Chapter 5

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Translator: Wjin

Chapter: 005

Chapter Title: The Link

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Ten minutes before Park Ha-jun received the sponsorship.

"You pathetic bastard, how many times have I told you not to skimp on weird stuff?"

Kim Ji-hoon bristled with defiance.
He said it playfully, but...

"But I survived, didn't I?"

Thwack.

He got smacked on the back of the head by Kim Ji-seok.

"Look at the burn marks on your hand and say that."

Kim Ji-hoon scowled fiercely. He'd forgotten about it—why bring it up now?

"...Hyung, don't you know any healers at the Association?"

But Kim Ji-seok didn't answer. His attention was elsewhere.

'...Did I miss something? That couldn't have been done with just a magic bullet.'

A 0-circle spell had pierced a named monster's attack and dealt significant damage to its main body.

Even a 3-circle mage Kim Ji-seok knew couldn't pull that off easily.

Reliving the scene over and over in his mind, Kim Ji-seok finally spoke up.

"By the way... what was that mana bullet just now?"

"What?"

"The scroll you used on the orc chieftain. It staggered him, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even if just for a moment."

And it had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been fired from a scroll, no less.

'A mere magic scroll.'

Kim Ji-seok recalled something a mage he knew often said.

-Scrolls are just knockoffs of magic. Their max is 5-circle, but even getting close to 3-circle is rare. The System's designed them not to surpass real magic, right?

He'd agreed with that proud statement. Experience backed it up.

'...It can't be the magic bullet. There must be something I missed.'

But his little brother brazenly spouted nonsense.

"Nah, I did use a magic bullet? I was gonna use a different scroll, but then you showed up, hyung."

Kim Ji-seok frowned.

"You dumbass, is what I'm saying hard to get? I'm asking what scroll you used before the magic bullet. The one that pierced the fireball and hit the orc chieftain..."

"No, I mean I only used the magic bullet just now."

"What...? How?"

"How what? I just clicked the scroll."

"..."

Kim Ji-seok couldn't comprehend it.
Had his brother lost it from the burns?
Or was he the one not getting it?

Staring at his brother with a blank look, Kim Ji-hoon suddenly lit up.

"Oh? Hold on. This seller posted a scroll on the Auction House."

Kim Ji-hoon hurriedly checked the Auction House and tilted his head.

"Uh... 50,000 gold? They jacked up the price all of a sudden. Still a decent deal, though..."

After hesitating, Kim Ji-hoon hit [Purchase]. A scroll appeared at his feet.

'Paying 500,000 won for a 0-circle scroll? This cost-performance freak?'

Sensing something off, Kim Ji-seok snatched the scroll.

"Hey, hyung!"

"..."

He clenched his fist, and things quieted down.
Kim Ji-seok checked the scroll's stats, fist still raised.

"...Am I under some illusion magic right now?"

Kim Ji-hoon replied in an unnecessarily smug tone.

"Nope. Your face says you're seeing it right."

Kim Ji-seok let out an exclamation.
So, this 0-circle scroll had really pierced the orc chieftain's fireball and damaged its body?

'And it's only 50,000 gold...'

Rubbing his chin in disbelief, Kim Ji-seok pondered.

Kim Ji-seok's subjugation team was at an impasse. They couldn't even attempt the B-rank gate.

Boss monster—Elemental Golem.
To stop its 'Rampage,' they needed attacks from all four elements at a certain level...

But their team's mage could only handle two attributes, making it tricky.

'If my brother's telling the truth... this could be our breakthrough.'

Kim Ji-seok eyed the scroll his team's mage had dismissed.

And checked the creator's name.

[Creator: asd123]

'Weird nickname. Someone famous? I'll check the Association's Awakener database when I get back.'

Caught up in strange excitement, Kim Ji-seok rolled up the scroll.

"I'm borrowing this for now. Use this as a wake-up call and get your head straight..."

But Kim Ji-hoon was still glued to the [Auction House], ignoring him.

"You lazy punk... I'm heading out, hyung."

With a deep sigh, Kim Ji-seok returned to the Association.

Left alone, Kim Ji-hoon muttered without realizing his brother had taken the scroll.

"Whoa, 60,000G? Getting pricey... but I can't let it go to someone else."

This seller knows how to do business.
I thought it was some vet messing around, but nah—pro merchant moves?
Muttering to himself, he bought one more.

Some time later.

"Wha...? Where is it, you bastard—my scroll!"

He wailed because his brother had taken the 50,000G scroll.

"Ugh, seriously—for real this time, no crops from my harvest."

Kim Ji-hoon plotted petty revenge.
But that wasn't enough.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"This is bad. If hyung took the scroll, competition's gonna skyrocket."

Isn't this getting too expensive too fast?

Feeling the crisis, Kim Ji-hoon gnawed his nails.

"Gotta secure a direct line to this creator somehow."

Biting his nails, he tearfully activated the [Sponsorship] feature.

"...Huh?"

For Park Ha-jun, scribbling with a quill in his room, it was bewildering content.

But he calmly read through and grasped the situation.

'Did my scroll save someone's life?'

What was just a hobby for him had saved a life.

And that life repaid a stranger whose face and name he didn't even know.

[Held Gold: 1,621,000G]

"..."

It was an indescribable feeling.
The result of his touch reaching someone. His heart tingled.

Sniffing unnecessarily, Park Ha-jun opened the [Exclusive Shop].

'...If that's why they sponsored, I won't refuse. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Meeting's a no, though.'

He needed gold anyway.

[Purchase confirmed?]

He decided to reinvest in his abilities for now.

Plus, thanks to the generous sponsorship, he'd still have 600,000G left after buying the low-grade quill.

Park Ha-jun hit [Purchase]. The quill appeared at his feet, its feather stiff and refined.

Pre-Awakening Park Ha-jun would've scoffed, 'What's the difference?'

"Oh..."

It felt different right away, just holding it.
He bought one more sheet of mid-grade parchment. Excited, he moved to test the quill—

"...No."

Park Ha-jun had grasped the meaning of drawing precision and circuit completion principles.

Now, even one draw needed to hit 100% completion.

'Master the order perfectly first.'

He opened the Status Window, memorized the System's suggested order once more.

Organized it, then slowly moved the pen.

[Drawing Precision: 3]

His movements were fluid. Confidence grew with each stroke.

Excitement built as each shape completed.

Before finishing the circuit, sweat poured. One mistake could ruin it.

'...Calm down.'

He sipped coffee, wiped sweat.
The moment he completed the final shape.

"...This is it."

A shiver ran through him. His first satisfying circuit.

The geometrically perfect one in his mind, drawn with precise order.

He couldn't be sure it was 100% by System standards.

But full of his own expectations, Park Ha-jun placed his hand on the parchment and infused mana.

"...!"

Park Ha-jun shot up from his chair. The thrill of that young boy first delving into geometry.

Unable to contain his pounding heart, he wanted to shout.

Puffing through his nose, he checked the System text.

Limited by mid-grade parchment, it didn't hit [Base] 1.

'Better parchment, and 1 is immediate. Theoretically, even higher.'

What would its value be then?

And if higher-circle spells hit those stats?

"...Being F-rank doesn't seem so dismissible."

Swallowing hard, Park Ha-jun pondered briefly.

He wanted to keep this perfect circuit, but curiosity to test it burned too.

But confidence surged.

'I can draw it again. Gold first.'

Having perfected the 0-circle circuit, curiosity for others surged.

[Pay 3,000,000G to unlock 1-circle magic.]

Would it feel this thrilling again...?

So, Park Ha-jun researched 4-circle mage hiring costs.

'This is what it costs to hire one. Then...'

Entering the [Auction House], he listed the scroll at a bold price.

Kim Ji-hoon bolted upright in bed. He couldn't let anyone else snag the scroll. Hit [Go] hard.

But!

"!!!"

He doubted his eyes. The numbers were off. The price too. A glitch?

Rubbing his eyes, he checked again.

"...Gasp!"

Insane stats. What kind of crazy scroll is this?!

It'd go down in history. Buy now. But...

[800,000G]

The price was normalized.
Kim Ji-hoon's goal was survival, not hobby. Even from asd123, this broke cost-performance, making him hesitate.

"Argh, hyung, seriously!"

Blaming his brother did nothing.

"...Buy... or not."

After endless agonizing, he yanked his hair and screamed.

"Asd hyung-nim... come on, this is too much. 800k gold for a 0-circle scroll?!"

He gave up buying, just gnawing his nails.

His dream of monopolizing asd123's scrolls was crushed.

Now asd123 would be exposed to the world. Even cheap good scrolls would face fierce competition.

"...The way they handle people, maybe they're famous already."

Who knows.
Kim Ji-hoon just hoped his sponsorship meant something to asd123.

Meanwhile, Kim Ji-seok returned to the Association.
Late as it was, with a gate raid looming, no one had clocked out.

He showed the team the scroll from his brother's farm.

"...What do you think? Entrust the rest of the attributes to this creator."