Fortunately enough, it seems that Yiwon hadn’t been cursed with such a filthy curse because he returned not even a minute later. Since Jiho hadn’t heard any footsteps, Yiwon must’ve been standing in front of the door.
‘Is it because his injury was hurting?’
Did he close the door and wait outside because he didn’t want to show him in pain?
Jiho suppressed the urge to forcefully grab Joo Yiwon by the neck and shake him until Yiwon spilled how he had gotten hurt and what bastard did that to him.
But because Jiho can’t be of any help right now, if he interrogates Yiwon like this, all it’ll do is add another thing to Yiwon’s plate.
The only thing Jiho can do right now is stop Joo Yiwon from wandering around with that injured body.
“Hey, do you have any plans this evening?”
“Probably work?”
But Yiwon doesn’t have any dungeon raids to go on today. Jiho glared fiercely at Yiwon, who insists on working overtime on one of his days off.
“Come back quickly. Let’s eat dinner together.”
“E-eung.”
Yiwon, who doesn’t usually refuse any of Jiho’s requests, nodded, albeit hesitantly. Jiho smiled in satisfaction, as he managed to block out at least a day’s time for Yiwon to rest.
“Can you not just take the entire day off to rest?”
“I have something I need to do…. But I’ll hurry back after I take care of that.”
“Come back quickly.”
“Eung, you too, don’t leave the house today and get some rest.”
Jiho flinched when Yiwon told him to take the entire day off to rest, but in the end, he nodded. Jiho figured that this was the only way Yiwon would obediently come back home and rest. Besides, Jiho’s state right now also requires rest.
“Alright. I’ll be resting here, so…. Come back safely.”
“Eung.”
Yiwon answered docilely. Instead of leaving the room, however, Yiwon stood in place and smiled brightly.
“We look like newlyweds right now.”
“Stop talking nonsense and leave.”
Yiwon laughed at Jiho’s little burst of anger before waving his hand and leaving the room.
Jiho laid still and concentrated on his hearing. He could hear Yiwon putting on his shoes, opening the front door, and leaving the house. Upon hearing Yiwon’s steps sound no different than usual, Jiho was slightly relieved.
‘Since he can at least act like he’s fine….’
Feeling assured, an intense wave of drowsiness washed over him. Jiho soon fell asleep.
When Jiho opened his eyes, it was nearly time for lunch.
Noticing his body feeling much lighter than before, Jiho got up and checked his system window.
Status
| Name | Shin Jiho |
| Occupation | No Name’s Guildmaster |
| Rank | S? |
| Title | XX’s First X? World’s First Awakened One XXX X’s Savior XXX’s XXX The Pampered Youngest No Name’s Guildmaster The Person Who Sees the Truth |
| HP | 628 |
| MP | 2452 |
| STR | 180 |
| AGI | 402 |
| Skill | [OFF] Stabilize ( EX ) Blessing of the Star ( EX ) The First Baptism ( S? ) Absorption of the Celestial Sphere ( SSS ) Water Attribute Amplification ( SSS ) Guidance of Cassiopeia ( SS ) Understand ( S ) The Happy Prince ( A ) A Sanctuary in the Sea Magic Resistance ( D ) XXXXX XX ( EX ) |
| Inventory | (22/24) |
| Stats will fluctuate depending on skill used. | |
Although Jiho still has a fever and his body feels heavier than usual, his stats definitely rose. The elixir’s effect was so good that Jiho felt it was worth that horrid taste.
His HP increased by 100 points and his MP by over 700. Because both [Black Dragon Leather Glove] and [Staff of Tuia] can increase his MP by 20% when they’re being worn, the higher his base MP, the stronger the effect.
“Good.”
Jiho clenched his fist and cheered.
Now, the amount of mana that Jiho can gather without overexerting himself when he first enters a dungeon is nearly 6000 MP. Since this also includes the mana he can store in [Staff of Tuia], 6000 MP might be a one-off value, but it’s still very high.
With [Blessing of the Star], the maximum amount of MP that Jiho can safely pass to A-rank hunters is 1600 MP. This means that he can now use [Blessing of the Star] on three or four A-rank hunters with ease.
‘I have a new skill too.’
All Jiho did was sleep, and he woke up with a new skill. Something like this has probably only ever happened to him. Jiho read through the description of his new skill again.
Information
| A Sanctuary in the Sea (Lv.1) | |
| Rank | A? |
| Description | The vast sea of the blue star grants you sanctuary. Your MP recovery rate doubles in speed. (Currently, the connection to this skill has been broken.) |
To Jiho who is constantly using his MP, this skill is especially useful.
However, there’s something that bothers him more than this newly-gained skill.
Like his skill [The First Baptism], the question mark behind the rank and the warning, “Currently, the connection to this skill has been broken,” catches his eye first.
When he asks himself what this connection could be….
‘Most of my skills seem to do with stars.’
And the star that this particular skill is talking about is this very planet that Shin Jiho is living on: Earth.
The system windows that only appear in front of Jiho, the [Administrator] menu within the system that he can manipulate to bring about great changes to the world, and the skills that say that the Earth bestows immense power upon him.
All of this points to the explanation that Earth and Shin Jiho are closely intertwined with each other.
Though Jiho denied it at first because he felt that something like [Administrator] suited someone extraordinary and not someone as normal as he is….
During this time, Jiho came up with a lot of different theories. Jiho has been weak since he was young, he fell into a coma when he awakened, and even after he regained consciousness, he kept fainting.
Like this, Jiho isn’t in peak condition. Since he isn’t in peak condition, Jiho’s theory is that the connection between him and Earth has been damaged.
But if this theory is true, then there’s another problem.
Information
| Stabilize (Lv.1) | |
| Rank | EX |
| Description | Cannot check conditions at this moment. Every minute, XXXX MP is consumed. |
| Status | OFF |
This skill, [Stabilize].
When Jiho had first turned this skill off, Jiho worried that he would become unstable. Yet, on the contrary, Jiho is incomparably stronger and more stable than before.
On the other hand, however, after Jiho turned off the [Stabilize] skill, the number of unpredicted fissures increased. As if the world itself had become unstable.
In other words, doesn’t this mean that the [Stabilize] skill doesn’t stabilize Shin Jiho, but rather, sucks Jiho dry in order to stabilize the world?
‘This feels too self-centered.’
Though everything fits, Jiho finds it hard to accept. Truthfully, Jiho doesn’t believe it.
All things aside, does it really make sense that one person has the sole power to control the state of the world? If the system is run in such a haphazard, unreliable manner, then it makes sense why so many worlds before them were destroyed.
Of course, since nothing has been proven yet, Jiho can’t vouch for any single theory of his. But he is nearly certain that he and Earth are intimately connected to each other. As for the stuff about the [Stabilize] skill, Jiho feels like he’s at least halfway to the truth.
If so, then that means he should turn [Stabilize] on. However, the button to switch [Stabilize] back to ON is still deactivated.
And on top of that, [Stabilize] uses up XXXX MP every minute.
The system window doesn’t ever use the term “MP.” However, in games, MP is the limited number of points that can be used for magic. Just like how the other system vocabulary mimics video game terminology, this value is probably related to his mana power.
Although Jiho’s MP has increased a lot, it’s only in the 2000s. A four digit value cannot be taken lightly. The reason that thing that talks through the system told Jiho that he would die is probably because the skill consumes more mana than what Jiho can handle in his current condition.
That guy didn’t tell him to keep [Stabilize] off forever. All it said was that while Jiho will have to do it eventually, he can’t do it now.
The conclusion is that Shin Jiho has to become much stronger.
“Whew….”
Though his goal is clear, it’s much too high. Jiho brushed away these complicated thoughts and got out of bed.
“Now, then….”
While he did promise Yiwon to not go to work today, he never promised to stay in bed. Thus, Jiho decided to do some light training at home.
Right when he thought this, Jiho’s terminal suddenly rang.
“S-surprised me….”
Fortunately, the call wasn’t from Yiwon monitoring him, but rather from Park Geon Ho, who rarely takes the initiative to call him first. Jiho answered the call.
“Hello. Is there a problem?”
– Gui-Guildmaster-nim. I called because I heard that you are not in the guild’s office…. May I ask where you are right now?
Jiho, hearing the tenseness in Geon Ho’s voice, also grew nervous.
“I am at home right now, why? Did something happen?”
– No, that is…. The cat that you asked me to find last time is currently… in the underground parking garage.
“What? By underground parking garage, do you mean the one under the guild?”
– Yes. The cat is there right now, but I called because I feel like it will be hard for me to catch the cat.
Such unexpected timing? And because that cat already escaped once, Jiho didn’t think he would find the cat in this area again.
In any case, if the cat really is right under Jiho’s feet right now, then this isn’t the time for him to be hesitating.
“A-Alright. I will go down right away. Let me know if anything changes.”
Jiho set his terminal down without hanging up and changed his clothes. Because there wasn’t enough time to get dressed properly, Jiho simply changed out of his sweat-soaked pajamas into a t-shirt. While changing, Park Geon Ho’s shaky voice could be heard through the receiver.
– But the cat is… holding something strange in its mouth….
“Something strange?”
– It looks like a fish but… the fish is… very big, and beautiful….
What is he talking about?
Unsure of how to respond, Jiho said something vague before grabbing his terminal and rushing down to the parking garage.
As soon as Park Geon Ho, who was standing by the parking garage entrance, saw Jiho, he sighed in relief before leading the way, gesturing in front of him.
“The cat is over there, there.”
Afraid of the cat running away, Jiho lightened his steps and carefully approached it. Yet, though the cat saw Jiho coming closer, not only did it not run away, but it didn’t even move.
Instead, the cat confidently puffed out its chest like it was boasting. In its mouth, the cat carried a fish much bigger than its own body.
No wonder Park Geon Ho was so flustered. Just like he said, the fish was definitely both big and beautiful.
The fish was not only larger than the cat’s body, but it was shining softly, as if it was the moon lighting up the dark underground parking garage. Each and every one of the inlaid scales sparkled brilliantly in an array of colors that shifted depending on the angle.
Where did that fish come from? That cat definitely couldn’t have stolen it from any normal fish market.
Anyways, that unidentified fish isn’t important right now. After carefully approaching the cat, Jiho kept one eye on it as he tried to open its system window.
However.
System Management
| ERROR! |
System Management
| ERROR! |
System Management
| ERROR! |
Instead of opening a normal system window, error messages popped up. In an instant, the error messages filled the space between Jiho and the cat.
Jiho was alarmed, as this has never happened before. But, with a light ding! a system window appeared in front of him.
| I only came by to drop off something nutritious today. (｡ŏ﹏ŏ) |
| You have to take care of your health! Don’t let your mana get stolen by a thief! (ง •̀_•́)ง |
By this tone, it’s definitely that guy.
The one that appeared in front of Jiho and told him to turn off that [Stabilize] skill when he almost died in the dungeon with Seon Tae Woong.
LaZ Bird Corner
Cat! ₍^. ̫.^₎ 𓆝
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