After hearing what happened in the inner world, I finally understood where the “Kim Ho’s type” controversy had co from.
It was because Dang Gyu-young’s sparring opponent had been coated in gothic fashion from head to toe.
“That’s a set item.”
“......What? So that’s what it was?”
“It’s insanely good, too. All S-rank.”
Dang Gyu-young’s expression deflated a little.
Then, as if sothing occurred to her, she shot a sidelong glance and asked,
“......So you don’t hate it, right? Gothic.”
“I don’t hate it.”
“Mm. Okay, got it for now.”
“The intent behind that question is extrely suspicious.”
“It’s not that suspicious. Anyway, who were those people?”
Dang Gyu-young pivoted topics fast.
I didn’t press it. I just answered.
“You probably already figured it out, but they’re old connections.”
“The ones you t while graduating over two hundred tis?”
“That’s right.”
“Knew it. You really are a ga-senior.”
I’d said I’d introduce them soday if I got the chance.
Now that I had [Invitation], that had basically beco possible.
Dang Gyu-young nodded, then asked again.
“If I go back in, do I see them again?”
“Probably.”
Besides the “gothic young lady,” there were a few more S-rank umbramancers—results of taking different builds.
Still, for the ti being, instead of rotating through a bunch of them, it seed more likely that one person would keep eting Dang Gyu-young.
“No, but seriously—how do you beat soone up the mont you et them?”
“Maybe they thought it was necessary.”
Even if you got invited, you couldn’t stay in the inner world forever.
There had to be so kind of restriction.
And the “gothic young lady” seed to be moving in a way that helped everyone, within that restriction.
Dang Gyu-young nodded like it made sense.
“She did show a bunch of stuff. What was that skill at the end? When all the shadows turned the sa?”
“It was probably [Standardization].”
A general-purpose skill—and obviously useful for an umbramancer, too.
The effect was exactly what the word implied.
If your slots kept increasing and you kept registering shadow undead, there would eventually co a day when “variety” tripped you up.
If you learned [Standardization], you gained more options for situations like that.
Dang Gyu-young asked with a sparkle of excitent.
“So you can do stuff like four Lab Directors, four Dark-Shadow Commanders?”
“Of course.”
“When do I learn it?”
“Later. It might show up while you’re doing [Austerity].”
“What, not now?”
“Right now you should focus on sothing else.”
We were still way too slot-starved to start talking about diversity.
Dang Gyu-young pouted.
“Still... I guess I went in there and learned sothing.”
“You’ll learn a lot more from now on.”
Right now, the gap in skill was so huge she’d basically gotten kicked out imdiately.
But as she got stronger, she’d be able to last longer.
And the longer she lasted, the more she’d learn.
‘It’ll help with insight, too.’
The umbramancers—including the “gothic young lady”—were already walking the path Dang Gyu-young wanted to walk.
If they passed on what they’d gained, it would bring forward the day she broke through her wall.
‘And beyond that... EX-rank, too.’
Ghost Demon Grandpa had explained it kindly.
The reason the Blood Cult leader kept grinding up subordinates and stirring up chaos all over the place was to break the wall of EX-rank.
More specifically, he wanted to increase the number of powerhouses that could rival him—
and gain insight through life-and-death duels with them.
I’d already been seeing so possibility in that thod, too, but...
‘And then I went and learned [Invitation].’
There were already more than enough powerhouses prepared inside my inner world.
No need to suffer and wander around like so people—just use the skill once a week and you’re done.
‘And I can make it even faster.’
Because I can shorten cooldowns with [Ti Allocation].
‘Still, for now it’s better to focus on [Austerity].’
Especially with the challenge added on, it guaranteed a more reliable stat jump.
Managing [Invitation] cooldowns would start once the party mbers began drawing close to S-rank and the importance of insight grew.
‘Before that, I should expand my tools for cooldown managent.’
If I completed the golden pocket watch—or a lower-tier version of it—
I’d be able to comfortably manage both skills.
‘The [Minute Hand] is sothing Nether King Dragon said it would make for , and I raised [Greedy Selection Ticket] up to C.’
I was thinking about what item I should go after next when Dang Gyu-young spoke.
“Hey. But I’ve got sothing I’m upset about.”
“What is it?”
“If it’s your inner world, that ans your inner thoughts are in there too, right?”
“I guess so.”
“Then why is it packed with ga-seniors, but there’s nothing about us?”
At that, Seo Ye-in peeked her head ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) out from under the blanket.
“......Upset.”
“Were we never even on your radar?”
“Not on it.”
When soone asks that kind of question, the faster you answer, the better.
The longer you take, the more it sounds like you’re making up an excuse.
So I answered honestly, with whatever ca to mind first.
“I still don’t really understand the inner world myself, but one thing’s for sure.”
“What?”
“There’s no way there’s only one room.”
“How would you know th— ah!”
Dang Gyu-young’s face brightened right away, just as she was about to sulk.
If there were more rooms, that ant there was at least a little space in there for the two of them.
She started smacking my upper arm.
“Heh-heh-heh. I almost got upset.”
Seo Ye-in nodded too, looking satisfied.
“......Pass.”
Then Dang Gyu-young’s eyes sharpened like a detective’s.
“......Next ti I go in, I should look for the Gyu-Gyu Room. There might be a gothic Gyu-Gyu inside.”
“Let’s not slander .”
“I’m joking. Still, I’m curious what might be there. I’m going to try looking.”
“Even if you look, won’t it be hard to get in?”
Dang Gyu-young tilted her head at my question.
“Why?”
“Because the ga-seniors will stop you. If you run around looking for random stuff instead of sparring.”
“......Yeah, that’s true.”
After a mont of thought, Dang Gyu-young exchanged a look with Seo Ye-in.
Then she declared in a solemn voice,
“From now on, the seniors are our enemies.”
“Down with the seniors.”
“Defeat them and claim it.”
“The... Gyu-Gyu room.”
They’d set a new goal.
*****
Once the [Invitation] experint was wrapped up,
Dang Gyu-young and I were summoned by the Dang family head and attended a al.
Even though they’d been insanely busy due to the Blood Cult attack, he’d made ti for it.
The atmosphere stayed warm from start to finish.
Still, the Dang family head kept glancing at now and then with an awkward look.
“Ahem......! Couldn’t you have used it a little earlier?”
Right after leaving his last words, I’d revived him with [Retrocovery]—
so he’d banked an absolutely catastrophic black history.
I answered smoothly.
“I didn’t delay it on purpose. But thanks to that, you were able to say what you truly ant, so I hope you’ll take it positively.”
“Ahem! Of course. I am grateful for that.”
He cleared his throat again, then looked at his daughter with warm eyes.
After that, he turned serious and asked,
“No matter how much thanks I give you, it won’t be enough. But at the sa ti... I’m worried.”
“.......”
“If it’s a skill that powerful, I imagine the cost must not have been small.”
A healing skill strong enough to clean up severe injuries in an instant—
and I’d used it across dozens of people.
He was worried I might’ve suffered damage from backlash.
I answered like it was nothing.
“I did pay a cost in my own way. But I think it was more than worth it.”
Thanks to it, I’d massively increased Main Quest contribution—
and gotten two powerful Unique Skills.
But the Dang family head still looked weighed down.
“Can you tell what the cost was?”
“Cooldown.”
[Cooldown 61 days 21:23:17]
The cooldown of A-rank [Bestowal] was twenty minutes.
But I’d chained [Octopus Arms], and it had applied as the square of the number of targets.
At this rate, I’d be bound for a while even after school started back up, but—
“I’ve prepared a counterasure.”
[Magic Scroll - Ti Leap (S)]
The mont you used it, it reset the cooldowns of all skills and traits.
I was saving it for now, because I planned to use it after I’d pulled a bunch of other skills forward first.
The Dang family head nodded.
“I see. Including that as well, I want to repay you. If there’s sothing you want, say it. Anything.”
“Anything” wasn’t a word people should toss around lightly—yet he emphasized it even more.
That ant his will to repay was strong.
At tis like this, refusing was actually rude.
So when I nad a few items—
“There are things I need.”
The Dang family head listened with sharp eyes.
“I’ll send people at once to investigate. If it exists anywhere in Sichuan, it will be yours. And if it doesn’t... we’ll find a way to obtain it, no matter what.”
“Thank you.”
None of it was easy to get, but I decided to trust the Dang family’s information network and funding.
Then the Dang family head moved on to the next topic.
“Could you show the soul-summoning bell for a mont?”
“Here it is.”
CLINK......
Maybe he was recalling the brutal battle with the Blood Cult—his eyes flared for a mont.
But he regained his composure and said,
“You may put it away now.”
“Is it really okay for to keep it?”
“It is an item of great significance to the main house.”
Not only because of its level, but because it had been Ghost Demon’s exclusive weapon—the tool used to command this entire attack.
From the Dang family’s perspective, it was their greatest trophy.
Even so, he looked like he’d set aside greed.
“However, if we take it, it will only rot in a warehouse. What do you intend to do with the soul-summoning bell?”
“I do have a few plans.”
“I thought you might. Use it well.”
That wrapped up the reward conversation, at least for now.
Next, the Dang family head explained how the cleanup was progressing.
There had been a battle that huge, and the damage was significant, but they were recovering quickly.
“I plan to leave my post for a ti and entrust the rest to my younger brother.”
“Is sothing wrong?”
“I’ve had an insight.”
“......!”
He’d found a clue to crossing into S-rank, so he intended to go into seclusion and digest it.
The Dang family head continued.
“Until now, I have been trapped by delusion. Because of that, even when there were things I needed to do, words I needed to say... I could not.”
“.......”
“But this incident allowed to break free. It is entirely thanks to you.”
“It wasn’t . I hope you achieve a great breakthrough.”
“Thank you.”
Then the Dang family head faced Dang Gyu-young and spoke.
“There is much I wish to say to you, but it seems I must postpone it for a while. I’m sorry.”
“Just hearing you say that is enough for .”
“From now on, I will strive to be a better father.”
Father and daughter exchanged warm looks.
*****
As we left and walked down the corridor, Dang Gyu-young quietly took my hand and spoke.
“You know how, if I re-enroll, I was going to go with Kim Gyu-ri.”
“Right.”
“I’m just going to use Dang.”
“Dang Gyu-ri?”
“Yeah.”
Looks like repairing her relationship with her family had also brought her attachnt to the surna back.
I understood it, but there was still a practical problem.
“Won’t that be too obvious?”
“I’m willing to accept that. If I hide my strength well, it might be fine.”
“Dang Eunbi will notice.”
“I’ll tell Eunbi in advance.”
She wasn’t the type to go blabbing, and if she got to attend school with her older sister, she’d probably be thrilled.
So I nodded.
“I think that’s fine too.”
“Yeah.”
We walked side by side for a bit longer—
then Dang Gyu-young stepped in front of , stretched out her arms, and pulled into a hug.
With her face pressed against my chest, she said,
“......Thanks. For coming to my ho.”
For a long while, we stayed like that—feeling each other’s warmth.
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