Chapter 201: Artemis's Silver Bow (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 201: Artemis's Silver Bow (1)
The Board Game Club room.
We had rented a room and were playing chess.
– Tak.
With a triumphant smile, Yoon Chae-ha charged my rook with her queen.
“Checkmate.”
And she declared her victory with confidence.
“Not quite.”
“…Ack.”
My bishop, cleverly hidden between the diagonals, slid out and took Yoon Chae-ha's queen.
A short cry escaped her lips.
What was going on?
Yoon Chae-ha had always shown a brilliant, almost genius-like flair for chess. She was the one who had cornered me countless times with her ability to see several moves ahead and her unimaginable sacrifices.
But for some reason, she'd suddenly gotten terrible at it.
Still, Yoon Chae-ha, refusing to accept defeat, stared intently at the chessboard.
“Let's review the game…”
she pleaded.
Wasn't she frustrated by losing? She used to get so upset. It was a wonder she was still having fun.
I thought about when it was that Yoon Chae-ha had suddenly become so bad at chess.
“……”
Coincidentally, it seemed to be right after we'd... done the deed.
To review the game, Yoon Chae-ha scurried up from her seat and came over to my side.
Then, very naturally, she perched herself on my lap.
“Why did I lose?”
She buried her face in my shoulder and asked languidly.
“Because you didn't see the bishop.”
Did we really need to review this?
“Ugh… Not that.”
As if displeased with my answer, Yoon Chae-ha shifted her hips slightly, demanding a different one.
I had no idea what she wanted me to tell her.
But just then.
– Knock, knock.
A knock sounded, and the door opened.
“Hey guys, it's been two hours. Do you want to extend…?”
The Club President's eyes fell on me and Yoon Chae-ha, and they began to tremble violently.
Her gaze was fixed on the sight of me sitting in the chair and Yoon Chae-ha sitting on my lap.
“Uh… yeah… I'll extend your time… Have… fun…”
She stammered, backing away before closing the door.
– Slam!
The door slammed shut, and silence filled the room.
“...I think she misunderstood something.”
“What misunderstanding?”
From my lap, Yoon Chae-ha tilted her head up to look at me and asked.
The position was... admittedly, a bit problematic from an outsider's perspective.
“Maybe it's not a misunderstanding,” Yoon Chae-ha said.
– Ssk… ssk….
And then, as if to prove her words true, she began to move.
*
“Hmph…”
Yoon Chae-ha pouted, fiddling with her hair.
I gave her a light flick on the forehead right then and there before we left.
When we went to the desk, the Club President greeted us with a dazed expression.
Deep, dark circles, a mixture of fatigue and resignation, were settled beneath her eyes.
“Oh… you're out already…?” she said, deliberately avoiding our eyes. “You don't have to mind me… The rooms are well soundproofed… It's not the first or second time I've seen this…”
“It's not like that,” I said with a laugh, waving my hand dismissively.
But wait a minute.
“Hold on, not the first or second time?”
At my question, the Club President let out a deep sigh, as if she'd given up on everything.
“…The rooms are big, they're soundproofed, the lighting is nice, and the sofa cushions are plush.”
Jo Seoyeon recited the room's advantages.
Then, she pulled open her desk drawer to show me.
“Well, maybe this was the inevitable next step.”
This is insane.
Inside was a vitamin box with a picture of fruit on it.
You know, the kind that looks like a vitamin packet but is actually used for... something else when you open it.
That thin, transparent piece of rubber that prevents and prepares for all sorts of... major situations.
“When I reported the situation to the higher-ups and asked for a solution, the Chairman just laughed and gave me this.”
– Thwip!
She took one of the packets out of the box and tossed it lightly onto the desk in front of me.
“He said it's better for students to do it safely here than to sneak around somewhere else.”
She added languidly, resting her chin on her hand.
“So… you juniors should just enjoy it freely. You know club members don't have a time limit, right?”
Gaon, as expected.
I knew they encouraged dating, but I never thought it would be to this extent.
Does this even make sense?
No wonder there have been more couples in the club rooms lately.
I doubt they have any interest in board games.
“I should get a boyfriend myself…”
she muttered quietly, looking at the vitamin box in her drawer as she took a sip of water.
“…Hae-in, I don't need that… I don't want it…”
Just then, Yoon Chae-ha, who had been standing quietly beside me, muttered as she looked at me.
“Pfft—!?”
Hearing that, Jo Seoyeon sprayed the water she had just sipped all over the desk.
She coughed and sputtered, staring at Yoon Chae-ha.
“Well, take care!!”
“……”
I grabbed Yoon Chae-ha's wrist and dragged her out of there.
*
After leaving the club room, I felt that Yoon Chae-ha's sense of propriety was seriously warped, so I dragged her straight to the Gaon Central Library.
Please, let her encounter the essence of countless intellects here and become even a little more demure.
Let it bring her peace of mind and body, and tranquility of heart.
And above all, I hoped she would learn to be at least a little more conscious of her surroundings.
“How long has it been?”
“I've never been here before,” she replied, looking around.
Yoon Chae-ha had done a photoshoot here before, but in reality, she had just posed while holding a book.
She hates books.
No, to be precise, she hates libraries.
She loved exploring unknown knowledge and delving into interesting phenomena, but she found it tedious to sit still in a quiet place and read printed words.
What a ridiculous character.
“I don't like it here.”
Sure enough, she quickly lost interest and began to grumble.
“Read this.”
I pulled a book from the psychology section and placed it in front of her.
The title of the book was 101 Ways to Be Mindful of Others for a Better Social Life.
I left her staring down at the book and got up from my seat.
Truthfully, this wasn't just about Chae-ha. I had my own business here.
The Gaon Library, where a giant, ancient tree calmed the mind and body.
This place was steeped in tradition and history.
As such, not even the librarians knew every book it contained.
It was beyond control.
And, of course.
An object I had hidden was located here.
I turned my back on Yoon Chae-ha and headed for the deepest, darkest section of the library.
When a player gets far enough into the game, they inevitably face a choice for their main weapon.
Whether it's a bow or a spear, the ultimate goal is to obtain the highest-grade weapon.
Each myth-grade weapon had its own acquisition method.
And among them, the 'bow'…
...its clues could be found here.
'Ancient Mythology and Uncategorized Books.'
A place covered in a thick layer of dust, where students' footsteps rarely tread.
This was where I had to solve the code.
The code was actually intuitive.
I just had to find the classification numbers 'ㅇ', 'ㄹ', and 'ㅌ'.
I walked slowly down the aisle, scanning the classification numbers on the books.
The first book, 'ㅇ', was easier to find than I expected.
But the other two were the problem. For several tens of minutes, I pushed through cobwebs and got covered in dust, searching the aisles until my eyes felt like they would fall out.
Finally, I succeeded in gathering all three books.
I'd wondered why they were so hard to find; their covers had been peeled off, making them impossible to distinguish.
I had all three books.
So, what now?
Cradling the books in my arms, I looked out at the library lobby from the end of the aisle.
Sometime while I was searching, the sky outside had grown dark.
– Zzz...
Yoon Chae-ha, whom I had forced to sit down, had eventually succumbed to boredom and was now fast asleep with her head on the desk.
She even snored cutely.
Trying not to make a sound, I quietly made my way to the giant, ancient tree in the center of the library.
I took the stairs that spiraled up around the tree and silently climbed to the highest branch.
There, moonlight streamed down through the dome-shaped glass ceiling.
I placed the three books side-by-side beneath the moonlight and carefully brushed their covers.
The moment the moonlight touched the books' surfaces, the consonants began to emit a faint glow.
The goddess of the hunt, and the goddess associated with the moon.
The location of Artemis's Silver Bow slowly began to form a map on the books.
– Ssk...
Fine lines stretched out across the three books.
The lines drew continents and oceans over the covers.
It was the moment three fragmented maps merged into one complete whole.
Of course, I already knew the candidate locations.
However, as always, the exact spot was randomly assigned among them, so I had to confirm it with my own eyes.
And then.
On the finally completed map, an intense light began to flash over one of the several candidate locations.
This time, the location of Artemis's Bow was...
Japan.
Shinjuku, Tokyo.