Chapter 108 – Red Dragon’s Lair (14)

Note: Title of Serin changed from ‘Divine Archer’ to ‘God of Bows’

Sungjin stared at the maskless Serin. Straight long hair, white skin, high nose and glossy lips. She still boasted graceful and elegant appearance.

The only thing that changed was the ‘God of Bows’ title above her head and few pieces of equipment. And even most of those were upgraded since the last time. But then Besgoro couldn’t contain his habit.

‘Ohh, it’s a beautiful Asian lady this time. She has smaller boobs than the other lady, but it’s still fantastic. Hey Kei, since when did you...’

Sungjin took off Besgoro as he said

“It looks like you’ve been well, Serin.”

“You too, Kei.”

Her gaze contained a look of fascination. She had treated him coldly last time they met, but this time she acted much more friendly towards him. Sungjin thought as he looked upon her

‘I had thought we’d eventually run into each other... but it was much quicker than I anticipated... It’s probably due to travelling through dimensions, but... still, a strange fate that ties us.’

Even for Sungjin who could travel between dimensions, the maximum number he could run into was limited to 49 people per round.

As far as the probabilities go there was a very small chance for them to run into each other, but they were able to meet again against all odds. Sungjin glanced around at the corpses and said

“I guess your luck with comrades is still poor.”

She smiled at his words and said

“Well, there’s bound to be trolls here and there. More importantly...”

She held up her mask.

“Thanks to you telling me about this... I didn’t have to go through that again. No one seemed too interested in a bearded man.”

Sungjin grinned at her words. She had picked an excellent mask for herself. She asked Sungjin

“So, how did you get here? You weren’t here when we started, right?”

This was the main question most people asked. If it was anyone else asking the question, Sungjin would have found a suitable excuse to avoid the issue, but Sungjin decided to tell her the truth. But the Southeastern Asian man standing next to them bothered Sungjin.

Sungjin glanced at him. The fact that he stood on the other side of the trolls probably meant he was a good man, but Sungjin couldn’t tell his secrets to someone he didn’t know.

“Sorry, but can you leave us for a bit?”

At Sungjin’s request, he obediently moved away from them. Once he was out of earshot, Sungjin said to her

“There is an item for finding trolls. So I use it to track down and kill trolls that appear in other dimensions.”

“Ahh...”

Sungjin pointed to the title above his head

“I got Adjudicator title from that round. I am putting it to good use.”

“Ah... is that why you were shouting that you wanted to kill them?”

“Yes”

“If it was anyone else, I wouldn’t have stopped firing arrows. Because I have it too, Adjudicator.”

Now that he saw, there were items fallen around corpses finished off by arrows. She must have obtained the title of Adjudicator meanwhile.

“But then I heard a familiar voice. So I stopped.”

“Ah, I see. Then you were.... Thank you.”

Sungjin expressed his gratitude. She also had Adjudicator but had yielded the trolls for Sungjin’s sake.

“No, I am the one feeling grateful. Dealing with six at once would have been difficult for me.”

“... I am glad if you think that way.”

“You have saved me twice already. I don’t know how to repay you...”

Her voice trailed off as she spoke. Sungjin pulled out the Holy water of Baptism from his pockets. Luckily, he had one more thanks to obtaining a white coin from Franz.

“There’s no need for repaying... Please just let me do this.”

She tilted her head.

“Excuse me?”

Sungjin shook the bottle slightly as he held it up. The holy water splashed about within the glass bottle.

“This is... an item which grants 10% of my stats as a buff. Also, it allows us to meet again. When you need me.”

She replied back to him.

“We can meet if I need you?”

“Yes.”

“What do you...”

Serin looked deeply confused, which was expected. The ability of this holy water was something outside the boundary of common sense of the raid system.

“This is...”

Sungjin was about to explain but stopped himself. It would be easier to just see it, so Sungjin decided to skip the explanation and move straight to the baptism. She would likely accept it without any clarification.

“Please hold still”

At his request, she calmly stood still. Sungjin opened the glass bottle and poured the liquid over her.

“Baptise”

Light burst forth from her figure. It was already the third time he had seen it, but it was still an unfamiliar sight to behold. Few seconds later, the light faded away, and the Operator gave an announcement.

[You were ‘Chosen’ by someone. Title granted.]

[Chosen one – Receive 20% of the chooser’s stat as bonus stat. Once a day, you may summon the Chooser with his permission.]

She was astonished at the Operator’s explanations.

“Bonus is... 20%?”

“Yes, please check it.” action

“Operator, My status please.”

She opened her status screen and checked her stats. And was astonished again.

“I didn’t even equip it yet... so this is 10% of your stats?”

“Yes, well... yes.”

She looked back and forth between the screen and Sungjin’s face. It looked like she had difficulty believing her eyes. Sungjin scratched the back of his head as he said

“Well, you can probably guess but... it’s a good title. See if it’s worth equipping it. More importantly, the next part is key; you can request the chooser to appear by your side once a day.”

She swallowed audibly.

“I see.”

“As it suggests, you can summon me once. During the raid, or once the raid is over. Since you can’t change your title mid-raid... try calling me after the raid is over. Tonight. After...”

Sungjin thought for a moment. He had promised to meet Franz at 6 in the evening.

“5 PM. Please call me. We’ll meet and have a conversation then.”

“... So all I have to do is say your name?”

“Yes. If you ask the Operator...”

But when Sungjin was about to explain, he was suddenly interrupted.

[The Chosen One requested your teleportation.]

Sungjin’s cube suddenly spoke. He turned to stare at the cube.

‘Is it Franz? What a timing...’

But the image displayed on the screen above the cube was not Franz, but Nada. The image of Nada spoke to him.

“Hey, Mr Boobs. You said to call for you when I’m in trouble right? I am in trouble.”

Sungjin was shocked to see her. Behind her, Sungjin could see Khal Gal’s breath attack filling the screen. If she was saying she was in danger, then she was truly in peril.

‘I cannot lose her.’

[Do you accept the request? 10, 9]

The Operator’s Countdown began. Sungjin quickly said to Serin

“Someone is requesting my help. I have to go.”

Serin nodded hesitantly

“Yes... I saw...”

She was able to see the image of Nada appear from the cube as well.

“But... Mr Boobs...?”

Sungjin face flushed bright red.

[8, 7, 6]

But there was no time to clear up the misunderstanding right now. The timer was ticking.

“There’s no time to explain. Please call me. 5 PM, got it?”

“Yes... I understand.”

[5, 4, 3]

Finally, Sungjin pointed to the direction of the Lava fall in the distance and told her

“The hidden piece is behind the Lava Fall in that direction. You can enter the location after freezing the lava. Please search for the hidden piece.”

And finally

[2, 1]

He told the Operator,

“I’ll accept. Summon.”

[Teleport request accepted.]

And after their brief reunion, Sungjin disappeared from the spot.

*

Once Sungjin was gone, Serin continued to stare at the spot he disappeared from. Then she said in a small voice

“Just what...”

Master Hunter Kei appeared suddenly with the title of Adjudicator swinging away with his swords, rushed to collect fallen items, performed a strange baptism out of nowhere, and disappeared before she could get a grip.

‘There were so many things I wanted to ask about on our second meeting...’

She thought as she walked over the corpses to collect the fallen items from the trolls. Tanabat walked up to her and asked

“Is it... someone you knew?”

She answered

“Yes, he is someone I met when... in a past raid.”

“I see. He was quite a monster.”

“Yes. Well, I think... he’s probably the strongest hunter.”

“Is that so? Well... Once I saw the way he handled his sword earlier... I think I can believe that. What’s his name?”

“...Kei.”

“Kei... Kei you say... what a simple name. Is that his real name?”

With his question, she finally remembered

‘He promised that he would tell me his name if we meet again...’

Because of how sudden their meeting and separation was, she had no chance to ask.

‘He said to call for him at 5.’

She asked the Operator.

“Operator, Remaining time?”

[1 hour and 38 minutes.]

‘...Then...’

Once the Raid is over, she would arrive at the Black Market at around 2 to 3 pm. In other words, there were roughly 4 to 5 hours until she can see him again.

‘...I’ll make sure to ask him this and that when we meet.’

She told herself as she turned to look at the Lava Fall Sungjin had indicated. She could probably fly over there. She turned to Tanabat and asked

“Hey, are you able to fly?”

“Yes. My boots have a flight feature.”

“Really? Then let’s go there together. The hidden piece is located there apparently.”

“Hidden Piece? Sounds good. Air Walk.”

His item activated and he was able to walk up into the air as if he was climbing a ladder. Serin fluttered her cape as she said

“Sylphid, let me fly.”

Winds began to blow, billowing against her cape. Soon her body floated in the air. The cape she wore was a cape of the Fairies.

Flying was but one of its features; it was able to use the power of wind to push projectiles out of her way. She flew into the sky and approached the Lava Fall. She was happy that she could see Kei again, but the ending was oddly slightly upsetting.

‘Why is that so?’

Serin asked herself. Then she recalled earlier

‘Hey, Mr Boobs. You said to call for you when I’m in trouble right? I am in trouble.’

She recalled the face of the woman who had called for Sungjin. The woman had western features and looked extremely alluring.

‘... So I wasn’t the only one he chose...’

She thought as she flew above the location said to contain the hidden piece.

‘Also... Mr Boobs... what was that about?’

Strange questions popped into her head one by one.