Seo Jun-Ho rested for two days after that. After eating good food and sleeping soundly on a plush bed, he was able to fully relieve the fatigue that had piled up while hunting in the forest. 

“Wow, I haven’t felt this great in a while,” he exclaimed. He actually felt like his body was lighter than before.

[Seo Jun-Ho]

Level: 50

Title: Bringer of Spring (2+)

Strength: 174         Stamina: 174

Speed: 174             Magic: 196

Fame: 1,220

This was the result of hunting thunder bears non-stop for four days straight. He had leveled up seven times, and his stats had also increased significantly. He had even received Fame from clearing a Quest involving thunder bears. 

“What a coincidence.” His strength, stamina, and speed were all at the same number. 

He turned toward his magic stat, which was nearing 200. 

‘I should go down to the 1st floor soon.’ 

There wasn’t any particular reason he thought that, other than the fact that Keen Intuition (A) was telling him to. But sometimes, his intuition was more accurate than his reason. 

‘For some reason, I think I’ll be able to do it once I hit 200 magic.’ 

He was talking about saving his friends. He started to get motivated by looking at his status window. 

‘I hope that my intuition will lead me to the right answer again.’ 

Lalala~ 

At that moment, a whimsical noise filled the room as if someone had waved a magic wand. All of a sudden, the roof of the dollhouse opened. 

“Haaa.” The Frost Queen stretched as she came out. She had finally realized her dream of having her own house. She saw Seo Jun-Ho and greeted him with a tired voice. 

“Good morning, Contractorrr…” She yawned. 

“Good morning to you too.” 

They shared a small breakfast before leaving the inn. 

“Where are we going today?” she asked. 

“I have some stuff to pick up.” He needed to retrieve the potion from Shasha, and then pick up the Spirit Crystals from the auction house. 

Shasha’s house was the same as it had been five days ago. He pushed aside the rusty gate and walked up to the front door. He knocked.

“Shasha!”

Bang bang!

“Shasha!”

Bang bang! 

A moment later, the door opened. Shasha had gotten thinner in the past few days, and her eyebags were dark. She met his eyes. 

“Oh, it’s you…”

“...Are you alright? You don’t look so good.”

“It was really hard…” She pointed weakly at a table—at a transparent bottle filled with a red liquid.

“Is it all done?” Seo Jun-Ho asked, examining the bottle.

“It hadn’t been easy to synthesize it, but I’m a genius so I managed… It’s full of nutrients, so you should look forward to it.” She explained. 

“What does it do?”

“It strengthens your mentality.”

“And there aren’t any side effects?”

“Mmhm, Your mental state will be so powerful that you won’t faint even if you’re tortured or something. Something like that.”

“Nice.”

It was perfect. Seo Jun-Ho checked the item data. 

[Mind-strengthening Potion]

Grade: Unique

A high-grade potion made by a skilled alchemist with only the best ingredients.

The description was short and simple. 

“How do I take it?” Seo Jun-Ho asked. 

“You can just drink it. However… The core is so powerful that you probably won’t be able to absorb the whole thing. Probably only 50 to 70% at most. If you think you can’t handle it, don’t get too greedy. It could overheat your brain.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Seo Jun-Ho pulled off the stopper and gulped it all down. 

“Ugh…” The hot potion made his throat sting. It reached his stomach and started to make his entire body heat up. After it condensed into one area, it suddenly reversed and shot up to his head. 

‘It’s coming…’ 

Sweat started to pour from his forehead as he received the effects of the potion, and he realized why Shasha had warned him. 

‘It’s… It’s hard to handle.’ 

The potion’s effects made his head spin, shocking his brain. He felt so hot that he thought his head might explode, but Seo Jun-Ho didn’t give up. He summoned his magic and made his head cool down. 

Sssssss. 

His temples steamed like a pressure cooker. 

“Hey, hey! It’s too much, so stop…” Shasha cried out. Just as she reached to wake him up, a chilling sensation made her stop. 

‘W-What is this?’ 

She felt like someone was pointing a cold blade at her, and it made her shiver. She could barely breathe. She couldn’t even move at all.

However, the feeling didn’t last for long… 

“Phew…” Five minutes later, Seo Jun-Ho let out a hot exhale and opened his eyes. As the light met his sharp gaze, he felt it settle. 

‘My head feels clearer...’ 

There were many things that required mental strength, such as willpower, endurance, decision-making, critical thinking, and confidence. Perhaps that was why he felt like a new person after it had been strengthened. He even felt like his vision had sharpened. 

“...H-How is it?” Despite having been frozen just now, as an alchemist, Shasha immediately checked the effects. Seo Jun-Ho grinned. 

“It’s great. I feel like I’ve become a new person.”

“Phew, that’s a relief. I thought you’d gotten too full of yourself and messed things up.” She sighed before noticing that the suffocating feeling was gone. 

‘Am I just too sleep-deprived?’ She shrugged. 

Suddenly, Shasha gasped and held out her hand. “Shoot, I forgot to get my payment first. Give me the money.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not gonna rip you off.” Seo Jun-Ho took out 50 gold and placed them on the table. Shasha grinned when she saw the sparkling pile of coins. 

“I’ll go to Ply myself and pay off your debt as well.” He reassured her. 

“Will you? I’m counting on you, okay?”

“I already said that I’m not gonna rip you off…” Seo Jun-Ho stood up from his seat and looked around. “You should hire someone to clean up your house and take care of the property. You’ll get sick if you live in a place like this.”

“I should do that.”

“Then, I’ll be back if I need to commission you again.”

Shasha waved goodbye as he left the estate. 

“Thanks,” he said to the Frost Queen. 

“For what?” 

“It’s dangerous to touch someone when they’re absorbing that much energy. You blocked her because of that, right?” 

“Well…You got me the house and all…” she mumbled. She was too embarrassed to admit that she was just being protective of her Contractor. 

***

He met Ply for the first time in a while to pay off Shasha’s debt. It was only 22 gold, so it wasn’t too much. After that, Seo Jun-Ho went right to the auction house. When he went up to the pick-up counter, the employee got it ready for him. 

“These are the items that you have successfully bid on. Three Spirit Crystals.”

“Thank you.”

The crystals were all in different sizes. 

‘I suppose the one I got from the Dungeon was on the bigger side.’ 

The three Spirit Crystals were about a finger-length smaller than that one. 

The Frost Queen wrinkled her nose as she stared at them. “Once again, I refuse to eat rocks. Do you understand?”

“Yeah, whatever.” Despite what she said, she had been complaining about the taste of the cake and tea when they didn’t have any Spirit Crystal shavings in them. 

Seo Jun-Ho didn’t go anywhere else and went right back to the inn. The Kobold Hunting Competition would begin at dawn, so he would have to sleep early. 

He sat down on the plush sofa and started looking for information about Baek Geon-Woo. The man had caught his interest. 

‘I feel worried about him for some reason.’ 

There were more articles about him than he initially expected; it was probably because he had been active for so long. 

[Lone Survivor of a Fiend’s Family Massacre Debuts as a Player.]

[For the Sake of Revenge! Baek Geon-Woo Goes Up to the 2nd Floor After Only Five Years Since Debut.]

[Player Baek Geon-Woo is Unshakeable Despite Fellow Players Recommending Retirement.]

[Is it Really Worth The Effort? Why is Baek Geon-Woo Still the Same As He Was 15 Years Ago?]

In the beginning, there had been many people who were rooting for him. But five, ten, fifteen, and after sixteen years. Instead of enthusiastic support, all he received now was pity. 

“What are you looking at?” the Frost Queen asked, emerging from the shower. She flew over, drying her hair with a towel. Seo Jun-Ho explained what he had found about Baek Geon-Woo, whom he met a few days back. 

“Hm, that man has lived a hard life,” she commented. 

“Yup.”

“But there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“What?” 

The Frost Queen nodded. “People will laugh at those who try and fail. But I would never look down on someone who accepts a challenge.”

“I agree,” Seo Jun-Ho said. The ability to be so stubbornly tenacious was a commendable talent in itself. There were many people who didn’t know what they wanted to do, and there were even those who wouldn’t try hard in what they were doing. “Effort doesn’t guarantee success…But every successful person has put in the effort.”

“That’s correct. Even if you are born with immense talent, you must still put in the effort,” she added. 

“Then maybe he has been putting his time and energy into the wrong thing,” Seo Jun-Ho remarked.

“Perhaps… We will not know until we see for ourselves.”

“Hmmm.” He stroked his chin. “Then, let’s keep watch. Starting tomorrow,” he muttered. 

***

The early morning wind was chilly, but since he had Cold Resistance (C), Seo Jun-Ho arrived at the plaza with only light outerwear. 

“There are so many people even though it’s dawn,” the Frost Queen observed, admiring the crowd that had gathered. Seo Jun-Ho thought the same. 

‘They only chose those that passed the test… But this many people passed?’

There were at least 500 people here. As he leaned on the wall, Phivir went up to the podium a moment later. 

“There are 671 people gathered here today. First, let me extend my gratitude to the participants who have come for the sake of Gilleon’s future.”

“671 people?”

“That’s more than I expected…”

“Will it be possible to measure contributions with this many people?”

“Tsk, the mages might snip targets from the rear.”

Bam! 

Phivir stomped his foot on the ground and quieted the murmuring audience. 

“For the past few months, Gilleon’s eastern gate had always been shut tight. It leads to the Hainal Mountains, which those despicable kobolds have been occupying as a pack. The lord of the city wished to dispose of them immediately, but it had been too much for the knights alone to handle. They are unable to leave the city at this time. That is why we have requested the aid of you Adventurers, Players, and mercenaries. You have but one objective—to kill the leader of the kobold pack, which is hidden somewhere in the Hainal Mountains.”

The Players started to mutter at the word ‘leader.’

“What kind of monster can lead so many kobolds?”

“Maybe it’s a Kobold Champion?”

“Nah, no way. From what I heard, there are over a thousand of them… A Champion wouldn’t be strong enough. Wouldn’t it be a Kobold Lord?”

“A Kobold Lord…If that’s the case, it’ll be the first time in eight years since we’ve seen one.”

According to the official records, the last Kobold Lord had been killed eight years ago. 

“As you all may know, kobolds are monsters with a clear hierarchy. Your rewards may differ based on how many kobolds of a certain kind you kill.”

The eyes of the Players and Adventurers sparkled. Of course, Seo Jun-Ho was among them. 

‘I’ll get the best possible outcome and meet the city lord.’

Phivir checked the time. 

“Fall into ranks and march toward the eastern gate! Move out!”

They started to move…