Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: Changes and Stability
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We divided Samira's land and its surroundings into three zones.
The original Independence Hall site and the Baekho Valley area were designated as the core zone.
It's usually just called Samira's land.
The neighboring neighborhoods surrounding Baekho Valley were defined as the peripheral zone.
It's the area directly tied to Samira's safety, and we've cleared out the monsters there.
Beyond the peripheral zone is what's known as Samira's sphere of influence, though the extent of that influence can change at any time.
Anyway, our goal is to clear up to the sphere of influence before summer arrives.
"Ah."
We'd just emerged after conquering a yellow gate in the peripheral zone.
Seol-hee steadied herself with a slight wobble and bowed her head toward me.
"Yi Hyun, thank you for your hard work."
"You too, Seol-hee."
All the yellow gates within Samira's land have been conquered.
We're talking strictly about active open-type gates here.
There are closed-type gates as well, but they come with a much longer grace period.
So we're prioritizing the open-type yellow gates.
"Um... I'm sorry. I couldn't help much again today..."
"It's fine. Don't worry about it."
On the way back home.
Seol-hee offered an apology.
Dried bloodstains covered her face and body in several places.
Seol-hee was literally just along for the ride.
Gate conquest experience points are distributed based on contribution, but there's a minimum amount.
Her level was lower compared to my other companions.
That's why I plan to take her into a few more gates going forward.
"Far from helping, I was just a hindrance..."
"You weren't a hindrance, Seol-hee."
Inside today's gate, Seol-hee had nearly been raped.
While I was fighting monsters, four men who entered through another gate attacked her.
"You don't need to apologize to me. It wasn't your fault either. Just take care of yourself."
Maybe because they came charging at her naked.
The fear radiating from her was intense.
"Thank you... Are you okay, Yi Hyun?"
"I'm fine. Why?"
For the record, those men never laid a finger on Seol-hee.
I dropped the monsters and reacted immediately.
Of course, I killed them all, and the blood that splattered on Seol-hee was theirs.
'Maybe I should just kill anyone who enters through another gate right away...'
I'm considering killing off anyone entering via a different gate from now on.
Just like I did with the first one.
"You had to fight while holding me earlier... It must have been even harder."
Originally, I'd hidden Seol-hee in a safe spot to fight.
That would have been the end of it, but because of those men, a monster spotted us, forcing me to fight while carrying her.
"That was fine too."
"I'm not exactly light..."
Seol-hee isn't small by any means.
Not as petite as Yu-na, but she's nearly 170 cm tall with a healthy build.
Above average, but carrying her into battle wasn't a strain.
"Yeah, true."
"Pardon? Oh... right."
The conversation trailed off.
As we walked quietly, we entered Samira's land.
We passed through the checkpoint between the intern dorms and headed inside.
"Oh? Yi Hyun, great work out there!"
A female intern spotted me and greeted me with a bright smile.
She was holding tissues, probably on her way to the bathroom.
At my house, using the toilet is easy.
We have a water tank and can use Western-style toilets like before.
Not so for others.
They use traditional outhouses a short distance from the dorms.
No water at all.
And the inconveniences don't end there.
They have to separate urine and feces, and the toilets are built with ventilation in mind, so they're somewhat open.
There's even a separate compost shed nearby.
Still, people are grateful for the outhouses.
Before joining Samira, handling bodily functions was a real ordeal.
"Hello!"
"Yi Hyun~ Thanks again today!"
On the way to the main building, people I passed greeted me.
Some casually, some politely.
A group of women traveling together lit up and giggled when I returned their greetings, not knowing how to react.
'Things have changed a lot.'
The atmosphere is completely different from when we first settled in Samira's land.
People's fondness toward me has grown tremendously.
Reading their emotions with Target Detection, I arrived at the main building.
"Bro!"
Jang Ho-seop, pacing in the lobby, rushed over to me.
"No issues, right? You should check out the plaza."
He quickly checked me over and got straight to the point.
"Yeah, hold on."
I sent back the two people carrying gate byproducts who'd followed me.
After I enter a gate, they take turns waiting nearby in case of emergencies.
Once we conquer it, they help carry the loot out, like now.
"Seol-hee, you head up first. Feel free to use the bathroom."
"Okay. Should I take this too?"
Seol-hee grabbed my gear as well and headed upstairs.
There wasn't much.
Just like how Jang Ho-seop faces item limits when using Stealth, gates have restrictions too.
"What's going on?"
After sending everyone else away.
"Swordmaster Kang Hye-seon left a comment asking for help."
The moment Jang Ho-seop mentioned the plaza, I figured he'd caused some trouble again.
Thankfully, that wasn't the case.
My Spirit Stone is located in the hallway on the sixth floor of the main building.
There's a recessed space in the corridor where historically valuable documents used to be displayed.
We cleared out the display case and installed my Spirit Stone there.
"What happened?"
"Seems like she's planning to enter a gate."
We arrived in front of my Spirit Stone.
The safety waves emanating from here envelop all of Samira's land.
"But from the comments, it feels like she hasn't tried conquering a gate yet..."
"Still?"
"Yeah. Not certain, though."
I logged into the plaza to check Swordmaster Kang Hye-seon's comment myself.
Jang Ho-seop's spammed posts immediately caught my eye.
"Ho-seop. Sigh..."
"Yes?"
"Why are you even posting useless crap like this?"
Jang Ho-seop insisted that every one of his posts carried some 'intent.'
He seemed worried I'd restrict his plaza access.
"Fine... whatever."
"Yep. Heh heh... Now I've shed all the shackles and burdens of my past! I deserve to indulge in consequence-free pleasure! After enduring endless humiliation, that is."
Jang Ho-seop spouted nonsense.
I told him to cut it out and asked which post Swordmaster Kang Hye-seon had commented on.
"Author is Na Se-yeon... Title is 'College Girl Gwang-soon Bought Cash Items!!'"
"What?"
"Oh, 'College Girl Gwang-soon Bought Cash Items!!' Then in parentheses..."
An unbelievable title.
No idea why she's calling herself a college girl.
Feeling uneasy, I scrolled through the plaza.
I quickly found the title Jang Ho-seop mentioned and read the post.
I was startled after reading the post.
It included photos of a woman.
Quite provocative ones at that.
The model had a great figure, and the underlayer clung to her body.
The one without it was even more so.
The angles and poses deliberately emphasized feminine features.
"What the hell? How did you make these photos?"
"Huh? I didn't make them—they're real photos."
"What?"
I logged out without even checking the comments.
I thought Jang Ho-seop had unlocked some new special skill.
"I asked Na Se-yeon."
"Come to think of it... the name rings a bell."
"From the Myeongshin University training corps. The one always hanging around with Ki Eun-chae."
I remembered now.
Na Se-yeon is a real person, a classmate of Ki Eun-chae.
"I figured it was all fake, written by you."
"Oh, I did write the post. Posting it herself would've cost mana stones."
I'd assumed the whole thing was fabricated from start to finish.
It wasn't.
Na Se-yeon had actually bought gear capable of passing through gates.
"She's good at it, probably from modeling gigs. Paid her a bit for the help."
"Oh... I see."
"Took the opportunity to set up a whole studio too. So no one can guess our location from the photos..."
Jang Ho-seop excitedly boasted about his achievements.
I gave him some half-hearted praise and logged back into the plaza.
Now for the comments.
This is a woman. Ugh, I'm tearing up.
Where's this from, girl? [Na Se-yeon 12]
Too much student filter.
Tell Yard-rang to post less [Na Se-yeon 12]
Yeah, mana stones must be rotting away in Samira [Na Se-yeon 12]
Why's no one talking gear? [Jung Jeong-su 22]
[Secret comment.]
There were way too many comments.
No matter how far I scrolled, Swordmaster Kang Hye-seon's didn't appear.
"These comments are all you, right?"
"Yep. Gonna show Na Se-yeon later."
Jang Ho-seop chuckled slyly.
"Having fun?"
"Real names make 'em a bit tame... but still fun."
Contrary to Jang Ho-seop's assessment, some comments were pretty vulgar.
Requests to shoot lower angles.
What they'd do if they grabbed her.
And prying into personal info and Samira details.
Oh, plenty from foreigners too.
After scrolling through, I noticed Jang Ho-seop had stopped replying near the end.
"Ho-seop."
"Yes."
"Did Swordmaster Kang Hye-seon leave a secret comment by any chance?"
No answer.
I logged out.
Jang Ho-seop was gauging my reaction.
"A secret comment?"
"Well... yeah. Sorry... Ack!"
I flicked Jang Ho-seop on the forehead for the first time in a while.
Swordmaster Kang Hye-seon's request was to buy gate-passable gear.
Along with some appropriate advice.
"You reply to the comment. Set up a meeting for early tomorrow morning when she responds."
"Got it. You'll go yourself, bro?"
"Yeah. Gotta repay favors."
I gave him pointers on how to steer the conversation and headed home.
Go Mi-hye, working as the maid, greeted me alone.
"Where's Bom noona?"
"She fell asleep playing with Hye-rin."
Seol-hee's baby's name is Hye-rin.
Sung Hye-rin.
Bom noona adores Hye-rin.
She's even said she wants to have a pretty baby like her someday.
"Need help?"
"Sure."
Go Mi-hye followed me into the master bedroom with my permission.
She awkwardly helped me remove my gear.
"Go handle your chores now."
"Okay. Dinner...?"
"I'll eat after washing up."
Go Mi-hye gathered my weapons and gear and left.
She'd maintain them for me.
I stripped off the rest of my clothes and headed to the bathroom.
'Oh, right.'
I sensed energy inside the bathroom.
Come to think of it, I'd told Seol-hee she could use it.
Living in my house is a privilege in itself.
Easier eating, bathing, sleeping—even using the toilet—than anywhere else.
Creek
As I turned to head back to the master bedroom, the bathroom door opened.
Seol-hee emerged with a towel wrapped around her hair.
Just one large towel around her body.
"Oh, you're back."
"Yeah. Mind if I go in?"
"Go ahead."
Seol-hee brushed past me awkwardly.
She probably didn't expect me back before she finished.
"Ah, Bom's asleep. Should I wake her?"
"Nah, let her sleep."
She's asking because she knows I have sex with noona a lot.
Sometimes in the bathroom too.
Fighting bloody battles every day means I need a way to vent.
Redirecting the pent-up tension from combat into sex is a solid solution.
Like how people relieve stress with exercise.
And aside from Bom noona, I haven't been intimate with any other women in Samira.
'Bom noona's just so familiar...'
Her level's up, so she can handle me physically.
She's devoted in bed too.
A few other reasons as well.
Lost in these thoughts as I finished showering.
Knock knock
"Yes."
A knock at the bathroom door, and Go Mi-hye entered.
"Ho-seop's here?"
"N-no... that's not it."
Go Mi-hye fidgeted.
"Sorry, but... may I use a bit of water here?"
Probably to clean blood off my gear.
A bit odd, but I said sure.
I'd already washed up anyway.
Go Mi-hye hiked up her dress hem and squatted down.
But instead of washing, she kept glancing at me.
"Anything else?"
"Oh... um."
Her face flushed red.
She bit her lip, stood, and slowly slipped off her dress.
"I could... help you..."
Go Mi-hye offering to assist me again.
She approached, knelt on the bathroom floor before me.
The next day.
Out early at dawn, going for a run.
Whoosh
Wind whistled past my ears.
My running speed was that fast.
'Running's fun too.'
Working out sometimes brings that rush of sudden improvement and pure joy.
That's me right now.
Thud
I effortlessly vaulted an obstacle that appeared right in front of me.
Sometimes kicking off walls to leap higher.
Staying focused to keep my speed up as I ran on.
Then, at the edge of Target Detection's range, I picked up two presences.
"Wha—whoa? St-stop!"
I arrived in front of the two men in an instant.
Before they could even react.
"I'm Sai-hyeon. Here to see Swordmaster Kang Hye-seon."
Yongsan Station.
Kang Hye-seon's faction had fully relocated here.
"Ah... yes. We've been informed. This way."
One man dazedly stepped aside to guide me.
Soon, we entered Yongsan Station and met Swordmaster Kang Hye-seon.
"Long time no see."
She greeted me with a weary expression.
It had been over a month since we last parted.
In that time, she'd grown thinner, more haggard.
"Long time. Doing well?"
"Yes... I'm managing."
She clearly wasn't.