Chapter 32 End-of-semester Evaluation (2)
“Unni, is this really mine…?”
Choi Arin stared blankly at the bankbook her sister had handed her.
A large sum purchase.
As a condition, her sister had brought a whopping 50 million won. Even back then, she was amazed at the amount, which she had never encountered before.
But this time, it was an astonishing 200 million won.
A 200 million won investment.
It was a sum that was hard to believe even when seen with her own eyes.
“It’s the same as last time. The price was drastically raised, so the quantity only needed to be doubled. Arin, you don’t have anything to do when you come home after school anyway, so just make as much as the request form and earn some pocket money.”
“Wait, Unni. This can’t be considered pocket money.”
Choi Arin felt a sense of unreality about the situation. She was just 19 years old and had recently become a Holder. She would have to wait until next year to enter the Academy. For typical prospective Holders, it is customary to enhance their runes and prepare in advance before admission. However, blacksmiths and alchemists belong to an expensive profession. If the household is poor, it is difficult to make use of the Holder’s abilities. Even if she wanted to create something using runes, she had no money. That’s why Choi Arin had nothing special to make—maybe just some simple potions made from herbs found in the mountains.
‘But… suddenly’
There’s someone willing to invest in her, and she doesn’t even know who it is.
A fellow Academy 1st-year Holder who entered the Academy with her sister. However, unlike her sister, this Holder made an extraordinary contract worth 200 million won per month. He had also signed a massive sales contract with Choi Arin, surpassing even the deals with Choi Yoo-min’s equipment as an alchemist, to purchase potions and medicinal products. It was a contract based on a product-by-product basis, unlike the fixed-term contract with Choi Yoo-min. But the amount was beyond imagination.
“Now you have to get used to it. Once you enter the Academy, Arin, and step into the world of Holders, you’ll find out… It’s not that difficult for blacksmiths and alchemists to earn that much money. As long as the product performs well, you’ll be swimming in money because Holders in specialized fields get paid a lot. This is just the beginning.”
“What are you saying? Even you were nervous right after signing the contract a few weeks ago.”
“….”
Choi Yoo-min, who had been acting so proud, fell silent. Even though specialized Holders make a lot of money, for them, who had lived in poverty all their lives, such a large sum of money was beyond their imagination, even if they could touch it.
‘Who is this person anyway?’
It was amazing that someone in just their first year could earn such an amount of money, and it was also surprising that they entrusted such a large sum to Choi Yoo-min and herself, based only on their potential.
An eye that believes only in oneself, and not following others. Choi Arin is a Holder with such confidence.
She was curious about the person named Do Jae-hyun.
“Unni, have you met this senior who invested in me?”
“Huh? Of course. I made the contract with them directly.”
Choi Arin sighed deeply and continued, “I… I also want to enter the academy soon”
“Why?”
“I really want to meet this senior who invested in me. I received such a large sum of money, and I don’t even know what they look like. I’m curious.”
“That, you don’t have to!”
“What?”
Choi Arin looked at Choi Yoo-min with a puzzled expression as she suddenly shouted.
I’m curious about the face of an investor who has entrusted such a large amount of money to us, but I don’t have to know that.
What does that mean?
Her sister seemed embarrassed about something. Her face was slightly flushed, and she was bowing her head.
Choi Arin couldn’t help but scratch her head. What’s up with her sister today?
The number of Holders had grown immensely, but there were fewer dungeons than the demand for them. The regeneration of monsters occurred only once a week. In such an imbalance, monopolizing a dungeon was a significantly advantageous move from a profit perspective. While one could still hunt monsters outside the boundaries to obtain magic stones, it wasn’t an efficient or easy choice.
-Kieee…!!
The roar of the Sizzling Salamander resounded once again. I blocked an incoming attack head-on with a [Combo] and then immobilized another creature approaching from the side using my hands and feet. Thanks to my versatile use of [Sword] and [Quadruped combat], I was able to handle various runes effectively.
“Jae-hyun, behind you!”
Kim Chae-eun’s voice prompted me to place my hand on my waist without needing to turn around. Surely, another Sizzling Salamander was charging from behind. I threw the four daggers I had just drawn in the same way as before.
[Quarter Knives]. It was one of my main skills I had been focusing on lately, along with the growth of magic power. The three Sizzling Salamanders continued their pursuit. The magic that froze the creatures that fell to the ground, [Field Freezing], unexpectedly caught them off guard. Kim Chae-eun’s skills had improved, and she was continually developing her abilities as a Holder.
[Field Freezing] was a derivative skill and magic of the [Freezing] rune that Kim Chae-eun had newly learned from this attack.
“Are you getting used to it now?”
“Yeah. The magic array is similar to Frozen Fog, so it doesn’t seem too difficult.”
“Magic array, what?”
“Magic array. When using magic, you need to sense and arrange the magic power before casting it. The new skill I learned, Field Freezing, has a structure similar to Frozen Fog.”
“Ah, I still don’t get it.”
Understanding magic made sense, but arranging it was like a whole new world. When I heard about it, it sometimes felt like those magic-based Holders lived in a different realm. Unlike Holders who fought based solely on their mastery of runes and skills, they were people with advanced knowledge in controlling and understanding magic.
Of course, I had runes that allowed me to use magic, I’m also like the wizard-type Holders
<Rune Information>
◎Name: Fiery Flame
◎Grade: Rare
◎Level: 4
◎Engraved Location: Left Shoulder
◎Special Effects:
: Fire Resistance +4
: The Holder can freely produce flames on their body or weapons. These flames contain the Holder’s magic power and are treated as magical attacks.
◎Derived Skills: –
–
◎Detailed Information: Enables the manipulation of fire and improves understanding of magic.
It was one of the runes I gained after hunting the Sizzling Salamander, [Fiery Flame]. The description was quite straightforward. With this rune, I could produce flames. It was as if I had gained another magical means of attack. However, that didn’t mean I was proficient in using magic.
While I gained runes that enabled me to use magic, I had no knowledge or preparation to cast spells. Thus, I had no skills in the derivative of [Fiery Flame]. Perhaps Holders with the normal rune like [Flame] could use more fire-based magic than I could.
‘But if I study hard enough, I should be able to use it too…’
Honestly, it felt like a waste of time. Even with all the runes and skills I was currently learning, there was not enough training time.
‘Fire Resistance was the only benefit I should be satisfied with’.
Just like when I gained [Poison] or [Water].
This time, I gained a new resistance called ‘Fire Resistance’. Combined with my Sizzling Salamander hunt, it was now recorded as 6.
I checked the Holder information for the first time in a long time.
<Holder Information>
◎Name: Do Jae-hyun
◎Gender: Male (20)
◎Stats: –
◎ [Strength: 32]
◎ [Magic: 9]
◎ [Speed: 35]
◎ [Recovery: 5]
◎ [Toughness: 26]
◎ [Willpower: 21]
◎Resistance: –
: [Poison: 1]
: [Water: 3]
: [Fire: 6]
◎Possessed Runes: –
: Epic
◎ [Rune Hunter Lv.Max]
◎ [Effort of the Seeker Lv.Max]
◎ [Oppression Lv.1]
: Rare
◎ [Lizard’s Scales Lv.7]
◎ [Underwater Breathing Lv.3]
◎ [Venom Lv.4]
◎ [Water Sword Technique Lv.4]
◎ [Wave Sword Technique Lv.6]
◎ [Strengthen Lv.0]
◎ [Agile Agility Lv.4]
◎ [Sturdy Fang Lv.4]
◎ [Fiery Flame Lv.4]
: Normal
◎ [Sword Lv.8]
◎ [Dagger Lv.6]
◎ [Cooking Lv.5]
◎ [Combat Lv.3]
◎ [Sprint Lv.3]
◎ [Magic Control Lv.3]
◎ [Bow Lv.1]
◎ [Axe Lv.1]
◎ [Spear Lv.1]
◎ [Blunt Lv.1]
◎ [Shield Lv.1]
◎ [Quadruped Combat Lv.2]
◎Possessed Skills: –
◎ [Quarter Knives]: (Dagger)
◎ [Poison Claw]: (Venom)
◎ [Combo]: (Sword)
◎ [Hardening]: (Lizard’s Scales)
◎ [Stamina Food]: (Cooking)
◎ [Declaration of Domination]: (Oppression)
◎Ultimate Skill: –
◎ [Sky-Shattering Heavenly Sword]: (Wave Sword Technique/Restriction)
It had been only four months since my Holder information displayed just one [Dagger], right? It was hard to believe the growth I achieved. Thanks to [Effort of the Seeker], various runes had grown rapidly, and my abilities had improved significantly. The only downside was that the growth of the runes I learned in the early stages was relatively slow. But I couldn’t evenly develop all the runes. To achieve faster and more efficient growth, I needed to make choices and focus.
‘Still, this is tremendous growth…’
The information that rose like a banquet. Just looking at them made me feel better for no apparent reason.
“Ugh, I’m tired.”
After catching all the nearby Sizzling Salamanders, Kim Chae-eun yawned while wrinkling her face. I laughed and said, “Should we head back now?”
“Yeah! Hunting with just the two of us is twice as tiring…”
It was said that it usually took five C-grade Holders to hunt a B-grade monster. Yet, we managed with just two C-grade Holders. We were in the process of conquering this B-grade dungeon, where B-grade monsters roamed. My runes and abilities were far superior to an average C-grade Holder, and Kim Chae-eun demonstrated significant power with her [Freezing] rune magic, making it possible.
“We also have the end-of-semester evaluation tomorrow!”
Kim Chae-eun clapped her hands and said, “Is it already tomorrow?”
“Yep! If we want to do well on the exam, we need to go back and manage our condition.”
“Right, let’s do that.”
“And in that regard, please prepare dinner for us.”
I expected that. It was such a predictable repertoire that it made me chuckle.
“You’re still going with that story?”
“Yep! After eating your food, Jae-hyun, I feel like I’ve fully recovered from exhaustion. It’s like my energy is completely restored.”
It wasn’t just a feeling; it was real.
Once a day, during dinner, I used my [Stamina Food] skill, a high-level skill gained after raising [Cooking] to level 5, to relieve all the Holder’s fatigue. After experiencing the effects several times, Kim Chae-eun seemed almost addicted to my cooking. She liked it from the beginning, but after discovering the skill, her fondness had intensified.
“Pudding?”
“Grape flavor!”
And there were conditions to taste my cooking like that.
Kim Chae-eun knew them all too well now.
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