The Awards Ceremony

The message floating before my eyes read that the event would end in one minute, after which everyone except the winners would be teleported out of the dungeon. I sent Ji-su into the Cradle of Rest before it happened. At last, this long event was finally over.

Naturally, I had taken first place. Juniel had also dominated the first event dungeon with an overwhelming score for her own first-place finish. Unfortunately, Si-eun and Ji-yun’s team with Captain Uncle hadn’t managed to claim first. The rankings were apparently decided by converting damage dealt to raid ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠monsters into contribution points. Si-eun was a long-range AoE dealer, and Ji-yun wasn’t even a damage dealer to begin with. Captain Uncle had put up a hell of a fight after getting pumped full of buffs, but he wasn’t really a dealer either. Still, he had secured second place overall while Si-eun took fourth. That was an incredible result on its own.

Two first-place prizes meant two powerful items coming our way. I was busy wondering what we might receive when another message appeared.

The scenery around me began to warp the instant the message appeared. When my vision cleared, I found myself standing inside a room with pure white walls. I wasn’t alone. Muscle Uncle was there, along with one woman. Wait… that woman… Yeah, it was definitely her. The guild master of the group I’d stolen two treasures from. We meet again here of all places.

Hold on. Since Muscle Uncle was also present, the three of us gathered here had to be the winners of this event. That meant the girl was “angel2222.” She’d somehow collected two more treasures even after I took two from her. Impressive. Now that I thought about it, both Muscle Uncle and this girl had each lost two treasures to me. What a sad little club of victims.

While I was lost in those meaningless thoughts, Muscle Uncle, who had been warily scanning our surroundings, walked over and greeted me.

“Good day to you.”

“Ah, yes. Hello.”

“The fact that only the three of us were brought here… This must be for the award ceremony, right?”

I nodded. “Probably. I took first, you took second, and…”

I glanced at the girl standing awkwardly off to one side. She flinched at my gaze, then looked back and forth between me and Muscle Uncle with a tense expression. I spoke to her gently.

“How about we keep the introductions simple? The event’s over, so there’s no need for us to act like enemies anymore, is there?”

The girl hesitated for a moment before approaching. She really was pretty—long, straight black hair and a face that radiated pure, innocent charm. She possessed an incredibly strong buff skill and the passive Insight. She stopped in front of us and greeted us in a quiet voice.

“Hello. My name is Lee Su-a.”

Lee Su-a. What a lovely name. I smiled at her. “Nice to meet you. I’m Kang Min-gu.”

“…Jang Won-seok,” Muscle Uncle said in a much gruffer tone than he’d used with me.

Su-a looked at the two of us after our introductions and spoke up. “So you two are the first- and second-place users, right? That means one of you is the person who stole my two treasures using some unknown method.”

That’s right. It was me. But why bring it up right here…?

Su-a quickly waved both hands when she saw our expressions. “Ah, I’m not here to protest or anything. The whole point of this dungeon was to steal and be stolen from. I only brought it up because… I’m curious how you managed to take them. There was no sensation at all. It was like the treasures just vanished, and it didn’t even trigger my skill…”

Hmm. She really had been dying to know. Still, I didn’t exactly need to tell her. Wait a second—now that I thought about it, I had information I wanted from her too.

I stepped forward. “To answer your question, yes, I was the one who took the treasures from you. I won’t apologize. Those were the rules of the dungeon.”

Her face brightened instantly. “Ah, so it was you! Of course you don’t need to apologize. But how on earth did you manage to take them so cleanly—”

Our conversation was cut short by the voice that suddenly echoed through the white space. A new entity had appeared in the room that had only held the three of us. Another rat-headed creature. No matter how you looked at it, calling something ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with such a repulsive face a fairy was a stretch. The rat head floated in mid-air.

The rat head named Jeok bowed politely to the three of us. He didn’t look any different from Su, the one who usually fed me information. Both were equally disgusting rat-headed creatures. He continued in a cheerful voice.

When the three of us nodded, Jeok smiled with clear satisfaction.

Su-a walked over to Jeok. He waved his hand through the air, and a rolled-up scroll appeared. He unfurled it with a dramatic flourish and began reading in a loud, clear voice.

Jeok produced a soft-looking, reddish-brown cloak and handed it to Su-a. Then he unrolled the scroll again and continued.

What Jeok pulled out this time was a massive greatsword. It was about the same size as the one Muscle Uncle currently used. The blade had a dark red hue like dried blood, giving off an aura that was both beautiful and dangerously menacing. The satisfied look on Muscle Uncle’s face said he loved it. I’d have to ask him about its options later.

And then it was finally my turn.

Huh? What? A Second Job Skill Acquisition Ticket?

I stared at the slip of paper Jeok held out and asked, “What exactly is a Second Job Skill Acquisition Ticket?”

“Hmm… Is it really that amazing? Once enough time passes and second jobs open up, I’d be able to get the skill anyway. So the reward for first place is just getting it a little early…?”

Ah, so that was how it worked. My current job skills were Rise, Gate of Rest, and Siphon Hand—three in total. Even if I reached a second job later, I’d only gain one more skill, bringing the total to four. But with this ticket, I would get an extra skill on top of that, for a total of five job skills.

Considering my job, it was unlikely the new skill would be useless. If the skills from a higher-tier second job were anywhere near as powerful as my current Necromancer skills… this really was an amazing reward.

I nodded in understanding and looked at the ticket. “How do I use this?”

“No, I’ll do it later. I have a few things to take care of first.”

I walked over to Muscle Uncle and Su-a. Both of them seemed completely absorbed in examining the items they had received, testing their effects and trying them on. I pulled out one of the small pebbles I had bought from the shop last night and handed it to Muscle Uncle.

“This is the communication device I mentioned before. It’s an item that lets you send and receive messages both ways by consuming mana. It vibrates when someone sends you a message, and if you hold it and concentrate, you can send one back. I’ll contact you when I need to, so please keep this with you.”

Muscle Uncle took the pebble and examined it. “This looks like it must have been quite expensive. Two-way communication… Is there any distance limit?”

It had been expensive. I’d paid 500 gold per set, and I’d bought two whole sets. Still, communication items like this would be incredibly useful to have. Spending 1,000 gold in one go was a serious flex, but it was for my wife (at night, at least), and I had plenty of gold saved up anyway. On top of that, I’d just received 1,000 gold as my prize, and all the prizes my thralls earned came straight to me. Money was the least of my concerns right now.

“There’s no distance limit. However, the farther away the recipient is, the more mana it consumes, so use it wisely.”

After finishing my business with Muscle Uncle, I turned to Su-a. She had already put on the cloak she received as her prize and was looking at me.

“You said you were curious how I took your treasure, right?”

Her eyes sparkled. “Yes. I’m dying to know how you managed to do it so cleanly…”

“Why are you so curious about it?”

“Well, that’s…” Su-a let out a small sigh before continuing. “The truth is, I was pretty confident in myself. I had many guild members protecting me, and I could immediately detect anyone approaching with my own skills. But you slipped through all of that and took the treasure without me even realizing it. If you had been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠aiming for me instead of the treasure… I would have died without ever knowing what happened.”

Yeah. The Gate of Rest really was overpowered. Even Juniel, with her insane stats, had her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shoulder destroyed by a surprise attack from inside it. Su-a kept talking.

“I… don’t want to die like that. That’s why I’m swallowing my pride and asking you about it.”

I nodded. “I understand. It’s not that difficult to explain, so I’ll tell you.”

Su-a’s face lit up with hope.

“However, since it involves my skill, I can’t just tell you for free.”

“Ah…” She nodded as if she had expected that, then looked at me again. “You’re right. Asking to know about someone else’s skill is quite a rude request. I wasn’t thinking clearly. But I really do want to know. Is there something you want in return?”

“Yes. I want an information exchange. I’ll tell you what you want to know if you tell me what I want to know.”

“If it’s an exchange… then yes. Actually, that makes me feel much more comfortable too.”

Just as Su-a and I were about to start a proper conversation, Jeok’s voice interrupted us.

Right. This place was shutting down. We’d have to talk after we left. I took out a communication pebble of a different color than the one I’d given Muscle Uncle and handed it to Su-a.

“Let’s meet separately once we’re outside. I’ll contact you with this.”

“Ah, this is… Yes, I understand. I’ll be waiting for your message.”

Su-a accepted the pebble. The space around us distorted, and all of us were teleported outside.