Chapter 51

: (5). First Death -4
 
Jinsung thought about what to talk about with Harin as he walked.
‘Um… I think it will be very awkward…’
He couldn’t think of anything.
They went to the same university, however, he never met someone in real life who he first got to know
in the game.
Plus, he had never done anything with a woman of his age.
Jinsung started to worry, ‘What am I supposed to talk about? Should I ask about her Cooking skills?’
Jinsung, the solo gamer, could only think about Kailan.
Anyone would have shaken their head at hearing this, but he was very satisfied with his life.
‘Yes. If I ask Harin about her Cooking skills, she will be happy and, at the same time, I would get a lot
of information. It would be fun to study Cooking skills together.’
The place they had agreed to meet was not far from his home, so he soon got there.
‘Hmm… is Harin not here yet?’
However, Harin wasn’t there. Instead, Jinsung saw a young woman in a pretty dress.
She had a pale white face and was wearing a beige sleeveless dress.
She was so beautiful. Jinsung exclaimed quietly, ‘Wow… I didn’t know there was such a beautiful
student at Korea University.’
Normally, Jinsung wasn’t that interested in girls, but the woman in front of him was truly beautiful.
She didn’t appear to have any make-up on her, however, her beauty was almost unrealistic.
Jinsung muttered quietly, ‘How can a human be so beautiful? Is she a star?’
The more he got close, the more beautiful she looked.
She also seemed very kind.
Jinsung wanted to stare at her, but he knew he couldn’t do that. Therefore, he looked away and
cleared his throat.
He then stood next to her while waiting for Harin.
Then…

Ian! You must be Ian, right?

Jinsung was greatly surprised.
The ‘goddess’ next to him spoke to him!
His eyes widened, he was dumbfounded.
Except for his mother and the workers at the supermarkets, he hadn’t spoken to a woman for longer
than 5 seconds…
Now, there was a beautiful woman who he had never seen before talking to him.
He felt like the whole universe stopped for a moment.
A while later, Jinsung managed to speak,
Uk! Are-are you Harin?

The ‘goddess’, Harin, smiled brightly.

Wow, you look just like your character! You must have not customized your character.

Jinsung was so confused.
There was a good reason for that, as the real Harin was so different compared to her character in
Kailan.
‘Her character is quite pretty… but not this pretty.’
However, by looking closely, he was able to find some resemblance.
Jinsung stammered as he talked,
Yes. I-I don’t really care about appearances… so I didn’t bother to
customize my face.

Instead, he wanted to ask Harin why she had ‘ruined’ her beautiful looks.
Next, even though Jinsung didn’t ask out aloud for the answer, she responded,
Haha, I made some
changes because I wanted to be beautiful… I guess that’s why you couldn’t recognize me.


…

She customized her character to be more beautiful.
Jinsung didn’t know what to say.

Are you disappointed? My character looks better than me… right?


…

‘Does she… really have a bad eyesight?’
Jinsung couldn’t figure out what to say, so he changed the topic,
Ha… Harin. Why don’t we go to eat
lunch first? I am starving.

Harin smiled and pulled Jinsung’s hand,
Great! I know of a snack bar nearby. The food is really
delicious. Let’s go there!

Next, Jinsung gave his hand before he could even react, ‘Ah, why is she doing this to me?’
Jinsung really didn’t know what to do.
He had never touched the hand of a young woman.
More importantly, the hand belonged to Harin, who was even more beautiful than average
celebrities…
Jinsung could almost hear system messages.

You are on Paralyzed mode. Your whole body has been paralyzed. You slow down by 30%.
You will stammer for 1 hour.

‘Uhh…’
Jinsung was almost being dragged by Harin, while the people who saw them couldn’t take their eyes
off them.
Everyone’s attention was drawn to them!
‘He must have saved the universe during his last life.’
‘Wow… I wonder how it feels to hold hands with such a beautiful woman.’
Most of them were men who were jealous of Jinsung.
‘He looks like beef jerky and yet he’s holding hands with that goddess!’
Jinsung was more handsome than the average, however, now he looked like a squid because of
Harin standing right next to him.
Jinsung saw a mirror in a shop they passed through and realized it. He was then feeling really sad.
‘She used a Diminishing skill on my face and used a wide-range aggro skill to get everyone’s
attention… she must be a tanker-type healer…’
He even started to think like a gamer.
He couldn’t stay still because of Harin’s warm hand that held him.
Harin saw Jinsung’s hardened face and asked,
Ian, do you not like Korean snacks?

Jinsung waved his hands instinctively,
No, no! I love Tteok-bokki (Korean stir-fried rice cake with
spicy sauce).


I knew it! There is nothing that is as tasty as Tteok-bokki!

Jinsung couldn’t help flinching every time Harin smiled, ‘Ha… this is so hard.’
Jinsung was dragged to a snack bar just like that.
…

Uhh… uhh…

Jinsung came home after the date with ‘Harin’. He then sat down on his chair.
He wasn’t exhausted after playing Kailan for a week non-stop, however now, he was exhausted just
after a few hours.
‘Uh… girls are really scary…’
Harin wasn’t that talkative, however, Jinsung had something like a girl-phobia. Therefore, he flinched
every time Harin said something. So, at the end of the day, he ended up using a lot of his energy.
Jinsung thought he was meant to play games.

At least I got to eat a meal with a girl thanks to Harin… all the girls in class avoid me.

The truth was that Jinsung was avoiding everybody, ‘Uh, I used up this month’s portion of talking, in a
day…’
Jinsung couldn’t think of what to say while he was eating with Harin, so he mentioned in detail how he
was forced to kill himself ‘thanks’ to Bukbuk.
Harin happily smiled when she heard that.
‘It was as if she was watching a comedy show…’
However, it all ended well.
That’s because the smart Harin told him something that he could not think of.
‘I still have a lot to learn. I couldn’t even think of this…’
Harin mentioned that even though he lost one level as the death penalty, his pets still kept their levels.
Therefore, if he logged in after 24 hours and raised his EP until it reaches 99% again, he would be
able to raise the Proficiency of his skills and, at the same time, his pets would gain more levels…
Jinsung blamed himself.
If he had been as careful as he usually was, he would have never missed that.
‘I need to be more alert. I should thank Bukbuk for this. If it hadn’t been for him, I would have just
rested till the Arena opened.’
He could regain the 99% EP by hunting during for the remaining time he had.
In the end, his bad luck turned out to be a blessing in disguise!
Jinsung rested on his chair for a while and went to his capsule.
Next…

Oh, right. I can’t log in yet…

Jinsung realized that he had to wait for more than 15 hours to log in. He was then disappointed.

Hu… but sitting in here, at least, it’s comforting…

Although he couldn’t log in yet, Jinsung didn’t come out.
‘Hu… I have nothing to do… shall I get some sleep?’
Jinsung reclined in his cushiony capsule.
He soon fell asleep.
…
Ian logged in as soon as the 24 hours passed and went straight to the hunting ground.
He had to raise his EP, which was at 0% of the Lv. 50, to near 99% again.
He had slept really well, so he was in great condition.
‘I will raise the Lightning Spheres skill’s Proficiency to the maximum.’
The skill level of the Lightning Spheres was Basic 2, while its Proficiency was at about 15%.
If he hunted for the remaining two days, he would be able to make the skill reach Lv. 3.
‘Anyway, the Training skill’s Proficiency is so hard to raise since it reached Intermediate.’
Currently, the skills he had received during his early days of the new class were mostly at the
Intermediate level.
Ian was worried that his skills’ Proficiencies might be low compared to his level since he had gained
levels so quickly, however, all the skill’s Proficiencies were quite high.
It was because of Ian’s obsession with using the skills again as soon as their cooldown times ended.
Ian arrived at the Ant Tunnels and immediately started hunting.
He had gotten used to his new skill and had found out the Giant Ants’ attack patterns and the
structure of the dungeon. Therefore, he hunted more efficiently and faster than when he received the
24 hours death penalty.
Another day passed like that.

Lightning Spheres’ Proficiency is at 100%.
Lightning Spheres’ skill level has gone up. It has reached Lv. 3.
All damage of Lightning Spheres increases by 30%.
Cooldown time of Lightning Spheres decreases by 5 seconds.

Ian grinned as he checked these pleasing messages.

Great! Using only Lightning Spheres was worth it.

Lightning Spheres had a much shorter cooldown time than Ian’s other skills, so he could raise its
Proficiency quite quickly.
‘What is my EP now?’
No matter the amount of EP he had, it was time to move now.
The Arena would open soon.

Ah, it’s 92% now. I am good with that.

He couldn’t recover the 99%, but he could be satisfied with 92%.
Ian reached his goal. So, he finished hunting and went to Muran with pride.
He couldn’t help but feel of proud of himself because Ly was at almost Lv. 52, Bukbuk was Lv. 50 and
Big Guy was Lv. 54.
Additionally, Chirpy’s Spirit Power, who would evolve at 1000 Spirit Power, was more than 300 now.
This showed how hard Ian spent his time using the Lightning Spheres skill.

I have prepared enough… shall I go to register?

The Arena was at the main square of Muran.
It was a large, empty field, therefore, normally users took a break there. However, while the Arena
was open, the place was turned into a stage.
Ian arrived there early in the morning. He completed the registration and grabbed the best place.
‘Know your enemy and you shall win.’
Ian was going to watch every battle, including the preliminaries.
This was to know more about the enemies he would face, but he would also learn a lot more.
‘Like how other Summoners raised their pets and fight… and what are pros and cons of the other new
classes… it is a good opportunity to get a lot of information.’
Ian marked his place on a good spot. He then sat down and got ready to watch.
‘Ha… I have nothing to do for the next 2 hours, again.’
People started to sit near him one by one.
After Ian realized that he had nothing to do, he started to feel tired.

Hu…

Ian started to doze off.