Chapter 37
Chapter 37
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: On the Rooftop
-----------------------------------------------------------------
As my foggy mind cleared, the first thing I saw was the rooftop floor right in front of my nose.
"Hngh..."
A groan slipped out on its own as I gradually came to my senses, recalling yesterday's events. The moment I thought just come back already, I'd blacked out.
No matter how springlike the daytime felt, it was still freezing cold like an ice block at dawn.
Even so, I was relieved my body wasn't seriously hurt. I staggered to my feet like a zombie.
"Da...mn...ba..."
I rummaged through my pockets but couldn't find my cigarettes. Looking around, I spotted the pack rolling on the floor.
"Hoo..."
I picked it up, pulled out a cigarette, stuck it in my mouth, and glanced at the sky. The sun was blazing brightly.
"Damn, looks like I was lying on the floor all day."
"Hoo— Status Window!"
⚔ STATUS ⚔ 👤 Name: Han Ga-eul (Heavenly Peach) 🎂 Age: 21 👑 Title: Saintess 🏛 Affiliation: Heavenly Peach 🌌 Affiliation: Immortal Realm 💀 Affiliation: Netherworld 🎭 Contracted Spirit: Aparsec ⚡ Contracted God: Mara Papiyas ✨ Contracted God: Siddhartha Gautama "...This is seriously fucked. What the hell, I'm not a bat—why do I have so many affiliations?"
I moved around a bit, but aside from feeling strangely light, nothing else stood out.
Recalling the moments before I passed out, it seemed like a ton had changed, but the unhelpful status window didn't explain shit.
"Fuck, it hurt so much I couldn't even read the messages properly."
I sighed, then realized my body felt grimy from yesterday's chaos. I headed to the bathroom, showered, and pondered what to do next.
"Shopping's all that's left."
I lingered under the warm water for a good while before shaking off the moisture and stepping into the yard to light a cigarette.
"Hoo— Status Window!"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ A hazy cloud of smoke drifts up as poorly performing skills unfold. 🛒 SHOP LIST [Skills] [Items] — [Sort Ascending] [Search] [Balance: 108.46 million won] Heavenly Peach ... Chopstick Mastery Slapstick ... Pastry Making ... Animal Husbandry Knowledge Drone Piloting ... Heavy Strike ... Finger Strike ... Iron Body ... Muscle Severing Bone Dislocator "Fuck, give me back my skills."
All the bread-and-butter skills that had been at the top were gone, leaving only one weird one behind.
I tapped it, and text appeared before my eyes.
Heavenly Peach You are Heavenly Peach itself. [Price: 100 million won] ○ Immortal Peach Heavenly Eye ● Nether Peach Demonic Eye ◐ Divine Body Evolving "Damn... What does it mean I'm Heavenly Peach? And what's Heavenly Eye and Demonic Eye?"
The skill window had an explanation that wasn't really an explanation. It was pissing me off, so I reset it to normal.
Switching back revealed an even more fucked-up parade of skills.
"...This is seriously fucked."
I poked around for window shopping and necessities, but it was all useless crap.
Chopstick Mastery: Become skilled at using chopsticks. [Price: 500,000 won] "..."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ "Gasp." ⚔ SKILL ACQUIRED ⚔ Graceful Chopstick Use Lv.1 Never drop your target when using chopsticks. Friction at chopstick tips increases. Chopstick handling accelerates. Expressive power improves when playing Chopstick March. [MAX LV] There were way more troll skills than expected, so I was blankly browsing when curiosity must've made my finger twitch.
I snapped out of it only after hearing the system chime.
"Holy shit, when did I click that? My precious 500k..."
I poked around more, but nothing seemed immediately useful for a shut-in streamer.
Iron Body Skin temporarily hardens. Defense increases with level. Multiple purchases raise skill level. Activate by shouting activation word "Tekkai" at 100dB+. [Price: 50 million won] Physical Fitness Muscle strength increases. Cardiopulmonary endurance increases. Muscular endurance increases. Agility increases. Multiple purchases raise skill level. [Price: 1 million won] Overwhelmed by the sheer number, I picked two that seemed useful right away.
Iron Body looked good for blocking stabs, but the activation was too retarded to commit.
Physical Fitness was a no-brainer, so I decided to stack a few and tapped away.
"Buy it!"
My fingers blurred through the air in a flashy display.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Ding!] [Ding!] [Ding!]... I enjoyed the harmony of my dancing fingers and the chimes in my ears, but less than 2 seconds later, with no response, cold sweat broke out.
⚔ SKILL ACQUIRED ⚔ Physical Fitness Lv.6 Muscle strength greatly increases. Cardiopulmonary endurance greatly increases. Muscular endurance greatly increases. Agility greatly increases. Multiple purchases raise skill level. [Price: 64 million won] [Balance: 44.96 million won] Time seemed frozen as cold sweat poured; my 100 million had been halved.
"Fuuu... Couldn't even enjoy it for 2 seconds. Drugs are fucking expensive."
I cursed myself for not stopping, like an addict. Wondering if I had abs now, I lifted my shirt, but my massive chest blocked the view.
To check properly, I went to the bathroom and yanked the handle.
—Crack
"...?"
The wooden bathroom door was torn off in front of me, and the handle was in my hand.
"What the fuck."
Thinking my whole body had turned muscular, I stripped in the bathroom. My soft, pale belly was unchanged.
"The high's crashing..."
Doubting if super strength made sense, a system chime rang.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ A letter-shaped icon appears before your eyes, like when Par sent one before. "To my beloved daughter." "Once your body becomes a bit more sturdy, I shall send a wonderful gift, so keep at it diligently." "With love, Mara Papiyas—" "Is this bastard insane? Out of nowhere, why am I his daughter?"
Mara's letter, written like he'd lost his mind bouncing around in hell, left me dumbfounded.
Even amid that, my curiosity about the gift meant I wasn't right in the head either.
I tossed the bathroom handle in the trash and pondered, then grabbed my phone.
—Kyaa! Ga-eul!
The other end's high energy hit as soon as I called.
"Sis, whatcha doing?"
—I'm heading back up after checking logistics and a meeting.
"Ah, driving?"
—Bluetooth, so it's fine! Miss me so you called?
"Yeah, bored. Wanna hang? Weekend, but you seem busy. Next time."
—No way! Let's hang!! What to do?
"Hmm... Don't wanna go out. Come to my place? I'll shop and grill meat."
—Eek, love it! Coming!!
"Cool, sending address. See ya when you park."
—Yup!! See ya soon, Ga-eul!
"Mrow, drive safe, no funny business."
—Got it!!
I ended the call with my ever-energetic sis and went to the yard for a smoke.
—Hoo.
Remembering the skill-ups, I clenched a cigarette in my teeth and awkwardly threw a punch into the air.
—Bang!!
The air exploded from empty space, echoing across the rooftop.
"Crazy..."
The air-burst sound from cheap wuxia flicks was real. Did this even make sense?
"Can't control this, and I'll kill someone."
Shadowboxing got me hyped for fighting, but remembering sis was coming, I flung open the status window.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Cooking] Overall cooking ability improves. [Price: 1 million won] "Hoo... Fingers, please behave."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Ding!] [Ding!] [Ding!] ⚔ SKILL ACQUIRED ⚔ Cooking Lv.3 Ingredient prep Seasoning balance Fire control Kitchen knife handling Dry heat cooking Wet heat cooking Multiple purchases raise skill level. [Price: 8 million won] [Balance: 37.96 million won] "Shiiit... Meant to buy twice, but my damn fingers wouldn't listen."
I was messing around solo on the rooftop when a knock came from the iron door installed there.
"Sis?"
"Yeah!! It's me."
"I gave you the code."
"Hehe. But first time—can't do that."
I cracked the door, and her face peeked in.
"Pfft. Sis, what're you doing? Come in."
She peeked her face first, looked around cautiously, then slipped in.
"Ooh... Excuse the intrusion!"
"Yeah, make yourself at home."
"So this is Ga-eul's place. First rooftop room—super novel."
"Haven't lived here long myself."
Excited, she wandered the rooftop before returning to me.
"Fun! Way bigger than I thought."
"Just a bare rooftop—what's fun?"
She happily roamed the nothing-special rooftop, chattering endlessly about it, lifting my mood too.
Her eager mouth was cute, so I patted her head.
"Eek!"
"Pffhehe, so cute, sis."
"I-I'm the sis."
"My bad? Want a hug from your lil sis?"
I spread my arms; her face flushed red. No refusal, just hesitant approach.
I pulled the slow-approaching sis into a tight embrace. Warm, soft sensation filled my arms.
"Good job getting here."
"Hng..."
Just hugging made her melt; I gently stroked her back.