Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Royal Head Maid, Ophelia
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Who are you, really?
“What am I supposed to do with this...”
As parts of the horse golem and Minium reverted into a car, Minium returned to his original height, and the car suddenly materialized in the hotel living room.
It was much bulkier than the horse golem, making the living room feel cramped. I guess it seemed that way because of all the empty space inside.
“Aww... what do I do? I'll get in trouble if the tires leave marks on the floor...?”
As I fretted, Suri approached and handed me the car key that was resting on the roof. Come to think of it, I was startled when the key vanished during the transformation too.
Beep—
“Hmm... should I open the car...? No, what good would that do? The doorway is smaller than the car...”
Still, just in case, I got into the driver's seat. There seemed to be a lot of buttons and gadgets, but it didn't look like there was anything I could do.
“Ah! Maybe I should change it back, take the elevator down to the parking garage, and then transform it there?”
Once a plan is made, it's time for action.
“Han Do-hee's car...! Golem Creation!”
I placed my hand on the car door and tried to channel my magic to turn it into a golem, but for some reason, it didn't work. Could it be because it's not mine? But it worked just fine at Han River Park. What's different?
“If I can't change it here...? Then what do I do?”
When you need help, you call an adult. I'm an adult too, but two adults are much smarter than one.
“Ah, um...”
“What should we do about this...”
“I-I think we need Team Leader Yoo for this.”
And so, not long after the bodyguard sister called for Yoo Chae-rin.
“Eve! My phone just connected to my car's Bluetooth, what's going on?!”
“Ah, uhm... that...”
“Whoa, my car. Why is it in here?”
“I turned it back. I-I did good, right...?”
Han Do-hee, who had arrived with Yoo Chae-rin, stared at me blankly.
“Hmm... how do we get this out?”
“It can't be helped. We'll just have to cover the cost of the window frame and glass... It won't affect the load-bearing walls, right?”
“Huh? Ah, yes, that's correct. We can secure enough space for the car to pass through.”
“Please call for Mr. Im Jong-ho.”
Yoo Chae-rin shook her head and walked toward the living room window. In a corner by the window sat a giant flowerpot, about the size of a person's torso.
As Yoo Chae-rin placed her hand over the soil in the pot, enormous plant stems began to grow at an incredible speed.
“W-woooow...!”
“It might get a little dusty. Eve, would you mind waiting in your room?”
“B-but I want to watch! Can't I just hold my breath?”
“Hmm. Then let's have you step back a little further.”
“Ah, okay.”
The person Yoo Chae-rin had asked for arrived at the entrance about three minutes later.
“Hey, long time no see.”
“Huh, what the. What are you doing here? Squad Leader Yoo, I've arrived?”
It seemed Han Do-hee knew this person too. The man named Im Jong-ho glanced around, surprised by the car parked in the middle of the living room, and then tilted his head when he saw my face.
“And this young lady is...”
“Eve. Do you know who this is?”
Han Do-hee asked me, but of course, I had no idea. He was a stranger, so I felt a little awkward and just shook my head.
“You should know him. You've talked before.”
“I-I have...?”
“He's 'Joining the Awakening Gallery'.”
“H-huh...?”
I remembered. He was a C-rank Hunter, not particularly high, but he possessed the unique ability of psychokinesis. I knew he was in the Nova Guild, but I never expected to meet him here.
“Hey, what are you saying to a kid? Is your name Eve, little one?”
“Um... I'm 'Life Is Ruined'...”
“Hmm? Haha, you're still young. How could your life be ruined?”
“No... my G-Gallery Nickname...”
“Huh?”
“Jong-ho? I'm going to tear out the window frame. I need you to stop the dust from falling below.”
“Ah, yes, Squad Leader. Understood.”
Looking puzzled, he scratched his head. Joining the Awakening Gallery... no, Im Jong-ho stood before the window.
Afterward, the massive plant vines that filled the living room window began to slowly push out the wall. Im Jong-ho used his psychokinesis to gather the escaping dust and small debris into a single clump.
A hole was literally punched through the living room wall. Then, the giant vines grown from Yoo Chae-rin's magic latched onto the sturdy, load-bearing walls of the building to secure their position, slowly enveloping the car and beginning to lower it to the ground.
“Wow...”
This has to be at least the 30th floor. It's amazing that such a large plant could grow from that pot. The fact that it can support the car's weight... S-rank Hunters are really on another level.
“Well... it seems this room will be unusable for today. We'll provide a new room for you, Eve, so let's move there.”
“I'm sorry...”
“No, it's quite all right. And... we have a gift prepared for you, Eve.”
“A gift for me...?”
Yoo Chae-rin smiled brightly and gently patted my head. The car had been safely lowered to the ground, and though the wall was temporarily secured to prevent exposure, she said it would need proper repairs.
“Shall we get going, then?”
“Ah, just a moment.”
I walked over to Im Jong-ho, who was standing by the window, and spoke.
“Are you really 'Joining the Awakening Gallery'?”
“Uh... yes, I am, but...”
“I told you it's true. He's the one.”
“I'm 'Life Is Ruined.' My Gallery Nickname.”
“Ha, haha... really...?”
“What happened today. You won't talk about it on the Gallery, right?”
“O-of course...”
The Awakening Bros... they weren't AIs after all. I'm so relieved.
“What is all this...?!”
“You can consider it a token of gratitude from Nova.”
“But I don't think I did anything...?”
“Without your golem, Eve, the damage from the gate at Han River Park could have been much worse. You performed admirably as a civilian Awakened.”
“Oh...”
Come to think of it, I did save some people. At least a million? There were so, so many people there.
“I heard from Do-hee. You created a golem named... Suri, using Rare Metal and a Magic Stone.”
“Ah, that's right.”
When we arrived at the other prepared room, people who looked like electricians were setting up the computer again. The layout was almost identical. I had carried Minium, Suri, and Mecha-Doggo, who was still transferring data, in my arms.
“For now... we have prepared 30kg of Rare Metal and an 800g high-grade Magic Stone.”
“*Gasp*.”
That's enough to make five Suris, by a rough estimate. And it's a high-grade Magic Stone. Not to say the one in the sword Han Do-hee gave me was bad, but the difference between low-grade and high-grade magic stones is immense.
“I-isn't this... expensive...?”
“You could buy 1,000 cookies and cream ice cream tubes with it.”
“I'm not a baby.”
“Whoa, I had no idea.”
Han Do-hee chuckled beside me, but I knew you couldn't even dream of buying this with that kind of money. High-grade magic stones rarely even appear on the market. You can't just buy them whenever you want, even if you have the cash.
The rare metal shimmered with a pure white light, and next to it, the magic stone glowed a crystalline blue.
After waiting for the computer technicians to leave, only Yoo Chae-rin, Han Do-hee, and I remained in the room. The bodyguard sister also stepped outside, just in case. I glanced at Han Do-hee and Yoo Chae-rin one by one before kneeling in front of the stacked ingots of rare metal.
“O-okay, I'll do it now...!”
“Go on. Give it a try.”
“Suri, you're ready, right...?”
Nod, nod.
After taking a deep breath, I placed Suri beside me, touched the rare metal ingots with my left hand and the magic stone with my right, and shouted.
“Golem Creation, combine with Suri...!”
Vroooom...
The two materials began to vibrate with a low, deep hum. I felt a tremendous amount of magic pouring out of my body, and I squeezed my eyes shut against the intense light radiating from the materials.
The materials at my fingertips balled up into spheres and then vanished with a shwick.
Peeking through my fingers, the last thing I saw was Suri being sucked into the floating materials.
Floating in mid-air, bobbing gently up and down... was just a mass of blue magic. It emitted a bright light, but when I touched it, there was no reaction.
“What... what's happening?”
“Did something pop up, Eve? What's wrong with it?”
“It says it reached maximum completion... and there are 80 hours left until it takes form.”
“What, it takes time?”
“This has never happened before...”
It seems like it's trying to create something super-duper amazing. To think it even takes time. Maybe it'll be an ultra-powerful knight robot on par with an S-rank Hunter, or since it was originally an animal, maybe it'll turn into a mythical beast-class monster.
“Well... we've confirmed the ability works. Did you say 80 hours? That's not too long. It would be best to wait and see.”
“So that means it'll be done in about... three days, around 2 AM. Since it's 6 PM now.”
“Oh...”
“You thought I was fast at mental math, didn't you?”
“N-not really...”
But she was pretty fast. She must be good at math.
“Ugh. But why am I so sleepy?”
“You used a lot of magic, so that's to be expected. You should take a bath and go to bed early.”
“But it's so early...?”
“When you're drowsy from excessive magic use, it's best for your health to get some sleep right away.”
Three days passed after that. I really tried to stay awake that night, but I was so sleepy that I had no choice but to wash my face, brush my teeth, and go to bed early.
Thanks to that, I didn't get to meet Maxy or Utaha like I'd hoped. The next day, I felt weird just staying at the hotel, so I went back home. But with Suri gone, it felt like something was missing.
Minium keeps tinkering with things, and Mecha-Doggo lost some of his functions, so he just plays around these days. Maybe they're all bored now that Suri is gone. Still, the money Mecha-Doggo made is still there.
Most importantly, I got my paycheck during that time. It was a little smaller since I missed a few days of work, but it was still about 1 million won.
[Bank Balance: 9,132,764]
“Heehee... I'm rich.”
To have this much money left after paying rent and everything else... isn't this what it feels like to be a tycoon? This is enough to buy 5,000 cookies and cream ice cream tubes.
And tonight, the creation of the vanished Suri will be complete. I'm so excited to see what it'll look like that I can't sleep. It's already 9:17 PM, but my eyes are wide awake.
I'm going to be a new S-rank Hunter
Seriously, look forward to it. I'm not kidding. For real.
Damn, an S-rank convenience store accountant
Did you really Awaken? All you post about lately is Awakening.
Even if you did Awaken, you're probably D-rank. Just give up.
How's it going
I'll just browse the gallery like this and hold out until 1 AM. I've been sleeping early lately, so staying up this long should be easy.
“Has it been an hour... Mecha-Doggo, what time is it...?”
[PM. 9 : 21]
“No way... not even five minutes have passed...?”
Time is crawling by. I have to be there to welcome Suri in its new body. It'll be sad if its master is asleep when it appears. I have to keep my eyes wide open and endure.
“Ugh... four more hours...”
Zzzzzz...
9:53 PM. Eve, asleep.
Poke, poke.
“Uuuugh... five more minutes...”
Poke, poke.
“So sleepy... let me sleep a little longer...”
Poke, poke.
“Hnghhhhh...!!”
As if turning on a body that had been powered down all night, Eve stretched her small frame as far as it could go.
Through her bleary eyes, she could see Mecha-Doggo between her legs, and...
“Minium, why did you wake me... uh...?”
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Princess.”
An intruder in the middle of the night!? Could it be... the kidnappings of civilian Awakened by Chinese Hunters I heard about?!
“W-who are you...!?”
In response to my urgent question, the woman before me elegantly spread the hem of her skirt and bowed her head in a curtsy.
“I am Ophelia, the Royal Head Maid.”
“Eh...?”
Who are you, really?