CHAPTER 113: CHAPTER 113

Winds of Change

"Teacher!"

"Hyung!"

JinyRyung and lyle were the first to greet Seowoon as he returned.

Behind them, the rest of the team rushed over—just as Juriel appeared.

"Juriel!"

She looked around in confusion, clearly surprised. For the first time in the game, she had returned to the waiting room without dying.

"T-The system said... we were the final squad... the alert..."

Seowoon quickly realized what was confusing her.

"That’s an alert only the last surviving player hears. ’Final Squad.’ For reference, I was second."

Other players joined in.

"I placed 8th."

"Pfft, I was 13th."

"I ended up 9th."

Everyone chimed in, and Juriel finally seemed to understand, nodding slowly.

"Squad rewards are the same anyway. But you’ll get a bit more—there’s a bonus for being the last one standing."

She already knew that part from a previous game, and looked apologetically at Seowoon.

"You should’ve been the one to make it out..."

"But you found the Absolute Compass, Juriel. Who knows what could’ve happened if I’d tried to escape with it instead."

With qualification for the next stage at stake, risking it all for some coins just wasn’t worth it.

"You escaped quite a while ago. I’m surprised you survived so long out at sea."

Seowoon admired how she’d lasted over an hour in the water, especially as a pure mage without martial or knight skills.

"Oh, I got lucky. The Sirens helped me. They were waiting nearby somehow—like they knew."

"I thought they were monsters, but that’s kind of loyal."

Limin nodded at the comment.

"Right? And what a body on th—"

Thwack.

Limin smacked Dump across the back of his head before he could finish that dangerous sentence.

"More importantly, what exactly is the Absolute Compass?" Namsagwang asked, curiosity written all over his face.

It was an item capable of summoning an unslayable epic monster—clearly not something trivial.

At the time, the situation had been too tense for anyone to ask, but now everyone was curious.

"Oh! This item... it’s incredible."

She paused, drawing in a breath. All eyes locked onto her.

"It’s a compass that leads its holder to what they truly need."

Though cryptic, her explanation felt oddly intuitive. Faces around her grew thoughtful.

"So..."

"What I truly need?"

As they all pondered its implications, Namsagwang was the first to speak up.

"We have to buy it!"

"Agreed. Even if we have to pool our coins—this is a must-have!" Seowoon added.

Smart as ever, Juriel quickly caught on to what they were saying. She’d already been thinking hard about how the item could be used.

With a smile, she nodded.

"Of course."

Dump, ever the slowest to catch on, tilted his head.

"Is it really that great? I don’t think I need anything that badly..."

"Idiot."

Namsagwang’s usual label made Dump flinch out of reflex. Getting hit after those words had become routine.

Seowoon stepped in to explain.

"Think about how efficient your farming would be. It’ll lead you straight to what you need most."

"Oh!"

Suddenly, the confused expressions lit up with realization.

At that moment, the game’s final system message rang out.

Ding! Before rewards are given, please vote for your squad’s MVP.

Ba-bam! Seowoon Jin has been unanimously chosen as the Honorable Player!

An unsurprising result. He’d led the strategy and pushed them through to the end—no one else even came close.

Next, vote for the worst player. Please be careful—unanimous votes will ban the player from future Cloyd Survival games. A penalty will also be applied to their coin rewards.

Ding! Unanimous abstention. Applause for Team Seowoon’s unity!

The reward sequence began.

[Ding! You’ve received 240 coins. Kill bonus! An additional 50 coins awarded. You’ve reached the final 5 for 6 consecutive rounds. Bonus: 240 coins. MVP bonus: 50 coins.]

Compared to the last game, the rewards were simpler.

Still, a total of 580 coins wasn’t bad—though it did feel a little lacking.

"Let’s move on to the draw."

As everyone nodded in agreement, the next alert appeared.

[Ding-ding! Final 5 squad members receive a draw ticket.]

[You may spin the draw 3 times.]

"Sure hope the Absolute Compass shows up," Ki-Chan said. Everyone nodded.

"How many are available?" someone asked.

"Three hundred and fifty," Juriel replied.

"Th-Three hundred?!"

Everyone’s eyes widened.

"It must be that powerful."

"Makes sense—it’s game-changing. If everyone chips in, it’s just 35 coins each," Seowoon pointed out.

"Best case, we just win it from the draw."

"Don’t pressure her," Lilingwi said, nudging Dump with her elbow as Juriel nervously chewed her nails.

"No pressure. 35 coins isn’t a big deal," Seowoon said with a smile.

Normally, everyone would be focused on their own draws, but this time, all eyes were on Juriel’s hands.

Her pale, delicate fingers trembled slightly as she spun the wheel.

[Spin... click... click... click... DING! You’ve obtained Kandart’s Staff. Congratulations.]

"Ah..."

Clang!

A few team members instinctively smacked Dump again for groaning out loud.

Juriel took a deep breath and reached for the wheel once more...

[Trtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtr DING! You have acquired Dante’s Necklace. Congratulations.]

Immediately, she spun the prize wheel one last time.

[Trtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtr DING! You have acquired the Absolute Compass. Congratulations.]

"Wooooaaah!!"

Dump let out a victorious scream while the rest of the team beamed with joy. JuRiel finally released a breath of relief.

"I’m glad I got it, but... even if I hadn’t, it wouldn’t have been that much pressure."

As Seowoon spoke, JuRiel nodded—yet she couldn’t lower the hand that rested over her chest.

The coins weren’t hers. They belonged to the team, and that made the pressure even heavier.

Everyone then turned their attention to their own prize wheels with lighter hearts.

Seowoon also stood in front of his wheel, staring up at it with a dissatisfied expression.

Most of the items were ship-related, crucial to the game, but the lack of combat meant there wasn’t much loot to be had. Even during the final battle, there hadn’t been time to farm.

Above all, there just wasn’t any item that truly caught his eye.

[Trtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtr DING! You have acquired the Greaves of Iron Blood. Congratulations.]

Technically worth 60 coins, but aside from selling for cash, it was a fairly useless item.

’Well, at least it’s worth something.’

[Trtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtr DING! You have acquired Dorun’s Bracelet. Congratulations.]

It increased mana by 500, but for Seowoon, who hardly used magic, it was another pointless item.

[Trtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtr DING! You have acquired a Fragmented Secret Manual. Congratulations.]

At least it was a new piece he didn’t already have. With that, the draws were complete.

After Dump repaid the 6 coins he borrowed last time, Seowoon had 789 coins remaining.

He decided to save all of them and not pick any item this round, thinking ahead to the next game.

’With the Absolute Compass now in play, it’s best to save as many coins as possible.’

Seeing that items costing 300 coins were starting to appear, it was likely that more high-cost items would show up in the future. Saving now would pay off later.

’Learning Internal Energy this round was reward enough.’

Although still incomplete—and more like a firefly next to the sun when compared to Nam Sagwang’s strength—it was significant progress nonetheless.

Once everyone finished choosing their items, warm farewells began.

"Good work, everyone. See you in the next game."

"Great job, Seowoon!"

"Master, take care of yourself until the next round."

"See you soon."

"I’ll be in touch when I go."

"Right. Let’s do tha—huh? What? Wait, hold on..."

Among the chorus of goodbyes, the words exchanged between two women stood out as strange.

Before he could ask what they meant, the scene changed.

Opening his eyes, Seowoon saw the ceiling of the still-unfamiliar house.

Just as he sat up from the bed, his phone rang.

– Hyung! I’m sure JuRiel and LiLingYu said...!

Kichan was too flustered to finish his sentence.

"You heard it too, right? I didn’t imagine it?"

– Y-yeah... So that means they’re coming, right?

"...No way. They wouldn’t actually come, would they?"

– LiLingYu noona completed the main quest last time... and now JuRiel cleared it, right?

"I mean, that’s true, but... giving up all those main rewards just to use a World Exit Pass? You’d have to be crazy..."

– Hyung... I’ve been through this. Women troubles? Exhausting.

– Click.

– Hyung? Hello?

Kichan kept calling for Seowoon through the disconnected line.

"C’mon. No way. There’s no way they’re actually coming... right?"

***

"What did you say?"

"Just as I said, Father."

JuRiel stood before her aging father, speaking with her head held high.

The elderly man, his skin wrinkled yet his eyes sharp with clarity, furrowed his brows deeply.

"So you’re saying... such a world exists, and you’ve been going there all this time? And now, you fought against His Majesty—and won?!"

"Yes. I know it’s hard to believe, but..."

"I believe you."

"...What?"

JuRiel’s eyes widened as she explained about Cloyd, the game.

"You mean Cloyd Survival, right? As it happens, His Majesty issued a royal decree to the nobility. That such a game exists, and if any nobles are participating, they must be informed."

"I-I see..."

Being born into a noble family wasn’t as easy or glamorous as people thought.

While outsiders looked on in admiration, noblewomen were often bound to tragic fates—married off for wealth and power. That was the inescapable destiny for most daughters of noble houses.

Even though JuRiel had accomplished the rare feat of reaching the 7th Circle as a mage through her time in Cloyd, she still wasn’t free from that fate.

At twenty-two, she had delayed marriage under the pretext of studying magic. But she was running out of time.

In the Ronis family—where even a hint of magical talent was praised in men—a 7th Circle female mage held little status.

To her brothers, she was merely an inconvenient nuisance.

"And to think my own daughter would make such a choice."

Her father’s words darkened her gaze.

Those years of being denied recognition simply for being a daughter stabbed at her heart again.

"Father, I..."

"I forbid it."

The old man cut her off without hesitation.

Her lips trembled.

"His Majesty will send word soon. Wait for it. You will follow His command."

Even when his daughter’s life could be at stake, the old man remained utterly unmoved.

JuRiel bowed her head, feeling disgusted at herself for yielding to his will.

It had been two days since the game ended, and though she wanted nothing more than to leave everything behind, she couldn’t even decide her own fate.

And then—the manor doors burst open.

A man entered, proudly flanked by dozens of knights.

The once-stoic father immediately stood, despite his age, and bowed deeply before the man.

It was strange to see her cold, indifferent father lower himself like that.

Ignoring the old man completely, the man approached JuRiel.

Senrurque, the infamous warlord, and Duke of Cressen—one of the kingdom’s most powerful nobles.

"JuRiel Ronis. That’s you, right?"

"Yes, Your Grace."

"Did you abandon your mask?"

She responded calmly to Senrurque’s question.

"I returned it to its owner. Even that mask would’ve cost extra coins to bring back."

"You’re quite the skilled mage. Seventh Circle?"

"Yes, Your Grace."

"Then how come I didn’t know about you? A high-level mage should’ve made headlines."

The last question was directed not at JuRiel, but at her father behind her.

"T-that’s because... she’s just a daughter..."

"That kind of thinking is what’s rotting this nation from the inside. We need warriors to carry the name of Cressen into battle."

"B-but Your Grace! Appointing a woman as a High Mage has never been done in any empire! A woman on the battlefield?!"

Senrurque shook his head as the old man’s face turned red with rage.

"You sound like a crusty relic. Raise your head. You are a proud and excellent mage of Cressen."

When she lifted her head, Senlurk looked at her with his characteristic crazed eyes and spoke.

"I will grant you the position of High Mage General. Whether it’s the palace or the battlefield, I’ll let you live doing what you want, where you want. Will you follow me?"

"Your Majesty!!!"

Senlurk’s gaze turned unbearably cold as he looked at her father, who was nearly frothing at the mouth.

It was a gaze she had seen countless times before. With those very eyes, Senlurk had executed numerous lords and loyal retainers.

The eyes that made him known as the Mad General. Seeing those eyes, the old man could say no more.

"I cannot accept your offer," she said.

"Why not?"

"I will go to Earth."

At her words, a smirk twisted Senlurk’s lips.

"Of all places, you want to go to Earth?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. If you permit me, I would like to go."

Senlurk stared into her somber eyes for a moment before shaking his head.

"Tch. Your eyes are completely different from before. If that’s the only place you can truly live, then you must go. When you get there... can you deliver a message for me?"

"Yes."

Even without being told, she instinctively knew who he meant.

"When you see him, tell him—next time, it might be fun to fight on the same side."

For the first time, emotion rippled across her face.

"...I understand."

As Senlurk turned away from her and passed by the old man, he spoke again.

"I command this as the King of Crescen: No one shall obstruct Juriel Ronis on her path."

As he issued the royal decree and stepped outside, his passing remark to the knight at his side made the old man’s face freeze.

"Where was it again, the place with the maid who uses knight-class skills?"

"Ruination... This is an omen of ruination..."

Muttering powerlessly, the old man remained behind as she walked lightly back to her room—her steps now light as air.

***

"What did she say again?"

"She said she had chosen the man she would marry."

"No, after that."

"She said she’s going to a different world—called Earth."

"..."

The brawny old man, the master of Jindokgok and infamous among the Bloodrage Clan, looked at his youngest granddaughter with a troubled expression.

He hadn’t disbelieved her when she spoke of traveling to other worlds and playing games.

She would pull all kinds of things out of thin air and bring back mysterious items she claimed to have obtained—there was no way not to believe her.

Lately, he had come to enjoy hearing about her adventures in other worlds during his twilight years.

But a name that kept coming up in her stories—Jin Seowoon—had begun to irritate him. And now, his granddaughter had finally dropped a bomb.

"Wiya! Are you saying you’re leaving your grandfather behind? Not just this household—but this entire world?!"

"I’ve already given that man the marriage pouch."

"Ha! Just... Do you really like him that much?"

"He’s a manly man, just like you, Grandfather. A man who always repays what he receives, even if it costs him his life."

"..."

Hearing that she was going to leave this world for a man like him, the old man was left speechless.

He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

"Wiya, that’s another world. Once you go, you’ll never be able to return."

"I am prepared, Grandfather."

"This old man... I’m not prepared at all..."

"Grandfather, please let me go—for the sake of my happiness."

"Hah... Then give me some time. I must prepare—sending off a granddaughter in marriage is no small task."

The old man knew better than anyone that once she made up her mind, she would never back down.

He could already tell there was no stopping her—she was just as stubborn as he was.

***

"Ugh... Am I coming down with something? I feel a chill..."

–A bad omen. I have a bad feeling.–

Even Hamit was saying it now. Seowoon’s expression darkened.

[T/L: Read extra Chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]