Main Quest, This Bullshit # 6
Main Quest, This Bullshit # 6
—Ding.
[Strength increased by 1]
"Oh! What's this!"
As soon as I opened my eyes in the morning, extreme happiness wrapped around me! That sure wakes you up. I checked my status window, and sure enough, the Strength increase was reflected.
"Heh heh heh."
All thanks to hitting the gym hard lately. Looks like my muscles recovered while I slept. Starting the morning in a great mood.
Hold up.
But my Strength went up?
If I keep breaking the limit like this, am I not literally going to become the "War God"? I'm already starting to worry. My 'strength'. If I become too strong—beyond reason—won't everything turn meaningless?
"It would absolutely be meaningless. The life of the strongest is."
Thinking that, my soaring mood came crashing down. As I always say, the absolute being is destined for loneliness. I'm terribly afraid I'll grow so strong that I'll feel emptiness in all things. I'm afraid of growing stronger...
Anyway.
"What about the main quest?"
[???????]
This is still a bunch of question marks.
There's definitely an unlock condition. Do I have to use the shop one more time? But no quests have popped up since then.
No way to earn coins, seriously. It'd be nice if I could hunt or something and earn coins. Isn't there somewhere around here where monsters show up?
If I look, I'm sure there are a fair few.
Just checking the news on my phone, and stories about gates opening somewhere pour in like traffic accident reports.
Gates open practically at the same frequency as traffic accidents, apparently. Nationwide, they occur every single day.
"Come to think of it."
Is it Saturday tomorrow?
A day off. Now that I think about it, I've never been outside the school, have I? Ever since I collapsed on the entrance ceremony day, I've been in the dorms. Great. Tomorrow I'll drag Si-hoo and go out.
I'm not really interested in PC cafés. I want to go to a pool hall. Then we can hit a karaoke room, eat, and come back.
Just as I thought that and was about to close the main quest window.
—Ding.
With the familiar notification sound.
[????****]
"Huh?"
[********]
"Whaaaa?!"
Something!
The question marks started vanishing and letters began to appear!
—Ding!
__________________________
[Main Quest: Omen]
[An omen of an F-rank gate opening has been detected in a nearby urban area. Defeat the monster boss.]
[Date/Time]
[Reward: 2,500 Coin.]
___________________________
"What?!"
Suddenly the quest window was filled with text!
Good heavens...! First, I reined in my shock and read the content carefully. It says a gate will appear in a nearby urban area. Defeat it and get coins.
"Then I absolutely have to do it!"
If it's an F-rank gate, it's the kind where things like the Antazora I obliterated at the training grounds come out.
I heard in class that a gate's rank is based on whichever individual that emerges has the highest energy. They can tell by the wavelength emitted when the gate opens... Anyway, let's skip that.
I don't know how many come out, but if they're F-rank monsters and it's small-scale, I can handle it.
"I can do it."
Plus, it says it gives 2,500 Coins. That's just five hundred coins away from raising another stat.
"But what's this Date/Time?"
[Date/Time]
I pressed Date/Time.
"Huh."
It says tomorrow afternoon.
So we don't know the exact location.
"Shouldn't it at least tell me where to go?"
Anyway, I was already planning to go out tomorrow, so I might as well check it out. But the main quest name is [Omen]. That definitely sounds like something big is about to go down... Well, whatever.
"Si-hoo."
I'll just go with Si-hoo.
For stuff like this, you absolutely have to bring a friend.
What's the point of having friends?
"Exactly."
Si-hoo is super strong.
With him, there's nothing to worry about.
And if things don't look good, we can just bolt. Since it's a main quest, I am a little uneasy, but if I can't do it, what can I do?
Time to head out.
It's almost time for class.
—Creeeak.
I opened the door, went out, and knocked on Si-hoo's door.
—Thump thump!
"Si-hoo! Let's go to school!"
"Ah...! Wait a sec!"
A voice from inside.
—Creeak!
"I'm still getting ready!"
The door opened a crack and Si-hoo stuck just his face out, practically shouting. I could see his bare shoulder, so he must have just finished showering.
His hair was damp too. The scent of shampoo drifted out. Seemed like he was drying his hair. Well then, I'll just go inside and wait.
"Yeah? Then open the door, dude. I'll come in and wait."
I went to pull the handle.
"Agh?!"
—Slam!
The door slammed shut with incredible force!
"Hey, man! Open the door!"
"No! Geun-cheol, wait out there! I haven't even put clothes on yet!"
"What does that matter! We're both guys, who cares!"
"Geun-cheol...! It's a real problem if you want to see my body that badly! You're my friend, but I wouldn't know how to deal with a guy who's interested in my body!"
Why would I want to see your body!
"Oh, for fuck's sake! What kind of bullshit is that! Hey! I'm not coming in! Happy?!"
What a prickly bastard! I have never in my life met anyone this fussy! Not even a girl is this self-conscious!
As I stood there grumbling, the door opened.
"Geun-cheol? You waited? Let's go."
"Sigh... you fussy jerk. Just let me in. Why tell me to wait outside with the door shut?"
"I couldn't help it. You came too early, Geun-cheol. What am I supposed to do if you show up when I'm not ready? From now on, let's set a time to meet."
"You little punk. Fine. Starting tomorrow, I'll come out at the set time."
If I kept talking about his body, I'd get suspected for no reason. Just because Lee Si-hoo looks a little feminine doesn't mean I have the slightest interest in his body.
Anyway, chatting like that, Si-hoo and I left the dorm together.
"Hey, Si-hoo."
"Yeah?"
When I called him, Si-hoo tilted his head.
"Tomorrow's the weekend. Wanna hang out?"
"Huh?!"
"What? Why?"
Why so surprised?
"Hang out?!"
"Yeah. Why, can you not make it?"
"No! I can! What time do we meet?!"
Si-hoo, looking really excited now, asked with practically sparkling eyes... Has he never gone out in his life? Why is he so happy?
"Let's meet in the morning. I don't really know the area. So I want to wander around and get a feel for it."
"Oh, is that why? Actually, me neither. I've never been around here either. Then tomorrow I'll have to explore with Geun-cheol."
"Heh heh heh, let's do that."
I didn't mention the gate.
Sorry, Si-hoo.
Help me out.
I'll buy you chicken.
"Heh heh heh. Oh, Geun-cheol, have you ever been to a karaoke room?"
"Of course I have."
"I haven't... Coin karaoke, right? If there's one, let's go together. Is that okay?"
How do you go through life without ever visiting a karaoke room? But seeing how much he's looking forward to it, I guess we've got no choice but to go.
"Sure. Let's go. There's bound to be one around."
"I'm looking forward to it. I've always wanted to go."
"You could just go alone."
"That's a bit..."
With Si-hoo all smiles like that, we headed to the academy. But then some flashy limousine-like car pulled up over there.
—Click-clack.
And out of it stepped Leona with a click-clack of her heels.
No way...! A high schooler commuting in a limo!
"Whoa! Archangel Leona over there! You come in a limo? That's not coming to school, that's descending from heaven!"
"Excuse me? Wha—? N-No way...!"
I greeted her cheerfully, but for some reason she looked horrified.
"Is that the monsterkin Kim Geun-cheol, appearing first thing in the morning?! What are the heroes even doing?! Prepare yourself!"
"Quit treating a person like a monsterkin!"
A master of tormenting people, no less.
"Anyway, limo to school? Don't you use the dorm?"
"Dorm?"
Leona stood with her feet shoulder-width apart, placed a palm on her chest, and spoke with a haughty expression.
"Hmph. A dorm, you say? As if I, Leona Kainus, could possibly live in such a cramped, uncomfortable place with no servants?"
"Check out this rich girl!"
"You seem quite surprised."
Leona spoke confidently with that nose-in-the-air look unique to the rich.
"That is exactly the class difference between Kim Geun-cheol and myself. So put aside your presumptuous and foolish ambition of getting your meal ticket back, and just go meekly fill that hungry belly."
"You built all that up just for this? Whatever, I'm getting it back, so you give up, man. Please, just accept it."
"I have no intention of accepting until the pitiful Undernourished Kid Kim Geun-cheol's state of starvation is resolved. Anyway, let's go. It's almost time for class. And Lee Si-hoo? Good morning."
"Oh, yeah. Good morning to you too, Leona."
So the three of us walked to school together. Walking to school with friends really makes me feel like a goddamn high schooler.
—Slide.
When I opened the classroom door, a different sight from yesterday greeted me. Astonishingly, the habitual absentee demon Ryu Cheon-hwi was sitting in the seat behind me.
That bastard, considering he picked up my cola yesterday, he's not a bad guy. If he's like that, I can totally become friends with him.
"Yo, Ryu Cheon-hwi. You showed up today?"
So I approached and spoke, when—
—Flash!
Like a Taoist sage achieving enlightenment after secluded training, Ryu Cheon-hwi snapped his eyes open, violently yanked out his earphones, and hurled them aside.
"You!"
He suddenly shot up from his seat and snarled.
"What? Why?"
"I've been waiting for you!"
"W-Waiting for me?"
Why...?
"How dare you hand me a bomb!!!"
"What?"
A b-bomb? A bomb?
"That damn commoner canned beverage exploded! A commoner daring to commit terrorism against me...! Today, I shall end you!"
The cola exploded? Did this jackass shake it?
Ah.
It was because it fell, wasn't it?
Wait. But no matter what, he took the cola and then never even came back to school. Did he really go home, try to drink it, it exploded, and he just went straight home?
"You crazy, clumsy bastard! Hey! You shook the cola, didn't you!"
"What?"
"Cola naturally explodes if you shake it, moron! Why'd you shake it and blow yourself up, then start spouting nonsense first thing in the morning!"
"You're the one spouting nonsense! You Taliban-like bastard!"
Who're you calling Taliban!
"You're the one rolling around talking crap! Agh! Hey, wait a sec!"
"Ah! Geun-cheol!"
I immediately left the classroom, grabbed a can of cola, and came back. This jerk keeps going on about commoners, but does he seriously not even know what a carbonated drink is?