Chapter 12

Trainee Choi Bom (2)

As the meat sizzled on the grill, Lee Shin could clearly feel how different he was from before.

I can feel it.

He had become more sensitive to the temperature of the flames, and even the way he flicked the tongs had become remarkably skillful.

Lee Shin smiled in satisfaction as Choi Bom watched him with an impressed “Oooh.”

Of course, this wasn’t what the ability was originally meant for.

This unique trait, which dwarves were born with, was the dream ability coveted by every blacksmith throughout the world of the stars.

It was not an ability for grilling delicious pork belly.

“Here. Say ah.”

“Huh? Wh-What?”

Lee Shin picked up a perfectly grilled piece of samgyeopsal from the grill and placed it directly into Choi Bom’s mouth.

Choi Bom froze for a moment as though she had malfunctioned, then finally opened her mouth and accepted it.

“Y-You... You just... like it was nothing...”

“How is it?”

“...”

“Like... nothing...?”

“It’s good, right?”

Her eyes widened like a startled rabbit’s as she chewed, then muttered in disbelief,

“Are you insane...?”

Her expression practically melted.

Lee Shin piled a generous amount of meat onto her plate, and Choi Bom ate it with a blissful look on her face.

Then, after glancing around awkwardly, she carefully wrapped a piece of meat in lettuce and fed it to Lee Shin as well.

All while looking elsewhere and making excuses.

“D-Don’t misunderstand, okay? Y-You fed me like it was nothing, so I’m just returning the favor. E-Equivalent exchange. Action and reaction.”

“Did you learn something new again?”

“Ugh!”

Lee Shin couldn’t understand why Choi Bom kept changing her attitude from one moment to the next, but in any case, they ate good food, chatted, and had a pleasant time.

「TIP: A truly outstanding god accepts even unbelievers and turns them into believers.」

「TIP: As expected, you are outstanding!」

「TIP: (m"L'n)☆」

Apparently, the status window was having fun too.

Only after ordering two more servings, naengmyeon, and fried rice did Choi Bom finally lean back with a satisfied smile.

“You could actually take over your dad’s jokbal restaurant now!”

“Should I, then?”

“Ah, no! Actually, forget it! You’re only allowed to grill meat for me. Don’t go grilling it for other people. If there are lots of people around, pretend you don’t know how.”

“Okay. I’ll only grill it for you.”

Watching the thoroughly excited Choi Bom, Lee Shin once again thought how fortunate he was to have obtained the small world.

It wasn’t anything grand, but these little moments of happiness were more precious to Lee Shin than anything else.

They stopped by an arcade, then a coin karaoke room, playing around as though the day would last forever.

But enjoyable moments always passed quickly.

Before they knew it, it was time for Choi Bom to return.

“N-Next time, maybe I should apply to stay out overnight...”

“Hm?”

“Nothing! I was talking nonsense!”

Lee Shin walked her all the way to the Academy entrance.

When Choi Bom waved and told him she had really enjoyed herself, Lee Shin waved back.

He stood there for quite a while, watching her retreating back as she reluctantly returned inside.

Choi Bom wasn’t the only one disappointed that their time together had ended.

Choi Bom returned in high spirits, hung up her outside clothes, and changed back into her daily uniform.

Even as she neatly tied her hair and pulled the gray cap of her daily uniform down over her head, she couldn’t stop smiling.

I’m so happy Shin came.

Of course, her doting father had sulked, saying, Bom, why don’t you ever hang out with Dad?

But with her heart pounding like this, Choi Bom wasn’t thinking about her father at all.

“Where should we go next time?”

She searched for places to visit around the Academy, clicked on recommended date courses that appeared among the related searches, and saved several of them to her favorites.

Then her phone chimed.

Idiot: Did you get back safely?Idiot: You weren’t late for roll call, right?

Hmph. He only texted after I finished changing.

Even so, Choi Bom didn’t dislike receiving messages from Lee Shin.

If anything, they made her heart flutter.

She nearly screamed while trying to change Lee Shin’s saved contact name from Idiot to Idiot♥, then rolled around wildly on her bed.

It was youth.

“Choi Bom, where the hell did you leave your brain?”

Of course, the Academy wasn’t a place suited to youthful romance.

This wasn’t a rosy world.

It was a dull, gray reality.

“Why aren’t you out here already? Fuck, if you’re from the youngest class, shouldn’t you be standing by at least thirty minutes before roll call?”

“S-Sorry.”

“You’re having a fucking great time, huh? Back in my day, trash like you would’ve been gathered up and beaten half to death. The Academy’s gotten real soft, hasn’t it? You get to use phones, go out even though you haven’t earned any seniority... It’s basically a summer camp now.”

Choi Bom’s senior, Jung Miso, pressed a finger hard against her forehead.

“Having fun, aren’t you? You got one decent score during the last practical, so now all your seniors look like fucking jokes to you, right? We must all look like idiots, huh?”

“No!”

Thwack!

Jung Miso struck Choi Bom on the head.

“Excited because you got a boyfriend? I saw him. Kid looked kind of slow... Well, I guess birds of a feather flock together. You two idiots look great together.”

“Seriously, the Academy should only accept people from military academies. Why the hell do they let in unverified, penniless kids like you...?”

Choi Bom clenched her lips and trembled.

Thwack.

Jung Miso hit her on the head again.

“Pissed off? That expression is priceless. But what can you do? You ruined your own Academy life with your own hands.”

“You should’ve handed over the armor when we told you to. Why cling to something way above your station? You know you’ve been marked by the upper classes now, right?”

“Learn your place, you useless bitch.”

Bang.

Even after Jung Miso slammed the dormitory door shut and left, Choi Bom couldn’t calm her anger.

Outside, she pretended everything was fine and acted like an impressive future Hunter.

But this was the reality of Choi Bom, a member of the Academy’s youngest class.

She simply couldn’t show this weakness to the people she cared about.

Whether it was her father or Lee Shin, she knew they would worry.

Holding back the tears threatening to spill out, Choi Bom let out a long breath.

“Bom, are you okay?”

Fortunately, despite all the absurd hazing at the Academy, the trainees in her own class got along well with one another.

As always, Choi Bom smiled as though nothing was wrong and nodded.

“Yeah. It happens all the time.”

“She’s worse than usual today. Ignore her. She always gets hysterical around girls with boyfriends. She’s jealous. That’s all.”

If she could just endure the Academy’s training and graduate without trouble, a bright future awaited her.

Something like this was easy to endure.

She could endure as much of it as necessary.

“Right. Oh, guys. You were asking where I got my armor, weren’t you? The friend who gave it to me said he might be able to get more stuff like it. Would any of you be interested in buying?”

“Really? If so, we’d be grateful!”

Ever since she was young, Choi Bom had been confident in her mental toughness.

Of course, she had nearly lost her temper when Jung Miso dragged Lee Shin into it, but fortunately, she had managed to exercise superhuman patience.

If she had caused an incident, things would have gotten much worse.

Not because of whatever punishment the Academy might give her...

But because Lee Shin would eventually find out what was happening to her.

He’d get angry.

Choi Bom never wanted to see her favorite friend angry again.

Because an angry Lee Shin was more frightening than anything she had ever seen in her life.

***

「First World.」

「Moving to Earth 444, [Small but Deadly World].」

After the blacksmith appeared, the landscape of the Red City, Gepetto, changed considerably.

For one thing, even the quality of the barricades erected around the city had become completely different.

These won’t be easy to break through.

The residents of Gepetto worked without rest, preparing for the coming battle.

Even the equipment worn by the dwarves undergoing training looked different.

They now wore helmets and armor, and each carried a weapon of their own.

They were finally beginning to resemble an actual army.

“God! God!”

The moment Lee Shin arrived, Eve came scampering toward him from the distance.

While everyone else was fully equipped, Eve didn’t seem to have received any noteworthy new equipment.

When Lee Shin asked why, she puffed herself up and answered,

“Ahem! My body itself is a weapon!”

It sounded like a joke.

It wasn’t.

To Lee Shin, Eve still looked like a small and adorable girl, but she was an Intermediate Believer with a Hero-Rank soul.

Her specifications were extraordinary.

Judging purely by status, she was even superior to Santiago, who had performed spectacularly in the previous battle.

Santiago possessed a Hero-Rank soul, but he was still only a Low-Grade Believer.

“And actually, there isn’t really any equipment I can use. A Saintess needs equipment imbued with Divine Power, you know? Something like... a Sacred Relic.”

A Sacred Relic.

That had been one of the categories available under Creation.

In game terms, it seemed Eve required exclusive equipment.

Lee Shin didn’t have enough Divine Power to create one yet.

『When the time comes, I shall bestow one upon you.』

“God! God! I’ll be looking forward to that day!”

Eve jumped excitedly, her star-shaped pupils sparkling.

As she continued making a fuss, Santiago sensed Lee Shin’s presence and slowly walked over.

“I have something to tell you, my God.”

Santiago was effectively the commander of the Red City, Gepetto.

He pushed the noisy Eve aside and cleared his throat.

“Thanks to the grace you bestowed upon us, our equipment is now sufficient. But our numbers are far too few.”

“The Governor will send an army capable of crushing us beyond any doubt. We cannot expect the same kind of fortunate circumstances as last time.”

Santiago was right.

The previous battle had gone their way partly because of luck.

The enemy had underestimated their city and let down their guard.

They had also known nothing about the variables called Eve and Santiago.

But now things were different.

The enemy would not be careless.

They knew of Eve and Santiago’s existence.

And they had left after getting a rough idea of the city’s military strength.

“If we fight like this, we will lose.”

“Even if fortune smiles upon us again and we somehow win, most of this city’s residents will die.”

“And while we are recovering their bodies, the enemy will return with a third army even stronger than the second.”

『...』

“For this city to survive, we must win without casualties.”

“That is impossible with the strength of your inadequate servants alone, my God...”

Santiago spoke with a troubled expression.

But Lee Shin had already consumed all his Divine Power to create the blacksmith.

And if the enemies were around Lee Shin’s own size, he couldn’t simply crush them to death using [World Interference].

Was there another way?

「TIP: After obtaining the blacksmith, the dwarves of the [Small but Deadly World] have continuously produced weapons without rest.」

「TIP: However, they lack enough soldiers to use the mountain of weapons they have accumulated.」

「TIP: Even if every child and elderly resident were gathered and trained as soldiers, their numbers would still be insufficient.」

「TIP: The answer cannot be found in this world.」

The answer cannot be found in this world.

This was the first time the status window had ever said something like that.

Did that really mean he had no choice but to lose his little friends?

Just as Lee Shin was thinking that—

Ding.

A notification appeared.

「TIP: If the answer does not exist in this world, simply find it in another.」

「TIP: Your Trait Level is currently 2.」

「TIP: The number of worlds you can currently possess has also increased to two.」

「TIP: Unlock the [Second World].」

「TIP: IT٩(ة)و」