CH 295

I’m going crazy. I think this is harder than when I was fighting against the Fragment of the Demon King.’

Leeha could not say no to them and fell into a dilemma as he quietly got out of Castle Dale.

“Haaa……. I wish I could make a living by just clearing the Black Bass quest.”

Leeha sighed even after earning an eye-popping amount of money. Although he had already saved hundreds of millions of won, it was still far from the cost of the surgery he needed.

‘No matter how good the reward is, it wouldn’t amount to 2 billion, and even if I get it, the surgery would not be done in a day or two.’

As his head became complicated with many things, he no longer had energy to be in Middle Earth. Leeha logged out after checking the remaining days until the non-public awarding.

Three days from now, the capital will hold a full-fledged non-public awarding.

‘Then I should meet Kijeong and talk about it. Still, he boasted that he had been in a relationship a few times before, so he must be better at it than me, right?’

That is, if Kijeong was telling the truth.

Leeha grabbed a pillow and groaned, then a sudden thought came to his mind. Why worry about simply meeting people? Whether it’s Shin Nara or the Ram sisters, he could just go see them!

‘Come to think of it, why am I worrying about this? Am I that shy about my legs? There’s nothing to be ashamed of!’

Clearly, he had such a mind at the beginning of the accident. The sadness of being suddenly crippled in the lower half, and other kinds of shame that came with it. However, while playing Middle Earth, Leeha’s confidence was restored to a large extent.

There was nothing lacking, from the belief that he could still make it, the expectation that he can get better, and realistically accumulating the cost for his treatment.

Then why was he worried? Would it have been the case if the person who asked him to meet was Biyemi, Tale, or even Jacheong?

‘There’s no way. If Tale-nim or Biyemi-nim had asked to meet me, even if Jin Gonggong had asked, we would have met a hundred times over. Then…’

Why? And what did it mean to have such worries about Shin Nara and the Ram Sisters?

‘…… What is this feeling?’

Leeha suddenly felt his own emotions slow down. Something like an adolescent boy, it was natural after the accident, and it was a feeling that he had never felt before the accident.

————————————————————————————————————————–

“When? When is it? My perm is about to loosen, let’s go-”

“…… Did you hear me?”

“Of course, hyung! So, when are we going to eat with Shin Nara-nim and Bobae-nim?”

“I think I have been talking about the Ram sisters for about 20 minutes-”

“Yes, I heard they were coming to Korea. So when are we going to eat with Shin Nara-nim and Bobae-nim?”

“……It’s.”

“You have to tell me! So that I can prepare as well, hyung!”

Kijeong asked Leeha. At first, he pretended to worry together with Leeha, but before he knew it, Kijeong was only focusing on one thing.

‘I’m a fool for telling him, a fool!’

He didn’t mention emotions that he couldn’t understand, but he spoke passionately about the fact that the Ram sisters might come to Korea soon, and that they wanted to meet him, but it didn’t seem to reach Kijeong’s ears.

Leeha begrudgingly went to the Royal Palace with Kijeong. Aelstock already had a lot of users because of the experience penalty for the negative contribution users after the war, but today was even worse.

“I envy you. You were invited to the Royal Palace and will receive a reward, while I still have 13 more days of experience penalty.”

“13 days is nothing. Do you want to exchange with me? I still have 61 days.”

“Wow, that’s crazy, were you a spy?”

It was because it was the day the surrounding users were envious of, Fibiel’s National Awarding Ceremony. In accordance with Middle Earth’s special policy of opening the palace to all users like the opening ceremony, as well as officially allowing filming inside the palace, reporters, and casters from broadcasting stations also lined up around the palace.

“— thus the live broadcast-  ah, now, the 9th place in contribution! Master Kay, the 9th rank player in Fibiel’s contribution, is entering the palace! Master Kay, can we ask for an interview for a moment! Master Kay-”

“Hello, I am from OGM! Are you Byeolcho’s guild master! Master Kay!”

“We came first!”

“Not if we push the mic in first!”

The casters who were delivering the news started running toward Kijeong with their microphones.

It was quite a frightening scene for Kijeong to see the Korean and International broadcasting stations running toward him with glaring eyes.

“Uwaaak!! W-wait a moment!”

“Kek, good luck, Kijeong-ah.”

Leeha quickly walked away from Kijeong. In the war, many people made their appearance and names known, but not as much as Leeha.

His name might have been known, but only a few people remembered the sniper that operated alone. 

There were people who had seen his appearance at least once, but no one immediately recognized him because his appearance was different from when he wore the Brown Bear coat.

Therefore, Leeha, who was ranked first in terms of contribution, overtaking Granville, Fibiel’s commander-in-chief, was able to enter the Royal Palace leisurely.

“Leeha-ah! Everyone! There, Leeha is over there- Cough!”

Kijeong tried to hold on to Leeha and put him in the spotlight, but he couldn’t because the microphone was thrust into his mouth. It was then that someone approached Leeha, who was walking around the platform in the palace garden, after his identity was confirmed.

“You look happy? Well, you did work hard.”

“Nara-ssi.”

Instead of her usual greeting, her slightly blunt attitude made Leeha feel sorry. Because he knew very well that disappointment is proportional to expectations.

“When shall we meet?”

Leeha smiled as he spoke to Nara, Her eyes, which had a sulky expression, became rabbit-like. 

“Oh…… you remembered…… are we doing that?”

“Did you think I forgot?! I will be having a meal with Nara-ssi. I just had a lot of things to do for a while. I really didn’t forget.”

Seeing her like that, Leeha worked hard as Kijeong instructed him. Don’t make it obvious and lie! Tell her that you remembered it no matter what! With a smile, smile~

“……Well, I’m busy these days, so I don’t know if I’ll have time…. I’ll ask Bobae first. I don’t know if she will have time.”

Then she’ll try to put it off once, call! You can do it! In fact, it was obvious that she wasn’t actually upset, and he was doing it for nothing. Don’t forget to be considerate!

“Yes, of course. You can set a date when you’re free. When Nara-ssi is not busy.”

Leeha even smiled widely as he recalled Kijeong’s advice, but he was skeptical as he spoke.

‘No, this works? Anyone would know that I forgot. I don’t know if Nara-ssi felt worse because I lied for no reason-’.

“Okay. Phew, I almost felt sad knowing that Leeha would forget again. Hehe.”

However, looking at Nara’s reaction, he had to accept Kijeong’s advice. At least in conversations and relationships with women, Kijeong was several levels of magnitude higher than Leeha.

“Go in now! Go and listen to the ceremony order and explanation, as it will start in a little while. I heard that His Majesty, the King, will confer the award to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd contributors himself. Now, now, if our Leeha-ssi wants to look good, go and change into formal clothes. Everyone is already here!”

Returning to her usual bright and healthy expression, Nara personally guided and took Leeha into the palace.

“This is…… how it happened.”

He realized this for the past few days that he knew nothing about the heart of women. Leeha did not know what Shin Nara was thinking when she said “Our Leeha-ssi”.

—————————————————————————————————————————-

His Majesty the King is entering!

Kuuu —–!

At the loud sound that seemed to slam the floor, the users in the palace garden instantly became quiet.

Not only in the palace garden, but also outside the inner castle gate and on top of the wall of the palace, users gathered to watch the awarding ceremony. Unlike when the war broke out, the interest in ‘substantial compensation’ was bound to be greater.

Fibiel’s king sat on a platform in the garden.

The captain of the royal guard, the chief of mages Lotzac, and the leader of the Sacred Knights, who were usually not seen in public, showed a dignified attitude.

It was no exaggeration to say that all of the great pillars of Fibiel are gathered here.

In the VIP seats installed right next to the podium, the meritorious figures of this war were seated. NPCs, as well as users, knew that each and every one of them played a role that was no different from a hero who shone brightly during the war.

However, they couldn’t figure out why the user sitting in the first seat in the front row had his legs shaking.

“Ah, to sit in a place like this-”

“It’s only obvious for the first contributor, Ha Leeha-nim. You shouldn’t be flustered.”

“If you want to look so flustered on live broadcasts around the world, then so be it.”

“……Nice clothes.”

It was burdensome for Leeha, but the eldest daughter of the President of the Ramlong group and the representative user of Hwangryong had no way to know that. Leeha was so nervous that he couldn’t hear Ram Hwajeong’s whispers.

If he included tens of thousands of eyes of nearby users and viewers of the broadcast, what did it mean that more than 10 million eyes are focusing on him?

He tried to put an end to his thoughts because he would start to feel dizzy thinking about the number, and Leeha glanced up at the platform.

‘Come to think of it, what did Lotzac do throughout the war? I thought the reason why the king believed Lotzac was to test something like loyalty during the war.’

He had not been seen throughout the war. Since he was the mage chief, Leeha thought that he would lead the mages and appear somewhere on the frontline, but Lotzac did not appear. Shin Nara said that he never left the capital.

‘How was he able to persuade the king?’

It was not possible to know everything about the palace. However, Leeha felt a clear sense of incongruity in the image of the old man.

“— So, His Highness promised to give adequate treatment to those who raised the status of our country by winning this war. From the 10th rank to the 4th rank, step onto the podium!”

It was a temporary truce until the conclusion of the peace treaty, but the NPCs considered it as ‘victory’.

After a lengthy speech, the awarding ceremony finally began.

10th in merit Shin Nara, 8th in merit Division Commander NPC, 7th in merit Kidd, 6th in merit  Rush’s guild master Ron, 5th in merit Ram Hwayeon,  4th in merit Ram Hwajeong.

Waaaaaa—–! Shin Nara!

Long live Shin Nara!

RUSH ! RUSH ! RUSH !

Kyaaaaak, Kidd-ssi! Kidd-sssssiiiiii一! Please look here!

Ram Hwayeon is so beautiful一!

Ram Hwajeong is so cuuuuuute一! 

Loud cheers erupted toward the users who were already famous. To cheer for Rush’s guild master, Rush’s guild members even dressed up in uniform and waved a flag. The Ram sisters, who had many fans due to their beauty, also cheered.

(To be continued…)