In reality, I wanted to gulp down a heap of poisons and dive straight into mana cultivation, but there was sothing I had to take care of first.
I need to return the cube.
The Cube of Life was only a borrowed item from Park Na-ri and Bum.
Two days had passed already, so it was only right to return it.
Of course, as promised, I would finish the remodeling before handing it back.
Building trust like this would make it easier to borrow from them again next ti.
So, after school, I headed toward the Magic Engineering Workshop.
As always, Workshop No. 1 was bustling with activity, leaving no ti to catch a breath.
While I waited outside, a few seniors passing by recognized and gave polite nods of acknowledgnt.
“You’re here.”
“Hello.”
Having co and gone here many tis, we’d beco familiar with each other’s faces.
Perhaps guessing why I was here, one of them turned imdiately to call for Bong Jae-seok.
Before long, Bong Jae-seok dropped whatever he had been doing and ca rushing out.
The anticipation in his eyes was impossible to hide.
“I was thinking of calling you soon anyway. What brings you here?”
“Of course, it’s this.”
I didn’t disappoint his expectations.
As I answered, I casually took out the Cube of Life and Bong Jae-seok’s lips curled into a wide grin.
“…Are you returning it?”
“Yes, I’m returning it today, but I want to make a few adjustnts first.”
“You did well bringing it. Co on in, co on in.”
Bong Jae-seok and the Magic Engineering Club’s ultimate goal was to create a fully functional S-rank Cube of Life.
Of course, it was an incredibly distant and difficult objective.
In such circumstances, the chance to examine a sample was like rain during a drought. It was a rare and precious opportunity.
Even just watching work from over my shoulder would likely yield them significant insights.
On top of that, I added a suggestion.
“Why don’t you try it yourself?”
“I’d love to, but what if I ss it up by tinkering with it?”
Naturally, Bong Jae-seok wanted to examine and study it in greater depth, but the risk of breaking it was too high to take lightly.
I reassured him as he hesitated.
“You don’t need to worry about that. If anything goes wrong, I’ll fix it myself.”
“Really? In that case, I’m all in.”
Bong Jae-seok quickly took a seat in front of the Cube of Life and pulled over a few magic engineering tools.
As he activated his skill, the tools and his hands glowed faintly blue.
I pointed to one corner of the cube and gave him instructions.
“Start from here.”
“Got it.”
Following my lead, Bong Jae-seok began carefully repairing the Cube of Life step by step.
To be honest, I could have just copied [Magic Engineering] and done the work myself.
There weren’t any particularly challenging parts, so it would have saved a lot of ti, too.
Even so, I deliberately chose this more difficult approach because,
I can’t waste my slots.
▷ Copy – Skills [3/3]
1. Thief’s Step (B )
2. Overheat (C)
3. Ice Wall (B)
All three were valuable skills with no room for compromise at the mont.
If I copied [Magic Engineering], I’d have to overwrite one of the three slots above. Once the job was done, I’d then need to track down either Dang Gyu-young or Hong Yeon-hwa to copy their skills again. R
As for Han Gyul-woo, she was soone I barely knew, so she was completely out of the question.
Even setting aside the trouble of finding them, it felt awkward to suddenly ask soone to demonstrate their skills just for this purpose.
Even Dang Gyu-young who knew quite a bit about my secrets didn’t fully understand how my copying worked.
– Could you use Thief’s Step for just once?
– Huh? Why all of a sudden?
It wasn’t hard to imagine a scene like that happening.
In the end, dealing with all that hassle felt like more trouble than it was worth. So I decided not to touch my copy slots at all and proceed with the current setup.
Besides, from Bong Jae-seok’s perspective, it was far more beneficial to get hands-on experience rather than just watching.
With that in mind, I kept giving instructions, and Bong Jae-seok continued manifesting [Magic Engineering].
“This section of the inner wall needs particular attention. The amplification effect originates here.”
“So that’s what it is. I saw it in the blueprints.”
“Let’s save that part for last. If you handle it wrong, it could cause serious problems.”
“…Really? Got it.”
We beca so absorbed in our work that ti flew by.
Eventually, in front of us was a clean Cube of Life that looked like it had just been made.
The scratches that had marred its surface were gone, and a faint vibrant energy of life radiated from it.
In so ways, it even seed better than before.
For a mont, we stood in satisfied silence admiring the result of our work.
Then I finally broke the silence.
“You did great.”
“I just followed your instructions, but I learned a lot this ti. Thanks.”
After storing the Cube of Life in my inventory, I bowed slightly to Bong Jae-seok.
“Well, I’ll head out now.”
“Sure. If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to drop by.”
When I heard his words, sothing suddenly ca to mind, so I asked Bong Jae-seok a question.
“Do you happen to have any spare Random Rank Ups? If so, I’d like just one.”
“Of course I do. Take it.”
Bong Jae-seok pulled out Random Rank Ups from his inventory. Three of them, no less.
“One is more than enough.”
“Just take them all. Think of it as the tuition fee.”
With that, he practically forced them into my hand and I accepted with a show of reluctance.
I wasn’t the type to refuse sothing freely given in the first place.
With a deepened sense of respect, I bowed politely.
“I’ll make good use of these. Thank you.”
“By the way, Kim Ho.”
“Yes, senior-nim?”
For a mont, Bong Jae-seok hesitated, which was sothing uncharacteristic of his straightforward nature, before cautiously asking his question.
“I noticed you’re still unaffiliated. Do you have any plans to join sowhere?”
“No, not yet.”
“If you can’t decide, seriously consider our side. With your skills, you’d probably master the cube in no ti.”
He wasn’t wrong. If I focused solely on the Cube of Life, I could probably make an S-rank cube before the end of the year.
Even that would be a legendary achievent, and I’d still have two more years until graduation.
In Bong Jae-seok’s eyes, I likely seed like more than just a promising talent.
However, I politely declined.
“I appreciate the offer, but right now I’d like to focus on other goals.”
After all, I ca to this world of the ga aiming for EX-rank.
There were still dragons to slay, an EX-rank human sloth to raise, and world peace to achieve. My journey was far from over.
Compared to all that, even an S-rank Cube of Life was just a stepping stone. Joining the Magic Engineering Club and wasting ti there didn’t align with my priorities.
Seeing my firm resolve, Bong Jae-seok gave a slight nod.
“Fair enough. But if you change your mind, let know anyti.”
“Yes, senior-nim.”
***
Now that the repairs were complete, it was ti to return the item to its rightful owner.
When I called Park Na-ri out, she ca running in an even greater rush than Bong Jae-seok had; she was completely out of breath.
The mont she saw , she imdiately started thanking .
“Th-Thank you!”
“Why are you thanking ? It was yours to begin with.”
“For… for returning it so quickly…?”
I found it odd that she was so grateful to receive her belongings on ti, but soon, I had more than enough reasons to understand.
From head to toe, Park Na-ri was covered in cat fur, which clung to her and fluttered with every movent.
Her hands and arms were marked with an unusual number of scratch marks.
And the cat cradled in her arms, Bum, was letting out a low growl.
“Grrrr.”
His displeasure was obvious.
I could guess what had happened over the past two days.
Bum had likely used Park Na-ri as a villa, or maybe a scratching post, in place of the cube.
“ow!”
Before long, Bum twisted his body uncomfortably, then used his front paw to bat at Park Na-ri’s chin.
Thwack!
“Ugh!”
Park Na-ri’s head snapped backward.
It looked like a typical “cat punch” but the force was clearly sothing else entirely.
…Fine. I believe it. You really are a devil-cat.
The life of a cat owner seed endlessly grueling.
Park Na-ri put her head back in the right position with a groan and rubbed her sore chin as she spoke.
“Th-The cube, please…”
“I’ll give it to you right away.”
If I delayed any longer, her chin might not survive the second or third “cat punch”.
I quickly pulled out the Cube of Life, opened the lid slightly, and spoke in a gentle tone.
“Bum-nim, the remodeling is complete. Please, take a look.”
Bum stared at the cube for a few seconds before leaping down from Park Nari’s arms.
I got on one knee to et his eye level.
Bum sniffed all around the cube while pressing his nose against various spots before effortlessly hopping into the box.
“ow.”
“Does it suit your tastes?”
Instead of answering, Bum lightly tapped the box lid with his front paw and shut it closed.
I decided to interpret that as a yes.
Without hesitation, I handed the Cube of Life that was still closed back to Park Na-ri.
“Take it.”
“…Thank you.”
Park Na-ri let out a sigh of relief, mixing it with her words of gratitude, and started walking away while clutching the cube tightly in her arms.
Her retreating figure looked twice as exhausted as usual.
Scratch, scratch, scratch!
From inside the cube ca the constant, enthusiastic sound of claws scratching against its interior.
***
At the Training Center,
I sat down in the middle of the Mana Cultivation Room.
The first thing I did was use the Random Rank Up I received from Bong Jae-seok.
Fwoosh…
The magical scroll crumbled into black ash and a notification appeared.
[Rank Up failed.]
Even so, the corners of my lips curled upward slightly.
Finally.
[Stamp Coupon (C)]
▷ Stamps: 10/10
▷ Reward for 10 Stamps: Rank Up (C)
It was because I had completed the Stamp Coupon by accumulating ten failed attempts.
I had already decided in advance where to use the Rank Up.
[Activated ‘Rank Up (C)’.]
[The rank of ‘Amplification’ has been increased. (C→B)]
[Duration: 10 minutes → 15 minutes.]
[Cooldown: 1 hour 20 minutes → 50 minutes.]
Amplification was the most powerful and versatile skill I had, so it was the first choice worth investing in.
Recently, I had been extending its duration with the Skill Tuning Scroll, which also increased its cooldown, and with the addition of Octopus Limbs, it had beco increasingly difficult to manage.
Now that it had risen to B-rank and the cooldown had decreased again, I could finally breathe a bit easier.
I still had two Random Rank Up scrolls left, but I decided to save them for the next Stamp Coupon.
“Ti to give it a try.”
I prepared to consu the poisons I had packed from the Temporary Storage and take on the Thousand Poisons Immunity.
While wearing the Hoodie of the Hidden Master, I reached into my inventory.
The first thing my fingers touched was a small glass bottle filled with pink liquid.
At first glance, it looked harmless, but that was far from the truth.
[Cute Deadly Poison (C)]
An item that occasionally appeared from the slot machine on the Dragon Slayer Academy train.
Back then, I had tried to avoid it since I had no counterasures against poison.
Now, if it’s poison, it’s all good.
When I removed the glass stopper, a sweet sll of cotton candy wafted into my nose.
It seed like it was tempting for to drink it.
So, as I intended, I downed the contents of the glass bottle in one gulp.
Ugh, bitter.
An unimaginably bitter taste overwheld my taste buds.
The Cute Deadly Poison didn’t stop there. It burned its way down my esophagus to my stomach and tried to lt everything it touched.
A stinging sensation spread throughout my body, but I had already anticipated as much.
Well then, let’s get started.
I adjusted my posture and closed my eyes.
Then, I focused my mind entirely on mana cultivation.
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