Chapter 57
Chapter 57
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Reward (1)
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When the scorching flames from Ifrit engulfed his surroundings, Barad had wanted to die.
Having fulfilled his final wish, he no longer felt any reason to live.
‘It was because of me…’
Barad had lived with regret.
If only he had firmly refused his son’s pestering to visit the fire dragon's lair, or if only he himself had been stronger.
He was clutching the necklace and staring at the ceiling, waiting for death.
“Will that bring him back?”
Barad’s head turned. Hyun-soo, clad in blue armor, was looking at him.
“...You don’t know. No one else could possibly understand.”
This knot in my chest.
“I’m sure your late son would be thrilled.”
Those words enraged Barad.
He grabbed Hyun-soo by the collar with all his might.
“Don’t you dare speak so carelessly! What do you know? Do you know the sorrow of losing a child because of your own actions!?”
It was a feeling no one could comprehend.
He was his only remaining blood.
“...I do.”
But the man named Hyun-soo spoke. With a bitter smile, Hyun-soo began to tell his own story.
The story of how he had rushed into the smithy to save his father, only for him to never wake up.
“If only I had been faster then, if only I hadn’t gone to meet my friend that day, if only I had been by my father’s side.”
Barad looked into his eyes.
“But I’ve decided not to think like that anymore. Do you know why?”
Hyun-soo smiled faintly.
“Because both Your Majesty’s son and my father would want us to live wonderful, happy lives.”
Hearing those words, Barad crumbled.
He lowered his head and sobbed.
Hyeon, the blacksmith.
He patted him on the back and said,
“...It’s not our fault. So let’s live. Just as they would want.”
The king’s broken heart began to mend.
The greatest comfort came from the empathy, from his words saying it wasn’t their fault.
Fwoooosh-
Hyeon, his blue armor vanished, was soon swallowed by the flames, turning to ash.
Watching him disappear, the king murmured.
“...Thank you.”
And then, he pulled himself out of the inferno.
Finishing his recollection, Barad found himself wanting to see the stranger named Hyun-soo and spoke.
“Hyun-soo. I want to see that boy very much.”
“I will bring him at once.”
He raised a hand to stop Bella, who was about to leave.
“Summon the chancellor first.”
“Yes.”
A short while later, Bolsen, the chancellor of the Goyad Kingdom, entered.
“I imagine you’ve already finished appraising the three swords.”
“That is correct, Your Majesty.”
Chancellor Bolsen had heard the story from Bella and immediately appraised the three swords.
“And what did you think of them?”
“I judged the two Epic-grade swords to be close to Unique grade. The fourth Hyeon’s Custom Production sword had an unheard-of resistance to the fire attribute, and the fifth custom sword was imbued with a wondrous, mystical power.”
The chancellor valued the two swords at the highest end of their grade.
“And the last sword?”
“It was the first time this humble servant has ever seen a legendary sword in person.”
The impression from when he first saw the sword had yet to fade from Bolsen.
“I appraised its price based on precedents of other legendary swords that have been sold. It ranks on the lower end among legendary swords, but I took into account that with this sword, one could wield unrivaled power when fighting fire-attribute monsters.”
Barad slowly nodded. Bolsen, however, couldn’t understand the reason for the continued questioning.
His Majesty was not one to take an interest in the affairs of others.
Nor was he the type to concern himself with the price of a sword.
No matter how expensive it was, for the king of an entire kingdom, it was a different matter.
Then, Barad spoke.
“Calculate the price of the swords with an additional 30%.”
“...Pardon?”
Bolsen was stunned. The current appraised value was already an amount that ordinary blacksmiths could live on for years without working.
And yet, the king himself was ordering him to increase the amount?
Then, Bolsen saw the look in his eyes and was surprised.
What lay in the king’s eyes. It was affection for Hyun-soo.
“I understand.”
“Tell me the calculated amount. I will reward him myself.”
Bolsen then added 30% to the originally appraised price and reported the new total.
After Bolsen left, Barad got dressed and headed to the audience chamber.
***
One day in the real world. Three days in the game.
Hyun-soo spent the day resting and looking for a new place to move.
‘The landlady must have given me a really good deal.’
The new place he found was a semi-basement studio. It was similar in size to his current home, but twice as expensive.
He hadn’t signed a contract yet.
‘How much will I be able to get?’
Hyun-soo had also looked up the market prices.
A recently traded legendary artifact went for 800 million won.
Compared to that, Hyeon's sixth custom-produced sword was slightly inferior to that weapon.
‘I wonder if he’s awake now?’
Hyun-soo was also worried about Barad’s condition. After taking a sip of water, he entered the capsule.
[You have logged in.]
The moment he connected, Hyun-soo’s heart ached.
‘Ugh... a one-level drop…’
In Ares, players receive a penalty for being forcibly logged out.
Bella arrived right away.
“His Majesty has awakened. He is looking for you, Hyun-soo-nim.”
Hyun-soo followed Bella. Soon, in the audience chamber, he was able to have an audience with Barad, who seemed to have recovered a great deal.
Looking at him, Barad began to speak.
“I have something to ask you.”
“Please, speak.”
“...I know that outsiders are immortal and can be revived even if they die. You must have known you would die at that moment, too. So, is there a reason you braved death just to say those words?”
“There are two reasons.”
“Two reasons?”
Barad looked puzzled.
“The first is that I wanted Your Majesty, who carries the same weight as I do, to live.”
For him to live.
Strangely, those words resonated deeply in Barad’s heart.
Barad knew. If it hadn’t been Hyun-soo, but someone else—
—if Bella or anyone else had said such things, he would not have been swayed.
But the reason he had gathered his resolve when Hyun-soo spoke was because of the empathy.
He shared the same pain, and sincerity could be felt in his words.
“And the second?”
At Barad’s question, Hyun-soo met his gaze.
“Because I was confident I would be sufficiently rewarded for it.”
Barad chuckled at the potentially arrogant statement.
That was exactly his intention. The words showed him just how clever the young man was.
Of course, even if he hadn’t received a reward for the second reason, he would have made the same choice.
[Your Affinity with Barad has reached MAX.]
Inwardly, Hyun-soo couldn’t hide his surprise.
Before being forcibly logged out in the tomb, Hyun-soo had heard several notifications that his affinity had increased.
And now, with their recent conversation, that affinity had reached its peak.
‘Max affinity with a named NPC like Barad…’
Hyun-soo’s heart pounded.
Then Barad spoke.
“You are right.”
[Chain Quest: The King's Crafting Request - Complete]
[King Barad bestows a reward for your wondrous achievement.]
Again.
Hyun-soo heard this notification whenever he received or completed a quest.
A reward for a wondrous achievement.
Normally, the notification would simply say something like, ‘You can receive a reward.’
This was typically a notification one heard when completing a quest exceptionally well.
“The appraisal for the three swords you crafted is complete.”
At Barad’s words, Hyun-soo swallowed nervously.
An Epic-grade sword. The average price for a sword of a level Barad could wield was about 3,000 gold.
“First, let’s talk about the two Epic-grade swords. According to Chancellor Bolsen, they are valuable enough to be called top-tier within their grade.”
Hyun-soo listened in silence.
“For the fourth custom-produced sword, 8,600 gold. For the fifth Hyeon’s Custom Production sword, I will pay 9,000 gold.”
Hyun-soo was shocked.
‘I thought I’d get 5,000 gold per sword at most…?’
Of course, 5,000 gold was no small sum. A single sword amounted to 5 million won in Korean currency.
The two together totaled 17.6 million won.
“Finally, let’s discuss the value of the sword that saved my life. I must first say that I am delighted to possess such a fine blade.”
Barad smiled faintly, looking at Hyeon’s sixth custom-produced sword, which was placed neatly to one side.
Hyun-soo tensed up.
He was eager to know the value of the first legendary artifact he had ever created.
***
Ho-seok, a team leader in the administrative department of Hansung Hospital, received a call from a nurse named Ji-hye.
‘Mr. Hyun-soo would like a consultation for a VVIP room.’
Ho-seok was in charge of the VVIP rooms in the administrative department and managed the entire administrative team.
‘Kang Hyun-soo?’
And Ho-seok frowned at the fact that the person wanting a VVIP room consultation was Kang Hyun-soo.
The truth was, Ho-seok didn't like Hyun-soo.
Of course, at first, Ho-seok had felt sorry for him.
But how many times had his superiors hounded him over Hyun-soo’s overdue hospital bills?
He’d been dragged before the department head and told to kick him out more than once.
The hospital wasn't a charity, so it was only natural.
Of course, he had also heard that Hyun-soo recently paid around 50 million won all at once.
‘But paying 50 million won is different from affording a VVIP room.’
VVIP rooms are used by people who earn billions of won a year, at the very least. It wasn't uncommon for clients to have assets worth tens of billions.
But the Kang Hyun-soo who had been behind on his hospital bills?
‘Why on earth does Ji-hye like that guy?’
In fact, the reason Ho-seok, who had until recently shielded Hyun-soo from the department head's nagging, had come to dislike him was because of Ji-hye.
It was because he found out that Ji-hye liked Hyun-soo.
Ho-seok had a crush on Ji-hye.
‘Is he just young and has no sense of money? I need to set him straight. Tell him to focus on paying the treatment fees rather than dreaming about a VVIP room.’
Ho-seok planned to be very firm.
On the other hand, he also wondered if Hyun-soo, being young, had come into a bit of money and let it go to his head.
With that, Ho-seok entered the consultation room.
Inside, Ho-seok found Hyun-soo sitting on the sofa.
He stood up and bowed his head deeply.
“You wanted a consultation for your father’s VVIP room?”
“Yes.”
Taking a seat, Ho-seok got straight to the point.
“You know, you have to prepay for three months for a VVIP room.”
A VVIP room costs about 20 million won a month.
“I’d like to prepay today and have him moved.”
At Hyun-soo's words, Ho-seok looked puzzled.
Prepay *some*? Does that mean he’s prepaying 100 or 200 million won?
This was quite unexpected.
‘Still, that’s nowhere near enough to maintain the VVIP room and cover his father’s treatment costs.’
So Ho-seok asked.
“How much are you planning to prepay?”
“One billion won.”
Ho-seok’s eyes widened.
“A-Are you transferring it right now?”
“Yes.”
And just like that, Ho-seok saw that one billion won had indeed been deposited into the hospital’s bank account.
‘H-How...?’
Ho-seok was floored.