230. Library Quest (1)
230. Library Quest (1)
When I asked my party members for help, telling them people were paying way too much attention to me,
every one of them jumped in without hesitation.
"Yeees, it's-a me. Sofia~."
"Ah, hoobae! Sure, you can take a picture! Want me to sign it too? Ah, you—you said that's okay!? Why not!!"
Click─
Click─
Hm.
'This is actually nice......?'
I had figured that moving with my party members would scatter the attention,
but the effect was far greater than I'd expected.
They were almost like gatekeepers......?
Besides, the only places I went every day were
the academy
and my house, linked to the academy by a spatial movement formation.
If I just dispersed the attention at the academy where the crowds gathered,
with my party members' help my daily life didn't feel all that different from before.
"We're really popular. Right."
Watching Sofia and Ga-eul sunbae doing fan service, Lee Yu-ri next to me spoke.
'Huh, come to think of it, wasn't Gukbap from a similar middle-class background as me? How does she feel?'
The curiosity struck me.
"Hey, Gukbap. Doesn't being this famous bother you?"
"Huh? Bother me?"
"Yeah, because every little thing you do gets noticed in front of everyone. Doesn't it feel like you have to watch yourself, like it stresses you out?"
At that, Lee Yu-ri put a finger to her lips and went, "Umm......," making a thinking sound.
"Hmm, not really? How do I put it....... I think I've always dreamed of this happening someday."
"Dreamed of it? Being this famous?"
"Hm, more than being famous, being a hunter is just like that, you know. The more people you save, the more openly passionate they get."
"Ah."
"Ever since I was little, I've admired the hunters on TV. So people sending me this much attention, hm, it feels like it means I'm doing well...... like I'm being recognized. Honestly, it makes me happy. Hehe, do I seem like an attention whore?"
Lee Yu-ri said that and scratched the back of her head.
'So she really is different.'
Unlike me, who came from a modern world without anything supernatural like gates or monsters,
the people born and raised in this world of Velvet School Life seemed to have already accepted this kind of life from the moment they chose to become hunters.
"HOOBAAAEEE!! I'll sign it for you, come here!!!"
"I'm, I'm good!!!"
Even Ga-eul sunbae over there, who always showed such an airheaded side, was gladly responding to the attention people gave her, wasn't she?
"......That's cool."
"Huh? C-cool?"
"Honestly, I never really imagined this sort of life. Being the object of someone's attention, someone's passion."
"Hmm, really? Then Jin Yu-ha, why did you become a hunter?"
'......Why did I become a hunter?'
Lee Yu-ri's question abruptly made me look back at my past.
Truthfully, at first I was playing a phone game and got sucked into this world for a ridiculous reason.
I transmigrated into some trash character.
On top of that, I couldn't just let a world doomed to ruin go to ruin,
and I didn't want to die either. That was my main reason for coming to Velvet Hunter Academy.
In other words, I didn't have any particular sense of mission or anything.
However.
If you asked me now why I'm pushing myself this hard, grinding every single day, enduring all that hardship.......
I stared straight at Lee Yu-ri, who was meeting my eyes as she waited for my answer.
"In the end, I think it's because of you guys."
At that, Lee Yu-ri's pupils widened enormously.
Her face flushed bright red, clearly flustered.
"Wha, whawhawhawhat!?"
Yeah, I like seeing that look.
A snicker escaped me.
"Wh-wh-what did you just say!? Again! Say it again! Jin Yu-ha!"
"Hm, still, let's think about the second broadcast. Our first broadcast blew up way too big. If our fame grows any bigger than this, I think the wrong kind of people will start sniffing around."
"No, don't change the subject! What did you say!?"
"Right now, Rina's probably in the Chairwoman's Office, yeah?"
"HEY!!! Jin Yu-ha!!!"
Leaving Lee Yu-ri calling my name behind me, I headed for the Chairwoman's Office.
* * *
"The two broadcasts. Let's cut it down to one."
I went straight to the Chairwoman's Office
and spoke bluntly to Rina.
At that, the Brat scowled sharply.
"Hmph, Jin Yu-ha. First of all, I am not someone you can just drop in on whenever you feel like meeting me."
"Huh? I was told I could do that?"
"......Who."
"My Master."
"......."
Rina's words caught in her throat for an instant.
"Cough. That damn....... What the hell is that Baek Seol-hee going around telling the kid? Anyway, what? You want to reduce the broadcasts?"
"Yes, we went on broadcast this time and blew it up pretty big. Isn't your objective accomplished at this level, Chairwoman?"
I spoke as confidently as I could, but
Chairwoman Rina looked down at me with a somewhat pissed-off expression and stroked her chin.
A face like she'd caught me at something.
"Indeed. I admit it. Certainly, now that you have appeared on broadcast, I do now have grounds to refuse those bothersome calls."
"In that case......."
"However, it is not possible."
"Ah, why not?"
"Earlier, when we spoke of the Fire Dragon, did you not say it yourself? That I cannot use my power recklessly."
I nodded at her question.
"For the same reason, I cannot even let my words fall recklessly."
"......Words?"
"Especially, incurring a debt or making a promise to someone must absolutely be kept. Hmm, reduce one broadcast....... Jin Yu-ha, do you remember?"
"Remember what?"
"Early in the semester, there was the incident where you were mistaken for a Demonized Human."
Ah, back then.
I do remember.
Definitely, using materials to raise my stats for the first time drew suspicion—
that incident where I was mistaken for a Demonized Human.
Since the previous Jin Yu-ha hadn't done any activities, there had been plenty of circumstances to warrant suspicion.
Once it was proven I wasn't one, I got a proper apology. And Utopia was formed back then too.
"At that time, I gave you the right to request one unconditional favor from me. Do you remember?"
"Yes."
Of course I remember.
Because I have a place to use it soon enough.
But why bring that up all of a sudden?
"If you expend that, I can reduce the two broadcasts to one."
"......."
Oh, come on. That's pure highway robbery!
When I made a face that said, 'Do I seriously have to go that far?'
Rina smirked.
"It means that much—that a promise with me is not to be taken lightly. No matter how trivial."
'Hm, so in the end she's telling me to do the broadcast. But if I draw any more attention than this, things will get a little tricky.......'
"Well, if not that, then you can do something else I request."
"......Something else?"
"Yes. A commission. My commission."
And with that, Chairwoman Rina flicked one of the documents lying on her desk toward me.
Flutter─
The commission letter settled naturally into my hand.
────────────────
【 Nomination Request 】 ━ Three members of Utopia.
Request Type ━ Investigation Request
Request Details ━
Investigate and uncover the secret inside the academy library.
Request Reward ━ Exemption from one broadcast. Fire Dragon Elixir.
Request Period ━ As soon as possible
Client ━ Rina
────────────────
"Since you claimed to be my successor, surely you can handle this much with ease?"
Rina said something in front of me,
but I was too busy examining the commission letter.
'......This, the Library Quest?'
I knew this commission.
It was a quest that Chairwoman Rina gave you once the Player's party accumulated a certain level of fame.
'She's giving this to me now?'
The sooner you got this one, the better, admittedly.
'But why now, of all times.......'
Even as I looked at the quest, I couldn't help but show a troubled expression.
Because it made the time table I'd drawn up in advance a little ambiguous.
'By now, it's almost time for the Shin family's bullshit in China to get exposed to the world.......'
Shin family.
Shin Se-hee's family.
That family, called a prestigious hunter family, was doing bullshit under the surface right now in China,
and that was going to blow up before long.
Now that I'd reached 3-Star, I was about to start Shin Se-hee's personal story.......
'Tch, can I pull it off?'
I scratched my head and adjusted the timing. Hmm, this. It also seemed like it could work somehow.
Having finished my thoughts, I lifted my head and spoke to Rina.
"Yes. We at Utopia will accept the library investigation request. In exchange, please give us the Fire Dragon Elixir as an advance payment first."
"What......?"
"You've already finished making it anyway, right?"
"......I just spoke of it moments ago—a promise with me is not to be made lightly. What's more, if you take the payment in advance, the aftermath should you fail to fulfill the commission will be quite severe."
Rina stiffened her face coldly.
"You called us your successors. We just have to succeed. I'll earn it and pay it back."
"Truly, you have an outstanding talent for making people's heads ache."
"......Scared?"
"I SAID I'LL GIVE IT TO YOU EVEN WITHOUT THAT CRAP!!!"
In the end, Chairwoman Rina exploded in a roaring shout.