Chapter 110
Chapter 110
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 110
Chapter Title: To the Second Stage
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When I opened my eyes in the morning, I was in my bed, in my room.
It seemed I'd been brought home while I was half-asleep.
"Ugh."
My head was fuzzy and throbbing.
*Knock, knock*—a knock on the door.
Of course, it was Chris.
"Come iiin."
I gave Chris permission to enter in a drowsy voice.
Chris entered, sighing heavily, carrying something on a tray.
"Haa, are you okay? Why did you drink so much yesterday?"
"Alcohol...?"
Chris sat on the edge of the bed with a playful smile and stroked my head.
"You don't remember anything from yesterday?"
"Umm...."
I definitely remember being in the hall, looking for something to drink, and finding some sweet juice that I sipped on.
I don't remember anything after that.
"After drinking something that seemed like juice... I don't remember what happened next."
"Heheh, you were quite a handful, you know?"
Chris just chuckled after saying that.
I grew a little embarrassed.
"Did I do something rude yesterday? I'm sorry."
"Oh, no! Rude? Not at all!"
Chris waved her hands dismissively. Then she covered her face with her hands, a slight blush creeping onto her cheeks.
What's with her?
"I... liked it."
"......?"
Chris, who had said that with the expression of a shy girl, quickly turned her head and cleared her throat.
"A-ahem! Anyway, no more alcohol for you! ...Of course, not a complete ban! You can only drink when I say so, and only in front of me!"
"Okay."
I wasn't entirely sure, but it seemed the "juice" I'd been drinking yesterday was actually alcohol.
In other words, I got drunk.
I don't think I drank that much. This body must get drunk easily.
Chris slipped a hand behind my back and helped me sit up.
"Here, your head hurts, right? I prepared a breakfast that should help with the hangover."
"Oh."
It was rice, a few side dishes, and a clear soup with bean sprouts and beef.
I tilted my head.
"I don't know much about it, but isn't hangover soup usually spicy?"
"Mmm~ that's a common misconception. A clear soup is actually better for a hangover."
Chris grinned and fed me a spoonful of the soup.
Ah~
Today is Sunday. But Chris said she had to work this weekend.
While other people get to rest, Chris is often busy even on weekends.
"Take care of yourself, and don't overdo it."
"Okay. Have a good day at work."
I said goodbye to Chris, my head peeking out from under the covers.
Chris looked at me with a slightly disappointed expression before leaving the room.
Alone now.
I tossed and turned in bed for a moment, then fiddled with my smartphone.
After a dozen minutes or so of that, I finally sighed and got up.
"Haaah."
Lately, I just can't seem to stay still.
Eating and living well left me with an excess of energy.
My body was a little lethargic from the hangover, but not enough to keep me from being active.
*Whirr.*
I went out to the living room for a moment and turned on the holographic TV mounted on the wall.
"Hmm...."
The variety shows of this era don't really appeal to me. I don't get the humor.
Animation? I feel like I have memories of watching that sort of thing.
As I flipped through the TV channels, I stopped on one.
"Oh, baseball."
A baseball game was in full swing on the sports channel.
It's too early in the morning for baseball. A rerun, perhaps?
I'd heard that various virtual reality sports were popular these days.
But even in this age, a professional baseball league still existed in the real world.
In my past life, I had a team I cheered for.
Which one was it? Some kind of Eagles?
It would be nice if there was something in this world that could capture my interest.
Maybe Chris and I could go out and have fun, maybe even go to a live sports game together.
Rummaging through the fragments of my memory, I stared blankly at the baseball game for a moment before finally returning to my room.
"Heave-ho."
And then, I lay down inside the capsule.
It seems that, for now, I still like the Astria Continent best.
*
After a refreshing round of daily quests, I opened the messenger window.
"Today... is everyone taking the day off?"
I smacked my lips.
I wanted to run a bus, but a lot of the guild members were offline.
"Oh."
Searching for someone to run the bus with me, I broke into a smile.
Fortunately, Fullmoon and RedHotChicken, two female guild members, were online.
I summoned them.
I decided to run today's Frozen Palace bus with them.
The vanguard was me, Rain the Swordsman, with Fullmoon the Spirit Master and RedHotChicken the Mage in the rear. An excellent three-person bus combination.
A Spirit Master's spirits are very versatile. They can summon a 'Gnome', an earth spirit, to tank, or use a water spirit, 'Undine', to immobilize a named monster or inflict various status ailments.
That's why a Spirit Master, who can fill multiple roles at once, is preferred for a three-person bus. Of course, the members of the Red and White guild, all of whom are top-tier pioneers, did just fine without one.
*BOOM!*
Fullmoon sent her Gnome forward and hammered the 'Shieldbearer' with a Salamander's fire skill. The firepower of the Mage, 'RedHotChicken', who was pouring out spells alongside her, was also incredible.
Indeed, the more you face the same named monster and master the fight through repetition, the higher your damage output becomes.
While my adaptability allowed me to create a huge gap between myself and other players at first, they were slowly starting to catch up as they gained experience.
I glanced at the battle situation on the other side of the cliff, then ramped up my damage tempo against the 'Spearman' I was fighting.
*Fwoosh!*
Starlight danced wildly around me, and the 'Spearman's' HP began to drop rapidly.
Even if I shredded its health this quickly, I knew they could keep up.
It's a happy thing to see other players grow.
Even more so when they're my guildmates.
Today's bus passenger was a quiet and gentlemanly middle-aged Fighter. He coolly requested ten consecutive runs.
At first, Fullmoon and RedHotChicken were chattering next to the passenger, but after noticing his demeanor, they soon started chattering next to me instead.
I told Fullmoon and RedHotChicken to speak to me casually. Both in appearance and by my resident registration, I was the younger one.
"Everyone was drinking like crazy until dawn, you know? I bet Hopkins and Seopseobi won't even be able to log on today."
"Hehe, arguing about who could drink more. Having a drinking contest in a fancy hotel hall, I was so embarrassed I could have died. ...By the way, are you okay, Rain?"
Fullmoon, who had been giggling while talking about the guild members, asked me gently.
I tilted my head, then my thoughts drifted to the fact that Iseulbi's body had been drunk yesterday.
"Yes. My head hurt a little this morning, but I'm fine now."
"A-ahem. That's a relief."
Suddenly, Fullmoon blushed and cleared her throat. RedHotChicken had a similar reaction, avoiding my gaze.
The two of them, who had been chattering away, blushed as if on cue.
I started to feel a little uneasy.
Did a drunk Iseulbi do something terribly rude to them yesterday?
"Did I... do something wrong yesterday...?"
"O-oh, no! Wrong? Not at all! It was so nice.... N-no, I mean, so soft.... Ahh!"
"Hey!"
Fullmoon jabbed RedHotChicken in the side as she babbled nonsense. Then, as if something occurred to her, she clapped her hands.
"Oh, right, you said you don't remember much from yesterday, right? ...Do you also not remember what happened after you went up to the hotel room with the Guild Master?"
"Huh?"
Yesterday? After going up to the hotel room?
Fullmoon and RedHotChicken's faces turned an even deeper shade of red. They clasped their hands together and started to imagine something.
"Rain, you're an adult, so you know what we mean, right? Haaah...! It's frustrating, but the Guild Master is a perfect woman...!"
"B-but, surely she wouldn't take a drunk kid and...."
I shook my head.
"We just slept. I remember that for sure."
For some reason, I had a strong feeling that I had to say this for the sake of Chris's public reputation.
Fullmoon and RedHotChicken smacked their lips with disappointed expressions.
From what I heard, it seemed Iseulbi was the only guild member who got a proper night's sleep yesterday.
Fullmoon and RedHotChicken were just as tired. When afternoon came, they complained of fatigue and logged off.
After Fullmoon and RedHotChicken left, I planned my exploration of the next area.
"I need to start leveling up a bit now, too."
Truthfully, it was still the early days of farming the Frozen Palace. The bus fees were at their peak.
However, I had to make the most of the time when I had no one to run the bus with.
I could still earn money running a solo bus, but I was an obedient little sister. Just as Chris said, I needed to exercise restraint when there were no guild members to accompany me.
Three passengers and just me. This setup left me spread too thin. It was also difficult dealing with obsessive users captivated by my appearance. I couldn't just call a GM every time.
And the temperature of this region had risen, if only slightly.
This was because the cold air emanating from the Frozen Palace of the Tundra had vanished after its master was defeated.
Other players probably wouldn't notice. I was the only one sensitive enough to the changes in temperature to realize this.
Now, this region would gradually return to a temperature appropriate for its latitude.
Even if the snow didn't melt completely, it would at least recover enough to become a habitable environment for people.
There was something I learned while exploring this region.
About a hundred years ago, there were quite a few villages in this area.
I even saw the ruins of a few villages that showed signs of human habitation.
But now, there was only one inhabited village in the region: 'Valos'. They were the only ones who hadn't abandoned their homeland in the harsh, cold environment.
The source of the cold wasn't just the Frozen Palace of the Tundra.
A cold that permeated the entire snowy mountain range. Or rather, demonic energy in the form of cold.
To completely erase this demonic energy, how many more elite dungeons would I have to conquer?
And would I be able to find traces of my comrades here, too?
*Crunch, crunch.*
Leaving small footprints in the snow, I headed toward the second stage of my adventure in the 'Land of Severe Cold'.