Chapter 871 – 871. God’S Atlantis
Lee Min-jung confessed to Kang Myung-jin and got rejected.
I, who had been secretly watching the situation, couldn’t help but let out a gasp of admiration. Kang Myung-jin didn’t even twitch an eyebrow, and without a moment’s hesitation after receiving the confession, he spat out his rejection.
“I’ve never thought of you that way, not even once. No, even if I had… I don’t have the time or the leeway to date right now. What we need to do is survive, and our biggest goal is to conquer all of Atlantis and return to our original world.”
Kang Myung-jin spoke without the slightest wavering. It was such an iron wall that even I, who was watching, was impressed.
“Th-then, if you return to your original world… do you plan on dating?”
“Yes.”
Kang Myung-jin nodded. But Lee Min-jung’s face didn’t brighten. The exiles of Atlantis weren’t all from the same Korea just because they were all Korean. Parallel worlds. They came from Earths that were similar but different.
Lee Min-jung and Kang Myung-jin were from different origins. This meant that even if they conquered all of Atlantis, they wouldn’t return to the same Earth.
More than anything, the original world Kang Myung-jin was talking about was the world outside the novel.
Lee Min-jung trembled like an abandoned puppy.
“Lee Min-jung. It would be better to focus on getting stronger right now. As time passes, Atlantis will become more intense, and it will be too late if you want power then.”
“Ah, yes…”
Lee Min-jung somehow managed to reply. But her face was still in a panic. Kang Myung-jin sighed softly and tried to soothe Lee Min-jung’s mental state. But it was counterproductive. Her shattered mental state didn’t recover easily, and Kang Myung-jin decided to give Lee Min-jung some time to rest and parted ways.
Lee Min-jung walked weakly back to her room.
This was an opportunity. An opportunity to approach Lee Min-jung, who was shaken and weakened in her mental state. I carefully followed behind her. Before she entered her room, I called out to her.
“Min-jung.”
“…Yoo-jin Oppa. Did you see…?”
“I’m sorry about what happened. If I hadn’t encouraged you to confess…”
“No, it’s not that. I’ve been planning to confess for a long time… I’m grateful to you, Yoo-jin Oppa, for pushing me… but… *sniff*…”
Tears welled up in Lee Min-jung’s eyes. I pretended to be flustered and said to her.
“H-hey, this is the hallway. Someone might see us, so let’s go inside and talk.”
“…Okay.”
I naturally entered Lee Min-jung’s room. Lee Min-jung, who was sitting on the bed, wiped away her tears with the end of her sleeve.
“Myung-jin Oppa… when I confessed, he didn’t even hesitate before answering. He doesn’t even think of me as a woman.”
“No, it’s not that. Even if someone else had confessed to Myung-jin, he would have answered the same way.”
I comforted Lee Min-jung. But my words of comfort didn’t seem to reach her.
“If I were… if I were a little more feminine… wouldn’t Myung-jin Oppa have reacted differently?”
The words “not feminine” didn’t suit her. In my eyes, Lee Min-jung was a beauty. Of course, there was a slight problem with her attitude.
“Do you want to become more feminine?”
“…Yes. I want to become more feminine.”
Lee Min-jung fiddled with the short sword she was wearing on her thigh. I could guess what she was thinking. An ordinary woman wouldn’t carry a weapon like a short sword. She must be thinking the same pointless thoughts.
“It’s not like there’s no way.”
I stared intently at Lee Min-jung. Black bobbed hair and a cute face that reminded me of a small animal. Her build and chest were small, but her proportions were outstanding. If I had my way, I would have pinned her down right here, but my relationship with Lee Min-jung wasn’t at that level yet.
“But as I’ve said before, Myung-jin’s type is a decisive woman.”
“…It’s not that I don’t want to be a decisive woman. If I were a little more feminine, wouldn’t Myung-jin Oppa look at me differently?”
“He would have looked differently.”
I spoke boldly. I shouldn’t comfort her halfheartedly. My goal was to make Lee Min-jung my woman, not to be a Cupid between Lee Min-jung and Kang Myung-jin.
“Min-jung. Can I be honest? It might be a harsh thing to say to you.”
“…Please be honest, Yoo-jin Oppa. I… I want to change myself. I need your help.”
“You’ve been too reliant on Kang Myung-jin all this time. You were like a parasite sucking Kang Myung-jin’s blood.”
“P-parasite?”
Lee Min-jung’s mouth hung open in shock. The hand holding the short sword trembled.
“Calm down and think about it. How you’ve been living all this time. How you’ve been acting in front of Kang Myung-jin.”
“……”
Lee Min-jung recalled her memories at my words. It didn’t take long for her face to become gloomy and even more depressed. Even Lee Min-jung herself thought she had been clinging to Kang Myung-jin.
‘What Lee Min-jung doesn’t know is that Kang Myung-jin isn’t a pushover.’
There was a slight misunderstanding. Kang Myung-jin wasn’t a nice guy. He was a guy who could kill people without hesitation. He was a guy who wouldn’t have any trouble abandoning people. But he didn’t abandon Lee Min-jung.
The reason was simple. Lee Min-jung had talent. Even if she wasn’t a big help right now, she would be helpful later. Kang Myung-jin highly valued Lee Min-jung’s potential. I agreed with that point. Lee Min-jung wasn’t as good as Joo Seo-hyun, but she would become a force to be reckoned with in the later stages.
“…I was too… too reliant on Myung-jin Oppa. I shouldn’t have been like that… I should have been grateful just for Myung-jin Oppa saving me… *sniff*. *sob*…”
Lee Min-jung shed tears. She had survived the tutorial with Kang Myung-jin’s help. From Kang Myung-jin’s perspective, it might have felt like he had saved her from drowning, but she was asking for a bundle of things.
Of course, in Kang Myung-jin’s real perspective, he thought of it as an investment for the future.
“It was a bit much. You were always looking for Kang Myung-jin and sticking to him, right? And be honest. When Biya was born, you were jealous, weren’t you?”
“……”
Lee Min-jung, caught off guard, widened her eyes and pursed her lips. After a moment of silence, she admitted with tears in her eyes.
“…That’s right. I was jealous. Myung-jin Oppa was too… kind to Biya.”
That’s because Kang Myung-jin was a Dragon Knight. He needed to fully grow Biya for the sake of power, so he paid more attention to Biya than anyone else.
“Myung-jin is quick-witted. He probably knew you were jealous of Biya.”
“……”
“Do you still like Myung-jin? Can you change yourself for Myung-jin?”
“…I like Myung-jin Oppa. I can change myself…!”
She spoke with a determined look, as if making a vow to herself. I smiled brightly at her.
“You said you wanted to become more feminine, right? What kind of woman do you want to be like? Fortunately, there are three women with different charms in our legion, so it will be easy to set a goal.”
I listed the names of the three women and roughly described their personalities.
Joo Seo-hyun.
Her appearance was very beautiful, but her personality was not feminine. She showed a more resolute side than most men. But sometimes, femininity was revealed in her actions. As if she was asserting that she was, after all, an unavoidable woman.
Lilsne.
This beautiful elf was strong-willed. She was greedy for money, but she didn’t throw everything away for money. She had a strong sense of livelihood. The woman who perfectly fit the decisive personality I emphasized was Lilsne.
Yoo Seo-hee.
When I first met her, she was a beauty, but she was somewhat ordinary. She changed after becoming a succubus. Her chest became bigger, and her face became prettier. It also affected her personality. She became more confident. The most feminine woman among the three was her.
“I want to be like Seo-hee Unni.”
That was what I wanted to hear. It would have been troublesome if she had chosen Joo Seo-hyun or Lilsne. Joo Seo-hyun was full of rebellion against me, and Lilsne and I had a pure relationship. Yoo Seo-hee followed my words, so she was easy to control.
“Okay. I understand. I’ll ask Seo-hee. Seo-hee will teach you well. Can you do it?”
“I can do it.”
***
After talking with Lee Min-jung, I came out of the room. I ran into Ji Young-bin, who was passing by in the hallway. Ji Young-bin’s face hardened as soon as he saw me, but he forced a smile and waved his hand.
“Yoo-jin! The Master has returned… and you were coming out of Min-jung’s room?”
“Um. Min-jung was very upset, so I went to comfort her.”
“I-is that so.”
Ji Young-bin was somewhat aware of my relationships with women. And since last time, when we were trapped in the special hidden area, he had been looking at me with a not-so-good gaze.
And I was starting to find Ji Young-bin annoying. His ability as a tank was outstanding, but I didn’t like his righteous and meddlesome personality. Ji Young-bin would eventually stand in my way. I had a feeling.
‘Isn’t this guy the bad relationship that’s written in the prophecy to hinder me?’
I had an awkward conversation with Ji Young-bin and then parted ways.
I decided that I would kill Ji Young-bin if a suitable opportunity arose.
***
There were various ways to enjoy the ten-year festival of the Ustia Empire.
You could simply enjoy the festive atmosphere by walking around the streets, and stores held events to commemorate the ten-year festival.
There were also many competitions led by the imperial family. Monster hunting competitions, cooking competitions, shooting competitions, and so on. What was unique here was that the imperial family-approved competitions were affiliated with the system.
Perhaps because of that, you could receive excellent rewards if you won a competition. The exiles participated in the competitions to get the rewards.
And I also participated in a competition, although for a different purpose.
A fishing competition.
As the name suggests, it was a competition where you fished. The fishing location was a lake a little away from the capital.
The competition method was based on points. Each type of fish was assigned a point value. However, you couldn’t get points for catching fry.
You could only use one fishing rod. You could use your own fishing rod, but only rods without a rank were recognized. The same went for bait. However, the only thing that wasn’t ordinary was the fishing line. The fishing line was strong enough to catch a fish weighing one ton.
I participated in this fishing competition alone.
There were three reasons. One was that the first-place reward of the fishing competition was a tempting elixir, and the second was that I had a surefire method.
[Fishing Hook of Temptation
You can use Temptation once every 10 minutes.
When you use Temptation, a nearby fish will get caught on the hook.
Price: 3 points
※Caution
It’s not just fish that get caught.]
It was an item that came out of a random draw in the game app. Perhaps because of that, the system didn’t grasp the effect of this fishing hook.
‘If I use this fishing hook, winning is a sure thing.’
And the third reason I came here. It was to monitor someone participating in this competition.
I pulled the fishing rod and cast the float. It fell into the lake with a splash. First, I checked my surroundings. If I caught a fish as soon as I cast the float, it would be strange.
‘Let’s wait about 2 minutes.’
I leisurely looked around. There were over 3,000 participants in the fishing competition. Fishing was relatively simple, and the competition prizes were tempting, so people participated. You could get AP based on your score, so there was nothing to lose as a participant.
Two minutes passed.
‘Temptation!’
I activated the effect of the fishing hook.
A fish bit the hook. The float moved violently, and the fishing line was pulled taut. The force was unusual. This was a big catch. I put force on the fishing rod and pulled the fish onto the land.
“Oh, oh, oh, oh!”
“Did he already catch one?!”
“What’s that size!”
“It’s a bass! A blue-headed bass!”
The onlookers were amazed. The fishermen frowned at the commotion, but it was inevitable with so many people. The judge approached me and scored the bass I had caught.
“You’ve caught a sturdy and rare one. A blue-headed bass is worth 5 points, but since this one is over 80cm, I’ll give you an additional 2 points. What is your name and participant number?”
“Sung Yoo-jin. My participant number is 696.”
The judge gave me the points and took the blue-headed bass. Unfortunately, the fish caught during the competition didn’t become my property.
I cast the float again.
