70. Golden Ticket
In short, the man-hunting expedition with Aisha was a total failure.
'Not easy, huh.'
— Sp... spare me, please!! I actually have a lover I've promised my future to!!
— I... um... actually... I like men.
— Begone, you demon bitch!! Do you even know where you are, showing up here!!! H-heuk!! Stay back!!!!!
— (faints)
I spotted quite a few promising targets and tried dozens of times, but every single one of them knew the rumors.
Maybe... with so many people in the Shelter glued to the community forums thanks to the environment, the old maid elf ghost story had spread even wider?
Over the past ten years in the Shelter, there weren't many folks who could actually hold down a proper job.
In other words, most people were NEETs with time to kill, so they dove headfirst into the forums.
'Hmm, kinda like the COVID era...'
Even people who never used the community before ended up spending tons of time there because of the situation, naturally picking up the old maid elf rumors. The Shelter's vibe had turned into the absolute worst hunting ground for her.
"What a shame."
Aisha, walking beside me, looked like her soul had been sucked right out of her.
"......"
Couldn't even talk to her.
Still, after all those attempts, I'd gathered some meaningful data... but Aisha's mental state seemed utterly shattered beyond repair.
Before long, we reached home and parted ways.
"...Sis, you did great today."
"......Thanks for keeping me company."
Her back looked utterly forlorn as she dragged herself up the stairs.
Missing the marriage boat because of work was common even in modern society...
But those people still managed to live on.
'Sorry, but hang in there... If you're really lucky, someone might show up.'
I was silently wishing her the best when Elise's door creaked open.
Clunk—
"...There you are? But why were you out with Professor Aisha?"
It was about time for Elise's magic lessons, so she'd probably been waiting.
"......It was a tragic battle. Just leave it at that."
"...What the hell."
No matter how OP my dungeon powers were, changing the old maid elf stigma wasn't happening anytime soon.
*
The magic lesson kicked off, and as usual, I spent ages chanting spells with the mana beast while practicing.
And I'd finally made some real progress...
Crackle—
"Ow, hot—!! Hey!! I told you not to zap me!!!"
"Heh heh... Didn't you tell me to treat practice like the real deal, Elise?"
I could now handle static electricity-level shocks.
"Do that one more time and you're dead for real?"
"......"
Crackle—
"Ack—!! Hey, you little shit!!!!"
I zapped her again with static, and she retaliated.
Rear naked choke— Elise locked her arm around my neck.
"Gack...!!"
Feeling the blood flow cut off, I tapped out.
Tap— Tap—
Thankfully, she released the hold, and I didn't pass out.
"You seriously need to get beat half to death once."
"...Sorry, but this is the most effective practice...?"
Yeah, it wasn't just me messing with Elise for kicks.
It was my own efficient training method.
For some reason, my magic success rate skyrocketed when targeting Elise.
She knew it too, so she put up with my pranks.
"Haa... I must be insane. What do I even do about this? Is it because I opened your circuits? Why are you only serious about magic on me?"
"This too is for the sake of the disciple, so endure it, master. This unworthy pupil feels like he's finally getting the hang of it."
Something itchy was just on the verge of clicking.
'A bit more and I'll grab it.'
Of course, her reactions were delicious, so that kept me going too.
'Hm? Maybe building the mental image works better because I wanna see her react?'
Elise looked pissed after two zaps in a row...
Crackle—
"Bullsh— Ack, hot! You fucker, you're done for!!!"
I couldn't resist a third.
Elise charged in rage, but...
"A master with such a simple attack pattern...!! I already predicted that trajectory!!!"
I sidestepped her charge and fired another static bolt.
Crackle—
Ting—
"...What?!"
But this time, it bounced off an invisible barrier—no damage.
Elise turned to me slowly, her eyes changing.
"Haa... Guess it's time to settle the pecking order for good."
"...Fine by me. Loser becomes the dog...?"
Our fights with Elise always devolved into pure grappling instead of magic—her way of balancing since magic fights were too one-sided for me.
That unspoken rule meant we occasionally went full wrestling match.
Our win-loss record was surprisingly even. I had the strength and size edge, but she was way better technically.
She seemed stressed sometimes, like something was chasing her, so I figured these stress-relief brawls were good for her.
She went along with it willingly, so she probably didn't hate it.
'If she really hated it, she'd get serious.'
I widened my stance, bellowing like I could take on a mountain.
"Come at me...!!!"
"Today, I'll fix that attitude of yours...!!!"
Thud-thud—!
The master-disciple hierarchy battle began.
"Hah... hah...!"
*
We tumbled around entangled for ages until we collapsed from exhaustion.
Both Elise and I lay spread-eagled on the floor, sweating buckets and gasping for air.
"Haa... haa... Hey... you know it's tomorrow, right...?"
"Heuk... heuk... What's... tomorrow?"
"...The park, duh!! You weren't clueless, were you?"
Oh, yeah... I'd known, but running around with Aisha all morning made me forget for a sec.
"...So nail the ticketing, got it?"
"Yeah... I really wanna go, so try hard. I believe in you, but..."
"...Worry not. I'll secure one for sure."
"...Fix that cringy speech or I'll zap you into jerky?"
"......"
For the record, I lost today.
*
After Elise left.
I picked up Kkomangi, deep in thought.
"Time to give it a shot, huh..."
Hek hek...
I'd never dared before, but now was the time to try crafting a new ticket type.
Since I could handle a bit of magic now, maybe I could pull something off...
"If I could even slightly modify the tickets..."
I'd love to nail it before the park opens, but...
"No clue at all."
Now that I could wield magic, had my vessel grown? No idea.
To check progress, I'd need to reclaim power from Kkomangi first...
"How the hell do I reclaim it!!!"
I shook the lifted Kkomangi, but nothing happened.
Hek hek...
...Maybe Yeomje's method just didn't work for me.
We shared being Dimensional Transferees, but I was a special case.
At this rate, I might never truly master my dungeon powers.
Frustrating... No path in sight.
"Raaagh, Kkomangi, give me back my power—!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Hek hek...
I squeezed Kkomangi hard with both hands.
Squish—
Its jelly body compressed.
Just my usual nonsense... but golden mist leaked from the squeezed Kkomangi and flowed into me.
"...It, it worked?!"
*
The next day.
The long-awaited Starlight Lake Park opening.
*
Goseongji had entered the park early for the opening and fired up his stream.
Chat window
"Hello, everyone. As you can see, I'm at the park right now."
Chat window
Goseongji's face on stream looked worlds better than before.
"Yes... not because of the shitposts. From now on, I'm aiming to be a dungeon specialist streamer. Others can handle deleting shitposts."
Chat window
"I'll do advance previews for new dungeons like showcases... and just roam dungeons streaming normally. Drop by the channel whenever you're bored."
Chat window
Goseongji responded leisurely, as if the chat was beneath him.
"...Thanks for the hell all this time. Watch me vacation from now on."
"Lots of events on opening day, so come if you can. I'll go check what shops are in the park."
Chat window
*
"......"
Morning ticket posting time.
By some miracle yesterday, I'd absorbed Kkomangi's power and succeeded in making new tickets.
The brilliantly shining golden ticket in my hand was the result.
It had a new system implanted, working differently from standard tickets.
"Compared to regulars, it's premium-grade."
But... huge problem.
Not enough to distribute.
Couldn't be helped... This wasn't mass-produced by ticket-shitting Kkomangi; I crafted each one by hand.
Focus like when wielding magic, build a ticket in thin air.
After minutes of concentration, light coalesced into one ticket.
That was the Golden Ticket.
Tweaked by me personally, it was definitely superior in performance...
"But no mass production..."
I could make them one by one, but not multiples at once.
"Failure after all..."
Tried tuning existing tickets too, but no dice yet.
"Oh well."
Probably need a bigger vessel for mass production.
Or find another way...
Anyway, time was up, so I listed the regular dungeon tickets on the market.
The park tickets sold out the instant I posted.
"Whoa..."
Expected, but insanely fast...
The gallery was pure chaos, as expected.
— Kyaaaaack!!!!!!! No way, why so fast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
...Elise failed too, huh.
'Has she ever even succeeded at ticketing...?'
Moments later, someone pounded on my door furiously.
Bang bang—
— Hey!! Baek Soo-chan!! Tickets...!! Did you nail the ticketing?!