Chapter 31: Adilo’s Troubles
Proof-reader: TheMonitor
“Who wants to team up with me on a double quest? I’m a level 87 healing and illusion double!”
“Recruiting people for a triple quest with a level 39 triple! I have fire, water and earth magic!”
“I’ll buy that Flame Stone!”
“Selling Marks of Wind! I spend a lot of effort to get these! There are only 2 left!”
Soo Hyuk arrived at the Northern entrance of the Central Spire . Similar to the Southern entrance, there were a lot a of people around the Northern entrance .
Soo Hyuk passed these users and went into the Spire . Then, he climbed up the stairs to the fourth floor .
‘So, I just walk up to him?’
When Soo Hyuk arrived at the fourth floor, he spotted Kerza behind his station . There was no one lining up in front of him .
But since his station wasn’t for ordinary users, it made sense that there was no one in line . While thinking this, Soo Hyuk walked up to Kerza .
“Excuse me . ”
Suddenly, an unfamiliar man in a line next to him blocked Soo Hyuk with his arm .
“……?”
Soo Hyuk stopped before he could bump into the man’s arm and looked at the man with a suspicious gaze .
“You have to line up . ”
The man said when Soo Hyuk looked at him . When Soo Hyuk heard his words, he could understand what the man was worried about .
‘Does he think I’m cutting the line?”
Although Soo Hyuk could understand what the unfamiliar man was worried about, that wasn’t his intention in the first place .
“Yes, I know . ”
Soo Hyuk replied as he pushed past the man’s arm and continued heading towards Kerza .
Maybe Kerza sensed someone looking at him, when Soo Hyuk was approaching him, he looked up from his work and spotted Soo Hyuk .
“You’re finally here!”
Kerza exclaimed as he stood up . And a message appeared in front Soo Hyuk at that moment .
[You have completed the Quest ‘Immeasurable Talent’ . ]
It was the quest completion message .
“Hello . ”
Soo Hyuk greeted Kerza . Kerza signalled him to sit down on the chair opposite him and tidied up his desk .
“So… . I came here because you told me to . ”
Soo Hyuk just wanted to finish this quickly . He had to get back to the library and his books!
“Here you go . ”
Maybe Kerza sensed his mood . After rummaging his drawer for a bit, he handed him an envelope without any introductions .
“……?”
Soo Hyuk looked at the envelope and looked up at Kerza again . Thinking that Soo Hyuk was expecting an explanation, Kerza said .
“Take this to the Tower of Poison . ”
As soon as he finished, a message appeared again .
[To the Tower of Poison]
[The NPC you need to meet is at the Tower of Poison . Take the envelope from Kerza and go to the Tower of Poison!]
[Quest Reward: ??? ]
[Cannot Reject, Cannot Cancel]
Looking at the quest, Soo Hyuk thought .
‘……There’s no time limit . ’
Unlike the ‘Immeasurable Talent’ quest, ‘To the Tower of Poison’ didn’t have a time limit .
‘Then do I really have to go?’
Soo Hyuk couldn’t cancel or reject this quest, but that was it . If he wanted, he could probably leave it alone indefinitely . There was no need to cancel or reject .
‘Phew……’
“Yes, of course . ”
Soo Hyuk replied while sighing and smiling in relief . Then when he received the envelope, two messages appeared .
[You have accepted the quest, ‘To the Tower of Poison’ . ]
[You have obtained ‘Kerza’s Recommendation’ . ]
After he checked the messages, he stood up .
“Then I’ll take my leave . ”
Soo Hyuk bid farewell to Kerza while putting away the envelope .
“Yes, have a nice day . ”
After he separated from Kerza, Soo Hyuk headed down to the first floor of the Spire . He was going to head back to the Matab Library .
But when he was leaving through the northern entrance, he heard a shout .
“W-wait!”
Soo Hyuk could tell that the owner of the voice was running towards him from his breathlessness and hoarse voice .
“……?”
Soo Hyuk turned around to look for the owner of the voice .
‘The person from before?’
Soo Hyuk tilted his head when he realised who the owner of the shout was . Soo Hyuk had seen him before, but he didn’t know him either .
The person who shouted was the man from the fourth floor who previously blocked Soo Hyuk .
“Do you have business with me?”
Soo Hyuk asked the man with a polite smile .
“I-I have something to ask . ”
Then the man’s next words transformed his smile into a heavy frown .
* * *
‘Oh, f*ck . ’
Adilo cursed internally .
‘What is this bullsh*t . ’
Why did he have to line up? Adilo was very frustrated at his current situation . Of course, he could skip the line just because he was frustrated .
The reason he was lining up, wasn’t because he wanted to take a quest or become a Magician . He wouldn’t be so frustrated if this was the case . The reason he was so annoyed was because he had to line up for another person .
“Why did I brag?”
When he was on lunch break at his company with his colleagues, the topic turned into Pangea . Adilo was currently over level 200 . Since the topic was about Pangea, he had bragged about his progress, and the CEO’s son took interest in the conversation .
The problem occurred when the CEO’s son asked for help, since he had only just started Pangea .
Reject his request? Adilo had only just bought a house with a loan from the company . He couldn’t do it, so he had to help the CEO’s son after work . But he was helping in Pangea……
-TheGrandMage: Where are you?
-Adilo: I’m lining up at the fourth floor .
-TheGrandMage: I’m at the third floor right now .
-Adilo: Okay!
Adilo replied in the chat and looked towards the staircase . He was waiting for the CEO’s son to come up .
‘Hmm?’
There was a young man who was ignoring the line .
‘Cutting the line?’
Was he going to cut the line?
“Excuse me . ”
Adilo stretched out his hand to block the young man
“……?”
The young man looked at Adilo with a suspicious expression when he was blocked . Noticing his expression, Adilo continued .
“You have to line up . ”
“Yes, I know . ”
The young man pushed aside his hand while replying . Then he continued walking to the front .
‘If he knows then why?……Hmm?’
Why is he still walking if he knows? While having this thought, he followed the young man with his eyes . But when he saw the young man going past the normal station, he was slightly embarrassed and surprised .
‘But over there……’
The young man was heading towards the Head Manager of the fourth floor, Kerza . There were 12 spots where normal users used, and then there were 3 meant for the special users . The young man was greeting Kerza, who manned the station meant for the most special people .
“Wha……?”
Why was he sitting there? What kind of person was he?
“Park Kyung-Ho?”
Adilo was pulled out of his thoughts after the familiar voice .
“You’ve come . ”
Adilo hurriedly handed his spot back to the CEO’s son . Then he glanced at Kerza’s station .
‘An envelope?’
Kerza was handing the young man a sealed envelope . What was in the envelope?
“What’s over there?”,
Kim Hyuk, the CEO’s son asked Adilo .
“Ah, that’s where people go for special business . ”
“Special business?”
“Yes, either for people with special jobs or for special quests……”
‘Wait……F*ck . ’
Adilo, who was answering Kim Hyuk, internally cursed again . Because the look in Kim Hyuk’s eyes had changed .
‘Why did I say that?’
Kim Hyuk was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and he also had a massive ego . He was interested in the special jobs before this, so it was almost impossible for him to not show any interest .
Adilo thought that something very nasty was going to come up again .
“Then is that person doing something special over there?”
“Yes . ”
“And it could be about special jobs?”
Kim Hyuk asked .
“There’s a possibility . ”
“I’m curious about what he’s doing . ”
“……What?”
Adilo suddenly felt very flustered .
“I said I’m curious . About whether if it’s about a special job or not . ”
Kim Hyuk said calmly .
“Ah……”
Adilo lamented at Kim Hyuk’s orders . He had said that he was curious . But it also meant something else .
“I’ll find out right away . ”
Adilo conceded in a small voice . Kim Hyuk didn’t say anything to Adilo’s reply . He merely tilted his head to the young man .
‘Now I have to do this as well . Damn it . ”
Adilo swore while he looked over at the special station . The young man was getting up right now .
‘Well, I was curious too . Hahaha……’
Adilo pondered about how he could approach the young man .
‘How should I ask? He won’t just tell me if I randomly come up to him……”
Should he tell his job first? But it was just a normal job unlike the young man’s . He definitely wouldn’t tell him like that .
‘Force him?’
There was always that option . There was a high possibility if he threatened with a PK . (TL: Player Kill)
If you died in Pangea, you would lose 1 level, three points from all your stats, lose one random possession, and 24-hour inaccessibility penalty .
While Adilo was thinking, the young man had already left the fourth floor . Adilo was staring at the staircase where the young man had gone down when he felt a chill down his spine . Kim Hyuk was staring at him with a chilling gaze . Seeing the cold gaze, Adilo hastily made an awkward smile and quickly chased after the young man .
“Let’s just ask first . ”
There was the possibility that he would just tell him . Adilo quickly came to a decision while he was in pursuit .
‘He’s fast . ’
Adilo hurriedly looked around the 1st floor . Did he have something urgent? The young man was walking abnormally fast .
‘There he is!’
Adilo finally managed to spot him near the Northern entrance .
“W-wait!”
Adilo shouted while he ran after him .
“……Do you have some business with me?”
“I-I want to ask you something . ”
Adilo hurriedly said when the young man responded .
“Can you tell me what you were doing at Kerza’s desk?”
The young man didn’t immediately reply . But Adilo could also guess the answer from his frown .
“I don’t want to . ”
Adil’s guess was right . The young man turned around again and walked away . Looking at the young man’s silhouette, Adilo thought .
‘I knew this would happen . ’
It was an obvious conclusion . Who was going to tell what?
If he returned now, he going to get reprimanded for not fulfilling the request, giving up too easily, and lack of ability .
‘Let’s follow him . ’
Adilo started tailing the young man from a distance . He could give up, but maybe he could discover something interesting .
‘But, I’m really curious now as well . ’
Adilo thought as he tailed the young man .
‘What did they talk about? What’s that envelope?’
There was a user who talked with Kerza before . He was now flying his banner as a Midranker .
‘Should I kill him? He might drop the envelope . ’
His mind was wandering to all sorts of thoughts .
* * *
Soo Hyuk smiled when he reached the library . He had finally taken care of everything . He didn’t need to do any quest or whatever . There was only the bliss of reading books left now .
‘I understand why he came after me……’
Of course, there was still something on his mind . It was the man who came after him at the Spire .
‘Yeah, I don’t care . It looked like he gave up anyway . ’
Getting rid of the thought, Soo Hyuk approached the library entrance .