Academy Munchkin Grew Up To Become a Genius

Episode 19 Friend (4)

The plain smoothie was stuck in my throat when I was suddenly diagnosed with a terminal illness.

-Eck! Push!?

Jin Serin spurted her white smoothie like a fountain.

The wooden floor of the cafe turned white after being hit by the smoothie.

-Cough! Cough!

Kang Seo-jun handed over a tissue placed on the table.

“……Are you okay? Please take a tissue.”

“Ugh…. Yes…. Wait…. Cough!”

Jin Serin covered her mouth with one hand and received a tissue.

Smoothie was dripping from the tip of her chin.

Her nose was sore from the smoothie that had flowed up her nose, and tears came to her eyes.

She turned her head, quickly wiped her face, cleared her throat, and unfastened the remaining saree.

“Hmm! Hmm!”

Then, after taking a couple of deep breaths that made her shoulders rise and fall, she asked.

“I… Am going to die?”

“Yes. If things continue like this, within a few years.”

Even in her original work [Grand Hunter Academy], Jin Serin could not awaken until the end if the player did not manage her.

Jin Se-rin, unable to accept her fate until the end, ultimately fails to grow at all, and as she progresses to the latter part of the game, she loses everything she has one by one and meets her miserable end.

“W-what… Like that…”

Jin Se-rin made an expression of bewilderment.

The expression that she could not accept it at all flashed deeply in her eyes.

It was natural.

As seen in the famous meme called “The Five Stages of Accepting Death,” When faced with an unacceptable fact, the first thing to do is usually deny it.

If we tell more unbelievable stories here, it will only feel more absurd to Jin Se-rin.

But it is up to Jin Se-rin how to accept it.

Kang Seo-jun simply answered the question as he knew it.

“You often have nightmares. A glowing hand appears.”

“That! How could that be…”

“That’s a precognitive dream. You’ll die there.”

“Hmm! Hmm…!”

She opened her mouth wide, then lowered her head halfway and lost herself in her thoughts.

I was extremely confused as stories started pouring out of nowhere.

She came looking for a way to survive, but she was sentenced to death.

It was absurd.

But she did not doubt him.

How many experts passed by to solve her stagnant growth for two years?

Nevertheless, let alone solving this problem, the cause was not properly identified.

I was diagnosed several times that it was not due to limited growth, nor was it someone’s malicious curse.

He solved such a difficult problem as if it was no big deal in just a few days.

It makes no sense to doubt him at all since he was the one who approached him first.

Accurate diagnosis. Correct response. And until it is resolved.

This man is clearly an expert.

Since the words ‘die’ came out of the mouth of such a person, it is probably true.

It should be so.

That’s why it was painful.

This man even knew his very private nightmares.

I thought it was just a nightmare caused by the anxiety of stagnant growth, but I never thought there was some kind of connection.

Even if it was a precognitive dream.

Believing this man means accepting that the nightmare is coming.

It wasn’t an easy problem for her.

So Jin Serin asked.

Hoping that his beliefs were wrong.

I was hoping that there would be even the slightest mistake so that I could doubt him.

“How do you know that…?”

Kang Seo-jun answered immediately.

“Wouldn’t it be better to ask about the future rather than me now?”

A very suspicious answer that openly tries to hide his background.

But it wasn’t wrong.

In the end, there are only two directions in which the conversation can go.

You can either dismiss everything as nonsense and get up from here.

Now that you have received Kang Seo-jun’s diagnosis, continue to listen to what he has to say about what to do.

If you have to choose between the two, it would be a more rational decision to choose the latter.

Whether you believe what Kang Seo-jun says or not, you can at least hear the story.

But Jin Serin was afraid.

I felt like I would face an unbearable fate the moment I heard his words.

‘Sister….’

Jin Se-rin became desperate for the presence of Seo Eun-ha, who is not here now.

-Hmm.

Kang Seo-jun also sighed quietly.

“There’s no need to be so serious. Like I said, it’s the way it is.”

“…Even if you say that…”

“You can raise your abilities as long as you have crystals. You just have to become stronger in the same way.”

“That’s… Hmm…”

Jin Se-rin made a crying sound.

I was afraid that something like that would come out.

Of course, it is true that he found a path to growth thanks to Kang Seo-jun.

But the means were too vague for Jin Se-rin.

It’s a problem to first find the dungeon where the strange crystal appears, but it’s also a problem after you find that dungeon.

I passed the critical moment in the Ghost Dungeon, but my only growth was +1 strength.

Jin Serin’s average ability level is only C grade.

I had no idea how many crises I would have to push my precious people into and how much of a price I would have to sacrifice in order to develop this crude ability that had stagnated a long time ago to the point where I could survive that nightmare.

“Hmm. You look so dead.”

Kang Seo-jun also had a rough guess about Jin Se-rin’s feelings.

So, although she thought it was a little early, she took out the trump card she had prepared in advance.

“I didn’t give you a terminal sentence. Please take this first.”

– Fight!

Kang Seo-jun put something on the table.

Jin Se-rin’s eyes widened when she saw that.

What Kang Seo-jun laid down was a fragment of his purified soul.

There were not even one, but two.

“This…! Was there more!?”

“Supply and demand are not easy, but they are not that difficult either. So there is no need to worry so much.”

Jin Serin looked at Krystal and moved her lips.

“Uh, how much do you have!? I want to buy it! If possible, whenever it comes in!”

Kang Seo-jun scratched the back of his neck.

“You speak too easily. I don’t even know how much I can sell it for.”

“…Ah!”

Purified soul fragments can be obtained from any dimension store, but the problem is the price.

This isn’t that expensive, but it’s also not that cheap, so Kang Seo-jun was in a position to give it as requested.

Of course, there is still room for negotiation.

From Kang Seo-jun’s perspective, it would be a good thing if Jin Se-rin grew up.

“Uh, how much… Will it be possible…?”

Jin Se-rin asked in a voice that gradually became more subdued.

“Well, can we put a value on this in money?”

“…Huh, huh….”

Jin Se-rin cried.

I decided to stop teasing you.

Kang Seo-jun pushed two crystals towards Jin Se-rin.

“Just take it.”

“…Huh? Huh? Yes?”

Jin Se-rin looked at Krystal and Kang Seo-jun alternately with a mesmerized expression.

Elixirs and artifacts that increase abilities are very expensive.

Especially in cases where usable artifacts like Jinserin are limited.

But you would just give me something like that.

“It doesn’t make sense….”

Jin Se-rin’s eyes were colored with anxiety.

Kang Seo-jun shook his head.

Of course it would be nice if she got something in return for her material.

However, if you receive money, the relationship ends with money, and if you receive a relic, the relationship ends with relics.

“Of course, it’s not without a price.”

“Well, what can I give you?”

Something more valuable than money or artifacts.

A strong bond of good will.

That was a suitable price for this crystal.

If money and relics are immediate benefits, strong solidarity is oriented towards the later stages.

In particular, if you have a strong bond with Jin Se-rin and not with other people, you can obtain not only money and relics, but also bigger things.

She was not the type of person to forget her benefits, so it was a reliable investment.

This was also the result of rationally tapping the calculator.

“Let’s be best friends.”

“……Yes?”

“This is the rain for friends….”

“Oh, no… Please don’t play around.”

Jin Se-rin sighed.

“That’s not a price….”

“I’m serious.”

“…What exactly do you mean by best friend?”

Kang Seo-jun’s expression stiffened at the unexpected question.

I never thought I would ask you something like this.

Kang Seo-jun suddenly fell into thought.

What is a best friend?

We can trust each other…. No.

A strong alliance…. No.

It was a very difficult definition for Kang Seo-jun, who had no friends even in his previous life.

Together with loyalty rather than self-interest…. This too is eliminated.

The more I think about it, the more I feel like I’m falling into a labyrinth.

But justice soon reached its conclusion.

“We take good care of each other.”

There could never be a correct definition of best friend.

Because caring wasn’t just a standard for friends.

It could be the standard of a lover, the standard of a family, or the standard of a colleague.

But to Kang Seo-jun, such justice did not matter.

What he needs is an ally who is kind to him.

If it was within that range, it was enough.

“We take good care of each other…”

An extremely ambiguous price that does not clearly require anything.

Isn’t the standard for working hard to take care of something entirely up to you?

If Jin Serin wanted to, she could practically gulp for free.

She said while looking at the crystal in her hand.

“Is that really going to happen…?”

If you ask that question again, anyone will feel a little embarrassed to answer.

“Not if you don’t like it.”

“Oh, no! It’s not that I don’t like it… Joe, Joe!”

Kang Seo-jun nodded his head.

“Then let’s stop talking next time we meet, right?”

Since her first meeting was a transaction, she used mutual respect, but now she is motivated to spend many years together at the academy.

It was uncomfortable to continue speaking respectfully to each other from now on.

“Okay, next time, speak informally! That, and!”

Jin Se-rin continued speaking in a new voice.

“Woah, I’ll work hard!”

What are you working hard on?

The meaning was unclear, but Kang Seo-jun nodded with a satisfied expression.

“Then the deal is done.”

There are many playable characters in [Grand Hunter Academy], But Jin Serin is one of them that performs quite well.

Of course, if the player neglects it, it will not be able to awaken until the end and will be in a pitiful situation, but if it is managed well, it will perform reliably anywhere with excellent performance.

With this, he gained an ally who could deal with the global disaster that would occur in the future.

Second Life It was a bonus to have a friend to share a happy life with.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

That night.

As soon as Jin Serin returned home, she looked up the dictionary meaning of ‘take care of’.

In the language dictionary, ‘take care of’, the original form of ‘take care of’, appears instead.

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Take care [Verb]

1. To find and prepare necessary items or check to see if anything is missing.

2. Harvest well without filtering.

3. Take for one’s own

──────────────────

Jin Serin rested her chin and recalled her dictionary meanings from number 1 to number 3.

Her eyes stayed on number 3 for a while.

“Take it as one’s own….”

Jin Se-rin thoughtlessly turned off the language dictionary.

What Seojun Kang said about ‘a caring relationship’ and ‘best friend’ definitely means number 1.

Taking care of each other’s necessary items.

However, Jin Serin had no idea at this time.

In the near future,

What she considers most important to herself.

Not number 1, not number 2.

That is number 3.

And.

That she has many romantic enemies.