The Fairy's Promise (2)

I had already spent six full days inside the event dungeon. Just one more day to endure, and this godforsaken event would finally be over.

Ji-su, who had been lying beside me on the mattress, spoke up.

“Um… Master? It’s almost noon. Maybe you should head out soon…”

“Ah, has it already gotten that late? Tsk. Guess I’d better get moving.”

I hurriedly got up and stepped out of the Cradle of Rest. Ji-su followed right behind me. After stretching my arms wide, I muttered,

“This is getting ridiculous. Every single time the map opens, the place is crawling with people…”

“I know. With five treasures gathered in one spot, it’s no wonder…”

I left the Gate of Rest open and strode forward briskly. Once noon arrived, this area would once again turn into a living hell. A blood-soaked battlefield where people ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fought tooth and nail over the treasures. Of course, none of it could touch us while we stayed inside the Cradle of Rest, but the sheer chaos was exhausting.

Watching people swing blades right in front of your eyes, seeing someone collapse after losing a limb—it was impossible not to get affected. That was why I had developed a routine: right before noon and midnight, I would leave the Cradle of Rest, find somewhere else to rest, and then summon the Gate of Rest back to my location once the ten-minute map display ended.

It was pretty annoying, having to move every twelve hours. But what could I do? For peaceful, quiet rest, this much hassle was worth it.

Soon enough, noon arrived, and a message floated before my eyes.

Here we go again.

A short while after the message appeared, I began to see people rushing across the landscape. They were all heading toward the areas where treasures had been marked. I settled down in a comfortable spot and quietly watched them scramble past.

Tomorrow, everything would finally end. The long, drawn-out event was almost over.

Unsurprisingly, I held first place. After all, I possessed five treasures. Second place belonged to someone with the username “Death Knight,” who held three treasures. The naming sense practically screamed who it was. Still, impressive. Even after handing two treasures over to me, he had managed to collect three more in no time.

Third place was currently tied between “TreasureIsMine” and “angel2222,” each holding one treasure. Everyone out there was probably fighting desperately to find and protect their treasures. Meanwhile, the guy who owned five of them was relaxing comfortably like this.

Looking at it that way, the Necromancer class really did seem overpowered.

Ji-su poured me a cup of coffee from a thermos and handed it over. The warm, slightly sweet flavor spread through my mouth, and I felt genuinely good.

Today, with only one day left in the event dungeon, Juniel—who had entered the first dungeon—was still firmly holding the number one ranking. The gap with second place was apparently quite large, so it seemed safe to assume she would maintain her lead until the event ended. That made sense. She had been hunting monsters nonstop for an entire week without sleeping. The difference was inevitable.

As for Si-eun, Ji-yun, and Daejang-ajeossi’s team in the second dungeon, their rankings still hadn’t appeared. The raid monster had only just spawned today, and they had begun their proper strategy. The rankings would apparently be announced tomorrow when the event ended, so we would just have to wait and see.

Lost in thought, I realized the ten minutes of treasure display on the map had already passed. I sent a telepathic command to Dong-seok inside the Cradle of Rest to close the gate, then summoned the Gate of Rest beside me. When I opened it and stepped inside, Dong-seok greeted us with his vacant, glassy eyes.

I wanted to ask how today’s treasure scramble had gone, but without his reason intact, there was no way Dong-seok could answer. I flopped back down onto the mattress, and as if it were the most natural thing in the world, Ji-su snuggled up beside me and lay in my arms.

Ever since I had explained my sub-class to the store clerk Jun last time, I hadn’t visited the shop even once. She had asked for time to think, so I had deliberately stayed away to give her plenty of space.

Since I no longer went to the shop at night, I had been spending the hours between midnight—when the map display ended—and morning having energetic, pleasurable time with Ji-su. Thanks to that, her stats had risen quite a bit.

But tonight, the final night inside the event dungeon, I planned to visit the shop. I had given her enough time; Jun should have reached some kind of conclusion by now.

While holding Ji-su’s head against my chest and wondering what decision Jun might have made, a message suddenly appeared.

Juniel and the trio in the second dungeon must have been working hard, slaughtering whatever they could find. Another level-up so soon after the last one. I opened my status window.

“Status window.”

My gold had increased nicely, and the soul jar was filling up steadily too. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠But the most important thing was the skill points. I now had enough to raise my main skill, Rise, by one more level.

Without hesitation, I poured the points into Rise.

“Ugh…”

The most common additional effect had appeared. My thrall slots were already full, so it would have been nice to get an extra slot, but… oh well. At least now that I had gotten the basic effect, maybe the next level-up would bring something good.

I closed the status window and shut my eyes. After spending the entire previous night energetically playing with Ji-su, I was quite tired. I fell asleep just like that.

When I opened my eyes again, everything around me was pitch black. Ji-su, still nestled in my arms, asked,

“Master? Are you awake now?”

“Yeah, I’m up. What time is it?”

“It’ll be midnight soon.”

“Whoa, I really slept a lot.”

Ji-su looked at me and asked,

“What will you do? Are you going out again before midnight?”

“No. Tonight I’ll just stay inside the Cradle of Rest. I’m planning to visit the shop for the first time in a while tonight.”

“Ah… I see.”

There was a faint trace of disappointment on Ji-su’s face as she answered. I grinned mischievously and teased her.

“We’ve been going at it all night for days now. Still not enough for you?”

“N-no, that’s not it…”

Watching her avert her eyes in embarrassment only made me want to tease her more. But a message that suddenly appeared forced me to stop.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Hmm. So in the battle between “TreasureIsMine” and “angel2222,” who had each held one treasure, “TreasureIsMine” had lost. They had been tied for third, but now angel2222 had taken sole third place.

The message went on to say that the map would display treasure locations for the next ten minutes before vanishing. Ah, it was going to get noisy again.

Sure enough, not long after the message appeared, the surroundings brightened and I could hear people’s voices. Even though they must have realized by now that rushing to the spot with five treasures only led to bloodshed with no actual reward, they still swarmed in the moment the map updated. I really couldn’t understand their mentality.

I clicked my tongue softly and spoke to Ji-su, who was lying beside me.

“I’m heading to the shop. I’ll be back in the morning. If anything happens, contact me through telepathy. Got it?”

“Yes, Master. Have a safe trip.”

I closed my eyes and accessed the shop. Even though I had slept so long, I felt my consciousness fading into darkness. Once everything turned pitch black, the familiar sight of marble floors and walls appeared before me.

And then—

“Gahhh!!”

A tiny green-haired fairy came flying straight at me with a full-body tackle. I couldn’t help but scream. The headbutt landed squarely in my solar plexus, and I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠nearly spat out a string of curses—only to swallow them when I saw her.

She had thrown herself into my arms and was now sobbing her heart out. How could I possibly curse at a crying fairy?

“Jun? W-what’s wrong? What happened? Why are you crying?”

I barely managed to pry the clinging, tear-soaked fairy off me and looked at her face.

With tears streaming down her messy face, Jun cried,

“Jun? You told me to give you time to think. So I deliberately stayed away to give you enough time…”

Jun burst into loud sobs again. I guess I had taken “time to think” a little too literally. To make her cry this much… Still, if I really had died, she would have been left alone in this endless game for who knows how long.

I gently held the crying fairy in my arms. Jun buried herself against my chest and wailed at the top of her lungs. I quietly stroked her back, letting her cry it all out. After a long while, she finally seemed to calm down, and only then could we have a proper conversation.

“Feeling better now?”

Only now realizing she had been sobbing uncontrollably, Jun hung her head in embarrassment and mumbled,

“It’s okay. I understand. You must have been really anxious, huh?”

Still looking down, Jun spoke in a tiny voice.

Her voice began to crack again as emotions welled up. I quickly pulled her into another hug and comforted her. Sigh. Calming a crying woman really wasn’t easy.

Come to think of it, when I had rescued Ji-yun and told her that Chang-su and Jeong-hyun had died, she had cried just as heartbreakingly. After I comforted her back then… I had enjoyed her body quite thoroughly. Those were some fond memories.

Just remembering it made something stir inside me. Honestly, sleeping with a living woman had only happened that one time. My nights with Si-eun, Ji-su, Ji-yun, and Juniel were great, but I couldn’t forget that warm, living sensation.

While I was lost in those memories, Jun—who was still in my arms—must have noticed the small change in my body. She flinched and pulled away in surprise. Oops. I had gotten a little too vivid with my recollection.

Jun stepped back, head bowed low. Worried she might be angry, I looked closer and saw that her pale face and neck had turned bright red.

In a small voice, she said,

Jun lifted her head. Her face was flushed crimson as she looked at me and continued,

Her voice was shy and quiet, yet resolute. I looked at her and asked,

“Are you really okay with this? You understand what helping with my sub-class training actually means, right?”

Jun nodded.

“Is that… really alright? If you have no experience in that area, it won’t be easy…”

Jun shook her head firmly.

Jun looked straight into my eyes and said,