chapter 16
[Episode 04] Quest Reward (1)
Oh Eon-joo had a dream.
Afternoon everything is calm.
Watching her dearest son play on the apartment playground.
Somewhere in ordinary days where you can’t take your eyes off, in case you get hurt or not.
Then I quietly opened my eyes.
Oh Eon-joo, who realized that he had woken up, gasped lightly and cried.
It was a sweet dream.
The reason she couldn’t hold back her tears was because she knew full well that her dream would never come true.
It was then.
“Oh Eon-joo.”
A man was standing at the emergency exit, looking straight down at him.
‘What.’
Perhaps because of the dream, the man in front of me strangely felt at ease.
“nice to see you. My name is Jaehyun Kim.”
He was a man with a strange aura.
Instinct was telling me.
The source of the unknown power she just experienced is the man right in front of her eyes.
That intimidation is hidden in that softness.
“…was it you?”
“Yeah?”
“The one that blew off the goblins’ heads.”
He nodded slowly and agreed.
“you’re right.”
Really, in a way that seemed like it was nothing to him.
‘perhaps···.’
Could it be because of the hazy mind that has just woken up from a dream?
Or is it because of the content of the dream?
I thought it was absurd.
‘If this man…’
would it be possible
Oh Eon-joo shed tears in front of a stranger he had never seen before and begged.
“My son, please save my son… One day, even just one day is fine…”
***
The first meeting with Oh Eon-joo was intense from the start.
[Citizen Oh Eon-joo’s reliability has greatly increased.]
It started with a huge increase in trust just by making eye contact.
Starting with that, we only exchanged a few words, but once again, the notification of an increase in trust appeared.
It was the moment when I revealed that it was I who had exactly caught the goblin.
Right after that, he stared blankly at me for a while, then burst into tears and asked me an absurd request.
“My son, please save my son…”
“…”
A plea to save my son.
With that alone, it was possible to infer the general situation.
‘Did I lose a child to a goblin?’
Currently, the emergency stairs are a mess with the goblin corpses that Eon-joo Oh had killed.
Perhaps it was because they were the ones she killed before becoming a citizen, but the corpses remained, and the condition was gruesome.
Heads cracked, guts spilled, neck bones broken, etc.
At a glance, I was able to infer the urgent situation at the time.
And in those traces, a thick hatred was felt.
‘He asked for help.’
What she’s saying now doesn’t mean that she wants her sick son to recover.
Literally, it means to ask for the resurrection of the dead son.
“Huh.”
She must have known that it was an absurd request, and after saying that, she was just crying in sorrow.
When I saw it, my heart broke again.
‘Is there any way?’
A way to bring someone who has already died back to life.
In the past, it would have been a stupid worry, but now that the world has become this way, it’s not such a strange worry.
Does the appearance of monsters or supernatural powers make sense?
After thinking about it for a while, I came up with a possibility.
‘If this is possible…’
When I first got the ability to grant quests, I tested the limits of penalties.
But the limits of compensation had never been tested.
‘Quest granted. Hunt a thousand goblins, unlimited duration, no penalty. The reward… the resurrection of the son.’
Tring!
The moment I heard the sound of the system notification, I couldn’t help but look forward to it, even though it was very slight.
If this was really possible, I was saying that even the dead could be resurrected.
And it could apply to my dear ones too.
however.
[The quest cannot be granted.]
Unexpectedly, the attempt to grant the quest failed.
‘I can’t do that either.’
Then it is.
No matter how great your ability is, there’s no way it can save people’s lives.
It was the moment I thought so.
[Insufficient cash to pay (Quest Reward: Resurrection).]
[Please try again after increasing your cash balance.]
“······uh?”
For a moment I doubted my eyes.
It was because there was something nonsensical written on the system window.
However, no matter how many times I read it again, the contents of the notification did not change.
‘So now…’
What they said was clear.
‘You mean you can bring the dead back to life with money?’
I tried, but I honestly didn’t believe this was possible.
‘Oh My God.’
But it’s really possible.
“Huh.”
Oh Eon-joo, sobbing and holding his breath, was pathetic.
It’s a cruel word, but I was knocking on the calculator in front of her crying.
‘It’s still hard to guess how much money will go into the resurrection.’
I don’t know the exact amount, but it was clear that he would ask for a huge amount.
‘Is it really worth investing that much money in this person?’
I didn’t have to think long.
It was because her level and abilities alone were worth investing in.
“Oh Eon-joo. Mr. Oh Eon-joo.”
He looked up at her with tears in his eyes and said.
“I think I can help.”
“······Yeah?”
“I can resurrect your son.”
“!!!”
Oh Eon-joo replied with a spirited face.
“Really, really? You want to save my son?”
“To be honest, that is not possible right now.”
“ah···.”
He spoke to her with a look of disappointment.
“But I promise you, in my name. We will definitely bring your son back to life.”
“I-what can I do?”
Now, rather than believing my words, she felt like trying to catch a straw.
The desperation was evident from his facial expression.
“Well.”
In my heart, I wanted to send her to my family’s home right now.
So I wanted to ask my family to bring me to this apartment.
Because now she had the most powerful specs among the citizens.
However, there were too many insecurities for her to send the dispatch alone.
The biggest thing was that I didn’t know what level of monsters I would encounter on the way to my hometown.
‘When sending once, the risk is small when it is sent with a certain power.’
Among the cards I have right now, the most powerful combination is to have Oh Eon-joo join Ha Dong-gun’s party.
In Ha Dong-gun’s party, there were Moon Byung-ho and Kang Deok-soo, who were registered as vassals.
They reached level 30 and level 25, respectively, and their abilities were awakened.
If Oeonju, who is level 33, joins this, he will be able to chew on most monsters.
‘The best is to make all seven of them vassals.’
If that was the case, there was no worry even if he faced a monster of a level he could not counter. It was enough to call all of them to the vassal summons.
The worry of losing power is much less.
After organizing my thoughts, I opened my mouth to Oh Eon-joo.
“For now, go upstairs with me. There are people I would like to introduce to you.”
***
“nice to see you. It’s called Ha Dong-gun.”
“My name is Eonju Oh.”
The place where Oh Eon-joo was introduced to Ha Dong-gun and his party was in the living room of Choi Hyung-joon’s family.
The survivors who filled this place scattered to their homes with relief supplies, but there was no place to accept Ha Dong-gun and Oh Eon-ju from another dong in the first place.
They were able to gather here now thanks to Choi Hyung-joon, who was a good person and accepted them.
Oh Eon-joo spoke carefully first.
“You used to hunt goblins by throwing baseballs, right? That woman shoots a bow.”
Ha Dong-gun asked with a surprised face.
“Do you know us?”
“Don’t you know me? It’s our old face.”
Oh Eon-joo showed off his ability when they made an expression that they did not know at all.
Good luck!
“Hup!”
Oh Eon-joo, who had been in the form of an ordinary lady until just before, had suddenly turned into a black-haired beast.
Seeing this, Kim Ga-young was startled and shouted.
“The Werewolf of the Byway!”
The identity of the werewolf that the Ha Dong-gun party saw on the side road was the figure of Oh Eon-joo, who was humanized.
Oh Eon-joo, who returned as a human soon after, replied calmly.
“To be precise, it’s a bear, not a wolf.”
“A bear?”
“Yes, bear.”
The atmosphere flowed smoothly thanks to Oh Eon-joo’s response, which was softer than expected.
‘Is this the leisure of an adult?’
At that time, Oh Eon-joo smiled and said.
“I’ve helped you a few times, don’t you know?”
“ah-!”
“at that time!”
As if there was a moment of guessing, the reaction came out right away.
“It was no coincidence that you helped us at the entrance to the underground parking lot.”
“It was intentional. A goblin’s enemy is my friend.”
I thought he was simply sociable, but after listening to the conversation, it seemed that Ha Dong-gun had a crush on the party.
Thanks, the story sped up.
“I’m glad you already know each other.”
First, I briefly explained the situation to Oh Eon-joo.
“okay. Grandma…”
[Citizen Oh Eon-joo’s reliability has greatly increased.]
“The operation to rescue Moon Byeong-ho’s grandmother is planned to be carried out early tomorrow morning. Oh Eon-joo will also be put into operation tomorrow.”
The operation was nothing special.
By hunting the goblins in the underground parking lot, the number of goblins around them has been drastically reduced. It was an operation to rescue Moon Byeong-ho’s grandmother.
“i look forward to.”
“Me too.”
That’s how the pre-meeting for tomorrow’s operation was completed.
“Everyone worked hard today, good night. I’ll see you early tomorrow morning.”
At that time, Hyungjun Choi, who was quietly listening to the story, asked me.
“I… Jaehyun.”
“Yeah?”
“Am I included in tomorrow’s operation?”
He was breaking out in a cold sweat.
Originally, I had intended to send him along as well.
However, after seeing Hyungjun Choi’s appearance during Operation Goblin, he had no choice but to withdraw the plan.
‘Even if you have superpowers, it’s useless if your body freezes in front of monsters.’
In fact, Choi Hyung-joon was quite dangerous even in sheep hunting.
Even knowing that, I couldn’t get him into the operation.
I shook my head once and answered.
“no. You were hurt, and you can rest well tomorrow.”
“Whew.”
Hearing my answer, Hyungjun Choi let out a sigh of relief.
Park Hye-won, who was relieved by the side, asked with a worried expression.
“But what? I prepared a futon for guests, but it wasn’t enough.”
“Are you lacking a lot?”
“It’s not like that… I wonder what will happen if I go to sleep.”
Apparently, if only two people were left out, everyone would be able to sleep comfortably.
I said.
“The rest of you can sleep here, only Moon Byeong-ho and Kang Deok-soo follow me.”
“Yeah?”
“What, me?”
He nodded his head at the bewildered ones and said.
“Yes, two of you.”
Moon Byeong-ho came home more calmly than expected, and Kang Duk-soo followed him nervously.
“The small room over there is for guests. The futon is in the built-in closet, so you can take it out and use it.”
“thank you.”
He said to the two people who were about to enter.
“Do you know why I called only the two of you separately?”
Kang Duk-soo scratched his head and answered.
“I do not know.”
Right after that, Moon Byeong-ho opened his mouth.
“Is it because we were chosen by Jaehyun?”
I nodded to him and said.
“you’re right.”
I continued to explain, looking straight at the two of them.
“The two awakened. Moon Byung-ho got the ability to teleport, and Kang Deok-su got the ability to be a steel knight.”
Moon Byung-ho and Kang Deok-soo opened their eyes wide.
It seemed that he couldn’t believe what I was saying.
I thought to myself about it.
‘Quest granted. Show off your abilities in front of me. One hour time limit, penalty sleeping in the hallway. The reward is…’
Quest reward, how far can it go?
‘Strengthen muscle.’
Tring!