Chapter 37: Something Unknown (11)

16-20 minutes 27.06.2023

The end result was that Shin Jiho began to live in one house with Joo Yiwon.

This move wasn’t limited to Shin Jiho alone. Thanks to Joo Yiwon’s extreme defense, No Name’s office, which had been partially destroyed, needed to be moved too.

The place they moved to was… a building in the alley right behind Chungram Guild’s building. 

A 15-story building that Joo Yiwon personally owns.

Naturally, Jiho strongly expressed his aversion to living in one house with Yiwon. But the reason he had no choice but to accept was…

Because Yiwon was petty and told his father everything.

To be fair, Yiwon didn’t tell him that Jiho had gotten hurt. All he told his dad was that a monster had entered No Name’s office. Thanks to that, it ended at the two of them living together. Had Yiwon told him everything, Jiho would’ve been immediately dragged back home.

As a result, Jiho had no choice but to move into his childhood friend’s house in order to keep Yiwon silent.

And truthfully, to continue to argue that he wanted to live alone…

Shin Jiho was a little shaken from the monster attack.

Although the results of the investigation haven’t come out yet, they were able to track the monster’s general movements through CCTV footage.

That monster was first found in an area of Bukhan Mountain near Eunpyeong District.1 From there, it walked for about six hours, straight towards Bangbae Station. Once it reached Bangbae Station, it swung its head around while walking on the streets, as if looking for something, before finding No Name Guild and walking up to it without hesitation.

And the words it had said as soon as it saw Jiho.

‘I, found, you.’

As soon as the monster saw Shin Jiho, it had dropped its human form and attacked.

The monster’s target was Shin Jiho.

Though it could’ve been going after No Name’s other guildmembers, the chance of that was low. A human disguise is a perfect sneak attack. If it had been going after someone other than Shin Jiho, then there was no reason for it to remove its disguise so early.

They didn’t completely throw away the idea of it going after someone else, of course. But the one in most danger right now is Shin Jiho.

Why that monster chose Shin Jiho as its target, whether it was aiming specifically for Shin Jiho as a person or for some characteristic Shin Jiho has, how it found him if it was aiming for him, where it appeared from, and how it was able to disguise itself as a human are all uncertain right now.

It would’ve been nice if they could’ve at least studied its dead body.

Since nothing has been revealed yet, they decided to keep the existence of a humanlike monster a secret for now in order to keep citizens calm.

But because it would seem suspicious if they built a strong defense system around No Name Guild all of a sudden, they had to restrain themselves.

In the end, the only choice left to protect his body was to move close to the safest place on the planet: Chungram Guild.

Jiho looked at the newly constructed building with troubled eyes.

This building–which had just finished construction half a year ago–has stores on its 1st and 2nd floors and Chungram Guild offices from its 3rd to 8th. Its 9th to 13th floors used to be used as storage but…

As soon as talk about No Name’s temporary office came up, Yiwon talked to Jihye, and the two of them went through with the move all by themselves.

Thanks to that, No Name has now come to use the 9th to 13th floors on the building behind Chungram Guild as its office.

The rent around the area is much higher than the rent for the office at Bangbae Station was. Not only is the location good, but the amount of space they’re renting is much larger than before as well.

On top of that, the building had been built with materials from dungeons, and it already has a barrier applied around it. Buildings built with dungeon resources are, obviously, much more expensive than normal buildings.

Of course, Joo Yiwon said that he would take the same amount of rent as normal buildings charge. When Jiho said that there was no need for that, Joo Yiwon told him that the stores on the lower floors were already paying like that in rent so… Jiho told him to do whatever he wanted to do.

Jiho took his troubled gaze away from the pieces of furniture being moved into the new office space.

Truthfully, the new location of the guild is nice.

In the previous building, not only did bugs come out sometimes because the building was old, but they also got into frequent fights with Seon Tae Woong’s guild because their guilds were close.

Even though Seon Tae Woong will probably not be picking fights with Jiho like he did in the past, they can’t become close just like that.

Jiho stared at the building for a while before asking the thing that had been stuck on his mind.

“Hey… Were you thinking of moving my guild here ever since you began constructing this building?”

“Eung. Why else would I have been using this place as storage, then?”

“…”

He’s been using over half of the building as storage for half a year now. This bastard has no idea how to save money…

Of course, Joo Yiwon has so much money that he doesn’t have to worry about something like that.

Seeing the furniture go up, Jiho was about to follow them in when Yiwon stopped him.

“Jiho, come this way.”

“Why?”

“You can see the office when you go to work, right? And they’re still in the middle of moving, too. You should look at our house first.”

“No, I should watch over the guild…”

“Your guild’s vice-guildmaster is watching over it. Leave those chores to your vice-guildmaster.”

“…”

But our vice-guildmaster said he doesn’t like extra work…2

Well, Lim Seung Joo is different from before too.

Even though the office was destroyed, Jiho has still been going to the training center these past couple of days. He, Lim Seung Joo, Heo Sori, and Yang Hojin have been training as if they were in a real scenario.

Lim Seung Joo, who used to act out of line, treated Jiho with such respect that Heo Sori even asked him if he had taken drugs or had been brain-washed.

Even after seeing his apology, Jiho thought nothing was going to change, but Lim Seung Joo acted like a loyal guard dog.

So Seung Joo probably won’t complain about him leaving all the work to him for a day…

“And if the guildmaster sticks his nose into every single task, the guildmembers will feel uncomfortable.”

“That’s Chungram. No Name is…”

“If you want to remain as a B-rank guild forever, then you can continue to maintain that familial atmosphere.”

“…”

Because he wasn’t wrong, Jiho stayed quiet.

Although he doesn’t plan to make the organization of the guild be completely vertical, he can’t make it be completely horizontal either.3 If they are to enter a dungeon where one’s life is on the line, Jiho has to have enough authority to ensure that his guildmembers follow his commands.

Since Jiho remained silent, Yiwon didn’t say anything else and, instead, grabbed Jiho’s wrist with a smile. While Jiho was still hesitating, he was helplessly dragged over to the elevator by Yiwon.

The place Jiho was headed towards wasn’t a normal elevator. 

The elevator is a personal elevator that only opens when it recognizes one’s inherent mana pattern. When Jiho sneaked a peek at the elevator’s status window, tens of different defense mechanisms popped up.

Because this elevator is made from dungeon resources and moves up and down inside a great barrier made of mana, there’s no way any external force will damage it.

“Take this elevator. This only opens on the 1st and 14th floors.”

“What kind of flashy show of money is this… What a waste of materials.”

“I can just get more materials in a dungeon—safety comes first.”

Who knew this person was so fixated on safety…

The personal elevator brought them to the highest floor, where Jiho’s new house is.

In other words, Jiho and Yiwon’s house is right above No Name’s office.

‘Work and home are really close to each other now.’

They weren’t far before, but they’ve become a little too close now.

Rather than feeling good about that, Jiho felt slightly uncomfortable. Wouldn’t he run into guildmembers whenever he steps out of the house?

And he’s not living alone either; to think he’s living with another guild’s guildmaster now… Jiho sent a look to Yiwon, who was the one to stubbornly insist on this house.

“Hey, do you, as an S-rank guildmaster, really want to live above someone else’s small business?”

“It’s because it’s a small business that I’m living above it. Would I be living here if this was above Heaven Guild’s office?”

Joo Yiwon tilted his head to one side as he casually brought up his rival guild (or, rather, Heaven is the guild one-sidedly trying to go up against Chungram). Then he let out a short chuckle.

“I guess that would be fun in its own way. They might try to eavesdrop on what I’m doing or something.”

“How is that funny…”

“In exchange, I would eavesdrop on them too. I wouldn’t make a single peep and just listen in on others instead. Wouldn’t that be fun?”

“Wiretapping is a crime.”

“There’s no reason to do so anyways.”

Yiwon, who carelessly walked right over a fellow S-rank guild, had an arrogant attitude. The fact that that arrogance isn’t unfounded is part of why Joo Yiwon is so impressive. The only problem is that it’s annoying.

Leaving Yiwon to bask in his own glory by himself, Jiho looked around the new house.

This house on the top floor–specifically the 14th and 15th–is very luxurious.

As soon as you walk in, there is a pond and waterway made out of stone in the middle of the hall.4 Instead of collecting in the pool, the water flows through the waterway continuously. In order to not block the walkway, the waterway follows along the edges of the room.

Jiho didn’t think Yiwon would have installed this simply for the aesthetics.

Jiho checked the status window.

Information

Curtain of Silver Waves

RankSSDescriptionA barrier made from purified mana and water. While the water that contains mana flows, it blocks external forces and protects the people within the curtain while replenishing their MP and HP.Current Volume of Mana1,892,901

“Sh*t…”

A curse slipped out of Jiho. He quickly covered his mouth.

A barrier like this exists? Not only is it SS-rank, but the amount of mana it possesses makes one’s jaw drop. On top of that, the mana barely drops, even while the barrier is up. Even though Jiho has been observing it for a while, it only went down by one.

“Why? Do you not like it?”

“N-no.”

Since he can’t say he got shocked by a status window, Jiho answered vaguely and changed the subject.

“But why were you living in another house if you had already decorated this place? And why are you moving in now, of all times?”

Joo Yiwon’s ability is Copy.

Though he can copy any skill he sees once, the effect differs depending on that ability’s affinity with him.

The types of skills Yiwon can copy perfectly are mostly attack or defense type combat skills. In fact, many times, he uses the combat skills even better than the original owners can. 

The skills he can copy well after those are recovery and weakening type support skills. He can heal about as well as most healers can.

On the flip side, he’s not so good at copying special skills like support skills that strengthen allies, production or prediction skills, and teleportation skills.

Yiwon is particularly weak with teleportation skills. He barely uses it to go to and from work, opting for a car instead… It would’ve been easier for him if he had started living here from the start.

“About that… there’s a reason.”

“Ah I see.”

Seeing Joo Yiwon draw out his words with a smile on his face, Jiho felt like he shouldn’t ask, even though he was curious.

Seeing Jiho make a straight face, Yiwon showed a leisurely expression.

“I’ll lead you to the room first.”

“Alright.”

Jiho followed behind Yiwon a bit nervously. Unlike his worries, however, Yiwon’s house tour was fairly normal. As he watched Yiwon introduce every small thing, such as the shoe closet, or the TV in the living room and the spot the remote belongs to, a new concern passed through Jiho’s head.

‘This guy always liked to keep things organized.’

Because Yiwon has slight OCD, he used to go cold and push people away, even if they had just barely touched him. While thinking that he should keep this in mind, Jiho continued to trail right behind Yiwon.

“This is the kitchen. Although, of course, Jiho can’t cook.”

“I can just order something…”

“There’s no sincerity in the food you buy outside.”

“Are you looking down on the sincerity of the workers right now?”

“No, not that… I’ll make you meals full of love.”

“If you have the time to do that, then sleep.”

Why is a guy who lives each day by the minute saying that he’s going to cook? He should be tired; if he has the time to cook, then he should get more sleep instead.

Whenever Jiho sees Yiwon, he wants to put him to sleep. Looking at that guy’s schedule, there’s a lot of times where he sleeps less than 30 hours a week. This week was no different.

“If you have nothing else to do today, then just give me a brief tour and go to sleep.”

Jiho chided before leaving the kitchen. After looking at small rooms and bathrooms and such, Yiwon led him to a room with a slightly excited look on his face. That room was none other than a bedroom.

“Whoa… Sh*t.”

The bedroom was big.

In the middle of the big room is a large bed. According to its location, the room should be closed off with no windows, yet…

For some reason, the ceiling is ridiculously tall. Jiho checked the difference in ceiling height between the inside of this room and outside. Even if they opened the room up to the floor above it… isn’t it still too tall?

And there’s even bright sunlight shining through a full-length window, which shows not the middle of Gangnam, but a Northern European forest. Whenever Jiho takes a breath, the scent of a fresh forest comes floating in.

It had seemed that the small waterway that maintains the barrier goes through both the 14th and 15th floors, but in this particular room, water flows up into a small hole in the ceiling. This makes the scenery even more unbelievable.

Jiho, who was looking around the room, noticed an expensive-looking item on one side of the room.

Information

Environment Recreation Device (Temporary)

RankADescriptionCreates a perfect illusion that affects all five senses. There are 30 pre-installed illusions.CreatorChungram’s Development Team’s joint venture (Test Project)

“They really make all sorts of things.”

“Ah, did you notice that that’s an item?”

“No… Just thought something as unusual as this has to be an ability of some sort.”

Jiho lied. Thankfully, Yiwon didn’t seem to suspect much and simply nodded.

“Yeah, this is something they developed to sell to the general public.”

“It’s nice.”

“Is that it?”

Yiwon grumbled. He seemed quite disappointed. 

Should he show more appreciation? Well, it is a great item and business venture, after all, so his compliments must’ve been lacking.

“Ah, it’s pretty. It looks real. If it’s strong enough to affect a hunter’s five senses, the effects will be even stronger for normal people. An item like this will be great as a business. Although it’ll need a few safety features…”

“No, not that.”

Yiwon cut off Jiho’s words and sighed.

“You should ask whose room this is.”

“Isn’t it yours?”

“Nope.”

Hearing the homeowner’s firm answer, Jiho looked at the luxurious room with a heavier heart than before.

“Then for me?”

“Nope.”

“What then?”

Yiwon grinned brightly, as if he had been waiting for Jiho to ask that question. His mana appeared.

The bright surroundings suddenly darkened, and a moon appeared. Flowers and fireworks made from mana exploded. Self-luminous petals floated down from the sky and melted into the floor.

Yiwon stretched a hand out to Jiho. In a daze, Jiho ended up being brought over to the bed and laid on top of it.

Receiving the faint light of the moon on his back, Yiwon whispered.

“It’s a honeymoon suite.”