58
Time flowed faster than expected.
- Don't be late.
"Understood."
Having finished the call with Hong Yeonha that came in a day before his departure, Baek Woojin placed his smartphone on the desk and lightly stretched his body with a yawn.
'Tomorrow, huh.'
Perhaps because he spent his time occasionally running D-rank dungeons with a rented sword to avoid completely losing his combat senses, a month had flown by in the blink of an eye.
"I've refilled my bank account balance, and my overseas payment application was approved too."
Baek Woojin checked the necessary items for tomorrow's departure once more and confirmed there were no issues.
Rising from his chair, Baek Woojin pulled out the magic stone boxes he had stored under his bed.
There were about two months left until the deadline Schrodin had demanded.
"Even so, putting off growth for three months is a bit much."
Actually, the biggest reason he had stayed away from dungeons lately was the growth of his stats.
As he grew stronger, the number of magic stones required to meet Schrodin doubled, which was inevitably a troubling issue.
Of course, now that he had some financial leeway, he could solve the shortage with money, but that would only work once or twice. Magic stones were cheaper than magic crystals, but the fact that continuous purchases would become a burden remained unchanged.
That was because even a small chunk cost at least hundreds of thousands of won—how could that not be burdensome?
'If it were after multiplying my funds through stocks, maybe, but not right now.'
To increase his funds in two years, he needed to steadily grow his bank balance from now on. But he couldn't keep putting off his growth either.
'I should consult with Schrodin the next time I visit.'
Having organized his thoughts, Baek Woojin turned off the lights and lay down on his bed.
Because he had to leave early tomorrow morning.
**
♪♫♬~
He woke up to the alarm sounding from his bedside.
Turning off the alarm, he sat up and lightly stretched his muscles, which had stiffened during sleep.
Tapping his smartphone screen, the current time appeared in large digits.
AM 04:00
Just a few months ago, this would have been a time when it was still pitch dark.
However, with it now being summer, when people's clothes got thinner and the days grew hotter, the bluish dawn light outside the window was gradually stripping away last night's darkness bit by bit.
Tuk. Tuk. Tuk.
As he stepped out of his room, familiar sounds of chopping came from the kitchen.
"You're up?"
"…."
At the sight of Mrs. Jang's back as she cooked, looking as if it were the most natural thing in the world, Baek Woojin wordlessly approached from behind and gently massaged her shoulders.
"Ugh! Ow, son? That hurts!"
"It's because you're so knotted up."
"No, no! It really hurts! Hey!?"
Only after receiving a scolding about how dangerous it was to do that while she was chopping did Baek Woojin remove his hands.
"They give out in-flight meals on the plane."
"Who said anything different?"
"…?"
At Mrs. Jang's slightly unexpected response, Baek Woojin peeked over her shoulder to confirm what she was cooking.
Deodeok, no… ginseng?
Anyway, there was a seasoned dish made of something like that, along with black beans.
Plus, a nicely dried rolled egg and a well-grilled eel that looked like it was bought from the mart yesterday.
"Wasn't this mine?"
"You silly boy. Why would I pack a lunch box for a kid who's going on a flight?"
"I suppose that's true."
What Mrs. Jang was preparing wasn't the breakfast he would eat, but rather the lunch box for their hardworking husband and father, the gentleman Baek Woohyuk.
"Where are you going?"
"Where?"
Out of awkwardness, he tried to grab a piece of rolled egg to eat, but Mrs. Jang immediately stopped him by flicking the back of his hand.
"That's too much."
"Be quiet and go wash up. Didn't you say you have to leave early in the morning?"
"I still have plenty of time."
"You really...!!"
"Hmm, the seasoning is quite nice."
Only after devouring an entire rolled egg did Baek Woojin flee to the shower.
**
"Thank you."
After getting out of the taxi, Baek Woojin briefly took in the sight of the airport, which was already bustling with people coming and going despite it not even being 7 AM yet.
'She told me to call in front of Gate 5.'
Pulling out his smartphone from his pocket, Baek Woojin called someone.
- Hello~
The owner of the cheerful voice was none other than Lee Dayoung.
"I'm in front of Gate 5."
- Yes. I can see you too.
"…?"
At her response coming through the speaker, Baek Woojin looked around, and before long, he spotted a woman with a familiar build, wearing a white snapback cap pulled down low.
As he hung up, the woman also lowered the smartphone she had been holding to her ear.
And then, her head slowly rose.
"Hi~"
Lee Dayoung, revealing her face with a mischievous smile, waved her hand in greeting.
"It's been a while."
"A little over a month, maybe?"
"Something like that."
The two, having joined up, walked toward the departure gate while making light conversation.
"But you didn't have to come see me off."
"Does our Woojin find his noona burdensome?"
"A bit too close, I'd say."
"Kyahaha~!"
Rather than being offended by his honest answer, Lee Dayoung seemed to find it amusing and lightly patted Baek Woojin's shoulder.
"I understand. But bear with it a little. You're the benefactor who saved Hongryeon's precious treasure not once, but twice. I can't neglect you."
"If you put it that way."
Lee Dayoung grinned, and Baek Woojin blinked a couple of times before shrugging his shoulders once.
"Anyway, is that all your luggage?"
"Yes."
All Baek Woojin had brought was a single backpack, not even a carrier.
"I just packed some clothes and underwear to change into. Is there a problem?"
"No, no. I didn't mean it like that."
Lee Dayoung lightly nudged her carrier with her foot and continued speaking.
"Since it's your first time overseas, I thought you'd pack a lot of this and that, but you didn't at all."
"I'm not going for leisure. Though, even if I were, I don't think it would change much."
He believed that for travel, a minimal change of clothes and toiletries were sufficient.
"We're going this way."
Lee Dayoung lightly pulled her sleeve and changed direction, and as they headed that way, a place appeared that looked, at a glance, like somewhere not just anyone could enter.
The kindly written description read:
[ First Class Exclusive Terminal ]
When he asked Lee Dayoung, she answered that this was where check-in took place.
However, the scale of the terminal was far too grand and luxurious for a place that merely handled check-ins.
"Shall we sit and wait for a bit?"
"Sure."
There didn't seem to be any lines, so it looked like they could check in right away without any issues, but he didn't think she wouldn't know what he knew, so he compliantly followed her words and sank into the soft sofa.
"Excuse me."
They had barely been resting on the sofa for a moment.
Women wearing uniforms with a well-coordinated mix of black and white approached, and from check-in to baggage processing right at their seats—literally every process for boarding was handled right there.
"I hope you have a pleasant trip~"
Even the immigration process was done at an exclusive counter, and thanks to that, all the procedures for departure were finished in the time it took to blink a few times.
"Alright. Then shall we have breakfast now?"
"I guess we're not settling for in-flight meals."
"Puhehe… Seeing things like this, you really are an inexperienced young adult fresh out of school."
She laughed lightly, but he didn't particularly feel offended.
The smile Lee Dayoung had just shown wasn't a sneer, but rather a similar kind of smile to the one he occasionally directed at Baek Ahyun.
"Don't be too surprised."
Following Lee Dayoung, the place they moved to was, once again, an exclusive lounge that only first-class passengers could use.
Lee Dayoung led him to the dining area within the lounge.
"Eat whatever you want to your heart's content."
"Money is nice, isn't it."
"Hehe, of course."
Just as Lee Dayoung had said, he truly ate whatever he wanted to his fill, and even briefly regretted pointlessly stealing a piece of Mrs. Jang's rolled egg early in the morning.
"But Woojin?"
"Just speak comfortably."
"Should I?"
His stomach full and his mood slightly improved, Baek Woojin judged that she wasn't someone he would only see in passing, so he allowed her to speak casually, and Lee Dayoung snatched up the opportunity as if she had been waiting for it.
"Isn't our Woojin curious about anything? You have fewer questions than I expected."
"Not particularly. Even if I did, it would have been the same in that I wouldn't have asked questions."
"Why?"
"Because if I wait, you'll naturally explain it yourself."
Even if she didn't, it wouldn't have mattered much.
As she said, Hongryeon's capacity wasn't small enough to treat poorly a benefactor who had saved something precious twice.
"At times like this, you seem unlike your age."
Having received a glass of champagne with a complicated-looking name instead of a meal, Lee Dayoung wet her throat with the half-remaining champagne.
"Aren't you curious about the young lady? Or did you expect her to come out instead of me?"
"No. Even if I were, asking about that personally would be the polite thing to do. And as for why Hong Yeonha-ssi didn't come, I mentioned before that I dislike standing out, so I think you took that into consideration."
"Wow…."
The look in Lee Dayoung's eyes, which had been like one watching a cute younger sibling, instantly changed to something almost terrifying to look at.
Judging from her reaction, he could tell his deduction was spot on.
"Well, fine. Let's skip the young lady. Then aren't you curious about me? Even looking like this, I'm quite capable."
"I'm curious about the reason you came to use the unusual weapon, the whip."
"…."
Lee Dayoung's expression turned sour.
"Is there nothing else besides that?"
"No."
"…."
With that conversation as the end, Lee Dayoung remained silent with a sullen demeanor. As expected, the flight to France was very pleasant.