"Amazing…" Reiji praised. She didn’t expect that Seo Jun-Ho would be bold enough to talk to her informally. She had gone through all sorts of hardships before eventually arriving here, so she wasn’t willing to accept Seo Jun-Ho’s discourtesy.
Smack!
"Ah!" Seo Jun-Ho covered his forehead with both hands and closed his eyes tightly. It hurt so much that he felt like crying.
Seo Jun-Ho rubbed his head and groaned, "Ah, that hurts."
"So what if it hurts? I dare you to speak informally once more."
"Uh Seo Jun-Ho decisively changed the topic. “What brings you here, Reiji-nim?"
"What do you think? Do you think I would come here for a stroll?" asked Reiji.
Seo Jun-Ho smiled awkwardly when he saw her fierce glare.
"You’re here because of me?”
"Yep. That’s why I’m here, but Reiji muttered, looking around with a frown. "It seems that you picked up some stuff with you."
"What do you mean, pick up? They’re people, you know."
They were human beings rather than cats on the street. Seo Jun-Ho swept his gaze across the Farm residents and asked carefully, "Can we bring them with us?"
"No way." Reiji cut him off. She sighed lightly before continuing. "I would have insisted on not letting them go with us if things were as per usual, but..."
Absent without official leave, insubordination, violation of the System rules. Taking these people with them sounded cute in comparison to what she had already done. Reiji nodded a few times with a look of resignation.
"Do as you please. I feel like you’ll annoy me a lot if I said now."
"Mmhm." Seo Jun-Ho simply smiled and nodded. It seemed that Reiji knew him well.
Reiji saw that and scolded. “Is there something funny? Do you really think that this is a good thing?"
"What? How can this be a bad thing when everything went well?”
"Hoh? Everything went well?" The corner of Reiji’s mouth curled up. "Say that again after withdrawing that.”
"What do you mean, withdraw?”
"Withdraw your half-assed transcendent energy," added Reiji.
"Oh."
Was she talking about Dignity of an Emperor? Seo Jun-Ho nodded and stopped using the skill.
'See you next time, Sir Hart.'
The Frost Knight's blue eyes turned dark.
?!”
Seo Jun-Ho collapsed to the floor. He felt as if a giant hammer had struck his entire body, shattering all his bones. He looked up and stared at Reiji with an anguished and distorted look.
"Use your brain. You were still considered a transcendent being, albeit temporarily. Do you really think that humans will be just fine becoming a pseudo-transcendent with their weak fleshly bodies?”
One would have to sacrifice something to obtain something. Seo Jun-Ho was once again reminded of that fact.
Reiji approached Seo Jun-Ho and said, "Swallow it."
Upon swallowing the small pill that Reiji had handed over to him, the dizziness and the pain disappeared immediately.
"What was that? I’m all better now,” said Seo Jun-Ho.
"What do you mean, all better? It was just a painkiller."
In other words, Seo Jun-Ho was still injured.
Thanks to the painkiller, Seo Jun-Ho could finally breathe properly. He stood up and said, "Thank you. It feels like I’m always in your care, Reiji-nim."
"Hm, don’t say thank you." Reiji’s eyes turned sharp as if she were staring at her prey. "I will have you pay me back with interest."
At the sight, Seo Jun-Ho felt a shiver down his spine.
***
The former residents of the Farm expressed their gratitude to Seo Jun-Ho.
"Sniff! Thank you! I can only say thank you…!”
"We know how to be grateful, so…."
"We’ll do our best to be successful, so we can repay you someday!"
Seo Jun-Ho wondered if he should take them to the 5th Floor or the 2nd Floor. After a moment of consideration, Seo Jun-Ho chose to bring them over to the 2nd Floor.
‘They’ll suffer if their environment drastically changed.’
These people had been living in a cave their entire life, so if they were suddenly thrown into a futuristic city, they would surely suffer a lot.
Having made his decision, Seo Jun-Ho sent them over to Sirin. It was the city within the territory that he had received from Emperor Gauss.
"I’ll leave it to you, Chief Jung."
"I actually want to have more residents here, so this is great."
Chief Jung, the leader of Moonlight, had successfully settled in Sirin.
Seo Jun-Ho judged that it shouldn’t be too hard for the former Farm residents to adapt here as long as Chief Jung helped them with all his heart.
"Sonny-nim..." Tess walked over to Seo Jun-Ho and bowed before saying, "I will never forget the kindness you have shown me."
"It’s fine even if you were to forget it. I just want you to live well. I’ll be happy if you’re living the life you have always wanted to live," said Seo Jun-Ho.
"No, I won’t forget,” said Tess.
How stubborn. Smiling, Seo Jun-Ho lightly tapped Tess’ shoulder before turning around.
"I will never forget it!" exclaimed Tess.
"I will pray for you every day!”
"Thank you!"
One by one, the former Farm residents spoke words that warmed his heart.
Seo Jun-Ho was all smiles as he left the castle town of Sirin. He eventually found Reiji, who was leaning against the wall.
Reiji saw him and asked, “Don’t you think it’s about time we talk about the favors I had done for you so far?”
"Yes muttered Seo Jun-Ho. He was a bit nervous. After all, Reiji was the Administrator of the 2nd Floor, and the fact that she came up to the 9th Floor to save him told wonders about the sacrifice she had made to do such a thing.
'I don't know the details, but Administrators aren’t really allowed to intervene in matters between Players and go down the Floors.’
Seo Jun-Ho’s knowledge about the scope of an Administrator’s work mostly came from Reiji, but it had to be pretty accurate. It was supported by the fact that they didn’t really react when the fiends or even the demons made a ruckus on the Floors.
Even worse, Reiji came up to a Floor as high as the 9th Floor.
‘I can’t even imagine just how severe the punishment she will receive...’
In that case, the issue was why. Why did the incarnation of laziness save him? Was she hoping to get something out of him? Seo Jun-Ho thought hard about it, but he couldn’t find the answer.
"I will do it as long as I can do it,” said Seo Jun-Ho.
"As long as you can do it? Don’t give me that bullshit," Reiji replied coldly. "You have to do it, even if you can’t. That is the only way you can possibly repay me."
"I understand. What do I have to do?"
"Before that, let me tell you what’s going on,” said Reiji while scratching her head.
‘Damn, I'm pretty sure I still had two days left on my PTO.’
Reiji thought she still had some days on her PTO, but she had actually exhausted her PTO long ago. She didn’t take Gray’s warning seriously, and she climbed up a higher Floor just because the demons had done something unscrupulous first.
Reiji wasn’t really worried about her insubordination. Disobeying her superiors was already second nature to her.
‘The problem is the absence without official leave..’
Reiji would have been able to avoid being punished by using her PTO as an excuse, but unfortunately, she had already exhausted her PTO.
She naturally received a heavy punishment from those up above.
"In a nutshell, I got hit by a detention."
And it was a year-long detention at that.
In addition, it would be in a place called the Hole of Repentance.
"I see…" It seemed that he truly got her in trouble. Seo Jun-Ho looked at her as if she was pitiful and said, "Please take care, and I’ll make sure to see you again once your detention period is done."
"Huh? What bullshit are you spouting?" Reiji frowned and continued. "It’s your fault that I got in this mess in the first place, so you’re coming with me."
"I’m coming with you?”
"Yeah."
"Where?"
"We’re going to the Hole of Repentance."
"We
Why? Seo Jun-Ho stared blankly at Reiji.
Reiji’s expression changed, and she looked greatly annoyed by Seo Jun-Ho’s actions as she said, "This is all your fault, so you should take responsibility. What, are you going to try and run away?"
"No, you said it’s the Hole of Repentance, right? You should go there on your own and repent," said Seo Jun-Ho. Why would she even drag him there? Seo Jun-Ho felt aggrieved.
Reiji patted him on the shoulder as if she understood everything and said, "Don't be too scared. It’s not my first time going there, and it’s not really that scary of a place. It’s a huge place with basically nothing in it, so it’s boring to be alone there."
Seo Jun-Ho didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t dumb, so he quickly realized what she wanted him to do.
She obviously wanted him to attend to her. Seo Jun-Ho composed himself and asked, "Reiji-nim, shouldn't I clear the Floors as soon as possible?"
"I wouldn’t have done this if things were as per usual, but it’s not, so I have no choice but to do this," Reiji said placidly, "But think about it. Do you really think that they will be willing to lock up a high-quality worker like me for a year?"
"Does that mean that even though they said you’ll be detained for a year, it would actually only be for ten days at most?” asked Seo Jun-Ho.
"No. It will be for a year. It’s just that the flow of time inside that hole and outside is vastly different from each other," replied Reiji.
Hearing that, Seo Jun-Ho recalled something and unknowingly muttered, "Goshiwon?"
"Huh? No, it’s not that small.”
"No, I mean, I’ve been in a place like that Hole of Repentance before," explained Seo Jun-Ho.
Seo Jun-Ho was talking about Gu Shi-On’s skill, Goshiwon Landlord (A). Seo Jun-Ho had to live there for a year before he could come out, but a year inside Gu Shi-On’s goshiwon was only a few minutes outside.
"How long would we be absent outside if we spent a year there?” asked Seo Jun-Ho.
Reiji smiled and said, "A week."
It was settled, then.
***
The Hole of Repentance was surprisingly massive.
"…Is this really a place built for repentance?"
"Yep," Reiji replied and dove into a sofa. She looked like a hermit crab that had found a new shell.
"Really? So why is it so luxurious?”
"Uh…" Reiji trailed off, not knowing how to explain it. This was originally a desolate place, but it all changed when Reiji started bringing her own personal items after becoming a frequent patron of the Hole of Repentance for her repeated disobedience.
"I don't know. The earlier detainees must have decorated this place."
"Oh, geez. You’re supposed to repent here, so you should probably do that obediently. Why is there a sofa and even a bed here?" grumbled Seo Jun-Ho.
"What do you even know?!" yelled Reiji.
‘This place’s too boring!’ Reiji almost shouted that as well, but she managed to recover her wits in time and change the topic. "Anyway, cook something for me. I’m getting hungry."
"Already?" grumbled Seo Jun-Ho.
"That's why I brought you here. Is there a problem?" asked Reiji with narrowed eyes.
"N-no
Seo Jun-Ho had to repay the favors he had received, so he obediently walked over to the kitchen, put on an apron, and rolled up his sleeves. He swept his gaze across the kitchen and said, "There are enough cooking utensils, but what about the ingredients?”
"I brought everything you might need,” shouted Reiji from the living room.
‘She’s awfully prepared
Reiji started taking out everything she had prepared beforehand from her subspace.
While organizing the ingredients, Seo Jun-Ho asked, "What do you want to eat?"
"Just make sure there are spicy, salty, and sweet dishes.”
‘So she actually has such a childish palate
Seo Jun-Ho decided to make sausage stir fry, vegetables, and soybean paste stew.
"Korean food?"
"Well, this is what I usually cook and eat."
"Damn, I may have made a mistake bringing you here," grumbled Reiji. With a frown, she took a sip of the soybean paste stew. “Oh?”
"Is it too hot?"
"No. I'm a transcendent. There’s no way a mere dish can burn my tongue."
After saying that, Reiji ate in silence. She even went for seconds.
"Not bad.”
It seemed that there was no way that she would go hungry while she was here.
"All right.” Reiji stood up.
"What do you want me to do?” asked Seo Jun-Ho.
"Didn’t I tell you? If you want to repay me, you will have to do something you can’t do.” Reiji took off her coat and revealed her light sportswear underneath before continuing. “You won’t succeed right now, but who knows by the end of the year?”
Seo Jun-Ho was also looking forward to his own success, but hearing someone else’s expectations of him made him feel invigorated and motivated. With that being said, he got up with sparkling eyes.
"I won't disappoint you, investor-nim."
***
Crunch!
There was a horrible crunch as Seo Jun-Ho’s waist shattered under Reiji’s attack.
"Again!"
Reiji coldly looked down at Seo Jun-Ho lying on the ground.
"Just because your opponent managed to shatter one of your vertebrae doesn’t mean that you should let your stance shatter as well. If this were a real battle, I would have already killed you ten times over by taking advantage of that brief opening.”
"I’m sorry
Seo Jun-Ho eventually recovered from his injuries thanks to Cell Regeneration (A).
After recovering, he took a stance once more.
‘She’s strong...’
Reiji was strong.
She was stronger than anyone else he had come face-to-face with so far.
'Well, she’s a transcendent, so it should only be natural, but...’
It was frightening how she was still holding back.
Seo Jun-Ho suddenly became curious. Reiji was holding back as if she were playing with a child, but what if she fought seriously?
'…No, I shouldn’t even think of that.' Seo Jun-Ho felt like he would get seriously hurt if he were to let his curiosity get the better of him.
"Hmm. Wait." Reiji tilted her head while staring at Seo Jun-Ho. "Don't you have Cell Regeneration? I’m sure you have it."
"Yes, I do."
"In that case, why are your bones so soft?"
"Well, even rebar will bend if you hit it strong enough
"That’s the point. Your bones should be harder than rebar—wait." Reiji looked at Seo Jun-Ho’s status window, and her expression abruptly turned ugly. "What is this? You actually don’t have Fracture Resistance?”
"Yes Seo Jun-Ho muttered. So far, Reiji was the only one strong enough to shatter his bones, and Seo Jun-Ho was convinced that his bones were only soft because Reiji was his opponent. It wasn’t that his bones were flimsy—Reiji was simply too strong.
"Dumbass…" Reijie seemed genuinely offended as she said, "You’re actually letting a treasure like this rot. Now that I’ve seen it, there’s no way that I’m just going to ignore it."
Reiji sat down and tapped the ground in front of her.
"Sit here.
Seo Jun-Ho obediently sat down.
Reiji held out her hand and said, "Hand."
"Here—Argh!"
Craack.
There was a horrifying sound as Reiji simultaneously crushed his fingers.
Seo Jun-Ho looked up and stared at her in both bewilderment and shock.
Reiji stared at him as well, unashamed. “What are you looking at?”
"W-well… why did you break my bones without warning
"I’m not going to let that treasure rot under my watch," Reiji replied with a shrug before shattering the remaining bones in Seo Jun-Ho’s hand.
"Highest-level Fracture Resistance. What do you think about getting that first before we start?" asked Reiji.
Seo Jun-Ho went silent. He couldn’t help but think that he was abnormal because the idea actually appealed to him as he replied, "That sounds nice."
"Right?"
"Yes, please start,” said Seo Jun-Ho.
"Sure. I mean, it’s actually pretty difficult for someone to shatter every bone in their body without outside help,” replied Reiji.
Crack, crack!
Goosebump-inducing cracks could be heard as Reiji shattered Seo Jun-Ho's bones.
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