216. Wouldn't It Be Better If We Both Succeed?
216. Wouldn't It Be Better If We Both Succeed?
***
Serin, who had been drawing it out, slowly parted her lips and spoke.
"A hidden class."
And in a clearer voice than ever before.
Sua, who had been staring straight at Serin, blinked blankly for a moment.
"...What?"
Answering vacantly, Sua couldn't grasp the situation for a second, the words were so unexpected.
The listed reward had clearly been a Mythic item.
So she had naturally assumed the reward was a Mythic item, but a hidden class—that was an answer she hadn't even considered.
"I said one of the rewards I got was a hidden class."
Just as Sua was blinking, Serin smiled faintly and spoke as if confirming it.
At that, Sua, now even slack-jawed, covered her mouth as if struggling to accept a reality too hard to believe.
- Legendary Dancer Daji.
- Rin = Dancer.
As if a chain of links had snapped perfectly into place, an algorithm completed itself in her head, and Sua's lips moved soundlessly several times before she suddenly shouted.
"A hidden class?!"
At Sua's startled reaction, Serin curled the corners of her lips and gave a small nod.
"Yeah. A hidden class called Moon Dancer. It's the class Daji had."
"Moon Dancer... wait, so Daji personally offered you a hidden class? That's insane... seriously!"
Even though she had already heard the answer, Sua asked again as if she couldn't believe it.
As if Sua's reaction was the most enjoyable thing in the world, Serin smiled brightly, fatigue forgotten.
"Yeah, after the trial ended, Daji personally offered it to me."
Originally she had planned to tell the viewers during tomorrow's stream, but somehow she ended up telling Sua first.
While explaining the decisive battle with Daji, she had ended up recalling what happened afterward, and she simply couldn't resist bragging.
A Mythic item was certainly hard to obtain and had tremendous real-world value, but ultimately it was an item you could get if you had the money.
In contrast, a 'hidden class' was something no amount of money could buy.
Various conditions, random circumstances, and the unique scarcity of hidden classes—the fact that you could never class-change into one the same way twice.
"The hidden class of a Great Hero... you got it? No, how is that even possible? It's seriously absurd. This is crazy...!"
Sua, having heard the confirmation of a hidden class, was muttering to herself in a daze, but watching her, a feeling like happiness welled up for no clear reason.
So much so that she couldn't control the corners of her mouth lifting.
She couldn't help but realize it.
'I'm really childish, huh.'
Right now, bragging to Sua about getting a hidden class, I felt really childish, but I liked Sua's reaction.
Sua, who had been muttering to herself, soon looked at Serin and smiled brightly.
"A hidden class! Congratulations, Serin!!"
"Yeah. Thanks."
"No, seriously, a hidden class. You said it's called Moon Dancer, right? How can even the name be that pretty?"
"Is it...?"
Sua's energy had shot up at the unexpected news of a hidden class.
"Yes. Really! Even just the way Daji looked today was absurdly beautiful. During that scene where she awakened all white, I couldn't help but admire her, you know? And now you've gotten the hidden class that Daji had. Oh, then! That means you'll transform all beautifully like Daji too, right?"
At Sua's words, Serin naturally pictured Daji.
Daji, who had transformed herself pure white, had possessed the pinnacle of beauty—a supreme loveliness befitting the trait Nation-Toppling Beauty.
"Still, I probably won't change like Daji did."
When she answered awkwardly, recalling that image, Sua shook her head and sent her a gaze full of heat.
"No! Seriously, in my eyes, you'd be absurdly beautiful too. Even standing next to Daji, you didn't get overshadowed, did you? Ah, seriously... the moment I realized it was a hidden class, I got all excited myself, you know?"
At Sua's sincere congratulations, the words she had prepared wouldn't come out.
She was happy, but on another side of her heart, a subtle feeling arose.
I felt embarrassed for having wanted to brag to Sua—it made me feel like someone bragging to a younger sibling.
"Sorry, Sua. It was a bit... that... I guess I ended up wanting to brag without realizing it."
When Serin spoke with an awkward expression, Sua shook her head vigorously.
"No, not at all? You class-changed into a hidden class. Of course that's worth bragging about. No, seriously, if I'd gotten a hidden class, I would have contacted you right away! Why are you getting embarrassed about it now?"
As Sua looked at Serin and laughed as if in disbelief, Serin couldn't bring herself to meet Sua's kind eyes and smiled awkwardly.
'I didn't expect her to congratulate me so sincerely.'
You know, there's that saying that even among distant relatives, if your cousin buys land, your stomach hurts.
Most people naturally feel envy and jealousy.
It wasn't that it was bad—it was just that being human made it inevitable.
It was like a saying that pierced to the essence of human nature.
And moreover, Sua, who was more passionate about Another World than anyone, was telling me she was this happy about my hidden class change. It felt unfamiliar.
So much so that just looking at Sua stirred a subtle emotion hard to put into words.
Sometimes a kind person was dazzling just to look at from nearby.
And right now, Sua felt like that.
Because I knew to some extent how obsessed and fixated Sua was on Another World.
Just today alone, she had come over in person because she was curious about the Another World results, hadn't she?
As Serin sat there feeling awkward for a moment, Sua parted her lips as if curious about something.
"Oh, Serin, you said earlier that the hidden class was one of the rewards you got. So what Mythic item did you get as the Cave of Trials reward?"
When Sua spoke as if genuinely curious, Serin shook her head.
"I haven't received that reward yet."
"Not yet...?"
Sua asked back as if something sounded strange. Serin calmly explained the reason.
"Yeah. I found out late that the stream had cut off, and thinking about the viewers who couldn't see the result, I felt reluctant to claim the reward."
"No... you held back on that?"
When Sua let out a hollow laugh and spoke, Serin nodded.
"Right now, even you are this disappointed, Sua. How disappointed must the viewers have been? It's funny to call it a substitute, but still, I was going to show myself claiming the reward in front of the viewers tomorrow."
"You held back because of the viewers? No, holding back from claiming a Mythic-grade reward... Serin, you know sometimes you really don't seem human, right?"
"Sua, you're going as far as saying I don't seem human just because I didn't claim one reward?"
When Serin spoke as if amused, Sua stared at her blankly, mouth opening and closing as if she couldn't believe it.
'What is with her?'
There was someone who treated a Mythic item as just a 'reward'.
I could say with certainty that, as far as I knew, I would never see another person like this except Serin.
'How can a person be like this?'
A Mythic item's expensive value was one thing, but more than anything, there was a unique pleasure—a joy like a thrill—that came with the flashy effects at the moment of obtaining a Mythic item. A pleasure impossible to resist for any user who had experienced enjoying Another World.
Obtaining a Mythic item in Another World let you feel, even indirectly, the emotions of someone who had won the lottery.
Even if it wasn't quite the actual lottery, a Mythic item was itself worth tens of millions of won in reality, and the joy at the moment of obtaining it was nearly indistinguishable from winning the lottery.
So the fact that she had held back from it so casually was hard for Sua to understand.
"No, Serin! It's not just any item, it's a Mythic item! The weird thing is you saying you calmly held back from it. Seriously. If it were me, I would have claimed it right away, stream or no stream... Holding back for the viewers... seriously, you know you've completely become a streamer now, right?"
As Sua made a fuss and rambled on, Serin let out a small laugh.
"Calling me a complete streamer feels a little weird, but I guess it's true. Honestly, I've been finding streaming fun lately."
At Serin not denying it, Sua's eyes sparkled.
"Seriously, Serin. What would you have done if I hadn't recommended streaming?"
As Sua deliberately emphasized that she had been the one to suggest streaming and shrugged her shoulders, Serin smiled as if she found Sua cute and nodded.
"Right? If you hadn't recommended streaming, I wonder what I'd be doing right now."
Having said that, Serin drifted blankly into thought.
After falling into this world early on, she had been placed in an environment unbound by anything.
With 2.7 billion won in her bank account, even if she hadn't become a streamer, she wouldn't have gone out of her way to work.
She thought anew that life was funny.
......
Sua, watching Serin lost in brief thought, had all sorts of thoughts.
'Did I say something I shouldn't have?'
Sometimes Serin seemed to fall into thought for no reason, and the way she looked right now was exactly that.
She didn't know why Serin had fallen into thought, but each time, Serin's appearance felt so unfamiliar.
Because she sensed a strange atmosphere, as if Serin were detached from the world.
Sua, who had been glancing around, spotted the wine with its reddish glow and carefully parted her lips.
"Serin... shall we have a glass of wine?"
Sua's voice broke Serin's reverie. Serin blinked and looked at Sua.
"You called it a bribe a little while ago."
"But I bought two bottles. Our kind Serin can overlook one bottle, can't she?"
At Sua speaking as if acting cute, Serin let out a small laugh.
"Sua. You just want to drink wine, don't you?"
"Yes!"
Far from denying it, Sua answered brightly, and Serin simply nodded.
Her stomach was reasonably full, so she figured drinking wine while looking at the night view wouldn't be bad.
"Then shall we tidy up a bit and go out to the terrace?"
When she spoke, gesturing toward the terrace attached beside the living room, Sua looked at the table as if surprised and asked.
"Serin, are you sure you don't want to eat more?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I ate plenty."
"Then I'm happy."
After that, the two of them tidied up the food for a while.
Slide.
After roughly cleaning up, the two women headed to the terrace with a bottle of wine and two wine glasses.
Click.
As they opened the terrace door, Serin and Sua gazed as if entranced at the evening city night view. The colorful lights, evoking a strange sentiment, had a special charm that drew the eye.
Moreover, a midsummer evening wasn't particularly cold, so it was perfect for drinking on the terrace.
Serin glanced at Sua, who had a cardigan draped over her, and set the wine glasses down on the table.
"Seriously, if I keep meeting you often, I'm going to become a drunkard too."
"Oh! Then wouldn't that be even better?"
Sua answered, doubling down on the playful remark.
The two smiled softly like that and sat facing each other at the table.
Pop!
Sua, now fairly adept with the wine opener, pulled the cork, and Serin naturally held out her glass.
Glug-glug.
As Sua poured wine into Serin's glass, her eyes sparkled.
"Come to think of it, we had to drink to celebrate you class-changing into a hidden class too, right?"
"What's there to drink about? It's just a good thing for me."
As Serin watched the red wine filling her glass and asked why they'd drink over something good for her alone, Sua smiled and looked at Serin.
"Oh, come on! If you're happy, I'm happy. You gladly accepted the project I mentioned last time too... And wouldn't it be better if we both did well?"
Having poured wine until Serin's glass was full, Sua moved to pour into her own glass, but Serin immediately reached out her hand.
"You're going to pour your own drink right in front of someone?"
When Serin spoke with deliberately raised eyebrows, Sua let out a small laugh and handed over the wine.