Chapter 54
“How do I use this?”
“Just a moment.”
With Ji-won’s help, Kwon-ju began opening the random packs. As unused hair styles started piling up one by one in his inventory, at precisely the moment the 9th random pack was opened, the Romance Fantasy hair appeared with an effect of pouring light.
“What the hell?”
Ji-won blurted out in genuine shock. 0.4% chance, they said. The probability he broke through so easily was enough to leave the guild members who had tasted despair during the Blessing Time feeling empty. Even Kwon-ju, who hadn’t expected it to appear this quickly, aimlessly moved his mouse cursor back and forth.
“Did I see that wrong?”
Ji-won checked the inventory belatedly and found the Romance Fantasy hair costume that had just been drawn sitting right there. It’s real. Confirming it wasn’t a mistake, Ji-won calmed his surprised heart and thought. How can someone who’s already rich have such good luck too? It really seemed like the only thing Kwon-ju lacked in this game was control.
“Try it on.”
“Okay.”
When Kwon-ju double-clicked to equip the Romance Fantasy hair costume, his somewhat ordinary-looking character instantly transformed into a flower boy knight. Just like people, characters too have their hairstyles. Ji-won felt an inexplicable sense of pride at the quality that perfectly matched his taste, even though it wasn’t his character.
As Kwon-ju’s character hair changed while standing silently in the guild headquarters, the guild members who had been fighting probability in their own ways began to react one by one. Particularly, Ddajimalgot, who was still attempting to get the comma hair, was the most surprised and came running.
[Ddajimalgot: OMG Sasa-nim got the RomFan hair??!!]
[Watermelon Doctor: Baby nim flexing ㄷㄷ]
[Watermelon Doctor: How many tries did it take?]
[HolyKnightKnight: I’m not sure]
Considering the relative deprivation the guild members might feel, Kwon-ju deliberately didn’t reveal that he got it in just 9 tries. Then he looked at the remaining 991 packs. Maybe he should have listened when hyung told him to buy only 100.
Since costumes that came out of opened packs couldn’t be exchanged, it would be a waste for Kwon-ju to open more when there was nothing else he wanted. He already had plenty of gold, so selling them all would be a hassle too.
“I have too many left. Would hyung like to have them?”
“…991 of them?”
“I’ll give you all of them if you need them.”
Ji-won, who had no intention of removing his current Spirit Master hair costume, declined the terrifying offer. Suddenly left with nowhere to send them, Kwon-ju thought about just donating them to hyung’s guild members and sent a trade request to Ddajimalgot.
[Ddajimalgot: ??]
[Ddajimalgot: No wait Sasa-nim are you crazy what are you doing]
[Ddajimalgot: Please put them away]
When he put all 991 in the trade window, Ddajimalgot panicked and canceled the trade.
“…It got canceled.”
“Who would accept that? Try reducing the number a bit.”
It seemed the number was too excessive, so he reduced it to 30, and only then did Ddajimalgot accept it with a jumping deep bow. Soon after came the good news that he had drawn the comma hair. As Kwon-ju continued distributing random packs to unfamiliar guild members around him, Ji-won, who had been watching quietly, suggested:
“That looks really pretty. How about changing your outfit to something more similar to a Holy Knight?”
Ji-won searched for Arc Serenity Holy Knight illustrations on his phone and headed to the market with Kwon-ju. Though he wasn’t particularly interested in coordinate items, he knew the names of these costumes as they were released around the Holy Knight launch and were all expensive with limited quantities.
Since he had plenty of gold accumulated anyway, Kwon-ju purchased all the coordinate items Ji-won recommended one after another. Even limited cash items with high market prices due to their age weren’t an issue. He just had to click the buy button once, and the item would pop into his inventory. With so much gold, Kwon-ju didn’t seem to mind the expense at all.
This is really fun. Since he wasn’t asking to buy things for himself but for Kwon-ju’s character to use, it was shopping without any guilt.
“Perfect.”
After equipping all the purchased costumes, Ji-won spent a long time taking screenshots with an impressed face of the Holy Knight coordinate that looked like it had jumped straight out of the illustration. Maybe it’s because both their classes end with “-sa”? Having the Holy Knight and Spirit Master together looked like they were partners, and it made a nice picture.
“It suits you well.”
Even though it wasn’t something he was wearing, Kwon-ju somehow felt shy. Not only because Ji-won liked it, but even to his own eyes, it looked much better than what he had been wearing before. It seemed like dressing up from head to toe like this was more fun than PVP or dungeons that he wasn’t good at anyway. Since all it took was money…
And so, the Blessing Time ended for Kwon-ju after only teaching him the fun of coordinating outfits. When he belatedly remembered to apply enhancement rights to his hat, the double probability effect had already ended, so he decided to save it for next time.
* * *
When I get home, I should finish taking screenshots that we couldn’t complete yesterday. As soon as school ended, Ji-won made plans for “things to do in Arc Serenity today” and walked toward the Natural Sciences building where he was supposed to meet Kwon-ju, mentally listing suitable maps one by one. Definitely have to go to the Temple of Light. And the Magic Forest…
“Hey.”
Ji-won momentarily staggered at the sudden weight on his shoulder. All the game thoughts filling his head instantly vanished. When he frowned and quickly turned around, he saw Mingyu and other classmates.
“Why aren’t you answering your phone? Do I need to get tips on your whereabouts?”
“We didn’t make plans for today.”
“No, that’s not right. You were groaning with a cold and we ended up not drinking after the exam again. Right? No, just come along quietly today. Seriously.”
At Mingyu’s seemingly resolute words, Ji-won was speechless. It was true that he had promised with his own mouth. He didn’t go out on the weekend either because he wanted to see Kwon-ju’s face at the PC café… After sorting his thoughts, Ji-won obediently relaxed his feet. And as his bag was grabbed and he was dragged along, he sent a KakaoTalk message with regret.
[Sorry got caught by the guys so can’t go with you]
[Go ahead]
Kwon-ju, who was waiting in front of the Natural Sciences building and checked the message, couldn’t hide his disappointment. But the truth was he had been monopolizing someone who had many friends all this time, so he couldn’t tell him not to go. He had no right to, either.
Suddenly left with nowhere to go, Kwon-ju was about to quietly head home alone. If only he hadn’t been caught by someone before reaching the main gate.
“Oh, it’s Jang Kwon-ju.”
It was Ji-won’s classmate whom he hadn’t seen in a long time. A senior in 4th year, was it? As he forcibly tried to recall what he had heard at the opening ceremony before, he felt that despite not being close, the person seemed quite comfortable approaching him. Are all of hyung’s friends people like this?
“Why is a freshman walking around looking like death warmed over?”
“I have something on my mind.”
He gave a perfunctory answer hoping to drive the other away, but Suhyeon continued the conversation without blinking an eye, simply changing the subject.
“Something on your mind? Han Ji-won is good at listening to that kind of stuff.”
As if I could talk about it to the person in question – that would be a confession. Somehow, the mention of his troubles seemed to make the other more interested. Though he wanted to just brush her off, since she was Ji-won’s friend, it didn’t seem right to show an unpleasant side.
He was trying his best not to make eye contact when Suhyeon suddenly seemed to make up her mind, flicking her hand as she spoke.
“Hey. My treat. Let’s go.”
He wanted to ask her to let go of his clothes that she had suddenly grabbed, but he held back for now. Being dragged along like that, they arrived at a campus café he had never visited before. Thankfully, it didn’t seem too crowded since it was morning, so Kwon-ju obediently sat down at the table Suhyeon chose.
“Have you been here before? It’s a bit far from the Business School building, but this place is the real deal. Especially the mint chocolate latte is really delicious. Are you part of the mint-choco gang by any chance?”
“I think it’s good food.”
“When people answer like that, they usually don’t actually eat it. All the non-coffee drinks here are delicious. How about the fresh fruit juice that people say is better than chain stores?”
“I don’t like anything with fruit in it.”
So what do you eat then? Suhyeon became genuinely curious. He looked picky, but not to this extent.
“Then yogurt? Or iced tea? Maybe yuzu tea?”
This is draining. With the words hitting his ears like bullets, Kwon-ju nodded with a face as tired as a marathon runner who had just completed 20km. He just wanted something sweet anyway.
“So what do you want to drink? I’ll buy it for you.”
“It’s fine… I’ll pay. Senior, please choose something too.”
“How can I let a junior treat me when I’m in my fourth year? What are you, some legendary chaebol heir?”
Legendary… he wasn’t sure about that, but technically it wasn’t wrong. However, he didn’t want to argue unnecessarily or brag about money here, so Kwon-ju just kept his mouth shut.
“As long as you don’t order a venti with double toppings, you can pick anything.”
“Really, it’s okay. Then I’ll pay for mine…”
Suhyeon’s lips twitched at the formal speech that kept slipping in and the voice that kept dropping to the floor. Why is this kid so funny? He seemed perfectly normal when with Ji-won, but when alone, he acted like someone about to die. It was strange. Where did he get all this nervousness from?
Built to roam the campus with an Americano in hand, Kwon-ju, who contrary to appearances had a cute palate, chose plain yogurt. Suhyeon, who had been quietly observing Kwon-ju as he sat blankly without showing any interest in his companion, waved a hand in front of his eyes.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
