The Free Chapter (1)
Junil decided to hand over the Flash Step scroll for three reasons.
The first was Kang Hae-il’s survival.
Kang Hae-il currently seemed to possess several times more firepower than him, but his combat style was far too crude.
At this rate, it wouldn’t be strange if the man died at any moment and the entire story folded in half.
That was why he had given it to him—so he could use it to escape.
The second reason was to build trust with Kang Hae-il.
Only then could he raise the number of Constellations and keep Kang Hae-il from interfering when they worked together.
The third was simply because the item was useless to him.
He had moved with such clear reasons, yet—
“Huu.”
Junil handed over the scroll, turned around, and let out a sigh.
‘I’m gonna get flamed hard for this.’
He figured the Constellations’ chat would explode. Most of them absolutely refused to tolerate anyone who showed kindness only to be betrayed later. Because they had no way of knowing whether betrayal would actually happen, they simply hated pointless generosity from the start. It was their way of preventing problems in advance.
However—
The reactions were strangely not bad. And it didn’t end there.
Hidden Quest Completed!
Objective: Increase intimacy with Kang Hae-il
🎁 Reward: 500 Feelings (FL), Random Item Box
So the hidden quest had been about getting close to Kang Hae-il from the beginning. Someone must have sponsored him because they liked the sight of him giving away the scroll.
‘What the hell is this?’
Did this even make sense? Were these really the same Constellations he knew? Had their values somehow changed?
Junil felt momentarily confused.
The reactions were completely different from anything Junil had experienced with the Constellations so far.
‘So that’s it…’
As he read through the chat, Junil finally understood the reason.
The situation was the complete opposite of when he had been Julian. ‘I see. I’m the supporting character… and the protagonist is Kang Hae-il.’
What the Constellations were watching right now was the appearance of a helpful supporting actor for the protagonist, Kang Hae-il. It wasn’t a situation where the protagonist was handing out gifts.
‘It became a plus instead of a minus.’
The center of this world was the protagonist—Kang Hae-il. When he received something, it was a ‘+’. When he lost something, it was a ‘-’. That was exactly what a story board was.
Paradoxically, by handing over the scroll just now, Junil had actually benefited.
‘Hmm… this somehow pisses me off.’
Things had gone well in their own way, but Junil felt strangely unsettled. A sense of displacement, like his seat had been taken, struck a corner of his chest.
‘So I’m not the protagonist anymore, huh?’
Having lived as the main character of stories for nearly thirty years, the feeling wasn’t entirely unpleasant. It was bittersweet.
‘Whatever. Good is good.’
While thinking that and walking along, something fell from the sky with a thud.
It was a gift box. This was probably the hidden quest reward.
“Whoa. What is this? Do good deeds really bring blessings?”
Junil acted as enthusiastically as possible. The Constellations must never learn that a hidden quest existed.
Fortunately, the Constellations interpreted his reaction as genuine surprise.
‘Should I open it?’
Junil picked up the box and opened it.
S, A, B, C grades and so on appeared. ‘Ah… but with this…’
Bang.
Thick black smoke burst out.
Better luck next time!
The reactions poured in.
It was an absurd streak of bad luck. However, Junil had already expected it. Just think about how many toilets full of shit he had run into today. Such artificially terrible karma couldn’t exist without some kind of manipulation.
It sounded like the sponsor’s message. Junil felt truly sorry, but there was nothing he could do.
‘Complain to Ram.’
Thinking that, Junil kicked the box away.
“Ugh. Just something I picked up while walking. What can you do?”
But the sponsorship wasn’t over with the random box.
You have obtained 500 Feelings (FL)!
He had gained story currency as well. It was money that had originally been useless to Junil, but he could spend it in the shop Ham had created for him.
The shop can be upgraded anytime, anywhere!
Cost: 500 Feelings (FL)
Would you like to proceed?
‘Upgrade?’
Thanks to the sponsorship he now had enough to upgrade the shop.
‘Hold off.’
Junil decided to postpone it for now.
According to the chat, story currency wasn’t supposed to be visible to him. Since the Constellations were watching, he couldn’t react to or use that currency.
* * *
Back home, Junil washed up, changed clothes, and sat on the bed. He began chanting the spell.
“Jjaruru jjaruru jjapaguri.”
Bang!
The chubby fellow who looked exactly like a pack of instant noodles appeared.
“Did you call me?”
“Yeah. The shop can be upgraded now. I figured it might look suspicious if I did it alone.”
“Ah…! How wise! By the way, you already gathered the upgrade cost!? 500 Feelings isn’t something you can collect that easily…”
Feelings were currency that accumulated little by little just by having Constellations watch, but gathering over 500 with fewer than a thousand viewers should have been impossible.
“Hik!? Y-you really gathered it!? Over 700 Feelings!”
“Yeah. It just sort of happened.”
Junil didn’t mention that someone had sponsored him. The fact that he could see the Constellations’ reactions was a secret even from the Story Fairies.
“So upgrading is a good thing, right?”
“O-of course! If we don’t use it like this, all of it goes straight to Ram!”
“I see.”
In the end, the owner of the story board was Ram. All the story coins created here would go to that guy. That was why Ham and Pam had created this skimming system in the middle.
“Then I’ll do it.”
The shop has been upgraded to Lv. 2.
You can now access Lv. 2 items.
The list that had contained nothing but music files completely changed.
“…Insane. What is this? Am I a camera director now?”
Junil immediately grabbed Ham by the collar.
“W-wait, why!? If you use them well, the Constellations’ reactions will be amazing! Especially the Music Bank Camera Effect—it was specially made to match the tastes of the Constellations watching this dimension! Even if you fight terribly it’ll look like you’re fighting amazingly… uwep!”
Junil shoved Ham straight into his inventory.
“Uuuuwp!? Uwp!!”
Spit!
The inventory naturally spat Ham back out.
“N-no! Please listen until the end! And! The effects aren’t everything! Turn to the next page!”
“Page?”
Sure enough, there was a page indicator. [1/2]. When Junil touched it, the page flipped.
“Narrative Trick…?”
The list had moved on from the BGM effect series to the Narrative Trick series.
“Yes, Narrative Trick. It literally means the event is described differently from what is actually happening. These items can’t be seen by the Constellations either. They won’t be perceived by enemies. They won’t even know you’re wearing them, Sir Julian! It’s quite a popular series!”
To think something like this existed. He should have told him sooner!
“Then that hwando? That’s a sword, right?”
Junil’s curiosity immediately zeroed in on the weapon.
“Yes. It’s an Eastern-style blade. It seems to have been generated to match the local characteristics.”
“It really can’t be seen by others?”
“It should have that ability.”
He had wondered why it cost a whole Heart. Now he understood. An invisible sword. And one that even Constellations couldn’t see.
‘This is the best, isn’t it?’
This was an item that hadn’t existed even during his hero days. For the first time, Junil patted Ham on the head.
“Good job. Now it finally feels like a cheat.”
He finally understood why Ham had called this shop connection a cheat. It literally contained items that characters in the story weren’t supposed to use.
“Hehe… right? I recommend the bulletproof coat first. It doesn’t weigh anything and it’s literally like having an extra life… uwep!”
While quietly patting her head, Junil suddenly grabbed her face and hurled her into the inventory.
Of course the inventory spat her back out again.
Spit!
“W-wait, why do you keep doing that!”
Ham shouted as if she had been wronged.
“Puhaha.”
Junil burst out laughing at her expression.
“Just testing the inventory. It works well. You can go now.”
“Unbelievable! Don’t live like that, Hero!”
Ham disappeared while throwing a completely non-threatening tantrum.
Bang!
The Constellations perceived Ham’s visit as slight buffering.
‘Ah… I’m sleepy.’
Having been active for far too long today, Junil collapsed into sleep.
Thud.
* * *
Meanwhile, at Fairy Corporation.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!”
As always, screams echoed through the office. This time it was Ram clutching both cheeks and wailing.
“Why! Why…!? How!?”
Ram replayed the champion goblin steal scene over and over. The speed at which the champion goblin had been struck and the attacker had retreated was almost impossible to see. Ordinary people who had only just become Awakened wouldn’t have been able to perceive it even if they watched with their eyes wide open.
“No matter how many times I watch, I don’t get it. This is… Flash Step, isn’t it?”
Flip flip flip.
Ram checked the Fairy Corporation’s setting manual. The technique perfectly matched the Flash Step listed in the martial arts section.
“This can’t be.”
It was incomprehensible. Flash Step was a body technique that required an enormous amount of time and training to learn without the help of the skill system.
“Don’t tell me… he really is Julian?”
“It is Julian, Ram.”
“You idiot! I’m asking if he’s the real hero Julian!”
“For the real hero he’s pretty weak, isn’t he? He only took away about 14% of the champion goblin’s health. That last hit was just… Hae-il is a bit too honest and got caught off guard…”
“Then why did you pick such an honest guy!?”
“Y-you were the one who said let’s go with someone romantic, Ram!”
Damn it. He remembered now. That had happened.
Sam, whose collar had been released, straightened his clothes and tried to console Ram.
“Still, Julian isn’t completely bad. He gave him a skill scroll, you know?”
“Ha?”
Ram was dumbfounded.
“You call that giving!? He didn’t even explain the ring’s ability, and it was something completely useless to himself!”
“But at least he gave something. If he had just thrown it away, Hae-il would have charged in without Flash Step and—ugh!”
Thwack!
Sam, who had only made Ram angrier, ended up getting hit.
“If you like Julian so much…”
Grab.
Ram seized Sam by the collar, spun him around, and shoved his head into the monitor.
Bang!
“Get in there, you bastard!”
Hisssss…!
Smoke rose from one of the monitors while Sam’s legs kicked wildly.
“Haa… haa… Ah. That feels a little better.”
Ram’s anger finally subsided a bit.
Pop!
Sam pulled his head out of the monitor and flew back over.
“R-Ram… that was too much. Still, I prepared something like this…”
Point.
Sam pointed at one of the monitors. Several people had discovered the S-rank Kang Hae-il at the dungeon entrance and spread the news. Reporters had come running.
“The whole country is paying attention! An S-rank Awakened! The Constellations’ reactions are great too!”
Camera flashes, interest, and praise poured down on Kang Hae-il. It was exactly the kind of scene Constellations loved. Sam had prepared all of this.
Ram watched, nodded, and acknowledged it.
“You did well with that. But…”
However, that wasn’t the end.
“What are you going to do about this?”
“!”
Point.
What Ram lifted up on the monitor was a YouTube video.
Posted 1 hour ago • 280,000 views
#Trending 10th in Rising Videos
It was a video of Sagosul wiping out a goblin swarm in Bukhansan.