The Event Bosses
On a brisk Saturday morning, I met Seo Ye-in at the shuttle bus stop.
She was always twice as lively whenever we visited the downtown commercial district, but today she seemed practically buzzing. Unable to resist, I tossed her a casual question.
"What's your battery sitting at today?"
"Ninety-one percent."
"An all-time high."
"Power overflowing."
She even pumped a tiny fist in a triumphant pose. She was clearly hell-bent on playing her heart out.
At the same time, I couldn't help wondering if there was a deeper reason behind her insistence on heading downtown this week. Could her built-in 'Lucky Charm' radar be going off? While the she-just-really-wants-to-goof-off hypothesis currently carried more weight, we would find out soon enough once we arrived.
The shuttle arrived shortly after, whisking us away to the commercial district. Even though next week was slated to be the peak festival rush, downtown was still downtown. As expected, the streets were already teeming with people.
Drifting along with the current of the crowd, I glanced down at her. "Where do you want to go first?"
"……Game Center?"
"Figures."
Perhaps because she had enjoyed herself so thoroughly on our previous trips, the equation Downtown = Arcade seemed firmly etched into her mind. Not that I minded; we could always walk away with a handful of neat little prizes, so I had no reason to object.
Still, our primary objective today was window-shopping the magic specialty stores and snatching up anything worthwhile if luck was on our side. Keeping that in mind, I offered a compromise. "There's a magic tool shop on the way. How about we stop by there first?"
"Sounds good." Ye-in nodded without fuss.
The Elven Magic Tool Shop sat right along the route to the arcade. On our very first trip downtown, we had combined materials bought there to craft the Cumulus and Stormcloud Bracelet set. My itinerary for today followed a similar trajectory: browse the shop first, kill some time at the arcade, and then check out one more storefront afterward.
Of course, we had plenty of time to spare, meaning our plans could shift on a whim, and there was certainly no rush to beeline straight for the shop. So, Ye-in and I ambled along at an easy pace, taking in the sights and sounds of the district.
"……"
Having visited downtown with her twice already, I had practically mapped out her behavioral patterns. Whenever something caught her eye, she would slow to a crawl, stare intently, and gently tug at my sleeve. From there, I would either follow along to indulge her curiosity or rein her in if she started wandering too far off course.
Sure enough, her stride began shifting into a sideward scuttle toward a food stall. She returned a moment later clutching a pair of mini corndogs.
"Half for you."
"Thanks, I'll eat well."
We devoured the mini corndogs in the blink of an eye, only for Ye-in to creep over to another stall and return with a paper bag of mini custard pastries.
"Half for you."
"Right, thank you."
But the second the pastries vanished, her gaze instinctively pivoted toward yet another food cart. This time, I stepped in to tap the brakes.
"Hold on a second, halt."
"……?"
"If you keep snacking like this, you're going to spoil your appetite."
Street food was great and all, but Ahn Jungmi had recently gifted us coupons for a high-end bakery. Opportunities like that didn't come around every day; filling our bellies with artisanal pastries seemed like a far better use of our stomach real estate.
"……"
Ye-in wavered, her eyes darting back and forth between the food cart and me. Then, as if struck by sudden inspiration, a metaphorical exclamation mark practically popped above her head.
"……I'll give you half."
"Be honest. You just want an excuse to eat it yourself, don't you?"
"……Maybe a little?"
When I narrowed my eyes in a sharp glare, she discreetly averted her gaze.
Naturally, we ended up splitting it anyway.
"This is the last one, understood?"
"Understood."
As we walked, we took in various street performances along the way. Club members seemed unusually prominent today, likely because the end of the semester was looming and they needed extracurricular achievements to bolster their records.
Second- and third-year beast tamers, likely from the Great Nature Club, were showing off tricks with their animal companions. A wolf caught baseballs in its jaws and whipped them into the air, while a swooping eagle caught each one mid-flight and tossed it right back.
Off to the side, Park Na-ri was also present—currently enduring a barrage of furious cat jabs from an inexplicably cranky Beom-i.
"N-No, stop! Ow, stop hitting me!"
Poor thing……
Tormented by her oversized feral cat yet again. Shaking my head in silent pity, I kept moving.
A little further down, I spotted Han Gyeo-ul and Senior Choi Han-gil, whom I had encountered during the Temporary Storage infiltration. They were putting on an exhibition of their own: whenever Gyeo-ul erected a pristine wall of ice, Choi Han-gil swiftly carved it into an intricate sculpture. It was an impressive display of mana control fitting for executives of the White Magic Club.
"……?"
Mid-stroll, Ye-in's eyes widened with curiosity as she stared toward a nearby plaza. Colorful pops and bangs erupted in quick succession, sending plumes of multicolored smoke billowing into the air. Letting her pull me along, I followed the trail.
Ah, the Alchemy Club.
Countless finger-sized vials lined the display tables, and passing students were trying them out one by one. A female student gingerly sipped from a blue vial—only for a loud poof! to trigger a miniature burst of sapphire smoke. When the haze cleared, her hair had shifted to the exact same shade of blue as the potion.
"Whoa……" she breathed, admiring her reflection in a hand mirror.
Appearance-altering dye items.
They were vanity consumables that temporarily altered the drinker's hair or eye color, usually matching the tint of the concoction itself.
"……!"
Ye-in looked up at me, her eyes sparkling like polished glass.
Sensing an easy mark with uncanny precision, an upperclassman from the Alchemy Club stepped forward to hawk his wares. "Give it a try! It tastes great, and it's plenty of fun. By the way, it's totally free!"
Well, of course it was free. His goal wasn't to turn a profit, but to field-test the dye formulas. Not that there was any real danger of an accident either. The club had its reputation to uphold, so these were surely vetted prototypes. And even if a toxic contaminant had somehow slipped in, Ye-in had Hundred Poisons Immunity and I possessed Immunity to Ten Thousand Poisons.
So, taking the orange vial offered by the alchemy senior, I downed it in one gulp.
Huh, it actually tastes like orange.
Not bad at all. As I smacked my lips, a loud bang! echoed, and my field of view was instantly swallowed by thick orange smoke.
The smoke dissipated a heartbeat later to reveal Ye-in staring up at me.
"Orange Kim Ho."
Grinning from ear to ear, the senior held up a handheld mirror. Sure enough, my hair and eyes were dyed a vibrant, citrusy orange.
"Can't let you get off scot-free."
I picked out a pink vial and handed it over. Ye-in took it and slowly drained the contents.
Poof!
A soft pink burst erupted, replacing her usual ash-gray hair and irises with pastel pink.
"……?"
"Well, well, look who it is. If it isn't the Pink Sloth."
"……!"
Thoroughly fascinated, Ye-in began handing me vial after vial. With each successive pop, I transformed into Blue Kim Ho, Green Kim Ho, White Kim Ho, and beyond. For a fleeting second, I felt like I could empathize with Rainbow Gabdu.
Poof!
Inspecting my latest transformation, Ye-in gave a slow nod.
"……Gray Kim Ho."
"Looks like you like this one."
"Approved."
Evidently finding Kim Ho with gray hair and gray eyes to her liking, she finally stopped offering potions. For the record, she had transformed into a blonde-haired, blue-eyed sloth in the meantime.
Deciding that was enough potion tasting for one day, I turned to the upperclassman before leaving. "How long does the effect last?"
"Around two hours? It should revert back to normal by then. If it doesn't, just drop by our club room."
What do you mean, 'if it doesn't'? Does that mean it might not wear off?
His parting words hardly inspired confidence, but it wasn't worth fretting over. Worst case scenario, it was just hair color.
Continuing our stroll through the bustling streets, we eventually spotted the familiar sign of the Elven Magic Tool Shop in the distance. Just then, Ye-in tilted her head, fixing an unblinking stare toward the middle of the thoroughfare. Wondering what had caught her attention, I followed her gaze.
And found something remarkably familiar.
That guy's still around?
Striding forward with exaggerated, theatrical steps was a masked gentleman. He was both a field boss and an event boss, known for challenging passersby he took a liking to with casual trivia or mini-games—and coughing up hidden pieces whenever someone won.
On our very first trip downtown, Ye-in had seen through his parlor tricks, earning herself a [Lucky Playing Card] as a reward. Since that was nearly two months ago, I had assumed he would have left Dungeon Island by now, yet here he was, still roaming about.
"~~! ~~!"
Just like last time, the Masked Gentleman didn't utter a single syllable, yet his frantic hand gestures and jaunty steps radiated pure delight. At the same time, his hands rummaged through the inner pockets of his coat, clearly preparing to produce a deck of cards.
But he wasn't the only one converging on Ye-in.
The eyes of the surrounding crowd suddenly snapped in another direction, where a clown was dancing a flamboyant jig as he merrily approached. Clad in garish, vibrant attire, his face was likewise concealed beneath a festive mask.
My eyes narrowed in intrigue.
That's an event boss too.
Aside from minor differences in their mini-games and reward pools, he was essentially the same breed of entity as the Masked Gentleman. What struck me as peculiar, however, was just how exceptionally rare it was for two event bosses to appear in the same spot at once. Usually, they staked out separate territories, and even if their paths crossed, one of them would promptly clear out.
Yet here they were, acutely aware of each other's presence, competitively scrambling toward Ye-in.
What on earth has gotten into them?
These entities normally treated players they didn't fancy like invisible ghosts, refusing to offer so much as a basic riddle. Yet they were practically tripping over themselves just to give Ye-in an event.
I should just watch for now.
Both were formidable bosses in their own right, but entirely harmless to passersby. Even if someone lost their mini-game, their life was never on the line. Besides, I had every confidence that our Fortune Pig could handle whatever parlor trick they threw her way with ease.
Arriving half a step earlier, the Masked Gentleman immediately began riffling a deck of playing cards with dazzling flourishes, eager to kick off his mini-game. But the Masked Clown arrived hot on his heels, slapping a hand over the deck to stop him. The two event bosses instantly broke into a silent, frantic brawl of exaggerated pantomime.
Roughly deciphered, their silent argument went something like:
—I'm doing this! Back off!
—I got here first! You back off!
—Like I care!
Ye-in glanced back and forth between them, looking utterly unimpressed. When she turned to walk away, the clown and the gentleman froze, abandoned their squabble, and scurried to block her path in a panic. From their desperate gestures, they seemed to be pleading for just a moment of her time.
What could possibly have made them this desperate? I couldn't fathom it.
"……!"
"……!"
Seeing Ye-in stop, the two bosses exchanged a rapid flurry of silent gestures before swiftly striking a compromise. The clown stepped back a pace, and the gentleman resumed shuffling his cards.
Are they taking turns?
Chrr-rr-up!
Ye-in watched the deck flutter through his fingers with a face entirely devoid of expression.