Chapter 75 – LV.Seven Priest Seo Yun – [One]

Andrew Brown was an American nerd. Sports and athletics were not his interests. He loved American fantasy games as well as Japanese anime.

During that time, a Japanese anime that blended two elements Andrew liked became a hit, and its title was Order Lord. It was about a TRPG player becoming his own game character and adventuring in a fantasy world. Though the plot was common, it was a masterpiece with exceptional realism and immersion. Andrew became a fan of that work.

And one day, in an interview, the director of Order Lord said that the game that inspired the work was none other than the American TRPG, Immortal Kingdom.

After that, several groups formed within the Order Lord fan community, proposing to purchase the Immortal Kingdom gamebook and actually enjoy playing TRPG.

Andrew also joined one of those groups.

Four nerds from the internet gathered and started playing TRPG online. It was the kind commonly called ORPG, where people don’t actually meet in person but use chat programs to enjoy TRPG.

Before starting the TRPG, they first created their character sheets. Andrew had an inferiority complex about his small stature, so as always when playing RPGs, he created a brawny Barbarian Warrior character. Without much thought, he named the character Arnold, after the famous actor who played barbarian warrior roles.

After the virtual adventure began, Andrew sincerely immersed himself in the role of the Barbarian Warrior Arnold. Swinging a massive greatsword and being active, he also fantasized about how great it would be if he really became a game character like in the anime.

Back then, he had no idea that fantasy would become reality, nor that the world would end up in this state. He certainly never imagined he would one day strangle a girl’s neck with the thick hands of a game character.

He truly never could have imagined that he would do such a thing to a girl who had saved his life twice, that he would develop the desire to break that slender neck in order to keep his own terrible secret.

Running through the darkness, Arnold shouted.

“This isn’t the wish I made!”

On a night when a shooting star fell, Andrew, following a long-held custom, made a wish upon that shooting star. He wished for what happened to the anime protagonist to happen to him—to be turned into the game character, the Barbarian Warrior Arnold.

Surprisingly, the shooting star granted that wish.

“I didn’t wish for this—”

Andrew truly, truly never anticipated what would happen afterward.

‘That fucking orangutan bastard, for real.’

Seo Yun cursed inwardly as she rubbed her neck. There was still a slight ache, but her neck wasn’t broken or anything.

That was an element even a judge would likely take note of if a trial were to be held over this incident.

The Strength stat on that barbarian’s character sheet was a 10, comparable to an African elephant or a dinosaur. And yet, her neck was fine after being grabbed by that strength? It wasn’t hard to guess that, whatever his intentions were, he ultimately chose not to kill her.

While it was absurd to nearly die after helping him, the reason she didn’t feel a surge of vengeance was probably because of that.

Seo Yun calmly surveyed the home appliance store. Arnold had left his backpack and belongings here when he fled.

She decided to leave those items right where they were. He might come back to retrieve them.

Seo Yun hurriedly ran toward Happy Village.

She had to hurry before daybreak. Oh Haengbok had once again forbidden Seo Yun from leaving the village alone. If she got caught by that orc, who had become even more of a madman lately…

And when she arrived in front of Happy Village, Seo Yun realized she was ‘screwed.’ Two figures stood guard in front of the village gate. Oh Haengbok and Oh Haengun.

Seeing her, Oh Haengbok muttered. His eye light glowed faintly.

“You’re back, sooner than expected.”

Oh Haengun, standing beside the orc, shouted.

“Seo Yun? Where have you been!”

Seo Yun stood before them, shrinking back.

“Well, I had some urgent business.”

“What kind of business?”

Seo Yun quickly explained that Arnold had asked for help and she had no choice but to respond urgently.

“I couldn’t tell anyone else or ask anyone to come with me. Really.”

Oh Haengun seemed to accept that explanation. But he didn’t look relieved.

“Even so, how could you do it again when the Chief forbade it…”

Trailing off and gauging Oh Haengbok’s reaction, it was clear he was worried the orc might explode again.

“I’m sorry, really.”

Seo Yun also cautiously observed Oh Haengbok’s expression.

Fortunately, although Oh Haengbok’s face was heavily scrunched up, he didn’t explode immediately. His mouth opened.

“Right, you had a reasonable cause. But why is your poncho half-burned again? Did you get into another fight or something?”

“I did gain a level this time, but I didn’t face any real danger.”

“Is this nonsense or what…?”

As Oh Haengun looked incredulous, Oh Haengbok spoke with a stern face.

“But this isn’t the first or second time you’ve disobeyed the Chief’s orders. We can’t keep letting it slide. This time, you must be punished.”

“Punished? Well, if that’s your decision…”

As Seo Yun nodded, Oh Haengbok said.

“Then, give me your blood.”

“My blood?”

“Yes, blood. You have Health 11, so you can afford to lose a bit of blood, right?”

Hearing that, Seo Yun was taken aback. How could he so boldly declare he would suck her blood again after what he did last time? She even wondered if this talk of punishment was just an excuse to get her blood, not because he was actually angry.

On the other hand, Oh Haengun, unaware of that incident, seemed to think it was a very lenient punishment. He immediately brightened up and asked.

“Then I’ll go get a syringe right away. That’s okay with you, right Seo Yun?”

“Huh? Yes. It’s fine.”

In the end, as Oh Haengun inserted a syringe into Seo Yun’s arm and drew blood, Oh Haengbok’s face, watching the process, didn’t look satisfied. His lips twitched as if he was holding back something he wanted to say.

Seo Yun tried hard to ignore his gaze.

Oh Haengun sealed the vial of drawn blood with a stopper and asked.

“So you reached Level 7?”

“It just happened.”

“Seriously, you’re advancing as fast as the Chief… A tiny runt acting like the village’s greatest warrior, I swear. So, did you get any new spells?””Yes. The number of uses for previous-tier spells has increased, and I can now choose new fourth-tier spells.”

Only then did Oh Haengun grin widely.

“Good, then it’s a cause for celebration for the village at least.”

In Happy Village, players do not freely choose their own spell acquisition and ability score improvements. Now that the game has become reality, leveling up a game character should not be done alone or arbitrarily.

Unlike RPGs where skills and ability scores can be freely reset, in Immortal Kingdom, there is no way to undo a choice once made. Therefore, it is necessary to obtain objectively useful abilities and spells as carefully as possible, seeking advice from many people.

Thus, so-called ‘experts’ attach themselves to a player’s development. Several people well-versed in the game’s rules gather in front of the rulebook to review and advise: this player should raise their Strength stat this level, this spell is useless so don’t learn it, learn that spell instead.

Especially if that player is a Priest, as many people as possible must gather for that one person. Because a Priest’s level-up and acquisition of new spells is an affair for the entire village. A single new spell from the Priest can change the lives of many villagers.

In Seo Yun’s case, until now, she had leveled up too quickly and alone, missing the advice of the village experts, but this time she received advice.

And so, the first spell she learned, she ended up using right away.

There were people who came to watch the spellcasting. Seo Yun groaned as she looked at the villagers gathered around her.

“Why have so many people gathered just to watch?”

Seong Juri picked up the conversation.

“Our little Goddess bestows a miracle upon the village…”

When Seo Yun glared, Seong Juri cleared her throat and continued.

“Anyway, everyone has nothing else to watch, so they can’t miss this opportunity. Besides, the spell you’re about to cast is for all the villagers, right? It’s almost no surprise it’s become a village event. Isn’t that so?”

As Seo Yun pursed her lips, Oh Haengbok shouted.

“Seo Yun, come here! Here, right here!”

Seo Yun did as the orc instructed. Standing in the center of the village, with the villagers watching, she recited the spell.

“May the warmth of the brazier be in all places…”

A red mist spread out around Seo Yun. Not an actual damp mist, but a spiritual mist that couldn’t be touched yet felt warm.

The red mist instantly expanded, stretching far into the distance, faintly enveloping part of the village.

It was the Sanctuary of a Brazier spell. Declaring a certain area as a sanctuary causes a red mist to cover that point. Noise generated inside the sanctuary does not escape outside the mist, providing an effect that blocks enemy attacks with a certain probability, and the red mist also holds the warmth of the brazier, raising the temperature inside the sanctuary.

Like Sacred Flame, it’s a spell that doesn’t directly aid in combat. Yet, it was also a spell more important than any combat spell. The temperature increase for the village through this spell would be sufficiently helpful to all the villagers.

After finishing the spell, it definitely felt warmer. The people seemed to feel it too. They were all clapping and cheering towards her.

“Seo Yun! Seo Yun!”

She even saw a cat-mom lady closing her eyes and praying something towards her.

Seo Yun watched their reactions towards her, pretending not to care while intently observing.

‘They really treat it like a village celebration just because I leveled up once.’

After finishing her task, Seo Yun returned to her tent majestically amidst the people’s applause.

And then, while secretly smirking to herself, a middle-aged woman’s voice came from outside the tent.

“Miss Seo Yun? Could we talk for a moment?”

When Seo Yun went out, she saw two familiar faces: Kim Jihyeok and his mother, standing hesitantly.

Kim Jihyeok probably didn’t come of his own will. Seeing him still unable to meet her eyes and muttering softly suggested so.

“Hello…”

Then, his mother must have brought Kim Jihyeok here.

Seo Yun gave a slight bow to Kim Jihyeok, then also bowed her head in greeting to his mother.

“Hi? And hello, ma’am.”

Kim Jihyeok’s mother, Mrs. Park Haekyung, smiled kindly.

“Just call me Haekyung Unni! We can be comfortable with each other, no need for formalities.”

It was already a familiar occurrence for this lady to act so friendly.

Previously, Seo Yun had brought Kim Jihyeok to the village and reunited him with his mother. Since then, Mrs. Park Haekyung often sought out Seo Yun and would say things like that to be informal, which sometimes felt less like propriety or politeness to a junior and more like being overly familiar.

“So, what brings you here?”

At Seo Yun’s question, Mrs. Park Haekyung opened her mouth.

“There’s something I wanted to ask. You cast that spell to warm the village this time, right? Originally, only Priest Lady could cast it, but she alone couldn’t cover the whole village, but now the whole village is covered… So, does that mean separate heating isn’t needed anymore?”

“I’m not sure? From what I’ve heard, separate heating will still be needed in winter.”

“Ah, so most villagers still have to live gathered in one tent?”

“Probably.”

Mrs. Park Haekyung sighed.

“That’s a shame… You probably don’t know, Miss Seo Yun, but living crammed together like chickens in a coop is really unbearable? Even if you put up partitions, you can hear everything. If anyone argues, it’s noisy for everyone… I was hoping maybe this time my son and I could live separately, just the two of us.”

As Seo Yun listened silently, Mrs. Park Haekyung continued.

“I had similar hopes last time. Last time, I heard if a player volunteered for that Dimensional Gate? expedition, they’d give a brazier to that household? Our Jihyeok volunteered too. But he didn’t actually participate in the expedition, right?”

“Half of the volunteers were filtered out.”

“That’s right. So we didn’t get a brazier either. But hearing about it this time, they say no one died and came back? Doesn’t that mean it’s safer than expected…”

Seo Yun shook her head.

“It’s not safe at all. If they hadn’t gotten new, good armor, some would definitely have died.”

Was that too blunt? Mrs. Park Haekyung looked taken aback.”Oh… Is that so…?”

Seo Yun said cautiously.

“Yes. If you happen to need fire, I can make some for you.”

Mrs. Park Haekyung’s eyes widened.

“Hasn’t the fire-making order been pushed back?”

“Since I’m making it with my own ability anyway. No one can stop me from lighting a fire as my personal right.”

Mrs. Park Haekyung seemed to think for a moment, then muttered.

“Even if you don’t get cursed out, we probably will…”

“Cursed out?”

“There are many families larger than ours, and families with Players higher level than Jihyeok, who often don’t get fire, right? If we suddenly receive fire just because of our friendship with you, we’ll probably get some gossip from the people around us… Actually, participating in that expedition and receiving fire as a reward for it is good, no backtalk. So, by the way, could you ask the Chief for a favor?”

Seo Yun blinked. When she asked what on earth that meant, this answer came back.

“Why, the Chief listens to you well, doesn’t he? Last time I saw, you were going around with Oh Haengun too. The people running the village don’t treat you like a child just because you’re young, there’s an aspect of treating you as a very important person. Right?”

Seo Yun was gradually able to guess what this aunt was trying to say. Praying that she wasn’t about to say that, she asked.

“That seems possible. So?”

And then Mrs. Park Haekyung brought up the words Seo Yun had anticipated, and thus found even more distressing.

“So, by the way, if you could put in a word to let Jihyeok participate in the expedition a bit too…”