Chapter 158 Paradise
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Translator: JayM
Chapter: 158
Chapter Title: Paradise
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Jeong Yoo-shin opened his eyes.
The morning sun streamed through the window.
Lin was sleeping on his chest while snoring softly.
The golden slime was wrapped around his right arm and was still.
He had wondered why his chest and arm felt uncomfortable.
Had they been clinging to him all night?
Jeong Yoo-shin rubbed his eyes and sat up.
He gently placed the sleeping Lin, who had rolled off his chest, into his front shirt pocket and left Delia’s personality wrapped around his arm.
He left his room and checked on Snout and Karin.
They were both sound asleep, as if dead to the world.
They were probably sleeping in after a long-awaited break. And they had drunk quite a bit yesterday, so there was no need to wake them up for now.
He went down to the first floor, passed through the inn hall, and went out to the courtyard to stretch.
He placed down Lin and the slime a short distance away. They were still half-asleep while dozing in the sun.
Jeong Yoo-shin smiled and slowly walked around the courtyard.
Once he was warmed up, he skipped his swordsmanship training and immediately summoned a Sacred Weapon.
He wanted to test the Multi-Casting imprint he had recently obtained.
[Sacred Weapon]
[Sacred Weapon]
A spell he had practiced hundreds of times every morning.
Mana particles, responding to his will, surged through his mana circuits.
Two golden daggers immediately materialized in his hands.
Jeong Yoo-shin grinned.
“Nice.”
He had only been able to summon one weapon at a time before, but now things were different.
However…
Jeong Yoo-shin quickly frowned.
‘The mana consumption is too high.’
It consumed more mana to create two weapons at once than to create them one at a time.
Was it because his Multi-Casting imprint hadn’t matured yet?
A moment later, the two daggers made of light shattered and disappeared.
Jeong Yoo-shin watched the golden mana particles scatter in the air and thought.
‘Should I learn some magic?’
He had improved his body’s compatibility with mana by drinking the elixir Mage’s Tears.
And this time, he had obtained a good imprint, Multi-Casting.
He pondered for a moment, then shook his head.
Did he even have time for that?
And he had no idea how long it would take for him to learn magic.
He was already struggling to keep up with his elf swordmaster Ashur’s teachings. Wasn’t it too ambitious of him to think about learning magic as well?
“Sigh. My fate…”
It seemed like he was destined to be a vanguard.
Jeong Yoo-shin stopped his thoughts and began to create various weapons.
A greatsword and a dagger.
Two arming swords.
A halberd and a mace.
It consumed a lot of mana, but he lost track of time while enjoying the process of creating various weapons.
“Sigh.”
Jeong Yoo-shin collapsed onto the ground, drenched in sweat after his mana was quickly depleted.
He closed his eyes and organized his thoughts on how to become stronger.
There were three ways to improve his strength in his current situation.
The first was to learn various weapon techniques.
He had realized this when he learned the Red Wolf Tribe’s dagger techniques from Karin. Many of the principles of longsword swordsmanship also applied to daggers. And even more so to one-handed swordsmanship.
Wouldn’t it also apply to spears and halberds?
The second was to strengthen his body and mana through leveling up.
He had expected to level up after defeating the Sweeper, but he didn’t get any level up dreams. It was a bit disappointing.
All he had gotten from burying the holy relics during the Forest Troll subjugation was a slight physical enhancement.
The third was to collect equipment and analyze his opponents’ skills.
He still had the single-edged sword which had the ‘Gale’ spell in it that could be used three times. It still looked fine, but the magic imbued in it had run out.
He had no regrets.
He could just copy it with his Sacred Weapon’s ‘property’ imbuement.
Come to think of it, there seemed to be a few conditions for imbuing properties with Sacred Weapon.
He had understood the power of the half-ogre’s gauntlets by experiencing it firsthand at the labyrinth entrance.
Because he had a thorough understanding of it, he had been able to create it easily with Sacred Weapon.
He had also wielded the Gale Sword and felt its power. That also meant that he had an understanding of it.
He expected that the more he fought and the more weapons he used, the more opportunities he would have to become stronger.
Of course…
Assuming he didn’t die along the way.
‘But this Sacred Weapon is ridiculously overpowered.’
Couldn’t he just ‘copy’ good weapons with the property imbuement?
‘That’s right.’
‘Now retire as an explorer and live a happy labyrinth life. Just do it.’
Slap!!!
Jeong Yoo-shin slapped himself to drive out the evil thoughts. With his loved ones gone and his body relaxed, his mind was becoming corrupted.
‘Why me!?’
The angel in his mind cried out.
Jeong Yoo-shin ignored the nonsense and stood up. He hadn’t forgotten his purpose just because he had obtained a good skill.
“Sigh. Peace of mind. Peace like a river. I am the fifth great saint. Asurabalbalta.”
He tidied up, washed himself at the well, and then brought Lin and Delia’s ‘personality’ back into the inn.
“Skar.”
Karin was sitting at a table, her face pale.
Snout was also clutching his head with a similar expression.
“You’re up? Let’s eat out.”
“Ugh… Okay.”
“Skar, I know a good place.”
Snout approached him and said.
“You smell like alcohol. Stay away.”
“Ah, yes, sir.”
He took the two hungover companions and went out into the street.
The morning street was overflowing with a mixture of monster-people and humans. Even more than he had seen yesterday.
Following Snout’s lead, they entered an inn, found a table, and sat down.
“Skar!”
A human man in his forties approached them with a surprised expression.
“Skar, what are you doing here?”
“Innkeeper, our inn is closed today, so we came to eat out. We’ll have some hot soup and whatever is popular.”
“Is that so? Alright.”
The innkeeper naturally took their order and went into the kitchen.
As he waited for his food, Jeong Yoo-shin looked around and tilted his head.
Most of the customers were glaring at him with hostile eyes.
“What’s wrong? Did I do something? They’re glaring at me like they want to kill me.”
Snout took a sip of water and spoke.
“They must be from the Eastern District.”
“Really?”
“And the Eastern District is the one that has suffered the most from the barbarians. Many of them probably hold a grudge.”
“I-Is that so?”
Jeong Yoo-shin felt a bit awkward.
It had been a while since he had received such hostile glares.
So he decided to smile.
“Hee.”
The people around him immediately buried their faces in their plates and began to eat frantically.
They ate so quickly that food flew everywhere.
Jeong Yoo-shin crossed his arms and looked at the customers from the Eastern District.
“What’s wrong with them? They seemed to think I was cute last time.”
“Well, you were in your younger form then. I think they were less wary of you rather than finding you cute.”
“But I’m handsome now, aren’t I?”
Snout stared at Jeong Yoo-shin’s face blankly.
“W-Well, yes. That’s right. But even a beautiful flower can be poisonous. And the more vibrant the flower, the stronger the poison. People probably feel that instinctively.”
Jeong Yoo-shin patted Snout on the chest.
“That was a good line. It came out so smoothly. You have a talent for that.”
“Ahem! Thank you. It came out naturally because of my great respect for you, Skar.”
Karin crossed her arms and watched the two men while sighing deeply.
“Sigh. Skar, did anything happen last night?”
Jeong Yoo-shin tilted his head and spoke.
“No?”
Karin and Snout looked at him blankly.
“Huh?”
“Yes?”
Jeong Yoo-shin explained what had happened last night.
How three women had visited him last night and that they had talked for a long time.
“What?!”
“Gasp!”
Karin asked in disbelief.
“Lady Astaroth, Nelia, and Vivian visited you last night?”
“That’s right. That dark elf, Vivian, seemed to know you.”
“Hmm?”
“I heard you bought something strange from her. What was it? A paralysis potion or something?”
Karin immediately closed her mouth at Jeong Yoo-shin’s words.
“…”
Jeong Yoo-shin stared at Karin intently.
“You bought that paralysis potion from her? Don’t do it again. Seriously.”
“O-Okay. I’m sorry.”
Karin’s tail drooped.
The food arrived, and Jeong Yoo-shin, Karin, and Snout began to eat.
They chatted about various things.
“So, I haven’t seen Luna lately. Is something wrong?”
Snout scratched his head at Jeong Yoo-shin’s question.
“Luna joined a clan recently.”
“What clan?”
Snout’s voice lowered.
“Have you heard of the Malrang-poksin* Clan?”
Jeong Yoo-shin’s eyes widened. He naturally leaned closer to Snout.
“What is that? What kind of ridiculous clan name is that?”
“It’s a clan for only soft and fluffy friends.”
“Sigh.”
Jeong Yoo-shin put down his spoon and rubbed his face.
He had suffered in the labyrinth. He had been dissatisfied with the meager rewards, but he knew the heavens were watching.
It knew what he wanted.
He was finally getting his ‘reward.’
“Snout, keep talking.”
“Luna is so engrossed in playing with her Malrang-poksin Clan friends that she’s neglecting her studies. Her mother, Edel, is very worried.”
“Then, I have to go there myself.”
Jeong Yoo-shin declared.
“Huh? You don’t have to…”
“I have to. I need to see Luna’s face and make sure she’s safe.”
Snout spoke cautiously.
“But Skar, I don’t think you can join the Malrang-poksin Clan.”
“Why?”
“Well… Because you’re not soft and fluffy.”
Jeong Yoo-shin crossed his arms and pondered.
“Do you have any mascot costumes? The kind you can wear over your whole body?”
Snout scratched his head.
“We have one, but…”
“Get me a fluffy one.”
“Y-Yes.”
Snout nodded.
Karin put down her spoon and stood up.
“Skar, you seem to have a lot you want to do.”
“You should come too.”
Karin shook her head.
“I have to go to the smithy and get my equipment repaired. And I’ll stop by the temple to check on Delia.”
“Really? Alright.”
Jeong Yoo-shin and his group finished their meal and parted ways.
Karin left the inn with the golden slime and her broken armor.
Jeong Yoo-shin put on the mascot costume Snout had brought. It was a wolf.
“Why a wolf?”
“This is the only one we have. But it’s fluffy and cute, so I think it’ll be fine.”
“The location?”
“Do you know the bakery street?”
“I do.”
“If you pass that street and continue straight, you’ll reach the tea shop street. There’s a tea shop called the Cat’s Paw, and they have regular clan meetings there.”
“Good.”
Jeong Yoo-shin immediately ran down the street while wearing the wolf mascot costume.
“Huff!!! Huff!!!”
The people on the street scattered in panic at the sight of the waddling Jeong Yoo-shin.
“Wh-Who is that?!”
“M-Mommy!”
“C-Could it be… a serious beast-person lover?”
“Oh, God! How could someone wear a costume modeled after the skin of another race?!”
Jeong Yoo-shin ignored the people’s whispers and ran while panting.
He quickly passed the bakery street and arrived at the tea shop street.
He saw several tea shops centered around a plaza fountain.
Jeong Yoo-shin quickly turned his head.
‘Found it.’
Just as Snout had said, there was a tea shop with a Cat’s Paw sign.
He immediately ran to the shop, pushed open the door, and entered.
And then he saw heaven.
From teddy bears to fluffy sheep, baby foxes, koalas, dogs, cats, otters, meerkats, and even black-footed cats and penguins.
He had never seen so many soft and fluffy beast-people gathered in one place. They were all small and cute.
All eyes in the shop focused on Jeong Yoo-shin.
“…Wh-What is that?”
A teddy bear muttered.
They had been peacefully chatting when the door suddenly opened, and a strange person in a giant wolf mascot costume appeared.
“Huff!!! Huff!!!”
The wolf mascot was panting heavily.
“S-Scary.”
“Who is that?”
“He’s wearing a strange costume.”
The clan members began to murmur fearfully.
Jeong Yoo-shin couldn’t stand it any longer and took off the mascot head.
His black hair tumbled down.
The clan members’ round eyes widened. Gasps of horror erupted from all over the shop.
“Bear, bear?!”
“Hmph?!”
“I-It’s a barbarian!”
Jeong Yoo-shin grinned. So widely that his mouth seemed to touch his ears.
“Hmph. This is paradise.”
“…”
In the quiet tea shop…
The color drained from the small, fluffy beast-people’s faces.
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T/N - Oh wow. If the MC wanted to creep out the small and cute beast-people, then he did a good job. And what was the point of wearing the mascot costume if he was just going to remove it as soon as he met them? 😅
* 말랑폭신 (Malrang-poksin) is a combination of two Korean words: `말랑말랑` (malrang-malrang), meaning "soft and squishy," and `폭신폭신` (poksin-poksin), meaning "fluffy and cushiony." Since a direct translation would be awkward, I've left it as "Malrang-poksin" instead.