Chapter 244
Chapter 244
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 245
Chapter Title: The Deal with Bert
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It was 5 p.m., after regular classes at the Wizard Academy had ended.
Bert, her identity hidden behind an anonymity mask, was scanning the area near the Korean Wizard Academy.
Students who had finished their classes were visible.
Their faces were all bright with the joy of the day being over.
“……Nice time.”
She muttered quietly to herself and began searching for the face of today’s appointment partner.
But no matter how much she looked, he wasn’t there.
Two minutes until the appointed time—when the hell was he going to show up?
With a blood oath in place, he wouldn’t run away.
Just as she started to worry.
“Excuse me.”
A small sound of footsteps came from behind, along with a voice.
Bert turned around. A familiar face came into view.
“……Kim Sun-woo?”
Her opponent was none other than today’s appointee, Kim Sun-woo.
“What? How’d you know it was me?”
This time, she hadn’t even let her voice slip, and she’d completely changed her appearance—there was no way he should’ve recognized her.
Kim Sun-woo shrugged like it was no big deal.
“I just picked the most suspicious-looking guy around here, and I nailed it.”
Bert was at a loss for words.
She couldn’t exactly argue back.
Unless someone had a special magic tool, it was impossible to identify a face hidden by an anonymity mask.
“……You’ve got good instincts.”
“Whatever. Too many people around—let’s move first.”
With that, Kim Sun-woo turned and started walking ahead.
Bert stared blankly at his back for a moment before following.
The place Kim Sun-woo led her to was a quiet back alley nearby.
It gave off a similar vibe to the alley they’d met in last night.
“Here, take it. Thanks to you, I put it to good use.”
Kim Sun-woo handed over [Mana Core].
Bert took it, half-suspecting it might be a fake, but she felt the deep mana pulsing from within the orb.
An overwhelming surge of mana.
Definitely the real deal.
“That concludes our contract, right?”
Bert nodded at Kim Sun-woo’s question.
He looked at her and erased the ‘Blood Oath’ mark on his forearm.
Bert watched, then suddenly grew curious and asked.
“What the hell did you use the Mana Core for?”
“Told you. You don’t need to know.”
Same reaction again. How does a kid who isn’t even an adult have so many secrets?
Using a Mana Core meant it wasn’t some ordinary secret.
What the hell was this guy’s real identity?
“You really nineteen?”
“How else would I be attending the Wizard Academy if I wasn’t?”
“……You just don’t seem like the type scarfing down cafeteria slop. Ah! Wait, are you a regressor or something?”
Bert said it half-jokingly with a laugh. Kim Sun-woo’s face turned serious.
“A regressor? What the…”
“Why so serious over a joke?”
Kim Sun-woo clamped his mouth shut.
Tch. Bert clicked her tongue inwardly. What a boring guy.
Maybe it was just that she was surrounded by people with such unique personalities.
Bert checked the time. 5:10 p.m.
Time to head out and keep her promise with her comrades.
“……I’m busy, so I’ll head out. See you later, Kim Sun-woo.”
Bert turned and started walking away.
“Bert.”
Then Kim Sun-woo called her name. She stopped and turned back.
“What?”
Kim Sun-woo stared straight at her before speaking.
“I’m using that wish ticket you mentioned last time. Right now.”
A wish ticket? Now?
“What’s the wish?”
“Tell me your real goal. And what else you’re looking for.”
……Our real goal.
Our first goal is, of course, to see ‘Him’ again.
But was seeing ‘Him’ again the true purpose?
No.
Our real purpose is ‘His’ purpose.
And ‘His’ purpose isn’t something simple like revival or immortality.
There’s probably something greater.
To learn ‘His’ true purpose, we need to check the fourth diary ‘He’ left behind.
“Sorry, can’t tell you that. Wish for something else.”
Kim Sun-woo’s face fell into thought for a moment. Then he nodded.
“Got it? Fine, I’ll save the wish ticket for later.”
After parting with Bert, I returned to the dorm.
I sat on the sofa, lost in thought.
What Bert had said to her comrades at the Sacred Martial Festival last time.
‘The first thing we need to do is find His fourth diary, the one containing the truth.’
That line kept nagging at me.
Jin Cheon-woo’s fourth diary had never been mentioned in the original story.
Which meant Jaun had a hidden purpose that wasn’t revealed in the original.
Could this be connected to Lee Seo-jun’s death somehow?
“Tsk.”
But I hadn’t gotten any information.
I’d hoped the wish ticket might reveal their goal, but no dice.
“Sigh.”
I let out a sigh of regret and pulled out the Millennium Ginseng I’d won as a prize from the Sacred Martial Festival school championship.
[Millennium Ginseng (S)]
Classification: Spiritual Medicine
Description: Greatly increases mana and mana control proficiency upon consumption. The increase varies by mana control rank.
I’d been waiting for this moment.
How much would my mana and mana control proficiency go up after eating this…?
I couldn’t wait. Time to eat it.
Just as I was about to put the Millennium Ginseng in my mouth.
“Ngah.”
Gretel approached me.
Her face looked like she wanted to play.
“Gretel, I’ve got stuff to do right now. I’ll play with you later.”
Gretel shook her head.
Not about playing, then. What was it?
Then I noticed Gretel’s gaze fixed on the Millennium Ginseng.
“……You want this?”
Gretel nodded.
She wasn’t the type to crave things, so her openly demanding it like this was a first.
“Gretel, sorry, but this is super valuable. I’ll buy you something tasty next time.”
“Ngah! Ngah!”
Gretel started throwing a tantrum like a kid. Jumping around, making a huge fuss.
What the hell was with her? I’d never seen her like this, so I was flustered.
I locked eyes with Gretel.
“Gretel, no tantrums. Tell me why you want it.”
“Ngah.”
Ngah-ing wouldn’t tell me anything.
No choice—I’d have to ask one by one.
“Gretel, do you want to eat it yourself?”
Gretel nodded confidently.
I blinked in confusion.
A tree wanting to eat ginseng?
“Gretel, that’s cannibalism.”
“Ngah.”
Gretel shook her head like no.
This meat-only eater who wouldn’t touch veggies even if she starved—why this?
“Are you hungry and want to eat?”
Gretel shook her head.
“Looks tasty?”
Another shake.
“Hmm……”
Didn’t seem like plain hunger.
Maybe because of the mana inside the Millennium Ginseng?
“You want the mana inside the Millennium Ginseng?”
“Ngah. Ngah.”
Gretel nodded.
It must have some major benefit for Gretel.
Thinking about it, it wasn’t impossible. Gretel might have a hidden trait where consuming kin(?) makes her stronger.
Plus, she already had the ability to generate spiritual medicine from her head.
Eating the Millennium Ginseng might let her produce even better spiritual medicine.
“……No helping it. Fine. It’s yours.”
An investment for the future.
Spiritual medicines build tolerance the more you consume, reducing effects.
I’d eaten plenty over the past year, so the efficacy was probably dropping anyway.
“Ngah!”
I handed over the Millennium Ginseng, and Gretel’s eyes sparkled as she took it.
She wriggled happily and swallowed it in one bite.
Munch munch….
Gulp.
At that moment, powerful mana burst from Gretel’s body.
“……Huh? What’s this?”
Whoooosh……
Gretel’s body began to grow, like she was maturing.
From the size of a two-year-old child, she expanded up to my waist.
More like a ten-year-old kid?
[You have achieved the ‘Contract Summon Growth’ accomplishment.]
[You have obtained 3,000 points as a reward.]
[‘Immortal Hell Demon Tree Gretel’ has undergone major growth.]
[The summon’s unique trait rank has increased.]
And the messages appeared before my eyes.
Gretel’s unique trait rank had risen?
I immediately opened Gretel’s status window.
[Info]
Name: Immortal Hell Demon Tree Gretel
Race: Demon Tree
[Stats]
Vitality: 22
Strength: 14
Mana: 62
Speed: 33
Agility: 62
Dexterity: 8
►Unique Traits
[Immortal Demon Tree (SSS)] [Tree Summon (A)] [Summon Control (A)] [Body Transformation (B)] [Fruit Generation (S)]
“Jackpot.”
Gretel’s stats had risen across the board.
All unique traits except the SSS-rank Immortal Demon Tree had gone up one or two stages.
Especially [Fruit Generation], responsible for spiritual medicine, jumped from A to S rank.
Meaning, just as I’d predicted, the quality of spiritual medicines she produced would improve.
“Wow……”
I looked at Gretel with wonder.
The kid-sized(?) Gretel stood still, eyes closed like a meditating monk.
Was this what parental pride felt like?
Seeing her grown form stirred strange feelings.
Joy mixed with a touch of loneliness.
Would I never see the small, cute Gretel I knew again?
That’s when it happened.
Whoooosh!
A brilliant light poured from Gretel’s body again.
When the light faded, Gretel’s body had shrunk back to normal size.
“Ngah……”
Gretel lay on the floor, asleep. Probably passed out from the sudden growth.
But the immense mana radiating from her remained as strong as ever.
Her mana had grown, but her body size reverted.
I stroked Gretel’s head with a warm smile and covered her with a small blanket.
Soon, I’d have to test how much stronger she’d gotten in a monster field.
8 p.m.
After putting Gretel to bed, I headed out of the dorm.
I moved to a quiet spot and changed my appearance to Kim Jin-woo.
There was business related to Lee Seo-jun’s sword commission. Plus, stuff to prepare for the Han family matters.
I took a portal to my destination.
The place I arrived at was the new JWK headquarters building, right next to the Shin Steel Forge.
“……Whoa.”
I couldn’t help but admire it upon arrival.
The exterior looked pretty solid. Not luxurious or grand given the small company size, but it definitely screamed ‘corporate.’
“Jin-woo!”
As I entered, Yang Tae-min greeted me.
“President Yang, has it really only been two weeks? Doing well?”
“I’ve been busy as hell, but yeah! Haha!”
Yang Tae-min laughed in response.
I chuckled along and followed him into the office.
Taking in the decent interior, I brought up the topic first.
“I hear the Shin Steel Forge is getting buzz among wizards lately.”
“Haha, yeah. Requests are piling up—we’re swamped. Doubled the staff compared to before.”
“How backed up are the requests right now?”
“About 21. Non-urgent ones get handled by staff, and I tweak and finish them midway!”
Twenty-one?
Magic gear takes at least two weeks per piece—that’s a serious backlog.
Of course, Yang Tae-min didn’t craft everything himself, so Lee Seo-jun’s sword wouldn’t take forever.
I glanced at the forge request papers on the desk.
According to Lee Seo-jun’s message, he’d submitted a request today.
His paperwork should be here somewhere.
As I sifted through them.
Knock knock.
Someone knocked on the office door.
Yang Tae-min stood up.
“I’ll get it.”
“Yeah, go ahead.”
I turned back to the papers.
A moment later, creeeak—the door opened.
“……Huh?”
Yang Tae-min’s surprised voice rang out. Curious, I looked up.
And froze in shock myself.
Someone completely unexpected was standing there.
“……Jin-woo?”
It was Han Se-yeon.