NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 9
[Late at night, near the restricted access post of the S-Rank Tower in Mungyeong Saejae, Gyeongbuk.]
“Yawn.”
“Kim Biam, don’t close your eyes.”
“Are you crazy? This bastard is trying to send me to the disciplinary barracks.”
“Isn’t that a good thing? It means you get to leave here sooner.”
“Shut up. I’m serving in a dangerous area; I’ll be discharged faster than others.”
Two soldiers on guard duty at the post chat and joke during the late night.
If any officer saw them, they might say “Get a grip,” but those officers would find it hard to say anything to these soldiers who risk their lives, working near the access control area, in case of a potential ‘S-Rank break’ situation.
Even if they knew that S-Rank Towers don’t easily go into break mode.
“Kim Biam. Are there no Awakened ones around?”
“Are you talking about a million Awakened ones?”
“That’s right.”
“Nope. What about you?”
“I have a friend who enlisted in the army before me, and he got promoted to sergeant, but then he Awakened and now has hired a lawyer.”
“…Hmph, should I say he’s lucky or unfortunate?”
Anyone in this country, especially young people, would surely find it amusing.
“I’m already miserable serving for a year and a half, and if I become an Awakened with only three months left… how does one even calculate that?”
“By principle, Awakened ones have a six-month service requirement.”
“Wow, so from now on, he starts a six-month term as a new Awakened? That must feel terrible. Is that why he hired a lawyer? Is he thinking about a constitutional appeal?”
“I haven’t talked to him about that yet. But I guess… he’ll want to, right?”
“True. Even veterans would be dragged off if they’re Awakened; what can soldiers even do? Damn.”
The two young soldiers laugh self-deprecatingly and glance below the road.
“Still, we get double pay for serving in a dangerous area, and our service is half, right? Let’s drink.”
“Are you talking about water?”
“Just saying. Ugh, but the weather is freezing… huh?”
Crack.
“Hey, didn’t you hear something pass by?”
“Isn’t that a deer?”
“It seems too large to be a deer…”
Sudden rustling.
“Ah, damn, that scared me.”
A deer seemed startled and began to flee through the bushes.
“What, did it see a ghost or something?”
“What do we do if a ghost breaks in?”
“What do you mean? By the regulations, we follow protocol. But what would a ghost even do climbing the tower?”
As they looked up at the towering white tower that rose high into the sky, the guards at the post waited for the peaceful night to continue without incident.
Someone.
Rustle.
Unbeknownst to them, moving swiftly, someone passed over the wall and silently approached the tower.
* * *
‘Phew.’
I was worried about getting caught along the way, but thankfully, Elaine wasn’t noticed by anyone.
‘I thought I might get caught by thermal cameras or reactionary CCTV, but perhaps I entered more safely than I expected?’
I opened the summoning management app on my smartphone.
The connection with Elaine hadn’t been severed, but the status window revealing her information showed that her location was not ‘Mungyeong Saejae.’
[Conducting the White Sky Tower (S) raid.]
Entry, successful.
Elaine had successfully entered the S-Rank Tower in Mungyeong Saejae, and all I could do was hope for her to successfully raid this S-Rank Tower.
Health status – Good.
It appeared there were no major issues, so I leaned back in the driver’s seat, placed another sub-phone in the mount, and scrolled through the community.
Elaine.
Search results.
Within the last 24 hours.
130,344 posts.
“…Hah.”
That’s a staggering number.
It seems that ever since it’s been known that the source of the maid cosplay is Elaine, community boards related to the game have skyrocketed, regardless of the community’s inclination.
– Admin. There are too many non-game-related posts here. Please take some action.
– This isn’t that kind of board, sir… Hah….
Even those who usually don’t visit such boards were abundant.
– Hello^^ I’m a member of the National Assembly…
Even those who should have no interest in the game or community were peeking in one by one to find information about ‘Elaine.’
Fortunately, the wiki page was still up, but acts of vandalism against Elaine within the game’s wiki, such as deleting or manipulating content, were ongoing.
It was truly chaotic.
So much that those who originally used the game community started making separate boards or entirely different channels, and some took refuge in portals operated by game-specialized YouTubers.
– The main base is on fire because of the Elaine coser…
– So, who is she really?
Even they were curious.
But regardless of my curiosity about Elaine, every time I refreshed, among the newly posted threads were:
[Are you going to change to a hero?]
[Now that I’ve qualified as a hero, is there anyone going to declare they’ll become one?]
[Hah, seriously, if I don’t register, I can’t climb the lighthouse? That’s unfair.]
There were plenty of insider jargon for those who knew.
Those who didn’t might think, “Ah, these are game terms,” but considering the nature of a community filled with men in their 20s to 30s, it would be easily understood.
[Are you on your first run? Second run? If it’s your first, just go, but if it’s your second, think a bit.]
[If it’s the second run, it’s better to drop out….]
[If the first run got lucky and Awakened, they should come back after about six months.ㅡㅡ^]
[No you’re wrong.]
“Are they fighting again in the meantime?”
Even the conflicts between Awakened and non-Awakened were bringing fatigue, and considering that a million people had Awakened, it seemed the world was growing more chaotic.
Frustration from the fact that a million people Awakened, while they themselves had not.
In reality, they were venting their frustrations over drinks, leading to incidents of drunken violence happening everywhere, and even those sober were tapping away at the keyboard or smartphone, committing all sorts of mischief online.
In such a situation, would it spread that I was Elaine’s ‘Master’?
‘Of course, my personal information might leak, and I’d receive all kinds of jealousy.’
I wouldn’t have any allies.
Men would be jealous of me for being Elaine’s Master, and women would be jealous of Elaine herself.
Even among the million Awakened, there would be no one to support me.
Even those who just awakened would likely harbor envy towards me.
‘Some people farmed hard to raid the tower and leveled up to B or A ranks, while I simply became the master of an S-rank beautiful being.’
It was well beyond what is known as ‘bitch’.
It was an incredible miracle, incomparable even to winning a lottery or a Super Bowl jackpot in America.
I could only think that way.
Just looking at the scene displayed on my smartphone screen through the summoning management app, flooded with what seemed like a ‘game screen’.
“…She fights well.”
Within the familiar UI, Elaine slaughtered the tower’s monsters, navigating through various dungeons without any input from me.
Swish, swish!
Elaine brandished her golden sword.
The longsword, a blend of black and gold, radiated a dazzling light as it effortlessly sliced through the tower’s monsters like pudding, true to her ‘exclusive weapon.’
Even entities that would have been bosses on the top floor of another A-Rank Tower fell without a fuss, and Elaine continued to move forward.
Even though she had just entered, she quickly dealt with the tower’s inhabitants and kept running.
“…Is it reasonable to say that at level 80, she’s at least S-Rank?”
Level 80.
Some might say what kind of level 80 is S-Rank, but this level 80 is the maximum level in-game.
While it may vary in other games, in the game Elaine was in, that was the max level.
“…….”
While Elaine was fighting hard, I executed another app on my smartphone that I had been scrolling through the community with.
The familiar login screen.
The view that seemed to enter a temple vanished, and I faced the player character standing where I had ended my session on my computer.
“…….”
Elaine.
Watching her face A-Rank monsters, I was certain of one thing.
Elaine was still not at ‘full power’.
She could become stronger.
Even if it meant that there might be some aspects that did not suit her anymore.
Ding.
A popup appeared on my smartphone.
There was a reply to the post I had made in the community.
– Is the 4-piece M4 set good for Elaine-chan?
– I’m a returning player from the 3.3 Elaine pickup and now trying to raise her properly for the reality maid-chan debut, which relic should I match her with? According to the latest version.
Elaine.
She was a character that had been released for a while.
Her separate character even existed.
– No, no, instead of the M4 set, you need to give her the W4 set. There’s a new relic that came out at 5.2.
– Is there no fast way to raise specs apart from the W4 set?
– Do you have a lot of money?
“…….”
Well, I do have a bit.
Though it hasn’t been converted to cash yet.
– Then don’t bother with relic crafting and just go for this.
“…Huh.”
Of course.
“This is the power of collective intelligence.”
Those experienced players already knew the answers.
Of course, I was experienced too, and far from being a returning player; just a few days ago, I was rolling for a new character’s name card. But Elaine was an older character, so she wasn’t familiar with the latest meta.
‘I play games that aren’t a few.’
Fortunately, the setup I had for Elaine wasn’t far from the current one.
There were immediate ways to raise her specs.
‘Later, I must send her a truckload of gifts.’
If I succeeded in raiding the S-Rank Tower thanks to the spec upgrade, I would definitely reciprocate.
“…So.”
Star’s jewel. 6480+1600. 119,000 won.
“…This pickup character I just rolled for, her exclusive weapon is 1.2 times stronger than Elaine’s original exclusive weapon, right?”
If the in-game specs were to be converted to Elaine’s specs.
…….
[Purchase complete.]
[Purchase complete.]
[Purchase complete.]
[Purchase complete.]
[Purchase complete.]
“…….”
To the limit, no, exceeding the limit.
“I’m going. Getting the exclusive weapon past 5 stars.”
Half a fortune. Pick and break.
It didn’t matter.
For the sake of my summon.
“I’ll keep spending until everything is gathered.”
With real cash, I protect Elaine.