Grotto Exploration -4

How many orbs exploded back in the third chamber again…

Ho Cheon-an could only recall that it had been three or more, and he let out a dry chuckle.

How many times had he tried to wipe out every last one of those pigs — no, those green orbs? They had been scattered into every nook and cranny so thoroughly that clearing them all took more luck than skill.

What difference does it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠make whether one pops at random out of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠three or out of twenty, when you still have no idea what the contents even are?

Every orb that burst fattened the reward list, but the number of rewards you could actually claim was fixed. What good was a richer list of prizes you couldn't even identify?

The third chamber had been designed for fun, yet players had gritted their teeth and ground through endless save-and-load cycles just for the loot.

Ho Cheon-an glanced at Black Cat, who couldn't seem to stay still. She darted about like a child at an amusement park, tugging at him as he strolled along at a leisurely pace, then peeking ahead with restless curiosity.

"Come on, Senior, hurry up! Aren't you even a little curious what's waiting?"

"Yeah, yeah."

He eyed her with mild skepticism. He had chosen this grotto specifically to give her a jolt of stimulation, but he hadn't expected the gap between game and reality to be this wide. Just as watching a roller coaster on a screen was nothing like riding one, the mini-game on a monitor and the living reality of Hyeoncheonja's Grotto were entirely different experiences.

After savoring every last bit of this place, would Black Cat really turn on me over a few points of rare treasure…?

He couldn't dismiss rare treasures as nothing, but given how high her happiness index was right now, the odds of her doing him harm over them were practically zero.

Maybe I got a little too greedy.

Her true feelings would surface soon enough if they kept working together. Cementing her goodwill this thoroughly was already a win. He'd raised her expectations a bit high, which was mildly burdensome, but she would probably follow him without complaint at least once or twice more.

"Senior! A stele!"

"Oh."

A stone monument came into view in the distance.

Black Cat launched into her light-foot technique and vanished in an instant. Ho Cheon-an sighed and broke into a run after her.

An excited Black Cat shoved him forward by the back. Ho Cheon-an managed a wry smile and let her momentum carry him up onto the platform. Three objects rested upon it: one orb-shaped item, one bracelet-shaped item, and a single wooden case.

"Let's start with the first one!"

"Sure."

Prodded along by Black Cat, he approached the first treasure — the orb — and began piecing together its identity.

There ought to be at least one or two round rare treasures in the mix…

Public Jade. Bow-wow Sphere. Meow Pearl. The world of Murim Cheonha overflowed with spherical rare treasures. Why did everything have to be so round? The one mercy was that Hyeoncheonja, ever the helpful tour guide of his own ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠grotto, had left a courteous explanation beneath the prize.

"It's certainly a precious item… but not much use to a high-level expert."

"Mm."

For Black Cat — a Peak Realm master already knocking on the door of the Super-Peak Realm — it was meaningless. At the Peak Realm, the body no longer suffered from ordinary heat or cold unless the extremes were truly brutal. Minor ailments went without saying.

"Still, that doesn't change the fact that it's valuable."

"That's true."

Ho Cheon-an tucked the Health Pearl into his robes for now. The grotto had been cool even in summer, yet the moment the pearl settled against his chest, a gentle warmth spread through him.

The second item was the bracelet.

One look at its form and Ho Cheon-an knew exactly what it was.

So this one turned up. Not bad.

"Hmm?"

Black Cat tilted her head, the explanation not quite clicking on the first pass.

"Basically, it works like this."

Ho Cheon-an slipped the bracelet on and stirred his internal energy. Normally, channeling qi into an object required at least First-rate or Peak Realm skill, but the bracelet Hyeoncheonja had crafted drank in Ho Cheon-an's energy as naturally as breathing.

He pinched the small hook attached to the bracelet and drew it out. A translucent thread came with it.

"Oh — so your internal energy converts into thread like that?"

"Whether the energy itself becomes thread or the thread is a material that reacts to qi… hard to say."

When he worked a different gem on the bracelet, the extended thread reeled back in and stowed itself cleanly.

It has combat applications, sure, but its real value is in exploration.

Cliffs that would tax even a master, obstacles, formations — the uses for a rare treasure like this were endless. Black Cat took the bracelet he handed her, swung it around a few times, and seemed to get the hang of it almost at once. She flicked her wrist experimentally, wound a loop of thread around the stele, and nodded.

"What a unique item. Depending on how you use it, it could be genuinely practical in a fight!"

"Alright, save the playing around for the way back. Let's check the last one."

"Mm. Fair enough! It looks like an elixir at a glance, but I wonder what kind."

One left. Ho Cheon-an turned his attention to the final fruit of a grotto expedition that had, all things considered, gone rather well.

Ho Cheon-an picked up the wooden case with a faint tension in his chest.

For Black Cat, standing at the very edge of Peak Realm, this might be something she'd actually covet.

The Health Pearl and the Qi Thread Bracelet were both rare treasures in their own right, but for someone poised at the threshold of Super-Peak, this elixir was surely the most tempting prize of the three.

Watching Black Cat sink into what looked like deliberation, Ho Cheon-an swallowed dryly.

"Senior, come to think of it, we never discussed how to split the spoils, did we?"

"…True enough."

"This isn't a Sichuan Nangin commission — it's side income. We'll need a new contract, won't we?"

He nodded, nerves tight.

"Alright! Everything we found in the grotto today is yours, Senior! Consider it a down payment! Next time there's a fortuitous encounter like this — or anything fun, no, anything that generates side income — you have to call me. No exceptions!"

"…Huh?"

"Don't just 'huh' me, Senior! I'm making a massive investment here! I need a proper answer!"

Ho Cheon-an stared at her in silence. Was she serious?

"How do you know I'll even find another opportunity like this?"

"Come off it, Senior. You've got at least one more, don't you? That's why you worked so hard to reel me in. Advertising it that hard and then trying to wriggle out of it now? That's just cheap."

Watching the flustered Ho Cheon-an, Black Cat smiled behind her face veil.

She had anticipated that the aftermath of the acupuncture would leave his memories of before and after hazy, and that the Ho Cheon-an who woke would harbor suspicions. The man she had observed was thick-skinned by nature, but he was no fool.

It was only natural that he would grow wary of her after waking.

And Black Cat had decided she could live with being guarded against, even distrusted.

She couldn't draw any closer to him than she already had, after all.

If I showed him my face…

She rated Ho Cheon-an as an unusual and entertaining person, but he had yet to demonstrate the capacity to look upon her bare face and remain uncaptivated.

He'd end up like the Wolbokdang members — or lose his reason entirely.

She thought of Jeon Hu-dam, the most recent recruit to the Wolbokdang. In the end, the price of seeing Black Cat's face had been the abandonment of his own life and enlistment as one of her people.

If she showed her face, Ho Cheon-an would likely go the same way.

For a moment she pictured it: Ho Cheon-an seeing her bare face, and the man he would become afterward. Someone who existed only to cling to her. She shook her head and cast the thought aside. She did not want to change him like that.

So she judged the current line to be the right one. A seat from which she could watch the tangled ball of yarn that was Ho Cheon-an. That much was enough for her.

Suspicion and dislike, then, were acceptable. Even if private wariness had taken root, they were still fellow Sichuan Nangin in public, partners in the same unit, bound by a contract in which she had pledged to cultivate him as a wandering warrior.

For Black Cat, personal relationships could only ever exist atop Shadow Image Qi Gong and a mask — and the moment a bare face was revealed, those "personal relationships" shattered into something worthless.

Until yesterday, that was what she had believed.

You showed me something far too fun, Senior.

Today's experience had been more than enough to blow every calculation clean out of her head. The first chamber, where she had struck and smashed to her heart's content. The second, where careful deduction brought thrills and beautiful fireworks. The third, which had branded into her what explosion meant, what splendor meant, what unforgettable exhilaration meant.

She realized that every one of those experiences had been this enjoyable only because Ho Cheon-an had been there with her.

In the first chamber, his shared delight had doubled her joy.

In the second, a man who could have cleared it alone had patiently explained the rules, made sure she understood, and given her the chance — and that had made it fun.

In the third, he had laughed and handed her the bombs, and that was why she could enjoy it.

Now Black Cat had no choice but to admit it.

I want to experience more things like this with Senior Ho.

An unfamiliar feeling — the desire to do something together with another person — filled her heart with a fluttering she had never known.

For the first time in a life crowded with nothing but bad memories of other people, the wish to be with someone had taken root.

A proposal carrying that wish.

Black Cat held her racing heart and waited for Ho Cheon-an's answer.