190. Affection Reader (4)
190. Affection Reader (4)
「The Ring of Affection and Obsession」
A truly game-breaking item that indisputably ranks Tier 1 in Velvet School Life!, applying a percentage buff to all owned characters based on one person's affection for another.
It was clearly so powerful that whether or not you obtained it could determine your entire game progression from then on.
If it hadn't been, I wouldn't have ventured all the way out to that dangerous Jukai Forest, no matter how thoroughly I'd prepared.
'But...... what the hell is going on?'
Immediately after putting on the ring,
I couldn't contain my bewilderment.
Ding—♬
《 You have equipped the 「Ring of Affection and Obsession」. A percentage-based enhancement to all stats has been applied to every target for whom you hold affection. 》
Because the list of affected targets included some very strange people.
《 Affected Targets 》
【 Lee Yu-ri 】 - 4%
【 Kang Do-hee 】 - 4%
【 Im Ga-eul 】 - 4%
【 Sofia 】 - 4%
【 Shin Se-hee 】 - 4%
【 Ichika 】 - 3%
Honestly, I thought it would be a jackpot even if it only applied up to Sofia.
But instead, it went a step further and even applied to Shin Se-hee, who isn't a combat class, and Ichika, who hasn't even officially joined yet.
Well, even that much I could understand.
After all, Shin Se-hee was a founding member of Utopia, just not a combat class,
and Ichika automatically joins the party if you keep her alive, so it wasn't completely nonsensical if you thought of it as a system mechanic.
However.
【 Baek Seol-hee 】 - 4%
【 Rina 】 - 3%
Seeing these two names appear was a truly unexpected event.
'Huh......? Master and Chairwoman Rina? Why are these two.......'
As soon as I thought that, Chairwoman Rina's name started blinking.
Soon, her name was completely erased from the list.
'......What the hell, is this a bug?'
I scratched my head, unable to think anything else.
Still holding on to that odd feeling, I submitted the request completion form to the Japan Hunter Management Headquarters.
By the time we returned to Velvet Academy, it was the middle of the night.
First, I dismissed my exhausted party members and was in the middle of giving Shin Se-hee a brief briefing.
"Disciple, I have something urgent to discuss."
The master in question came looking for me.
"Come with me for a moment."
Step─
Step─
Walking behind my master in that uncomfortable silence, I thought to myself.
'It feels like I'm seeing her for the first time in ages.......'
Originally, Master was supposed to oversee my training occasionally during summer break,
but her personal workload increased, so that promise couldn't be kept.
So I was happy to see her, but.......
The way she walked ahead of me was different from usual. And her normally quiet breathing felt a little rougher.
'Is she angry......?'
Somehow, her displeased mood seemed to transmit itself directly to me.
'What is she angry about? Ah, don't tell me...?'
At that moment, what flickered through my mind was what Kang Do-hee had asked earlier, her expression complicated.
— Yellow Dog, this...... What's going on? My strength suddenly increased, but.......
She'd asked about the ring that had suddenly appeared on her finger and her increased power.
And I had explained it to her exactly as it was.
— Yeah, it's the artifact's effect. A chemistry thing with me, um, so basically. It's an item that gives a crazy buff—an all-stats increase—to people deeply connected to me. Glad it seems to have applied to everyone.
I'd said it to the party members like I was showing off.
But I suddenly remembered that their reactions had been unexpectedly complicated and subtle.
In that moment, I realized once again.
The fact that this place was reality, not a game.
Of course, the 「Ring of Affection and Obsession」 was an item you absolutely could not afford to miss as a gamer—
one you had to secure at all costs.
But accepting it in reality was another matter entirely.
'I completely failed to consider that not everyone would welcome their stats being suddenly boosted by an artifact.'
Power enhanced by an artifact isn't power earned through your own effort.
So for someone like Kang Do-hee, who takes great pride in the strength she's built herself, this could be an insult to her pride.
'Of course, even if I had to choose again, I'd make the exact same choice.......'
Considering what was coming, it was an undeniable fact that Utopia needed even more power than we had now.
Anyway, Kang Do-hee's case was at least a little better.
We'd conquered Jukai Forest together, and there was the justification that this was the reward for clearing it.
But what about my master's case?
Power that had suddenly increased for no reason at all.
Could someone like her simply accept that and be happy about it?
'......No, there's no way.'
Stop.
Baek Seol-hee, who had been walking silently for a long while, halted and turned around to face me.
Then she abruptly held out the hand with the ring on it.
"This. What is the meaning of it."
"......Well."
I told her everything as honestly as I possibly could.
The events that had taken place in Jukai Forest.
Meeting Ichika, the hidden character. Fighting the Apostle of Incubus and acquiring the ring. All of it.
"......So, with that Demon's item, it grants power to people deeply connected to you, in proportion to how much you think of them......."
"Yes, it seems that happened because I deeply respect you, Master. I'm truly sorry for doing something like this without your consent."
Flinch─
'Respect.' At that word, Baek Seol-hee's body trembled for an instant.
But immediately afterward, the atmosphere turned icy cold again.
Jin Yu-ha thought Baek Seol-hee was feeling aversion toward the power that had suddenly appeared without any price, but the reality was different.
Because there was a price.
It was Jin Yu-ha's heart.
As if she could possibly reject power granted in proportion to how much her disciple liked her.
What was currently complicating Baek Seol-hee's feelings was a completely different reason.
Namely, Chairwoman Rina.
She couldn't get the words Chairwoman Rina had spat out just a moment ago, holding out her finger with a smug expression, out of her head.
'......7%'
Which meant—in Jin Yu-ha's feelings, Chairwoman Rina held a share a full 3% higher than her own!
Baek Seol-hee quietly clenched her teeth.
'......Chairwoman Rina hasn't really done anything for you, has she.'
She felt wronged for some reason.
To think that woman had claimed that much of her disciple's heart without even showing her face—just what kind of tricks had she pulled?
Was it because her own personality wasn't the warm and friendly type?
No.
Come to think of it, Chairwoman Rina wasn't exactly warm and friendly either.
Rather, she was closer to the bossy and irritable side.
At that moment, a single word surfaced in Baek Seol-hee's mind.
'......Don't tell me, money?'
Money.
Right.
Now that she thought about it, whenever Jin Yu-ha needed money or an item, he didn't come to her for help—he always sought out Chairwoman Rina.
'The Subspace Tattoo, the mansion, and just recently even tickets to the Haeundae Festival......!'
Trembling─
Her tightly clenched fist quivered.
'That damned fox. Buying my disciple's favor with money.......'
In an instant, Rina's title had gone from "Chairwoman" to "that damned fox" in her mind.
But since she didn't voice it, no one knew.
"Is there nothing you need?"
Baek Seol-hee asked Jin Yu-ha, her voice tightly suppressed.
Out of a desire to claim a higher share than Rina.
"......Huh? N-need?"
"Indeed. I have received a gift from you so great it is difficult to measure; should I not give something in return?"
"I-it's okay! I did something one-sided in a way you didn't even want, Master. I'm not so shameless as to expect a reward on top of that."
That was what Jin Yu-ha said,
but in Baek Seol-hee's eyes, all she could see was the pitiable image of her disciple, who had unknowingly been deceived by Chairwoman Rina's financial power.
"......Is that so."
"Yes, so it truly is okay."
Press.
Baek Seol-hee, biting her lip firmly, whirled back around.
"We shall see each other in class, soon enough."
At her words, which practically said 'just you wait,' Jin Yu-ha, who had no idea what was going on, could only gulp dryly.
'Is she telling me to prepare myself because she's going to show me hell in the next class......?'
* * *
The next day,
Ichika, her sleep debt paid off and her energy restored by Velvet Hunter Academy's technology, her face now plump and dewy,
had a private one-on-one meeting with Shin Se-hee.
It was to finish up the conversation they hadn't completed the previous day.
"Ichika."
Sip.
Shin Se-hee sipped her coffee, observing Ichika over the rim of her teacup.
"Mm."
"I heard you're joining Utopia."
"That's right."
"Before you join Utopia, we have to transfer your affiliation to Velvet Hunter Academy first. Do you agree with that?"
"Mm, I agree."
Shin Se-hee pulled out a few documents and spread them out in front of her.
"Then there are a few things to confirm before that. Are you currently affiliated with the Japan Hunter Management Headquarters? Or, have you ever been?"
Ichika shook her head.
"No. After I awakened, I lived only in Jukai Forest."
"Hmm, so the Japan Hunter Management Headquarters doesn't even know you're an awakened, then?"
"......Probably?"
"Then things will be easier. If you'd been affiliated with the Japanese Hunter Headquarters, we would've had quite a lot to hand over. But if that's not the case, and they don't even know about your awakening...... Hmm, it's doable. ......How about being registered as a Japanese national living abroad who repatriated to Korea this year, would that be acceptable?"
"Mm, I don't mind."
Nod.
Ichika nodded her head quietly.
'I expected this to be a difficult conversation at first, but.......'
Unexpectedly, the fact that she came in with an attitude of accepting everything made things easy.
'What kind of person is she?'
First, she had obtained intel that Ichika was obsessed with Jin Yu-ha.
'Then, shall I probe a little......?'
If she prodded once and saw the reaction, she could judge how to deal with Ichika going forward.
Shin Se-hee pushed the documents aside as if all work-related talk was finished, and leaned her body forward.
"So, Ichika."
"Mm."
"Could you perhaps tell me what percentage it is?"
A direct question.
There was no way she didn't know what this question meant.
'Now, what will she say?'
"3."
Ichika's answer was instantaneous.
Shin Se-hee stared openly at Ichika.
In response, Ichika looked back at Shin Se-hee with the same expressionless face she'd worn from the start.
'......It doesn't seem to be a lie. That's a relief. Still, I'm higher than Ichika.'
Just like the other party members, Shin Se-hee internally sighed with relief.
"Hmm, now that it's come to this, I'm getting curious about how much the others are......."
It was a mutter so quiet even the person right in front of her couldn't hear it,
but Ichika reacted immediately.
"You want to know?"
"......Pardon?"
"How much the others went up."
"......Ah, you know?"
"Mm, I already know everything. Because these little ones told me."
Slither─
Shadows suddenly rose up from beneath Ichika's feet.
"......!"
Shin Se-hee, seeing Ichika's ability for the first time, widened her eyes into round circles.
"I think I should probably stay on good terms with you."
"......Pardon?"
"The type that's tiresome to have as an enemy."
"......You have good instincts, don't you?"
"Mm. So, a bribe."
And that bribe was truly effective on Shin Se-hee.
Smirk─
Shin Se-hee raised the corners of her mouth and extended her hand forward.
"Deal. Ichika. I think we could become good friends going forward."
"Good."
Ichika and Shin Se-hee clasped hands.