The Novel Is Extra

I needed to make money. It wasn"t a hopeful wish, but a necessity. When I looked at the bill that came to my room, I almost lost consciousness. I had a 300 million won debt. In other words, I had taken out all the loan a Cube cadet could get. It had to be Chundong"s doing.

The loan only had a low 1% yearly interest, but as I wasn"t making any money, I was simply losing money. Unfortunately, the bank account Chundong left behind only contained 3 million won. It was nowhere near the amount needed to live in this world, where power and money was everything.

Thankfully, there were multiple ways I could become rich.

First was the stock market. Towers and Dungeons were constantly being created in the world. I knew the names of guilds that would discover or conquer them. Guilds in this world were treated like companies, so one could buy stocks of public guilds from the guild stock market.

Today was March 2nd, 2025. My settings book should be full of juicy information.
I opened my laptop.

▷Settings List

[March 15th, 2025. Newly found guild, "Packhorse Master," goes public. July 4th, 2025, they conquer the Dungeon, "Suwon Royal Devil"s Nest.]

In reality, the Packhorse Master guild was established by Djinns. Because they would play an important role in the story, I made sure to note them down in the settings book. Conquering Suwon Royal Devil"s Nest would skyrocket their stock prices by a 1000%. It wouldn"t be until three years later when they were discovered that they would be delisted.

[December 8th, 2025. Guild, "Creator"s Sacred Grace," announces its plan to conquer "Tower of Miracle."]

This incident would become the lowest point for the currently ranked 1 Creator"s Sacred Grace. It was also the decisive event that made Yun Seung-Ah become its leader. This plan, which Yun Seung-Ah opposed, would bring their rank down to 7.

I had two opportunities to make money with this incident.
First was before the plan is announced, and second was before the plan failed.
Without having to know much information, with just these two — though, these two were the only early financial incidents written down in the settings book — I could make a fortune.

“The problem is…”

I didn"t have any money to work with.

“Do I need to go out to the Field?”

Field referred to danger zones where monsters appeared. Unlike Towers and Dungeons, the danger level of Fields was vastly dependent on their grade, so one didn"t need permits to enter the less dangerous ones.
I should be able to enter the Field in Gangwondo.

“Wait.”

I remembered something about Gangwondo. There was a setting I arranged in Gangwondo. I wonder what it was.
Using CTRL+F, I searched for a specific word.

[Year 2026. Djinn, Tomer, discovers Aether from Gangwondo"s Gari Mountain Dungeon.]

Found it. Mystic grade formless weapon, Aether.

I wanted to take it for myself, but without Aether, Tomer would be left without a weapon. Not to mention, Tomer was an important antagonist in the story.
Of course, without a weapon, the story would become easier. But if I took Aether just for that reason, it might impact the future in an unknown way. I was afraid of that uncertainty…

“Well, whatever.”

Tomer was strong even without Aether. Once all of my stats grew to about 3 or 4, I should go take Aether.

Wiing—

At that moment, I felt a vibration on my wrist. It was a message.

[Traveling Club Announcement]
—There will be a short trip on Sunday to serve as a freshman orientation.

“… Oh right.”

That was a thing. Immediately after I recalled information about the traveling club, the smart.w.a.tch vibrated once more.

[Academic Club Announcement]
—There will be an orientation on Friday for the freshmen.

“And there was this too. So annoying.”

I thought I could rest a bit in the weekend, but there were clubs over the weekend. Not to mention, the academic club was tomorrow.

**

Cube"s combat training was on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. As such, I should have been able to relax on Mondays and Fridays, but on this precious Friday, I was walking towards a certain clubroom. Some distance ahead, Yoo Yeonha was showing off her elegant stride.

Academic club"s clubroom was room 304.
When I entered, I saw many first years as I expected. There were about 30, and 23 of them were girls. Most should have been bewitched by the club president.

After sneaking a look around the clubroom, I turned towards Yoo Yeonha"s direction and sat behind her. I could smell a flowery scent from her hair. After unavoidably smelling this scent for five minutes…
The club president finally showed up.

“Nice to meet you. I"m Yun Hyuk. Welcome to our academic club, Veritas.”

The club president was "Yun Hyuk", a third year.
I didn"t enter this club just for Yoo Yeonha.
Yun Hyuk was a Djinn. Soon, several incidents would happen in Cube, including a monster invasion. Yun Hyuk would be the mastermind behind it.
Of course, I had no reason to trouble myself by shouting, "That guy is a Djinn—!"
Though, that would probably give me a decent amount of SP.

In any case, Yun Hyuk was contracted to the Devil of Enchantment, Lilith. In exchange for selling his soul to the devil, he obtained a beautiful appearance and an ability called "Enchantment". Currently, he should have his eyes out for Yoo Yeonha. That was the reason why Lilith gave him a high-rank ability like Enchantment.

“Since today"s just the orientation, we"ll only briefly discuss what our club is about.”

Hearing his charming voice, the eyes of the female cadets were already shining.

“In Veritas, we research and discuss cla.s.sification, weaknesses, behaviors, and attributes of monsters. Topics include monster cla.s.sification, how they behave, where their vital points are, what their attribute is, and how to deal with them efficiently.”

What Yun Hyuk mentioned was an important topic in modern society. "Monster a.n.a.lysis" was one of the most compet.i.tive college majors, and there were even non-combatant Heroes who emphasized researching monsters. These Heroes, who didn"t have the Gift for combat, were still treated as Heroes because they had Gifts that aided in trans-human knowledge.

“I"ll give a quick example. Let"s take a look at this monster. As I"m sure you know, it is a totem scallop.”

A hologram image popped up. Just like its name suggested, the totem scallop was a scallop that produced a totem. Having high intelligence and capable of using magic, totem scallops were high-intermediate rank grade 3 monsters. Thankfully, they were gentle natured and didn"t attack as long as one stayed out of their territory.
But just like pearls produced by ordinary scallops, the totem scallops" totems had an incredible value, making them the target of guilds everywhere.

“As you know, totem scallops are extremely hard to kill. But careful a.n.a.lysis shows that they"re cla.s.sified no differently than an ordinary scallop. But because no other monsters share similarities with them, it is hard to guess where their vital point is.”

Yun Hyuk"s explanation continued. But because it was everything I already knew, I couldn"t help but yawn.

“Huaaaam…”

Immediately, Yun Hyuk"s eyebrows furrowed, and other female cadets sent me attacking glares. I wouldn"t be surprised if they attacked me for real if I yawned one more time. Only Yoo Yeonha kept her eyes on the screen.

“Kuhum.”

Yun Hyuk let out a dry cough before continuing his explanation.

“Because of its ambiguous attribute and behavior, the totem scallop"s vital point hasn"t been discovered. But for other monsters like the "Thousand-Mile Horse"…”

**

The orientation ended 40 minutes later. This time, I got up yawning inwardly as I didn"t want to get attacked.
I was about to leave when I saw Yun Hyuk approaching Yoo Yeonha. I paused.

“Yeonha cadet-nim.”

“Yes?”

“You forgot this.”

Yun Hyuk handed Yoo Yeonha a paper she left behind. This wasn"t something I wrote in my novel, so I didn"t know much about the paper. But I knew he was scheming somehow. Rather than Yoo Yeonha forgetting the paper, Yun Hyuk probably pulled it out with his magic power.

“Ah, yes, thank you.”

Yoo Yeonha took the paper with a smile. That seemed to be the end of their encounter.

After leaving the clubroom, I went to a nearby vending machine and pulled out a c.o.ke and a Sprite. Looking at their names, I couldn"t help but laugh. I named them Coin Cola and Spring Sprite to avoid trademark problems, and that was exactly how the names appeared on the cans.

Meanwhile, Yoo Yeonha left the clubroom.

With the c.o.ke and Sprite cans in hand, I stood in front of her as though to block her path. Then, I handed the c.o.ke to her.

“Here.”

“…?”

Yoo Yeonha"s face was full of question marks.

“I"m in the same club. Same team and now the same club. Funny coincidence, right?”

This was a test. Even working out as though my life depended on it only gave me 4 SP. Then how much SP could I get by talking to a leading character?

“…Do you think I"ll drink something like this?”

Yoo Yeonha"s eyebrows furrowed and her lips protruded out as though she was furious. But since it was the reaction I expected, I hit it off casually.

“I just got it from the vending machine.”

Yoo Yeonha was likely attracted to bad boys. Of course, being "handsome" was a requirement as well.

“Touch it. It"s cold.”

“I"m fine. You can have it. Also…”

I could feel hostility from the glare she gave me. But that was as much of her true feelings the false mask she wore revealed.

“Don"t talk to me so casually. This is the first warning.”

That was it. Yoo Yeonha walked past me without waiting for my reply. Seeing her perfect figure walking away, I popped the Sprite can open.

Psssh— Gulp, gulp.

Yoo Yeonha"s shoulders twitched at the sound. According to my setting, Yoo Yeonha loved unhealthy food like carbonated drinks, hamburgers, fried chicken, and ramen. But she couldn"t buy them to save face, so she made her trusted butler or attendant buy it for her. Even then, she could only enjoy it once a week.

The reason was simple. Not only did she hate showing such side of her to others, but her mother also detested unhealthy commoner food.

To make up for the pitiful setting I gave her, I threw the c.o.ke can into her luxurious brand bag. Drawing a clean arc, the c.o.ke can landed inside.

“Carry me next time too.”

At these words, Yoo Yeonha glanced back. Then, she walked away muttering quietly to herself. However, I could hear her voice just fine.

—Who is this crazy guy?

*

Yoo Yeonha"s keen senses soon noticed the slight change in her bag. The water from the c.o.ke can"s surface was making the textbook in her bag wet.

“…That nutjob.”

Yoo Yeonha took out the c.o.ke can with a frown.
Just when did he put it in? That little rat.

“Huu.”

After a deep sigh, Yoo Yeonha released her magic power. Seeping into the paper, her magic power separated the moisture from the textbook and sent it into the air. When she retracted her magic power, the collected moisture fell down to the ground.

“Ehew.”

With a sigh, Yoo Yeonha broke out in a cold sweat. At the same time, she felt proud. The application of magic power she just showed was hard for even Heroes to accomplish. It was seemingly simple but was actually a mysterious and highly difficult technique.

“When I see him again…”

After the sense of pride came anger. Yoo Yeonha thought as she twisted her lips, "That talkative b.u.m, I"ll need to ask the guys to educate him…"

But that thought only lasted for a moment. Fiddling with the c.o.ke can in her bag, she looked around. There was no one nearby.

Kuhum. With a dry cough, she took out a handkerchief from her pocket and wrapped the c.o.ke can with it before putting it back in the bag.

“Hmm.”

Then, as if nothing happened, she quickened her pace.