Chapter 6
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Na Cho Mu: Madam's Decision?!
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I couldn't keep my mouth shut.
The core right in front of me had vanished without a trace.
But the Almas I was holding started trembling violently.
The vibration soon stopped.
I examined it and was shocked.
"It's changed!"
First off, its appearance had changed.
A good portion of the rust that had covered it was gone.
The kind that seemed impossible to remove physically.
I checked the specs.
⚔ ITEM STATUS ⚔
📦 Name:Unlocking Almas
⭐ Rarity:Unique
✨ Unique Activation Effect 'Freezing Wave':Fires an intense wave of cold air forward.
✨ Unique Continuous Effect 'Turn to Snowflakes':Targets you've slain scatter as snowflakes.
✨ Unique Continuous Effect 'Blessing of Severe Cold':Grants 50% resistance to all cold effects and immunity to chill.
✨ Unique Continuous Effect 'Secondary Unlock':?
'Whoa, so this is what happens? Jackpot.'
For reference, this place was in winter.
Far off in the distance, if you looked toward Bono, there were rows of mountains blanketed in pure white snow.
A few spots on the lake had white snow piled up or were lightly frozen.
'It felt cold just a bit ago. Now? Not at all. Feels like spring.'
A hollow laugh escaped me.
The item's grade alone seemed insanely high.
And it came with functions to match.
I caught my breath and headed back to the territory.
'I scored big today!'
The corners of my mouth kept twitching upward.
I didn't want to show it, but I couldn't help it.
So this is what getting stronger feels like.
My shoulders squared up with confidence.
'Hunters, so this is what it was like for you guys? Feels good. I'll catch up and surpass you all!'
I smacked my lips and passed through the gate.
I paraded around with the Almas drawn from its sheath, showing it off like I was flaunting the keys to a luxury foreign sports car on a table.
I was heading to the mansion.
Then suddenly, a sound like air tearing ripped from a nearby alley.
'Huh, this sound...?'
Shweeeeeek!
I dodged on reflex.
It was Belken, the guy who'd run off earlier.
But both his fists were frozen solid.
I evaded the first strike, but the follow-up left jab caught me.
Pop!
I whipped my head aside to glance it off and retreated.
Belken sneered as he closed in.
"You moron. An adventurer who can't even read movements?"
"What about it?"
"Huh? Why're you, uh, fine? Your cheek!"
"Oh, this?"
A bit of frost had formed on my cheek, but it melted away.
Thanks to the sword's power.
I grinned.
Which meant his ability was basically useless against me.
"Your punches are like cotton balls. Only beat a five-year-old with that."
"What? You little shit!"
"No backup this time? You can't handle me solo."
"Die!"
"Don't puff up and embarrass yourself."
I sheathed the sword.
Belken lunged with another punch.
I met it with my own fist.
'This time, like this!'
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡
Corrosion
Corrosive acid surges through your fists.
I'd learned about the Corrosion skill back at Hunter Academy.
If Belken was freezing his hands solid...
I was thrusting mine forward, laced with corrosive acid.
Paaang!
Our fists collided.
Belken should win—his stats seemed higher.
At worst, my fist should shatter.
'But ice powers are halved against me, remember?'
Plus, the corrosive acid must've been potent.
It melted the ice coating his fist and bored right into the flesh.
Total domination.
Crack!
"Gaaah! Aaaagh, fuck, my hand!"
"Loser."
I followed with a high kick.
Nailed him square in the head.
I looked down at Belken staggering on the ground and sighed.
I could finish him here.
'His ability's tempting, though. Let's bait him more. Like Zhuge Liang toying with Meng Huo.'
I was even stronger now.
This guy was perfect for experiments.
I looked up.
At the end of the alley, Kerry was watching.
She flinched but met my gaze.
'Interesting. If she's really his girl, she'd bolt in fear. But no?'
Meant Kerry had other ideas.
Something special about her.
Intriguing.
I mocked Belken from above.
"Hey, you okay? Sorry, bro."
"You fuck—!"
"Right. Daddy's sorry. Son, you good? But why no mommy?"
"I-I'll kill you!"
Hit a sore spot, huh.
Whatever.
Living life, I'd seen plenty of power-tripping Hunters.
Whether they had parents or not, tons had trash personalities.
'His folks probably don't matter much either.'
I pressed my foot to his jaw and grinned.
"I'll let you off today. Bring your crew next time to try me. Or pimp out your girlfriend. Act up again, and you're dead."
"Y-You bastard. Ugh. This okay for an adventurer?"
"You started it, you sex byproduct."
I soccer-kicked his face.
Knocked him out cold.
An adventurer doing this?
Then could a jobless thug jump a passerby?
I glanced at Kerry and headed to the mansion.
'Ah, fucking refreshing.'
I'd always been the one getting screwed over.
It felt normal to me.
Society had slotted me there.
No more.
I adjusted my sheath and loosened up.
'I'm stronger now. Old porter me would've rolled around like a loser getting beat.'
But things were different.
Days of humiliation were over.
My chest swelled.
I arrived at the mansion.
The Head Butler was right there.
I approached and showed him the slime cores.
"Job's done."
"Confirmed."
"Hm? What if some are left? That's it?"
Impressive. So certain.
Even if I missed some slimes.
Even if I was scamming.
The Head Butler shook his head.
"We have our own intel sources. You've performed admirably."
"Oho."
A whistle slipped out.
This made it easy.
No need to prove every detail.
The Head Butler adjusted his glasses and continued.
"Today's quota is cleared, so rest up. Here's your pay."
The Head Butler handed over a pouch.
I peeked inside.
My jaw dropped.
It was stuffed with shiny gold coins.
My heart pounded.
'Kya, insane. Wonder how much this'd fetch in reality?'
Stuff from gates or dungeons counted as artifacts.
Often sold for big bucks.
I grinned ear to ear, then remembered something.
"Ah, yeah. Where do I sell slime cores?"
This wasn't a game world.
No random merchants hawking junk.
Might've missed the spot.
"Give them to me. I'll settle it right away."
Jackpot.
I handed over the slime cores.
Ex-porter skills made extracting them flawless.
The Head Butler tallied and gave me one gold coin.
"1 gold."
"Suck, that's a lot or little?"
"A common household's monthly living expense is 300 gold. For reference, the pay I just gave is also 300 gold."
"Aha."
Slime cores didn't pay much.
Unless high-grade or variants.
'Almas is plenty! My other self!'
Equivalent to a month's living expenses as pay.
Matched the difficulty perfectly.
"Cool."
I headed to my room.
On the way up, a welcome alert greeted me.
⚙ QUEST CLEARED ⚙
Quest 'Squishy Threat' cleared!
300 gold acquired!
Strength increased by 1!
"Wha—?!"
Right as I opened the door.
I got the clear rewards.
Shocked.
A pouch identical to the Head Butler's dropped—like copy-paste.
And my muscles twitched all over.
"Whoa, jackpot. How much did I make today? 601 gold?!"
Stat-up as bonus.
I tilted my head, then realized.
"Huh? The sword doesn't feel heavy anymore?"
Amazingly, the sheath I'd been caressing felt light now.
Definitely had solid weight before.
Now? Like an old familiar grip.
Just +1 stat did this.
'They said low-rank stat bumps feel huge. True.'
Academy lessons paying off.
Exclamations poured out.
I leaned the sword against the wall.
Headed to the bath and washed up.
Bliss from the hot water.
'Every day like this. No—aim higher! Nothing to fear, right?'
Get strong, make money, bang chicks.
True alpha life.
Life unlocked.
Wanna keep this momentum.
Showered happily, threw on a robe, and stepped out.
About to crash on the bed.
"Oh my?"
"Ah, Baron's Wife!"
I looked up in surprise.
Daniela was setting up dinner.
When'd she sneak in?
"S-Sorry. Kinda late."
"No worries, Baron's Wife. Looks delicious, hehe."
I grinned at her bountiful chest dispensers and firm ass.
Daniela beamed back.
So alluring.
How great to have a woman like her?
"How was the work?"
"Tough, but thinking of you made it great."
Daniela's eyes widened in surprise.
She finished setting the table and headed for the door.
"Put it outside when you're done."
"Yes, Baron's Wife."
As I sat for dinner.
Daniela paused at the door.
Something to say?
She glanced back—her profile stunning.
"You can call me Daniela."
"Pardon?"
Daniela left.
I stared blankly.
'Wait, green light? Calling her by name? Or overthinking?'
My heart raced wildly.
Were we getting close?
No girl experience to judge.
Elementary school chats with a desk mate—my last.
'That was my romantic peak.'
End the long dry spell.
I grinned.
Love front advancing.
Munched hash browns, sliced steak.
"Haa, this is the life!"
Confidence in crushing anything.
Tomorrow, go hard!
Changing my present and future!
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Daniela returned to her room.
She clutched her chest and sighed.
Her face burned.
"Thinking of me while working? What's good about an old lady like me?"
Her heart thumped like broken.
Unbelievable.
Tried focusing on other tasks, but Seong Cheon-je's smile lingered.
This was serious.
'I want to get close to him. For real.'
No clue how to calm this pounding heart.
One thing clear:
Definite liking, interest.
She perched on the bed, steadied her breath, then nodded slowly.
'Okay, like this. Sneak in at midnight, taste his cock. Not 'cause I'm a perv. Romance novels say to know a man, taste his dick!'
Daniela nodded slowly.
Her romance gurus: steamy novels she devoured.
She licked her lips, slowly rubbing her own hefty breasts.
'Wanna taste it, wanna taste it, wanna taste it, wanna taste it, wanna taste it!'
Like finding the stud she'd hunted forever.
She extended a hand with an elegant, lewd smile.
