Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: I Need Ophelia
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"Then I'll step out for a bit to handle some work, so no matter who comes knocking, do not open the door for them."
"Got it!"
After coming home from a full day of fun outside, it was evening. Ophelia had said she needed to run out for something, and today there were no home workouts or chores to do.
Her belly was full from eating bungeoppang and all sorts of snacks outside, and somehow after playing so much, the aches from rampaging in the dungeon felt better?
"Ugh... Ophelia must have it rough. Always heading out for work."
I didn't really know what she did out there, but she must have her reasons. It was 7 p.m. now—still a long way until bedtime.
"C'mere, Mecha-Doggo. Be honest, you used a calculator during that math showdown, didn't you!"
Beep?
"Look at this guy playing innocent! Hey!"
We'd had a math contest with snacks on the line, but Mecha-Doggo totally cheated with a calculator. It was a smartphone to begin with, right? Wasn't that matchup way too unfair? After that, I lost to Minium at the punching machine and to Suri at whack-a-mole.
But at the end, I got a three-win streak against Ophelia at rock-paper-scissors. Ended up eating three bungeoppangs.
"Time to check out the Awakening Gallery in a while...!"
"Huh? It's been forever since I last saw this person."
Daramong, some gallery regular I hadn't seen in ages. This guy was supposed to be a big deal.
"Daramong... Daramong... What did he do again...? Oh!"
I remembered.
He was an A-rank Hunter dispatched to the disputed West Sea gate zone of undetermined rank. Not from Nova Guild, but from the Korea Hunter Management Association—a seriously strong one, the kind they call in for national disputes.
Not all A-ranks are equal in combat power. Once you hit A-rank and up, everyone specializes in something. Take Team Leader Yoo, for example— she's got killer wide-area combat skills.
Hundreds of tons of debris from the Desert Mausoleum rained down on B-Team, and not a single casualty. That was thanks to Team Leader Yoo's plant vine ability. Right before the floor shattered, she wedged vines between the broken tiles, bundled them up, and kept it from collapsing on everyone.
She helped a ton with the rescue ops too. She's a total S-rank pro, but... I think there were a few A-rankers whose one-on-one boss fight skills outdid hers.
S-ranks aren't omnipotent superheroes who excel at everything. Team Leader Yoo shines in area denial and mob control.
I remembered Daramong as one of the guys who could take her in a one-on-one.
"So what am I good at, then?"
For starters, scouting? With Mecha-Doggo and Suri, I can get real-time intel without even going myself. Minium handles combat great, Mecha-Doggo does translation. Ophelia cooks and cleans perfectly. I'm flawless.
Doesn't that make me omnipotent?
"Am I way more amazing than I thought...?!"
If there's one downside, it's kinda weak long-range attacks? Maybe ask Team Leader Yoo for a tank later. Wonder what she'd do if I fired cannons at her.
Conventional gunpowder weapons made before the gates don't work well on mana-charged monsters. Mana overrides normal physics or something like that.
Swords infused with mana slice monsters clean, but regular bullets? Nah.
Same deal with Awakened—guns barely faze them. That's why the U.S. had a huge panic once. Even D-ranks shrug off tasers and bullets, so if they go on a shooting spree, it's game over.
Now they've got Awakened cops, I guess. But security's still not as tight as Korea's.
"The West Sea Gate, huh..."
Kingdom restoration is the goal, but I still have no clue how. Just keep getting famous...? Make more golems, get stronger. But how does that rebuild a kingdom? No idea.
I don't even know what a kingdom really is.
"Kingdom... What's a kingdom?"
Asked the phone's AI, got some useless textbook answer. A country ruled by a king—duh, I knew that.
"A kingdom's gotta have tons of soldiers, right? Like 20,000 knights."
That means space for 20,000 Miniums. Our place is way too small. Shrink one Minium to hair-size first?
Ophelia mentioned buying a new house before. Even then, we'd need park-sized space. Shrinking to hair-size is impossible; figurine size, and 20,000 could fit in a park.
"Ugh, this is hard. What's a kingdom?"
And honestly, I can't picture adding more golems here. Better to feed magic stones to Suri, Minium, or Mecha-Doggo for upgrades. Do I really need another one?
"True... What about land? Calling the house a kingdom feels off."
A kingdom needs a huge, awesome castle first. Land in Seoul's insane expensive? Even if I buy some, building a new kingdom's impossible... Can you just declare an independent nation inside Korea?
"Haa, this is tough!"
Wonder what Ophelia's up to.
"Ah, you've arrived."
"Has the payment gone through?"
"Haha... Yes, yes, all done. Just stamp here and we're good."
The middle-aged man with neatly combed-back graying hair stood and bowed at Ophelia's entrance.
"Is this the latest registry?"
"Yes, printed yesterday. All liens cleared, checked everything."
Ophelia took the papers in her gloved hand and scanned the contents. The initial seed money of around ten million won had ballooned massively through stocks.
It was in an account under Ophelia's new name, so Eve's allowance card wouldn't show the balance.
"A young lady like you snapping up prime property... Are you a Hunter by any chance? I hear someone from Nova Guild was eyeing it..."
"Something like that. This isn't relevant small talk—let's wrap it up."
"Ah, right... Of course."
Ophelia confirmed everything and nodded.
"All verified. Good work."
With the contract for Unit 2302 in Building 307 of H-City Apartments in Songpa-gu, Seoul complete, Eve's new home was secured.
"Not a bad temporary residence."
Ring ring, ring ring
"Ooh, it's Ophelia."
"Princess. Are you resting?"
"Yeah, Ophelia. What's up?"
"I called to ask if there's any furniture you'd like for the house."
Furniture? For our place? It's already cramped. She does everything so well, nothing feels inconvenient. A bed would be nice, but in a studio...
"Not sure... Hehe. Honestly, I'd just like you here right now."
"...I see."
Ophelia seemed touched by Eve's words for a moment.
"I spilled cola on the mattress. My bad."
"...Understood."
Ophelia always had her reasons.
"No beverages on the mattress from now on."
"Okaay..."