Chapter 140

Due to the fairies’ passion for chocolate bars, the child’s wish was fulfilled much faster than expected. The fairies, using magic to coax and bring her back, presented the mother wolf, a red-furred wolf now in her old age. Upon regaining her lost child, she expressed her joy with her whole body, licking the child’s face. The child, too, seemed to have shed the anxiety of being in a strange place upon seeing her mother wolf. She smiled brightly and hugged the wolf.

Watching the child smile, Henes was reminded of Ibellua’s parents, whom she hadn’t seen in a while. However, she quickly put a small damper on the regret in her heart by tightly holding Jun-sang’s hand and leaning her body slightly against his arm.

Epic Quest ? Forgetfulness

7. The Queen’s Wish.

• The Queen has been waiting for this day to fulfill a wish. Speak with her (Achieved) -> Completed!
• We are calculating your actions and achievements in this quest. This process will take a moment. Please wait.

Seeing the settlement message, Jun-sang knew that this was the real completion of the quest. There were no real battles, but unlike before, the content and progression were not just about smashing things, which made it a more relaxed process, but in some ways, it was a more difficult quest.

After a short wait, a new message arrived.

Congratulations!

: Your rank is Ex:Hero.

You have achieved a world-changing transformation through heroic actions.

• As the Fairy Realm returns to normal, Spirit Gates open in various places.
• The original power of the spirits is restored.
• The attack power of elemental magic is enhanced by 10%.
• The fairies’ combat power is partially increased.Additional rewards will be given in addition to the basic rewards.

The restoration of the spirits’ original power was an expected result, but the enhancement of elemental magic’s attack power and the increase in the fairies’ combat power were a bit unexpected. Although the fairies’ power increase might be insignificant in the grand scheme of things, the enhancement of elemental magic’s attack power was not something to be taken lightly.

As soon as the settlement results appeared, the reward details were displayed in his vision.

Rewards: A lot of experience points, additional reward box (Spirit) x3, additional reward box (Ex:Hero), title [Fairy’s Consort]

-> Do you want to receive the rewards now? (Y/n) *(Warning) Unclaimed rewards will be automatically deleted after 7 days.

“Huh?”

Since there was no separate hidden quest, he had expected only one Hero-class reward box, but surprisingly, there were three more additional reward boxes. The thought of saving them and receiving them later crossed his mind, but Jun-sang quickly shook his head and received the rewards immediately.

Then, as expected, a level-up effect appeared and disappeared from Jun-sang’s body. Since there were no battles, he only leveled up once, but this brought Jun-sang to level 28.

As light emanated from Jun-sang’s body, Henes realized it was time to say goodbye to the child.

“We’re going to leave now. Take care.”

“…”

The child looked sad. Although it was a short time, she wasn’t so foolish as to not know that they had saved her from the mercenaries who had been dragging her around, and that they had cared for her with great sincerity, from providing food and clothes onwards. Henes expressed her regret by gently hugging the child.

With the Spirit Gate, they could contact her at any time. And if necessary, Henes could visit whenever she wanted, though Jun-sang, who was the subject of the gate, might not be able to. Still, the feeling of regret was unavoidable.

“If you ever need anything, just contact us. Okay?”

The child, thinking that she should first learn how to speak like her, nodded. Henes kissed her forehead, just as Jun-sang had done to her, and then realized anew that the child did not yet have a name.

“Jun-sang.”

“Yes?”

“Um… would it be okay if I gave this child a name?”

Jun-sang nodded nonchalantly. “If you want to.”

With Jun-sang’s permission, Henes thought for a moment and then said, “Rysis. It means ‘daughter of the wolf.’ Will you take it as your name?”

The child liked the meaning more than anything else. She already knew that she was different from the other wolves. But because of that, the child liked the name Rysis even more.

“Rysis, huh…”

As Jun-sang quietly repeated the name, Cella, who had been watching silently, opened her mouth. “The former Queen’s name, Lyches, also meant ‘daughter of nature’ in the ancient language.”

“I see.”

Jun-sang accepted it nonchalantly, but to Cella, the new Queen receiving a name similar to the former Queen’s did not feel like a coincidence. Could it be that some kind of inevitability they couldn’t comprehend was at work? Of course, it was just a vague guess without any basis, but that thought kept coming to Cella’s mind.

Jun-sang took out the remaining box of chocolate bars he had prepared and handed it to Cella. “Thank you for your hard work in finding the mother wolf.”

“Th-thank you.”

Cella, perhaps afraid that Jun-sang might change his mind, quickly took the box from his hands. Jun-sang walked over to Henes, who had hugged the child one more time and was getting up, and as if he had just remembered, he casually said to Cella, “Don’t eat it here. Go outside and eat it.”

Cella was puzzled by what he meant, but she soon realized that their bodies would shrink when they went outside. It was a natural fact that they had forgotten because they hadn’t been outside for so long. After all, they had been forced to sleep with the Queen for a thousand years, so it would be strange if there were no after-effects.

Jun-sang and Henes, not long after their farewell to the child, emanated light from their bodies and disappeared from the Fairy Realm.

With a flash of light, Jun-sang reappeared in the emergency stairwell of the hotel. He first took off the equipment he was wearing, such as his cloak and boots, stored them in the cabinet, put on normal shoes, and sent a message to Lim Seo-yoon as he left the stairs.

‘I’m back. I’ll be in the lobby.’

If this were his own home, he wouldn’t have to think about anything else and could just go straight to his room. But since it was a hotel, he had to consider the possibility that their room might have been changed while they were away.

He went down the stairs and into the lobby, where an employee who was waiting at the entrance recognized him and quickly came over. “Mr. Park Jun-sang, welcome back.”

Jun-sang returned the greeting and quietly asked, “Where’s Seo-yoon?”

“She’s training on the 5th floor. She sent a message saying to wait a little while she changes.”

“The swimming pool?”

“Yes.”

“Then tell her not to bother coming down. I’ll go up.”

“Understood.”

Jun-sang slowly climbed the stairs, checking the unclaimed rewards. The first things he opened were the additional reward boxes with the ‘Spirit’ label.

Card Information

Name: Thunderbolt

Level: 1Lv

Experience: 0

Grade: Uncommon

Category: Summon

Growth: Early Bloom (Medium)

Attribute: Lightning

Effect: Summons one lightning spirit.

Cost: 15

Seed: 3 slots

The first one was a lightning spirit. Although the grade was only Uncommon, the power of lightning itself was not to be underestimated. Considering that the original power of the spirits had been revived and the elemental amplification ability of the Elemental Dragon, he could expect a considerable amount of attack power.

Card Information

Name: Shadow Stalker

Level: 1Lv

Experience: 0

Grade: Uncommon

Category: Summon

Growth: Late Bloom (Medium)

Attribute: Darkness

Effect: Summons one darkness spirit.

Cost: 10

Seed: 2 slots

The second one was a darkness spirit. Having received a light spirit before, Jun-sang had expected something like this. He was about to open the next box when an idea suddenly crossed his mind.

“Wait… could this be?”

One of the biggest weaknesses of the dimensional shift effect of the Ashdal’s Boots was that the location he could move to was limited to a shadow within 10 meters. Because of this, its use was inevitably limited in places like a desert with full sun in the middle of the day.

But what if he had this darkness spirit in such a situation? Of course, the darkness spirit’s location might reveal his next moving spot beforehand, so he couldn’t use it carelessly, and it couldn’t be a complete solution. But for a quick escape in an unavoidable situation, it could be a very useful tool.

Jun-sang tried summoning a Shadow Stalker to test it out.

“Hmm?”

At first, there seemed to be no change, but Jun-sang soon realized that his shadow’s position didn’t change despite the changes in lighting.

“So this is what it was.”

When Jun-sang gave an instruction through the interface, his shadow detached from him like a separate living entity and took a position in front of him. Feeling satisfied that this was quite, no, very useful, Jun-sang opened the next box with a pleased expression.

Card Information

Name: Sand Goby

Level: 1Lv

Experience: 0

Grade: Uncommon

Category: Summon

Growth: Late Bloom (Medium)

Attribute: Earth

Effect: Summons one earth spirit.

Cost: 15

Seed: 3 slots

The last spirit box contained an earth spirit. He was a little disappointed that they were all Uncommon grade, but with the addition of these new spirits, he now had all four of the commonly known major attributes of fire, wind, water, and earth, as well as light, darkness, and lightning spirits.

Of course, it was still unknown how many other attributes existed besides these seven, but having a variety of attributes naturally meant having more means to respond to different situations. Especially in Jun-sang’s case, thanks to the combo and title effects, he had the advantage of being able to summon spirits without the limitations of cost or card slots. He also had the bonus of having an added bonus to resistance the more spirits he summoned at the same time.

And that wasn’t all. Although he hadn’t used it many times yet, it was also possible to imbue his attacks with a spirit’s attribute, and he also had the Elemental Dragon, which could amplify spirits, as a pet. This meant he could utilize spirits in a more diverse way than any other returnee.

Jun-sang was about to check the Hero-class reward box but realized he had already reached the 5th floor where the indoor swimming pool was located and stopped checking. As he opened the door and came out of the stairs, an employee waiting in front of the elevator heard the sound and quickly came over.

“Welcome. Ms. Lim Seo-yoon is waiting for you.”

Jun-sang nodded and followed the employee into the swimming pool. Lim Seo-yoon, who had been waiting, quickly approached and greeted him.

“You’ve worked hard. Everything went well?”

To others, this would be a simple polite greeting, but for returnees who had just completed a quest, it was not.

“Thanks to you. Nothing happened here either, right?”

“No. Please have a seat.”

“Alright.”

As the employee who had guided them went outside, two people who had been cautiously watching from a corner came over to them. One was a man with a youthful appearance, and the other was a somewhat boisterous-looking woman with well-developed muscles.

When Lim Seo-yoon motioned for them, they quickly bowed their heads and greeted Jun-sang. The youthful-looking man, who looked like a high school student, spoke first.

“Ah, hello. I’m Lee Han-seo, a new member.”

“Hello. I’m Son Ga-eun.”

After the two introduced themselves, Lim Seo-yoon immediately provided additional information. “As you know, the party limit is four, so Mr. Sung-yeol had to go alone. So we recruited new members. Lee Han-seo is a Kendo expert, and Son Ga-eun practices mixed martial arts based on Muay Thai.”

Jun-sang nodded, got up, and spoke to the two people. “I’m Park Jun-sang.”

As if he had been waiting for this, Lee Han-seo’s eyes lit up and he replied, “I-it’s nice to meet you. You might not remember, but I was also at the alliance that day. It’s a real honor to meet you like this.”

Son Ga-eun, who was standing next to him, also said, “I was also there. Please take good care of me.”

Jun-sang nodded to them and then said to Lim Seo-yoon again, “I’m tired today, so let’s continue later.”

Lim Seo-yoon quickly got up and replied, “Ah, I hadn’t thought of that. You can use the same room you used before.”

“Thank you.”

Jun-sang gave a slight nod to the three people and left the swimming pool. As Jun-sang went outside, Lee Han-seo finally took a deep breath and said, “Phew… I thought I was going to die from nervousness.”

“Don’t be so dramatic.”

Son Ga-eun, who was standing next to him, chuckled at Lee Han-seo, who was like a younger brother to her, but she was just as nervous. It couldn’t be helped… The image of Jun-sang single-handedly destroying the alliance building that day still had a magic that made her heart pound whenever she recalled it.

Anyway. Jun-sang left the swimming pool, returned to the suite he had been staying in, and immediately summoned Henes again.

“You should wash up first. I still have a little more to do.”

“Okay.”

As Henes headed to the bathroom, Jun-sang checked the remaining rewards.

[Fairy’s Consort]

: A title bestowed upon the one who made a decisive contribution to the restoration of the Spirit Gate.

• Effects:

1. Amplifies the effects of fairy-related items and titles.
2. Increases the rate of favorability gain with fairies.

• The effect of the title is automatically applied upon acquisition.

“…”

The amplification of item and title effects was one thing, but an increase in the rate of favorability gain with fairies… Jun-sang couldn’t help but give a wry smile at the thought that this reward was clearly intended to facilitate a relationship with the Fairy Queen.

Author’s Note

Finally, the long-awaited first night is in the next chapter. There may be some who dislike this kind of thing, but I ask for your understanding.