Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Whales Know Best (3)
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[Late night, near the access control outpost by the Mungyeong Saejae S-Rank Tower in Gyeongbuk.]
"Yaaawn."
"Kim Snake, don't doze off on me."
"You nuts? You tryin' to get me thrown in the stockade?"
"Ain't that a good thing? Get you outta here."
"Screw that. I'm servin' in a danger zone and gettin' out faster than everyone else."
Even late at night, the two soldiers guarding the outpost chatted idly away.
If some officer spotted them, he might chew them out for slacking, but even he'd hesitate to say much to these guys who'd volunteered to man the post near the access control, risking their lives just in case of an 'S-Rank Break.'
Not that S-Rank Towers broke easily on the regular.
"Hey, Kim Snake. No awakeners around you, huh?"
"Talkin' about that million-awakener thing?"
"Yeah."
"Nah. You?"
"One of my buddies from the army enlisted before me, made sergeant, then awakened. Had to lawyer up now."
"...Heh, good luck or bad? Hard to say."
Any young guy in this country couldn't help but chuckle bitterly.
"Already miserable draggin' through a year and a half, then boom—three months left and you awaken... How the hell do you even calculate that?"
"By the rules, awakeners serve six months."
"Damn, so he starts fresh as an awakener recruit from now? Must feel like shit. That's why the lawyer? Filing a constitutional challenge or somethin'?"
"Haven't talked that far yet. But yeah... probably gonna try."
"Makes sense. Even the vet awakeners get dragged back in, so what can a soldier do? Freakin' sucks."
The two young soldiers laughed self-mockingly and turned their eyes down to the road below.
"At least we're gettin' double pay and half the service for danger duty. Cheers."
"To water?"
"Just talkin'. Ugh, weather's freezin' cold... Huh?"
Rustle.
"Yo, hear somethin' run by?"
"Roe deer?"
"Deer wouldn't have that kinda shadow..."
Whoosh.
"Shit, startled me."
A roe deer bolted from the bushes like it'd seen a ghost.
"What spooked that thing?"
"If a ghost jumps the wall, what do we do?"
"What else? Follow regs. But a ghost climbin' the Tower for what?"
Rumble.
Gazing up at the towering white spire piercing the sky, the outpost sentries waited as ever for another uneventful night to pass.
Oblivious to someone...
Swish.
...vaulting fences at high speed, stealthily closing in on the Tower.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 'Phew.'
I'd worried she'd get caught midway, but Elaine made it through without a hitch.
'Thought thermal cams or motion CCTV would snag her, but guess it's safer than I figured?'
I pulled up the summon management app on my smartphone.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [White Ivory Sky Tower (S) - In Progress] The link to Elaine held steady, but her status in the app didn't show 'Mungyeong Saejae.'
Entry: success.
Elaine had infiltrated the Mungyeong Saejae S-Rank Tower. All I could do was pray she'd conquer it.
Stamina status: good.
No major issues, so I reclined the driver's seat, propped my secondary phone on the mount, and scrolled communities.
Elaine.
Search results.
Past 24 hours.
130,344 posts.
"...Ha."
Insane numbers.
Once word got out that the maid cosplay craze traced back to Elaine, every community—regardless of focus—exploded with her-related posts.
-Admin, too much off-topic stuff here. Do something.
-Mister, this ain't that board... Sigh...
Even lurkers who'd never posted flooded in.
-Hello^^ Representative ... here.
Politicians with zero interest in games or communities poked around for Elaine intel.
Luckily, her wiki page survived, but vandals kept deleting or twisting the original game lore.
Total chaos.
Even core game communities fled to new boards, separate channels, or YouTuber portal cafes.
-Elaine cosplay burned down our main hub...
-So who the hell is she really?
Even they were curious.
Separate from my own curiosity about Elaine, amid the refresh-spamming new posts, some stood out briefly—
[You switching to Hero class, anon?]
[Got Hero quals this time—anyone declaring for Hero?]
[Can't climb without registering? For real?]
Insider slang only vets would catch.
Newbies might dismiss it as game terms, but in 20s-30s guy-heavy communities, it clicked quick.
[Anon on run 1? Run 2? Run 1, just go. Run 2, think it over.]
[Run 2, skip it...]
[Run 1 luckies awakened? Grind 6 months firstㅡㅡ^]
[NRight]
"Arguin' again already."
Awakener vs. non fights were exhausting enough, but a million awakenings had the world extra chaotic.
Resentment from the unawakened amid a million new ones.
Venting over booze led to drunk violence spikes everywhere; sober keyboard warriors raged online nonstop.
If word leaked I was Elaine's 'Master' amid this?
'Doxxing baseline, plus endless envy.'
No allies.
Guys jealous of her Master; girls jealous of her, period.
Not even among the million awakeners.
Newbies and old awakeners alike would shoot envy my way.
'Some grind Towers to B then A Rank deathmatches; others just snag an S-Rank beauty as owner.'
Beyond 'bitter' territory.
Bigger miracle than lotto jackpot or US Super Bowl pool top prize.
Had to see it that way.
Just looking at the 'game screen' filling my phone via the summon app proved it.
"...Fightin' well."
In the familiar UI, Elaine soloed Tower dungeons, massacring monsters without my input.
Slash! Slash!
Elaine swung her golden sword.
The longsword—black and gold blended, her signature weapon—flashed brilliantly, slicing Tower beasts like pudding.
Even top-floor bosses from A-Rank Towers fell in one hit. She pressed on.
Short time in, yet she blitzed mobs, running and running.
"...Level 80 solid S-Rank territory?"
Level 80.
Some might scoff—what, 80's S-Rank?
But in-game, it was max level.
Dunno other games, but hers? Max.
"......"
While Elaine battled hard, I fired up another app on my scrolling phone.
Familiar login.
Temple fade-out; my player char stood where I'd logged off the PC before.
"......"
Elaine.
Watching her handle A-Rank beasts, one certainty hit.
She wasn't at 'full power' yet.
Could get stronger.
Even if it added bits that didn't suit her perfectly.
Ding.
Phone popup.
Reply to my community post.
-Elaine build Maid4 set?
-Quit on 3.3 Elaine banner, whale coma. Back for real-maid Elaine—artifact relics for latest meta?
Elaine.
Older character since launch.
Hell, alternate versions existed.
-No Maid4, Weapon4 set. New relic from 5.2.
-No Weapon4? Faster spec-up ways?
-You loaded?
"......"
Kinda, yeah.
Not cashed out yet.
-Skip relics, slap this on.
"...Heh."
As expected.
"Hive mind for ya."
Vets know best.
I'm a vet too—four days ago, grinding steps for new char banners on return—but Elaine was old launch, meta fuzzy.
'Playin' too many games.'
Luckily, my preset build matched current fine.
Quick spec-up options too.
'Truckload gifts later.'
If spec-up clears S-Tower, repay 'em big.
"So yeah."
Star Jewels. 6480+1600. 119,000 won.
"...This pickup I only got the char card from—its exclusive weapon 1.2x stronger than Elaine's original?"
If in-game specs swapped to her...
......
[Purchase completed.] [Purchase completed.] [Purchase completed.] [Purchase completed.] "......"
To the limit. Past it.
"Goin' in. Exclusive weapon 5-break."
Half heaven. Banner drill.
Don't care.
For my summon.
"Whale 'til I pull it all."
With real-money charges, I protect Elaine.