Episode 3 – Pleiades (3)
Gueumjulmaek refers to a constitution in which the inner Yi energy is so strong that an abnormality occurs in the whole meridians and the circulation of qi is not properly achieved.
Therefore, in order to treat Gueumjulmaek, it was necessary to relieve the Yin energy that were blocking the meridians at once. So, what was necessary to treat Gueumjulmaek's extreme Yin energy was its polar opposite, something that has extreme Yang energy.
"Do you know what Jude will eat in half a year?"
"I know. It's the Sunfire Carp."
"Oh, it's not 2nd place anymore."
"Hmmm, I'm a little…rather, why do you keep saying second, second place?"
Cordelia warned sharply, but Jude just sneakily laughed.
It was fun when he teased her in the chat window, but now that Yellow Storm had become an incomparably beautiful girl and showed her expressions, it had become more interesting.
"Well, as you know anyway, the Sunfire Carp is a carp that possesses extreme Yang energy."
"So, let's go fishing to catch the Sunfire Carp?"
"Are you really the second in the server?"
"I am? I'm the second in the server?"
"Yes, I'm the first."
When Cordelia trembled and clenched her fists, Jude moved on to the next topic. Controlling the degree of anything was important.
'And…this person was a little different from me.'
They were Outboxer009 and Yellow Storm that had ranked 1st and 2nd on the server back-to-back, but in fact, it was not an exaggeration to say that their playstyles took completely different paths.
'I was a strategist, and she was a fighter.'
If Outboxer009 was a strategist who gained points for achievements by deeply studying the limit of the characters, events, and items that exist in the game, Yellow Storm was the ultimate combat fighter who raised scores by hunting a lot.
Of course, both were rotten water, so Outboxer009 was also a good fighter, and Yellow Storm also knew enough about Legend of Heroes 2, but in the end, their majors were different.
'Moving on…'
Jude erased the distractions from his head and spoke quickly.
"If we can get in our hands an item with powerful Yang energy, we can treat the Gueumjulmaek much faster."
"I know that, but was there something like that near here?"
Cordelia frowned and searched her memories.
Although there were quite a lot of items with Yang energy other than the Sunfire Carp that Jude had mentioned, it was questionable if Jude and Cordelia could find it for themselves now.
"There is one. It's close too. You know what I'm talking about, right?"
"Huh? Uh…umm…ah, that's it. That. Ah, there was that."
Cordelia nodded, as if awkwardly reading a Korean book.
"Yes, that. So please help me in handling that. You know what we need to prepare, right?"
"Ah, I know. Yes, I know."
What does she know? Jude could completely see that she didn't know anything.
Jude clicked his tongue and decided to just say the right answer. It was fun to tease her, but time wasn't infinite.
"I can just wear the Sun's Necklace that Leisegang has."
"Yeah, if you wear the Sun's Necklace of Leisegang…Leisegang?! Demon Leisegang- Eep!"
A startled Cordelia jumped up from her seat and tried to raise her voice, but fortunately, Jude was able to cut her words in the middle.
Jude hurriedly blocked Cordelia's mouth and said in a low voice.
"Hey, we're meeting each other in secret, right?"
Midnight was a late hour.
It was a good thing that most of the people in the house followed Jude's father who went on an expedition. Otherwise, someone would have come by after hearing the sound.
"Have you settled down? I'll take my hand off when you've calmed down, okay?"
Cordelia nodded at Jude's question.
"Okay, I'll let go."
"Pwaah-! Hey, are you really talking about that Leisegang? The Red Moon Demon Leisegang?"
As soon as Jude removed his hand, Cordelia asked quickly in a low voice. She looked dumbfounded.
"Yes, the Red Moon's Leisegang."
"Are you crazy? How will you defeat him? Don't you know that its level is like a bully to us right now?"
The Red Moon's Leisegang was a demon sealed in the northern part of the Sälen Kingdom and was one of the mid-bosses that appeared in the middle of Legend of Heroes 2.
Outboxer009 and Yellow Storm were stagnant water who reached the level of rotten water, but as Cordelia had stated, it was impossible for them to defeat the demon with their current power, which was at the level of a game beginner.
Jude also admitted it.
"Yes, so how do we defeat it? But this is really like you, Yellow Storm. Your head is only thinking about hunting it."
"But you said that you needed the Sun's Necklace. That's the drop item if you kill Leisegang."
Five hundred years ago, it was the Sun Paladin Gallus who sealed the Red Moon's Leisegang.
Leisegang took Gallus' life at his last attack just before being sealed, and in the process, the Sun's Necklace, the relic of the sun god that Gallus possessed, was sealed with Leisegang.
Because Gallus was already dead, the priests of the sun god completed the seal, believing that the nature of the Sun's Necklace would weaken the power of Leisegang. Thanks to that, the Sun's Necklace became the drop item of Leisegang.
"We won't kill the demon. We'll just steal the item."
"How? And don't you have to unseal it in the first place to face Leisegang? How are we going to do that? I'm still only a 1-star wizard."
"Yes, and I have a disease, so I can't even be villager A. So, we'll use Bellastin's Magic Circle."
"Bellastin's Magic Circle?"
"Bellastin's Magic Circle. If you use it, it'll be possible to summon Leisegang for some time while maintaining the seal's power. We just need to take the Sun's Necklace away from the one who can't move because of the seal, and then seal it again."
"Your words…does make sense…"
Bellastin was a powerful barrier wizard who rose to prominence in the latter half of the heroic period.
With the proper application of a magic circle that restricts its movements, it would be possible to call out the main body of the bound demon for a while, as Jude had said, while maintaining the seal of Leisegang.
"However…"
"However?"
"Wasn't that… extremely complicated? That magic circle?"
Cordelia had once visited the game's walkthrough website. It was rumored to be a good magic circle for restricting a sealed demon, but she gave up thinking of using it now because she found it too complicated to draw the magic circle, even if a copy was right beside her.
At Cordelia's question, Jude nodded.
"Of course, I know. I have scrutinized the magic circle for Leisegang several times already. Ah, are you saying that you can't draw the magic cicle?"
"Th-that's not true? I can draw it too? How many times have I drawn it? Because I memorized everything too?"
"Is that right? Yes, I think so too. You're the 2nd in the server, of course. There is no way that you can't memorize it, right?"
Jude patted her shoulders as he looked at her with eyes full of trust, while Cordelia had an uneasy smile with a face that looked like she was about to cry.
'Wow, it's all revealed on her face.'
He thought as he now knew why she didn't use the voice chat. She seemed like the type who couldn't tell a lie.
"Yes, since the wizard is you, I'll ask you to draw it. That's really reassuring. I'll only trust in you, Yellow Storm."
"Uh… yes. Tr-trust me only. Yes. Me only…"
Cordelia's appearance as she insecurely forced herself to smile was quite a spectacle.
"Anyway, let's make taking the Sun's Necklace from Leisegang as our first quest goal."
"But isn't it a little far away? It seems impossible to go there and come back here in a short time at the middle of the night."
The place where Leisegang was sealed was an abandoned temple in the middle of the Belkain Mountains.
Even if it was close to the frontier city where Count Bayer and Count Chase lived, it was still about a half day's drive by carriage.
"Yes, so I was thinking. There's a solution for that, too."
"What is it?"
"First off, you and I are engaged now, right?"
"Y-yes, so?"
At the mention of the word 'engagement,' Cordelia looked like she wanted to evade it, and Jude also had the same awkward expression as hers.
Yellow Storm and engagement.
A promise of marriage between them.
Jude felt dizzy while thinking about that, but in any case, using anything available was the mindset of a strategist.
"So, let's go on a date."
"Date?"
"A date in a carriage."
"Who? Yo-you and me?"
"You and I. Outboxer and Yellow Storm. 1st place and 2nd place who get along well with each other."
What would the people in the chat room say when they see this situation?
Cordelia's white face became even whiter – in a word, her face had a creeped-out expression and she became stiff. On the other hand, Jude also had a similar expression.
"Ah, it seems like my stealthy 'time limit' has made itself felt."
"Time limit?"
"Yes, my Gueumjulmaek."
Jude's hands and feet were already cold from being exposed to the night air for a long time, and it seemed like the spreading night dew would even worsen his condition.
"A-are you okay? Would you like a ?"
"I'd appreciate it. But how do you use magic? How is it when you use magic? Is it okay? It's a little different from the game, right?"
"It's a lot different. It's amazing. Well, it's really fantastic."
Unlike Jude Bayer who was born with a disease that made him slow and weak, Cordelia Chase was a trained wizard with basic skills in magic.
She even used magic to cross over the wall just a while ago.
Since arriving at the garden, Cordelia had felt tired and weak from being teased by Jude, but now, she broadly smiled in self-confidence.
"Fufufu, I can use for your body."
"Y-yes."
Cordelia put her hand on Jude's forehead, closed her eyes and chanted the spell. The beautiful appearance of Cordelia and the green light coming from her hands harmonized together, making it a truly spectacular sight for the eyes.
"How is it? Is there any effect?"
"Yes. It's a little easier to breathe now."
Jude thought he could get back to his room safely.
"Then I'll go back first."
Cordelia put the hood on again. Although Count Bayer and Count Chase were neighbors, they didn't live right next to each other, so it would take quite some time for her to get back.
"I'm sorry. If I can cure my disease, I'll try to cross over the walls of your house."
"No thanks? I'm fine with going on a d-date, okay?"
She was fine with Jude asking her out for a date.
"Hey, if that's the case, can't we just call it the quest to attack Leisegang?"
"Ye-yes. That would be good for our mental health."
Jude and Cordelia stood side by side and awkwardly bade each other farewell.
"Then, I'll be going. Have a good night's sleep."
"Yeah, good night to you too. Dream of me."
Cordelia answered with a middle finger to his habitual greeting, and then flew up and crossed the wall.
"Ha, that's real magic."
The world where angels and demons exist, as well as magic.
Jude looked at the wall where Cordelia had disappeared for a while, before turning in the direction of the Belkain Mountains.
Red Moon's Leisegang and the Sun's Necklace.
It was the beginning of their first quest in this world.
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Terms used in this chapter:
Reading a Korean book – (국어책 읽기) it refers to monotone acting. It came from students reading aloud the Korean textbooks indifferently without showing any emotion. This expression is usually used for those who can't act, so they end up saying things in a monotone manner.