Gangnam Club, Lee Byeol-ha, the Delinquent Girl, the Custom-Made Armament
“The young master has returned safely. Yes. Yes. That is correct. I will organize the finer details and submit a report at a later time. Yes. I will see to it at once.”
CLICK.
The moment Lee Jae-in finished speaking, the call cut off.
Lee Jae-in folded the phone he had been holding respectfully in both hands and slipped it into his pocket. Then he took off his horn-rimmed glasses and rubbed the lenses against the lining of his necktie.
“Phew. It is a relief that the young master returned safely. My nerves were on edge.”
Inside the sealed car, Lee Jae-in let his chest settle.
Meanwhile his car, fitted with an autonomous driving function, turned into Jangchung-dong.
Jangchung-dong, nestled against Mount Nam, had several hotels reinterpreted in a modern style.
Lee Jae-in parked at one of them, a private venue that had been spun off (Spin—off: a method of dividing a company) from the Shinseong Hotel.
From the outside, it was a modern building with no sign at all.
But inside, a members-only small lodging facility, a high-end sauna, fine dining, and a bar (Bar: a drinking establishment) were combined within a single small building.
Lee Jae-in headed down to the basement with practiced ease.
At the nameless bar beside the sunken staircase, all manner of luxurious bottles stood displayed in neat rows, and two bartenders were polishing glasses with soft cloths.
The hall, dim for lack of lighting, held not a single customer.
Lee Jae-in strode in and entered a room at the back of the hall.
“The usual.”
Lee Jae-in ordered as he passed by.
The old bartender in the bow tie took the order with nothing but a slight bow of his head.
A short while later, a cocktail arrived in the room.
A light snack came with it.
Lee Jae-in lifted the glass with his long fingertips and let a mouthful of the cocktail slide down his throat.
Just then, a man entered the room.
Strangely, the man's face was blurred.
“Care for a drink?”
“No. I have to head straight back.”
The man shook his head at Lee Jae-in's question.
He drew a brown envelope from inside his jacket and held it out to Lee Jae-in.
Lee Jae-in took one more sip of his cocktail, then accepted the envelope.
The man rose at once.
Lee Jae-in spoke to him as he left the room.
“Let's get together sometime. We joined the company the same year, and we have been out of touch far too long lately.”
“……. Bast*rd.”
The man glared at Lee Jae-in without a word, then spat the curse in a tightly suppressed voice.
Lee Jae-in shrugged.
“Oh my. However did you discover my secret, that I am a bastard? I look forward to your continued cooperation, my friend.”
“Bast*rd.”
The man got out one more curse before disappearing.
“Heh heh. Honestly.”
Left alone, Lee Jae-in spread his fingers to push his glasses up, then opened the brown envelope and drew out a document.
[Investigation Results on the Achievements of No. 330895]
That was the title attached to the document.
BIP BIP BIP BIP.
Han-eol pressed numbers on the kiosk.
330895.
When he entered the six digits of his employee number, the simulator's cover lifted upward.
It looked like watching the door of a luxury sports car swing up.
‘Ooh. That's cool.’
Dressed in light gym clothes, Han-eol climbed into the simulator.
The cover came down automatically and shut with a CLANG! and the simulator gave off a mechanical operating hum.
Back in his intern days, before his awakening, Han-eol had taken a stat test. It had consisted of nine events in all, including a fast run while dragging a tire.
Afterward, Han-eol had the change in his stats from before and after the awakening measured.
This was a process not only Han-eol but every ability-holder went through in common.
However, the veterans of the 1st Assault Corps did not take the old-fashioned tests that Han-eol did.
That was because such low-level tests could not properly measure a veteran ability-holder's stats.
Take Defense Power, for example.
Could a high-ranking ability-holder's Defense Power really be assessed by nothing more than a test of enduring tennis balls against bare skin?
And what about Fire Resistance?
With nothing but a simple test of passing through blazing flames, putting a number on a high-ranking ability-holder's Fire Resistance was impossible.
Among the ability-holders famous in the flame line, there were even those who enjoyed swimming in boiling lava.
Testing the resistance of such superhuman-class ability-holders in the real world was never easy.
So the great cities of the Mid-Land built a piece of equipment called the simulator.
When one entered this simulator, which looked like a capsule-type massage chair, fine needles emerged and pricked the ability-holder's body all over.
These needles were the sensors that monitored the ability-holder's physical responses.
From there, all that remained was to start the simulator.
The instant the simulator operated, the ability-holder fell into the illusion of having entered the Highland and of fighting a powerful demon beast.
At once, the sensors attached across the subject's body closely detected their reaction speed and muscular changes, extracting every kind of stat.
Of course, the simulator was not perfect either.
For those at the ruler class of a city, or the ultra-powerful who came close to it, no simulator could extract stats at all.
In such cases, the simulator was programmed in advance to display the subject's stats as ‘MAX (maximum value).’
Conversely, what happened when an ordinary person used a simulator?
In that case, the simulator printed the letters ‘MIN (minimum value)’ in place of a number.
Since an ordinary person's stats ran between 1 and 10, MIN on a simulator meant a figure of 10 or below.
Attack Power 10 was MIN, Attack Power 5 was MIN, and Attack Power 1 got stamped MIN just as fairly.
From the simulator's point of view, the Attack Power of Old Earth's strongest martial arts fighter (10) and that of a newborn infant (1) amounted to much the same thing.
‘Have I really grown enough to be using a simulator? What if most of it comes out MIN?’
Han-eol worried quietly.
But he soon shook his head and cleared away the needless anxiety.
‘Trust the Flayed Skin. They say wearing it raises Defense Power and resistance dramatically.’
That was right.
Right now, Han-eol was wearing the three-eyed, eight-tailed demon beast's Flayed Skin.
When Han-eol returned to Mid-Land Seoul a short while ago, he submitted everything to the group: his watch, his backpack, the various mana crystals, medicinal herbs, and new materials he had collected in the Highland, and even the male Girit's demon spirit stone.
Han-eol also laid out everything he had experienced in the Highland before the investigator, down to the last detail.
Of course, his account mixed truth and falsehood in suitable proportion.
The investigator had no choice but to believe it absolutely.
For one thing, Han-eol's explanation was so concrete that it did not sound like a lie in the slightest.
And the value of the demon spirit stone Han-eol had collected was enough to set the 1st Assault Corps buzzing, so the investigator was favorably disposed toward him as well.
At the time, Han-eol made no mention whatsoever of the Flayed Skin.
Pyros' Ring, naturally, he hid as well.
According to the knowledge Han-eol had awakened to in the Highland, the Flayed Skin and Pyros' Ring were relics whose presence even demon beasts with extremely acute senses had trouble perceiving.
‘So Shinseong Group won't find them even if they investigate.’
On that thought, Han-eol brazened it out.
The result, naturally, was success.
Every ability-holder returning from the Highland had to undo their belt, take off their shoes, and pass through a two-stage screening gate.
Yet the gate's cutting-edge machines, said to miss not one fine speck of dust carried back from the Highland, failed to detect Han-eol's Flayed Skin or Pyros' Ring.
It was just yesterday that Han-eol cleared every procedure without incident and returned to the 1st Assault Corps.
And today, wearing the Flayed Skin under his tracksuit and Pyros' Ring on his finger, he entered the simulator.
Before long, the test began.
And a mere twenty minutes later, the test ended.
DING!
At the cheerful sound, the simulator's cover opened, and Han-eol stepped out to check the results table on the monitor.
It read as follows.
Han-eol (Employee No.: 330895)
Category / Previous Score / Current Score / Rate of Increase
Stamina/Endurance / 6 / MIN / 0%
Speed/Agility / 8 / 108 / +1,250%
Vitality / 24 / 24 / 0%
Attack Power / 3 / MIN / 0%
Defense Power / 15 / 65 / +333%
Fire Resistance / 6 / 46 / +667%
Cold Resistance / 10 / 50 / +400%
Poison Resistance / 13 / 53 / +308%
Lightning Resistance / 6 / 46 / +667%
Mental Strength / 40 / 50 / +25%
Both Stamina/Endurance and Attack Power came up MIN.
That meant Han-eol's stats in those areas were 10 or below.
Speed/Agility, on the other hand, had risen by a full 1,250 percent to reach 108.
‘Wow! Pyros' Ring really does work!’
Han-eol's eyes widened.
His heart pounded.
‘And it went up by an incredible amount.’
A Speed/Agility above 100 was a figure that only mid-tier or higher ability-holders of the assassin line could achieve.
Perhaps unable to believe it, Han-eol could not take his eyes off the Speed/Agility line for some time.
Then he lowered his gaze to examine the Defense Power figure.
Defense Power had increased 333 percent over before.
It seemed the Flayed Skin had raised his Defense Power by a full 50.
His Fire Resistance, Cold Resistance, Poison Resistance, and Lightning Resistance had each risen by 40 points as well.
The rate of increase differed by category, but the increase itself was a consistent +40.
* Defense Power +50.
* All elemental resistances +40.
These, it seemed, were the options attached to the Flayed Skin.
‘It's excellent, but a little disappointing.’
Han-eol smacked his lips.
Of course, Han-eol knew perfectly well that this was greed.
‘An item that raises both Defense Power and resistance figures is nearly impossible to find. And even if such outstanding armor existed, the owner family of Shinseong Group would use it themselves. Would they hand it over to a newcomer like me? Not a chance.’
In other words, the Flayed Skin was a relic far beyond Han-eol's station, so he ought to be thoroughly grateful for it. Han-eol steadied himself so as not to lose his original resolve.
Next he looked over the final category of the test.
‘What happened with Mental Strength?’
Han-eol's Mental Strength had increased 25 percent from the previous measurement.
Neither the Flayed Skin nor Pyros' Ring carried any option related to the mind.
So the increase in Han-eol's Mental Strength seemed to be an effect produced by overcoming the near-fatal crisis of his fight with the three-eyed, eight-tailed demon beast.
That was Han-eol's judgment.
‘Well, not bad overall. This Highland expedition had its crises, but the returns were tidy too. Heh heh heh.’
Han-eol rubbed his palms together in good spirits.
“Hmm-hmm, hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm~. Hmm-hmm~.”
Perhaps because the results had come out well, a hummed tune came out of him all on its own. Humming a melody he could not have named, Han-eol headed for his room.
‘First, a wash.’
Han-eol planned to take a good shower, then go down to the buffet restaurant in the 1st Assault Corps basement and eat a hearty breakfast.
Perhaps because he had gone two whole months without a proper meal, his appetite flared all at once. A pink tongue swept across his lips.