Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: The Veteran's Recipe
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Mina returned to the dorm and immediately headed to the training room with Bihyeong, where they began cultivating right away.
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'What should I draw?'
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According to Bihyeong, this cultivation method grew by infusing it with whatever mental image one desired.
She pondered what she should visualize for herself.
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'...It creates the abilities I want, right?'
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In that case, she wanted to spend a long time with the people precious to her.
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'Mom.'
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Her mother, who had raised her and her sibling all on her own.
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The sturdy back that had once seemed like a pillar of strength had withered away to skin and bones before she knew it.
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Those arms that had embraced her and her sibling even on exhausted, weary days were now as thin as dry twigs.
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Mina wanted to see her mother's smile return.
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'Mom.'
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And her sibling.
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That bond they called family.
Though they'd lived with less than others, their affection had been richer than anyone's—she wanted those days back.
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'Bihyeong...'
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As those familial ties came to mind, Mina thought of Bihyeong.
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'Can... I do it?'
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The image of Bihyeong in her mind seemed to smile and nod.
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You can do it. Believe in your talent, it seemed to whisper.
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'...Yeah. I'll give it my all.'
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Soon, she entered a state of egoless immersion and stepped into her inner world of imagery.
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Colorless Canvas.
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It was still a blank slate, nothing drawn on it yet.
But at Mina's will, a picture began to take shape.
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It was a house.
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A beautiful home in traditional Eastern style.
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Fire crackled in the hearth, and a single tree stood planted in the courtyard.
The soil was fertile, and the metal ornaments gleamed like priceless treasures.
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A change occurred in one corner of the garden.
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The earth split open, and water bubbled up from a spring.
The stream grew stronger by the moment until it formed a pond worthy of the name.
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'This is my mental image.'
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The house of imagery represented her innate talent, and her desire was for familial peace.
Embracing that wish, a water attribute specialized in healing newly sprouted within her.
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It was still far too weak to call a primary attribute—a mere budding talent.
But the Colorless Canvas Bihyeong had given her held boundless potential.
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If she focused her will upon it, someday it would grant her talent enough to proudly claim as her primary attribute.
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The moment she recognized it, her Hierarchy Rank advanced a step,
rising to Rank 2.
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'...Thank you.'
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Thank you, Bihyeong.
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Mina knelt at the pond's edge and shed tears.
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She still didn't know if she could heal her mother.
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But someday, if today's growth became the foundation and she grew strong,
she could grasp even a sliver of hope.
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Thinking of him brought tears flowing unbidden.
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'...I have to repay you.'
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She wanted to repay Bihyeong for all his kindness so far.
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Mina's eyes sparkled with clear resolve.
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At that instant,
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—Thump!
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"...!"
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Her gaze whipped around.
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"What was that?"
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Her heart had leaped, and she felt her blood surging in response.
And with it, a gaze that seemed to react to her.
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'This is my mental world, though? Why did I feel eyes on me?'
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But no matter where she looked, no one was around.
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"...Just my imagination?"
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It was enough to make ghosts weep.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ After finding a solution for his Blocked Meridians, Bihyeong decided to enter the warehouse.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Would you like to enter the Warehouse? "Enter."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Time limit: 1 hour. Exceeding the time will force an exit. Several notifications popped up, and a door materialized before Bihyeong's eyes.
He grabbed a simple bag, turned the handle, and stepped into what looked like a massive logistics warehouse.
"Whoa. Looks like finding stuff here won't be easy at a glance."
The warehouse stretched to the horizon, vast enough to inspire awe.
'Why's my warehouse like this?'
Bihyeong shook his head and stepped inside.
Well, having access to it at all was something.
"Junk, junk, more junk... Oh, finally found one."
From the moment he entered, Bihyeong's eyes lit up as he scanned the items.
He'd sweep up everything he could carry within the time limit!
"Junk, junk, junk... Ah, got one."
Bihyeong examined the pendant in his hand—or rather, the gem embedded in its center.
It granted temporary stat boosts based on one's 'desperation,' even if fleeting.
'In the game, it was just random buffs.'
How would characters know desperation?
So players treated it like a random box.
Sometimes, bad luck meant only +1 to a stat.
"Still, better take it."
Who knew if it'd work differently in this real world?
Bihyeong stuffed everything he could into his bag.
Then, his eyes caught a certain ore.
"Huh? Did I leave that unused?"
Riverflow Ore.
"That was a drop from a pretty high-grade yokai, right?"
Back then, he'd raged, 'All that suffering for a brick as reward?'
But its true value shone in later playthroughs.
'Killing ghost-related yokai made it evolve.'
Growing harder and more eerie.
'The description when I first got it... Something about fingerprints leaving marks if you pressed it?'
It was practically liquid slime.
'But now it's tougher than most ores.'
Bihyeong pocketed the Riverflow Ore too.
It felt like it'd tear the bag, so he carried it by hand.
"Where are those enhancement stones, anyway?"
That was one of his main goals here.
Players called them enhancement stones for convenience, but they were rare spirit stones infused with leyline energy.
Using one in weapon forging infused the blade with leyline power, boosting quality and sometimes evolving its abilities.
Hence the name.
"Where are you, enhancement stones?!"
As he frantically searched,
thirty minutes had already passed since entering.
'I've got all the pill-refining materials now. Just need the enhancement stones.'
He'd seen low- and mid-grade ones already, but passed them by.
He was after at least high-grade ones.
'Did I not store any?'
No, he'd hoarded them once he could play without enhancements, right?
'Something like over a thousand of them.'
As he rummaged aimlessly,
something odd caught Bihyeong's eye.
"...Did I store a whole mountain in here?"
Far off, amid the warehouse, stood a backdrop that didn't belong: a mountain.
Bihyeong rushed over, scooped some soil, and examined it closely.
Realizing what it was, he let out a hollow chuckle.
"This is Heaven-Blessed Soil."
Soil so infused with leyline energy that even weeds planted in it could grow into spirit herbs.
He must've gathered so much it piled up like this.
Another testament to his veteran status.
He chuckled to himself—
"...Huh?"
Where he'd dug out the soil, a faint glimmer caught his eye.
"...No way, right?"
A sense of unease crept in.
He dug deeper—scrape scrape—and pulled out a shining stone. A chill ran down his spine.
"Why is a top-grade enhancement stone buried here?!"
It must've gotten mixed into the Heaven-Blessed Soil somehow.
Didn't this mean he had to mine it like a real quarry?
'Time left... about eight minutes. How many can I get?'
Not knowing the extent, blindly digging would waste time.
'...Time to use a technique.'
Bihyeong immediately extended his roots.
Fragments of the next stage of Demon Combat Technique, glimpsed in the library yokai's domain.
Recalling it, he infused the roots with a spell.
'Not wood arts this time—earth arts.'
Advance.
Further, deeper, more expansively—extend the roots.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Skill 'Demon Combat Technique' next stage becomes clearer! Ignoring the system message, Bihyeong focused solely on his senses.
The roots from his feet spread until they'd permeated half the Heaven-Blessed Soil mound.
Feeling it all, he stomped down.
Demon Combat Technique.
Earthshaker.
Boom!
Like a giant's footsteps shaking heaven and earth, Bihyeong's stomp unleashed a massive quake through the soil mountain.
Chunks of the piled earth collapsed, revealing the treasures buried within.
"Nice! How many is that?!"
Bihyeong grinned ear to ear at the top-grade enhancement stones floating in the air.
They sparkled like stars.
'Grab as many as I can without ripping the bag.'
Bihyeong excitedly scooped up the falling stones.
That's when something else caught his eye.
"Oh? This too?"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The warehouse access time expired.
As Bihyeong returned to reality, Eoduk greeted him.
"Elder! Did you obtain all you desired?"
"Yeah. Decent haul."
Bihyeong smiled, thinking of the pill materials and top-grade enhancement stones in his bag.
'And this, too.'
He pulled a few coins from his pocket.
"Guess I stored these as well."
Nothing special about them,
just coins usable inside the academy.
'More precisely, in the domains purified by the academy.'
Insert one into a vending machine in a yokai domain, and you'd get a random item drop.
Mostly useless junk.
'But good luck could yield something worthwhile.'
Probably why he'd saved them.
For challenges like clearing the game using only vending machine drops.
'Speaking of, didn't see that pillar.'
The column formed when the spear from meeting Eoduk broke after exhausting its durability.
It was big—how'd he miss it?
'Maybe further in. I'll check next time.'
As he mused, Eoduk asked,
"Elder. What are your plans now?"
Regular academy classes were still far off.
What would he do with the remaining time?
That was Eoduk's question.
"What to do, huh?"
Bihyeong grinned.
"Grow stronger, obviously."
To maintain his top spot, he'd make full use of this time others couldn't train.
'First, advance to the next stage of Demon Combat Technique.'
And build proficiency in his own Hierarchy Rank.
"For that, entering a yokai domain is best."
With coins in hand, diving into one sounded perfect.
"Ooh!"
Eoduk jumped excitedly.
"The library yokai? Your single clear of its domain was so cool, Elder! Will I hear another heroic tale!?"
Eoduk's eyes sparkled.
Like a subordinate's admiration for the Night Parade boss,
though what exactly did this guy think he was?
Bihyeong chuckled and waved it off.
"Well, yokai domains are second priority."
"...Then what's first?"
Bihyeong patted his bag.
"Gotta make those spirit pills, obviously."
Time to use the veteran's pill-refining recipe.