Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: If You Call Me Noona
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I'd come back from the rooftop with Lee Yu-na.
She explained where and how the Spirit Stone had been placed.
Apparently, it was just sitting there in a corner of the rooftop.
"If it fell from the sky, the impact must have been huge, but it's weird that the house is totally fine."
Right now, we're all gathered in the living room, examining the new Spirit Stone.
"We can't just think of it as a regular meteor. Well, it looks like one, but since it's magical..."
Jang Ho-seop mentions that the meteor shower on the day of the great cataclysm seemed like Spirit Stones.
If that's true, we might be able to keep finding more Spirit Stones from now on.
"We'll look into that later. So, what do we do with it?"
Jang Ho-seop had already used his Fundamental Skill for the day.
The important thing now is deciding what to do with this new Spirit Stone.
This is the system message that popped up when I took the new Spirit Stone.
"Should we absorb it? Or do you want to activate it yourself?"
And Jang Ho-seop got a system message too.
One saying he could activate the Spirit Stone.
Level 10 must be the minimum required to activate one.
"I think absorbing it would be best. We're sticking together anyway. What do the rest of you think?"
Everyone nods.
I think the same.
"Alright, absorption it is."
I picked up the new Spirit Stone.
It looked exactly like the existing one.
'Yes.'
Just like when feeding it Mana Stones, I held the new Spirit Stone close to the existing one.
Suddenly, both Spirit Stones floated up into the air.
Another system message appeared.
"It says it needs Mana Stones?"
"Pardon? How many?"
"No idea."
I tried feeding it one Goblin Mana Stone as a test.
"Uh... it probably wants more, right?"
The Mana Stone clearly melted into it, but nothing changed.
No new system message either.
"Damn. It doesn't say how many."
We had no idea how many Mana Stones it needed.
At least we'd picked up a bunch of Orc Mana Stones on the way past Yongsan Station, so we had some spare.
"Let's feed it more."
"Got it. Oh, hyungnim. I think Orc Mana Stones would be best."
We'd used up all the Gnoll ones.
Goblin Mana Stones were needed for finer adjustments to the safe zone's range and duration.
So I fed it Orc Mana Stones.
No less than five of them.
"Oh? Hyungnim."
Something was happening.
The Spirit Stones were sticking together.
Then they slowly began merging into one.
"It looks just like kneading dough together."
The absorption didn't take long.
The floating Spirit Stones settled back down to the floor.
The shape was the same, but it was bigger now.
Bigger than a basketball.
And the Spirit Stone had leveled up to 2.
My Spirit Stone had Leveled Up to Level 2.
I'd expected it since the level notation appeared, but it was still surprising.
And even more surprising was...
"Hyungnim?"
A barrage of system messages poured in.
As I closed my eyes and concentrated, Jang Ho-seop started getting antsy.
"I'll tell you."
I opened my eyes, and Jang Ho-seop leaned in with a notepad ready.
I scooted back a bit, feeling overwhelmed.
"First off, the safe zone's maximum range has expanded."
"Pardon? There was a limit?"
"Apparently. And Mana Stone efficiency has improved too."
I still didn't know how big I could make the safe zone now.
But there had been a limit before, and now that limit had been raised.
Plus, even with the same Mana Stones, I could now generate a safe zone for longer and larger than at Level 1.
"Whoa, that's great. We'll get our money's worth on those Mana Stones quick."
Jang Ho-seop was saying we'd need to keep an eye out for more Spirit Stones from now on.
But that wasn't all.
"And now we can access the Plaza."
"The Plaza? What's that?"
"Hmm... like an internet forum or cafe. You can post stuff, and read what others post."
"What? No way! For real?"
Jang Ho-seop jumped to his feet.
Questions came spilling out of him.
"How does it work? Can anyone post? Photos or videos too...? No, wait. Hyungnim, what's the range? Just Koreans, or...?"
I didn't know the details yet either.
I'd logged in, but there were no posts, so I logged out.
"Posting requires mana energy. I think that's the energy extracted from Mana Stones."
"Uh... so it's paid?"
"Yeah. Every time you post. And read too."
"Damn. How much?"
"No idea."
The 'Plaza' function unlocks when the Spirit Stone reaches Level 2.
So we figured hardly anyone had unlocked it yet.
"Who'd want to waste Mana Stones on posting?"
"True... Gotta save them for safe zones."
Jang Ho-seop seemed really hung up on the Plaza function.
Even after I told him there were no posts.
"And lastly..."
"There's more?"
"Yeah. I can appoint one administrator. For feeding Mana Stones to the Spirit Stone and such."
Now I could appoint a Spirit Stone administrator and set their permissions.
The appointed admin could use the Spirit Stone within the permissions I granted.
"Um..."
I finished explaining and looked around at the group.
Lee Yu-na slowly raised her hand.
"Me! Hyungnim! I really want to do it!"
Jang Ho-seop yelled at the top of his lungs.
We spent the day reorganizing.
We even did some light training.
From now on, training would assume fighting people and start from the basics.
'Monsters I'm unfamiliar with, I don't know how to handle anyway.'
And I appointed Jang Ho-seop as the Spirit Stone administrator.
I'd originally planned to give it to Lee Yu-na.
Since she'd found the new one.
But she glanced at Jang Ho-seop and lowered her hand.
And he was showing so much enthusiasm.
'Should I check it out?'
Earlier, I'd seen Jang Ho-seop sitting in front of the Spirit Stone in the living room for a while.
Probably trying to figure out the Plaza.
Watch duty was over, so before lying down, I sat in front of the Spirit Stone for a bit.
Flash.
The moment I thought about accessing the Plaza, a white screen appeared.
It felt like closing my eyes for VR.
I hadn't expected much.
I'd just logged in to check, but surprisingly, there was a new post.
I opened it half in disbelief.
[FIRST!!!] [Jang Ho-seop Lv10]
First post kekekekeke
I immediately logged out and stood up.
'Is he actually insane?'
I needed to punish Jang Ho-seop.
The next day.
We were getting ready to head out at dawn.
"Even hyungnim used energy just reading it though..."
Jang Ho-seop grumbled, his forehead red.
From the flick I'd given him.
And my flicks hurt like hell.
"You little punk, you little punk."
Soo-jung unnie glanced at me before smacking Jang Ho-seop on the back.
"Ow, that hurts, Mom! We had to test it eventually anyway!"
"You yelling at your own mom now?"
Posting on the Plaza costs energy equivalent to one F-rank Mana Stone.
Basically using up almost one whole Goblin Mana Stone.
Gnoll ones might have a bit left.
Reading costs way less energy.
Jang Ho-seop had calculated it based on safe zone maintenance time.
So there was quite a margin of error.
'Plus, efficiency improves as the Spirit Stone levels up...'
Jang Ho-seop insisted there was still a lot to figure out.
But we didn't need to do it right this second.
I didn't chew him out too badly though.
"We're all ready."
A little later.
The group finished prepping to head out.
"Hyungnim, we're farming nearby first, right?"
Our neighborhood is on low hills.
My house is at the top.
Around here, it's mostly houses.
Small supermarkets, convenience stores, churches, etc.
We could gather a good amount of supplies if we farmed here.
"Nah. Got a place in mind."
"Pardon? Where?"
We'd tidy up the neighborhood later anyway.
The alleys were too complicated, but there was another reason.
"Down there."
"Let's see, that direction... the community center?"
Heading south leads to a commercial district.
The community center is nearby, and across the main road is an old market.
"Yeah, down to there."
"Oh... Got it. Any particular reason?"
"My hair salon's down there. Figured we'd start there."
"Pardon? Wait..."
I don't do much socializing.
Even at work, I spent most time alone.
But the hair salon was one place I'd visited regularly for over a decade.
The stylist there was one of the people who'd known me longest.
"Hyungnim, you're a landlord? First landlord I've met."
Jang Ho-seop with his random comment.
"Not that..."
I just chuckled.
We arrived at the Muhwadong Community Center.
On the way here, we'd fought a few small skirmishes.
Everyone except Jang Ho-seop got roughly equal experience.
Opponents were Goblins and Gnolls, but there was one new monster.
'Rat the size of a chicken, so yeah, monster.'
A creepy rat with an unnaturally long tail and sharp claws.
Unfamiliar, so I took it out in one hit, but its energy was even smaller than a Goblin's.
"It's quiet."
"Yeah. No energy signatures."
The community center was empty.
I'd figured there'd be survivors since the reserve army unit was attached here.
"Looks like people were here at some point though."
Traces of people staying were everywhere.
No signs of a monster attack.
Maybe they abandoned the place for some reason.
Food shortages or infighting.
"Let's take a short break."
After scouting inside, I pulled out the Spirit Stone.
Lee Jang-su had made a dedicated bag for it.
It straps right to your back, super comfortable.
"Hyungnim, water here..."
"Want some water?"
As I set up the Spirit Stone and stood, Jang Ho-seop and Lee Yu-na both offered bottles at the same time.
I took Jang Ho-seop's without thinking.
"But isn't it weird how few people there are?"
"There were a few holed up in houses."
"Oh? Really? Then why didn't they ask us for help?"
We'd moved pretty quietly.
We'd brought a cart to dump bodies, but Lee Jang-su modified it so well the wheels were nearly silent.
Still, five people moving should've made some noise.
Especially if they were watching outside.
"Maybe they thought we were dangerous."
"Ah, yeah... Or if they had stockpiled food at home, they wouldn't want to bring in outsiders."
We quietly chatted while munching energy bars and sipping water.
Soo-jung unnie and Lee Jang-su were dead silent, probably wiped from combat.
They hadn't fought fresh Goblins.
I'd broken limbs first.
Still, facing monster killing intent head-on must've been tough.
Goblins bite and charge even with broken arms.
'Lee Yu-na looks fine.'
I'd noticed since she killed Kim Representative.
Lee Yu-na was mentally and physically superior to the others.
Even more than Jang Ho-seop.
Earlier, she'd soloed a fully intact Gnoll.
And she was getting smoother at using water manipulation while moving.
'No, maybe there's an issue.'
As I checked on the group and organized my thoughts...
Lee Yu-na met my eyes and gave a bright smile.
Then blushed and looked down.
I looked away from her and quietly finished my energy bar.
"Hyungnim. Almost there?"
"Yeah, just ahead."
After the break, we left the community center.
We quickly reached the commercial building with my hair salon.
The rundown building was full of signs that monsters had broken in.
Two days passed.
I wasn't in a good mood.
Because I'd accepted that my stylist was dead.
Over the past two days of farming, we'd cleared the community center area.
We were tidying up houses along the way too.
I vented my anger brutally on every monster we encountered.
The group was tiptoeing around me.
"Hold up."
Today, we'd left the community center streets and crossed into another district.
It was the boundary between neighborhoods, with a pretty big market alley here.
"People. Three."
It was still early morning.
First people we'd seen wandering.
Couldn't see them because of collapsed buildings, but Target Detection picked up their energy.
"Level 5, Level 5, Level 7."
"What do we do?"
"Play it by ear."
Lee Yu-na was Level 7 now.
Lee Jang-su and Soo-jung unnie were Level 6.
Thanks to that, I could gauge levels pretty accurately from energy size now.
For Levels 10 and below, anyway.
"Ha, that horny bastard."
"You liked it too."
"True. Gotta start the day with a quick one."
Voices came soon after.
At least two were men.
"But that Park whatever's still around."
"Yeah. What's his deal?"
"What's his ability? How's he already..."
"How should I know? Those thugs of his..."
I walked in the same direction as them, listening to their talk from behind the debris.
Their conversation quickly turned crude.
"Ah, that chick got me going. The salon owner lady over there."
"Salon? Who...? Oh! Wasn't she pretty average-looking?"
"Who cares about looks. More like..."
The moment I heard "salon" and "lady owner"...
Crack.
I couldn't hold back.
I leaped straight over the debris.