Kis fled hurriedly and went outside Metheus with his fis.h.i.+ng rod. The place he headed was the New Kemen River, which he had always enjoyed. Kis was planning to cast his fis.h.i.+ng line here and to fish for a long time. He grumbled as he kicked a stone on the road. “Uhh, it gives me gooseb.u.mps just thinking about it.”
He remembered the time when he was tortured by tickles. He couldn"t help getting chills whenever he thought of that time. Kis suddenly remembered the first time he encountered that old man Of course, Kis was the one who grumbled first but the old man had called him a "rotten guy" immediately. Kis had been in a bad mood because he hadn"t caught much fish that day and perhaps the bad relations.h.i.+p started since then.
“Yes, it was probably since then.”
It hadn"t seemed to work since the old man took over as village chief. Originally in Metheus—
No, before the name was given, Kis had been the temporary village chief. However, this wasn"t the case anymore.
“Sigh. Helena also likes this place...”
Perhaps this bad relations.h.i.+p would last quite a long time. It was because Helena told him to get along with the old man. It was for the sake of the villagers or whatever.
“Sigh. This is my fate.”
Upon arriving at the New Kemen River, Kis cast his fis.h.i.+ng line. It was in the middle between upstream and downstream where he always sat. It was where upstream met downstream and could be called the goose that lay the golden egg. Of course, he knew this position because he cast a fis.h.i.+ng line here every day.
“......”
He sat like this for an hour yet strangely, nothing came. Why? What was the reason? Normally, this was a place where he got a bite once every 10 minutes. Yet he had been sitting here for an hour and there wasn"t a single bite. What was this?
“It feels like something has become twisted today.”
He tended to boast that he was naturally lucky. He always won at the casino in Fortren. Well, he had little desire for material things and tended to give away money, making women get tangled up in him. Still, this wasn"t always the case. On strangely unlucky days, he lost all his money.
“Ah, is today that day?”
It was clear. Today was that day. It was a day when misfortune would come all at once. Somehow, a sinister feeling surrounded his entire body. The evidence was the cold sweat flowing down his back. He also had a cold sweat before misfortune came.
“Sigh. Can I just call it a day and sleep here tonight?”
It happened at this moment. The line of the fis.h.i.+ng rod became tight and the end started to bend. It was a big guy. Kis pulled the fis.h.i.+ng rod hard. “Eeeeek... Sigh. What is this strength?”
Kis pulled more vigorously. Then there was a snap and he fell to his a.s.s.
“Ugh. Ouch.”
Kis rubbed his a.s.s while looking at the broken fis.h.i.+ng rod. In the distance, he could see a fish swimming off with the upper part of the fis.h.i.+ng rod.
“Ah, isn"t that float a gift I"ve received?”
He had to grit his teeth and follow the float. He thought he should get this back. It was because Helena made it by hand for him to use for fis.h.i.+ng.
“Groan, nothing is working out.”
Kis went straight into the bushes. It had already started to drift downstream so the only way was to go through the bushes. It was time for the moon to rise so he had to find it quickly. If he didn"t find it, he would be beaten by Helena.
“Sigh. Nothing is working out, nothing.”
He walked through the bushes for a long time. Suddenly, there was a delicious smell. Sniff sniff. There was a familiar smell. It smelled like roasted fish. His stomach growled. Groan, he was hungry. Who was it? If it was a villager, would they give him one?
"Yes, the first thing is to eat and live. The float shouldn"t have gone far so it will be fine."
Kis walked in the direction of the delicious smell. Finally, he found a place where small flames could be seen. Kis approached this place. The moment he wanted to go out of the bushes and say h.e.l.lo, his world fell into darkness.
* * *
“Cough. It was a person...?”
Park Muyeol scratched his cheek in a fl.u.s.tered manner. He thought it was a monster that was coming out of the bushes but this wasn"t the case. Oftentimes, the only ones who appeared when they were cooking food on a fire were monsters. So he had swung his wooden sword without checking. There was a lot of blood. Sigh. What should he do?
“Cough. Where is a potion? Hum.”
There was nothing. He usually didn"t take potions. It was easy to fight when using Stick"s Protection. Additionally, his blind spots were taken care of by the party members so he purposefully didn"t carry them. Still, there was one person who probably had one.
“Jeonghyun, do you have a potion?”
“Uh... Yes. Haha. I have a bit left.”
Choi Jeonghyun had a blank expression as he pulled a potion out of his inventory Then the bleeding person—
No, it was an NPC. Park Muyeol poured the potion into the person"s mouth However, Choi Jeonghyun was frowning.
“I don"t think this can be healed with a potion alone...?”
“...Cough cough.”
“Grandfather, did you have to swing so hard?”
He became even more embarra.s.sed at his grandson"s scolding. Nevertheless, what could he do? It was that guy"s fault for popping up.
“I was trying to protect all of you. Ahum.”
He acted shameless and saw the others staring at him. Everyone looked pathetic with their eyes so wide open. These brats had a break from him for a few days and their courage rose.
“...Why are you all looking at me like that? Do you want your heads shaved?”
He pulled out the Magic Power Hair-Clipper for the first time in a while. He was very satisfied with the sound it made. The party members, except for his grandson and Jeonghyun, suddenly coughed and looked elsewhere. Brats.
“Shouldn"t we move to the place called Metheus to treat him? It is a place we have to go to anyway. Let"s move, Uncle.”
“Um, it can"t be helped. Everybody, get ready.”
The group busily started packing their luggage. Park Muyeol s.h.i.+fted his gaze to Metheus in the distance. “I"ll see you soon, Chuntaek.”
* * *
[The construction progress of the Temple of the Wind is at 59%.]
Kim Sujeong separated from Helena and came to the place where the construction of the Temple of the Wind was underway. It was to check on the progress. A month had pa.s.sed since the start of construction but it wasn"t completed yet. Even so, it was much faster compared to reality. This was still a game world.
“Hmm. At this rate, it will take another two weeks... I should tell Father.”
Kim Sujeong opened the whisper window straight away. It was at this moment...
“Oh, this is a very nice place to work.”
“Everyone, why don"t we work here?”
“Good, it is a temple. I definitely wanted to build something like this.”
“Haha. Let"s go, my body is stiff.”
Middle-aged men suddenly appeared. They were the residents of Garbage Village who had just separated earlier. According to Helena, they were the lowest cla.s.s dirt cutlery cla.s.s known as the "proletariat." They were said to have been laborers for the aristocracy for generations. Helena said that apart from fighting, they had unparalleled skills in other fields, especially labor.
“Should I watch?”
Kim Sujeong stood and watched them. The residents of Garbage Village came and started working at an incredible speed. After hitting it with the hammer and chisel several times, the stones were soon polished. They shoveled just a few times and fine sand was created in an instant.
Kim Sujeong was astonished when she saw them carrying twice the burden of the men who were previously working. “Oh my G.o.d, does that make sense?”
[The firefly star, "Camille," is astonished by the tremendous speed!]
If this speed continued then the Temple of Wind would soon be completed. Moreover, they weren"t alone. Just then, more people showed up.
“Oh, how many people are working here?”
“Hey, it"s good to work here.”
“Isn"t the pay good as well? Let"s go.”
Other people were added.
Kim Sujeong couldn"t help laughing. "I think I"ve brought great NPCs to the village... Haha.”
She corrected what she was going to send in the whisper. It would be one week, not two weeks. No, if more people joined then it might be possible within two days. Just as she was about to send the whisper—
“I-Is Crystal here?!”
“...?”
The man looking for her was someone she knew. She remembered that he was probably a guard at Metheus" entrance. By the way, there was a person behind him with someone on his back. It was a familiar face.
“Eh...?” Kim Sujeong ran forward. The closer she got, the more alarmed she became. “Kis? What? Why are you bleeding? What"s wrong with you?!”
[The firefly star, "Camille," says it is a head injury.]
Kim Sujeong knew it was his head. By the way, Kis seemed to keep hurting his head.
[The firefly star, "Camille," says that action should be taken quickly.]
A giant firefly appeared and started to supply divine power to Kis" head. Perhaps Camille also thought it was an emergency.
“Is this perhaps...?”
Kim Sujeong lowered her head at the voice that came from below her. It was from the man carrying Kis who called her. Where had she seen him before?
“Ah, perhaps...?”
The unnamed man nodded at Kim Sujeong"s question. “You remember. Let"s leave the greetings for later. First, we need to save this person.”
“Ah, yep.”
Kim Sujeong led the man to the clinic. He wasn"t alone. There were quite a few people in his group. The unusual thing was that there were two bald men and one young man. Additionally, there was a grandfather. The grandfather was strangely familiar but Kim Sujeong decided to think about it later. No matter what, the patient was the first priority. “Please lay him down here.”
“Yes.”
Kis was laid down on a fluffy bed. Then the group behind her spoke.
“Sister, please take good care of him. It is my grandfather who accidentally made him like this.”
“Cough. Why are you talking about that, Seongchan?”
“I"m sure the young lady will take care of it. We should go.”
“I will leave it to you.”
“Baroque... trust you.”
“Um, he is a handsome young man if it wasn"t for the hair. Too bad.”
“Tsk. Yes, why does he have that d.a.m.ned hair?”
They were a noisy group. The group all went outside and Kim Sujeong finally looked at the man who had Kis on his back. The unnamed man bowed to her. Kim Sujeong also bowed before s.h.i.+fting her gaze to the patient. “Eyes of a Firefly.”
[The constellation skill "Eyes of a Firefly" has been triggered.]
[Your night vision has brightened and eyesight has increased by 1.5 times.]
[All living objects will appear fluorescent.]
[There is a slight clairvoyance effect.]
Kim Sujeong s.h.i.+fted her gaze to where Kis was injured. If the last injury was minor and the area affected very small, this time the area was very wide and the wound wasn"t light. She could also see a small foreign matter.
[The firefly star, "Camille," is frowning.]
“This...”
A thorn. It was so small that it was hard to see. It was in a very dangerous position. If it had dug in even a bit more then it would"ve poked his brain. It would be dangerous if she left it alone. It was because the venom of the thorn that remained could invade the brain. It had to be taken out by her.
“Sigh.”
Kim Sujeong took a deep breath and spoke to the sky, “Camille, do you remember what I practiced the other day?”
[The firefly star, "Camille," is nodding.]
“...I think we should do it.”
[The firefly star, "Camille," says he might die.]
“I know. Still, he will die if I leave him this way. Isn"t this Helena"s important person? Then I want to do my best. Aren"t you the same?”
There was a moment of silence. Then a message popped up.
[The firefly star, "Camille," says she isn"t sure if your method is right.]
“Yes, I know.”
[The firefly star, "Camille," says she"ll trust you.]
[The firefly star, "Camille," says he must be saved.]
“Thank you. I"ll definitely keep him alive.”
Kim Sujeong used Divine Firefly Acupuncture. A giant firefly appeared, creating a light formation in the air that became a long needle. It should"ve ended like this but there was more light given than usual.
[The constellation skill "Divine Firefly Acupuncture" is seeking new changes.]
The lights of the fireflies kept gathering and the needle took a new form. It was something she hadn"t seen for a long time.
"Can I really do it?"
She was scared. She wondered if her hands would tremble due to her blood phobia like it did in the past. However, she decided to trust herself. Now she was all by herself and she would do it all by herself. She reached out to the fireflies. “A scalpel.”
A luminous scalpel was placed in Kim Sujeong"s hand.