Chapter 96
Chapter 96
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: Happy NPC VER.P.NULL
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[Minwoo2: Handed the adventurers over to the Emperor NPC and got all the contracts approved successfully :)]
A message pinged into the self-deleting app, 'Saemong' Messenger. Seol Do-yun checked the contents.
[asdf: Good work. Sending the payment now^^]
After confirming the message, Seol Do-yun wired the money to the person who'd sent it earlier, then opened his laptop.
The laptop was pretty old, so it let out a sound like a plane taking off as it booted up.
「Money's Great Job Board」
Seol Do-yun logged into the website he'd created and scrolled through the messages from people desperately hunting for cash.
Whenever someone caught his eye, he marked them and saved for later.
Client identities undisclosed. Payment guaranteed.
Those were the two core principles of the site.
He never told them exactly what the jobs entailed, but since the pay was always solid, it attracted people who were truly desperate for money.
Back in his test subject days, when control was at its tightest, this site had let him move a bit more freely.
It was Yi Sae-byeok's idea—the master of using people. He'd been the one to build and run it.
Seol Do-yun checked the site's review section.
-Don't know exactly what they do, but the pay is huge!
-Pays well lololol
-Filmed a whole 007 movie and nearly died, but got paid big!
-(new) Instant deposits are the best :)
After skimming the reviews, Seol Do-yun closed his ancient computer.
'Everything's going smoothly for now, except for the dungeon stuff.'
Seol Do-yun picked up a utility knife and neatly sliced open the plastic on the box of his brand-new top-spec laptop.
He'd have to resell it on the secondhand market later, so he stashed the box in the closet instead of tossing it.
Now he could buy laptops openly. The Association might check purchase records, but dodging that was a breeze.
Creeeak...
He was inspecting the new laptop for defects when he heard the door easing open cautiously.
"Uh, coming in..."
Lee Kyung-seop poked his head in, whispering as he slipped into the room.
Once he'd hit middle-school age, he'd been reassigned a new roommate besides Yi Sae-byeok.
His new roommate was Lee Kyung-seop. The guy was a bit filthy, which was his main flaw, but he listened well, so that was a plus.
Right after they started sharing the room, Seol Do-yun had drilled him on folding clothes properly, not picking his nose, and showering once a day. He'd shaped up into something resembling a human pretty quickly.
Still, living in close quarters annoyed him, so he'd drawn a line down the middle of the room with tape.
No crossing into each other's territory. They also played a game of not talking more than three times a day.
Lee Kyung-seop crept to his own bed, careful not to cross the line.
They were in the middle of their "don't talk unless it's important" game, so he glanced at Seol Do-yun, hesitating before mumbling.
Seol Do-yun always looked busy with something.
How had kid-him ever chatted casually with Seol Do-yun? He'd even gone to his room back then to ask for advice on his worries.
Lately, Seol Do-yun seemed more sensitive, making it scary to approach, but he mustered his courage anyway.
"...D-Do-yun, you hear? Sae-byeok job-changed to Vomit Master."
"?"
Seol Do-yun, who was plugging in a USB with a custom OS for convenience and waiting for the install, tilted his head.
"How'd she end up as Vomit Master? Wasn't she supposed to go Swordmaster or something?"
Lee Kyung-seop let out a relieved sigh at Seol Do-yun's natural follow-up.
He only reacted like that when it was about Yi Sae-byeok.
"D-Dunno, she just snapped or something? Asked for details and she was just laughing nonstop. Then she dragged a bunch of kids out to play."
Right on cue, noise erupted from outside.
Seol Do-yun turned to look out the window.
Abyss kids—no, Yi Sae-byeok's followers—were carrying her on their shoulders like a palanquin, with her lounging smugly on top.
"Haha, hahaha! Make way! Vomit Master coming through!!!"
"Yi Sae-byeok, trainee! Keep it down!"
"Shhh, she's Vomit Master now! Pfft, hahaha! Oh man, that's hilarious. Wheee! Vomit beeeam! Vomit propagaaaanda!!!"
Yi Sae-byeok clutched a soju bottle she'd swiped from somewhere.
The overseer often chucked bottles at her head when they got pissed from drinking. She'd stolen one to mess with them, tried it out of curiosity, and now snuck drinks whenever she felt down.
After all the ruckus, one overseer scanned the area and shot a tranquilizer dart into her neck.
Yi Sae-byeok, who hadn't bothered dodging, passed out cold and got hauled to an empty infirmary.
The kids who'd been giggling along early on went somber the moment she collapsed.
"Sae-byeok's okay, right?"
"..."
Seol Do-yun rubbed his forehead, lost in thought for a moment.
Yi Sae-byeok had laid the groundwork to drag down the Association head while they shared a room, but after that, she'd focused on awakening and stepped back from the plans.
He only asked her for minor errands now, nothing like their old direct involvement.
They'd gotten separate rooms, and her awakening issue took priority anyway.
Plus, with the Association's surveillance loosening, Abyss operations had expanded enough that he didn't need her help anymore.
The plans were rolling fine without her, so no need to worry.
"Do-yun, where you going?"
Seol Do-yun stood from his chair and brushed dust off his clothes with a lint roller.
"To the infirmary. Gotta congratulate Vomit Master on her job change."
Seol Do-yun left the room and headed down the hall to the infirmary, pondering why Yi Sae-byeok of all people still hadn't awakened.
Nearly every Abyss kid had succeeded in their first awakening. Some had even hit second awakening, manifesting powerful abilities.
Only Yi Sae-byeok, who'd suffered endlessly, was lagging behind.
Why her, of all people.
"Is it true Yi Sae-byeok job-changed to Vomit Master?"
"Yi Sae-byeok as Vomit Master? Total shocker. Thought she'd get the coolest class."
The hallway outside the infirmary was rowdy where Yi Sae-byeok was.
Unlike him, she always had crowds around her.
Whenever he looked toward the noise, there she was.
"But seriously, isn't it hilarious? Sae-byeok Vomit Master. Bet she'll shoot vomit beams later."
"Fuck yeah, hilarious. Gotta ask her to show a vomit beam next time we're in-game."
Seol Do-yun grabbed one of the noisy kids by the hair, yanking their head back to meet his gaze.
"Aaaah!!"
"Fuck, who—... Oh... Do-yun."
As the kid yelped in pain, all eyes turned to Seol Do-yun.
"Kids."
Seol Do-yun flashed a smile after those two words.
"If you're gonna yap, do it inside your rooms among yourselves."
He flung the kid's hair toward the others.
For some reason, he was seriously pissed.
The kids grumbled, glancing warily, then scattered to their rooms. Once things quieted down, Seol Do-yun entered the unused infirmary.
Luckily, Yi Sae-byeok was still out cold. She must not have heard the kids mocking her earlier.
Her pillow was damp—maybe she'd cried in her sleep without realizing.
He'd come planning to tease her, but with her asleep, there was nothing to say. Disappointing.
Seol Do-yun reached out, pulled the blanket up to her chin, turned off the infirmary light, and left.
He didn't know why, but he felt restless.
* * *
"Maybe the biggest villain in my life is me."
Judging that sticking around this game longer would just make Yi Sae-byeok nauseous with nothing to gain, the dungeon created the "Vomit Master" class and assigned it to her.
Instead of grinding dungeons endlessly in hopes of eventual awakening—after maxing pain tolerance to 100%—it was less suffering to gear up outside and tackle the rare gates.
Plus, her being in-game disrupted Prim's daily life, so better to boot her out quick.
Sorry, past me.
Back then, his obsession with awakening was so intense that only the most humiliating class would make her quit the game.
When he'd decided a horrific job change would force Yi Sae-byeok out, it all clicked.
Why that bizarre hidden class, Vomit Master of all things, had suddenly been given to him.
He vaguely remembered being fucking pissed at the time, but he'd laughed it off like always.
Right? The memory was hazy—he didn't really want to dwell on it.
How tough it had been didn't matter. Things were peaceful and happy now.
He didn't want to alter the past where everyone around him got their happy endings, so the dungeon chose to let it flow as he remembered.
After realizing he'd regressed, the dungeon had lived with a small fear inside.
What if his choices led to Lee Jae-hyun dying when he should live? Or Kim Woo-sung surviving? Or the test subjects losing their hard-won sanity again?
He'd kept watching causes and effects, but no matter what he did now, the memories stayed the same.
Nothing to fear. Just do what he wanted.
No need to disrupt the natural flow out of curiosity for alternate outcomes.
That was the dungeon's conclusion.
He feared the butterfly effect.
So he killed off small, useless butterflies that wouldn't impact much.
Yi Sae-byeok's petty misery was one such case.
The dungeon lounged leisurely on a hill, sipping weakened-power strawberry milk from his canteen.
He nibbled on the nut cookies Li Haowel had packed, then tossed the crumbs to the ants crawling on the nearby tree.
Soon, the auction rep Seol Do-yun sent would arrive.
Already at the meeting spot and sprawled out, the dungeon pictured Yi Sae-byeok causing chaos outside.
"Hello, Mr. Dungeon!"
He turned at the voice, spotting the owner.
Above his head floated 'Adventurer Han Su-hwan.' A mild-mannered middle-aged snake-man waved as he approached.
"You probably won't recognize me on this hunter account, but my old adventurer tag was Parkas500. Remember?"
"Uh, yeah... Sure. I remember."
Parkas500—the adventurer who loved gossiping with NPCs at the tavern every day—was Han Su-hwan the hunter.
The high school kids who jokingly beat on his NPC buddies? He'd boldly PK'd them and gotten ganged up on.
Pitiful sight, getting called an overimmersed boomer and stripped of his gear. He'd tossed him quests often out of sympathy.
And that Parkas500 uncle was the support-class rank 2 hunter Han Su-hwan.
'Fuck, nothing surprises me anymore.'
What is this, Masked Singer?