Chapter 45

< Chapter 45: New Trait (2) >

I stared blankly at the Goldie that was absorbing my mana.

“What is this?”

I had no idea what was going on. I was sure that I felt pain in my back, so it must have been the dragon trait that activated.

…But what does that have to do with the golden tiger?

The Goldie is a guardian related to the beastmen.

It has nothing to do with dragons.

“What is this?”

I tried to recall the characteristics of dragons.

They are the creators of magic and the strongest race.

They can use polymorph to change into human form.

They live alone in their lairs.

“Huh?”

…Wait a minute, lair? Alone?

A flash of lightning struck my mind.

Strictly speaking, dragons are not alone in their lairs.

“Right. That’s right. Guardians.”

There are guardians that protect their lairs.

It was a story that would come out much later, but there were definitely monsters that looked like bosses that were guarding the dragon’s lair.

Then, could it be that choosing a guardian itself is a trait of the dragon race?

“Roar.”

Before I knew it, the Goldie had completely absorbed my mana and pressed its head against my body again. I absentmindedly stroked the Goldie and sank into thought again.

If my guess is right.

If the Goldie has become my guardian and is bound to me…

“Goldie.”

Could it be that the original binding of the Goldie has been released?

“Can you go outside the entrance?”

The Goldie nodded vigorously.

We slowly moved our steps out of the golden ruins.

We passed the place where the Goldie would have stopped with a sullen expression and dragged its feet, and reached the entrance leading to the surface.

“…Did it really come off?”

The Goldie seemed fine.

My guess was right.

It was not mentioned in the original work, so I don’t know the exact effect,

But it seemed certain that the binding had been released.

“Ah.”

But there is one problem left.

How do I take this huge thing home?

Should I leave it for today and come back tomorrow to pick it up?

“It’s too big even for a big body.”

That’s when it happened.

Flash-!

“Huh? Goldie?”

The golden tiger’s body shone with mana light again.

* * *

Yu Hwa was doing paperwork in the guild master’s office.

She stretched out with a languid expression after checking the last remaining document.

“I’m done~”

Yu Hwa received help from many people to cover up the death of Kim Shin Woo (Pyo Il Chan).

As a result, she had a lot of work to do, and she had been having busy days without a break.

But now that was over.

She had completed most of the major tasks. There were some difficult ones, but they were solved without any problem thanks to the alliance with the Collector.

‘It’s all thanks to Seo-yul.’

Yu Hwa smiled faintly.

The successful negotiation with the Collector, and the peaceful state of the Bihon Guild, were all thanks to Kang Seo-yul.

But then she pursed her lips.

‘But his identity is still unknown.’

He should have some human-like flaws. How can he be so meticulous?

No matter how much she investigated his past, nothing came up.

‘In the end, there was nothing special about the Sunshine Orphanage either.’

She didn’t doubt Kang Seo-yul. But suspicious things are suspicious, and curious things are curious.

Yu Hwa groaned and stuck out her lips.

“…Do you think you’re some kind of spy? Why do you hide everything so tightly?”

Kang Seo-yul didn’t seem to have any intention of telling her either.

“Sigh.”

No matter how much she thought about it, the Sunshine Orphanage was the most suspicious, but nothing came out when she investigated it.

That’s when it happened.

Vroom-

The smartphone that she casually threw on the desk vibrated.

[Kang Seo-yul]

“You’re not very nice.”

Yu Hwa chuckled and answered the phone.

“What’s up?”

-Oh. I was wondering if you could meet me for a moment.

“Are you asking me out for real?”

Yu Hwa answered as casually as usual.

-You seem to say that a lot lately. Do you have feelings for me?

Yu Hwa’s eyebrows twitched.

“I’ll say what you said last time. You’re overconfident.”

-Haha.

Kang Seo-yul laughed lightly.

-So, do you have time now?

“Well, I’m taking a break right now~”

-Oh, then can you spare me some time? I have something to ask you… Hey! Just bear with it a little longer.

Kang Seo-yul cut off his words and said something strange.

“…Who are you with?”

-Oh, yes. I’ll explain that later.

“Hmm. Okay. Then where should I go?”

Yu Hwa got up from her seat and put on her suit jacket.

-You don’t need to come out. Just contact reception and open the door for me.

“Huh?”

Yu Hwa’s body stopped as she was heading out of the guild master’s office.

-I’m in front of the guild house right now.

* * *

Inside the guild master’s office.

Yu Hwa and I were sitting face to face.

On my lap, there was a cat with charming golden fur that rubbed its body against me.

“Meow.”

It snuggled up more in my arms and acted cute.

I stroked its whole body and sent a signal to be quiet for a bit.

Then it obediently curled up on my lap.

“Good boy, good boy.”

“Um, what is that cat in your arms… ahem. What is that?”

Yu Hwa looked at the Goldie with shining eyes. Did she just try to say ‘nyang’?

“This is Goldie. Isn’t he cute?”

Strictly speaking, it’s not a cat.

It’s shrunk now, but it’s actually a tiger.

“…Goldie, huh. He’s very cute.”

Yu Hwa stared blankly at my lap.

I also looked at the Goldie that was rolling around happily on my body.

The tiger that was as big as a house had turned into this adorable cat-sized creature.

I don’t know why, but it seems to be a side effect of becoming a guardian.

Oh. And I named the trait ‘Guardian’ roughly.

It seemed like a trait that makes guardians, so I gave it a suitable name.

I’m not sure about the effect yet.

I need to do some more experiments.

Anyway, the important thing was that the contract was overwritten by this trait and the binding of the Goldie that was tied to the Golden Resting Place was completely released.

“So, what did you want? You didn’t come here to introduce me to that cat, did you?”

“It’s a similar reason.”

“I see.”

Yu Hwa’s answer was soulless.

Her eyes were fixed on the golden tiger. I seemed to be out of her sight.

She didn’t even notice that she said ‘nyang’. She changed her words earlier.

How much does she stare at him? Her eyes are about to pop out.

Her face was slack and droopy.

“Do you want to touch him?”

“…Can I?”

Is he that good?

It seemed like starlight was pouring out of her eyes.

“Of course. Goldie, listen to your sister well. Okay?”

“Meow!”

“Kyaa!”

Goldie quickly flew into my arms. She hugged Goldie and smiled smugly.

“Uh.”

Yu Hwa trembled.

She really looked pitiful.

“Goldie~ What are we going to play with today?”

“What are you talking about? He’s staying at my house today.”

“What?”

What kind of delusion is that?

Today is Saturday.

It’s the day I can sleep at home instead of in the dormitory.

“Goldie, come here.”

“Meow!”

“Ack!”

Goldie leaped into my arms. I hugged him and laughed triumphantly.

“Hmph.”

Yu Hwa clicked her tongue.

Don’t try to sneak away.

“Okay. I get it. It can’t be helped.”

She looked really disappointed.

“But I don’t know if he’ll want to go back to you in a month.”

Yu Hwa smiled smugly.

“Hah.”

It was a very ridiculous provocation.

“If Goldie chooses you in a month, I’ll let you keep him.”

“I recorded what you just said. Just try to change your mind later.”

Yu Hwa grinned and took out a pen. It was a scary smile, but I wasn’t worried at all.

Goldie’s love is mine alone.

“You’re on. Let’s see. In a month…”

A smile played on Yu Hwa’s lips.

It was a bit scary smile.

* * *

That night.

I returned home and laid Goldie on the bed, then sat in front of the computer and typed.

“He sent it pretty fast.”

Ail Chris.

I was checking the list of ancient artifacts that the Collector had smuggled in.

“Hmm.”

It’s not as much as I expected.

Well, he said it was the list of artifacts that he could send right away.

“…There are no dragon artifacts?”

This guy.

He won’t give up his dragon artifact collection even if he dies. Right?

“Hehe.”

Sure enough.

It was written at the end of the file.

[Sorry, but I can’t give you any dragon artifacts even if dirt gets in my eyes.]

I would have cursed at him and replied if that was all,

But there was one more sentence below.

[Instead, I’ll arrange to send you some other artifacts after the exam in June. Look forward to it.]

Then it’s a different story.

The dragon traits are overpowered, but in the end, getting a trait is a matter of chance.

It’s better to have more in many ways.

Ah. To be honest, the best thing would be to go to the Collector’s house and hold each artifact for a minute.

But would that Collector guy leave me alone for that long?

I can’t touch them one by one in front of Ail Chris either.

Even if he left me alone, there’s no way I can grab them.

The rejection reaction of ancient artifacts is so strong that it can take your life away.

He must have blocked them with strict security measures.

Like the room where he displayed the ancient artifacts in his department store.

Ah, I should have held the Vampire Lord’s Fang for a minute then.

“…No.”

If I had done that, I would have been caught on CCTV and 100% taken by the National Intelligence Service. It would be lucky if only the National Intelligence Service took me, but the Seeker of Truth wouldn’t leave me alone.

“…I would have been subjected to biological experiments for sure.”

Ugh. It’s horrible just to imagine it.

I shook off my thoughts with a light sigh.

Which two should I choose from this list within ten days?

What would be good?

“…Hmm.”

My dilemma lasted for a long time.

Actually, if I only think about good traits, it doesn’t matter which race’s artifact I choose. There is at least one overpowered trait for each race.

Like the ‘Blessing of the Water King’ or ‘Master of Mana’ that I mentioned briefly before.

There was one among the elf traits too.

But do these traits come out just because I want them?

In the end, it’s all a matter of chance.

It feels like playing a luck-based gacha game.

“Ugh.”

I feel like I’m going to have choice paralysis.

I thought about it for a minute.

“I don’t know.”

In the end, if it’s all a matter of chance, it’s reasonable to choose the one with the highest probability.

“Let’s go all in on elves.”

I decided to choose the elves, who already had three traits.

Among the countless racial traits that I remembered, they had the least useless traits.

And more importantly, I needed to find out how this tattoo would change when I got the fourth and fifth traits.

“Green, red, black. What’s next?”

I glanced at the World Tree tattoo on my right shoulder blade.

It was still black.

It looked strangely ominous.

Well, it must be my imagination.

I opened my mail again to reply to the Collector.

“…Huh?”

There was a mail that made me doubt my eyes in my mailbox.

[Sender: KIM GOD]

“Kim God…? Kim Shin!?”

I got a email from the creator of this world.