Chapter 81
After getting home last night, I sent Eloise a DM just as morning was starting in England. The photo of just Eloise and me turned out well, and the group photo seems to have come out nicely too.
I sent her a proof photo saying I'd returned to Korea too, chatted about this and that for a bit, then went to sleep. I definitely felt like I'd slept for a long time, but by evening I got sleepy again. Still, maybe the nap during the day did have some effect, because I woke up really early at 7 a.m.
“Hehe, I should brag to the gallery guys.”
[MyLifeIsntRuined : I made a friend after going to England
I'm 11 and already a super famous model]
-ㅇㅇ : Girl?
ㄴ MyLifeIsntRuined : Friend?? Yeah, she's a girl.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ : Damn, an 11-year-old elementary school girl friend? I'm so jealous.
ㄴ MyLifeIsntRuined : (crown-wearing mint twin-tails emote)
-Gyahong : Princess-nim ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ please be friends with me too ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
ㄴ MyLifeIsntRuined : Get lost already.
-Doshungjwak : Was it fun?
ㄴ MyLifeIsntRuined : Yeah, there were a lot of fun things.
At the same time, the gallery was chattering about the Orders Guild, which has been really hot lately, so various bits of info were being posted.
[ㅇㅇ : Orders just got hit with something huge, damn.
(Photo)
It's a photo of the tower-type dungeon structure called 'Silence Laboratory,' which some fly-by-night private contractor had inspected beforehand, completely botched the difficulty assessment, and ended up utterly wrecking the main raid team of Orders, one of Korea's Big Four raid groups.
The estimated difficulty back then was B+, and even though Orders' No. 1 raid team was ranked an impressive 83rd in the world, they still got wrecked, and within a week nearly half the raid team had died.
Everyone already knows Orders is completely screwed; it's been coming up here and there, and now there's even a rumor that S-Lab is being sold.
Yesterday, evidence surfaced that could support that claim.
(Photo)
A notice that an inspection of S-Lab was scheduled was posted by the Korean Dungeon Association.
As you all know, the World Dungeon Association instructs people to get a second inspection when transferring ownership of a dungeon structure, and this is obviously that.
And one more thing.
(Photo)
Yesterday, Northernlight, one of Canada's top two guilds, officially mentioned S-Lab.
In my opinion, Northernlight, which supplies materials to Quantum Harbor, is probably joining the auction at Quantum Harbor's request.]
“Hmm, I see, I see. Doggo, summarize this paper for me.”
ㅡBeep....
The Northernlight Guild is one of Canada's top two guilds and one of Quantum Harbor's material-supply partners, built on prototype technology.
Its raw power is solid enough, but the weapons and other gear supplied by Quantum Harbor's excellent technology also play a major role, and this time Northernlight has shown interest in Silence Laboratory on the outskirts of the Sobaek Mountains in Chungcheong Province.
The reason is that Silence Laboratory, commonly called S-Lab, has a new inspection scheduled by the Korean Dungeon Association.
Originally, a dungeon's name is decided by the inspection company in agreement with the final owner or guild, so they don't just throw in whatever they feel like. If the inside is a hellscape and you slap on some name like Doochonku Tower, that'd be weird.
They set all sorts of criteria, and if something looks like technology more advanced than modern Earth, labels like tech or cybernetics get attached. Laboratory is one of those; we don't know the detailed interior, but at least the name was assigned to fit the criteria.
And if the difficulty is high enough to crush the top raid team of an entire country, it's no wonder Quantum Harbor would be interested.
“I'm curious. What do you think is inside?”
ㅡBeep?
“Right, I don't know either.”
[ㅇㅇ : Then are the American guilds coming too
Seriously, I'm so looking forward to this. The lineup of the world's best guilds, damn, I feel like I'm gonna shit myself]
-ㅇㅇ : What does being excited have to do with shitting...
ㄴ ㅇㅇ : Ajaajaajat
-KimHeukgan : Isn't Quantum Harbor's main force not coming?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ : But I feel like Quantum Harbor might come too through Northernlight.
ㄴ KimHeukgan : Some of them might.
[Elreuel : These bastards make me feel weird every time they talk about hunters so seriously
Aren't they just coming to look at female hunter tits and ass, damn it
I was the only one serious again]
-ㅇㅇ : Isn't the serious one the people talking about hunters seriously?
ㄴ Elreuel : So you're saying my feelings toward Isabella aren't serious?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ : You... fine, whatever.
-Gyahong : Seriously, why are you talking about serious stuff? I just want to be crushed to death by Leclerc mama's ass.
ㄴ Elreuel : If Northernlight comes this time, Leclerc might really come to Korea too.
Eloise Leclerc is a hunter with Canadian citizenship, ranked 14th in the world and first among female hunters. She's the captain of Northernlight's main raid team, and like Chaerin unnie, she's one of the rare female team leaders among the top raid teams of her country.
[MacHamTong : I want to knead Maxi's bean-paste belly to my heart's content...
Camila Torres, you little brat. Even her name sounds like it's begging me to pound her, eek.
Camila Torres, come into my arms~~~~!]
-ㅇㅇ : Ugh, gallery bastard.
-ㅇㅇ : You'll get shot if you go to Mexico, for real.
ㄴ MacHamTong : If Maxi herself is the one shooting me, then okay.
“Sigh, the gallery idiots are posting crap again today.”
To clear my slightly dizzy head, I went outside with the mug from my desk to get some water, and Ophelia was sitting on the sofa with her eyes closed, as if she were deep in thought.
“Ophelia? What are you thinking about?”
“I was filling out the paperwork needed to bring Crown Guard's products from England into Korea.”
“Ah, have you already decided on the list?”
“That's right. Would you like to take a look?”
“Yep. What did you get?”
Those are Crown Guard Hunter Company's products I received as a reward for the terrorist neutralization quest. I was given a list of products and told to pick about three, and it seems Ophelia looked through them and deliberated before choosing these.
The tablet screen Ophelia had conjured was covered with English product names and such, but the image was too small to make out.
“What is this?”
“It's a rare-metal alloy string and a rare-metal alloy bow-limb metal sample used in bows made by Crown Guard.”
“Hmm... you got a bow?”
“That's right.”
What is it. I was thinking we'd get some giant, super-powerful gun or something. Still, I guess getting a bow for one of them is fine.
“What about this one?”
“Likewise, this is a liquid-type mana-combustion propellant made by Crown Guard.”
“Then... is it like oil?”
“Something like that.”
This isn't really the vibe I was imagining either. It's kind of boring, isn't it? Minyumi would look cool too if she got a huge gun like Ophelia and started blasting away.
“Then... the last one??”
“It's a mana-blocking concealment coating fabric.”
“Like a transparent cloak...?.”
“Something like that.”
This one might be a little interesting. But it still isn't the kind of vibe I wanted.
“Why did you get something like this...? It feels like you could've gotten something cooler. Like a gun, or some amazing legendary sword or something.”
“Firearms already have tons of technical information out on the market, and they're standardized to the point where no further structural advances are needed. Swords are a good option, but we didn't bother getting one because they're hard to apply additional technology to.”
“Mm.”
I didn't really understand it, but if Ophelia says so, then okay.
“Then when are they arriving?”
“For now, after asking Hunter Yoo Chaerin for permission, I arranged delivery through the facilities used by the Nova Guild. It should arrive by this evening.”
“Oh, I see.”
Ophelia nodded, then pressed both ends of the tablet with both hands, and it vanished with a swish.
“Ooh, magic.”
“Princess, have you checked how many followers your SNS account has?”
“Wait, what? I only sent the DM, so I didn't check properly.”
I had been busy the whole time in England, and aside from following Eloise back, I didn't really have any reason to check, so I don't know. I also said I wouldn't upload the photos while I was in England, but would post them after getting back.
“Hwaeek!!”
I went into my profile after a long time and checked the follower count, and it said 934,000. It's almost at a million now; once the number reaches seven digits, it's safe to call it a full-blown mega-giant.
“W-when did it get like this!?”
“It seems the events in London had some effect.”
“But... I didn't say it was me who did it, though?”
“There were so many eyes around that it's impossible to stop a post a private photographer put on SNS from spreading.”
“I see....”
Everyone more or less knows anyway, so I guess the British Hunter Association is just saying, 'Oh, that's our black-ops operative. Got it, do better next time?' And I had also posted one photo from when I was in England last night.
[_Princess_Eve]
hello London
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“Wow, when was this photo taken?”
“It was taken when you were out for your first evening walk on the first day.”
“Ehe, I see.”
A photo of London streets washed in the evening's orange light, with my back in the frame. Doesn't the back of my head look kind of funny? You can even see Doggo's butt sitting on top of it.
“Doggo, look at this. You showed your butt to everyone.”
ㅡBeep?! Beep-beep..!!
“What? You don't even have portrait rights. Besides, it's only your butt that's showing.”
Anyway, if I keep posting the photos one by one and gather a few more followers, I'll be in the million-follower club.
“Then maybe...!”
Was it around when I passed 250,000 followers? That's when the grade of Command Issuance, which had been steadily rising and then stalling, might go up too.
“Let's take a look!”
[ Status Window /Name : Eve
Age : 10 / Sex : Female
Job : {Princess of a Fallen Nation}
Grade : A
Skills : {Golem Creation : EX}, {Powerless Princess : C}, {Command Issuance : A+}, {Summoning : B} ]
“Whoa...!”
Nothing had really increased in count, but everything except Golem Creation, which had been F before, was steadily climbing.
The Powerless Princess skill is still C, probably because it levels up well in combat, but if I go into a gate or dungeon later, I should be able to raise it a lot more.
“Princess, it seems the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has just granted the import approval.”
“Huh? For what?”
“The items requested from Crown Guard.”
“Ohhh, I see. So they're coming into Korea now?”
“That's right. It seems they're being transported through the Nova Guild, so would you like to come with me?”
“If I don't go, then I don't have to go, right?”
“Not at all. If I go to Nova alone, receive them there, and bring them back here, it'll take a little longer, but it should be fine.”
“Hmm, let's go together!”
A bow, oil, and a transparent cloak! With these, I'll make something incredible!
“Hehe, what kind of golem will it be? I can't wait!”
Ophelia slowly opened her eyelids after briefly closing her eyes.
“It'll probably be an amazing one, enough to make the Princess happy.”
“Woo!”
* * * * *
“Then I'll wear those!”
“Would you like some help?”
“No! I'll put them on by myself!”
“Understood.”
ㅡThump-thump-thump
Ophelia watched as Eve, who had been sitting beside her, got up from the sofa, tucked Doggo under her arm, and dashed into the room with a grin.
“...Princess.”
A memory briefly flickered through Ophelia's mind.
A very, very long time ago.
So long ago that the gap was impossible to even measure.
There was a pitiful princess on the barren land, cursed to remember.