Vol 1 Chapter 14

But monsters no longer had a chance to run up to him like before. Because...

"Oh! I spot two over there! I'm going in!"

It was because of Kion-hyung, who ran like the wind, swinging knee kicks and bone-rattling punches. Hyung's movements were truly incredible, hard to believe he was really a priest. According to what Kapros heard later, even battle priests didn't have any special skills for pure physical combat, making him wonder if Kion had professional training in real life. Thanks to this, Kapros had to keep manifesting magic without moving from his spot, but he had no complaints as he could experiment with making his magic more powerful by using his imagination in various ways.

Hmm... This time, should he try sending a rotating Fireball?

Since a ball is more powerful when rotating than when simply thrown, it might be quite effective.

As someone who immediately put his thoughts into action, Kapros drew a circle and imagined two rotating Fireballs flying. Instantly, the formula world reacted, and blazing Fireballs appeared. As he extended his hand and sent them flying, hyung instinctively dodged.

'Fly!'

The Fireballs, rotating at an invisible speed and intertwining as they flew, split in two directions towards their respective targets. Soon, with a loud bang, the singed orc brothers disappeared in unison, dropping their items.

[ Level up! ]

"Whew, that was cool! Rotation this time?"

"Yes."

"Ah, again. Please, let's go back to speaking casually, Kar. Okay? It makes me feel like I'm some kind of gangster, and I can't stand the goosebumps!"

Now that he was no longer in a position to feel offended by casual speech like before, Kapros had comfortably switched to formal speech, but Kion-hyung shuddered and disliked it. However, Kapros found formal speech more comfortable, so he ignored hyung's words and continued with formal speech.

"Well. You call me Kar, so I should at least use formal speech."

That's right. Kar.

Kapros had told him to call him Kap if he was going to shorten it, but hyung had cut it off completely and was calling him Kar. The reason was simply that it sounded cuter. Even though Kapros was younger... it was absurd.

"Ugh... Alright. Kid, your expression is so cold. Shall we call it a day and head back then?"

"Yes."

The in-game time, which passed three times faster than real time, had already gone by almost two days. The forced logout time was also approaching.

Checking his information window, Kapros saw that his level had become 21. At this rate, it seemed like it wouldn't be long before he should focus on magic training again. They returned to town, sold all their items, divided the money earned from killing monsters, and logged out.

Zing.

"Phew..."

As he ran his hand through his hair and came out of the capsule, he felt thirsty. While drinking water from the kitchen water purifier, he sat down on the sofa in front of the computer. The legs that suddenly became heavy after running freely just moments ago always made him a bit depressed, but he quickly dismissed such thoughts.

Normally, living like this for the rest of his life would be expected. Being able to run even within Mist was truly a miraculous stroke of luck. He had decided to simply enjoy this unexpected joy that had come to him when he started Mist.

The reply to the email he had sent to Branch Manager Yoon Seok-ho complaining about body aches after first entering and exiting the capsule explained that it could happen when the brain is first connected to the game and the nervous system is stimulated. As said, after becoming accustomed to the game by staying connected almost all day, his body no longer ached.

"Computer. Check messages received so far."

Suddenly remembering the messages he hadn't properly checked while playing the game, he gave the command, and soon a list of contacts received so far appeared in the living room.

[ Yes. There are 4 unread messages since you last checked 3 days ago. ]

"Four? Who are they from?"

Checking the senders in the floating list, he saw one from his mother, two from the university he was on leave from, and...

[ coolguysuckho - [1 message] : 2207. 5. 2. 13:00 ]

A message from the familiar name 'coolguysuckho'. Feeling a bad taste in his mouth, Kapros decided to check that one first.

"Play the fourth message."

[ Playing the 4th message from coolguysuckho. ]

After a few seconds of loading time, a voice was heard.

[ 'Hello, Kang Mu-heon-nim. It's been a while. I wonder if you're enjoying your second life. I'm sure it's fun. The reason I'm sending another brief message is to ask you to contact me right away if you have any questions about the device, like last time. There might be unknown bugs, and your help could allow us to provide a better game service to many people. Well then.' Message ended. ]

The content was fine. But for some reason, Kapros didn't like this Branch Manager Yoon Seok-ho. He felt uneasy, as if he owed him a debt. The tone that seemed to be mocking people also played a part.

If he owed such a person a debt, it felt like it wouldn't end well, so he thought he should forcibly send the capsule payment.

Though he thought so, the price was still the biggest obstacle.

'11.99 million won...'

It might be 11.99 million won, but it's close to 12 million won.

Although he was attending a famous VT university in Seoul, he was on leave and only received a small living expense support, so he didn't have that kind of money. He only went out to visit the hospital for rehabilitation training and check-ups, and since he spent most of his time at home, he didn't need money.

'Should I get a part-time job?'

Scratching the back of his head, he thought about part-time jobs he could do. But there weren't any suitable jobs. First of all, he couldn't work outside, and most part-time jobs focused on physical labor.

It's troublesome. He'd have to think about it more.

Kapros put the empty water glass on the table and got on the treadmill in one corner of the room. Moving his legs was still difficult, but he knew that without this kind of exercise, it would become even harder. Turning on the switch and dragging his legs as he walked, he tried to put strength into his legs that could barely keep up with a normal person's walking speed without holding onto the bars on both sides.