Chapter 135
Chapter 135
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 135
Chapter Title: Chapter 25: Germination (4)
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A moment frozen in shock at the scene.
“Hyung, you’re not eating?”
I turned my stiff neck at the sudden call and glanced to the side.
There sat Kim Yul, already digging into the table full of food.
He flinched and trembled when our eyes met.
Then he gulped down his food and said,
“……Why are you looking at me like I’m some monster? Did I do something wrong?”
I rubbed my face with my hand and shook my head.
“It’s nothing.”
But Kim Yul didn’t buy it.
Far from believing me, he shot me a suspicious glare and shoved his face right up to mine.
“That wasn’t nothing! I just felt my life was in danger, you know? Your eyes even turned gold—you were glaring at me like I was gonna die! Did you use a blessing? What? You just said Mephroseta? Isn’t that a prophecy? You’re with Palao, right? How’d you even use it? Actually, forget explaining that—tell me what you saw! Can you really see the future?”
I pushed Kim Yul’s face away with my palm and thought.
‘Why was this guy next to Yeon-woo?’
The fact that they were together meant I’d allowed it.
‘Or I didn’t know at all.’
If it wasn’t one of those two, Kim Yul being near Yeon-woo would’ve been impossible.
I’d never let a Player, a walking hazard, anywhere near my siblings.
If I hadn’t tacitly approved, I would’ve gotten rid of him outright.
It wasn’t something I needed to say out loud, so I swallowed it.
Still, my gaze on Kim Yul had shifted a bit.
‘Do I trust this guy that much?’
Enough to let him near my siblings?
“What is it? Come on, tell me! Spill it already!”
From the looks of him, it didn’t seem possible at all.
I gave Kim Yul a sour look and shoved him hard.
Unable to overcome the difference between gold and silver plates in strength, Kim Yul’s body slid back.
His chair toppled over backward.
“I almost fell!”
Of course, Kim Yul sprang up before the chair even hit the floor.
I looked at him charging at me like he wanted more words and said firmly.
“I said it’s nothing. Cut it out and sit down.”
“Tch.”
Call it sharp instincts or good intuition.
Kim Yul always knew exactly where the line was, and today was no different.
He stopped pestering, righted the fallen chair, and sat back down.
‘The problem is it only lasts a few minutes.’
For now, I’d bought time to mull over what I’d seen in detail.
‘What I saw was the future…….’
It was just fragmented visions, but I’d gleaned plenty from them.
‘First, the background of that initial scene.’
Me taking Yeon-woo to Bihar? Ridiculous. I even saw familiar skyscrapers, so the location was definitely Earth.
Which meant I’d used attribute mana on Earth—in front of Yeon-woo, no less.
How many reasons could there be for that?
“The barrier’s gonna break after all…….”
Did that mean I couldn’t end the war in Bihar and had to drag it back to Earth?
Even that brief assumption darkened my vision.
My expression hardened involuntarily.
“Whew.”
Unable to stand it, Yang Tae-ho pushed some food toward me and said,
“You’re the type to shoulder all the world’s worries alone. I don’t know what’s on your mind, but we eat to live, so eat first and worry later.”
I stared blankly at Yang Tae-ho’s face.
His cheeks and lips bore only faint scratches.
Even those had scabbed over and mostly healed.
As I gazed at his still-smooth face, the scars I’d seen after the ground flipped overlaid it in my mind.
In the end, I averted my eyes from Yang Tae-ho and rubbed my face with both hands.
‘This is insane.’
Dragging this absurd war to Earth wasn’t what I wanted.
But it wasn’t entirely unexpected.
That’s why I’d relayed the situation to Captain Yang Jo-cheol before coming here.
It wasn’t welcome, but it fell within the scope of my plans.
So while my mood soured, the shock wasn’t huge.
Plus, it wasn’t a fixed future.
Futures seen through Mephroseta’s power included variables.
‘Meaning I can change it anytime.’
That let me reassure myself that opportunities remained.
But the part with Yang Tae-ho……
The mere possibility of that happening was a shock.
Had I chosen someone who could stab me in the back?
‘They seemed to know each other.’
Why had that man with Yang Tae-ho carried me off?
Who was he? What was his deal with Yang Tae-ho? Why take me?
My head spun. Even more so because of what he’d said before hoisting me up.
‘Something shady behind it…….’
Probably closer to bad news than good.
Was Yang Tae-ho involved?
‘No.’
It only felt connected because I’d seen them meet, then me being dragged off.
Mephroseta didn’t show the future sequentially.
I couldn’t be sure the incidents were linked.
‘Could’ve been a rescue, not a kidnapping.’
What I saw was me collapsed, and the man taking me away.
With no context before or after, it was too soon to judge.
I tried my best to stay objective.
Then I pushed what I’d seen aside for now.
It was a future that hadn’t happened yet.
Worrying wouldn’t yield much info.
For now, just remembering it clearly was enough.
Shaking off my thoughts, I let out a long sigh and picked up my fork.
I ate the food in front of me while checking the next reward.
‘Shop free use voucher.’
Where to spend this?
Compared to other Players, my shop usage was pathetically low.
Over 80% of my skills and magic were self-taught.
For gear, I only used the custom order function in contaminated zones when repairs were urgent.
Otherwise, I went to a smithy and paid cash.
Excluding heavy water or consumable potions, I didn’t buy much from the shop.
Obviously to save mana expenditure.
If I could buy something without spending mana, I’d welcome it with open arms.
‘Personally, I’d like to upgrade my magic defense.’
As I encountered general-grade evolved species more often, magic foes increased.
This would only worsen.
Among my cards, only the barrier blocked magic.
Even that was rank 2, handling only rank 2 elemental magic.
‘To block higher ranks, I need higher-rank defense magic.’
But I couldn’t use defense magic beyond barrier on my own.
Needed rank 3+ earth and wind attribute mana.
Of course, if I set my mind to it, I could solve it easily.
‘Gathering mana’s not a big issue.’
I had Yang Tae-ho and Kim Yul right here, and player-to-player attribute mana trades via accumulation magic tools were ramping up.
Still, I hesitated to buy new defense magic.
Permanent skills relying on others’ mana saw low usage.
‘Just look at how little I use spatial magic.’
Spatial magic wasn’t my main attack.
‘Efficient, but feels more like support.’
Usage limited by mana stored in accumulation tools made it inevitable.
Wasting the voucher on that would be a shame.
In the end, after agonizing, I turned elsewhere.
‘Maybe water magic instead?’
Of the four elements, water was the only one missing from my arsenal.
With the voucher here, I eyed some rank 2 spells listed.
‘Nah.’
I shook my head quickly.
Remembering I wouldn’t use it properly even if I bought it.
‘Water just won’t listen.’
I clicked my tongue inwardly and extended my hand over the table.
Soon, familiar sparks bloomed above my palm and split apart.
Bubbles rose in the empty space inside the sparks, filling with water.
In seconds, the sparks vanished, replaced by a fist-sized water orb.
But the floating water soon splashed down with a splurt.
“Tch.”
“Why, failed again?”
“Yeah.”
I gave a curt reply to Kim Yul’s question, frustration making me rake my hair roughly.
As suspected.
Water attribute mana stopped at decomposition and materialization.
Couldn’t do anything beyond.
With other attributes, my will reached the mana perfectly, full control.
Water cut off before my commands registered.
‘Like something’s blocking it.’
Ahel said the only fix was changing my perception of water.
Not helpful advice.
“I don’t even think much about water—how do I change my perception?”
I muttered without realizing, frustration spilling out.
I’d tried everything to fix this.
Brainwashing myself staring at water, saying it was great. Drinking more.
Even soaking in the tub one to two hours daily.
On outings, dipping in streams or rivers on purpose.
Led to more wood-chopping days with Yang Tae-ho.
But nothing changed.
I still carried this unsolved issue.
Buying water magic would just be another headache.
‘Rank 2 spells aren’t hard to learn anyway.’
Couldn’t array water attribute mana to register in my status window.
But it was learnable solo.
More efficient than shop-bought.
So I ruled out water magic too.
‘Plenty of other options.’
No rush—use elimination.
‘Better for permanent skills or magic over gear needing constant repairs.’
Spear arts hit my skill tab thanks to Shamell’s near-brainwashing lessons.
‘Maybe check body techniques.’
General-grade hunts made close-quarters as crucial as magic.
‘They all have unique styles.’
Some focused magic like the first one.
Others relied on physical prowess for melee.
To handle them all, I needed balanced development.
‘If not body techniques, an extra AoE would be nice.’
Ideally like the Lightning Strike I just used.
‘Lightning Strike’s 98 million mana in the shop…….’
Nearly 100 million. Absurd price.
Used to tremble buying 1,000-mana transparency.
Now registering a 100-million-mana spell without shop purchase—couldn’t help a hollow laugh.
‘To use that freely, need to hurry attribute mana gathering.’
I’d run nonstop, yet the path ahead brimmed with tasks.
As I caught my breath for what lay ahead, I felt a steady gaze.
Turning, Kim Yul stared while gnawing a huge lamb rib.
“What?”
I asked flatly, and he chewed before replying.
“Didn’t notice before, but you think a lot, Hyung. You’ve been muttering to yourself—what’s on your mind?”
“Sorting rewards, bolstering forces, this and that.”
I answered readily, pulling the shop voucher from storage and waving it.
“Oh, shop voucher? Thinking of grabbing a rank 4 AoE…… What do you think?”
After silver plate, Kim Yul bought high-grade attribute stones to upgrade his attribute mana.
From rank 3 storm to rank 4 typhoon.
Overlay of earth, wind, and now water.
Expanded his spell types and ranks.
I replied flatly to his question.
“Do what you want.”
No plans to micromanage party growth.
I’d set the overall hunting framework.
Frontline Yang Tae-ho expands the hunt board via herding.
Midline me maximizes output on his board with heavy firepower.
Rear and field oversight Kim Yul handled everything I might miss.
That was our team’s basic party play structure.
‘They handle the fine details themselves.’
Goddamn System