After the random-box opening ceremony, which had been one surprise after another, finally came to an end.
As always, Go Hyeonwoo headed to the training center instead of the dormitory.
Then, after taking a seat inside the special cultivation room, he began reviewing everything that had happened in the dungeon.
He had fought White Serpent in a life-or-death battle, drawn [Wind God] and held it in his hand for the first time, and even while suffering an enormous backlash, he had tried to wield it and unfold its sword forms.
In that process, countless realizations had come to him.
If I can truly make them mine.
There was no doubt that his skill would advance to the next level.
His thoughts continued for quite some time after that, until the final decisive exchange he had shared with White Serpent rose in his mind.
He had learned a great deal from that alone, but there was also a need to pay attention to what had happened afterward.
Go Hyeonwoo looked at the sword laid neatly in front of him.
......Wind God.
Right after he brought White Serpent down, Wind God had left his hand on its own and returned to its sheath.
At the time, there had been no room to think about it properly, so his main impression had simply been that it was worthy of being a sacred relic, that it was extraordinary.
But looking back on it now, it was rather chilling.
It means it might have been like that from the very beginning.
If instead of moving according to his will, it had only kept trying to return to its sheath.
Or if it had refused to come out at all.
Then the entire plan of borrowing its power would have fallen apart from the start.
Which meant—
Did it give me a chance?
That Wind God, too, had participated in the plan to some extent.
He did not know the exact reason.
Perhaps it was because it had acknowledged, at least in part, that Go Hyeonwoo was a legitimate heir.
Or perhaps because it had glimpsed some kind of potential in him.
Still, if there was one thing that was certain—
This was probably the first and last time I’ll ever draw it so recklessly.
WHOOO—!
As if that guess were correct, a light breeze rose from the sheath and swept past him.
It felt like a warning, yet also like encouragement telling him to work harder, so Go Hyeonwoo gave a small nod and renewed his resolve.
I’ll work even harder from now on.
Until the day he possessed the proper qualifications.
*****
It was about time to summon the skillbook fairy.
What I had to trade were the A-rank martial art [Skull Demon Poison Claw] and [Inferno Fist], which was steadily losing its place.
Even just those two held enough value to get the skill I wanted, but—
There’s nothing wrong with adding a little more on top.
That way I could raise its rank as soon as I got it, and save that many resources that would have gone into growth.
Like turning [Rank Up] toward something else, for example.
Of course, it was not that I was trying to give up any skill or trait I was currently using well.
I was planning to go get something new.
By trading away the hidden piece I had gotten from Black Serpent Fang.
The Dharma statue.
I already had one, so there was no problem releasing the one I got this time.
Whichever club I took it to would probably pay a reasonable price, but considering it was an item connected to swordsmanship and formations—
Selling it to martial artists is the best option.
So I headed for the Swordsmanship Club.
A third-year club member was waiting near the entrance, and as if sensing my presence, they turned this way.
So I immediately gave a polite bow as well.
“Hello, Senior.”
“What business do you have?”
“I’d like to meet Senior Namgung. If you tell him Kim Ho is here, he’ll know.”
“......”
Apparently they did not know much about me, because their expression was full of suspicion.
Still, since I had mentioned their captain, they must have decided they should at least confirm it, because they went inside to send word.
And a short while later, they came back out and led me in.
“Follow me.”
Soon after, the place we arrived at was not the captain’s office, but the vice captain’s office.
Last year it had been the room Zhuge Soso used, but now the owner had changed.
The one who received me was a senior I had run into once or twice before.
Zhuge Yeongyeong.
She was Zhuge Soso’s younger cousin, but the two did not resemble each other much.
Above all, she seemed to have a completely serious personality, with zero trace of playfulness.
Still, the distinctive sharp intelligence of the Zhuge line shone through in her eyes, and on top of that, she was actually serving as vice captain of a major club.
At the very least, it was obvious she was not someone to take lightly.
Before long, Zhuge Yeongyeong sat me down across from her, poured me a cup of tea, and opened the conversation.
“I’m still in regular contact with Sister Soso.”
“It sounds like she’s doing well, then.”
“Whether it’s here or the Murim Alliance, it’s basically the same.”
Zhuge Yeongyeong answered as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
The respect and pride she felt toward her older cousin were overflowing from her.
Well, with that level of skill and social ability, it would have been stranger if Zhuge Soso were not doing well.
Even when I saw her briefly over winter break, she had looked like someone who already held a proper position.
Zhuge Yeongyeong took a sip of tea, then continued.
“I also heard a lot about you.”
“I wonder what she said.”
“She told me that if you ask for something, I should accommodate it as much as possible. That I wouldn’t lose out by doing so.”
“......”
“That’s how I judged it too.”
So even if she had accepted the advice, she had not believed it blindly. It seemed she had done her own cross-checking first.
I smiled faintly and said,
“Thank you for thinking well of me.”
“I hope we can maintain a good relationship going forward.”
At this point, it was fair to say she was being more than favorable.
Then Zhuge Yeongyeong finally brought up the main issue.
“I heard you came looking for the captain, but he’s away right now. He went into a dungeon.”
“I see.”
“Is this something that has to be resolved face to face? If so, I can send word separately when he returns.”
“No, I think it’ll be fine to discuss it here.”
I had only brought up Namgung Changcheon by name.
The actual trading partner was the Swordsmanship Club itself.
Right after that, I took out the Dharma statue and set it on the table, and Zhuge Yeongyeong examined it closely.
Soon a glint passed through her eyes. As expected of a Zhuge, she seemed to have recognized its true value.
“It’s an artifact with a great deal of research value, both in terms of swordsmanship and formations.”
“You saw it right away.”
Since it had been carved in a single stroke by some unknown master, one could gain insight just by studying the traces left by the blade.
And its effect of breaking multiple formations was substantial as well.
“What do you want in return?”
“I’d like a special cultivation room season pass and one martial manual.”
Why a season pass all of a sudden?
I, of course, had already secured everyone’s shares, and so had the others.
Han Somi was the only one who still had not gotten one.
—Still, with your Discipline Committee connections, won’t they sell you just one?
—Got one!
—Then?
—I gave it to Go Hyeonwoo!
She had already been showing signs of giving him everything short of her liver and gallbladder, but it seemed she had handed over even the season pass.
There’s no way Go Hyeonwoo accepted it without protest.
Maybe he had become a kept man without even realizing it.
So instead of revealing the truth, I proposed the solution that would make everyone happy.
—Want me to get you one?
—Really?
—In exchange, I get your share of this reward. What do you say?
—Agreed!
That was how the season pass had ended up on my trade list.
Zhuge Yeongyeong seemed to do some calculations in her head for a moment, then asked again.
“To be honest, that feels excessive. Still, I’d like to hear the rest first. What kind of martial manual do you want?”
“I think it’ll be quicker if I give you a list.”
I handed over a slip of paper I had prepared in advance.
On it were written the names of several martial arts, such as Jade-Hand Phantom Shadow Fist, Heaven-Cleaving Single Breath Art, and Eight Eternal-Stroke Sword Forms.
Their performance varied wildly, but they all had one thing in common.
They carried high value when traded to the fairy.
Zhuge Yeongyeong again seemed to work an abacus in her head for a long while, then, as though she had reached a conclusion, spoke in a calm tone.
“If it’s the Heaven-Cleaving Single Breath Art manual, I think it can be taken out under the vice captain’s authority. However—”
“......”
“You’ll have to choose one or the other: the season pass or the manual. Even then, if we look at it coldly, we’re the ones taking the loss.”
Even from my perspective, it felt like Zhuge Yeongyeong was already conceding quite a bit.
Which meant she wanted to leave a good impression on this first deal.
Of course, I had expected this outcome.
The reason I had presented only the Dharma statue was mainly to test how she would react.
And this much was more than enough to pass.
So I took another document out of my inventory.
“What if I add this as well?”
It was the Black Serpent Fang walkthrough.
We had already cleared it properly, taken down White Serpent, and had no reason to go back in ourselves anymore.
So there was no problem with releasing the information.
Zhuge Yeongyeong’s eyes lit up at once.
“I’ve been hearing rumors about it since last year. May I confirm it?”
“That’s fine.”
After getting my permission, she flipped through several pages of the walkthrough and read rapidly.
Then her eyes lit up again, and she let out an impressed remark.
“So this was where the Dharma statue came from. For an artifact like this to come out of a duck stew place......”
“Aren’t there times when things are absurdly easy?”
“I agree. Is this walkthrough being disclosed for the first time?”
“It is.”
“And if we make the trade, it’ll remain exclusive to us?”
“Wouldn’t that be in both our interests?”
This kind of information was more valuable when only a few people knew it.
I could get a higher price, and the Swordsmanship Club could preemptively secure the Dharma statue.
It’s already a pretty popular dungeon, after all.
Since the semester began, multiple parties had already submitted bids for Black Serpent Fang.
If word spread about the duck stew place on top of that, it would practically burst at the seams.
But if they went in consistently to gather Dharma statues starting now, they would be able to secure more than enough before the information spread.
The same applied to other hidden pieces like [Lord’s Black Chest].
Then, as though she had realized something, Zhuge Yeongyeong’s eyes sharpened.
And after closing the walkthrough, she said this.
“I’ve heard that Black Serpent Fang collapsed last night in an unauthorized clear. And for you to be trading its walkthrough at this timing means......”
“As you suspect.”
I answered with a faint smile.
What, was there a chance she might report me to the Discipline Committee?
Even if she did, the benefits Zhuge Yeongyeong and the Swordsmanship Club would gain were not all that great.
The same would go for trying to threaten me.
In contrast, the trust between us would be destroyed completely.
There might still be room for transactions according to mutual interests, but they would fall far down the priority list.
If it came to it, I could just sell it to the White Magic side.
For reference, the winning bid for last year’s walkthrough had been around 900,000 points.
That meant major powers considered it worth that much.
Which also meant it would hurt that much if it fell into the hands of a competitor.
Naturally, Zhuge Yeongyeong was the kind of vice captain who knew how to weigh practical benefits.
As she gathered up the Black Serpent Fang walkthrough, she said,
“Let’s make the trade. The Dharma statue and the walkthrough, in exchange for the season pass and the manual.”
“You’re decisive.”
“They’re valuable items, but in the long run, I don’t think this is a loss.”
If they kept running the dungeon and gathering hidden pieces, it would turn into profit instead.
And the phrase in the long run surely included her relationship with me as well.
It meant that if future crossroads came, she intended to side with me.
And the more that happened, the easier it would become for me to choose the Swordsmanship Club over other factions.
We raised our teacups in a warm atmosphere.
*****
After chatting with Zhuge Yeongyeong for a while longer.
I left the Swordsmanship Club and moved to a quiet place.
Time to call her, I guess.
Everything was ready now.
I took a rolled-up parchment out of my inventory.
It was none other than the [Skillbook Fairy Summoning Scroll].
And the moment I used it—
POP!
A palm-sized fairy popped out into empty air, then gracefully offered a formal greeting.
“Thank you for summoning me.”
