Chapter 57
Actually, Hemis had been watching the two of them for quite a while.
Hemis shook her head as she watched Reidrun, who had been nagging for over an hour already.
‘Was he always this talkative?’
She couldn’t tell how many times he had repeated the same things.
Reidrun’s way of speaking is typically unhurried and leisurely.
Usually his words carry weight and are solemn, you could say.
But right now, that leisureliness has turned into poison.
His slow-paced nagging made it twice as unpleasant to hear.
âChoi Hyun-seok. You clearly possess outstanding talent. However, without Lady Hemis’s magical energy injection in this incident, victory would have been absolutelyâŠâ
Hemis laughed internally while listening to Reidrun’s words.
She understood what he was trying to say, but that wasn’t accurate information.
‘Half right and half wrong.’
She already knew roughly how the situation had unfolded.
Choi Hyun-seok had overcome the crisis by pushing Plomot to its limits.
‘Yes, without my magical energy, he would have failed.’
Without Hemis’s magical energy, Choi Hyun-seok couldn’t have operated Plomot to its extreme.
Up to here, Reidrun’s words were correct.
‘However.’
The really important part starts now.
‘Would anyone else have even been able to use that magical energy in the first place?’
The magical energy Hemis had infused wasn’t something that could be used just because one wanted to.
In terms of quality alone, her magical energy was comparable even to a Demon King’s.
Additionally, Hemis had imbued her will into the magical energy.
The will to suppress Choi Hyun-seok’s magical energy and slow down his body’s erosion.
So even though it entered Choi Hyun-seok’s body, it wasn’t something he could control at will.
‘Even a high-ranking demon would have found it impossible.’
At minimum, a battalion commander.
No, one would need to be at least at the regiment commander level to use Hemis’s magical energy.
‘But a human. And a weakling merely at company commander level used my magical energy like his own without my permission?’
It’s not something to even joke about.
He’d be lucky if people didn’t treat him like a madman for spouting nonsense.
‘Anyway, he’s an interesting one.’
She had to acknowledge at least Choi Hyun-seok’s talent.
‘Should I go over there now?’
Hemis walked forward with a smile.
It seemed like she should intervene between the two now.
At this rate, they looked ready to talk until dawn.
“Reidrun. Were you always this talkative? My ears are getting calluses. Should I reassign you as Choi Hyun-seok’s nanny?”
***
Cold sweat trickled down the back of Reidrun’s head.
“Lady Hemis…?”
Why was Hemis here?
He unconsciously rubbed his eyes.
Even looking again, that was definitely Hemis.
‘There should still be two days left until the meeting ends…’
The Corps Commander regular meetings run for at least a week.
While they might run longer than scheduled, there had never been a single instance of returning this early.
Reidrun’s usually steady gaze trembled uncontrollably.
‘I want to find a mouse hole to hide in.’
Of all people, to show this side of himself to Hemis.
He wanted to run away.
Reidrun forcibly held onto his whitening consciousness.
‘Get it together…’
First, he needed to know why Hemis had returned early.
Reidrun cleared his throat with a fake cough and spoke.
“Ahem! Lady Hemis. Did the meeting end early this year?”
“No. The meeting is still ongoing.”
“You mean you left while the meeting wasn’t over?”
“Of course. How could I sit in a meeting when my children were getting beaten up? Ohohoho!”
Reidrun’s eyes went wide.
When was the last time he had been this shocked?
Even 30 years ago, when Hemis ate the division commander and threw the unit into chaos, he hadn’t been this shocked.
“Did you inform the Demon King…?”
“No.”
“Then the meeting…”
“I suppose it must be in chaos by now?”
“…”
“The Demon King might be a bit surprised. Ohohoho!”
At this moment, Reidrun and Choi Hyun-seok were thinking the same thing.
‘This doesn’t seem like something to laugh casually about.’
Even Choi Hyun-seok, who didn’t know much about the Demon King’s Army, could understand.
This was practically a direct challenge to the Demon King.
‘If the angry Demon King decides to purge Hemis…’
There might even be a massacre.
Both men’s faces hardened.
Hemis stepped between them and wrapped her arms around both men’s waists.
“Lighten up. It’s not manly to be scared of such trivial matters.”
Hemis still spoke carefreely.
For a moment, irritation welled up in Choi Hyun-seok.
“Hah, if this is trivial, then what exactly counts as a big deal?”
Choi Hyun-seok spoke indifferently.
An icy silence followed.
“…”
Reidrun and Hemis stared at Choi Hyun-seok.
Realizing his mistake, Choi Hyun-seok unconsciously covered his mouth.
‘What did I just do…’
To dare talk back to Hemis, he must have momentarily gone crazy.
He would have no right to complain even if all his teeth were pulled out.
‘This is all Rachel’s fault!’
He had gotten into the habit of making retorts while bantering with Rachel.
If he dies here, he’ll definitely pray for Rachel to fall into hell.
“Uh, this is, well…”
Choi Hyun-seok continued with a trembling voice.
“I meant it’s amazing how Corps Commander can consider even such matters trivial! Haha!”
“Is that funny?”
“…”
Choi Hyun-seok sealed his lips like a mute who had eaten honey.
“You just asked what counts as a big deal, right?”
Hemis’s red lips stretched horizontally into a wide grin.
“Well… Wouldn’t this be a big deal for you?”
Her words were correct.
Power struggle between the Demon King and Corps Commander?
To Choi Hyun-seok, that was just a story from a far-off land.
For him, a real big deal was exactly this kind of situation.
“Choi Hyun-seok. What do you think?”
“If-if you spare my life, I’ll truly grovel like a dog…”
“Oh my, our cute Bobo is going to have a friend! Ohohoho!”
In the world, there was no bigger deal than one’s own life being at stake.
***
Fortunately, Hemis didn’t do anything particularly harmful.
She forgave him with just having to act like a dog beside Bobo for a day.
“Woof woof! Woof!”
Choi Hyun-seok barked very enthusiastically.
Rachel and Bobo looked at Choi Hyun-seok with pitying expressions.
“Hero, don’t you feel ashamed?”
“Shut up. You think I’m doing this because I want to!?”
It was all just to survive.
If it meant staying alive, he could pretend to be a dog for a whole year.
“Woof woof woof!”
“Growl!”
Choi Hyun-seok really barked with all his might.
After spending a day as Bobo’s friend like that, the next day.
Having returned from dog to human, Choi Hyun-seok woke up early in the morning to meditate.
“Phew…”
The daily morning meditation and training had become an essential routine for him.
“Hero, hero! What are you doing!?”
Rachel, who had unusually woken up early today, was hovering around him.
Choi Hyun-seok ignored her and continued focusing on his breathing.
“Inhale, exhale…”
“Hero, can’t you pretend to be a dog one more time? You were so good at it yesterday!”
“Inhaaale… Exhale…”
“I really thought you had rabies!? You were even more dog-like than Bobo!”
“Inhaaale…”
“Hero hero hero!”
“Get lost, you’re distracting!”
Choi Hyun-seok still lacked mental discipline.
“Tch. Stop doing useless things and let’s go to the cooking grounds quickly.”
Rachel swung her fists in the air.
“Let’s hurry and beat up magical beasts! And beat up the cooks too!”
“Wait. There’s something I need to do first.”
“What is it?”
“I need to upgrade the Hero Shop.”
Choi Hyun-seok grinned.
â«Hero Points: 1,450
He received a whopping 1,000 points for completing the quest to protect Abelson.
The points needed for upgrading the Hero Shop was 500.
With 1,450 points, he’d still have 950 points left after the upgrade.
“Wow, this is really life-changing. To think we’d get this much.”
“Yeah, really.”
“Then let’s check it out quickly! What’s the point of sitting on it?”
“Right. I hope there’s something useful this time.”
Contrary to his words, Choi Hyun-seok didn’t actually have high expectations.
He had already been disappointed once before.
‘The Hero Shop itself feels more like a supplementary thing anyway.’
The abilities and items sold in the Hero Shop were certainly useful.
They had saved Choi Hyun-seok from numerous crisis so far.
However, that doesn’t mean the Hero Shop was an all-solving master key.
It just helped in proceeding with certain tasks.
That’s why he didn’t expect any dramatic changes from this upgrade.
He just hoped there would be some decent items available.
“When the shop upgrades, there might be lots of good stuff!”
“That’s possible, but it’s better not to expect too much.”
The bigger the expectations, the bigger the disappointment.
“Phew, here it goes.”
Choi Hyun-seok placed his hand on the upgrade button located at the side of the Hero Shop.
‘Finally…’
This was the moment he had been waiting for months.
Even though he just said not to expect much, he couldn’t help feeling a bit nervous.
“Let’s go!”
As soon as he pressed the button, there was an immediate response.
Bang-ppara-bang~!
A fanfare that seemed like it belonged in an old variety show played, followed by a system notification.
[Beginner Hero Shop will be upgraded to Intermediate!]
Choi Hyun-seok immediately checked the upgraded shop.
“Hmm… What changed?”
[Intermediate Hero Shop]
– Abilities
– Items
The initial menu was the same as before.
Just changed from Beginner to Intermediate.
“How is it!? Are there lots of good things!?”
“No. I can’t tell yet…”
Choi Hyun-seok checked the items first.
“Oh? Something did change.”
– Items
- Equipment
- Accessories
- Miscellaneous
What was previously lumped together as âItemsâ was now divided into detailed categories.
Choi Hyun-seok checked equipment first.
‘Swords, shields, armor… So it sells these things.’
They were weapons and armor that would have been used in ancient or medieval times on Earth.
Being a man, Choi Hyun-seok’s heart raced seeing these equipment.
‘A knight wielding a sword in full plate armor! That was my childhood dream.’
He imagined himself running around in magnificent full plate armor.
‘Wait… Where have I seen this before?’
Come to think of it, Choi Hyun-seok had already met people wearing magnificent armor.
‘When I was a slave master, humans had invaded.’
When escaping the fortress with Reidrun.
He remembered knights in fancy armor charging at Reidrun.
They were all wearing brilliant plate armor.
‘I think it was a three-second wipeout of five people?’
The result was them becoming bloody pancakes along with their armor.
Before overwhelming power, armor meant nothing.
‘It would just slow me down if I wore it…’
Choi Hyun-seok had to reluctantly let go of his dream.
He checked the next category.
- Accessories
Accessories were exactly that – items like rings and necklaces.
‘Oh, it increases stats?’
The accessories looked quite useful.
Like in games, they increased stats, and some even contained magic.
Choi Hyun-seok checked the price of a ring containing fire-shooting magic.
‘500 Hero Points…?’
Just how powerful could it be to cost 500 points?
If he bought it and it turned out to be no better than a lighter’s flame, it would be a complete waste of points.
‘Most of the others are expensive too. Let’s hold off on this for now.’
Accessories were generally expensive.
Even though he had 950 Hero Points, he couldn’t afford to waste them.
Since accessories weren’t urgent, he postponed the purchase.
- Miscellaneous
The last category, Miscellaneous, sold various items like before.
‘Oh, lots of new additions.’
Many new items had been added, and previous products had been improved.
Among them, the Combat Power Meter caught Choi Hyun-seok’s eye.
– Decent Combat Power Meter
‘The crappy one I’m using now only measures up to 50,000… I wonder if this one’s better?’
The descriptor had changed from ‘crappy’ to ‘decent’, so it must be an improvement.
‘It only costs 150 points, seems pretty good?’
The Combat Power Meter was quite useful for quickly gauging an opponent’s strength.
It seemed worth buying if he had points to spare.
‘I’ve looked through the items, now what’s left is abilities…’
Choi Hyun-seok exited the items section.
With a nervous heart, he entered the abilities section.
‘What if it’s stuff like holding in poop or holding breath again.’
The day he first opened the Hero Shop.
The shock he received from seeing the abilities section that day was still vivid.
‘Please let there be something useful!’
He prayed as he pressed the abilities section.
Like with items, new detailed categories appeared.
‘This looks pretty decent…?’
Choi Hyun-seok’s eyes sparkled.
-Creating Fighting Technique
– Creating Magic
Creating Fighting Techniques and Magic.
These clearly had endless possibilities depending on how they were used.
‘Good. This is where we start.’
Choi Hyun-seok instinctively knew this was where he should use his Hero Points.
His finger began moving toward the Fighting Technique Creation.
