The Gift Was Way Too Expensive
There are people who get lost in pointless thoughts even in the worst moments.
That was me.
The video that came to mind when I was a child amid the rubble of the collapsed building was, oddly enough, a video about finding a cat.
“Cat videos. When they’re scared and hiding, they don’t make any noise and stay perfectly still. So you really have to look carefully for places where cats can hide.”
The video ended with the client’s cat being found in the bathtub of the neighbor’s bathroom on the third floor, where the residence was on the sixteenth floor.
Why did this video come to mind at the moment of life or death?
It was the footsteps that shook the ground.
Kung—
Kung—
Every time I took a step, the vibration spread through the air.
The vibration that reached the ground battered my entire body.
But I made no sound.
Because every time the footsteps stopped, the people’s desperate screams rang out.
And then came the sounds of flesh being crushed and bones shattering.
The footsteps announcing death were steadily getting closer.
The vibration grew stronger.
The shock that beat my body was now painful, but I was still desperately trying not to make a single sound.
And then I met them.
Green eyes.
***
My head hurt.
The first thing that greeted me when I woke up was a terrible headache.
Without exaggeration, my head felt like it was splitting apart.
“Ugh… eee…”
Why had this pain come so suddenly? Thinking about it, the answer came immediately.
Thinking back, I hadn’t drunk the Good Sleep Juice yesterday.
Should I drink it now?
Normally, I would have had to prepare for part-time work from the morning, so the thought was ridiculous.
But from this moment on, everything was different.
All schedules had been completely wiped clean.
That was right. Being an Awakener meant being a freelancer in the first place.
I had already told every part-time job I worked at.
I said my body suddenly wasn’t feeling well and I had to quit.
There was a boss who understood without saying much, and one who cursed at me, but… what could I do?
Even if I got scolded, I had to accept it sweetly.
I couldn’t say the truth that I had become a pink-haired young girl and could no longer do part-time work, sorry.
I didn’t really want to say it. We weren’t close.
“Umm…”
I got up from the messy bed, turned my body, and saw that my legs didn’t reach the ground. A dry laugh escaped me.
It was new, but really small.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Hic!”
I jumped up in surprise from the house I had lived in alone as a man.
My body, which shot up like a cat caught on camera with an unseen cucumber, reached the ceiling and then landed again.
I stroked down my startled chest.
No, no.
I knew Elijah still existed.
Because I was being detected.
Still, even though I knew, when someone just spoke to me, I was startled.
Receiving a greeting from someone in the morning felt too… long overdue.
Elijah’s appearance hadn’t changed at all from yesterday.
A belated thought brushed past my head.
Was it possible…?
“Have you been up all night?”
“It’s a bodyguard mission.”
Oh, I see.
It made me feel a little guilty.
“Are you okay? You seemed to be sleeping poorly.”
“I’m fine. I do this sometimes.”
I hadn’t drunk the Good Sleep Juice after having a nightmare.
When it was like this, there were ways.
If I took out a can of Good Sleep Juice from the fridge and drank it, it would be solved immediately.
In fact, it was the routine I followed every holiday.
On weekdays, I solved it with coffee.
But still, it was better than coffee—Good Sleep Juice.
Still, I had no intention of drinking it in front of Elijah.
Because I had experienced what happened when I said I would drink beer the day before.
Even though I looked like this, I was an adult, but you didn’t believe it…
So, after Elijah left, I would drink it.
“Elijah, should I go back now? The bodyguard duty seems sufficient at this level.”
“Hmm? It seems like there’s still a little time left.”
“I’m fine.”
I smiled innocently, trying to look bright like someone of that age group.
Elijah had to go back quickly so I could drink the Good Sleep Juice and solve this terrible headache…!
“Hmmm… Well, okay. The client said they were satisfied, so I can’t stay longer.”
Elijah smiled.
It didn’t feel good.
Probably just my mood.
“How do I end it?”
“Tell me ‘request completed’.”
“Request completed.”
Before I could finish speaking, the status window popped out.
[Mercenary Contract has ended.]
[Checking the request content….]
[Request achieved.]
[Request type: Bodyguard]
[Request content: Protect the target for one day]
[Status: Completed (early termination by client’s request)]
[Client: The one who bestowed the grace of death upon flea flies]
[Mercenary: Witch of Hellfire]
[Reward: 1 Assassin Coin with bite marks left]
Was this revenge for damaging the coin? It was still a shameful reward, but whatever.
On top of that, a weird title had been attached.
What was this?
The client’s name was ‘The one who bestowed the grace of death upon flea flies’?
This guy’s status window was trying to kill people twice.
Seeing that I looked quite gloomy, Elijah didn’t tease this time and comforted me.
“…You can change the title however you want, so don’t worry too much about it.”
“How do I change it?”
I wanted to change it right away.
“Get a new title.”
Just in case, I pressed the title tab in the status window with my finger, and only ‘flea fly…’ remained.
Good.
Decided.
For now, I would change this guy’s title today. Somehow.
“How do I get a new title?”
“Titles are like showing the person’s influence. So, if someone’s influence somehow spreads their name, a new title will naturally appear.”
With Elijah’s explanation, I immediately understood.
What I needed to do was clear.
“Thank you, Elijah.”
Elijah’s eyes curved nicely.
“It was a good request. See you again.”
“Yeah.”
I didn’t know when, but.
The rest was swallowed.
I wasn’t a fool.
I knew how unusual a person Elijah was.
It didn’t make sense that it had cost only one Assassin Coin to hire such an Elijah.
It had been good fortune.
It was a little disappointing that I had used such a big fortune on something like this.
It wouldn’t be easy to see again.
Considering how Assassin Coins had skyrocketed with just a few conditions.
So, it had just been a short but good relationship.
With the promise of meeting again someday.
On the magic circle drawn under my feet, Elijah waved first.
I waved back small.
Then the light swallowed the room.
Elijah had disappeared.
[Mercenary’s return confirmed.]
[Mercenary’s satisfaction: ★★★★★]
There was even a request satisfaction.
Probably five stars were the maximum.
It was fortunate that Elijah had given a high score.
When I met her again, I had to thank her.
That was one thing.
I had to do what I had to do.
I ran to the fridge.
I brought the sandwich I had packed a few days ago and forgotten, and the now too big can of Good Sleep Juice for me.
Should I drink a sip of Good Sleep Juice first?
The sound of opening the can came.
Only the sound of opening the can.
…Something was wrong.
The sound of carbonation bursting?
I drank a sip.
“Sweet.”
It tasted like grape juice.
A scene of Elijah laughing crossed my mind.
“No way.”
This was a dream.
I was still having a nightmare.
To check the state of other beers, I ran back to the fridge.
Then it was visible.
A strange note stuck in the middle of the fridge body.
If it was a super genius magician, could they acquire Korean in a day?
It was nicely written.
[Because it’s too early for a child to drink. Confiscated~♬]
E…!
“Elijahaaaa!”
I could never forgive this.
Never!
I couldn’t accept this.
This reality.
Just in case, I opened one more.
This time, it tasted like grapefruit juice.
Only then did I accept this miserable reality.
It seemed Elijah had turned all the Good Sleep Juices in my fridge into fruit juices.
I didn’t know what harmony she was trying to create, but this was magic too.
Changing the content of the drink wasn’t that surprising.
Some people had the content as is, but the packaging had changed.
With tears, I peeled off the sandwich packaging.
Sandwich with grape juice.
It was an odd combination, but it went down smoothly.
There was a reason.
[Drank a beverage containing the blessing of the great magician. Temporary magic is granted to the body.]
[Granted magic: Luck]
“Wow.”
Now, it was ridiculous to complain about having stolen a convenience store discount can beer.
Elijah’s gift was way too big.
It was an object that looked unbelievable at first glance.
So, I immediately wrote a post.
￣￣￣￣￣
Topic: Are there any current workers in the gallery right now? How much is doping one usually?
(A meme saying “change your buying mindset”)
No listings in the auction house either
-Don’t feed this guy, I’ve been writing posts like this since yesterday
But the auction house really has no listings
-That’s because large guilds monopolize them
-If you sign a full-time contract and deliver, who would upload to the auction house, lol, and they take the auction house fee too
- : So how much is it usually?
The worst part is it starts at one million, and when there’s nothing, it jumps ten times
￣￣￣￣￣
That’s what it means?
I wrote one more post.
￣￣￣￣￣
Topic: Then, if such a doping existed, how much would it be?
(A meme saying “a cat without ears saw you”)
Drinking it makes you lucky for a short time
Of course, the drinker might not feel it.
Still, it’s definitely good.
Why?
The system proves it.
-Where does something like that exist lol
The writer said “if”, so it would be popular with rich people. They still believe in physiognomy and feng shui even in this world
Don’t be jealous of the repair guy: what does that have to do with this
Hah
-Daily overtime worker 84: If there is, bring it straight to Sinchon. I’ll buy it.
Real?
-Huangya: I remember there was once a item called “elixir that increases coin pickup probability” on the auction house. I remember that. It can’t even keep up with the item you assumed, .
Daily overtime worker 84: Right.
Awakening doesn’t change the body: I remembered lol lol lol The one that sold for 100 million
If it really exists, you’d think you couldn’t buy it even with real money?
Huangya: Thinking about it, yes. If luck increases, doesn’t the expected reward for boss monster hunting also go up?
Experiment lover: It’s not just increasing probability, it could be rolling the dice twice. Then you couldn’t buy it even with money
-Yongsojae unlimited purchase: Check your guestbook,
￣￣￣￣￣
…That.
Was I eating this sandwich with the juice right now?