woke up in the morning as he usually does.
‘I wonder of Hyeyeon is eating her meals properly. She should be bringing side dishes to grandma in the hospital too.’
There as nothing he could do on this island.
It was not possible to go to the homepage of the Dark Gamer website for information, nor could be go to an auction site to check up prices of items.
The only thing to do was to relax comfortably.
‘Rarely have this kind of rest before.’
Feeling comfortable for the first time in a few years, Lee Hyun quietly slipped out of the temporary residence.
He could hear the exchanges between the sounds of the students from the tent and those of the waves.
It was so dark that he could barely tell the oncoming dawn by the moon and stars.
“Nice.”
Lee Hyun walked on the white sand.
Like others, he too wanted to get to know them and hang out. But it was not possible.
‘I can’t stand out like the rest of them. I have to be concealed in the shadows, in order to earn money and make living easier.’
He had s strange relationship with the friends and seniors he knew.
The people he befriended back in primary school all believed he moved away.
Their parents had said so to Lee Hyun.
“Don’t play with our children.”
Since he was at a young age, Lee Hyun bluntly asked why; since he couldn’t possibly have known.
“Your parents have both passed. And I heard you live in a very poor house. So do not come close to our kids anymore.”
On the grounds that he didn’t have parents and his living environment was difficult that he was unable to make friends.
Whenever stuff goes missing and money was gone, even the teachers prosecute Lee Hyun.
Due to these experiences that forced Lee Hyun down the path of a moneygrubber.
But he really could understand the mindset of those parents.
‘My children are more important than others, huh. To interfere whenever they can to root out what they think are the bad influences.’
Lee Hyun no longer tried to recall the past.
He wanted to take time to rest comfortably here. Only here at the MT where he can do so, once he gets home he’d have to work hard again.
Lee Hyun took the ‘to be enjoy’ stroll in the morning.
But in the distant on a rock, someone had did so first and sat on it.
It was Seoyoon.
She was able to sleep a little at Lee Hyun’s side, but it then somehow got uncomfortable and she quickly up and left.
“……”
Seoyoon also noticed Lee Hyun but she did not say anything. She simply glanced at the side next to her.
Lee Hyun took a seat beside her. Of course, he didn’t forget to check again and again to verify that it was an ok thing to do.
‘Sit down you mean? Can I sit down? Don’t get angry when I sit. Maybe she’ll take revenge on me in the future if I do...’
It was still dark.
Lee Hyun and Seoyoon were sitting on the rock watching the sea.
Under a myriad of stars under the sky, and the vast ocean stretched before them.
The little frustration melted away as they sat to relax.
“……”
Seoyoon didn’t fully open her mouth but she wanted to say something.
It was due to the tension that she could not say anything.
In fact, so much so that she specifically did not know how to put anything into words.
To her, being friends was factual. So, she wanted to have a nice chat but she did not know how to clear the tension she felt in the air.
‘I don’t know what to say. So how does someone transmit their sincerity from just words?’
Seoyoon sometimes took deep looks into Lee Hyun’s eyes for a long time.
In which, to Lee Hyun, the deep looks evoked his thoughts to go wild.
‘You know I created the statues or what? I knew that sculpture of Morata’s beauty would give me away sooner or later. No, on the plain of despairs you watched me make the statues, did you figure out since then? I don’t know if you knew the Freya statue in Baran was based on you. Aah, these eyes are like those when I had that severe cold and you forced that poisonous food down my throat; they’re the same exact eyes!’
Illusion and distrust, fear was budding along with the coming dawn.
***
The entrance to Morata.
“Hehe, thank you very much.”
“We’ve been a lot of trouble to Da'in nim.”
“Thanks to you that we were able to break this quest.”
Before the gate, there was a party disbanding.
The place they explored at was the Spring of Oblivion within the Twilight Ruins!
“It’s unbelievable. To think we could subjugate the Twilight Ruins like this.”
“We got so many items, it was an interesting experience. It is all due to Da'in nim.”
“Heh, don’t mention it.”
Among the party members, one amazing Shaman who was very memorable.
Shamans were usually deemed as the jack of all trade.
Ranging from treatment and magical spells, buffs, and curses, it was a struggle of a class to have.
There was no upside to be seen as is.
So when ones form parties, they usually do not designate a spot for Shamans to join.
They lacked the ability to deal treatments to the level of the Clerics, or were they specifically able to work at any certain area; so in most cases, whenever Shamans were invited, they usually only played a supporting role.
But the Shaman Da'in was in a different dimension in comparison to the others.
Her treatment magic exceeded the tolerable of a Cleric, and her damage output was near those of the Wizards in term of magic attacks.
Blind.
Blockade magic.
Using vines of trees to bind and stop enemies’ movements.
Invisible arrows.
Familiar summons.
While her variety of skills were correctly set to obtain the most advantage, her mastery of the skills were also very high.
No wonder the party members were smothered by Da'in.
“Hehehe, then do you all want to register as friends?”
At Dain’s suggestion, the party welcomed it readily.
“Sure.”
“Then we’ll do more some other times!”
So Da'in bid a final farewell to the party; after which, she roamed Morata wanting a tour.
Entering the town, she saw many shops were still in construction that she had never seen before.
“Need people to go hunting in the hills in the south. Preferably Wizard.”
“Need those beyond the level of 300. Need warriors that can take hits of those level 400 or more.”
“Want Wizards. Necromancers and Summoners welcome. To do quest.”
There were many people who were trying to recruit members to hunt or do quests.
While many blue collar workers in their rightful place began creating items, the other vendors set up their shops.
Tailors, faith, trading post opened!
From these small textile vendors, leather and cloths were woven.
Rather than going to other cities to buy the expensive leather, adventurers here paid money to have their customized equipments produced in exchange.
Since Morata was the leading in textile technology, pretty good items were produced from the given materials.
The faith vendors relieved curses and gave blessings, while they also played a role in training Paladins and Clerics.
The trading post was a popular place that was always crowded with Merchants.
At Morata, with the rise in traffic of people, the need for luxurious goods, food, weapons and armors were also on the rise.
While some others obtained goods sold in Morata, and earned profits by selling the materials at other regions.
The Mercenary Guild was finally completed.
Members of the Red Shield mercenary gathered after their tough lives of mercenaries.
After one having exchange drinks with the mercenaries, they share a conversation regarding the employment of these hired guns.
In some cases, someone who doesn’t want to for a party for a quest chooses to hire mercenaries.
The dialogue between them is to figure out whether the soon to be hire merc has the basic qualification to be do the job.
After considering the reputation, level, and occupation, the chance of the employment corresponds to the level of familiarity.
Although their services were expensive and on a daily allowance, endless amount of people had been looking for mercenaries because their costs spoke for their effectiveness.
While Da'in took a lap around the town to purchase the necessary goods, she walked to a party seeking a Wizard.
“Class Shaman. If you don’t mind it, my level is 227.”
“It’s a bit low, so…let me try to talk to the party members and I’ll be happy to reply.”
The leader was Paikeumaen(Pike-Man), with a pike polearm as a main weapon.
After having chatted with his party members via whispers, he nodded.
“It seemed you’re quite famous and well known. Da'in nim is very welcome. Our commissioned quest is to punish the servitors of the Skull before the coming sunset. Would you like to join?”
“Yes!”
Da'in joined the party even if it was just a simple quest.
The location for their quest was at the Green Lake near the town of Morata.
Da'in with her new party moved toward their destination.