spoke.
“I’ve heard that the Black Death Dungeon collapsed last night through an unauthorized clear. And now, at this timing, you’re offering to trade its strategy guide…”
“Just as you suspected.”
I replied with a faint smile.
What if she reported me to the Disciplinary Committee?
Even if she did, neither she nor the Swordsmanship Club stood to gain much.
The same was true even if they tried to use it as leverage.
On the other hand, any trust between us would be completely destroyed.
I’d still be willing to do business whenever our interests aligned, but they’d be pushed far down my list of priorities.
If it came to that, I could always sell it to the White Magic Club instead.
For reference, last year’s strategy guide sold at auction for around 900,000 points.
That alone showed how highly the major factions valued it.
It also meant losing it to a rival would be a painful blow.
Naturally, Jegal Yeong-yeong was the kind of vice president who knew how to weigh practical benefits.
As she tucked away the Black Death strategy guide, she said,
“Let’s make the trade. The Dharma Statue and the strategy guide for the season pass and the secret manual.”
“You’re refreshingly decisive.”
“They’re valuable items, but I don’t think it’ll be a loss in the long run.”
After all, if they kept running the dungeon and collecting its hidden pieces, it would eventually become a net gain.
And the phrase “in the long run” likely referred to our relationship as well.
It meant that whenever future crossroads arose, she’d be inclined to side with me.
The more that happened, the more naturally I’d turn to the Swordsmanship Club over the other factions.
We raised our teacups in a warm and friendly atmosphere.
***
After chatting with Jegal Yeong-yeong for a while,
I left the Swordsmanship Club and headed somewhere quiet.
Shall I call her now?
Everything was ready.
I took a rolled-up parchment from my inventory.
It was the [Skill Book Fairy Summoning Scroll].
The moment I used it,
Pop!
A fairy no bigger than the palm of my hand popped into existence, gracefully bowed in midair, and greeted me.
“Thank you for summoning me.”
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