Chapter 41

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 41

Chapter Title: Kwon Yena (3)

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It had been a long time of scorn and torment.

Time to return to being the manly Shin Yujun.

"Ugh... Yujun, is this for real?"

I'd originally just planned to make her do a dogeza prostration, but she pulled it off so casually that things escalated to full service.

"Mm. Good work."

Plop.

Still, I let it happen on a soft bed instead of the bare floor, so I think I'm a pretty considerate Guild Master.

"Now you'll give it to me?"

"Heh, impatient little thing. Just wait."

"Ugh... you're such an old man."

I actually enjoyed her reaction as I climbed onto the bed and pulled out the Eye of the Storm.

A brilliantly iridescent green gem... and along with it, a single contract sheet.

"What's this?"

At the same time, a copy of the contract I was looking at appeared in front of Yena.

"I have to put something in the contract to hand it over."

Just like how I'd instantly shoved the item she had into my inventory earlier, unless it was a direct trade, ownership would still remain with me.

Not that it was actually true, of course.

This was just an excuse to get her promise to join the guild.

Yena would obviously come, but you never know with people.

More than that, I needed tangible proof of her intent to join my guild for sure.

"So what do I have to give?"

"Nothing like that. Just promise that once your contract with Twilight Guild ends, you'll join mine right away. That's what we agreed on anyway, right?"

"That's all it takes? I'll just give you everything—myself included."

...

"You've always been mine anyway. Hurry up and sign."

"..."

I'd casually dropped a bombshell without thinking.

Flustered, I doubled down even more.

The mood turned awkward in an instant.

The forge system, oblivious to the atmosphere, blared a fanfare sound effect announcing the trade's completion.

This was her fault for saying it first.

"...Is it done now...?"

Yena, who had been teasing me with a relaxed expression, now blushed as she alternated glances between me and the green gem resting on her hand.

"No, not yet. I said there's something to try."

"Wh-what?! Ah..."

I immediately sent Yena a status window sharing request.

She accepted it without any questions.

The moment I'd been waiting for.

Earlier, when Yena received the Eye of the Storm, she'd stared at her status window muttering "S" over and over.

What kind of stats could make her zone out like that?

And I was dying to know what happened when the true owner of the Eye of the Storm received the blacksmith's recognition.

"S... S... S..."

"Pfft... I can really see it."

"Ah."

The sheer feast of S ranks made my mind go blank for a moment.

I just kept muttering "S" on repeat.

I was doing exactly what Yena had done earlier.

"S... so SSS+ means..."

Geshtalt collapse.

Too many S's, and suddenly my brain short-circuited: What rank is S again? Lots of S's is good, right?

"Yena... you're probably the strongest Awakener in the world now, aren't you?"

"Heh... probably."

She still lacked experience as an Awakener, sure, but in raw firepower, no one could match her now.

Excluding me, S rank had been the highest so far.

And even though I had EX rank, it wasn't a combat job, so naturally excluded.

Anyway, with her already at top-tier S rank, and now equipping the world's first S-grade gear—what combo could be stronger?

No way any other status window had stats like these.

And if she became the true owner of the Eye of the Storm on top of that—what the hell would happen?

I clicked the ▶️ icon at the bottom of Yena's status window.

▶️ again.

At the bottom of the equipment page.

I gave Yena a thumbs up without hesitation.

A message I'd never seen before—not even with Chae Yeonhwa—popped up.

'You sure you wanna thumbs up for real...?'

Of course, I thought, reaching for accept... but then paused, wondering if I should check with Yena first.

"Yena, actually, you haven't become the true owner of the Eye of the Storm yet."

"...You tricked me? Me, who's been with you since we were five...?"

She didn't use wind magic this time, so I held out a bit longer.

Though not using it didn't mean I'd win, either.

"Hehe..."

"You know it's not that. Get off already."

"Then what is it~? Tell me quick!"

With no choice, I explained the situation while she pinned both my hands.

To become the true owner of the Eye of the Storm, she needed the blacksmith's recognition—and that's what I was about to give...

"Wait, hold on. Didn't you show me the equipment info earlier too?"

No way she hadn't read her own weapon closely, which meant she already knew.

"So~? Why haven't you hit like yet~?"

Busted, but she didn't care—kept demanding the rest of the explanation.

"There's a thumbs down next to the like button, right? You haven't checked that yet. Wanna try now?"

I straightened my disheveled clothes, sat back on the bed, and continued explaining.

"Um... let's just do it!"

"Yeah, I was gonna anyway. Just checking to be safe."

"Hurry!"

"...Anything change?"

...

"Hold on... Ah!"

While Yena checked her status window, I took back the Eye of the Storm and re-appraised it.

Seeing the results, I reacted the exact same way.

"Ah!"

My sharp intake of breath was because the Eye of the Storm was now fully bound to Yena.

I'd intended it as her dedicated gear, yes—but forced versus chosen were totally different.

"Can't test it here..."

"Huh?"

Turned out Yena's sigh was for a different reason.

-[Hurricane (EX)] now available.

"You were gonna try this here...?"

"Heh... I was curious."

Good thing she held back the impulse.

The skill name screamed insane power.

My cabin wasn't the issue—the whole building would've been obliterated.

"Yujun, look at this!"

As I gave thanks for our new safe nest, Yena spotted something else.

She held out her palm with the Eye of the Storm on it toward me.

...

"Whoa! How'd you do that?"

"Dunno? Felt like I could, so I did!"

The Eye of the Storm kept appearing and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠vanishing on her palm.

I'd been a little worried about her losing it while carrying it around, but no need now.

This had to be one perk of true ownership.

In conclusion.

The Eye of the Storm had truly become Yena's exclusive weapon.

——

"I'll be right back!"

With that, Yena dove into exploring the Eye of the Storm.

She flew out the window she'd come in through, soaring even higher.

She wanted to feel out the changes firsthand now that she had it.

Even so, using Hurricane outside a gate was a hard no—I barely got her to promise not to before sending her off.

"Hoo..."

True to a wind mage, it felt like a storm had swept through.

My solo cabin felt incredibly empty after just an hour with Yena.

Only my precious creations could fill this void.

In the days since succeeding at equipment synthesis, I'd crafted three new A-grade items.

"Ah..."

Unfortunately, they didn't fill the emptiness.

The absence of the Eye of the Storm just felt bigger.

But luckily, it didn't lead to anything negative.

Instead, passion and drive to create another S-grade welled up, spurring positive growth.

"Still, can't synthesize this one."

I wouldn't dump all my A-grades into synthesis like before.

I'd previously categorized them: practical use, sales, synthesis.

And finally, I had one for practical use.

"Whoa! An accessory!"

The additional effects outshine the base ones!

Yena, time to make a little sacrifice.