<< Chapter 153. The Great Change Era. >>
The whole world is shaking, isn't it?
A city in the United States known as the 'Celestial Kingdom' has been turned into a garbage dump. The estimated death toll in Los Angeles, known as the 'City of Angels' and home to many Koreans, is approaching 60,000. As he spoke, the man extended his hand, and a drink landed in the air.
-Such a simple item can be used by anyone, let alone those with special abilities. But…
-Crack! The drink in the man's hand suddenly turned cold. "
Such a true ability can't be obtained just by acquiring items. It would be easy for players, because they're the kind of people who gain abilities through items. But are you player? Probably not."
"Piss!"
This time, flames spewed from the man's hand, and the frozen drink began to melt.
-A threat that even the Celestial Kingdom can't overcome is approaching. A world where being a player changes your life is coming. But did you know that even if you are a player, if you can't survive, that opportunity evaporates? In the end…
We must prepare. For the extraterrestrial beings that could attack at any moment. For Cloyd's opportunities. The best training center! Call Burst Call. Unmanned lessons, magic lessons, crafting lessons, and hybrid lessons. All our instructors will provide you with everything you need.
-Click. Seo-woon tossed the tablet he was watching aside and shook his head. "What's this?"
"It's all the rage these days. It's about storing or selling the skills all players have. It's even in YouTube ads."
"What? I understand people are worried, but is there really a need to be so obvious?"
"Well, until recently, everyone was wary of the government, so it's not surprising that people reacted this way, but the world has changed. Those who adapt quickly survive. That's how I see it. YouTube is mostly full of content from talented people these days."
Seo-woon nodded. "It's better than not learning at all, but it's not something you learn overnight. And… instructors are like that too." Seo-woon glanced at a few videos with a skeptical expression. "
Most of them are at that level. I don't think they're that bad, though. Look at this guy who's popular these days." Ki-chan clicked on a channel and noticed the video thumbnails.
"Becoming a fireball master in three months?"
"It's a different strategy than the others, isn't it? They say they'll let you master fireballs in three months."
"Is that even possible?"
"I don't know. Maybe someone as skilled as Ryle could do it, but this second circle is fire magic. Expecting a normal person to master it in three months is a bit much."
"That's completely fraudulent."
"Well, maybe it depends on how you look at it. This is the age of superpowered individuals. Think of it that way."
When Ki-chan finished speaking, Juriell and Lilingwei left the room and stretched.
"Did you sleep well, sister?"
"Yes. When did you arrive?"
Ki-chan replied to Lilingwei. "Just now.
I thought I'd give you, who live isolated, a little news. More than a month had already passed since Seo-woon returned from the United States and holed up in Wonju. It was only natural that Juriell and Lilingwei would follow Seo-woon and hole up in the Wonju Mountains.
"What's up?" Ki-chan held out his tablet in response to Juriell's question. "Oh, this one. I saw it too."
"Huh?"
"It keeps popping up on social media." Ki-chan stared blankly at Juriell's words.
"Those two are practically addicted to it these days. They're glued to their phones as soon as practice is over." Hearing Seo-woon's words, Ki-chan opened his mouth with a disappointed expression. "So you've seen Su-won's video too, right?"
"Su-won?"
"Who is it?" Seeing the two women's interest, Ki-chan played the video and showed it to them.
"Thanks, Su-won!"
"Thanks, Su-won!"
"Thank you, Su-won! I love you." A succession of videos of numerous celebrities expressing their gratitude to Su-won flashed across the screen.
"What's this? Who is Su-won… Seo-woon?"
"Exactly. Jin Su-won. Hehe."
"Huh? Me? But why are they pronouncing it that way?"
"The kids who first shot this video pronounced it that way. Now it's spreading like a trend. They're even saying they're going to build a park in your name. It's crazy. Why don't you open a school for talented people? People would flock there…"
"Stop talking nonsense. You've been slacking off for so long, so your body must be rusty and your tongue must be slack. Go ahead and stretch your legs." After he finished, Seo-woon left the house, and Ki-chan followed.
"You go. I'll wash up and come back." Seo-woon nodded at Juriell's words and raised his hand. "Okay." Ki-chan couldn't miss the subtle tension between the two.
"Huh? When did you guys start talking? You always used formal language before… Did something happen while I was gone?"
"Nothing happened. It's just… We trained, ate, and slept together, so it just happened naturally." Ki-chan quickly followed Seo-woon with light steps, his tongue still moving. "Come on, man. Something happened, didn't it? Didn't it? It happened, didn't it?"
-Slam! Seo-woon quickly climbed into the open space and cut Ki-chan off with hand gestures. "Your tongue is unusually loose today. Let's see if your skills are as advanced as your tongue?"
"Wait a minute! Where did you learn to use double bodies?!"
-Slam! Slam! Slam! Three Seo-woon unleashed their unarmed combat techniques, hitting Ki-chan's entire body, leaving him struggling to defend himself.
When Juriell and Li-ling-wi arrived at the empty lot in their training gear, Ki-chan was lying on the ground, his bloated body breathing heavily.
"Huh? Tired already?"
"You've been completely out of shape since you've been slacking off." Ki-chan had a lot to say to the two women's words, but he had no choice but to hold his tongue.
Seo-woon was working hard to combine blood-bone control and mujokwon, the foundation of martial arts. Lilingwei and Juriell, who were helping him train, were extremely tired.
Forced to fight Juriell and Seo-woon without using poison, Lilingwei, who hadn't invested in martial arts at all and focused solely on magic, had greatly improved her close-quarters combat skills from facing Seo-woon's daily fierce attacks.
"Phew." Lilingwei sat down on the ground, panting. As she caught her breath, Juriell conjured a breeze with magic to cool herself down. "
Juriel. You're relying too much on that item on your shoulder. I feel like your spellcasting speed has slowed down lately. And Lilingwei, it's good that you use various martial arts techniques, but you're very vulnerable in close-quarters combat when you're unarmed."
The two women nodded in agreement with Seo-woon's words. Lilingwei didn't forget to add one more thing: "As the number of enemies in the Blood Bone Formation increases, it becomes more difficult to deal with them.
There are limits to how much I can block their attacks. To be honest, I can't fight without using poison anymore."
Seeing Seo-woon's rapid growth in recent games, complex emotions welled up in Li Ling-wei's eyes. She felt pride and jealousy as a warrior. At the same time, she also felt joy and pride in her lover's development, so she shook her head to shake off her feelings.
[Ding! A new game has been paired. Difficulty: Medium-High. Game version: Duo. Would you like to join?] (Y) (N)
All four of them naturally pressed the N button. "This is already the tenth time," Ki-chan said, refusing to join the game. "It's good that the game is still ongoing and the World map hasn't opened yet…"
Li-lingwei interrupted. "We can't relax yet. We don't know when another real-time game will start." Juriell confirmed Seo-woon's words. "For now, after talking with the team members, it seems that the other two worlds are doing well. However, we should postpone joining the game for now."
At her words, Ki-chan looked at Seo-woon with a slightly worried expression. "Can't we just keep postponing joining the game? Our ranking will drop significantly." While the others continued to grow, if they didn't join, they would inevitably fall behind in the rankings.
"Are you worried?" Ki-chan nodded at Seo-woon's words. "Not necessarily, but I'm a little worried. I don't want to fall behind the world's players, and above all, when I look at the player community lately, the increased activity of Japanese players worries me."
"You have a grudge against them." When LiLing-wei added a comment, Seo-woon patted Ki-chan on the shoulder. "Items and money aren't the only things that improve your skills. Let's wait and see for now."
The four people who had been chatting during a break suddenly looked in the same direction. Under their gaze, Jeong Soo-hwa's face appeared in front of a few people climbing the mountain.
"What's going on?" In response to Seo-woon's question, he stepped forward and spoke. "I came to tell you a few things. Seo-woon and his friends looked at her questioningly, and she began his briefing. "
Lately, academies for training talented individuals have been popping up everywhere. Public concern seems to be growing, leading to an explosion of curiosity and interest."
"I've seen a few videos online."
"Yes. The government is generally positive about the current situation. It's true that we lag behind other countries in training talented individuals. So, the government has decided to support special education as a way to educate talented individuals."
Ki-chan tilted his head and said, "The word 'special education' sounds strange in this context."
"It won't sound strange in the future. As soon as government support was approved, universities moved to establish relevant departments." Seo-woon, who had been drinking bottled water, nearly choked on this. "Ahem! A relevant department?!"
"More like 'occult studies.' Magic and alchemy are actually the most popular fields in the world right now. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is even called 'magic engineering.'"
"Really? Anyway, I don't see what this has to do with me."
"Let me explain. Now that government support has been approved, countless magic academies are popping up like wildfire, and some have the potential to become problematic."
"Scams?" Seo-woon nodded in agreement. "There were some who made incredible claims like 'completion in three months.'"
"Rather than just hype, there are many cases of incompetent individuals luring students with the promise of theory classes. They enroll students in their academies under the pretext of being selected for a government-sponsored program and then try to seize the money."
She paused for a moment, glanced at Seo-woon, and continued. "So, there was a proposal to form an association of skilled professionals and designate it as a verification body, conduct a verification process to assess eligibility for support, and conduct discussions on future practical matters. And the first president of this association is..."
"No way." Before she could finish, Seo-woon shook his head firmly.
"Huh." As if he'd already expected this, she smiled with a sigh and nodded. "I didn't think Jin Seo-woon, who's a different nationality, would take on this role."
"But I think what prompted you to come here and ask is the difficulties of being a member of society." He knew himself well enough to know why he'd come this far.
"Upper management is trying to maintain ties with you at all costs. That's why they're paying special attention to your family. Considering the influence you've gained from the recent situation in the US, they're probably trying to gather talented people around you."
"I don't have time to play games. I heard Japanese players are growing rapidly."
"...It's not so much that they're growing quickly, but that they've been supporting their players for a long time, and the results are starting to show. They have the highest survival rate among new players who join after ranked play. And after the Subaru Jin incident, I heard they went to great lengths to bring him back."
"Bring him back?"
"I heard he earned the right to return. The Kimchi Sang Guild completely left Korea and settled in Japan, where he also provided assistance." Seo-woon's eyebrows furrowed in disappointment at hearing that name again after so long.
"I'd forgotten about him. He was so quiet, I didn't even know he was still around. That guy… went to Japan?"
"Yeah. I heard he took all his guild members with him and went to Japan." Hearing his words, Ki-chan interjected. "We have to take care of that bastard."
"Right now, Jin Seo-woon is the center of the world's attention. Targeting a Japanese citizen without a valid reason would be too much of a burden."
"No burden at all. We have immunity. I don't care what the public thinks. I didn't care when we killed those crazy brothers in Russia either. Go kill him and be done with it." Ki-chan's mouth twisted at those words.
"But not now. He'll definitely come back when he thinks he's strong enough. Then, we should take everything he has. Until then, think of himself as a farm that stores items for me." Ki-chan nodded at Seo-woon's words. "
That's even more cruel." Seeing Ki-chan say that, Seo-woon curled the corners of his mouth upwards.
"Now, I'll tell you the latest story. We detected abnormal signs in Africa."
"Africa?"
"Abnormal signs?" In response to Seo-woon and Ki-chan's questions, Jeong Su-hwa extended her hand to the side, and a man who appeared to be her subordinate placed a tablet in her hand. "Check this out."
The video on the tablet she held out showed a desert-like background that gave off a slightly unsettling feeling. "Something…" Ki-chan trailed off as he watched the video, and a familiar yet unfamiliar creature appeared.
"Kiee!" The creature that emerged, red-skinned, short, and wielding a metal club, was a mutant goblin.
"Is this Africa?" Seo-woon frowned, hurriedly watched the video to the end, and asked. "Yeah."
"What's going on?"
"We're not entirely sure either. After the goblin was discovered, the desert was searched meticulously, but no trace of any other goblins or other dimensions was found." Juriel spoke in response. "How did the dimensions overlap?"
"I'm not sure, but it must be related to Cloyd." Seo-woon was certain it was related to the recent live game. "The operators must have some sort of intention."
"…" Everyone fell into deep thought with serious expressions, and Jeong-soo-hwa left after bowing politely.
"There's no way we're going to figure that out now." Seo-woon confirmed Juriel's words. "How about we do something for a change of scenery?"
"Yeah. It's been a while since I've seen Karina. I don't hate living in the mountains, but sometimes getting some fresh air is good for training." Seo-woon confirmed the words of Lee Ling-wei, his senior in martial arts.
The group, who skipped their afternoon training, drove down to the foot of the mountain and got into Juriell's Bentley. The soot-blackened backseat had been meticulously repaired.
Getting into her car, Seo-woon saw his family after a long time, met Karina, and learned about what was happening in the world these days, and before he knew it, the sun had set.
"Is it time already? Let's hurry." Seo-woon threw a questioning look at Juriell and Li Ling-wei, who were hurrying him along, holding his half-finished coffee in the air. "Shopping," Ki-chan replied as he got up from his seat, and Karina smiled. "Have fun. I'm going home and rest."
Seo-woon was driven to a shopping mall in Myeong-dong by the three of them, and he followed them with a bored expression. "Um... I'd like this and this one."
"I'd like those sunglasses too."
"Hmm. This one's warm. I'll take this one too." As he watched them shop endlessly, Ki-chan approached him. "Aren't you buying anything?"
"They're both expensive and don't look very good." When Seo-woon, who was wearing cheap sportswear, said this, the sales clerk's forehead wrinkled slightly, but thanks to the three shoppers constantly at work, he couldn't express his displeasure.
Looking around in boredom, Seo-woon's eyes landed on a large store next to the luxury goods store. The store, which looked newly opened, felt much more imposing than the luxury goods store. Naturally, he became curious when he saw the iron bars inside the store.
"What's that?"
"I don't know. Is it a new brand or something?" In response to Ki-chan's question, an employee standing nearby spoke up. "This is Cloyd Goods Collection, our first store in Korea, opened at our main store in Jinseok. They offer items at prices that don't compare to the luxury items in the surrounding luxury stores.
I heard their main customers are players." The employee said this to suppress any feelings of jealousy he might have towards Seo-woon's wealthy friends, but Seo-woon didn't seem to care.
"Wow. They have something like that now? I'll go check it out first." With that, Seo-woon got up and left the luxury goods store, and Juriell and Li-ling-wei, who were busy shopping, hurriedly finished their shopping.
"Excuse me, sir. You haven't seen all the new items in this line yet…"
"No problem. I don't have time." As soon as Juriell finished speaking, she swept all the items she'd purchased into her subspace, and the employee's eyes widened in surprise.
"Seo-woon! Come with me!" The luxury store employee stood behind the three people who followed her, their mouths agape. "Take your time, come back."
"We should shop together."
"Exactly." Seo-woon's mouth twitched at the two women's words. "Is this what being together means?" He didn't say anything, but Seo-woon decided to avoid shopping with them in the future.
Watching Ki-chan enjoy his tireless shopping, Seo-woon entered the newly opened store.
"Welcome. Could you please stand over there for a moment?" Seo-woon and his friends, at the request of the female employee, who was dressed in a neat suit, he stepped aside and put on a pair of small single-lens glasses.
"Hmm. You're players, aren't you? I'm sorry, but could you please take off your A-Space rings for a moment?" It was an expensive store, so he was being very careful. It was clear they were being cautious to avoid any unpleasant incidents with the players.
He placed the A-Space ring on the black tray he held out to her and showed her a uniquely engraved silver bracelet. At the same time, the tightly closed iron door creaked open.
"Happy shopping." Touched by her thoughtful words, Ki-chan entered the store and spoke. "You said your main customers are players, so you're well-prepared."
"I hope your selection of items is good too." When they entered, a middle-aged man who appeared to be the store manager stepped forward to greet them. "Hello, I'm Chad from Cloyd Collection. Are you looking for anything special?"
"Can we look at the accessories?"
"Yes, this way, please." The interior of the store was invisible from the outside because an illusion spell had been cast on it. "Wow. You even cast an illusion spell."
"You must be a player to have such sharp eyes." Looking at the weapons and armor hanging on the walls, they walked inside and saw a variety of items displayed in the display cases, including vintage rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.
"Wow, there's quite a variety."
"As the first brick-and-mortar store in South Korea, we meticulously prepared our Cloyd Collection. We offer the best products in both quantity and quality." The group nodded at the man's words and began examining the items one by one.
After about three minutes of looking around, the group began to lose interest. "Don't you like anything?" the man asked, surprised, and Ki-chan replied with an awkward smile. "There aren't any high-quality items."
"Their stats and other options are also bad." The man's face paled at Li-ling-wei's blunt remark. "Don't make fun of us. All the items we prepare are top-tier."
"They're not bad, but I have better items than these. Don't you have items with more unique stats than these?" Seo-woon's words deeply wounded the man's pride.
"Is there anything you're looking for specifically?" Seo-woon replied, completely ignoring the man's slightly tense tone. "Accessories that grant special stats, like luck, not basic stats like these."
The man looked at his words with surprise, "Beyond basic stats?"
"I don't think so. Let me know if I get any items like that in the future."
As Seo-woon handed him his business card and turned to leave the store, the man hurriedly opened his mouth. "If you don't mind, could I have some of your items evaluated?" There was no particular reason to agree, but Seo-woon felt his pride hurt and removed the rings on his nine fingers to show him.
The man pulled out a magnifying glass that could examine the functions of items and began checking each option one by one. After checking the fifth ring, the man sighed and handed it back to Seo-woon. "
Teleportation? I've never heard of such an ability ring. With such an item, there's no way we can be interested in your other items. Where did you find these items?"
"I collected them myself." As he put on the ring and replied indifferently, the man leaned forward and said, "Would you consider supplying items for our collection? We're committed to buying at the highest price!"
Seo-woon nodded at his words. "There's already a place that does that."
"Is there?"
"Well, I can't go into detail. Just contact me if you come across items with special stats." After he finished, the man stared blankly after the four people walked away, then collapsed into a chair.
After finishing his shopping and stepping outside, Seo-woon's phone rang. -Jung Soo-hwa.
"I understand. Keep it short. I'm really tired right now." Exhausted from shopping, Seo-woon heard an incredible revelation over the phone.
- Signs of another dimension have been detected near the mudflats on Daebudo Island.
!!!