Chapter 214
Chapter 214. UN
“Everything is a bust.”
The lottery numbers Yoo Ji-han had told Kazimir unfortunately didn’t match a single number in that week’s drawing.
Hoping for at least one match, Yoo Ji-han felt a bit disappointed.
Lottery had never been in his favor, whether in the past or now.
‘Was it called a determined future?’
Back when he was checking probabilities with his Unique Skill, Sampling.
Nirochi had said that it would be impossible to gauge the probabilities of a future that was already cemented.
He probably still couldn’t escape such a condition now.
At that moment, Min Yu-ri spoke up.
“Even though we failed the lottery, we still have money.”
“That’s true.”
Yoo Ji-han and Min Yu-ri exchanged grins.
Thanks to the nearly 1 billion won expedition reward that was deposited today, which the Hero Department had promised to Sweet Fun.
“I heard that the fertilized eggs from monsters sold quickly at Dice.”
Moreover, various side incomes from movie views were set to be calculated a few days later.
Combining the funds in the existing guild account, they couldn’t help but feel giddy at the amount.
“Ah! The days of poverty are over!”
Kim Si-hu clenched his fist while looking at the deposit records in the guild account.
The guild that had once considered taking loans to prepare equipment no longer existed.
Now they possessed cash that was enviable compared to similarly sized guilds.
As the Guild Master, he felt immense joy and relief.
“Squeak! Now that we have money, is lunch going to be meat?”
“Not today. It’s just salad.”
“Squeak?! Boss! What are you saying?!”
“You’ve been having pork belly for days at home! Look at that belly you’ve got!”
“Squeak, squeak. The boss is tormenting me…”
Min Yu-ri’s attitude resembled that of an older sister dealing with a mischievous younger sibling.
Chilla’s face darkened as he had recently gained weight rapidly.
—Hehehe! I knew it!
The Sylph taunted Chilla by spinning around above his head.
While listening to the party’s banter for a moment, Yoo Ji-han suddenly spoke up.
“Pretty soon we’ll go back to adventuring, so you all need to take care of yourselves.”
“Squeak! Got it, Captain.”
“For now, we have money, so I want to buy some good potions and create equipment…”
There were plenty of potions he hadn’t come across yet, so he could buy them at a reasonable price.
As for big ticket items, that would be the party members’ equipment.
With Nam Ho-yeol’s help, the gear used on their last expedition had been nicely mended.
However, Yoo Ji-han felt it wasn’t enough.
‘Drimium might not be able to wait.’
The Drimium that Nam Ho-yeol was researching showed no signs of change yet.
He wanted to use it for the next equipment creation if possible.
But to start hero activity soon, he had to exclude Drimium.
“Si-hu, can you let Ho-yeol know to compile a list of materials we can use within budget?”
“Sure!”
But just then.
Nam Ho-yeol, whose name had just been mentioned, called Yoo Ji-han.
—Ji-han!
“What’s wrong?”
—There’s a scratch on the Drimium!
“……?!”
*
Upon hearing the news, Yoo Ji-han’s party rushed to the guild’s workshop.
Nam Ho-yeol, waiting outside, guided them to the workshop where the Drimium was kept.
“You’ll be really surprised!”
As they followed the excited Nam Ho-yeol, they faced the dream metal.
Everyone visiting the workshop tilted their heads.
‘It’s fine, isn’t it?’
The Drimium maintained its condition, not differing at all from before.
However, Nam Ho-yeol pointed at one of the desks and said,
“Look over there! There’s a scratch!”
Yoo Ji-han narrowed his eyes slightly.
Finally, he noticed a tiny, scratch-like mark on the surface of the Drimium.
It was so fine that only by looking very closely could it be seen—a tiny scratch smaller than a hair.
“Isn’t it amazing?!”
“Ah, yes.”
“I managed to scratch that much after five hours of effort.”
Though the result was slightly different from his expectations.
Yoo Ji-han played along with Nam Ho-yeol’s enthusiasm.
“Since everyone’s here, I’ll use it right away!”
“That one?”
Min Yu-ri looked at the Drimium powder with doubt in her eyes.
Who on earth did he intend to stick that to?
Just then, Nam Ho-yeol approached the workbench and said,
“This is a miniature dagger I prepared in advance.”
“You’re going to test it?”
“Yes.”
The dagger was crafted to be nearly the size of a thumbnail.
Creating miniature gear meant investing only a little material to preview the final product.
Although usually a technique reserved for experienced blacksmiths, Nam Ho-yeol had no qualms about it.
“It might be a bit crude, but if I forcibly attach it to the blade’s surface using a magic hammer…”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
As the hammer swung a few times, the Drimium powder adhered to the dagger’s blade.
Following that, Nam Ho-yeol meticulously checked the results and smiled broadly.
“It’s done.”
The completed dagger passed into Kim Si-hu’s hands.
There wasn’t a better talent than a mage for analyzing equipment’s effects.
“……It does seem like an artifact.”
Kim Si-hu looked at the toy-like dagger suspiciously.
But then he furrowed his brow for a moment and channeled magic into the dagger.
Swish!
“Oh!”
To everyone’s astonishment, the formerly thumbnail-sized dagger expanded to a real dagger size.
The Drimium that had been dotted on its surface had absorbed into the blade’s interior.
Surprised, Kim Si-hu gripped the dagger’s hilt and said,
“This is amazing! Its size and weight have transformed to that of a real dagger!”
“Is it freely expandable and contractible?”
“Being truly free seems difficult; it appears to change size differently for each person.”
The dagger that swallowed magic adjusted to a perfect size for Kim Si-hu’s palm.
The once metallic object recognized its user, changing its size like a living being.
‘So it can be summoned.’
It could maintain a form that usually wasn’t visible and be pulled out only when needed.
This function was usually conferred on artifacts via certain material combinations.
But with Drimium, it was fundamentally included.
“Uh, that’s beyond what I worked on.”
The blade of the dagger exceeded the effort Nam Ho-yeol had put into it.
The design that had to be rough due to its small size had become as sleek as Nam Ho-yeol had imagined.
The glistening blade reflected the light, reminding anyone who saw it of a fine sword.
Flipping it with his finger, its sturdiness was anything but ordinary.
“This could easily go up for auction.”
“I agree.”
It was mind-blowing that such a minor amount of Drimium could cause this level of change.
Considering that it had been brutally absorbed, it was far beyond expectations.
‘How much better could it get with proper use?’
Not using such material would be almost criminal.
Yoo Ji-han decided to incorporate Drimium in the next equipment creation without fail.
*
The cooperative patient program in the Hero Department.
This was a system where patients suffering from specific diseases would provide occasional help to the Hero Department’s research institute, receiving benefits first when a new treatment was developed.
Min So-yeon, the younger sister of Min Yu-ri, had been added to that list of cooperative patients at Kazimir’s suggestion.
“Is this the stamina booster?”
“Yeah. It’s a liquid diluted 100 times after mixing safe potions that help with physical recovery. For reference, a total of 21 kinds of potions were used in the mix…”
As Min Yu-ri listened to Kazimir’s explanation at the hospital, she gazed at the pink liquid contained in a transparent pack that resembled a drip.
Her sister was set to receive a newly developed stamina booster for patients.
“……In summary, it’s very safe, so don’t worry.”
“Got it.”
“Honestly, these doctors have too much pride.”
Kazimir shot a glare at the doctors watching from the side.
It was no surprise, as the hospital where Min So-yeon was hospitalized strongly opposed the administration of potions.
They were items so far beyond what even experienced doctors could understand.
However, Kazimir systematically dismantled their opposition based on precise research results and data, successfully pushing the project forward.
“If it weren’t for Yoo Ji-han, it wouldn’t have gone this far.”
Kazimir was enduring the tedious process because it was a request from Yoo Ji-han.
As he watched the potion flowing into Min So-yeon’s body in the hospital room, he said,
“Everything is ready now, so report the patient’s status to me every three days.”
“Thank you so much!”
With afternoon appointments piling up, Kazimir left the hospital.
Seated in a chair, Min Yu-ri observed her sister’s condition.
‘Has her expression changed?’
It seemed like her sister’s face looked more relaxed, though it might be her imagination.
It hadn’t been ten minutes since the potion was administered.
At that moment, Yoo Ji-han entered the hospital room and looked around.
“Hmm? Did Kazimir leave?”
“Yes. He said he was busy and left.”
“I was going to treat him to a meal…”
Yoo Ji-han moved closer to Min So-yeon, looking at her face.
“Hmm? Has her expression changed?”
“Puhuhuh…”
“……Why are you laughing?”
“Uh, no, it’s just that you seem to be having the same thought as me.”
Min Yu-ri smiled at Yoo Ji-han, who was thinking exactly what she was.
Yoo Ji-han scratched his head as he said,
“Make sure to spend time with your sister whenever you can. You might have to be far away soon.”
“That’s true. It won’t be easy to visit the hospital like this.”
Because if the Hero Department’s plan to go to another world proceeded, she would be separated from her family for a long time.
Yoo Ji-han offered her that advice.
“And here’s a gift.”
“……!”
Yoo Ji-han showed Min Yu-ri a necklace wrapped in plastic.
The decoration attached to the necklace had the shape of a dagger.
“That’s the dagger Ho-yeol made, right?”
“Making it into a necklace makes it look more beautiful than I expected, right?”
At this moment, it was the only weapon produced using Drimium.
Yoo Ji-han wanted to gift it to Min Yu-ri.
“Would you like to try it on?”
“Yeah?”
“Just push your neck forward for a moment.”
Yoo Ji-han took the necklace out of the plastic and brought it around Min Yu-ri’s neck.
Startled, Min Yu-ri hurriedly swept her hair away from her neck.
‘Ah.’
As Yoo Ji-han’s fingertips brushed against her neck, she felt a chill.
But there was no discomfort at all.
“Ah, ugh…”
While Yoo Ji-han was fastening the clasp of the necklace.
Min Yu-ri, closely against him, merely mumbled her lips.
Finally, as the necklace secured around her neck, Yoo Ji-han smiled in satisfaction.
“I picked the chain; I hope you like it.”
“……Yes.”
“If you don’t like it for any reason, I can exchange it for something else.”
“No, no! This is perfect. Really.”
Min Yu-ri carefully touched the necklace as if she had received a precious gift.
Among all the gifts she had received from others recently.
Without a doubt, it felt like it would be one she could never forget.
*
In an office filled with wooden decorations throughout the space.
A middle-aged man standing by the window took a sip of coffee and said,
“Olivia. Are you ready for departure?”
“Yes.”
The woman with bright brown hair sitting on the sofa responded to the man’s inquiry.
“It’ll be a very long time since we went to Korea.”
“It’s the first time since changing my nationality.”
“Tell me our goal for this business trip.”
“To investigate the people from another world who appeared in Korea and IUPC’s terror activities.”
“Then what is our ‘real’ goal?”
A question asking not for the surface reason for entering Korea but the true one.
The woman’s face grew serious as she spoke.
“Securing the talking chinchilla and drawing Yoo Ji-han’s party’s heroes into the UN.”
“You know this is of utmost importance, right?”
“Of course.”
Swish!
Olivia swept back one side of her hair.
It was a strong expression of confidence.
“The fact that he was Yu Ji-han’s ex-girlfriend is precisely why you’re included in this plan.”
“……He was a man who liked me a lot.”
“I expect great things from your involvement.”
UN hero Olivia Perry.
Before swapping her nationality, her Korean name was Nam Soo-ji.
She was a classmate of Yoo Ji-han during their time at Hero Academy, and on the day she confessed to him, she rejected him.
