The day of the random summon's cooldown.
Juhyeok had been busy since morning.
He went to the bathhouse.
Scrubbed himself thoroughly.
Trimmed his nails, obviously.
Changed into fresh underwear too.
Kept anything dirty far, far away.
He went to the bathroom and completely emptied himself, then ate nothing at all. 'Nam Gaeun said she's conquering floor 63 today, right?'
He hoped it went well.
It would go well.
Player Nam Gaeun would clear floor 63.
He would draw a good summoned being, someone new.
With about an hour left on the cooldown.
He drew fresh offering water in the living room, sat down quietly, and prayed with a reverent heart.
It was just water from the purifier, but it was still purified water, wasn't it?
Barbarian Gobang and Kosak joined in as well.
The two of them, at Juhyeok's left and right, offering prayers before the water.
His summon's duration was over seven hours, so calling them out early was fine.
Besides, a while back, an accumulation of five-star ratings had extended Gobang's duration by another hour.
"Do not worry, my lord. It will turn out well. Surely some Al-Gobang won't come out again."
"I like Gobang, though."
"Hm?"
"What's wrong with Barbarian Gobang? Thanks to him, we've cleared so many floors with S++ records."
At that, Gobang grinned smugly.
"I have been acknowledged by my summoner."
"S-stop splitting! You punk!"
"Assassin, envious."
"How funny. I was acknowledged long before you were!"
Honestly, he'd prayed for an LSSR—a Legend Special Super Rare—but he knew that was greed.
His realistic goal was an SR.
If he pushed it a little further, an SSR like Kosak.
Even an SSR would be something, right?
Just look at Kosak.
Enormous pride.
He kept going on about SSR this, SSR that.
"The summoned being's class matters too... If possible, I'd love for someone connected to divine power to come."
"I think so too. Floor 61 is still far off, but drawing one in advance wouldn't be bad. A healer is essential to any party, no?"
A healer.
Come to think of it, they really did need one.
The aristocrat of the party, acknowledged by everyone.
Gobang as the tank, Kosak as the damage dealer, and on top of that, a healer?
"Right. If it's a healer, they could grant healing skills to Gobang too, since he throws his bare body at monsters."
"Eh? Why waste a heal on Gobang? That one's natural regeneration is considerable—leave him be and he'll heal on his own."
"A warrior does not fear wounds."
Well, it wasn't wrong.
Gobang did have practically troll-tier regeneration.
"Or what about Kosak?"
"I don't need one either. Bandages will do. Kodak-boom! Kosak's motto: shut up and bandage. I always carry ribbons and bandages with me. Want to see?"
"...No. I don't need to see."
Then why on earth do you say we need a healer?
"We simply need a healer dedicated to Lord Bong alone. Even with divine power to spare, it mustn't be wasted healing others."
"..."
"And whenever you're bored, call me out and ask for heals. Your health in the real world matters far more than safety inside the Tower. Hehehe."
If you mapped out Kosak's brain, his own well-being would surely occupy more than ninety-nine percent of it—this was true madness at this point.
"Ah! It's time."
"Th-the moment of tension."
The moment of the random summon, at last.
Juhyeok took a deep breath.
Steadied his voice, eyes closed.
And pronounced the words with perfect enunciation.
"Random summon!"
Fwooooooosh!
A swarm of gathering light.
Once again, Kosak went, "Dum dum dum dum..."
"Don't do that."
"Yes sir!"
A human silhouette appeared.
Please! A healer, if not anything else.
At minimum, SR or better. '...Tsk, what's wrong with Rare?'
Excessive greed never ends well.
He could just strengthen the grade later.
Papapat!
The light coalesced into human form.
There it is!
"I give thanks for your summons."
Huh...?
"I am the maiden Gyeon Dalrae. Though humble, I swear to pour forth all my strength in devotion to the service of Young Lord Bong."
Juhyeok blurted out without thinking.
"A woman."
"She is a woman."
"Now what?"
"What shall we do?"
"W-well, I suppose..."
A woman stood in the living room.
Somehow, her attire felt familiar.
Traditionally East Asian—no, distinctly Korean.
More precisely, the feel of a woman painted in an old Korean portrait.
White shaman's robes, hair bound with a daenggi ribbon—though she looked a bit young.
By today's standards, a middle or high schooler in her late teens.
She was carrying something too.
A ghostly pale blade in one hand, a bundle of bells in the other, and a metal mirror at her chest. '...The sword is probably a weapon, but what are the bells and the mirror for?'
In that instant, the girl glared fiercely at Kosak and spoke.
"What's with that look? How dare you run your slimy eyes over the body of a decent-born woman? A thrashing is the only thing that'll bring you to your senses."
"Eh? I wasn't looking, i-it just happened that my eyes—"
"Silence! Where did you learn to lie so brazenly!"
"N-no, I didn't."
"Let me warn you now. If you look upon my beauty and harbor impure thoughts, you shall not escape divine punishment."
"..."
Honestly, she wasn't quite that beautiful.
The girl called Gyeon Dalrae now turned her eyes to Juhyeok. 'Gah!'
The truth was, Juhyeok had been scanning her from head to toe this whole time.
She wasn't about to say the same thing to him, was she?
"Young Lord, you may look upon me as you please. Sit comfortably and enjoy the view."
"..."
She was clearly no ordinary person.
Her grade? '...An SSR.'
Thankfully, he seemed to have rolled well.
He'd have been grateful with just an SR—an SSR was the best.
In any case, the random summon had brought forth a new summoned being.
A girl, small in stature, delicate, and rather bold.
Her grade was high too.
An SSR no less—the same tier as Kosak.
Even now, she knelt upright in the living room, overwhelming everyone present.
Where did that kind of charisma come from?
It could be because of her grade.
But Kosak was an SSR too, and acted the exact opposite.
There was something beyond mere grade.
What about the catalog?
- Name: Gyeon Dalrae
- Grade: SSR (Special Super Rare)
- Type: Shamaness (Human)
- Manifestation Duration: 5 hours
- Satisfaction Rating: None.
- Re-summon Cooldown: 3 hours (applies after dismissal)
Her type was shamaness.
Could it be that drawing fresh offering water and praying oh please, oh please for an LSSR had influenced the random summon?
Nah, no way. 'But those modifiers on her name...'
Stern, dignified, solemn.
Eom-geun-jin—stern-faced to the core.
Reading her background made it understandable.
The source of this girl's charisma.
- Gyeon Dalrae was the daughter of Mujong of the Cheonje Kingdom. Having taken an interest from an early age in Muism, the state religion of Cheonje, she became a shamaness of the imperial shrine. When her father Mujong passed away and her young younger brother ascended the throne, he was murdered by their uncle, who usurped the throne. Enraged, Gyeon Dalrae performed a killing rite, hurling a sal (殺) at her uncle—and died herself from its backlash.
Her life flashed through his mind.
Gyeon Dalrae had shown talent in talisman arts, sorcery, and incantations.
Entering the imperial shrine, she studied under the greatest mansin of her era and rose to become its chief shamaness.
But her younger brother was slain by their uncle.
Enraged, she vowed revenge.
Gyeon Dalrae's uncle was no pushover either.
Anticipating her vengeance, he had every manner of warding array and sal (殺)-repelling talisman installed throughout the palace, and even stationed substitutes to absorb the killing curse in his stead.
But Gyeon Dalrae was the finest chief shamaness of Cheonje.
At long last, she hurled her sal (殺) at her uncle—and succeeded.
However, casting a killing curse for personal revenge was an affront to the will of Heaven.
In the end, the sal she had cast returned to her in full.
Ah.
This delicate girl had been through so much.
At first glance she seemed cute, and her stern-faced manner was a little funny, and—anyway. 'Cheonje Kingdom?'
Given that the royal family's surname was Gyeon, and her clothing too...
"Um, I have a question."
"It is an honor, Young Lord. Ask me anything at all."
"Who was the founder of the Cheonje Kingdom?"
"It was Grand Emperor Gyeon Hwon. A great man who crushed the wicked kings of the Wang and Kim clans, extended the realm to the lands of old Goguryeo, and changed the nation's name from Baekje to Cheonje."
"Huh?"
Gyeon Hwon?
"That Gyeon Hwon? The founder of Later Baekje?"
"The very same."
No way... 'A parallel universe.'
It was certain.
He was not from the same world.
Neither was Kosak.
He'd said he'd once worked alongside his former summoner in a place resembling modern Earth.
In Gyeon Dalrae's world, it seemed Later Baekje, not Goryeo, had unified the Later Three Kingdoms.
When he asked casually, the history before the Cheonje Kingdom was similar to real history.
It was as if the main trunk of history had split during the Later Three Kingdoms period. 'Being a genuine princess, her charisma really is no joke.'
In the middle of that admiration—
Grrrumble.
He was suddenly hungry.
He'd skipped meals to offer prayers for a successful random summon, after all.
Should he order delivery? He'd need to order a lot, so it'd take a while.
"Since we're all gathered, shall we all have some ramyeon?"
"Sounds good. Mild flavor would be even better."
"I eat ramyeon too."
"And Gyeon Dalrae?"
"Fussing over food is a breach of etiquette."
No way they could use a pot.
Where was that big cauldron?
The steamer pot they'd used to boil bossam would do.
He took it out, filled it with water, and was about to set it on the induction cooktop—
That was when it happened.
"You wretches!!!"
Gyeon Dalrae's voice erupted.
Kosak and Gobang jumped, startled.
"The likes of summoned beings, so arrogant! You should be locked up for lunacy—how could you stand by and let the Young Lord prepare food with his own hands! Will you not rise this instant?!"
Kosak and Gobang half-rose, then half-sat, frozen mid-crouch.
"I—I'm an SSR,"
"What of it?"
"We're both SSRs, so at least speak casually to—"
"Ha!"
Gyeon Dalrae wore a look of contempt.
"Now I see you are a fool who knows his place. Does being an SSR give you reason to make the Young Lord prepare food? What an insolent wretch. Perhaps castration is the only thing that'll bring you to your senses."
Gyeon Dalrae slightly raised the bells.
At the same time, a chilling aura swept over them.
Something was deeply wrong.
Kosak shot to his feet.
"You too!"
Gobang quickly rose as well, massive body and all.
Kosak hurriedly rushed to Juhyeok.
"I'll boil the ramyeon, my lord. Q-quickly, hand them over."
"Uh, yes yes, go ahead."
No—how could such majesty come from that tiny body?
But what was wrong with those two?
They couldn't move a muscle, not an inch.
Come to think of it, weren't Kosak and Gobang losers too?
Juhyeok was no different.
With an awkward expression, he sat lightly on the sofa, reading Gyeon Dalrae's every mood.
"Young Lord Bong."
"Yes?"
"How much hardship you must have endured. Worry no more. I shall see to the education of these underlings, thoroughly."
He hadn't really suffered much, but—
Kosak scrambled to dump fifteen packs of ramyeon into the steamer pot and set it to boil.
A while later.
"...This broth is the Han River."
"I apologize. I have committed a sin worthy of death. A failure of water control."
The pot was full of thin, watery broth.
The noodles weren't even visible.
And all the while, Kosak watched not his own standing but Gyeon Dalrae's. 'He's completely cowed.'
Nothing to be done about it.
He'd just eat this time, then boil it himself from now on—or teach him how.
Gobang seemed hungry too.
The moment he hurriedly picked up his chopsticks to lift his ramyeon—
"You there!!!"
Good grief!
His heart nearly dropped out of him.
What now?
"How dare you raise your spoon before the Young Lord? A shameless wretch—no better than a beast, just as you look. Disgraceful. Utterly disgraceful."
Startled, Gobang hurriedly set down his chopsticks and bowed his head deeply.
The table's atmosphere froze over.
He couldn't tell whether the ramyeon would go down his throat or up his nose—at this rate, there'd be no end to it.
"...I don't stand on formality, but when it's time to eat, we should eat happily. What does it matter who eats first?"
"Ah!"
Gyeon Dalrae's face flushed slightly.
"This maiden has raged beyond her station. I have committed a mortal sin against Young Lord Bong."
"You don't need to go that far."
"Still! The crimes of these underlings are plain to see—strike off my head and the heads of these two together!"
"..."
This was madness.
He'd just eat first, then.
Juhyeok scooped up some ramyeon with the ladle.
And put it in his mouth.
Only then did Kosak and Gobang begin their meal.
Starving, they inhaled their ramyeon, slurp! slurp!—
"You wretches!!!"
He was losing his mind.
The three of them froze mid-bite.
"You two have crossed the line of table manners. What manner of lowly clerk makes noise while eating noodles?"
I slurped too, you know.
"Judging by your behavior, I can see only too clearly how deeply the Young Lord has suffered on your account. Noodles are to be taken in one bite and severed with the teeth. To slurp like that—base creatures, the pair of you are no better than Japanese wretches."
Aaah!
Mountains beyond mountains.
Yet he couldn't even argue back.
Gobang, maybe, but shouldn't Kosak at least put up some resistance?
He can't even beat that frail-looking girl?
And they're both SSRs.
Turns out those two were losers too. 'I'm already exhausted.'
Were all summoned beings like this?
Why was there not a single normal person?
They finished the ramyeon, and Gobang and Kosak cleared the table themselves and even did the dishes.
Now what?
"Um..."
"Speak, Young Lord."
"Want to come into the Tower with us?"
"This maiden will serve you with utmost devotion. Simply give the word."
A new person had joined them—might as well check her abilities.
How would a shamaness approach combat?
Just like the catalog said, would she hurl a sal (殺) at the monsters?