Chapter 32: A New Era (3)
TL: Hanguk
Willia was happily eating chocolate, and I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh watching her.
‘Could it be that she likes me better just because the chocolate tastes good?’
That thought meant, perhaps bringing tasty things has a greater effect than all the silly things I’ve done so far.
I shook my head, rationalizing that there must be some other reason.
‘For example, maybe it’s because I came back quickly.’
‘Or because I remembered to bring her a gift.’
Whatever the details, this meant that one more major effort I had put in had now been resolved.
“Ahem.”
Shortly after, we reached the shrine, and Willia, who was distracted by the snacks, flinched at my fake cough.
She then blushed seeing her favorability floating above her head had surpassed 80%.
“Ahem…”
Willia stuffed the chocolate back into the envelope and straightened up.
She adjusted the priest robe she was wearing and lifted her chin proudly.
Her haughty yet enchanting demeanor coupled with her demure Eastern beauty conveyed a strong presence.
Though it was a flaw that she was holding a black bag full of snacks in one hand and had chocolate smeared around her lips…
-Woof!
-Kkuik?
Following us, Woof-woof and Fatty seemed puzzled by the sudden mood, prompting Willia to scratch the back of her head.
“I have reached an 80% favorability. Would you like to recruit me as a companion? Or would you prefer to maintain our current relationship?”
It was rhetorical, of course.
Naturally, my response was ‘I will accept you as a companion.’
[You can now view Priest Willia’s information.]
[You have successfully recruited an NPC as a companion for the first time. This achievement will be recorded in the Hall of Fame, and additional rewards will be granted.]
[A new NPC, Herald, will be assigned to the shrine in 24 hours.]
Upon accepting her as a companion, messages like the above appeared.
Previously, system messages consistently referred to her as ‘NPC Willia,’ but after recruitment, her title changed to ‘Priest Willia.’
I found it a bit curious, but I didn’t dwell on it and proceeded to view Willia’s information.
-Level: 34
-Stats
Strength: 10, Agility: 10, Magic Power: 28(+6)
Remaining Stat Points: 0
-Coins Held: 0
Her level was set to match mine at 34.
Furthermore, her stats were invested in with 10 points each in strength and agility, with the rest poured into magic power.
While the game-like aspect of this world is evident, it is, after all, reality.
As levels increase, the caliber of monsters we face also rises, and if a priest invested all their stats into magic power, they would be easily annihilated.
Even for someone of the magic-based class, some physical capabilities are necessary, which seemed to be reflected in her stat distribution, much to my liking.
‘With a few more pieces of equipment, I could probably increase her strength and agility even further.’
Currently, her equipment included:
Thin and light, yet highly defensive.
Magic Power +3
-Priest’s Staff (Premium Grade)
Does not break easily and repairs itself automatically.
Magic Power +3
Just a robe-type coat and a staff for the priest.
Any other inner wear and shoes she had were unenchanted, normal clothing.
This meant.
There’s room for improvement, right?
There’s room to give her that battle suit which increases agility by 2.
‘No, the timing isn’t right yet. It was hard enough becoming companions, dropping her favorability now would be a disaster.’
From my perspective, it is merely a gesture of goodwill, but unfortunately, since the design of the battle suit resembles a swimsuit, the recipient could misunderstand.
Therefore, I decided to hand it over after her favorability increased a bit more.
-Heal (Active: Consumes 1 Mana)
Uses a light-attribute intermediate healing on a designated target.
-Bless (Active: Consumes 1 Mana)
Enhances a designated target’s stats by 20% for one hour.
-Divine Shield (Active: Consumes 2 Mana)
Creates a light-attribute intermediate barrier at a designated location.
-Magic Recovery (Passive)
Magic recovery rate increases by 100% during rest, and continues at 50% during combat.
Next, I reviewed Willia’s skills.
I was surprisingly impressed by her comprehensive abilities.
I had thought Willia only had Heal and Bless, but she also possessed Shield and Magic Recovery skills.
Her joining would undoubtedly stabilize our combat situations immensely.
‘So far, I’ve been relying on innate skills for shielding, and having no limit on uses now is a tremendous advantage.’
Moreover, her having the Magic Recovery skill meant that our party’s survivability would significantly increase.
“That’s really good!”
“I’m glad you like it.”
“But I thought you only had two skills, yet you have four?”
“It seems to be because of the ‘First Achievement Reward’. I also thought I would only have two skills, Heal and Bless.”
First Achievement Reward?
Come to think of it, this message had popped up together.
[/item_tag][You have successfully recruited an NPC as a companion for the first time. This achievement will be recorded in the Hall of Fame, and additional rewards will be granted.][/item_tag]
“Wait!? Does that mean?”
I was majorly flustered and asked Willia urgently.
“So, has the first achievement message been sent to everyone else as well?”
“That’s correct.”
“Oh no!”
My panic was for one reason.
If I receive the first achievement reward, a global message is sent to everyone.
And if, like last time…
‘A Korean named Seo** has recruited an NPC as a companion for the first time. Everyone please congratulate Korean Seo**.’
If the message was broadcasted like this, it would inevitably be problematic.
Even if my name was hidden, traveling with NPC Willia would clearly advertise that I was that ‘Korean Seo**.’
I have plans to be active mainly on land going forward.
But if it becomes known that I am ‘Korean Seo**’ at this stage, naturally, it would bring nothing good.
Wouldn’t it restrict my movements now that I’ve gone through the effort of recruiting Willia?
“Ah, you don’t need to worry about that. The system will definitely ensure anonymity.”
“Really?”
***
After Seo Baek-ho returned to Wolgwang Island, Colonel Seo In-ho and his wife, left in the Gyeryong base military apartment, looked at the gift their son had given them with both joy and regret.
“Is this really valuable?”
“Some of these, even the president can’t get.”
“Our son is amazing.”
“Indeed.”
They grimaced as they organized the items in the inventory.
But then.
That message appeared before the two.
“What’s this?”
“Oh, is this that occasional message about our son?”
“Right. What has he done this time?”
Though concerned, they couldn’t help but feel proud of their son’s significant presence.
They laughed and read the rest of the message.
[The world’s first achievement to *** is recorded in the Hall of Fame.]
[Everyone, please congratulate Korean Seo**.]
“????”
“????”
However, after reading the rest, both of them widened their eyes with question marks floating above their heads.
It seemed he had achieved something, but what it was, they couldn’t tell?
Therefore, the ambiguity made them feel quite suspicious.
Not in a good way, but rather the bad.
***
“Huh? Really?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
I furrowed my brow in relief as Willia explained how the message was transmitted.
Thankfully, due to the thorough anonymity measures, the chances of me being suspected as ‘Seo**’ just because I was accompanied by an NPC were reduced.
The problem was that the content of the message was somewhat irksome.
‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’
After some time, it would be forgotten by everyone.
I deliberately cleared this matter from my mind.
“And you don’t have to worry about people finding out that I’m an NPC.”
Willia reassured me further.
“There’s no way for outsiders to recognize me as an NPC. Baek-ho, don’t you notice something different about me?”
Prompted by her question, I closely inspected Willia and saw that the favorability and NPC marker above her head had disappeared.
“Oh?”
Apart from her flamboyant priest robe, there was nothing that could definitively mark her as an NPC.
But even the robe wasn’t an issue since its design could be slightly altered at the workshop.
‘Is a companion who’s an NPC not just a regular NPC?’
Willia then clasped her hands in front of her belly, bowed her head, and greeted me anew.
“I look forward to working with you.”
“Yes, me as well.”
Despite some minor complications, I now had a reliable companion of equal stature.
In movies about the world ending, there’s always someone who stabs their companions in the back, but with Willia, there was no concern for such betrayal.
People’s motives might change based on cost-benefit analysis, but the presence of a loyal companion is undeniably a strong asset.
‘I’ve welcomed Willia as a companion. Shouldn’t we go ahead and test that?’
I grinned at Willia.
It was time to see what I’d been waiting for.
“Shall we go on a party hunt right away?”
“Yes, I understand.”
To verify the effectiveness of our party hunting.
It just happened to be the day the boss of Mongma’s Dungeon regenerated, so aiming to clear the dungeon seemed like a good plan.
*
[For clearing Mongma’s Dungeon, additional rewards have been granted.]
-You have obtained a Premium Grade Item Draw Ticket.
[You have earned 12,000 experience points by defeating the dungeon boss Kallia.]
[Rewards for defeating the dungeon boss Kallia have been granted.]
-You have obtained 3,200 coins.
-You have obtained the skill book ‘Leap’.
-You have obtained 1 inventory slot.
-You have obtained Kallia’s Combat Boots.
Had it even been an hour since we entered the dungeon?
We defeated the boss and cleared the dungeon in one go.
Kallia, once a formidable opponent from Mongma’s Dungeon, was no match against my continually upgraded specs.
Moreover, Willia’s support with shields and heals from behind allowed me to fight more boldly, widening the gap between Kallia and me even further.
Like typical role-playing games illustrate, I could clearly understand the difference between solo and team play.
‘With this level of power… It might be time to challenge that place?’
Mongma’s Dungeon was a lucrative hunting ground.
The experience and especially the continuous farming of premium equipment and skill books were substantial benefits.
However, my level is now 34.
Having been going to Mongma’s Dungeon since level 20, I felt the need to explore new hunting grounds.
‘I’ll go into Mongma’s Dungeon whenever named monsters and bosses regenerate, but now I need a place where I can farm higher experience and better items.’
Luckily, I had a location in mind.
Especially since Willia became my companion, there was no need to delay any further.
“I’ve already learned the Leap skill, so Willia, you learn this skill.”
“Oh, thank you.”
“And these boots, they’re clearly women’s. You wear them, Willia.”
“Wow, they’re pretty! Thank you!”
It seemed that Willia had less mobility than me.
I am relieved that the Leap skill will help narrow the mobility gap between us a bit.
This time, the high-fashion Kallia, who was wearing a swimsuit-type battle suit and leather boots, dropped the boots, which then became Willia’s.
Fortunately, the boots had a decent design, so I didn’t hesitate to hand them over.
After a brief time of distributing rewards, just as we were about to leave the dungeon…
“Didn’t you say you had something else to give me?”
Willia suddenly stretched out her hand as if she was entitled to receive more.
Naturally, I was puzzled.
“You said you’d give me a battle suit if I became a companion.”
“Huh!”
I belatedly remembered the promise I had carelessly made in the past.
Embarrassed, I found myself in a bind…
“Is it because the design is embarrassing?”
Surprisingly, she pinpointed the reason for my hesitation accurately.
I awkwardly nodded with a forced smile.
“Yes, the one Kallia was wearing…”
“That swimsuit?”
So, it really does look like a swimsuit to everyone?
I wiped the sweat off my brow and scratched my cheek.
But what she said next was completely unexpected.
“That’s okay. I’ll wear it if you give it to me.”
“…Really?”
“Yes.”
I immediately took the swimsuit, no, Kallia’s battle suit, out of the inventory and handed it to her.
“We can slightly alter this as well when we change the robe design at the workshop.”
“Ah…”
Right, it would be impractical to walk around wearing that.
However.
“Should I try it on for a bit first?”
Willia unfolded the swimsuit and, before I could respond, she added,
“Just kidding.”
Willia, laughing playfully, seemed very excited.
‘You, sly thing.’
Then, she rushed to the workshop in the safe zone and transformed Kallia’s battle suit into a one-piece dress.
‘Wasn’t it supposed to be only slightly modifiable? This changes the fabric area completely.’
Of course, it turned out to be a great mini dress on its own, despite its inherent limitations.
***
The next day.
After teaching my trainees early in the morning at Gauido and returning to Wolgwang Island, I was busy moving around.
Soon, I stood in line with Willia and Woof-woof in front of the waypoint.
To explore a new field.
“Shall we go?”
“Yes!”
Willia’s and my outfits were quite different from yesterday.
We had unified our outfits by altering several designs at the workshop.
‘If I was version 1 until yesterday, from today onwards, I am version 2.’
Willia was now wearing a white priest robe altered to resemble a coat, under which she had a black mini dress and black boots.
I was dressed in a black coat, white shirt, black pants, and black work boots.
A simple black and white combination.
The design was similar, giving off a strong team vibe.
It might seem like too much effort for fashion, but these were all premium-grade or higher equipment.
‘A good blend of design and performance.’
Having finished preparing, I reached towards the waypoint and said to Fatty, who was looking gloomy behind me,
“Raise your level to at least 5 by the time we return. If it feels like you’re going to die, run.”
-Kkuik.
Fatty was excluded from today’s expedition.
Because his level was too low.
Fatty, having received my old Wolf Sword, looked pitiful, but I ignored him and operated the waypoint.
“Yes.”
Then light enveloped Willia, Woof-woof, and me.
-Pop!
Suddenly, the scenery in front of us changed.
[All stats decrease by 1.]
What appeared was a small town that, despite being broad daylight, looked as dim as early evening.
Hongseong, infested with undead monsters, unfolded like a faded black-and-white photograph.
“As expected, when you have a priest, you have to fight undead.”
Eternally thankful to you for your excellent translations.
Thanks again 👍
Such a pivotal time for the MC! Thanks for translating!
Due to the fact that this is a perfect translation, I will wait to update! thank you so much!
Thanks for the update!