6. My Buff is a Drug
6. My Buff is a Drug
"Man, that was brutal."
The moment I got back to the dorm, exhaustion hit me and I collapsed onto the bed.
Honestly, it wasn't so much physical fatigue as the feeling of having put in a ton of emotional labor.
Guidance, praise, consolation!
I had no idea what the party members thought, but Hye-yong had put in a genuinely massive effort himself.
'Maybe it's a little early to get worked up over a single day, but I should've at least built up some goodwill by now. I wonder if I've gathered any of that power of perception thing, too.'
I picked up the terminal and sent Bwitgwitgak a message.
[ Choi Hye-yong : Just got back from a raid with the guys. Anything change? ]
A reply came back instantly.
[ Bwitgwitgak : Yes, yes there is! A Seed of Recognition has been planted! It's still faint, but you've been able to obtain the power of perception! ]
Bwitgwitgak : ( An emoji of a blonde female character throwing her arms up in a triumphant cheer )
[ Bwitgwitgak : Please check your own abilities too, Creator! It might be just a tiny bit, but what you can do has definitely expanded! ]
Oh, really?
That was a welcome bit of news.
Hye-yong tried enhancing the performance of the Flower's Feast, the buff he'd cast on Seo Ha-yoon.
[ Flower's Feast ]
Cognitive Filter applied
Stamina stat +2 levels
Protection stat +2 levels
'Whoa, I can actually add one more level to the Protection stat now.'
Had I just taken a step forward?
People are happiest when they feel their hard work paid off.
'Alright!'
It was a small step, but Hye-yong clenched his fist and celebrated quietly as he lay there.
'Ah, I just got genuinely happy for a second there.'
Hye-yong had momentarily forgotten his situation.
The moment he recalled the circumstances he was in, his mood curdled back into something bittersweet.
Right now, Hye-yong had abandoned his entire real life and come here.
The things that make up a person's life.
Family, friends, lovers, work.......
He'd left all of that behind.
Well, that's how it was supposed to be, although Hye-yong hadn't had a lover.
He hadn't had friends either.
Or family.
All that remained for him was work.
It wasn't that he'd never had a family.
The moment he realized neither of his divorced parents wanted to take him in, he decided to consider himself as having no family.
He'd had quite a lot of friends back in school.
But he'd thought friends were a dime a dozen, so after graduation he never bothered to stay in touch. Because of that, they never became truly close and just turned into vaguely awkward presences.
The kind of relationship where if you contacted them they'd go, "Oh, long time no see, man!" and greet you warmly, but the moment you suggested grabbing a meal they'd dodge, saying they were busy.
He had had a lover once.
He'd mustered up the courage to make a move on an older college senior, his first love, and she'd accepted him. They dated, and he'd lost his virginity to her. But later he found out there were supposedly over thirty other guys in the same department who'd slept with her—straight out of some hentai plot. He nearly fainted and broke up with her.
When he went to her and said they should break up, she replied like it was the most trivial thing in the world: "Oh, okay. Well, since you're here, you wanna have a clean breakup fuck?" It was so shocking he felt like he'd remember it right up until the moment he died.
Not that he didn't go through with the breakup sex, of course.
Anyway, when did it start?
Thinking that money was everything in life.
'......Huh, now that I think about it, does it even matter?'
His head went a little blank.
The worst possible damage he could imagine was distributing a buggy file and going dark, getting his livelihood cut off.......
[ Bwitgwitgak : Creator, you're the best! ]
I opened the messenger again and saw Bwitgwitgak was buttering me up.
Hye-yong asked about something that had been on his mind.
[ Choi Hye-yong : Hey. Hey. ]
[ Bwitgwitgak : What is it? ]
[ Choi Hye-yong : Let's say you do send me back someday. But what the hell happens to my original life while I'm gone? It could be years. ]
Bwitgwitgak : ( An emoji of a blonde female character sweating nervously, averting her gaze and scratching her cheek )
Ah, for fuck's sake, this bitch.
She knew I wouldn't be clueless.
[ Bwitgwitgak : U-uhm...... I don't know about the rest, but I think I can solve any financial problems for youuu....... ]
[ Choi Hye-yong : Financial problems? How? ]
[ Bwitgwitgak : The gold and jewels in this world! I can make it so you can take those kinds of valuables back to your original world. As much as you want! ]
'Huh? Then doesn't that mean my livelihood doesn't even matter?'
The logistics were a question mark, but if he could take as much gold and jewels as he wanted, he'd obviously never have money problems for the rest of his life.
'Shit?'
He'd been hoping there'd be at least one reason why he absolutely had to be in the real world.
But when he picked it apart point by point, there was nothing!
In fact, it almost seemed like he'd lucked out, getting dragged here!
He'd thought once before that his situation was perfect for the protagonist of an isekai story.
But good god, he'd never imagined there'd be absolutely no issues at all.
'The only real downside is that I could die.......'
Assuming the modpack's story progressed to its conclusion, there were quite a number of dangers baked into the plot.
Still, no matter how he looked at it, he didn't think Bwitgwitgak would just let him walk down the street and go 'urgh' and die.
In a pinch, he could strip all the buffs and re-focus them purely on defense and evasion.
'Umm.......'
In the end, Hye-yong decided to do exactly what he'd done earlier.
'Alright!'
Fuck it. What's the point of thinking about all that shitty stuff? All it does is stress me out like crazy.
If there's something to be happy about, just let yourself be happy!
That's way better than feeling like total shit because you're brooding about your real life, isn't it!
Hye-yong shouted those words in his head and decided to just take a fat afternoon nap.
Flash!
In what felt like a flash, his eyes snapped open.
He checked the time on his terminal: 6 PM.
He'd somehow woken up right on time for a meal.
And his stomach was conveniently growling.
'Better go get some food.'
I roughly straightened my hair, got up, and headed out while checking my terminal.
'The cafeteria's...... over here.'
From what I'd seen in the student guide, you pick your menu, scan your terminal, and it deducts points. The order gets sent in and they make the food.
Once it was done, they'd give you a meal ticket and you'd take it.
[ Kimchi Stew Set Meal ]
Figures—given this was basically a Korean-based setting, they'd sell kimchi stew.
'Eh, I'm lazy, I'll just get this.'
The price of a kimchi stew set meal ticket was 9 points.
That seemed a little expensive, maybe?
Well, whatever. I just scanned the terminal and bought the ticket.
"Student, your kimchi stew is ready."
That was faster than I expected.
I looked around for a decent spot to sit and eat, and spotted a girl sitting alone in a corner.
It was Seo Ha-yoon.
Well, it is mealtime, so of course she'd be in the cafeteria.
Since we're acquaintances who ran into each other, it'd be a bit weird for us both to eat alone, wouldn't it?
So I decided to go sit next to her and build some camaraderie.
Drrrk!
"Hup."
Seo Ha-yoon had been staring at her food, and when the sound of a chair scraping back next to her rang out, she flinched in surprise.
"Hey."
I greeted her first, and only then did Seo Ha-yoon turn her head.
"O-oh, uh, it's, Hy-Hye-yong. Phew."
"I'm just sitting next to you. No need to be so tense."
"Mm, r-right, you're right."
Well, yeah, you can't just fix a personality overnight.
"You went with the stir-fried pork and bean sprouts. Is it good?"
"Yeah. It's tasty, so I eat it a lot."
"I'll have to give it a try sometime."
With that short exchange over, Hye-yong scooped up a spoonful of his kimchi stew and put it in his mouth.
'Huh?'
It was genuinely surprising.
I hadn't been expecting much since it had that 'school cafeteria' vibe, but this was hands down the best kimchi stew I'd ever eaten in my entire life.
In that instant, Hye-yong recalled a particular piece of lore.
'Right, right. The setting was that the school nutritionist has a cooking skill. Is this the power of that cooking skill? Damn, this is actually way better than I thought.'
After a quiet, impressed murmur, I focused entirely on eating.
Maybe three minutes passed like that.
Clack!
"So this is where you were enjoying your evening feast!"
A tray-clattering noise and a high-energy voice rang out at the same time.
Chae Hwa-ra had spotted where Hye-yong and Ha-yoon were sitting, come over, and plopped herself down across from them.
"Indeed. I received a revelation from 'That Person' to replenish my strength for the holy war coming tomorrow."
"Oho, truly the loyal confidant of 'That Person.' I, too, came here to follow that revelation."
Chae Hwa-ra smiled as if this kind of conversation was genuinely enjoyable to her.
If I could get closer to someone just by playing along with their gimmick, I was more than happy to do it.
"But, Hye-yong."
While we were sitting across from each other grinning, Ha-yoon spoke to me.
"Yeah?"
"That buff you put on me, the one called Flower's Feast, right......."
"Uh-huh."
"It was incredibly amazing. Even when I saw blood, it all looked like pretty flowers so...... it was a little strange, but thanks to that, I think I was able to fight without panicking. Plus, it raised the exact stats I needed......."
"Glad it helped."
"But I'm a little curious. How did you make that buff? Originally, it only had the stamina boost, right."
Ah, how was I supposed to explain this?
I can create buffs on a whim, however I want!
Saying it like that felt a bit tricky, given my current position.
Hye-yong's personality was one that fundamentally hated running headfirst into a situation he couldn't control.
Maybe it would be nice to be the center of attention for having such an incredible ability, but he still wanted to play it a bit more cautiously.
While Hye-yong was mulling it over, Chae Hwa-ra waved her spoon in the air and cut in.
"Why, isn't it obvious? It must be because you received a revelation from 'That Person'?"
Oh! Nice one, Chae Hwa-ra.
This was a chance to weasel my way out of it.
"Exactly. I was reborn after I received a visitation from 'That Person'."
"Fufufu, I see."
"H-hahaha."
I even forced a laugh to keep up the act while I observed Seo Ha-yoon.
I could see her looking troubled, lost in thought.
No, what are you even agonizing over!
"Uh, sooo...... what exactly was the reason you suddenly received a revelation from 'That Person'?"
Gah, you're even following along with the gimmick to ask that?
I guess I really will have to just bullshit my way through this.
Hye-yong thought for a moment, then spoke.
"I awakened a new ability. If there's someone I consider a comrade, I can cast an exclusive buff on them."
"Exclusive buff?"
"Yeah. The buff solved your biggest problem, didn't it? Your hemophobia. And the stats it gave were exactly what you needed. This buff called Flower's Feast is set up so it can only be cast on you."
"That's right...... it was like it existed just for me. An exclusive buff. It's m-my exclusive......."
Truth was, I could cast it on anyone.
But I'd made it for Seo Ha-yoon, and since I had no particular reason to cast it on anyone else, it wasn't a lie to call it her exclusive buff.
"Thanks, Hye-yong."
"For what?"
"For considering me a comrade. That's what you did, right? And thanks to that I could receive such a good buff...... and besides, it's m-my exclusive one. For some reason, that makes me really, really happy."
Seo Ha-yoon smiled, and it looked like she felt incredibly relieved about the whole thing.
I'd just been thinking I wanted to get this over with, but seeing Seo Ha-yoon's smiling face, I figured I'd managed to bluff my way through pretty well.
"Fufufu, a comrade. I see. An exclusive buff, then. 'That Person' has bestowed a blessing meant only for me through you!"
Huh?
Wait, no, I cast it on Choi Ah-young, too.
'If that's the case, I can't really bullshit about it being an exclusive buff anymore.'
But the more I thought about it, I figured I could just keep my mouth shut.
She was that happy about it. No need to piss on her parade.
And I'd never actually told Chae Hwa-ra that skill was her exclusive skill, either.
If it got exposed later and she went, "That wasn't just for me!?", I could always just strike another weird pose, drop my voice, and spout some 'That Person' nonsense to brush past it.
If I just said I'd been preparing a better exclusive buff to give her, she'd accept it instantly.
Still, just in case, I figured I should add one layer of insurance.
"Ahem. You two are comrades, so I'm telling you this, but actually, I don't really want it to get out that I've gained a new ability. Just keep it between us, okay?"
"Okay. I won't tell anyone."
"Worry not! The true identity of those of us who are 'That Person's' confidants surfacing above water would be troublesome for me as well."
And so, the three of us spent a cozy dinner hour together.
Back in my room, Hye-yong immediately flopped down onto the bed.
I'd heard somewhere that lying down right after eating can give you acid reflux, but Hye-yong had never had any issues with that kind of thing himself, so he didn't care.
'Seo Ha-yoon and Chae Hwa-ra. They absolutely loved it when I called it their exclusive buff.'
Maybe their affection levels went up a bit?
Whatever.
No matter who you are, you can't help but like someone who gives you special treatment.
'Even if I were in their shoes, I'd definitely develop some goodwill.'
Hye-yong opened up the Buff Custom window again to check if his capabilities had expanded.
[ Flower's Feast ]
Cognitive Filter applied
Stamina stat +3 levels
Protection stat +3 levels
'Okay! Nice.'
This time, the stat lines had increased by two.
This was how I'd keep bumping it up gradually.
It probably seemed like it was shooting up fast since it was still early on, but in any case, it was satisfying news.
I made a mental note to keep using that 'exclusive buff' line as a go-to excuse going forward.
'Hm? Wait. Exclusive buff?'
As soon as he thought that, Hye-yong felt a thought whip through his head like a bolt of lightning.
What if it wasn't just an 'exclusive buff' in words, but I actually made it into a genuine exclusive buff?
It wasn't like I ever planned to cast this Flower's Feast buff on anyone other than Seo Ha-yoon anyway.
What would be the point of casting a buff with an inefficient function like a cognitive filter on someone else?
'If I just outright make it an exclusive buff, could it be that.......'
A self-buff that only you can use, and a buff you can cast on anyone—even if the numerical values are identical, the intrinsic worth is fundamentally different.
If I absolutely locked it down so that this buff was exclusively for so-and-so and couldn't be cast on anyone else, then for the same stat values, the cost should definitely drop!
If that was the case, then it seemed like I might be able to cram even more stats onto the buff.
'Why didn't I think of this before?'
Hye-yong immediately got to work trying to customize the buff.