YM778.TV Chapter 61: The Expedition Team Without Hopes And Dreams (3)
Chapter 61: The Expedition Team Without Hopes And Dreams (3)
“So this is your potion, Mr. Medicine King...?”
The Medicine King was quiet. She plucked his potion away and gave it a look up close.
“Hmm. Oh.” She tilted the bottle and flipped it around before she handed it back to him. After that, she adjusted her glasses once again. “This is your level, huh...?”
Hmm. Is she the type of person who has all of the confidence in the world when she thinks she’s at an advantage? I wondered.
Did that mean that all High Rankers had the seeds of a maniac in them? No... that couldn’t be...
While I reflected on my faith in humanity, the Medicine King finally let out a, “Hmm...”
The difference in height between her and him was drastic. The Chemist was as tall as her future. In contrast, the Medicine King had shrunk as much as he had aged. The Chemist looked down at the Medicine King, who had to look up at her.
“Mr. Medicine King...”
“You, girl...”
The two spoke at the same time.
“Are you incompetent...?
“Are you lucky...?”
Huh.
“Pardon?” The Chemist tilted her head.
The Medicine King nodded. “You’re lucky.”
“What?”
“Tsk, tsk. This is the problem with young people. You remind me of my Wall Street years in my thirties. I thought that earning 1.7 billion was all my doing.”
The Chemist tilted her head, making her glasses slip. The corner of her mouth curled in a way that palpably radiated anger. “Do you want another match...?”
“Are you sure about that? The goddess of luck doesn’t smile at you twice. Tsk, tsk. Seriously, you young people...”
Three minutes passed.
“You’re very lucky, but the goddess of luck doesn’t smile at you three times. This time, I’ll show you the power of experience...”
Three more minutes passed.
“You’re incredibly lucky, but the goddess of luck won’t smile at you four times...”
In the end, the Sword Star grabbed his shoulder. “Stop... Stop it, Medicine King...”
“What are you talking about, Marcus?”
“You’re embarrassing yourself...”
“No! It’s different this time! With my experience and ability, I’ll crush her beginner’s luck! I’m the Shawn McCalister. Can’t you see my laurels, Marcus?”
“I’m sorry, young lady. You’re an incredible Chemist. It’s my fault for not trusting the Death King’s recommendation.” The Sword Star bowed in apology.
The Chemist, who had been looking at the Medicine King like he was a cockroach, cleared her throat and tried to sound composed. “It...must be tough...having a friend like that...”
“He has... his good side. Although...he’s not as good as you...he’s quite skilled with medicine...”
“Yeah... He’s...better than nothing... It’s not like he has no basics, so he might make a decent assistant... “ the Chemist mumbled.
Just then, the Countess’s hand clamped around the Chemist’s wrist like a manacle. She was as fast as a cat going for catnip! “You! Contract!”
“What?”
“Contract! Right now! Exclusive contract! With me!”
“Uhh, uhhh...” The Chemist sputtered in confusion.
“Best perks in the industry! I’ll let you pet cats. No, you’ll have a room full of cats! How is it! How is it!?”
The Chemist was so taken aback that she couldn’t even speak, but the Countess was just the beginning.
“Me too!”
“Miss Chemist! No, you’re Mr. Death King’s pick, so you’re also a king now. Miss Chemist King!”
“No, she’s more than that! Miss Chemist Emperor!”
“Medicine God! Please give us your potions!”
The Chemist was flooded with requests for handshakes, just like when I’d cleared the tenth floor on my own.
* * *
The Chemist was flustered for a moment, but she worked up the courage to push the Hunters away.
“F-first of all! Those of you w-who want to purchase my potions should talk to Mr. Death King! Ah, Miss Paladin is...an exception since she’s been my client all along! Still, I’m o-only going to sell my potions to those who have Mr. Death King’s referral. But...please don’t bother Mr. Death King too much...”
The eyes of the Countess and the Hunters turned to me. Meanwhile, the Paladin made a sneaky victory pose and then put her hands down before anyone noticed.
I smiled. “Let’s think about that after clearing the Heavenly Demon Chronicle.”
“Ah! Y-yes!”
A suggestion to climb up the Tower always worked on Hunters; it was like magic. Even the Countess stood down, although she looked bitter.
Good, I thought.
The team was now complete. It had the Sword Star, the Chemist, and above all, me.
“No, no! It can’t be! It can’t! My experience! My experience isn’t something that beginner’s luck can beat!”
Like the Chemist said, that Medicine King—or the Delusional King—would be better than nothing.
“Hmm! It looks like the characters are all decided!” The Indoor Librarian beamed after the show ended. “Let me repeat: perishing in an apocalyptic book means death in real life. There is only one way to safely escape from an apocalyptic book! Overcome the crisis of discontinued serialization and meet a proper ending!”
“What is the standard of a proper ending?” I asked.
“It depends on you.” The Indoor Librarian grinned. “Maybe you’ll be able to end the plague and save murim. Using the plague to rule over murim is also an idea. The possibilities are endless! But decide for yourselves what the best ending is.”
In other words, he was going to leave it to us.
I nodded. “Okay. Then send me to the Heavenly Demon Chronic—”
“Wait!” someone shouted. “Aren’t you going to go, Sect Master?”
“You’re right. Murim is basically the Sect Master’s home ground.”
The shouts came from the Hunters of the OJP Sect, which was led by the Viper. However, he had been lying low in the murim group, so he blinked in surprise.
“Huh?”
“This is the world for you, Sect Master...”
“I agree! Sect Master, when it comes to the principles of gangho, you’re the best.”
“Me too, Teacher. You should step up.”
The Viper’s eyebrows furrowed as he slowly crossed his arms. His one eye under his thick eyebrow carried the determination of a man.
“Yes, it is. I was about to ask if you guys had forgotten about me.”
I was speechless. This made no sense—that man had absolutely no interest in murim. It was so suspicious that I pulled up the character window to see what he was thinking...and it was just as I expected.
State of mind: Why are my freaking students trying to send me to that backwater!
The Viper was screaming internally, but the one-eyed swordsman looked like he had been waiting for his students to say that. His voice was serious.
“Murim is the world of martial artists and warriors who follow their code of honor! It may not be my actual hometown, but my heart has always been in murim.”
State of mind: That world probably doesn’t even have flush toilets. I already had to deal with that bullshit the Aegim Empire because of that. Damnit...
Wow.
“You all know why my guild is called the OJP Sect.”
State of mind: It’s an acronym of “I may have the ’O’P skill with which I can fight the world on my own, but I used to be a prime example of a thirty-two year old ’J’obless man before I got to the Tower. Is there a ’P’roblem with that?” But everyone seems to think it’s Overheavenly Jade Palace Sect. That’s how the banner maker made it. God, it’s too late to explain everything. Goddamn it...
Oh my god.
“I must go to this world.”
State of mind: I absolutely do not want to go!
I couldn’t figure out what to say. The Guardian, who shared my consciousness, seemed to be having the same problem.
[Shiny reports she is also at a loss for words.]
The man in front of me rendered a human, a ghost, and a Constellation speechless all at the same time. The Hunters, on the other hand, cheered for the man—especially the OJP Sect’s members.
“Yes, Sect Master!”
“I knew you would say that, Teacher!”
“You’re our idol! You’re the true Hunter of this generation!”
“I’ll be with you forever, Sect Master!”
If I didn’t have the ability to read people’s minds... I would have been one of them. From every angle, the Viper looked like a warrior who devoted his life to the sword like the Sword Star.
The Sword Star crossed his arms. “Hmm... I understand why you want to go, Viper.”
“You bet I do.”
“I don’t think that means that I should give up.” The Sword Star drew up his aura.
The Viper had already been gathering his aura, so the two swordsmen’s aura clashed in the air. Their powers met with a loud pop. Sensing the imminent danger, some of the bookmark maids managed to flee, but many of them were sent flying.
The Hunters were fired up.
“The Sword Star and Viper are going head to head!”
“This is a fight for their pride!”
It was quite a sight. Because I knew what was really going on inside the Viper’s head, it was also amazing in another way.
“Both of you, stop,” the Paladin said.
I heard clinking sounds coming from her. The reason she was making those noises was because she was one of the few people who had bet on the Chemist earlier. Her pouch used to be perpetually slim, but it was full after receiving the winnings from a 0.18 to 47 bet. She looked serious as ever, but it felt subtly off. It was probably the magic of a fat money pouch.
“Don’t tell me you two are going to start a fight here.”
Regardless of her money pouch, the Paladin took mediating as seriously as she always did.
Wait. Has she always been doing this...? I wondered.
—That’s what I was thinking too, Zombie. If she has always been doing that and we just didn’t know until now...
The world seems to be full of forbidden knowledge...
The Viper scoffed. “When my sword has to dance, it shall dance. Fuck. The Sword Star and I are both swordsmen. We can fight like swordsmen and the stronger one will go.”
State of mind: I’ll lose on purpose! It’s embarrassing if I make it obvious, so I’ll make it a close match at first and lose right before it’s about to end! My students will understand if I lose to the Sword Star. Yup.
I couldn’t believe it.
The Sword Star, who had no idea what was going on, wiped off the sweat from his forehead. “I’m sorry, Viper... When I face a strong opponent like you, I have to give everything I have. I ended up permanently damaging your one eye in our last match. I can’t guarantee that this isn’t going to end like the last time.”
“Right back at you, old man. If you think I’m still the old me, you’re walking into your coffin.”
State of mind: Ah, fuck! Fuck! FUUUUUCK!
The Viper looked like the very picture of a valiant warrior.
—Zombie. The Guardian, floating next to me, wiped the sweat off his forehead like the Sword Star.
Yes?
—I did tell you that high-level Hunters are all crazy, but...but...he’s...what’s the right word...
He’s the real deal... I agreed.
My forehead was covered in sweat too. Actually, every Hunter in the library and no doubt everyone watching the broadcast in the plaza was feeling the heat too.
Even the Paladin had sweat dripping off her cheeks and landing on her bulging money pouch.
“Viper. You’re...”
The Viper gave her a manly smile. “A time comes for every martial artist when he cannot stand down.”
State of mind: Paladin! Do something!
I was pretty sure that she didn’t receive his message, but she did something.
“Mr. Sword Star... Can you back down this once, please?”
State of mind: Wait. Why are you telling him to back down!
Why are you telling him to back down? Oh, we were thinking the same thing. I thought the same as the real deal... I shut my eyes.
[Shiny vibrates to massage your waist.]
Even the Guardian patted my shoulder in quiet consolation.
“I’m aware that you always want to be at the front, but you were already part of the expedition team with the Death King and Black Dragon Master and the three of you cleared the twelfth to nineteenth floors. Yet you’re asking for the chance to go to the twenty-second floor first, instead of letting someone else have the chance. It’s rather shameless.”
Her tone was calm, and her reasoning was logical. Even her look was serious—the only thing that stuck out was the plump money pouch hung on her belt.
Pointing at the Viper’s students, the cause of this disaster, the Paladin added, “Besides, the OJP Sect’s Master is the leader of a guild. I know he isn’t the type to worry about how he looks to his students, but he’s different from you given that you operate on your own. Can you respect his position a little?”
“Mmm...” The Sword Star groaned. A frown flitted across his face. His eyebrows went up and down several times before he crossed his arms. “Did I ever care about the Five Guilds?”
The Paladin gritted her teeth. “Mr. Sword Star, are you ser—!”
“But recently I’ve been trying to be less shameless,” the Sword Star interrupted her. He turned to look at me.
Why was he looking at me...? Regardless, it was nice to see an obstinate old man compromise. It was so beautiful that I hoped the Medicine King or whatever he was called learned at least a teensy bit from him, instead of constantly muttering, “It can’t be true” from the side. But why was the Sword Star being so well-behaved now out of all times he possibly could have done...?
“Okay.” The Sword Star took a step back. He looked at the Heavenly Demon Chronicle with eyes that still radiated desire, but he dragged them away. “Viper, I’ll let you have this one.”
The Viper’s eyes widened, but only for a moment. More of his aura spread into the air as he grinned like a gambler who’d won big. “Couldn’t you have said that sooner? Sigh. It’s your lucky day, old man.”
State of mind: No! What? Why are you suddenly doing this, Marcus Carlenbery? You’re not the type of guy who lets other people take things from you! No! I don’t want to go!
The forbidden truth was indescribable. The Paladin’s expression was equally indescribable.
The Inquisitor, who had been watching everything with sparkling eyes, bounced over and hugged her arm. “This is amazing, Miss Paladin! You persuaded the Sword Star!”
“No, the Sword Star merely accepted my reasoning.”
“Hahaha. Is that so? Then I should give the Sword Star a hug!”
“I refuse,” the Sword Star curtly responded. However, no refusal worked on the natural-born psycho, so the Sword Star had to deal with quite a bit of trouble for a while.
“...Everyone grows, even a little bit.” The Black Witch smiled behind her hand.
It was like the happy epilogue of a novel.
With that done, the other three people finished their preparations for the expedition into the apocalyptic book named Heavenly Demon Chronicle.
“Tsk. If it’s decided, let’s go already. The sun is going to come up at this rate. You people are just like when I was young... I guess there’s no other choice but to go. That young girl’s luck got me earlier, but that doesn’t change the truth. I, the Medicine King, am the best Chemist out there. There’s never been a Chemist like me and everyone knows it.”
The Chemist whimpered. “Mr. Death King, I’m scared... Is it really okay for someone like me to follow? Well, yes, I’m at least better than that old Medicine King coot or whatever they call him. It’s proven like Galileo Galilei’s heliocentrism, but that cockroach doesn’t admit it for some reason. Still, I’m...”
“Hey, you non-combatants. Take cover when we’re fighting. People can lose their heads in a blink,” the Viper warned them.
State of mind: I don’t want to go... Please switch places with me, old man... It’s not too late...
I blankly looked at my expedition members.
—Don’t worry, Zombie. Just kill yourself if it goes south. Catch the disease or throw yourself from the cliff so you can go back to before today! Seriously, you have my approval on this one. I can feel it in my soul. Well, that’s all I have right now though.
A rare consolation from the Guardian.
I nodded weakly. “Okay... Let’s go...”
“Alright.” The Indoor Librarian giggled and flicked his fingers.
The apocalyptic book the Sword Star held went flying back to the Indoor Librarian’s hand like a bird returning to roost. After all, it was his, and he had only been lending it to us.
The Indoor Librarian grabbed the book and opened it in one smooth motion. “Death King, Viper, Medicine King, and Chemist. Four of you have been selected as new characters of Heavenly Demon Chronicle. Once you open your eyes, you’ll find yourselves in the world ten days before the serialization of the Heavenly Demon Chronicle unfortunately discontinues.”
The book began to glow.
“I hope you’ll show me a great ending.” The Indoor Librarian smiled.
And the light enveloped us, dispatching the expedition team without hopes and dreams.